Chapter 176
.
Note: The character of Atlanta is from the same universe as my story "the Draft." The others are all real historical figures.
.
Lenin brought John Brown to his proposed allies. Some of these were men whom John Brown had heard of, and admired. One was the rebel slave from ancient Rome, Spartacus. Spartacus led his revolt, primarily to free his friends, but as they kept winning he became emboldened, tried to end slavery in Rome. Eventually they were defeated by Crassus, Spartacus was killed in battle, the few survivors were crucified. Karl Max called Spartcus "the most splendid fellow of the ancient world" and now Lenin had the opportunity to fight alongside him. Spartacus needed allies as well, his old enemy, the romans particularly Crassus, were uniting to restore a kingdom here in Hell. Another potential ally was Jean-Jacques Dessalines. In the early 19th century Dessalines led a revolution of slaves in Haiti. This haitian revolution was successful, and they were not benevolent in victory. Dessalines ordered the white population of Haiti slaughtered, even those who had tried to help the enslaved peoples. In many cases, after the initial slaughter, Dessalines offered amnesty to those whites who had been in hiding, and then slaughtered them once they came out of hiding. For decades after this slave owners in the american south used this to justify their oppressive plantation system. John Brown believed it was merely a pretext to allow themselves to get richer off slave labor, others argued that had this revolution not been as bloody, that slavery might have ended in America without the bloody civil war. The last potential ally for John Brown to consider was a woman named Atlanta. In her world a combination of nuclear war and environmental degradation caused a world wide epidemic of infertility. The state took drastic measures to ensure the survival of the species. Young women who were found to be fertile were required to go to reproductive camps, including Atlanta. She did two tours of duty, having children for other people. When she was drafted for a third tour, she ran. But she was caught, and sent to a higher security camp. Eventually Atlanta became involved with a terrorist group, the Daughters of Liberty, whose main goal was to shut down the camps. They bombed civilian targets, even school buses to murder children. When Atlanta was arrested she begged for the death penalty, because she knew what fate awaited her. Atlanta was sentanced to a maximum security facility. She was tied to a chair, raped repeatedly to produce more children, and drugged to prevent any movement or resistance. Eventually the camps were shut down, and Atlanta was amongst those granted amnesty. But the trauma she suffered left her unable to adapt, unable to control her anger. Atlanta drank heavily, married a 17 year old sex worker, raped her beat her repeatedly. Eventually Atlanta shot and killed her wife, before turning the gun on herself. These were the people Lenin wanted to ally with. Brown knew these people could be ruthless, but perhaps that had been neccessary given the circumstances. And Lenin was right, they needed allies.