[Day 16, 10:00 AM]
Kathryn walked down the stairs. She saw Tony and Anna sitting next to each other on the couch, watching TV. They both got up when they heard her walking down the stairs.
"'Morning" said Tony quietly, standing up to see her.
"Good morning" she said unenthused.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Anna asked, the concern palpable in her voice.
"No, I'm fine. I'm worried about Marcus though."
"We are too. I can't imagine what he's going through, I know he was really close with his father." Said Tony.
"That's an understatement." Kathryn said sadly.
Tony turned around, and looked at the TV. "We learned why we where attacked yesterday." he said, glancing back at Kathryn.
"The official party line is that we were a group of raiders attacking the quarantine zone, trying to make off with supplies." Tony said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Our glorious leader, military governor Andrew Blendon, has, with much regret, been forced to place the city under martial law, 'for the protection of its citizens.' In unrelated news, rations have been cut by 25%, in order to 'preserve the food in case of a crisis'."
"That sounds like something straight out of 1984." Marlene said. Nobody had noticed her walk into the house.
" 'Morning Marlene" Kathryn said.
" 'Morning"
"You're right, it does sound like something straight from 1984." Anna said.
Everyone paused for a minute.
"So, how's Marcus?" Marlene asked what everyone else was thinking.
"It's too soon to tell." Kathryn said, feeling worried. "I think he will be okay." She said, feeling just as confident as she sounded, not at all.
"I think you're right." Marlene said. Kathryn looked at her, surprised.
"He is a lot like his father, from what I can tell." She said. "Quite frankly, I can't imagine him ever doing anything to harm his son, and that includes checking out on reality." She said confidently. She placed her hand on Kathryn's shoulder and said, "He'll pull through. I know he will."
"Thanks." Said Kathryn, feeling surprisingly comforted.
Kathryn was making a cup of coffee when she heard Marcus come down the stairs.
As soon as she saw him, she felt much better. He didn't look upbeat (no surprise there), but he seemed to be coping. He walked over to Kathryn and hugged her. " 'Morning" he said.
Kathryn was a bit taken back, but didn't show it. " 'Morning."
Marcus kissed her on the cheek and let go of her.
Tony, slowly walked up to him and said, "I have some information for you. About yesterday."
Marcus looked at him, and Tony said nervously, "If you don't want to hear it, I-"
"It's ok. I'm fine. What about yesterday?" Marcus said.
Tony told him the official reason why they had been shot at.
Marcus was stunned. He made a noise that sounded halfway between a laugh and a sigh. "It's come to that already. I didn't expect people to loose their humanity that quickly."
He sat down with his coffee and said, "I'm guessing this is what really happened: they reached maximum capacity at he quarantine zone. Rather then turn us away and risk us coming back later, the soldiers were given orders to open fire."
"Holy shit, Marcus. I want to think you're wrong, but I can't think of any other reason?. " said Kathryn.
"Well, you know what they say; 'Sacrifice the few to save the many'." Marcus replied.
"Fuck that." Said Marlene. "Thinking like that will get us nowhere. I'm all for the greater good, but you have to draw a line somewhere."
"Tell that to Blendon." Tony said.
"Well, what do we do now?" Anna said.
Kathryn spoke first, "I say fuck the quarantine zones. I'm not having my son grow up in a place where it is acceptable to gun down innocents 'for the greater good'. You can't help everyone, sure, but that doesn't condone murder."
Tony and Anna both nodded. "Same goes for us." Anna said. "I will not let my child live like that."
"I refuse to live under their protection if that is the price I have to pay for it." Marlene said.
Kathryn, along with everyone else in the room, looked at Marcus. "Honey, what do you think." She asked, worried.
Thousands of thoughts were rushing through Marcus's head right now. "I just need a minute to think." He got up and walked upstairs.
He went to the crib his baby son was in.
"Dada." Cory said, looking up at his father. Marcus smiled as he picked up his son.
"Hey there Cory." Kathryn heard Marcus say softly as she walked into the room her son and husband were in.
Marcus turned around. "Hi there." He said to Kathryn.
"You want to talk to me?" Asked Kathryn.
"Absolutely." He sat down on the bed that his father had given them about 2 weeks ago. Kathryn sat next to him.
"I have an idea." He said, hesitantly. "And a year ago, I would have told you it without thinking twice." He looked down at his son.
"What are you thinking of." Kathryn asked.
"I say we start a town of our own." He said.
Kathryn laughed, but was kind of confused. "That makes sense. Their's safety in numbers, and, as I said earlier, fuck the quarantine zones."
Marcus looked somewhat relieved, and he looked down at his son again.
"I wasn't too worried about that, and I agree, fuck the quarantine zones." He stopped. "Or better yet, fuck the people running them."
He paused. "I want to take the city back." He said.
Kathryn was confused, "What do you mean, 'take the city back'?"
"I don't want Blendon controlling the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. He has no regard for human life, look what happened to my father."
"I don't want our son to grow up needing to kill to protect himself. As long as Blendon is in charge of Boise, things are going to go downhill, for everyone. Fuck, you could say that about Tanis and the entire country."
Kathryn realized what he was saying. "Are you saying we should start some sort of rebellion?" She certainly hadn't expected this.
"More or less." He said looking down at his son. "I feel like I'm faced with the choice of having my son grow up in a shitty world, with all sense of morality gone, where it's acceptable to kill innocents 'for the greater good', or risk getting him killed for a chance to live in a better world."
Kathryn was stunned. She looked at her son, then up at Marcus. "I can understand why you wanted to come up here." She said. In spite of their somber tone, they couldn't help but chuckle. At that moment, a firefly landed on Marcus's, and started glowing. Marcus just stared at it
Kathryn moved to wipe it off, but Marcus stopped her. "Last night, before I buried my father, I was praying over his grave." He looked at the firefly, with a look of longing on his face. "I had my right hand on the cross marking his grave, and when I got up, I saw a firefly just fly off it."
Kathryn wasn't sure what to make of this. Marcus continued, "You and Cory are everything to me. That's the decision I have to make. I have no worries about you, but Cory..." he stopped talking, and looked at his son. "I'm not going to lie, I want revenge for what happened to dad, but that's not my only reason."
It was a couple of minutes before they spoke again. Kathryn broke the silence. "We don't have a choice here." She said. "I will not let our son loose his humanity. You've heard the saying 'I would rather die on my feet then live on my knees', right?" Marcus nodded.
"The way I view it, we can either accept the world as it is going to become, and have our son grow up like that, or risk everything for him to have a better life."
"If it doesn't kill him." Marcus said looking down at his son.
Kathryn said ,"Nothing will happen to him while either of us is breathing, you know that right?"
Marcus responded immediately "Absolutely."
"Then it's settled. We fight."
Kathryn and Marcus both got up, and headed towards the stairs. On her way out, Kathryn noticed that firefly leave Marcus's arm, and fly out the window, glowing,"
Tony, Anna, and Marlene were waiting downstairs, waiting for the couple.
"Well," Tony asked cautiously, "what have you decided."
Marcus spoke first. "We think it would be best to start up a town of our own. Get other people who don't like what the quarantine zone is doing to join us."
Anna nodded, but said, "Something tells me that's not the only thing you talked about up there."
Kathryn nodded, "We are thinking of starting a rebellion."
Nobody spoke for a while. Tony spoke first, "Against the people in the quarantine zone? That's suicide!"
"On our own, yes. Even with an entire settlement to fight with us, your right. It would be suicide." Marcus said. "But you're forgetting something. The people inside the quarantine zone aren't going to be happy for very long. I wouldn't be surprised if in 6 months, Blendon has a problem with riots in the streets."
"I know this sounds foolish." Kathryn said, "but we have to do this. Tony, Anna." She looked at them. " What type of world do you want your child to grow up in? A world where killing innocents 'for the greater good' is the norm?"
Anna and Tony were both stunned by what Kathryn and Marcus had said. Tony nodded. "Your right. I won't let my son grow up in a world like that"
Anna said, "I agree. I won't let my child turn into a fucking animal."
Marlene was quiet for a minute, Kathryn, along with everyone else in the room, looked at her.
"If someone had told me a month ago that I was going to be a part of a rebellion, I would have told them they were crazy." She said. Everyone chuckled. "But I see the point you make. I won't let the death of innocent people become the new normal."
Anna broke the silence that followed. "I'm hungry, lets have lunch."
Nobody objected.
[The same day, 11: 55 PM]
"Lunch is ready!" Tony called. Everyone came to the dining room.
"That smells so good!" Kathryn said, eagerly, rushing down the stairs. She had just finished feeding Cory.
Anna and Marlene were already at the table. The table was set, and everyone had a glass of lemonade to drink.
Marcus cam up from the basement. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse!"
"Then this is your lucky day!" Tony said. Everyone laughed.
Once everyone was seated and served, Marcus spoke up. "Before we start, would anyone mind if I lead us in a Prayer?" Everyone nodded.
"God, these are difficult times. The next couple of months will most likely be the most difficult of our entire lives. Help us to survive these trials, and above all, not to lose what makes us human."
He paused for a moment. "Dad, if you're up their, guide me through this. Amen."
"Amen." Kathryn said, along with everyone else at the table.
"Now," Marcus said, pulling out a map of Idaho, "I think I've found a place that we can start up a settlement. But first, lets eat."
They ate, and for the next couple of hours, the five of them talked about their plans for the months ahead.