Chapter 14 — Mother of a Disappeared
A serial novel in the form of correspondence among a family while the world as we know it collapses around us. I recommend you start at the Introduction:
https://readmedium.com/climate-for-change-introduction-5331d5ab9313
But you can start anywhere you want.
— -
Chapter 14:
Website chatbox (All communications translated from Bulgarian):
Dear Dad and Mom,
I hope you get this message sooner than later. It has been two days since I last saw Benjamin. To say Melody and I are freaking out would be an understatement. I can’t stop shaking. When last we saw him, he was heading out with his friends to join a protest in front of the General’s mansion with the Mothers of the Disappeared. Then nothing. His friends are missing, too. The soldiers on our block say they can only report what they know from rumors. The rumor is that the General has a group of black-shirted secret police who carry out his orders. The day of the protest, there were many buses that were seen leaving the metro area driving north, with the windows all blacked out. Our neighborhood soldiers are good people. They wouldn’t do this, but I don’t know about these secret police.
Is there anything that you can find out?
Love,
Carol and Melody
— -
Dear C and M,
This is heartbreaking. Grandma Eloise and I are really worried. Please try to find out whatever you can about where he might be. We might be able to do something — who knows?
This week I met with the other sheriffs and we discussed whether we should make a deal with General Stewart. People would love to sell their food to the city, but nobody is interested in giving up their guns and getting one of those ding dang chips. To deny the deal he offered would be a big gamble. How would he respond? He might see it as a declaration of war, or he might see it as a sort of counter offer in a negotiation. Although my people are well armed, I know we are no match for the U.S. military. I am actually hopeful that perhaps Stewart is not authorized by the Circle to make war on us. Maybe he is bluffing.
I will try to schmooze General Stewart when he comes back out to check on his offer. Maybe he can give us information about the people who have disappeared?
Dad
— -
Dear Dad and Mom,
I have officially reported Benji as a missing person. The soldiers on our block helped me fill out a form and they promised to give me information as soon as they have something. They said that we will have to wait one month in order to report him as “long-term missing,” at which point we could apply for a life insurance payment from The Circle. Then they went into the system and removed Benji as a resident of our house, cutting our food and heating fuel rations.
I am beside myself. Not sleeping. Not eating. Not able to function at work. Mel is worried for me.
— -
Dear Carol,
We feel your pain. It is terrible for all of us, not to know where he is or whether he is alive or dead. Your mom and I have been talking about how we don’t want to make any deals with General Stewart, if this is how he treats his subjects.
— -
Dear Dad and Mom,
Melody, and Daisy’s brother Jorge just got back from a stake-out at the General’s mansion. I don’t think they will dare to abduct two eleven year-olds, but I worry now every time Mel leaves my sight. The children have been watching to see if they can gather any information that you could use against General Stewart if and when you meet with him.
So far all they see at the mansion is black Humvees with tinted windows showing up at all hours of the day. Mel has my long-range lens attached to her camera. They hide in the bushes. The photos are blurry. Nothing so far.
— -
Dear Carol and Melody,
Today was a big day for us. At precisely noon, I gave the order for a synchronized anti-drone attack. The militia from dozens of townships complied with the order, and within a few minutes almost every drone flying over Western Wisconsin was shot down. It is a risky move because I haven’t spoken to General Stewart yet, but I wanted to show him what we are capable of. I haven’t seen any drones since then, so maybe they are afraid to lose any more.
I have been training with our combined militia force. Although I have no military experience myself, we have many army veterans in the group. We made the vets who wanted to lead into squad captains, and they have given us all a crash course in guerilla fighting tactics. All families have been busy digging bomb shelters and caching food and supplies in various places. Our tailors have been making white capes out of bed sheets in anticipation of any action taking place in a snowy landscape. I don’t think General Stewart knows what would be waiting for him if he comes out in force. We will not be taken easily.
While we have been preparing for battle, your mom and I have been looking for peaceful solutions, too. We have used some of our precious paper to print out hundreds of flyers to give to invading soldiers, asking them to not kill their brothers and sisters. We made a simple message, saying that the rank and file soldiers have much more in common with us than with the General. We invite them to join us. We included the menu from our Thanksgiving feast, telling them that contrary to popular belief, we have plenty to eat and are toasty in our wood-heated homes.
— -
Dear Dad,
If you can email me a version of your anti-Stewart flyer, I can see if we can give it to some of the soldiers on our block. They are good people, and I am sure they don’t want to kill other Americans. Maybe when the time comes, they will feel safe going over to your side.
Mel and Jorge just got back from another children’s stake-out at the mansion. Those are words I never thought I would have to write. What is this world coming to? There is a house near the back side of the General’s mansion where the Mothers of the Disappeared are welcome to get warm. The owners are ex-nuns who quit the church in order to marry each other. If soldiers ever come to the door, they give them hot tea and a cookie and send them on their way — so far, so good — the Mothers are discreet. M and J were in the ex-nuns’ attic today, spying on the back door of the mansion with my lens, and they got some interesting non-blurry photos. In one there are what look like about a dozen girls about Mel’s age, being led into the mansion. They look terrified. In another there is a black bag, the size and shape of an adult human, being carried out to a Humvee. There are more photos.
— -
Dear Carol,
That is a dangerous game Mel and Jorge are playing. Please tell them to be careful. We don’t know what this man is capable of.
Our current plan is to help make our rural revolution work so well that we will be ready to welcome more people when your city version collapses. Our gift economy is working great. The neighboring townships have taken its form and adapted it. They have asked people to join “gift groups” averaging about 150 people. All the people in each of these gift groups are responsible for each others’ welfare. The group size is small enough that everyone knows everyone, and people can make most decisions based on consensus. The gift groups do barter trade with other gift groups when there is a surplus within their group. Each group elects a leader and also chooses a militia captain, who is sometimes the same person and sometimes not. Within a township that is sparsely populated, the militia captain is usually also the township sheriff, like me. Within more populous townships, the various militia captains in a township will choose one of their own to be the township sheriff. Then the county will have the various township sheriffs vote to choose a countywide sheriff. That is me for our county. It feels like a lot of responsibility.
We had a great success in our township today. An electrical engineer from down south came up and helped us install an improvised turbine and generator at the dam site on the river. We hooked the generator up to a nearby house, and it provided plenty of power. Our plan is to use the existing power grid to distribute power. Our solar panels are to be hooked up to the grid, too. If the grid is functioning with the hydropower, maybe we could boost it with our solar panels and the windmill. There are other farms with solar panels, too. I’m excited about the possibilities. The engineer thinks we can provide power to 4 different zones for six hours at a time at this point.
Keep me posted about the search for Benji. I am looking for General Stewart to visit in his helicopter any day now.
— -
Next chapter: https://readmedium.com/chapter-15-keeping-the-faith-569d3b0d2e7
— -
Author’s note: If you are enjoying this story, please drop me a note in the comments. I would love to hear from you!
And if you are not yet a Medium member and want to find out what happens to Benjamin, you have two options:
- Join Medium. I think it is worth it! Use my referral link: https://gaertner-andy122.medium.com/membership
- Email me, and I will send you a friend link: