Curtailment of Liberty

Suzette Kincaid frantically corralled 3 children into various hiding places as quickly as possible. The sound of Vankyo Marine boots rapidly approached. A frightful hum of marching in cadence.

"I'm scared. I miss my parents." Whispered Thomas. At 5 years old he was by far the youngest of the "Yuniku." Suzette was tasked with protecting them at all cost. At 37, caring for children was nothing new. Before the war it was her job, after all.

"Don't be scared," Suzette attempted to console Thomas, kneeling down to stare into his eyes. "We will see your parents very soon. Do you have the locket?" She asked.

Thomas removed a small heart shaped locket from his pocket and proudly presented it to her. The locket was given to him by his parents, as it was passed down for generations. Inside the locket was a picture of his mother posing in a flower field, showing her perfect smile. The flower fields are long gone by now, along with her smile. A side effect of seasonal nuclear winter.

"If you get scared just close your eyes and hold on to your locket, it will give you courage and strength." She assured him, grasping his hands while he held the locket close. He smiled and gazed into her hazel eyes. As he clutched the locket it began to illuminate. Suzette sealed him into the wall behind a false mirror.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Vankyo Marines were at her door. She quickly glanced around the room to be sure all of the children were hidden. She found her obsidian blade and tucked it into her waistband.

"Miss Kincaid, this is inspector Brown. I apologize for the inconvenience, we need to have a word with you," he said through the door. It was hard enough to understand the Marines through their helmets and gas masks. The added layer of a door made it nearly impossible to discern what Brown was saying.

"Of course," she cautiously opened the door. "Please, have a seat." She motioned towards the makeshift table created from a pile of pallets with an old door on top. Milk crates were stacked and fastened together for chairs with old pillows as cushions. Furniture had become a rare luxury since the revolution. Housing and home goods were tightly controlled by the Vankyo government that seized power after the war. Most people lived in rehabilitation camps, or work camps. Suzette was one of the lucky few deemed worthy of permanent housing, if you could call it that.

Inspector Brown and 2 armed guards entered the residence and approached the improvised table. Brown removed his gloves and began detaching his helmet.

“Do you mind if I remove head gear?” Inspector Brown asked, with his headgear half detached.

“Please, make yourself comfortable.” Suzette replied while circling the table and finding a seat. “I would offer refreshments, but-”

“It's fine, we won't be long.” Brown interjected.

Suzette was visibly uneasy. Although she had not taken part in the revolution, her entire family was massacred or sent away to slave labor camps. They didn’t possess the DNA required for rehabilitation. Inspector Brown sat down and removed his helmet and lower gas mask, revealing a mutilated face and white hot, almost glowing eyes. Suzette immediately looked away to avoid staring.

“Miss Kincaid, is it true you were a school teacher?” The inspector probed. As his men began to canvas the room. She knew what they were looking for but she wondered if they had any idea what she was hiding.

“Yes, I…. I taught early primary school for 10 years before the war.” She replied confidently and with a sense of pride, breathing deeply and elevating her chest. She crossed her legs, placing one hand between them and the other on her waistband feeling for her blade.

“So you understand the value and potential of our children?" Brown spoke slow and methodically. "There is nothing in this world quite like a young mind. They are truly a blank slate. A dry sponge awaiting the moisture of knowledge.” His voice was both sinister and genuine. They locked eyes as Suzette clenched her jaw and began to analyze his face. It was a mixture of scars and deformity, like he was dipped in acid and sliced at simultaneously. She winced at the thought.

“Yes, I do see limitless potential in children. However, I think we disagree here.” Suzette leaned forward. “A child's mind is a seed that needs to be watered and allowed to blossom on its own. I view myself as the light that nourishes and guides them.” Her fear began to be replaced with anger as her cheeks and face became flushed.

“Well, Miss Kincaid, fortunately Vankyo has determined the best course of action for our children.” Brown crossed his arms firmly. “There is no debate to be had. You will soon be shown the way.” Brown began to look around the room. One of his guards had taken a particular interest in a locked wardrobe, looking it up and down. “Have you been in contact with any of your former students?” Asked inspector Brown.

Suzette looked away. “Of course not, all children viable for indoctrination were taken months ago. And the others…” She looked down as a sense of dread came over her. “No, I… I have not been in contact with anyone.”

“Would you mind if we have a look around?” Inspector Brown stood up motioning for his guard to open the wardrobe.

“Of course, I have nothing to hide. I am loyal to Vankyo.” Kincaid said, as her voice cracked. Suzette carefully stood up, keeping her blade concealed. She approached the 2 guards who were attempting to force open the locked wardrobe.

“Please, don’t break my wardrobe. It took me weeks to find a suitable closet for my Vankyo uniforms.” She approached the guard. “I can unlock it for you.” She retrieved her keys from the table and approached the wardrobe. Hands shaking, she fumbled for the small key to open the wardrobe door. The guards stepped aside, grasping their electric batons. Kincaid inserted a key, turned the lock and revealed a collection of her personal belongings.

“STEP ASIDE!” One of the guards demanded in a robotic tone. He then pushed her out of the way, almost causing her obsidian blade to fall from her waistband. One of the guards began rustling through the wardrobe, retrieving several books.

“CONTRABAND! CONTRABAND!” One of the guards proclaimed as the other guard unsheathed his electric baton, raising it over his head. Suzette squinted her eyes and raised her hands to block the incoming blow, she knew all too well how it felt. Inspector Brown stepped in as the baton came down and grabbed the guard's wrist.

“NO! She is an asset to Vankyo. She will not be struck. Retrieve the contraband for incineration.” Brown ordered the guard. Suzette slowly lowered her arms and as she opened her eyes she saw the barcode on her wrist, reminding her how far the world has come. As the guard collected the books, inspector Brown and the other guard became increasingly interested in the enormous mirror located in the hallway.

“Smash the mirror, all forms of vanity have been outlawed under order 14.67J.” Barked inspector Brown.

Standing behind them, Kincaid moved closer to inspector Brown. As the guard prepared to destroy the mirror, Suzette could see Brown staring into his reflection. Disgusted by his own appearance, he closed his eyes and grimaced. Kincaid reached into her waistband and clutched her obsidian blade, as the guard raised his baton to smash the mirror. She moved forward as the mirror crashed to the floor and sliced the neck of inspector Brown. His carotid artery sprayed a deep green blood across the shattering mirror and walls.

The guard, standing in front of Brown and Kincaid, was astonished to see a young child behind the falling glass. As he realized what he was seeing, he turned to confront Kincaid and was immediately doused with green blood over his helmet glass shield; the guard was temporarily blinded. Inspector Brown let out a gurgling scream while falling to the ground. He landed on his knees, in a prayer position, clutching his neck as he fell face down on the floor.

As the Marine began to frantically wipe the viscous blood from his helmet, he called for his compatriot. Suzette turned and ran full speed at the guard collecting the books and roundhouse kicked him in the helmet, sending the helmet flying across the room. His body spun around and fell to the ground. Suzette grasped her blade with two hands and plunged it with full force into the guard's chest as she came to her knees. His arms and legs shot out in all directions as if he was struck by lightning.

Suzette breathed a sigh of relief just as she heard the sprinting guard returning from the hallway with his electric baton over his head, blood smeared helmet now removed. She tried to pull the blade from the chest of the other guard, however it was lodged deep in his rib cage. As the guard came running towards her, she spun her right leg around in a sweeping motion aimed at his ankles. The guard spun in the air and collided with the ground at full force. Suzette got up and immediately stuck her left knee into his neck, pinning his right arm with her other leg and holding his left arm down with her hands.

The man was incredibly strong but very disoriented from the fall to the ground. He thrashed around and fought as the air slowly escaped his lungs. Suzette stared into his white hot blue eyes as he panicked. She was awestruck by how far his eyes could open, it looked as if they would pop out from the pressure of her knee.

She drove her knee deeper and deeper into his neck. She heard a loud pop from his spinal cord or Adam's apple, she was unsure what made the sound. She watched intensely as life began to fade from his eyes and the guard went limp. Suzette immediately jumped up and ran over to retrieve her blade. It took all of her body weight and strength to remove the blade from his chest.

She began to survey the room. Inspector Brown lay in a pool green sludge and the two guards were lifeless. As she looked up from the floor she saw Thomas crying, covered in cuts from the falling mirror. She ran over to him and began to pick the shards of glass from his skin.

“It's ok, it's ok. We’re going to get you cleaned up. But we have to leave now.” She procured a blue shirt from the wardrobe and began to field dress Thomas. His cuts were all superficial and minor in nature. Kincaid picked Thomas up and commanded Alice and Erick to come out of hiding. Alice, 11 years old, was under the sink in the kitchen. Erick, who was 12, was in the air conditioning vent.

“We have 20 minutes before they send more. Collect anything you can carry. We need to leave immediately.” Suzette told the children. They began to gather what few personal belongings they had. Suzette packed a small backpack with food and water. The 4 of them ran from the apartment without looking back.

Suzette was in possession of an old small school bus. Everyone boarded the bus and they drove west, to the sea.

“I left my locket Suzie, we have to go back!” Thomas exclaimed.

“We can’t go back Thomas.” Suzette told him. “We can never go back.”