Figment of my imagination, no more. Or maybe more; my feelings poured out into this one: secret fantasies fled via my fingers and are now naked to the world. I hope I do not regret this.
Please email me at mask4truth@yahoo.com.au, I can take all the criticisms and praises you throw.
:mt:
The Unveiling Chapter 1
I risked a glance toward my friends - my 'army' - behind me. Every one of them was an ordinary civilian a week ago. Now they were covered in blood and dirt, each with a weapon which most had never laid hands on before a week ago - including me.
Focus. Wait for the 'scout'. He's returning anytime now. My pistol, which I had named 'Reliever', felt right in my hands. I never thought I would get used to it. But survival demands it from all of us - damn this war. Which country had those soldiers come from anyway? They spoke English well enough, but they were definitely not Americans, Englishmen or Australians. Come to think of it, why would an English-speaking army attack Melbourne the first place?
We were waiting in an alley between two buildings. The alley was empty and large enough to fit two trucks, but we were pressed on the wall on either side of the alley. We depended on the dark of the evening and the walls of the building to hide. Invisibility was our only chance of surviving.
The 'scout' returned at last and gave me the 'clear' signal. Not wasting any time, I signaled my friends and lead them out onto the empty road. When I was sure that everyone was following, I continued running along the road as stealthily as I could without compromising speed. After counting two alleys, I slipped into the third. Finishing a quick inspection around the alley, I returned my attention to my friends and counted them. This routine had become a habit. Things were going perfectly to plan. There were not any encounters with the army that day, and they were making good time. I approximated two days before reaching the port. Then all was left was to a steal ship and escape. No more army bullshit. I smiled at the thought.
Just as I was about to send out my 'scout', lights suddenly flooded the alley from both sides. Some of my friends cursed and my heart gave a lurch - they caught us! Damn, how many are there? I narrowed my eyes to count my enemies behind the blinding lights, hoping there were only a dozen of them.
"What do we do?" asked Jase, his voice desperate but determined. I turned to answer but froze at the sight of my friends. They were frozen on their spots, each in a fierce stance, their weapons raised. And yet, hope was absent from their eyes. They were finally caught, there was no denying that.
Then someone else, who wasn't among them, spoke. "Finally, the 'ghosts' were caught. Its about time, don't you think?"
I turned to face the man. Not that I could actually 'see' him. "Shut the lights. Its rude."
"Defiance even in a compromising position? Notable. You're their leader, are you not?" The same man. Were they negotiating? Hope fluttered in my heart.
"Does it matter? Shut the lights or we'll shoot," I retorted. We had agreed to fight to death in case something like this happens. No damned army were going to find them easy.
To our surprise they complied. The lights were turned off and we became temporarily blind until our eyes adjusted to the nocturnal lights. Then we saw how many they were - two to three dozens. About twice their own. Sorrow filled me immediately. They 'could' win if they were fortunate - 'very' fortunate - but that was unlikely.
"As you can see, we would most probably defeat you and your people - but with casualties. Your people fight fiercely," that man stepped forward. He was in a black uniform, contrasting his army's sky blue uniform. "But my men are precious to me. How about a deal?"
He waited for my reply. Damn him, like he didn't know that I had no choice. "What do you want?"
He sneered. "Come with us as our prisoner," he waved at my friends, "and we'll let your people take a ship and go."
I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. I'd sooner shoot my own friends than believe those words. Instead I steadied my voice. "How would I know my friends would be safe?"
"No!"
I knew Jase would protest, but I ignored him. "Surely you don't think I'd believe you on your word alone?"
"Well, what other choice do you have?"
"I'll come with you, but on my terms."
The man raised an eyebrow in amusement. Or was it curiosity? Damn him. "And?"
With practiced speed, I pulled 'Reliever' up and aimed at the man's head. "The trigger is half-pressed - shoot or move and he's dead!" I kept my gaze at that man. His head was a couple of feet from the nozzle of 'Reliever'.
That man had not even flinched. "You have my attention. Your terms?" He actually sounded bored, damn him!
"Gather all your soldiers behind you." It was a good thing he was near enough. That man's soldiers would be reluctant to blow his brains this way, risking the chance of his fingers pulling the trigger as a reaction.
That man gave his soldiers a nod. Soon the alley behind them was void of soldiers. "How is that helping you and your people's escape? Can't you see there isn't any choice?" the man asked, his tone curious.
"I stay, you stay, your soldiers stay," I said. Comprehension became clear on that man then.
"No.. you can't!" Jase said, stepping forward.
"Go. All of you, go back 'there'. If God permits, I'll meet you 'there'," again, I ignored Jase.
"We promised, damn it! We fight, not surrender!" Jase was angry. I didn't blame him - I would be if he was in his shoes.
"You're not surrendering, I am. And I did not promise. Now GO!" I commanded with as much authority possible.
"But..." hesitated Jase. "Damn you." I heard Jase turn around and walked away. I was glad; Jase may hate it - and me for this, but he knew there was no other way.
"Sacrificing yourself for your people. Commendable," that damned man smirked. I resolved on keeping my aim true until my friends are safe.
"Guys, you heard him. We'll pull back for now. Quick, but keep an eye on them. Jay, Terry, make sure there won't be anyone ambushing us from the back," I heard Jase said. There was a clear and sharp commanding tone to his voice, even though he sounded reluctant. After all, Jase was the more experienced leader between him and me. The heavy shuffling behind me told me that my friends were catching on the change of leadership well. That was good, I doubted I'll ever return to them.
Soon my friends were gone, leaving me alone with my enemy. But I kept the gun pointed to his face, salvaging every minute for them. The further they go the better their chance. I kept an eye on his soldiers as well, making sure they were all still there. After what seemed like hours, my hands finally began to ache, and the gun wavered a little.
"They've got quite a lot of head start. Even if I chose to send my soldiers after them, we won't catch them," he said. "And I promise we won't send anyone after them."
"Longer," I was not about to give up yet. Every second counts. My friends, be safe, please.
Soon my hands burned with muscle pains and began to shake. Should I fire my gun? There will be one less leader of these damned armies; surely that meant more than my own life. They'd probably kill me anyway.
"You're shaking," the black-clad man raised an eyebrow. "You should stop before the damage becomes permanent."
That made up my mind. So I pulled the trigger - or tried to. Then I realized in horror and frustration that I could no longer feel, or move, my fingers. In utter hopelessness, I dropped my hands and let the gun clatter on the road, and waited for my fate.
He smiled and signaled one of his sky-blue clad soldiers. With surprising speed, the soldier walked up behind me and jabbed a needle into my neck. I wanted to retaliate, but the world was faded away quickly, and I could no longer see, feel or hear.
"Where's lunch?" I asked them. We just finished music practice and were already hungry. Just like every other week, we were already walking down the road towards the city before we even decided where to eat.
"Dunno. Well, if its in the city, it has to be Chinese, Vietnamese or Japanese," replied Jase. I turned to look at the tall, lean man. We had only known each other for a few months, but we made quick friends. Common interests, maybe. We both were singers for the church band. And we both love to sing.
I rolled my eyes. "Just like every other week? How can we have Asian food as our staple diet in Melbourne?" Actually that was perfectly normal, since the city had more Asian food outlets than anything else. And our church was just outside the city.
Lil' Lily laughed. "You complain about your food every week - well you can always have Mackers." She was 'Lil' Lily' because she was small and petite, but gorgeous. If she stood next Terry, our drummer, she would look like a child. She was not so small when she's behind a piano or a synthesizer though. She plays them well enough for any major event around the world.
Jase grinned. "Or don't eat for once, since you hate it so much."
"Shut up," I colored. I was always the teased one in any group. People told me it was because I hardly retaliate when somebody teases me. It was true - I don't retaliate, unless the person was at least a close friend. But by then, it would already be a habit for everyone.
"Oh come on guys, don't tease him," said Jay, which surprised me. "We'll let him have his Mackers. How's Vietnamese for you guys?" I laughed and punched his arm. I was silly to think he was defending me - Mackers was Mac Donald for Melbournians. Jay was our electric guitarist.
"Vietnamese's fine. Haven't had it for ages," said Jon, who plays the acoustic guitar. Like Lil' Lily, he was a master of his instrument. Girls go crazy over him for his guitar alone. His looks only made it more severe.
"We're on for Vietnamese as well," chimed in Jean, indicating Irene next to her. They were our female singers for our band. While Jean was tall - as tall as Jase and me - Irene's height was somewhere in between us and Lil' Lily. The three girls usually talked among themselves about things that guys prefer not to get involved in.
"And me," said Kevin, our bassist. He was always acting too cool to say anything more. But the fact was he really was cool. He had spiked up his hair, tattooed his right ankle and moved like he owned the world. It had to be the fact that he had been in the army for national service that gave him the mature air.
"Anything's fine for us," said Gary and Dean. They were our 'sound guys'. They do the technical stuff on the p.a. system for us. I was also a part of the 'sound team' for a while, until I decided to devote my practices to singing alone. I still help them out sometimes though, out of habit.
Jay looked at Simon. "And you?"
"Viet's fine," Simon replied. He's another quiet one. But he wasn't shy, just quiet. He was our other synthesizer player and pianist.
Jase beamed. "It's Viet then, let's go!" He then turned to me and poked me in the ribs. "Hope that's good enough for you."
I yelped involuntarily and jabbed my fingers in his ribs in retaliation.
"Oww! Hey, I didn't poke that hard," Jase quickly used both his hands to jab me on both sides. Two seconds later I was chasing Jase down the road like a little boy, vowing to get him back for that one.
Life seemed perfect then. We were close friends, and would have hung out together everyday if it weren't for the fact that we had to study (or work in some cases). But it was that day that the life and city that we had loved fell apart before us. That day was the last day for the twelve of us to ever experience life the way we had.
The night was cold - it was as if the autumn winds flowed through my sleeping bag effortlessly. After our Vietnamese lunch, we went to the Exhibition building for resume our music practice. We were to perform in that building, so we decided to camp in the large hall the day before we perform. The hall was large and empty; but it was cold, even in the afternoon during our practice. I was tired - we did not even go out for dinner that night. I tossed in my sleeping bag again. It seemed that everyone else slept well, I blamed my sleeping bag for not keeping me warm.
Then someone banged open the hall's huge wooden door and people started pouring in. For a split second I thought it was morning and people already started coming in to watch the performances. However as the people got closer I noticed that they weren't civilians. They were wearing uniforms, and were unmistakably carrying rifles.
Surprised, I shook Jase beside me. "Jase, wake up, quick!" I whispered.
Jase opened his eyes slightly and moaned. "It's still early."
I kicked him and pointed. "Look dammit."
Jase's eyes widened in surprise and he shot up suddenly. "What the-"
The armed men now surrounded us and pointed their rifles on our heads. "Wake the others," commanded one of the armed man. Unsure of what was happening, we shook the others awake. Most of the guys only froze when they saw the army. Lil' Lily gasped audibly when she noticed their guns. There were still more armed men coming in from the door.
"All of you, out of the bags, with your hands where I can see them," the same man spoke when we were all awake.
We climbed out of our sleeping bags into the cold air. "What's going on?" asked Jase. "We haven't done anything."
"You didn't need to," sneered that man. He must be some sort of a leader of these men. What on Earth was going on?
"Now out of your clothes, all of you," he said when we left our sleeping bags. We were aghast, but the tone of his voice was humorless. "I said out of it!" he shouted and fired his rifle in the air. We flinched at that. We were afraid, but we did it anyway.
"The government is going to make you pay for this," muttered Jase as he peeled of his clothing in deliberate slowness.
The man laughed. "Your nation is already taken over by us," then the man hardened his face. "We are your government now." No. They were lies; no army can take over a country in a day. I looked at the armed men again, and noticed there were almost a hundred of them in the hall by now. Anger began building in me. I was angry for the girls. I could hear their muffled sobs as they peeled of their dignity with their clothing.
When we were all naked, a man went around them and collected their clothes. I tried my best to stare ahead. I resolved on letting my friends keep whatever dignity they had left and not look at them, especially the girls. Fear suddenly stabbed my heart. What if they decided to rape the girls? It happened often enough in the movies. I clenched my fist. No, I will not let that happen.
The man, their leader nodded at his men. "We're done with them. Eagle Dirrek, take three men and take them to the rest." A man, who must be 'Eagle Dirrek', touched three of the armed man on their shoulders and the four of them stepped away from the rest. The leader then took the rest of the men and left the hall. Relief fell upon me immediately; so they hadn't stripped us so that they can... Instead they stripped us so that we have nothing to fight back with, requiring only a minimum number of people to keep them from fighting back.
"Listen up!" shouted this 'Eagle Dirrek' when it was only the twelve and four of them. "All of you will follow us wherever we go. Anyone who tries to run, or try anything funny, we'll shoot."
"Do we have to do this naked?" asked Jase defiantly. 'Eagle Dirrek' did not like that, of course. He walked up to Jase beside me and smacked him hard on his head. My fists tightened.
'Eagle Dirrek' turned to look at the rest. "Yes, naked, or less," then his eyes met mine. "You have a problem?" he dared. I must have glared at him unconsciously. But I kept silent and chose to glare at the wall instead.
He then stepped in front of me, so close that I could feel his breath. "Maybe one of you should die as an example," he hissed and raised his rifle.
"No!" shouted Jase and moved toward us.
'Eagle Dirrek' slammed his rifle into Jase's face and then pointed the nozzle at Jase's forehead. Sensing the opportunity, I quickly grabbed the pistol at his belt and blew a hole in his head before he could pull the trigger.
Everything was a blur then. 'Eagle Dirrek' fell on me as I fell backwards, I shot the armed man behind us while I was still underneath the body. Jase picked up a rifle and fired the man on the other side. Jay, or was it Terry, punched the remaining man square on his face and stunned him. Jean finished it by wrenching the rifle from him and shot him in his chest.
Pushing the dead man of me, I stood up and felt a wave of sickness flooding my senses as I watched the bodies of the men we had killed. Blood of 'Eagle Dirrek' had spilled on my chest. I tried my best to ignore it. "Guys, search these men for weapons," I told them. They nodded and began searching the dead men. We only found four rifles and five pistols, so we decided that the girls would not carry a weapon, because they were surprisingly heavy, even for the guys.
Jean walked briskly over to the corner of the hall. "Our clothes are in the bin. I saw them threw them in," she said as she emptied our clothes onto the floor.
Without looking at the girls, I said, "go put your clothes back on. Jase, Terry, Kevin. Stay with me and guard the entrances. The rest grab our clothes." They did as I had told them. My skin longed for cloth and warmth. When they had their clothes on, we let the guys assume the guard as we slipped back into our clothes.
Jase nodded at me. "Let's go." I looked back at my friends again. Even though clothed, their dignity was not fully restored. Confusion and fear still filled their eyes.
"Wait." Jean pulled something out of 'Eagle Dirrek's belt and handed it to Lil' Lily and Irene.
"What was that?" I asked Jean.
"Radio. We can listen to them communicate this way."
"Good idea," I said. Then I signaled the rest. "Come, lets go."