Chapter 3

GDAY

Wouldn't it be nice if people treated people with humanity? Wouldn't it be nice if people end up being decent to each other.

I'm pounding on the door. Down the hallway, there is a family.

"Hurry up Doris," a woman says to her partner.

I watch as they are scurrying off with suitcases. The looks of fear on their faces says it all. Something had just happened. Something bad. I'd just escaped J. Boone's lair at this point. Someone had killed the leader of the Japanese Triad and it had been revealed between me and my best friend that one of us was a traitor.

He ended up dead, but I ended up alive.

And you would think that would be the most traumatizing thing that happens that night until we hear the G-day announcement.

G-Day: The day where our President lost his mind and announced an upcoming genocide for all those who were not loyalists.

"You OK?"

My mother finally opens the door. I barge in, "Who called for me?"

"You need to calm down. Why are you breathing so heavy? Cair I think it's time to sit. We need to talk. You've been acting weird ever since you came to live with me. I knew the transition to a gay country could be difficult..."

"Pack a bag..." I state.

"What?"

"Remember those times we used to look at the TV and you'd say you were keeping a bag packed because our president was crazy?"

"Yeah?"

"Well this is it," I tell my mother, "This is the event. Pack up Now..."

I run to my bedroom. Luckily enough I had an unlocked phone in here. The cellphones in New Jerusalem were tricky. A lot of people swore that the government tracked you if you used the local network. So my father got me this jailbroken phone that was off-network. I grab it from underneath the bed and dial the only number I know. Kaiser.

"I'm in trouble," I tell him.

Kaiser takes a moment, "Listen I have a lot of stuff going on. Tonight is my husband's birthday."

"I have a lot of shit going on."

"The city has a lot of shit going on if you haven't noticed!" Kaiser barks clearly frustrated but then after a few seconds he calms down and takes a deep breath, "I can get you out. But it won't be until tomorrow..."

"We don't have until tomorrow," I state.

"That's all we have," he states, "Today my uncle is going to announce my husband's birthday celebration. It's not safe to travel when he is in these moods..."

When people talk like this about Faison Castle I am sure that we are in a country ruled by a madman. Why were we scared to fly? Was he going to order planes shot out of the sky?
I'd heard the Castles were inbred. Something they did to keep their genes clean. Some people say they were either genius or crazy as all hell. There was no in-between. We knew that Faus Castle got the genius gene and his son Faison got the crazy gene. What about the kids? What about the descendants? Was Kaiser Castle a genius or a madman?

I look over at my mother walking past her room. She's shaking but she's packing. I can see her breathing heavy. She's nervous as all hell.

"I need two seats."

"I can't move two people. They flag anyone traveling in pairs as possible traitors?"

Traitors? Seriously? Just for traveling with another person? What was Faison Castle scared of? He'd stop losing his heat shields and have to finally face the music for all his crimes against humanity?

"You WILL be flagged..."

"But I'll be out."

"You come back and you could be arrested---possibly killed. The government gets 20 million for each gay deportee they receive from a foreign nation. My uncle has a reason to keep you all here. What if you leave and just get extradited here. You are a citizen of New Jerusalem. The answer is no. Forget her. She thinks you are Cair anyway..."

He was right. My mother had finally been kind to me after all these years but it's only because she thought I was my twin brother. She couldn't even tell us apart. My father could. She never looked at me long enough to know I didn't look like her favorite child that much.

"Fuck you for not helping me. You're a fucking prince!"

"That temper---- you are a fugitive now. You get that right? Boone is still alive and alerted everyone that he was attacked. Not by Cair but Cicily---if word gets out that you aren't Cair---"

"I know who I am. I'm a son. And I guess you can't help me--- I guess I'll find another way----"

He stops me.

"Wait..."

"

It's later that day. Time for our flight.

We're in the car. My heart is racing. On the radio, we hear someone come. Above us, there is a flash of message on the teleprompters that float on skyscraping towers over New Jerusalem. Faison Castle shows up on the screen. A handsome, almost well-composed person that you would never assume had a hint of crazy underneath his regality.

"I am happy to announce today will be the first national holiday of our young nation. I will call it G-day. Gay Day. A day where everyone can celebrate allegiance...to Faison Castle."

He was a narcissist. Hearing his voice asking for allegiance makes me cringe. I'm not the only one. My mother cringes too. She won't say it out loud but she's disgusted by his voice. She'd never admit it out loud though. She only had kind words.

"The president looks good today."

She says it between gritted teeth. There had been a rumor that the cars were bugged by the government. It was bullshit but try to convince people who had been victimized by being gay for years and finally felt like they were safe. All of a sudden they aren't willing to question things. They aren't willing to put up too much a fight. They don't want to ruin a good thing. The only good thing most of them had ever known.

I get a call at that moment. I look down at the phone. My mother knows it's Kaiser Castle. She thinks it's dangerous to get involved with him but right now she's not complaining.

"Hey..."

"Are you past TSA?"

"No...of course not..."

"Shit...turn back."

"What?"

"Turn back. My uncle just announced G-Day. Right now if you aren't loyal you are dead. It's too late. Turn back. Plus I intercepted a message from Boone. I think you're being followed..."

All of a sudden my phone shuts down. I look down confused. My mother grabs her cellphone. It's the same thing. Something the government was doing. Blocking calls.

The message from Faison is still playing. He's telling them to go ahead and put rainbows on their doors to show they are loyal. He's completely lost his mind. The man thought he was Moses from the Old Testament.

"Someone's following us," I state looking back at a man in a yellow suit in a white car. He's been behind us for the past 2 blocks.

That's when my mother looks over, "Are you going to tell me what's happening?"

I turn that radio up, "Don't you hear? Faison Castle is up to something. My friend told me to stay away from the airports but I think we should still try...we can't go back anyway. Not now."

Too much traffic back that way. It'd take hours to get back home. Even the flying platforms were crowded with people. Goddamnit what was going on? It looked like the entire world was ending by the panicked looks on people's faces.

"The president is crazy," she leans in saying it in a whisper, "I'm more concerned with you..."

She'd come. She had packed a bag and she came with me. So I assume she had to believe me to some degree. She had to know that we needed to get out of New Jerusalem. As we pull up to the airport we notice the long lines. We notice the wall to wall crammed parking areas. New Jerusalem relied highly on floating platforms but cars did play an essential part at times.

"I'm OK, we need to get out. We need to walk."

I jump out. My mother seems confused until I go over to the driver's side and get her out too. We park the car right there in the street grabbing what we can from the trunk. Other people are doing the same. People have abandoned their calls on the highway and there is this mass migration of people towards the airports.

I look up. I see helicopters. Then I see sirens. Police sirens.

"They are looking for someone," I state.

That's when I turn and notice the person. The person in yellow. He was still following us. He was trying to act undercover and conceal who he was. But it was clear.

"We're being followed. We'll never get out this airport," I tell my mother, "We need to leave we need to-----"

That's when I notice my mother looking down. She looks down at her phone. It's a weird look. A knowing look.

I reach for it and she jerks back.

And that's when I notice her turning towards the man with the Yellow Jacket. Not as though she was suspicious of him. Not like she even was scared. She welcomed him. She was tense. It was me she was scared of.

"You wouldn't..." I realize my mother has betrayed me, "You wouldn't do this to your son..."

"You're not my son."

She stares at me. Tears are in her eyes but she's not sad. She's angry. The look of hate floats over her face.

"You know?"

"I know Cair. When the two of you were born he came out so calm. Then there was you. At that time it was a surprise. I didn't expect another. And then came  Cicily screaming out in the world. Screaming. And I never understood. Even in the beginning. You always had everything you ever wanted and you always had to go fuck it up..."

My mother knew I had been pretending to be my brother. I swallow my spit. I light a cigarette. If the man in the yellow was there then others wouldn't be far behind. I'd be killed. Maybe killed on television. Our government got into that."

"You never loved me..." I state.

I say it because I want her to deny it. Every son wants their mother's love. They deny it. They try to act tough, but inside we want that. So I want her to warm up to me. I want her to soften up to me. But I'm not Cair.

So instead I just get a cold hard, "It's over...I'm sorry."

She's ready to give me up. Just like that. I think tears are ready to fall down my fuckng eyes and just when I get the opportunity to do something about it I hear a car. I turn just in time to jump out of the way as a car skids up the wrong side of the street, past some blockades and onto the street.

I look over and see a rather nice car with an even nicer looking guy.

"Kaiser?"

"If you want to live----come with me..."

~

We're driving through the chaos. The message by Faison was still up. It had been up for hours. He'd taken me to get somewhere to eat. It was nighttime now. One of the longest nights I've had of my life. Most of the businesses are closed save this guy who was selling street meat in a tutu. Welcome to New Jerusalem. We were headed towards the city. Not too far away the spirals of the imperial palace. The spiraling tower was almost 800 feet tall. As we approach, things seem odd. We get to a gate.

"Open the gate," Kaiser orders the guard standing there.

The man doesn't look up from his computer. He seems focused on what he's doing, "Gate's closed. Don't you see that? The whole world's gone to shit..."

Not the city. He said the world.

What was going on?

"Open the gate."

"Listen fuck shit I----" he stops looking up and recognizing the regal face of a Castle man. All of a sudden he swallows his spit, "Prince Kaiser. I didn't know. Please forgive me. Please don't hurt me. I have a husband. We have an adopted kid..."

I raise my eyebrow seeing how he reacts to a rather calm acting Kaiser who doesn't seem to be even slightly aggressive.

"Open the gate."

I don't think I'd ever seen a gate go up that quick. We keep driving and I keep thinking about the last little situation but I don't want to mention it to him. I know it's not his reputation that had the guard shook. It's at Faison Castle. The Imperial Palace has soldiers. A lot of them. This was usually a crowded place with government buildings. I notice the rainbow paint still on the door. That's when the hurt from my mother burns but I don't show it. I need to be strong right now. I turn to my left and see Kaiser. Something has him shaken up as well.

"You OK?"

"Fine...but we need to hurry before Boone finds you."

"Hurry where?"

"Get you drafted," he states, "The one thing that I didn't want to have happened has happened. World War III."

"Faison?"

He shakes his head, "Faison is brain dead."

"What?"

He turns down the radio. We pull over. He adjusts himself. I knew that he was nervous and maybe that's why I reach for his hand. I just want to offer him a sort of comfort. Any sort of comfort. He lets me surprisingly. And then he lets me squeeze his hand. As he talks I continue to rub his hand.

"My other Uncle Titus took the throne. All the royals have gone to their corners of the world and gotten backings from different countries. Our king is Titus now..."

"Our king?"

He nods, "Get used to it. Follow me..."

~

"I change my mind...I can't do this..."

I'm having a panic attack. Kaiser slams me into the wall, "Just a few weeks. Give me a few weeks. You'll still be in boot camp. I'll find a way to get you transferred to my office or something..."

"I can't do a few weeks."

He slaps me. Hard across my face.

Just then someone walks past. Just in time, we can fix our faces. It was close though. Too close. Kaiser was powerful but I'd seen powerful people get punished for minuscule things here.

"I just want to call my father. He'll get me out."

He nods, "I'll get him."

"What?"

"I'll get your father to contact you somehow. I'll have to figure it out. I know they are saying they have a strict sort of training for you guys with no communication to the outside world."

No communication?

Was that normal in an army?

"Get it together..."

The area of the palace we go to is different from the others. It's off from the main spiral. I'd seen the area before but the walls had been so big that no one knew what happened behind them. It was in the middle of the city. As we enter the building it is clear that this is a military building and all of a sudden I know what this is about.

"The draft..."

I immediately hesitate.

He looks over at me, "I can't save you from it. But I can at least make sure that you're comfortable."

I pause.

He leads me, past guards. High military guards who do nothing more but salute him. We go into a room that looks more like an airline holder. The large space stretches out further than my eyes and can and all I see here are children. Kids.

In military gear...holding guns...

They have these scared looks on their faces. Half of them don't know how to hold their weapons and are struggling at this point to remain silent on crooked lines stretching out across the holder.

"They are kids... Some kids down there couldn't be older than 15..."

"11...11 is where they started with the draft," he states, "We thought Faison Castle was bad but Uncle Titus is even worse. He thinks all children should be fighting. These are the general draftees though. Your room is up there."

He points to a room separated from the others. The room leads underground it seems like. As we approach I see a familiar face. These guys were standing there off to the side. They were dressed in black. They weren't with the other kids. They were strong, muscular men. They all were listening to someone who was holding a huge camera. It was almost like they were being filmed for something?

Was it some sort of interview or something? Those people looked important.

But the most important thing is the man I realize.

"Bashir----BASHIR!"

Bashir Ballerina was there. Things with Bashir had ended badly but he thought I was Cair, who was his boyfriend. He winks at me silently but puts a finger on his mouth. He's stopping me. I notice the other people around him. Important people. One boy, I don't remember his name but I'd definitely seen him on television and then there was him. Salvatore Manderly. Salamander. He has his arm over Bashir's arm. They were from the same school.

"That's Squad A...the top and most elite class."

"They look powerful."

"They've been prepared for this for a while now. You will have a squad as well. Celebrity kids like you."

"I'm not a celebrity."

"Cair is," he whispers, "And you need to make sure everyone thinks you are Cair. Do you understand me? Including any friends, you may have known before this. Everyone thinks you are Cair Queeney."

I was Cair. That meant that I couldn't act angry with Bashir. Looking over at him though and seeing him with the Squad A members made me realize Bashir was always powerful. He always worked on his body, but now he was just physically powerful looking. It was almost as though he had become a bodybuilder. I wonder if Cair influenced him to become so built. His arm is about four times the size of mine. He now weighs something close to 250...maybe even more. No fat though. It's all muscle.

The other guys with Bashir were almost just as intimidating.

Every part of me wanted to be on THAT squad.

"Your team is in here," he states, "Everyone is waiting on a speech from the President of the United States of America addressing Titus Castle..."

The entire world would be listening to see what Faison Castle said. All of a sudden my nerves are getting the most of me.

I lean up against the wall. There is a heaviness to it.

"Should I go in?" I ask.

He nods, "Listen. I can't be here. I'll try to check in on you when I can but once you're enlisted to the army you belong to them. Your Drill Master I heard is a tough one...but we're in a war so maybe that's not a bad thing."

He seems reluctant to leave. I'm reluctant to have him leave. Our eyes connect. There were kids down there with bulletproof vests on. Child soldiers. This was Faison Castle, a tyrant using his people as human bullet shields. And Titus turned it up another notch. Child soldiers. It was the cruelest thing I heard and probably the most genius. Would America or any other powers send their soldiers to kill children?

The squad room has two guards standing there. One has a tablet.

"Name?"

"Cair Queeney," I state.

"Head in. Your squad will have four members. Squad C. Enter."

The door opens by sliding up. I walk in to see a minimalistic room. There is a single bench there. Against the wall, a guy is standing there. He smells. He's young, probably a teen but he has been drinking. Alcohol strains into the air from his pores and when I approach he turns up and looks up at me.

"Hello----" I state.

"You're one of the Queeny twins----?" he states, "Cicily?"

He doesn't look familiar.

"Do I know you?"

That's when he takes a step up takes off his shawl completely and I'm blown away that it is a blast from my past. Joseph Varney was a part of my squad!

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"Please tell me you're Cicily?"

His eyes are pressed on mines. He is hoping that it's me. Apart of me wants to tell him that it is me. But then I remember what Kaiser stated. I needed to become my brother Cair. Even a comforting familiar face in a place like this couldn't be a comfort. Not really. So I just shake my head, slowly----lying to him.

I'm shocked at the disappointment on his face. He tries to sit on the bench but misses it. He's drunk. Overly drunk.

That's when the door opens. A boy walks into the room. He's an Asian boy who looked a bit like a square. When he walks into the room he doesn't offer me much of a hand to shake. It's because he's carrying something.

A boy. A boy who had to have been like 8...

"Who is that?" I ask.

He puts the kid down. The kid is asleep.

"I don't know," he states, "the guards dropped him off earlier this morning. I was just taking him to use the bathroom and he fell asleep right at the sink. He doesn't talk much. Not even a word. You must be the last member of our team. Cair Queeney right?"

I nod.

"Yeah. You are?"

He shakes my hand. It's a firm handshake, but I can tell he's nervous. He's thinner than I am. He's a lot thinner than Jacob. He was useless.

"Tanaka Riku."

"Riku?" I ask confused, "Like Boss Tanaka..."

"You know my father?" he asks, "That doesn't mean a damn thing here. There is only one person that is powerful here. No more like one name."

Castle.

At this point, it didn't matter which one of those maniacs was president. They were all the same.

"Can you guys shut the fuck up?" Jacob Varney states from the ground, "You're fucking up my drink..."

He grabs his balls. I can't believe I'd ever had a crush on the guy. Facial hair was everywhere. He looked like he hadn't bathed in forever. He was disgusting.

I ignore him and turn to Riku. I don't know which was worse. The kid. Varney. Or Riku who was just so optimistic for some reason.

"Everything is going to be OK," Riku states, "There has to be peace..."

"Didn't your Dad say that before he died?" I ask Riku.

Riku gets quiet.

Varney laughs, "That was harsh, Queeney. Even for one of the harsh Queeney brothers."

I want to ask him what the hell he means by that but I don't. He was such a drunk he probably wouldn't remember this conversation. It was only a point to talk to Riku. I expect Riku to put me in my place Triad style, but his face has a different kind of resolve.

He was the silent, stoic type.

"He's right."

"Turn on the TV," I state,

It's as though he doesn't see where he is. It's as though he doesn't see what's happening.

"Don't you see where we are..." I ask.

"What?"

"We're in a draft. Why are they putting us in here?" I ask so upset that I get in Riku's face.

"Back off!" the kid screams kicking me so hard in my shins that I almost spit out.

I almost reach for the kid but Riku picks the kid up and lift him over his shoulder, "Everyone calms down. We can talk about this like adults. Where do you think we are?"

Riku all of a sudden looks around, "You're right.

No shit.

I wasn't born yesterday. The walls were thick. I'd seen how nervous the guards were. People were holding onto peace but I don't know anymore.

That's the thing about us people at the bottom.

We didn't know about the decisions the people on top made. Here we were just making decisions without understanding why.

"This is a Bomb shelter," the little boy states.

We all turn to him.

"How'd you know that kid?" I ask him.

"Because of how they look," the young kid states.

"What's your name kid?" I ask.

"Maggot..." he states, "I like being called Maggot."

"Maggot. You seem to know why they put us in this room today. Why is that?"

He pauses.

He looks over at Tanaka. He and Tanaka had a bond or something. Tanaka gives him this corny Disney channel nod and Maggot finally feels comfortable to talk.

"We aren't the good guys. Our country is probably afraid of immediate retaliation..."

"Retaliation from what..."

He points at the television. Something has happened. Something that has even woken Jacob Varney out of his drunken stupor.

The four of us walk up to the TV like zombies.

There was an explosion on television and the big words: TITUS CASTLE HAS JUST NUKED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

I'd just been drafted in a war against my will for a man who had just nuked America...

All of a sudden my legs feel wobbly.

And I faint...

This seems to get even Varney out of his drunken stupor. He sits up and looks around, "Bomb shelter?"

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