“How did you and the baby sleep? ” “Very well. ” “Are you comfortable with the babysitter? ” “Yeah. Edward’s an easy baby; he won’t give her any problems. ” “Good. Did Crocco tell you about our plans to move you off the estate tonight? ” “No. ” “We have men searching the suburbs for a nice place. I’ll have a generator hooked up for you. Hopefully, we can find a house that still has wiring intact and a well so we can hook a generator directly into the electrical box and get the water pump, hot water heater, and lights working. ” “That’s very kind of you,”Tabitha said. “I can’t thank you enough.
But it’s not necessary, we won’t be staying long. ” ‘We’ll see about that; I’m going to do my best to talk you into staying for a little while, at least. I was thinking we could take a ride up to the top of Sleeping Giant. I have a lunch packed for us,” William said. “Sleeping Giant? ” “Yeah, he’s right there behind you – Sleeping Giant Park,” William said, nodding towards the mountain range. “It’s very peaceful up there, we can talk privately. ” “Sounds good to me. ” “All right, let’s gear up. ” William retrieved two M4A1 assault rifles with leather straps from a gun safe in the Butterworth barn.
He handed one to Tabitha and slung one over his shoulder. Tabitha slung the rifle across her back and waited for William to mount up. “Want me to ride with you guys? ” Crocco asked. “No,” William said. “How about a security detail? ” “We’ll be fine,” William said. “We need to talk in private. ” THE horses walked single file up a narrow trail. Halfway up Sleeping Giant, the trail widened enough for the horses to walk side-by-side.
William pulled on the reins and waited for Tabitha to ride next to him. “It’s the surprise of a lifetime to have you here,” William said. Fill me in on what’s been going on. ” “Geez, I don’t even know where to start. ” “Start with your family. You said the baby is your grandchild. ” “Yes. After Edward left office, we all retired to Rosewood. He took me, and I had his child – Isabella. She was a beautiful girl. Even with his dark presence in my life, I had one beam of light to keep me going – Isabella.
When she turned sixteen, Isabella fell in love with one of the men on Edward’s security detail. She got pregnant. She died giving birth, the doctors just couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Tabitha said. That’s awful. I’m so sorry. Why did you leave Rosewood? ” “I had to. I couldn’t take it any longer. The lies, the deceit; Edward is an evil force. ” “Evil? That sounds a little extreme. What did he do to you? ” “He has done things to me that would break most women. But this isn’t about me, I’m not here to ask for your help protecting me, I’m here to ask for your help with the counter-movement. ” “Counter-movement? What’s that? ” “A counter-movement is growing state-by-state, city-by-city, town-by-town across this nation.
People are starting to come together to throw off the damage done to our communities by reconstituting social order. It’s a counter-revolution, William; a chance to pull this nation back together before it spirals completely out of control. ” “Why? ” “Oh, William. How can you even ask why? Look at what we’ve become. Look at the suffering across the land. We were wrong. We were so blind, and so wrong. The Movement destroyed this nation. I was the face of that destruction while you helped pave the path to anarchy through your policy work.
We owe it to the throngs of people suffering out there to make every effort to roll back the forces we unleashed. ” “Even if you could convince me of the why, how do you propose to begin this counter-movement? ” The horses reached the castle at the top of Sleeping Giant. Tabitha and William dismounted. William tied the reins around low hanging branches, lifted a picnic lunch out of a saddlebag, and led Tabitha to the top of the castle. William spread out a blanket and set up a lunch of fried chicken, cornbread, hardboiled eggs, and canned peaches.
Tabitha stared down from the top of Sleeping Giant while William set up the picnic lunch. William joined her and stared out over the crumbling remains of Quinnipiac University. They watched smoke and smog choke New Haven and blanket Long Island Sound. “There’s your why,” Tabitha said, waving her hand out over the wasteland. “What? ” William asked. “You asked me why we need a revolution – there’s your answer. Everything has gone to shit. We tore away all the structures that used to bind and protect people in this country.
We declawed the institutions that constrained the excesses of men and women fueled by greed and want. We created this cesspool. ” “It’s not that bad,” William said. “People who embrace personal responsibility are thriving. Just look at my estate. ” “How long do you think your farm can last? Do you have any idea what’s happening around you? ” “What do you mean? ” “Do you know what’s happening across this nation? Do you know what’s clawing its way towards your farm? ” “Sure. I still have access to the Movement newsfeed over a satellite connection. I know that there are some tough situations out there.
But there have always been tough situations. ” “Tough situations, is that what you call it? William, you’re blind; don’t believe a goddamned thing that you read on that Movement newsfeed. It’s all sanitized propaganda. Here’s the truth: Edward Birch has unleashed chaos and anarchy on this nation. I believe that was his goal from the very beginning, to use The Movement to unleash war, pestilence, famine, and death on the United States. He used the promise of liberty and freedom to soften us up, and push aside all the structures that stood in the way of anarchy.
He conned Americans into believing that the natural state of man is liberty and free will; it is not, the natural state of man is war and death in all its’ miserable forms. All those social contracts and government structures we fought so hard to destroy were actually a thin bulwark against chaos. Edward Birch is no hero; he is a demon. Trust me, I know. I’ve stared deeply into his beady, black eyes; I’ve been held in his cloven hands; I’ve smelt the sulfur and brimstone on my body when he’s finished raping my flesh. He is a dark force that is reveling in the wrath and ruin that has befallen this nation. “