The Solid Hold

ipam

Chapter 1

Friday

Colfax

10:07 am. map room. sunny. partly cloudy. hot. 88% humidity. 77°F

Rincon stands, sneering at Marsilla. “There is no one to tattle about, here, Marsilla. Ms. Mayor, our teen friends attended school with us then we all entered the Cubby Hole. The end.”

The mayor stares at Marsilla. “Tell me, about your little friends.”

Marsilla giggles, standing. She scoots around her glass desk then sits on the edge, like Duchie. She wiggles her golden colored sandal up and down. “Well, our teen friends, living in Colfax, were Ketona. You know and remember Ketona, Ms. Mayor. She entered the gold color tone then called out to become a farmer, rather than a medical technician.”

The mayor nods, sneering. “I remember Ketona. She was the first teen to ever reject a dream job, here, in Colfax. I will never forget that, either.”

Marsilla says. “Ketona was studying to become a medical technician, except her neighbor Rincon beat her to the dream job, like always. Anyways, she opted with her heart, instead of her mind. But, her mind is gifted…”

The mayor says. “I am not interested in that little teen tart. She lives the rest of her days inside Burrville…”

Marsilla shakes her curls. “I completely disagree with…”

The mayor says. “Who else ran around your circle, Marsilla?”

Marsilla says. “There was Buffo, who didn’t make it into the gold color tone. He was left behind inside the orange tone. He is a farmer, along with his family in Burrville…”

The mayor exhales, nodding. “I am not completely blind or deaf, intern Marsilla. And, I am beginning to question your concept…”

Marsilla frowns. “Rincon, me, Ketona, Buffo, Hatch, and Jara, not Nephella or Duchie, they were in my inner circle of friends, and my neighbors. The point, I am trying to convey here…”

“What’s your point, Marsilla?” Rincon sneers.

Marsilla smiles. “My other friends, who are both very smart, making excellent grades, as schoolers. And, they apparently had too much fun, staying inside the yellow color tone, and, now live inside Dookie Town…”

The mayor frowns. “And!?”

Marsilla nods and smiles. “And, the black circles rotate inside Dookie Town and the me-chee soldiers are missing inside Dookie Town, and there was a crime inside Montag, from a set of mysterious persons. My friends Hatch and Jara have figured out how to slip through the e-field.”

The mayor drops her mouth. “That is impossible!”

Marsilla smiles. “Where are the missing me-chee soldiers, in outer space? No. I propose that they are stolen by my smart friends Hatch and Jara.”

Duchie frowns. “How is that possible?”

Marsilla grins. “An e-field is scattered by an object, being inserted into the electromagnetic wave, parting them. When the e-field is parted, there is a hole. When there is hole, a person can slip inside…”

“Naw!” Rincon shakes his curls. “A person, object, or thing cannot pass through an e-field, without dying. Get real, Marsilla!”

“Get really gone, Marsilla!” Duchie nods.

Marsilla smiles. “And, our cat suit is composed of the same elements of the electromagnetic field, which morphed the color tone, during our Cubby Hole activities. The cat suit doesn’t die or become inactivate. Therefore, the cat suit, containing a person, can slip through the e-field then cause some mayhem. I do believe.” She nods to Rincon.

The mayor drops her mouth. “Your friends, why would they do that?”

Marsilla smiles. “They are very smart. They were very smart, during Cubby Hole. Now, they are living in a less desirable place, like Dookie Town. And, they were born and reared, here, in Colfax. What would you do, as a posh Colfaxian, if you messed up your eternal life, as a silly teen, Ms. Mayor?”

The mayor frowns. “I will accept my destiny, being a silly teen.”

Marsilla says. “The cat suit, the e-field, and the cesspool construction consist of natural earth minerals, like nickel, or aluminum, or lead. One of these natural earth minerals will, can, and does collapse an e-field for some fast freedom…”

The mayor nods and says. “How do we catch them?”

Marsilla nods and smiles. “They are…”

Rincon frowns. “They are not doing anything, Marsilla. Your theory sucks on cold runny eggs. No one can escape from an e-field, surrounding an entire geographical landscape.”

Marsilla scoots onto the floor, nodding. “I think we should investigate, Ms. Mayor. We started the investigation with the rotating black circles, at the start of the working week. Now, the black circles are more numerous than before. Why is that? We have slapped the hornets’ nest, Ms. Mayor. And, the hornets are both mad and smart. I propose, we visit Dookie town, again, now, today. Let’s go and give Hatch and Jara, providing a sweet housewarming gift as an excuse. After all, they were Colfaxians, now, Dookians.” She giggles. “Is that really a word?”

Duchie stands, frowning. “There are thousands of workers inside Dookie Town. We will never, ever find two folks, like Hatch and Jara.”

Marsilla views Duchie, saying. “Then, you can…”

The mayor stares at Marsilla then says. “Your proposal is a good idea. I will approve of the visitation into Dandine, again. However, if you are…”

Marsilla leads, exhaling. She has plenty of faith, crossing the high bridge, first, into the travel car.

Rincon stands, frowning at Marsilla. He watches her fanny priss out the door. He waits for Duchie. He whispers into Duchie. “Is she right?”

Duchie smiles and nods. “She is totally wrong, as usual. We should kick her out of the golden circle and install Hatch and Jara, filling the rest of the dream team.”

Rincon walks out the door, crossing the balcony. “We should fill the dream team with Ketona…”

Duchie gasps, stopping and looking at Rincon.

Rincon stops beside her.

Duchie frowns. “What is the relationship between you and Ketona? You compliment her, every day, almost all the time, when her name is mentioned.”

Rincon exhales, nodding. “I was her neighbor for many, many years. That’s all! Ketona loves Buffo. The reason, she called out the farmer job, instead of accepting one of the dream jobs.”

Duchie nods, saying. “Okay! I was just asking.”

10: 32 am.

Dandine

barrier wall of Colfax and Dandine

The travel car rolls through the e-field, stopping, before hitting the cesspool. The door opens.

The mayor slides out, first, walking towards the worker. “Excuse me! I would like…”

Marsilla grins. “Duchie comes from here, too. Duchie, call your daddy! He can easily pinpoint the location of Hatch and Jara. Right, Duchie? They are here, working, like you say. Hey, girl!”

The mayor swings around, nodding. “Call your daddy, Duchie!”

Duchie frowns then walks to the worker.

The worker continues to work.

She leans and whispers something into his helmet.

The worker halts then nods. The worker jogs from the mayor and cesspool.

Row of pink houses

The short man dashes towards Duchie, smiling. He wears a yellow jumpsuit, without the helmet, scarf, and smell. He does wear a pair of sunglasses.

Duchie dashes to him, smiling and giggling. “Daddy, I’m here on business for the mayor.” She walks him towards her party, smiling. “Ms. Mayor, this is my daddy. Daddy, this is the mayor of Colfax.”

Duchie’s daddy nods, not extending his hand for shaking

The mayor doesn’t extend her hand for shaking, either.

Duchie’s daddy stands next to his daughter, hugging her He nods, without talking.

The mayor clears her throat. “I am looking for a new couple, recently graduated from the Cubby Hole. They are name Hatch and Jara, who work here, somewhere. I would like to give them, a housewarming gift.” She snaps her fingers.

The me-chee appears, handing a wrapped gift into the mayor’s palm.

The mayor shows the wrapped gift, asking. “Could you, please, call them to accept my generous gift? And, could we, please, wait inside their home, since this is a home warming gift?”

Duchie’s daddy exhales then nods. He turns, slowly walking with Duchie, whispering into her face.

Duchie nods and smiles, whispering back.

The mayor slowly stumbles over the manicured grass then halts. She stumbles towards the wall, fingering and saying. “Where is the line of me-chee machines, being posted here? They were posted, late afternoon, here, inside the outskirts of Dandine.”

Duchie’s daddy halts then views the barrier wall. The wall glows in yellow colors. He smiles. “They walked away.” Then, he swings towards the first row of small houses, painted in pink wooden planks with white doors. He stops, reading his cell then views the row of houses. He examines each one then walks towards the second one from the end.

He halts, knocking on the door then waits.

The mayor exhales then sneers, stomping towards the sidewalk. She halts, keeping the grass off her sandals. Then, she stomps towards the front door of the house. She stands beside Duchie’s daddy, sneering. “Open this door, now!”

Duchie’s daddy shakes his skull then knocks, again. “This is their private property. Jara is home, being sick, again…”

The mayor leans into his face, sneering. “This is official mayor business. They teens are being investigated. So, open this door, now!”

Duchie’s daddy exhales. “We should…”

“Open the door! Or, I will arrest you for interfering with official mayor business.” The mayor sneers.

Duchie touches her daddy on the arm, nodding. “Please, open the door, Daddy! We can explain to Jara, the situation.”

Duchie’s daddy exhale, rattling the old fashion keys. He uses the master key, opening the door.

The mayor rushes into the room, standing in the middle. “Ugh! What ugly furniture? A ratty sofa, a card table for eating food, and two mismatched chairs. Where are the rest of the furniture, a plasma, and other electronics?”

Marsilla enters, yelling. “Jara!? It’s Marsilla. Where are you? Come on out, honey!” She walks around the ratty sofa then enters the bathroom. She swings around, strolling into the room. “Where’s the bedroom?”

Duchie walks around the room, scanning for the teens, studying the furniture.

Rincon struts around the room, missing the teens, too. He stands and whisper to Duchie. “Where are they at?”

Duchie says. “They are working, of course. We should come back, after the working shift. Right, Daddy?”

Duchie’s daddy scans his cell, frowning with puzzlement. “Jara is not at work. She is sick, at home, here. But, where is she?” He scans the room.

Duchie smiles and nods. “She went to the grocery store or something. We should come back.”

The mayor frowns. “Where’s the young couple? Call them to come here, now, immediately!”

Duchie’s daddy frowns at the mayor. “Well, Hatch is at work. So, I could contact him. I guess, I could track her down at the local merchandise store.” He presses his cell, nodding.

Marsilla frowns. “The house is dirty, like no one lives here.”

Rincon frowns. “Marsilla is smelly, like she doesn’t bath, either.”

Duchie frowns, standing beside her father. “What’s wrong, Daddy?”

Duchie’s daddy frowns at the cell. “This is very strange. Hatch is not at his assigned work station. As a matter of fact, he’s been missing for a couple of days. He has not called into work sick with a virus, either.” He scans the room. “He isn’t here, either. Is Jara…”

The mayor drops her mouth. “Where is that teen?”

Marsilla giggles, dashing towards the closet. She opens the door, tossing items onto the floor. The items include a vacuum cleaner, a mop, a broom, and other cleaning implements. She giggles then rushes into the kitchen. She slams open the cabinets. “Dishes, cups, pan, pans, eating utensils.” She swings around, opening the refrigerator. “And, there’s food, here. Lots of food, here, like someone has been to the merchandise store, already.”

Duchie’s daddy frowns then walks into the kitchen. He studies the refrigerator.

Marsilla giggles, swinging around. She stands inside the middle of the floor, nodding and saying. “They are not here. The food is here. And, the worker uniform is missing…”

Duchie frowns. “So, every worker gets a uniform for working…”

Marsilla giggles. “And, the worker uniform is constructed of lead elements, like the travel car. The worker and the worker uniform is missing, Ms. Mayor.”

The mayor sneers. “Where are the teens named Hatch and Jara?”

Duchie’s daddy frowns, shaking his skull. “Don’t know?”

Barrier wall of Dandine and Burrville

The mayor snarls. “I do.” She spins, walking out the front door. She walks towards the barrier wall, stumbling in the grass. She narrows her eyeballs, studying the wall between Dandine and Burrville.

Rincon and Nephella stand inside the archway of the house, blocking the only exit point.

Marsilla sneers, walking into the back muscles of both Rincon and Nephella, blocking the exit. “Move!”

Rincon swings around, sneering. “What are you doing, here, Marsilla?”

Marsilla grins, swaying side to side, batting her eyelashes. “I am doing my dream job, being a participating member of the dream team in Colfax. Someone is disturbing the e-fields around Dandine. And, that someone is Hatch. Jara’s…”

“…smart, too.” Rincon sneers back at Marsilla. “You are creating trouble. You are causing problems. And, I am both watching and warning ya, Marsilla.”

Nephella sneers. “Me, too!”

Marsilla smiles. “I’m going to prove that Hatch and Jara are missing from Dookie Town. Then, I…”

Duchie shoves Marsilla on the back muscles. “Move!”

Marsilla sneers.

Rincon chuckles, scooting out of the archway.

Nephella doesn’t move, grabbing Marsilla by the arm. “You are creating a monster, here, Marsilla.”

Duchie’s daddy walks out the door, studying his cell then texts back to the other party. He walks then halts beside the mayor. “What are you looking at?”

The mayor fingers and sneers. “Hatch and Jara have escaped from Dandine through the electromagnetic field.”

Duchie’s daddy drops his mouth. “That…that is impossible, ma’am. No one escapes through an e-field, without dying into sizzling ashes. Everyone knows that information.”

Marsilla stomps from the house, racing to the wall. She stands beside the mayor, smiling. “They are not here, Ms. Mayor. However, I have an idea, where the young teen fugitives are located.”

The mayor views Marsilla. “Where?”

Marsilla nods and smiles. “We need to leave. I don’t want to share information with any others…”

The mayor views Duchie’s daddy then views Marsilla. “I understand. The walls have ears,” she spins around, yelling. “We are leaving, interns. Please, get into the travel car.”

Travel car

Marsilla sits with the mayor.

Rincon, Duchie and Nephella sit across from the mayor and Marsilla.

Marsilla says. “The young fugitives are hiding in Montag. They’re the criminals of the cupcakes. They are in there, hiding from us.”

The mayor exhales. “This is becoming a manhunt for some kids. Colfax doesn’t have the old concept of police officers. If so, I could toss the case to them…”

Marsilla says. “The kids are criminals and fugitives against the Establishment. Once, we locate them, we will need to understand, how they escaped through the e-field. Then, we’ll need new technology to contain any more disturbances, in the future, Ms. Mayor.”

The mayor nods. “I agree…”

Chapter 2

10:49 am.

Montag

Bakery shop

The travel car rolls through the electromagnetic field, slowly stopping.

Marsilla scoots from the hatchway, first. She walks towards the bakery shop, where the crime had occurred.

Marsilla slams open the door as the chime dings.

The baker smiles at the new customer, saying. “Marsilla!?”

Marsilla halts then frowns. “Lamis!?”

Lamis giggles, dashing around the bakery counter. “Marsilla, what a wonderful surprise?”

Marsilla scans the glass displays of cookies and cupcakes. “You work, here? Is this your place of employment?”

Lamis smiles and nods. “Yeah, I work here. I made it into the blue color tone, during the Cubby Hole. Yeah, I’m proud of my accomplishment. After all the interns were interviewed, then the shop owner selected me to learn how to bake cookies and cupcakes.”

Marsilla giggles. “Well, then, I’ll order cookies, every afternoon, from this bakery...”

“That’s wonderful! We have one of the best cookie selections, here, in Montag.” Lamis giggles and nods, dashing around the bakery counter. “You should try all of our cookie samples for selecting your favorites. Then…”

The chime dings then door opens.

The mayor, Rincon, Duchie, and Nephella enter the bakery.

The mayor stands in the middle of the shop, sneering. “Where’s the shop owner?”

Lamis smiles and nods. “Rincon, Duchie, Nephella, welcome! This is a pleasant surprise. Are you will …”

The mayor sneers. “Where is the shop owner?”

Lamis nods and smiles. “The shop owner’s in the rear of the shop. I’ll go and get her.” She exits the room then returns, leading a tall large female.

The shop owner appears inside the room, not smiling.

The mayor sneers at the shop owner. “Did you find the criminals, who robbed your store?”

Lamis drops her mouth, viewing her mentor. “What criminals? What robbery?”

The shop owner frowns, shaking her curls. “No.”

Marsilla slides the chairs and tables around the room. She places one chair in each wall corner then two chairs in the middle of the empty room. The other eating chairs and table line the wall, out of her footpath. She motions for the shop owner and Lamis to sit inside the two chairs in the middle of the room. Then, Marsilla offers the wall corner chair to the mayor, Rincon, Nephella, and Duchie

They sit.

Marsilla frowns, pacing side to side in front of the two chairs, holding Lamis and the shop owner. She exhales, walking side to side, saying. “So, there has not been any progress, regarding the crime of the stolen cookies and cupcakes and cakes. What other facts have you learned about the crime, here, last week?”

“Well, not much,” the shop owner views Marsilla.

Lamis drops her mouth. “What stolen cookies, cupcakes, and cakes? I don’t understand.”

Marsilla paces the room, viewing the floor. “I don’t understand, either. Therefore, we should start at the beginning.” She stops, starting at Lamis. “Last Tuesday night, the shop owner reported to Ms. Mayor, that your bakery shop had been robbed of cookies, cupcakes, and three birthday cakes. Who were the clerks working, last Tuesday night?”

Lamis frowns. “I was.”

Marsilla drops her mouth then smirks. “Lamis, you were working last Tuesday night, here, inside the baker shop.”

Lamis nods. “Yes.”

Marsilla grins. “Who else was working inside the bakery with you, Lamis, last Tuesday night?”

“I was alone. I was learning to decorate…”

“Did you meet any others odd strangers buying cookies, here, last Tuesday night?”

“No. What items were stolen? I don’t understand.”

“Did you meet any other old friends, buying cookies, here, last Tuesday night?”

“Yes, my friends, here, in Montag.”

“There were three cakes and several trays of cookies and cupcakes stolen, here, last Tuesday night.”

Lamis frowns. “No. Last Tuesday night, the three birthday cakes were purchased, here, at the bakery shop…”

The shop owner drops her mouth, viewing Lamis. “You sold those three birthday cakes in the rear of the bakery. The cakes were meant for a party, the next day.”

Lamis smiles and nods. “No, ma’am! These particular birthday cakes were delivered the next day as ordered. I made and decorated three more birthday cakes then sold them to a customer. I have the receipt for the purchase, too.”

The mayor frowns. “You have a receipt for the three cakes?”

Lamis stands, walking around the bakery counters. She opens the drawer, sorting through the papers then selects the receipt. She marches around the bakery counters, presenting the receipt to her supervisor. “Here! See, I sold three birthday cakes along with collecting the proper payment of chips.”

The shop owner studies the recipe then says. “Chip!? They paid in aluminum chips, too.”

Lamis nods. “Yes, ma’am! They paid their entire bill for the three cakes. So, everything’s okay. Right!?”

“Wrong!” Marsilla parks both hands on her hips, sneering. “Who received the three cakes?”

The shop owner sneers at Marsilla. “That is a private affair of my business, young lady.”

Marsilla sneers at the shop owner, saying. “I am the new legal technician. So, it is my affair, too. I represent the mayor’s office on official business…”

The mayor frowns. “The criminal case has been solved. We should leave. Thank you!”

Marsilla snarls. “Did the same customer purchase the cookies and cupcakes, as well? The bakery shop was in disarray, when we visited, here, last Wednesday morning.”

Lamis frowns at Marsilla. “What cookies and cupcakes?”

Marsilla nods and grins. “The chairs and tables were out of place along with numerous cookie and cupcake crumbs, everywhere. The outer shop was a mess…”

Lamis views her supervisor. “It was?”

The shop owner nods. “The chairs and tables were messy with eaten food and dirty dishes. I thought my shop had been robbed with a robbery.”

Lamis gasps. “The other intern-in-training didn’t show up for work.”

The shop owner frowns. “No. She was off that day. And, you were off that morning, too. So, I came into work, every early, finding a mess.”

Lamis gasps. “Yes ma’am! I was. Yes ma’am! I didn’t bother cleaning up the chairs and tables, after the customers consumed the sweets then left. I’m so sorry. I should’ve done it.”

The shop owner exhales then nods. “You should have.” She turns and views the mayor. “I am sorry for causing the confusion. Lamis didn’t clean the tables properly, making me assume a robbery.”

The mayor nods, not smiling. “I see…”

Marsilla frowns, shaking her pixie. “I do not see. Where’s the receipt for purchasing the numerous cookies and cupcake crumbs? You have shown a receipt for the birthday cakes. Where’s the receipt for the other desserts, the cookies and cupcakes that were consumed by mouth and tongue?”

Lamis gasps then views Duchie.

Duchie shakes her curls sideways. She doesn’t want Lamis to answer the question.

Lamis smiles and nods. “Of course, I’ll find it,” she walks around the bakery counter.

Nephella exhales. “The mystery is solved. I suggest we go back to the office, Mama.”

Marsilla grins, standing in the middle of the room. “Do you recall the customers, who ate the rest of the tray of baked goods of cookies and cupcakes, Lamis?”

Lamis shuffles through the papers then snaps her fingers. “I remember. The customers were all children. We give children, free cookies. That’s why I can’t find a receipt.” She nods.

The shop owner nods and smiles. “Yes. We provided free cookies to children.”

Marsilla grins, reading her cell. “Free cookies to children at nine o’clock at night. What type of parents would allow their children outside, on such late night hours?”

The shop owner swings to Lamis, frowning with confusion. “We close the bakery around nine. I don’t know of any parents out that late. Are you certain, it was children?”

Marsilla grins, walking to Lamis. “Are you certain, it wasn’t children?”

The mayor frowns then stomps to Lamis. “If it wasn’t children then it was older children?”

Marsilla smiles. “We’re hunting for older children, as a matter of fact…”

Lamis gasps then views Duchie.

Duchie shakes her curls, side to side. She doesn’t want Lamis to answer the question, also.

Marsilla says. “As a matter of fact, we have a couple of teens, who have escaped from the outer township of Dandine. Would you happen to know that, too, Lamis?”

The shop owner gasps. “No one can exit into the electromagnetic walls. They would die.”

The mayor says. “Who ate the rest of the cookies and cupcakes, without paying and messing up the tables, here, last Tuesday night?”

Marsilla nods. “You said, that there were no odd strangers, here. That means, you knew all the customers, including Hatch and Jara.”

Lamis gasps then views Duchie.

Duchie shakes her curls, side to side. She doesn’t want Lamis to address the question.

The shop owner sneers. “Who ate the remaining cookies and cupcakes, Lamis?”

The mayor sneers. “Who are you hiding, here, in Montag?”

Lamis gasps. “I am not hiding anyone, here, in Montag. I live, alone, inside my apartment…”

Marsilla snarls. “Hatch and Jara ate the cookies and cupcakes, when they visited you, here, last Tuesday night. Admit it? Don’t lie?”

The shop owner snarls. “Your internship is in jeopardy, intern Lamis.”

Lamis views the floor then Duchie. She views the mayor, nodding. “Hatch and Jara ate the cookies and cupcakes, here, last Tuesday night. I was shocked to see them…”

The mayor gasps. “Where are they staying, here, in Montag?”

Lamis frowns, shaking her curls. “They…they are not here. They…they returned back through the wall…”

The mayor gasps, dropping her mouth. “Where…where did they return back through the wall?”

“What manner did they return back through the barrier wall?” Marsilla nods and grins.

Lamis frowns at Marsilla. “They took a travel car back through the barrier wall and then into Colfax…”

Marsilla nods and smiles. “I was right. They are inside Colfax, after escaping from Dandine. We have them, now, Ms. Mayor…”

The mayor nods and smiles at Marsilla. Rincon, Duchie, Nephella frown at each other. The mayor swings around, saying. “We are leaving, interns. Please, gather and load into the travel car…”

Travel car

The mayor frowns. “We have identified the fugitives, the pair named Hatch and Jara. Now, what? What is the next step? I have never encountered any one that has successfully escaped from the barrier wall.”

Marsilla sits beside the mayor, smiling. “Ms. Mayor, the important question, how did they slip between the electrons of the barrier wall?”

The mayor nods.

Rincon frowns. “I propose that there is not any type of magic trick, slipping between the electrons of a barrier wall. There is a logical explanation, like they traveled inside a travel car…”

Marsilla sours. “Wrong! They traveled through the barrier wall. They have created…invented a new devise. Then, the new devise will allow all the outer townships to slip through and inside Colfax, without detection. That is our purpose, find and then destroy that devise.”

The mayor nods. “I agree. Where are they hiding out, here, in Colfax?”

Marsilla frowns. “They could be in lots of different places. They are probably hiding inside the mall, since Jara likes to shop. Yes, I do believe that they are hiding near the mall, maybe, inside the mall.”

The mayor frowns. “We do not have the old fashion police officers for a search and secure. So, each intern will select an area for monitoring, this afternoon, after lunch. You keep your eyes peeled for the fugitives. When they are found, we will capture them.”

Chapter 3

12:04 pm

Colfax

map room

Rincon stands, stretching his arms, yawning. Then, he smiles. “Lunch time. I’m hungry, even the running away criminals eat food, too.” He extends his arm, winking at Duchie. “Duchie, let’s get some food, darling.”

Duchie frowns, walking to Rincon.

He cuddles her, whispering and smiling. “Let’s eat our lunch in the picnic grassy park on the ground level. I need some polluted air for my healthy lungs,” he chuckles, walking and exiting the map room with Duchie.

Rincon whips out his cell, thumbing the text.

Duchie views his working hands. “What are you doing, Rincon?”

He exhales. “We have to warn Hatch and Jara that they’re fugitives and the mayor’s hunting them down…”

Duchie drops her mouth, slowly walking across the bridge.

He whispers, thumbing on the cell. “Continue walking! Don’t act so surprised!”

Duchie says. “I am surprised. How can we help Hatch and Jara? They’re not fugitives. How did they escape from the e-field? No one escapes from the e-field. Ever!”

Rincon walks towards the windows, scanning the interior office of the mayor. “I don’t know. But, I believe Ketona does know something more. I’ve texted her to visit us.”

Duchie halts.

Rincon opens the door of the interior office. Duchie enters.

They walk together, marching down the stairs, cuddling.

Duchie whispers. “Ya texted her for information about Hatch and Jara’s whereabouts? She won’t know. How could she know? I don’t understand.”

Rincon smiles and nods. “I don’t understand it, either. However, the black circles are the keys to our understanding the e-fields. The black circles have expanded all over the boundaries of Montag, Dandine, and Burrville, too. Why doesn’t the mayor suspect Ketona of something sinister?”

“Ms. Mayor thinks Ketona’s in love, over loitering inside the outer township of Burrville.”

He nods, smiling. “Ah! That’ll work to our advantage.” Rincon chuckles, exiting the floor into the outdoors. “I feel like eating turkey. Since, Ms. Mayor will be eating crow…”

Duchie frowns. “What turkey? What crow? What are you talking about, Rincon?”

Rincon drags her towards the food vendor. “I would like two turkey sandwich plates, please.” He places the aluminum chips onto the eating counter then receives the plates. He grabs then slowly swings, walking towards the picnic table.

He places both trays on the table then assists Duchie around the table. He sits, cutting up the food.

Duchie scans the picnic area. There are tall trees, wooden eating tables with benches, patches of grass, not walking signs, and no sight of Ketona. She frowns. “You said that Ketona is joining us here. She can’t do that.”

He swallows, smiling. “Yeah, she can.” He eats.

Burrville

12:05 pm

Farm

hot. 95% humidity. sunny. no clouds. no rain. 101°F

I hover in the air inside the flier, giggling and sweating inside my cowgirl hat. I sail around the air, like a bird, observing the me-chee farmers, like a hawk. I soar around the orange dust clouds, wearing my protective hat, scarf, gloves and jumpsuit, plus a pair of sunglasses. The sunglasses block the sun and the dust from my tender eyeballs.

The me-chees are doing an excellent job, farming and steering the tractors.

I decide to leave the me-chees to the job, flying and then landing in front of my house. I unload from the flier then strip off my dirty jumpsuit.

I enter my house.

Hatch and Jara are eating lunch. Jara scoots the plate toward Ketona. “Made some lunch for ya! Enjoy!”

I giggle, sitting in my shorts and naked feet at the bar. I chew then swallow. “Buffo’s sick along with the kin-folks. I got the me-chee machines, doing the plowing and planting.”

Hatch laughs. “These machines come in handy, besides being expensive storage decorations. I don’t understand. Why can’t the me-chee machines perform all the manual labor throughout all the outer townships? Then, all the humans could live in peace and harmony…”

I chew. “The Establishment…”

Jara chews. “The Establishment…”

“The Establishment.” I chew and nod.

I swallow the food. “Alright! The machines are doing the heavy work. I need your help with food preparation, moving the…”

Jara chews. “Get the me-chees to do it!”

I swallow the food, nodding. “Yeah!” I chew the food, when my cell dings. I frown, lifting devise into my face, reading the text message, frowning with more confusion.

Jara gasps, viewing Ketona. “Ya got a cell, here. How? Where? When? I want one, too.”

I swallow the food, placing the cell into my pocket. “Ugh! I got…my mama sent it. My mama texts me, only. Yeah, my mama’s texting me, only, right now. My mama’s going to visit me, later, next month, next holiday. I mean this holiday. Well, I gotta run back and check on the me-chee farmers. Don’t wanna ‘em growing peas, instead of cotton!” I slide off the chair, without clearing my plate.

Jara can perform that task, being bored inside the house.

Jara frowns. “Can I use your cell to call my mama?”

Hatch pats her hand. “We aren’t allowed to do that, darling.”

“I don’t care. I wanna talk to my mama. Ketona talks to her mama. I wanna talk to my mama, too.” Jara sobs then cries. She slides off the stool, marching to her room.

Hatch cringes then views Ketona. “Sorry, Ketona! She’s upset about being here.”

I nod and smile at Hatch. “I completely understand.” I dash outside, strapping on flier. I ignite the engines, lifting off the ground. I soar around the farm, viewing the me-chees on top of the tractors. Then, I swing around, flying towards the wall corners of Burrville and Colfax.

Rincon has texted, requesting a brief meeting.

I feel both anxious and curious. I’m appreciative that Duchie brought my personal cell from my bedroom, when she visited Burrville, last week. Duchie is staying with my parents, until her internship has finished.

I exhale, feeling confused with the text request from Rincon, wondering if the text is regarding my parents. Then, I exhale, feeling panic.

12:16 pm

barrier wall Dandine and Burrville

I sail around the farm, twice, before landing. I don’t see any nosy farm neighbors. However, that event would be very unusual, since the individual farms are miles apart. I land, stripping off the flier. I lay the flier on the dirt then walk towards the barrier wall.

I look behind my collar bone, both right and left, seeing no spying farms or wandering me-chees. I exhale, kneeling in the dirt in my farm uniform, also.

I slide out one of the refrigerator magnetic strips then raise my hand high above my head. I stop, whispering. “Naw, now! Rincon has a secret message for me, not a fun chat.” I lower the magnetic strip even with my chest, positioning the magnetic below my hat and covered face, in case, someone on the other side of Colfax sees any orange movement.

I exhale, slowly stabbing the magnetic into the orange e-field. The hole opens. I wiggle the strip side to side, expanding the opening about the size of a folded fist. I see golden colored back muscles. Duchie wears her golden dress. Rincon wears his golden vest. I whisper through the opening inside the wall. “Rincon. Ketona, I’m behind your back…”

12: 17 pm.

Colfax

map room

Marsilla smiles, walking towards the closed door.

Nephella blocks Marsilla, sneering over her hair roots, being taller and meaner. “You are not winning, here. I am winning, here. And, I don’t like you manipulating my mama, Marsilla…”

Marsilla back steps then looks up, viewing Nephella. “I am only seeking justice for a pair of runaways, running away from their assigned outer township. That’s my job, the newbie legal technician. So, I’m doing my job. And, I’d suggest that you start doing your job…”

“I’m runner up mayor, when the time comes.” Nephella leans into Marsilla. “So, don’t get in my way, puppy.” Her cell rings then she spins around, accessing her cell.

Marsilla giggles, walking towards the closed door. She exits into the sunlight, slowly walking towards the open bridge. She halts. Marsilla narrows hr eyelashes, staring at the picnic area. She grabs her cell, zooming onto the two individuals in the far corner, the wall barrier corner. She whispers. “What are you, two doing over there?” Marsilla giggles, stretches her cell towards Rincon and Duchie.

12: 18 pm

ground level picnic table.

Duchie coughs then covers her mouth, saying. “Ketona!? Where are you?”

12:19 pm

map room balcony

Marsilla gasps, whispering. “Ketona is there with them.” She narrows her eyelashes, not being able to see the far distance with her natural eye sight then giggles. She drops to her knee then lies on her stomach, stretching her cell towards the picnic corner of the barrier wall, getting a good recording both the actions and words of Duchie and Rincon. She can’t hear the talking conversation, being too far from the transmitter of the cell.

But, she will listen, later.

12:20 pm.

picnic table

Rincon sits, cutting up the food, leans into Duchie. He whispers. “Act normal, Duchie! Ketona is behind us. Don’t look behind your back, either, in case of spies. She’s inside the farm on the other side of the barrier wall. Ketona…”

Duchie picks at the food, staring at the concrete bricks of the outside patio. “How’s that possible? How’s she communicating with us? I can hear her voice. My cell’s not operating, either with contact from Ketona...”

I giggle and smile. “I created a new invention, using magnets. The magnet allows me to scatters the electrons inside the e-field.”

Rincon says, looking at his eating plate. “Good for you, Ketona. Bad for Hatch and Jara. You helped Hatch and Jara escape from Dandine with your new invention. I’m not surprised and pleased, Ketona. We visited their house, not finding them present. The mayor’s looking for them. Are they living with you, in Burrville? Don’t answer. Your silent is answering it for me.”

I gasp.

Rincon says, looking at his eating plate. “You do realize that no person can exit out the barrier wall, if alive, even with permission from their mama and daddy and the mayor. Hatch and Jara are labeled as fugitives. Don’t answer!”

I gasp.

Rincon chews then swallows, looking at his eating plate. “The mayor is looking...hunting them down for a robbery in Montag. Hatch and Jara have accused of stealing cookies from the local bakery, since they’re lose and fancy free from Dandine. Don’t comment!”

I gasp.

“I bet that you, Buffo, Hatch, and Jara raided Montag. Our friend Lamis didn’t give your identities away, Ketona. However, she had to tattle on both Hatch and Jara. Therefore, Hatch and Jara must turn themselves into the mayor.”

I gasp.

Rincon chews then swallows, looking at his eating plate. “The mayor wants to know how Hatch and Jara escaped from the line-up of posted me-chee soldiers. And, how come they didn’t get electrocuted, walking through an e-field? I guess Hatch gets credited with creating your invention, Ketona. I’m sorry. But, they must whisper and tattle about these particular unbelievable mind-blowing events, directly to the mayor. Bring both Hatch and Jara, here, tomorrow night, around eight pm, after sunset. They must be presented to the mayor. They didn’t a choice, but they have a chance…”

I gasp.

Rincon says, looking at his eating plate. “Don’t comment! Just, do it! Good bye, Ketona!”

12:26 pm

map room

Nephella says and nods. “Yes, ma’am! On my way,” she exits the map room.

Marsilla lies over the rough concrete, scratching and tearing her new golden colored leather jumper. Her arms and hands are outstretched over the concrete, holding her cell in the air. The cell points in the far distance.

Nephella narrows her eyelashes, seeing Rincon and Duchie at the picnic table. They’re eating lunch as Marsilla spies on them. Nephella shakes her curls, lighting the cigar. The cigar smoke burns in white, creating the pleasure odor, reminding of her grandfather.

Interesting enough, the odor is not activating the sinuses of Marsilla, since she really is enjoying her nosy spying on both Rincon and Duchie.

Nephella giggles, walking towards open bridge then veers besides Marsilla. She swings her leg, touching then kicking Marsilla’s cell from the hands.

Marsilla withdraws her hands, shouting. “Hey!”

The cell falls down 104 floors, not bouncing on the concrete below.

Nephella laughs and sways the cigar around the pure air waves, polluting the pathway of the bridge for her amusement and Marsilla’s misery. She shouts. “Hay’s for horses, honey.”

12: 31 pm.

Burrville

barrier wall of Colfax and Burrville

I exhale, jerking out the magnet strip. I view the dirt. “Good bye, Rincon. Great, just great! Hatch and Jara are fugitives and must be presented to the mayor, tattling their secrets. They don’t have any secrets. They didn’t escape from Dandine. I helped them escape. I should be facing the mayor, not Hatch and Jara. And, Buffo and Hatch stole the cookies, not Jara. Why didn’t Rincon propose that solution?”

I stand, exhaling and walking to the flier. I load into the straps then fly away from the barrier wall, feeling defeat.

Chapter 4

Saturday

Burrville

birthday party

7:22 pm. hot. sunset. 98% humidity. no rain. no clouds. 92°F

I exhale then inhale from the swift dance movements with Buffo, sitting in the wall corner on top of the high stool. I watch the party attendees enjoy the fun day and afternoon.

Buffo walks up the stairs towards the food table for drinks and a plate of food.

The converted barn is colored in bright silver tones on the floor, where the me-chees painted the interior room. The walls and ceiling are covered in black glittering paint. The ceiling drops hundreds upon hundreds twirling color five-pointed stars and disc-shaped space star vessels.

The three pre-teen girls, who are teenage girls, now, priss and prance around in their individual party dresses, smiling and giggling with the young teens, older adults, and elderly grandparents.

My party surprise is a big success. Every neighbor within forty miles has arrived to enjoy the fun festival, too. Since, the pre-teen girls invited all their school friends, too.

There is plenty of food, drinks, and entertainment. Some of the neighbors brought along games and activities, also.

Buffo’s family members are still feeling the aftereffects of the common cold, sitting inside torn ugly chairs or lounging on the ratty sofas. But, all seem to be enjoying both the new guests and the food items.

The me-chee machines are tucked away inside my farm house for the evening.

Hatch and Jara dance cheek-to-cheek, smiling and whispering into each other’s face.

I exhale with sadness. I haven’t told them about surrendering to the mayor, yet. I didn’t want to ruin the day, the afternoon, or the evening, until after sunset.

Buffo returns, extending his arm. He holds two drinks.

I exhale, leeching onto his arm, slowly standing then strolling with Buffo.

We pad outside into the late afternoon.

Buffo exhales, smiling and nodding. He hands her the drink. She grabs it. He says. “You did a great job with the party, sweetheart. Everyone is both surprised and happy.”

“Good!” I view the dirt, scooting my cowgirl boots along the field, making lots of dust tornados. I feel sadness.

He smiles and nods. “My nieces are so happy, dancing around and showing off their new fancy party dresses. You did a good thing, sweetheart!”

“Good!” I view the dull sky of white clouds and bright stars, dragging my boots along the dirt, stirring up more dust tornados. I feel depressed.

He smiles and nods. “My grandparents and aunts are very appreciative of your hard work and kindness to their daughters, darling.”

“Good!” I view the miles of orange dirt, quiet and still in the evening air.

There’s no planting or plowing on Saturday, usually. Since, Buffo’s family was recovering from the sickness virus. The me-chee machines finished the plowing and planting, yesterday. They worked until midnight.

I worked until midnight, supervising them, too.

The crops are ready for the big rain. I sniff, smelling the moisture in the air. The big rainstorm is coming. I feel gloomy.

Buffo halts, viewing her. “What’s wrong, Ketona? The party’s great. The planting’s done. The day’s hot and sunny, almost over with. And, tomorrow’s the big rain storm. That’s the end of our farming duties, until the end of the summertime. We’re freed up to go and do anything…”

I view him. “The mayor has declared Hatch and Jara as fugitives. They must be presented in front of the mayor for escaping from Dandine.”

Buffo drops the drinks and his mouth. “How? When? Where?”

I exhale. “Tonight, at eight or so!”

He growls. “Ah, naw! Hatch is not going, neither is Jara. The mayor can’t have them.”

I exhale, crossing my arms. I nod, whispering. “I agree. But, I have no choice…”

He growls. “You and me got no stake, here. Hatch is not going…”

“Buffo, we were all at the bakery shop in Montag, last week for fun. The mayor had visited Montag, discovering our visitation, yesterday. And, Lamis was threatened by the mayor. She only tattled about Jara and Hatch, not us.”

“Why would Lamis do that?”

I shake my curls. “Lamis had no choice.”

“She could’ve…”

“Lied…”

Buffo views the dirt. “No. Lying is not right. It’s wrong.”

“I agree.”

He views her, tilting his skull. “How do you know all of this?”

“Hatch doesn’t know.”

“How do you know all of this, too, Ketona?”

I raise my cell. “Duchie brought me my personal cell from my house. She lives with my parent. Then, Rincon called me…”

“Rincon, he can’t do that.”

“He did.”

He growls. “Rincon lies. He works for the mayor. I don’t trust him.”

I exhale, shaking my curls. “I trust him and you and Duchie, too. He contacted me. I flew the flier towards the wall barrier of Colfax and Burrville. I ripped part of the barrier wall then mostly listened to him. The mayor is hunting for Hatch and Jara. They can’t run. They have no place to hide…”

“They ain’t hiding. They live here…”

“And, the consequences for your grandparents, your nieces, your aunts?”

He nods. “What is going to happen to them?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone has ever escaped from one of the outer townships, before.” I exhale. “Look, Hatch and Jara must be presented to the mayor. I guess that I will tell…”

He exhales. “I will…”

I view the single tall tree, saying. “This is so sad and bad. Hatch and Jara are fitting into the farm live with the other teens with ease…”

He nods, cuddling her. “Let’s pull them aside and tell them the bad news. Okay!?”

I nod.

Tree

We walk to the tall single tree, standing inside the miles of field crops.

Hatch stands from the dirt, wiping off the soil. He laughs, bouncing into Buffo. He slaps Buffo on the bicep then slurps the drink. “Great party!”

I exhale. “You and Jara did a great job with the decorations and such…”

Buffo releases Ketona, grabbing and dragging Hatch towards the middle of the field. “I gotta tell ya something, buddy. Okay!?”

Hatch smiles. “I love living, here, much better than Dookie Town. When can I drive my own farm tractor? I wanna help out, too, not sit around the house all day and night, doing nothing…”

Buffo exhales. “We need to discuss that, too…”

They stand in the middle of the field.

I walk towards the tree.

The tree stands high and tall with beautiful healthy overstory limbs and tons of green leaves. The slight breeze rustles the leaves and branches.

I step over bend kneecaps and lying back muscles, finding a tiny spot in the grass near Jara.

Jara narrows her eyelashes at Buffo and Hatch, leaning into Ketona, whispers. “What are they talking about?”

“Life…farming and life.” I say and view Buffo and Hatch, also.

Hatch leans into Buffo, not moving.

Buffo has told the decree from the mayor. Since, he doesn’t want his blood family relative hurt, either.

Hatch nods, giving Buffo a hug. He spins around, bowing his chin.

I stand, feeling the butterflies invade my stomach then my knees wobble. I slide down into the dirt, not moving.

Jara stands, gigging and smiling. She dashes to Hatch, cuddling into his arms.

Hatch whispers into her eardrums then she pulls back, shaking her curls. He man-pulls her closer, nodding and whispering into her face.

She struggles to get free then sobs with tears, shaking her curls.

Buffo races to Ketona, pulling her from the dirt. “We gotta get them to the exit point, before Jara runs away. Where is it?” He cuddles Ketona, dashing towards the two-seater flier.

Hatch and Jara slowly walk to another two-seater flier. Hatch dresses in the farm uniform along with Jara. Jara sobs and cries, dressing in her orange farm uniform. Then, he holds the flier as Jara straps inside.

Riding on a tractor or flying around the air, you wear the farm uniform, keeping the electromagnetic particles away from your face and body. You are only safe inside the house, which is reinforced with protective electrons.

Buffo and I strap inside the flier then lift off from the dirt.

Hatch and Jara lift off from the dirt, flying behind Buffo and Ketona.

7:49 pm.

barrier wall of Colfax and Burrville

I finger the wall corner, when Buffo lands the flier.

Hatch pulls Jara from the flier. She is sobbing and crying. “Why? Why’s this happening to us? Why aren’t Ketona and Buffo coming with us?”

Hatch says. “They didn’t do anything wrong. We escaped from Dandine. We just tell the truth and then we go back. Right, Buffo!?”

Buffo exhales, nodding. “Yeah, ya go back to Dandine.”

“I don’t wanna go back to Dookie Town. I wanna live in Colfax with my parents.”

Hatch exhales, hugging Jara. “Honey, we can’t. The mayor has declared us fugitives. We have to go and tell the mayor our story. That’s all. Then, we go…”

“…back there. No. I won’t go.” Jara sobs, shaking her curls.

I exhale, walking to the barrier wall. I jerk out the three magnet strip then stab them into the wall, feeling both sad and worried.

The hole opens, when the new face appears. The new face says. “Hey, ya’ll!”

“Rincon!?” I frown with puzzlement.

Rincon slaps his finger into his lips. “Sh, ya’ll! We’ll the rescue party. Come on through, Hatch and Jara, now, before we all get caught…”

Buffo asks. “Where’re they going?”

Rincon says. “No time for chit-chat!”

Hatch shoves Jara through the opening. She jumps across the electromagnet field, without harm, wearing her jumpsuit, hat, gloves, and scarf. Hatch jumps inside, too.

Rincon winks at Ketona, saying. “Remember, they didn’t a choice, but they have a chance.”

I exhale, jerking the magnets from the wall.

The wall opening closes.

I stand, walking back to the second flier, flying it back home.

Chapter 5

8:11 pm

Barn

I land the second flier, removing the equipment. I feel so terrible and worried. I exhale, walking towards Buffo.

We hug each other, exhaling, not talking. We walk back towards the tree, finding it empty. So, we walk towards the barn, finding it crowded and quiet.

I gasp, standing inside the archway.

Hatch and Jara are on the screen plasma. They’re sitting with their backs to each other. Their hands are tied behind their backs, too. They sit in the middle of an open floor. They wear golden jumpsuits, which have turned into a golden color, after crossing the e-field into Colfax from Burrville.

Jara is crying. Hatch is sneering.

The smirking mayor walks around the couple in the middle of an open floor.

One of the plasma screens beams from the ceiling, showing the hair roots of Hatch and Jara along with the mayor’s. The second plasma screen is seen sideways, showing the side view of Hatch and Jara with their hands tied, along with the mayor’s smirk.

I gasp, again.

Then, the sideways image enlarges, showing Nephella in the corner of the room. She sits inside a glass desk, holding her pen knife, cleaning her fingernails.

Rincon is opposite of Nephella in a second glass desk, facing and studying both Hatch.

Duchie sits inside a glass desk in the opposite wall corner of Nephella, staring at Jara.

Marsilla stands in the opposite corner of Duchie, crossing her arms, smiling in front of her glass desk.

The mayor walks around the couple, saying with a sneer. “You are the thieves of merchandise. The disruptors of property. The stealers of metal. The destroyers of justice. You are convicted as criminals in the land of Colfax. Your final punishment will depend upon your cooperation in this inquiry, here, now…”

The farmers gasp.

Rincon sneers. “I agree. You are the thieves of merchandise. The disruptors of property. The stealers of metal. The destroyers of justice. You are criminals in the land of Colfax…”

The farmers gasp along with Ketona.

Marsilla yells, fingering Jara. “You are the thieves of merchandise. The disruptors of property. The stealers of metal. The destroyers of justice. You are convicted as criminals in the land of Colfax. You will be punished…”

I gasp with the farmers.

Buffo leans into Ketona, snarling. “It was a trick, not a treat. Rincon trapped both Hatch and Jara….”

I whisper. “I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it. Look it. They’re trapped, there, inside Colfax. And, we can’t rescue them, ever.” Buffo sneers.

The mayor walks around the couple, staring and sneering at them. “Confess, now, here. You stole the cookies from the bakery in Montag? Tell me, how did you enter Montag?”

Buffo leans into Ketona, sneering. “How does she know that information?

Hatch laughs, struggling with the binders on his hands “We didn’t steal any cookies from the bakery in Montag.”

The mayor walks around the couple, staring and sneering at them. “Confess, now, here. You walked through the barrier wall from Dandine into Colfax…”

Buffo’s family members and the farmers gasp with surprise.

The mayor sneers. “Then, you walked through the barrier wall from Colfax into Montag. Tell me, how did you walk through the barrier wall, without dying?”

The farmers gasp.

Hatch yells. “You can’t walk through an electromagnetic field, unless you are an electron.”

The farmers laugh.

I exhale. “She doesn’t know about the magnets. She’s trying to learn my secret…”

The mayor sneers. “Tell me, how did you escape from Dandine?”

Hatch exhales, saying. “No one can escape from any outer township surrounded by an e-field. You know that. I know that. Everyone knows that…”

The mayor snarls. “You are here, in Colfax, not there, in Dandine. How is this possible?”

Hatch smiles. “We’re visiting our parents, who live here, in Colfax, not there, in Dandine.”

The mayor sneers. “Tell me, how did you escape from Dandine?”

He smiles. “We didn’t escape from Dandine.”

She sneers. “Tell me, what happened to the me-chee machines surrounding the e-field?”

Hatch frowns then grins. “They fell through the wall…”

The farmers laugh.

She frowns. “They fell through the wall?”

Hatch nods, laughing. “They fell through the wall. The wall created a hole. The hole created an opening. The opening created a passageway from Dandine into Colfax. Then, we walked through the opening into the barrier wall.”

The mayor sneers. “That’s impossible!”

Hatch laughs. “That is possible! We did it. We are here, not there. Ta-da!”

The farmers laugh.

The mayor sneers.

I grab Buffo by the arm, pulling him into the outdoors. “Hatch is fibbing for a reason. We walked from Burrville into Dandine. Hatch knows that, clearly…”

Buffo snarls. “He’s protecting us. You used the magnets, creating a hole in the electromagnetic field. The hole enlarged, allowing us free passage from Burrville into Dandine.”

I nod. “Yeah. I know that. You know that. Hatch knows that. But, the mayor doesn’t know that. She doesn’t know my little secret. So, why’s he protecting us? No. What’s he telling us? He’s telling us something. Hatch knows that we are watching and listening…”

Buffo views the plasma. “Hatch isn’t telling us something. He’s making it up, keeping up his good spirits, because the mayor will…will do something…”

I exhale, tossing my arms. “The mayor has no authority, here inside the outer townships or there in Colfax. She can’t do nothing. She is nothing but hot air. She can’t punish Hatch and Jara, only, send them back into Dandine.”

Buffo views the dirt then Ketona. “For a smart girl, you’re really dense. She doesn’t want Hatch. She wants the knowledge of the magnets. She’s just too stupid to figure it out for herself, along with Marsilla and Rincon and Duchie…”

“Rincon is not stupid or dumb. He said. He told me, before the opening closed, they didn’t have a choice…”

“Rincon was fibbing to ya, Ketona.”

I shake my curls. “I disagree. Rincon was being truthful. Hatch and Jara didn’t have a choice. They left the safe disclosure of the Dandine territory. They had escaped from their prison cell. So, they didn’t have a choice…”

“Rincon conned ya, Ketona.” Buffo studies the plasma.

The mayor yells at Hatch, snarling. “Tell me, how did you escape from Dandine?”

Hatch smiles. “We didn’t escape from Dandine. We walked through the wall.”

The mayor sneers. “Tell me, where are my me-chee machines?”

Hatch grins. “They fell through the wall.”

Rincon stands, fingering Hatch, grins. “I believe…the wall can be parted for a short moment in time. The me-chee is nothing but charged ions, part and particles of an e-field. Therefore, a me-chee can accidently or purposefully touch an e-field, then the e-field will absorb the me-chee mineral. Eat it, like a monster.” He chuckles with Nephella, viewing Marsilla.

Marsilla stands, fingering Rincon. “I said that. Eat it, like a monster…”

Rincon sits, nodding. “So, you did, intern Marsilla!”

Duchie grins. “I agree with Marsilla. The me-chee was eaten, like a monster. Therefore, an opening had been created inside the barrier wall…”

Nephella nods, cleaning her nails, wrinkling her facial piercings. “Mama, we are not a violent society. We are a peaceful one.”

The mayor nods to Nephella. “You are correct, as usual, daughter.” She views and sneers at Hatch. “Tell me, where are my me-chee machines?”

Hatch grins. “They fell through the wall.”

I walk back into the archway of the barn, studying and staring at the plasma, whispering. “Why does Hatch keep repeating that particular phase? They fell through the wall.”

Buffo whispers. “The me-chees fell through the wall.”

I shake my curls, whispering. “No. That’s not correct. The me-chees didn’t fall through the wall. Hatch and I pulled them through the wall from the other side then stomped the kill switch. They all powered down…”

Buffo drops his mouth. “What?”

I exhale, shaking my curls. “The night before, Hatch and I sorta, kinda kidnapped the me-chees machine, running along the barrier wall. Ya know, like we did, when we first visited Montag. I created an opening, then we allowed the me-chee machines to fall inside. Then, we slapped their kill switch…”

Buffo gasps. “How many me-chees in total?”

I exhale. “All of them.”

“You sorta, kinda kidnapped all the me-chee machines, surrounding the barrier walls around Dandine and Burrville.”

I giggle. “Actually, Hatch and I sorta, kinda kidnapped all the me-chees, surrounding all the barrier walls of Dandine, Colfax, and Montag, inside the Burrville dirt. I don’t understand why the mayor hasn’t figured out that the missing me-chees are inside Burrville.”

“They’re here!”

I nod, saying. “Yeah, they’re machines. They’re here. They’re big and heavy machines. I can’t disassembly a me-chee, without some big powerful piece of equipment…”

Buffo studies the plasma.

The mayor sneers. “The me-chees fell through the wall…”

Hatch nods and smiles. “They fell through the wall, creating a big hole…”

Buffo frowns then says. “What else did Rincon say to you, Ketona?”

I view the plasma. “He repeated, twice. They didn’t have a choice. But, they have a chance.” I shake my curls. “I do not understand the meaning, either.”

Buffo grins. “I do.” He dashes to the squatting male teen, who watches the plasma, too. Then, Buffo whispers into his face.

The teen nods, smiling.

Buffo nods, slapping his arm.

The male teen leans into the next female teen, whispering. She nods, smiling. She leans into the next female teen.

Buffo dashes to Ketona, grabbing her hand.

They race into the night towards the flier.

Buffo stops at the first one as Ketona stands. He lifts then straps it onto his body. “No. Take the second one. We gotta find out if the mayor has replaced all the missing me-chees.”

I exhale, tossing my arms. “Of course, she has. The mayor thinks she’s a general in charge of her metal troops. What are you doing, Buffo? Where are we going, Buffo?”

Buffo yells. “Follow me!” he places the hat over his skull then lifts from the dirt.

I dash to the second fliers, strapping it onto my body. I place the hat over my curls then lift into the air, too.

10:45 pm

barrier wall of Burrville and Colfax

Buffo lands, first. He removes the flier, gently lying on the dirt. He walks to the barrier wall, kneeling and touching the object. The wall doesn’t burn his hands or feel heated.

I land then remove the flier from my body. I jog to Buffo, kneeling the dirt. “What’s going on, here, Buffo? What are you looking for?’

He says. “Gimme a magnet! I wanna see, if there are any me-chees along the boundary wall of Colfax.”

I frown, shaking my curls. “The magnet creates a black circle, rotating along the wall. The mayor will see it then will issue an alert or something…”

“Naw. She’s too busy entertaining Hatch. And, Hatch is entertaining the rest of Colfaxians and the outer townships. Everyone’s watching the plasma.” He chuckles, extending his palm.

I jerk out the magnet then hand to Buffo.

He stabs it into the wall then wiggles the magnet around and around, creating an eyelid sized opening. He leans into the hole, spying on the other side. He jerks the magnet from the hole.

The ions collapse into a solid form, again.

He stands, nodding. “The mayor did. She replaced all the missing me-chee machines with new ones. She doesn’t understand that we kidnapped all the me-chees. How did you destroy them?”

I giggle. “Ya can destroy a me-chee, with 3,000 degrees of liquid heat and heavy equipment to rip apart their metal limbs…”

“So, where are they hiding at?”

I nod. “I just told ya, boy. Inside my farm house, upstairs, in one…two of the bedrooms…”

He gasps. “They can be traced to you, me, my grandfather on our farm…”

“Naw.” I shake my curls, giggling. “I deactivated the tracking flag and placed them under my evil command…”

He nods. “Okay. That’s good. That’s great!”

I frown with confusion. “What are you doing, Buffo?”

He chuckles. “Exactly, like you, we’re going to kidnap all the me-chees around the barrier walls of Colfax, Montag, and Dandine, a second time...”

I gasp. “Right now, this moment in time!? The mayor is…”

“…busy. Hatch is entertaining her with his smartie answers. Rincon and Hatch have worked out a plan. A me-chee is a machine. The machine taps the wall then the electrons collide and then collapse, together. Then, the me-chee machine is part of the barrier wall, melting, like candle wax. The machine is made of lead, a component of the e-field, too. They fell through the , literally, open the walls then allow all the guarding me-chees to fall through the walls, again, like you and Hatch did the other night…”

I drop my mouth. “Then, we have to power down each me-chee, manually, before it runs away from us then tattles on us. This will take hours, or days, or weeks, working, only, me and you. We need more help. There’re literally hundreds of me-chee machines, lining the ten miles of barrier walls inside the perimeter of Burrville…”

“Help has arrived.” He smiles and nods, fingering the sky.

I swing around, viewing the night sky. I narrow my eyelashes, seeing hundreds of fliers. I gasp. “Who are they?”

He nods. “The other farm teens, here, in Burrville, my friends from my childhood.”

The first flier lands along with the other flies.

The teens remove their hat, nodding and smiling.

Buffo grabs Ketona by the hand, walking to the first row of fliers. He nods. “Did ya’ll bring your secret weapon?”

The first row of teens presents a handful of three black strips from the refrigerator magnetic strips.

I giggle, nodding. “Good show!”

One of the teens yells, flinging the magnet strips in the air, laughs. “My daddy’s going to be so mad that the refrigerator door doesn’t close, anymore…”

“Buy a new one, Swellton!” Another teen yells, laughing.

The teens laugh.

I toss my arms. “Gather around! We can’t use the head gear repeating with our secret plan, in case of air wave spying. So, repeat my verbal instructions to your buddy then pass it around by mouth and tongue. Now, we work in teams of two. One teen stabs the three magnets into the wall. The second teen hits the kill switch on the me-chee. The kill switch…”

“On a female, it’s the left breast. On the male, it’s the left…uh, huh. Ouch, boy!” One of the teens yells.

The teens laugh.

“The left of what?” Another male teen yells. The female teen giggles, whispering to the male. He chuckles. “The left of…”

The other tall male teen punches on the short male teen, yelling. “Shut up, Reddy!”

The teens laugh.

I exhale. “Okay. Split into three groups. One group lines along the Dandine wall. A second group lines along the Colfax wall and a third group is along the Montag wall. Now, elect a leader. Leader, you stand in the middle of the field with a flashlight. Turn the flashlight on. When the flashlight is on, the first teen will stab the three refrigerator magnetic strips into a 90 degree angle…”

One of the tall male teens yells. “What’s that?”

“Don’t worry about it! Ya slap the me-chee dead,” the other tall female teen yells at her tall male teen friend, giggling.

The tall male teen nods. “Okay. I can go do that.”

The teens laugh.

I giggle. “Okay. When the flashlight is powered on in a bright light, the first teen stabs the three refrigerator magnetic strips into a ninety degree angle, along the e-field. Then, the me-chee falls through the wall. The second teen slams the me-chee on the appropriate body part, activating the kill switch. Then, ya’ll be done with your assignment, helping to save Hatch and Jara from the mayor. Now, get going. Good luck!”

The teens return to the filers then lift from the dirt.

I watch the fliers cover the black sky with a shiny silver tinting and then view Buffo. “We have one more thing to do.”

Buffo frowns at her. “One more thing?”

I nod, walking to my flier. I lift it, strapping over my body. “The lead molecules inside the me-chee wouldn’t dissolve every single part of the machine. There could be tiny and big remnants of melted and burnt metal. Therefore, we need to create a me-chee graveyard, along the barrier walls of Colfax, Montag, and Dandine, appearing like about ninety nine percent of the metal melted into the e-field. I want some broken and burnt body parts from the me-chees scattered in different cold dirt spots. Then, the mayor will see and believe Hatch’s fairy tale. They fell through the walls…”

Buffo frowns. “That didn’t happen in the first round.”

I nod. “I know. But, there were a smaller number of me-chees that could have been hundred percent melted into a big hole, leaving no physical evidence. Rincon would figure that out, too. I’m certain. Go and get some soldering equipment. We need to create an eternal memorial cemetery for the poor dead me-chees,” I giggle. “I’m going to start re-programming the machines to my personal voice command, before the rain starts.”

Buffo nods, lifting from the dirt. He flies towards his farm house.

I soar into the night sky, looking below.

The first teen stab the wall, when a me-chees falls onto the dirt. Then, the second teen slaps the metal. The me-chee stills.

I land, strapping off and then unloading the flier. I walk towards the first dead me-chee, exhaling. “This is going to take all night long…”

Colfax

11:51 pm

nighttime.

map room

Hatch and Jara sit behind each other. Their hands are tied and bound.

The mayor walks around the couple, staring at them, sneering. “They fell through the wall.”

Hatch nods. “They fell through the wall.”

Nephella eye rolls then says. “We know the question and the answer, Mama. They fell through the wall…”

The mayor halts in front of Jara, sneering. “Yes. We know the question and the answer. The me-chee fell through the wall, creating a hole. The hole allowed a person or a couple to walk through the wall. Then, the machines were eaten up by the heated and sizzling electrons. So, why did the chicken cross the road? So, why did you escape from the Dandine? So, why did you cross into Colfax?”

Jara sobs then pants then stares into the eyeballs of the mayor of Colfax. “I am pregnant with my first born baby. I went to see my mama,” she cries.

The farmers gasp.

The mayor along with the interns gasps.

Marsilla screams, fingering the map room then her personal cell then the mayor. “Ms. Mayor, all the me-chee machines are missing from the interior wall of Colfax. They have melted into the barrier wall…”

The mayor swings and gasps at Marsilla.

Nephella stands, raising her arms. “As the mayor-in-training, here, tonight, I declare Hatch and Jara free of all criminal charges. Release them, now! Go home, Hatch and Jara. Have a great day!”

Rincon and Duchie dash to them, ripping off the binders.

The plasma turns into silver and black lines.

Chapter 6

Sunday

Colfax

10:01 am. morning.

map room. rain. 100% participation. 4 mph winds. no sun. red clouds. black sky. 66°F

The rain pours from the sky over the manicured lawn, the metal rooftops, and down along the city streets.

Rincon holds the umbrella, running across the bridge, first, in the rainstorm. He dashes into the room, when the yellow lightning bolts strike over the ugly black sky.

Duchie holds the umbrella over her hair roots, slowly walking across the bridge then inside the map room.

They sit inside their individual desks, yawning with sleepiness.

Nephella enters, flinging the wet droplets from the umbrella and her body, too. She sits inside her chair.

The mayor looks terrible with black bags under her eye sockets. She stands in the middle of the room. Her golden suit is wet. Her hair is dripping with water, too. And, her facial piercings crinkle into her wrinkles. “Report!”

Rincon stands, wiggling his arms, flinging off the water. He says and smiles. “I examined the barrier wall along the Colfax boundary in the rainstorm. All the me-chee machines are missing, again. They’ve been completed melted and burned into the wall opening, like my buddy Hatch had described. He is innocent of any wrong doings.” He nods, sitting inside the chair.

Duchie sits on top of the desk, wiggling her feet, smiling and nodding. She had accompanied Rincon into Montag.

The mayor sneers.

Nephella wiggles side to side, flinging water from her body. She smiles and nods. “I looked at the Montag wall. All the machines are missing, too, melting into the barrier wall, too.”

The mayor sneers.

Marsilla smiles. “I studied the wall in Dookie Town…”

“Stop it, Marsilla!” Rincon growls inside the chair.

Marsilla grins. “Ms. Mayor, I found something interesting…”

Rincon frowns. “Sit down, Marsilla! There is nothing to find. The wall ate all the me-chees. Then, the me-chees all melted between the collapsed solid edges of the ions composed of the same natural earth minerals. The end.”

The mayor exhales, shaking her wet hair roots.

Marsilla fingers the electronic map. “See, I took numerous colored photographs with my new cell. There is a me-chee graveyard of parts and pieces of metal body parts scattered along the manicured grass.”

Rincon frowns. “So’s!?”

Marsilla swings to Rincon, sneering then smirking. “So’s, where are your numerous colored photographs of the me-chee graveyard, along the Montag barrier wall, Rincon?”

Rincon drops his mouth then views the floor. He views the mayor. “There wasn’t a graveyard of me-chee body parts along the Montag wall.”

The mayor gasps. “Where are your numerous colored photographs, daughter?”

Nephella views the desk surface then her mama. “I didn’t find a graveyard of me-chee body parts, either, along the Colfax barrier wall.”

The mayor frowns. “Why not, daughter?”

Rincon views Duchie, nodding and smiling. He views the mayor. “Marsilla photographed the garage bins.” He laughs with Nephella and Duchie.

Marsilla sneers then flashes the photographs over the electronic map along the four walls.

The pictures show various dull silver metal parts, scattered along the manicured grass in the rain, consisting of severed hands, fingers, feet, elbows, legs, kneecaps, torsos.

Marsilla fingers the pictures, saying. “Here! This is the me-chee graveyard of body parts, located along the barrier wall of Dandine. We, including all of us, have never seen this before, today. Why is that, Rincon?”

Rincon narrows his eyelids, studying the wall of photographs. He nods, snapping his fingers. “I know, I have an explanation. The previous wall of machines numbered less than twenty, allowing for numerous feet of free space between each me-chee. Therefore, each me-chee didn’t touch each other, only the barrier wall. And, we’ve already theorized, when a me-chee touches something, it could accidentally slam and then be eaten into the wall. So, there were shoulder to shoulder me-chees, making for the very first ever me-chee graveyard. And, I hope that I don’t have to clean it up,” he chuckles with Nephella and Duchie.

The mayor sneers. “All the walls were shoulder to shoulder with numerous me-chees in Montag, Colfax, and Dandine.”

Nephella eye rolls then exhales. “It is so obvious, Mama. Inside Montag, the me-chees lined their metal boots on top of the garbage piles. Therefore, the garbage me-chess had collected the body parts, thus no me-chee graveyard. Here, in Colfax, the me-chees are always cleaning and collecting scattered trashy litter and stinky garbage along the streets and the walls from the lazy Colfaxians. The garbage me-chees got them, too. The end!” She grins and nods, viewing Rincon.

The mayor exhales, nodding. “An excellent solution, daughter!”

Marsilla fingers the wall. “Here, inside Dookie Town, I have found something. The scattered me-chee body parts are almost exactly five feet apart, not more and not less. Interesting!”

The mayor nods, frowning at the photographs. “How interesting?”

Marsilla fingers the walls of photographs. “And, I have found, not one single head unit is present. Or, one single head unit did not drop from one of the numerous machines. Out of seventy me-chees lining the wall, not one single head unit fall off. Interesting!”

The mayor nods, frowning at the photographs. “How interesting?”

Marsilla fingers the electronic map. “And, I have…”

Rincon growls. “There is nothing else interesting, here, Marsilla.”

Marsilla grins at the mayor. “And, the garbage me-chees have performed their duties for the morning, collecting all the garbage inside Dookie Town, but not the me-chee body parts from the manicured lawn. Why is that, Rincon?”

The mayor growls. “Why is that, Rincon?”

Rincon opens his mouth then closes it.

Marsilla sways side to side, smiling. “I know, I have an explanation. All the me-chees inside the outer township of Montag fell through the garbage hills and all the me-chees inside Colfax were cleaned from the walls. However, inside Dandine, the me-chee machines were attacked, sabotaged, and violated in defiance of the mayor of Colfax…”

Rincon stands. “Naw.”

Nephella stands, fingering Marsilla. “No.”

Duchie slides off the desk table, shaking her bun. “You’re loco crazy, Marsilla.”

“I’m correct. And, I can prove it.” Marsilla sways side to side, grinning.

Rincon sours. “Prove it, Marsilla?”

Marsilla sways side to side, smiling and nodding. “Jara is carrying a baby, her first child. She wanted to tell her mama, in person. She wanted to show her mama, in person. She’s smart, too. She knows that the me-chee minerals are part of the e-field. So, she and Hatch, somehow and someway, figured out how to tap…or bang the me-chee against the e-field. Then, the hole was created. And, then the hole allowed them to escape. And, then one smart teen shares that brilliant idea with another mischievous teen then another and another, making progress…”

“The teens make a revolution.” The mayor sneers. “This is a dangerous concept for all the smart teens to possess. The teens can open the e-fields with this new knowledge. They can take over the outer townships with this new knowledge. They can take over Colfax with this new knowledge.” She views the floor, snarling. “I can’t stop the smart teens. I can’t stop their smart neurons…”

Rincon frowns at Duchie. She smiles and giggles, twirling fingers around her temple, indicating the mayor is crazy. He nods, softly chuckling.

Nephella frowns with puzzlement. “Mama, you can’t stop the growth of teens, or youth, or children, or new ideas coming from others.”

The mayor fingers her daughter. “Yes. I can’t. Yes. You’re right, daughter. Yes. I must…”

Nephella frowns with confusion. “Mama, you must. What must you do?”

The mayor swings, moving towards the closed door. “Intern Duchie and Marsilla, come with me…”

Marsilla frowns at Duchie. “I can go with you, Ms. Mayor. Duchie can stay here.”

“She must come, also. Dandine is her home township.” The mayor grabs the umbrella, exiting into the rain. “Daughter, you and Rincon stay here, until I call for your assistance…”

Duchie hugs Rincon then frowns. She spins around, grabbing an umbrella, too. She disappears into the rain.

Nephella shouts. “What must you do, Mama?”

Dandine

10:15 am

cesspool. rain 100% participation. 4 mph winds. no sun. red clouds. black sky. 65°F

The wall opening expands, both vertically and horizontally, admitting two rows of me-chees. The me-chees march in a straight line then split right and left. The me-chees form a solid line along the barrier wall. They continue to roll from posh Colfax into sweet Dandine, covering the length of the solid barrier wall in the rain.

Then, the travel car rolls through the e-field, parking over the wet grass.

The mayor doesn’t slide from the car. She sits inside, ordering into her cell. “Me-chee captain, built me a wooden platform with an umbrella roof about fifteen feet high from the wet ground with sitting chairs. I do not want to get wet, either. Use whatever materials are available around the complex, including any houses.”

Duchie wiggles side to side, slamming her hand into the closed door. The door of the travel car is always closed, traveling through the e-field. And, a travel car contains no windows, protection from the bombardment of electrons inside the e-field. The me-chee chauffeur drives using sonar equipment built into its metal head frame. Duchie yells. “What are you doing, mayor? Open the door, now!”

“No. I will get wet. No. You are staying here. No. I am in charge.” the mayor sneers, watching the action of the me-chees through her cell.

Duchie sneers, viewing the closed door then the mayor. She exhales. Her cell is wrapped around her hair bun, since the mayor objects to the electronics inside her eyesight, except for Marsilla’s.

The me-chees spread and scout around the soil in the rain. They advance to the tall nature trees and the row of man-made pink colored houses. The group of robots stabs then saws at the tree bark and the house wooden planks, ripping the elements apart from the objects. They construct a high platform, quickly.

The mayor smiles, watching the construction. She winks at Duchie. “It is all done, now!”

Duchie gasps. “What’s all done, now? Your platform? Where did the materials come from? Why do you need a platform? What’s happening here, mayor?”

The mayor smiles, rapping on the door. “Me-chee, hold an umbrella over me then open the door. I…we are all getting out. Get underneath the umbrella, girls, I don’t you missing the action….”

Duchie gasps. “What action?”

Marsilla giggles. “I look forward to some action rather than some dull moments, here.”

The mayor, Duchie, and Marsilla slide out the travel car and under the large three umbrellas.

The me-chees walk backwards, leading the mayor towards the new platform.

The platform is roughly and ugly composed of both the pink wooden planks and natural tree limbs with a set of wide steps for the stomping shoes.

The rain pours from the sky over the manicured lawn, the white rooftops, and into the dark cesspools. The sky rain helps the dookie process through the underground pipes, feeding both the trees and shrubs.

The me-chees walk backwards up the wooden steps then stands along the opposite sides of platform, like a tower of guards.

The mayor, Duchie, and Marsilla walk over the new level wooden floor of the fifteen foot platform. The mayor sits in the middle chair. She pats the chair next to her. “Duchie, sit on my right. Marsilla, please, sit on my left. Me-chee, please, open your microphone.”

The Dandine workers halt their individual jobs, gathering around the platform in the rain, viewing the mayor.

Duchie gasps, viewing the cut down natural trees. The healthy green leaves drown in the rain storm. The healthy brown bark grows dark from the wet droplets. Then, she sees the last house, belonging to Hatch and Jara. The house has been cut and sawed on the outside, removing the pretty pink planks, exposing the steel frames. She realizes the platform was built from both the natural trees and the house wooden planks.

The mayor clears her throat, placing her hands inside her lap. Her legs are crossed. She smiles, saying into the microphone. Her voice echoes from the platform into the eardrums of the workers. “I am the mayor of Colfax and your mayor of Dandine. I am both pleased and displeased. I had supplied a line of me-chees, since Monday…”

Marsilla smiles. “Tuesday.”

The mayor smiles and sits. “Since, Tuesday evening, the line up of me-chees have been guarding the barrier wall for your protection of any type of invaders…”

One of the Dandine workers shouts. “What invaders?”

“Go away, mayor of Colfax!” Another worker shouts.

“Who cares?” A third worker yells.

A fourth worker yells. “Leave our township, mayor of Colfax…”

The mayor says. “However, one of your kind or kin has infiltrated the wall and has harmed my me-chees…”

One of the Dandine workers shouts. “One of your kind or kin, woman?”

“Who cares?” Another worker shouts.

“Who’s she talking about?” A third worker shouts.

A fourth worker says. “The young couple on the plasma, yesterday. She wanted to see her mama in Colfax, being pregnant with her first child….”

A fifth worker yells. “Leave our township, mayor of Colfax…”

The mayor smiles, ordering into her microphone. Her hands lay inside her lap. Her legs are crossed and her facial piercings crinkle into her wrinkles. “Therefore, I am forced to punish my children, here, in Dandine, like a mother punishes a child for misbehaving.”

“Who cares?” The Dandine worker shouts.

“Go away, mayor of Colfax!” Another worker shouts.

“Who cares?” A third worker yells.

A fourth worker yells. “Leave our township, mayor of Colfax…”

The mayor says. “Me-chee, provide an opening through the barrier wall between Dandine and Tonkey.”

Duchie gasps. “You can’t do that.”

Marsilla gasps, watching the me-chees march towards the barrier wall on the opposite side of the manicured grass. The opposite wall is the entrance into the outer township of Tonkey. She whispers with fear. “Tonkey is filled with radiation pits. The radiation will attack...me.”

The mayor grins, watching the me-chees work. “The e-field consumes any bits of radiation outpour, engulfing around the e-field. No one will be harmed. The me-chees march in a pair, holding a horizontal cylinder of rusty colored lead. Lead is one component of the e-field. The lead cylinders will not be harmed.”

The me-chee pair halts in front of the glowing yellow barrier wall. Together, they raise each cylinder over their metal naked skulls and then violently stab the wall with each cylinder. The two me-chees explode into bright yellow colors then disappear into fiery red flames and then gray ashes.

The crowd gasps along with Duchie and Marsilla.

The mayor smiles, clapping. “I knew the me-chees would do that, too.”

The two lead cylinders stick into the barrier wall then suddenly crack open, displaying a horizontal opening. Then, the opening collapses into a vertical shape, displaying a perfect rectangular.

The workers gasp then back step from the platform and the barrier wall opening.

Chapter 7

10:31 am

map room

Nephella stands behind the console desk, pressing the knobs and buttons. She accesses the camera inside her mama’s cell. She gasps. “Rincon! Come here, now! Come here, quick!” She presses the button.

The fours wall illuminate in a pandemic new image of Dandine.

The rain falls from the black sky. The rows of pink houses are in the background. The crowd of yellow colored uniforms huddles into loose small groups. Some wear their yellow helmets. Some do not wear their helmets. The groups of huddled workers are growing larger.

The green grass is wet and glittering from the rain. The naked cut tree stumps pepper the pretty colorful flower garden. The glow of pink emits from a rectangular opening inside the barrier wall.

Pink bubbles float through the opening and then flutter in the air, burning and sizzling from the fiery radiation pits of Tonkey.

Nephella gasps, fingering the wall. “My mama has gone crazy. She’s opened the barrier wall into Tonkey. Do something, Rincon!”

Rincon drops his mouth, whispering. “I’m thinking. I’m thinking, trying to do something...”

10:35 am

Dandine

barrier wall opening

The mayor smiles, ordering into her microphone. The voice microphone controls all the me-chees. No other person can control the me-chees, only by physical force. She says. “I will not have the development or creation of new ideas, within the outer township of Dandine. I will not allow the youth to develop or create new ideas, within the outer township of Dandine. So, the workers of Dandine are not longer needed, here. The me-chees will do all your work, here. Therefore, the outer township of Dandine is terminated, now. Thus, the Dandine workers will work with the other workers, inside the radiation pits of Tonkey. Me-chees, escort every single Dandine worker and their family unit towards the barrier wall opening, now. The Dandine family unit will enter the opening, moving to their new residence, now…”

“You’re crazy. The wall’s radiated.” The worker shouts.

“We’ll die.” Another worker yells.

“Flee to your homes…,” the third worker screams.

The mayor smiles, saying. “Me-chees, please, escort each worker into the pit.”

The line of me-chees from the barrier wall both gather and block the crowd of yellow colored uniforms.

One me-chee pulls then drags a worker towards the opening. The me-chee tosses the worker with robot strength through the pink glowing mist. The worker screams, hitting the radiation bubbles on the opposite side. The worker dies.

The other me-chees copycat the motion.

The second worker is tossed into the pink glowing mist. The worker yells then dies.

A me-chee is made of steel metal, forming a tight circle around the huddled and scared Dandine workers.

One me-chee drags two workers from the circle, tossing into the pink pits.

A second me-chee drags three small child from their mama’s hands, tossing four of them into the pits. They cry, scream and then die.

Duchie stands. “Daddy!? You’re killing my friends, Ms. Mayor…”

Marsilla smiles. “They are not needed anymore. I agree, Ms. Mayor. The me-chees can do all their work, an excellent idea.”

The mayor smiles, watching the me-chee toss the workers into the opening. “Thank you, intern Marsilla. Calm down, intern Duchie. Or, you can join your friends…”

Duchie gasps, standing. She brushes her hair bun, activating her camera cell, hoping it will help Rincon and Nephella inside the map room.

10: 42 pm

Colfax

map room

Nephella fingers the wall, jumping and yelling. “Save them, Rincon! My mama’s going to murder them.”

Rincon studies the console, whispering. “An e-field is a piece of energy. Energy needs powers. Power comes from voltage or electricity. The e-field is low frequency, just increase the frequency then the wall will collapse between Dandine and Tonkey. Right! Yes. Right! I need to increase the frequency….”

Nephella gasps. “The radiation pits, they’re used to maintain the e-fields. This is the power source of the e-fields. If you cut off the radiation flow field from the pits of Tonkey then the e-fields will fall and then disappear between the outer townships.”

Rincon slams his fist into the console. “I know that. I don’t know how to do that.”

The door opens.

Hatch and Jara dash into the room. Hatch yells, holding her hand. “We’re watching it on the plasma. The mayor has gone crazy…”

Rincon views Hatch. “How do I close the barrier wall opening?”

Hatch shrugs. “Don’t know!”

Nephella frowns. “Think of something, Hatch! The Dandine workers are dying, fast.”

The four walls blink off then on with a new image. Two of the walls show the rear of the pink wooden platform. The sky is black with mean clouds, pouring down heavy rain. The grass is covered in both silver water and a silver travel car. Beyond the car, there is a row of me-chees, standing at attention, along the wall. Before the car, the barrier wall is empty, without any me-chees, except for the high pile of silver wheel barrels. The cesspools are unoccupied.

Rincon fingers the wall. “That’s the camera from Duchie, located around her hair bun. We are looking behind her skull at the rear of the Dandine. She activated her cell for us to see.”

Hatch exhales, viewing the floor then smiles at Rincon. He fingers the wall. “Call Ketona! Tell her to fly and land at the barrier wall of Dandine and Burrville then crack a hole into the wall between the travel car and the wheel barrels. She can help the other workers escape through the hole. All the workers are wearing their uniforms…”

Nephella frowns, studying the rear view of the platform. “The children didn’t wear electron uniforms, while in school, like the workers…”

Hatch nods. “No problem! Tell Buffo to round up all the teens and bring their farm uniforms. Toss the uniform through the hole then wrap each child inside the fabric. Then, toss the child through the opening, like we did Jara, when she was scared.” He kisses her face.

Jara nods, smiling, being happy about seeing her parents.

Rincon presses the button on his cell.

11:05 am

Burrville

Farm.

Beep. Beep.

I groan from the bright light of the dull and damp raining day. I toss the bed covers over my curls. Last night, I entered my house, very late, after re-programming over hundred me-chee machines with my voice print.

Beep. Beep.

I exhale, grabbing my necklace cell from the nightstand. “Yeah!”

Pause.

“What?”

Pause.

“On it! Will do! Thanks, Rincon!” I wrestle with the bed covers then stand.

I stomp towards my clothing, dressing jeans and shirt, running out the door. I halt, exhaling with annoyance. “Pouring down rain, always an emergency…”

I enter the rain, finding a small rock then belt it at the window, where Buffo is sleeping or resting.

We both were out late, last night.

Buffo finally stands at the window, opening the glass.

I yell, motioning with my hand. “Come on down! Hurry up!” I don’t waste time, turning and entering the garage. I drag both flies from the garage in the pouring rain then return, dressing in the farm uniform. I bundle more of the old farm uniforms into a tight pile inside the garage.

Buffo enters, smiling and chuckling. “I don’t like…

“The mayor is murdering the child of Dandine. I got a call from Rincon. She’s there, making the children walk into the Tonkey…”

He drops his mouth. “Dang!”

“You, go and get more teens. We need help flying them from the wall to here. I’ll hide them all here. There’s no time to waste…”

Buffo nods and dresses then jogs to the flier. He straps in then lifts into the rain.

I load the bundle of uniforms onto the flier then strap in, lifting into the rain storm.

Chapter 8

12:01 pm.

Barrier wall of Burrville and Dandine

I drop into the mud, landing the flier. Then, I gently set the flier into the mud, carrying the bundle of extra uniforms with me. I walk towards the barrier wall. I can’t see the action on the other side of the wall, with or without rain.

But, I recalled the place, where the rows of pink wooden houses paralleled the barrier wall. Rincon told me to stab the magnets closer to the first cesspool between the flower and tree gardens for secrecy and safety.

I exhale, kneeling in the mud, wiping the rain from my face. My hands shake holding the single strip.

The mayor of Colfax is on the other side of the wall, tossing people into the radiation pits. Between the radiation and the electromagnetic field, they are dying, swiftly.

I stab the single magnet strip into the wall, even with my nose. My single eyeball sees rain. I stab the second magnet strip about five inches sideways from the first one, waiting and watching for movement.

I see down pouring rain, heavy. The droplets are thick balls of water. I wipe my face from the rain, too.

I exhale, jerking out both magnet strips. I stand, reaching high over my helmet, stabbing with my right hand into the wall. I stab with my left hand.

The barrier wall cracks then collapses down to my kneecaps.

I squat, stabbing two more magnet strips five inches from the mud for a great big rectangular shaped exit hole.

I stand, holding the bundle of extra uniforms, exhaling with panic.

I see down pouring rain, heavy. The droplets are thick balls of water. I wipe the water from my face then place on my cowgirl hat and the scarf for protection of the electron ions. I whisper. “Good! The rain will disguise my movements.” I exhale, cuddling the bundle of uniforms then jump into the air, soaring over the electromagnetic edges of the rectangular hole.

My feet land in the slippery grass as I slide side to side then balance my upright body.

I scan the activity.

I stand between the travel car, without any me-chees, and a tall pile of wheel barrels, without any pookie. On my left, there is a line of me-chee along the barrier wall, staring at the cesspools, without guns. Me-chees cannot harm humans. I think.

Always, on my right, there is a group of Dandine workers surrounded by me-chees.

I hear screams of terror and yells of fury.

I exhale, seeing, in front of my body, are the cesspools. Between the cesspools are Dandine workers. They are crouched in the grass, waiting and worrying.

I whisper. “Okay. Save them!” I exhale with fear then control my nervous breathing. I slowly walk upright, not like a spy, towards the huddle workers from behind the pile of wheel barrels, since my jumpsuit is colored yellow, too. I view to my right.

Individual me-chees are violently dragging one adult, or a couple of children, or a couple of elderly people towards the big opening inside the barrier wall, using their robot strength.

I see the glowing pink radiation bubbles, floating in the air then see the boiling pretty pink pits of the radiation vats along the red dirt, where the radiation lives and breathes in the outer township of Tonkey.

I growl with angry. I can’t help that particular set of huddled workers, yet, without being exposed and tossed inside the pretty pink pit, too.

I slowly walk towards the huddle behind the cesspools in the blinding rain.

The me-chee has a set of eye sensors, being not human. They see in rain, at night, during the day any thing and everything all the time, which could include me.

I stand, surveying the me-chees. The ones along the wall just stand, like they’re awaiting orders from the mayor. The mayor sits on top of a platform from pink painted wooden planks and natural tree limbs. I see Duchie’s hair bun, glowing with her wrapped golden cell and Marsilla’s short pixie. They sit between the mayor of Colfax. I see her short red hair and glowing golden leather suit. However, I don’t hear her raspy voice, only the screams of the dying Dandine workers between the rain drops.

I squat, planting the bundle then open the uniform. I reach for the first Dandine worker. My farm uniform has changed colors from orange into yellow, after jumping through the barrier wall. I grunt then whisper for attention. “Go through the barrier wall into the farmland of Burrville…”

The first Dandine worker wears the helmet, scarf, gloves, and jumpsuit, a requirement, being outside between the electromagnet field, without absorbing the dangerous electrons.

I don’t waste my time. I reach around the first worker, slapping my hand on the second worker, saying. “I’m a famer from Burrville. The barrier wall is opened into Burrville. Jump through the wall into the other side. Don’t touch the edges. Cover your eyes with the scarf. Go. Now. Hurry.”

The second worker hears then stands. The worker runs towards the opening then leaps into the air.

The other huddled workers see the single brave Dandine worker land and roll safely inside the muddy farmland of Burrville. Each worker stands, runs, and then leaps through the opening.

I stand, back stepping from the workers, watching them then twisting my hat, watching the me-chees. I continue to back step from the cesspool concrete and the escaping workers, protecting and guarding them, until something bad comes for me.

The worker runs then leaps into the air. Then, two male workers stop at the opening then wrap each child and then toss the scared child through the barrier wall.

The Dandine workers inside Burrville catch the child or assist the child from the mud, running the children away from the exposed opening.

I back step, standing between the wheel barrels and the cesspool with my back facing the me-chees. I watch the workers run then leap through the barrier wall and then twist my hat, watching the workers, being tossed into the pits then die. I exhale with angry.

I view the huddle workers. The line of hiding Dandine workers curves around the first cesspool and then down towards the fifth cesspool, as far as, my acute eyesight can see in the blinding rainstorm.

The workers continue a steady pace, escaping through the barrier wall into Burrville.

I twist around, seeing the me-chees toss a person at a steady pace into the fiery pits of Tonkey. I exhale with angry.

The hand slaps my collar bone, when I growl, swinging into the mystery hat.

“It’s me!” Buffo says. “The farm teens are helping on the other side of wall. What else can we do?”

I growl then calm my nerves. “Open a second, and third, and an etcetera and an etcetera exit holes into the wall down, along the rest of Dandine property line. There are other numerous huddled workers, hiding behind the cesspools. So, you and some of other teens take out the other me-chees along the wall, so the hiding workers can escape…”

Buffo says. “It’ll cause a commotion on this end…”

“It’ll save more of the workers on this end…”

“We can’t afford a fight. No one can beat or beat up a me-chee. It’s solid lead…”

“We have to try and save the other huddled workers, standing in front of the mayor. Build your barrier wall hole from Burrville and then into Colfax. Then, attack all the me-chees from behind the Colfax wall. And, if someone attacks ya then kick their butt. Colfaxians are cowards. It’s our perfect nature. No one will bother ya.”

“Got it!”

I twist, viewing sideways with my left eyeball. I see the circle of me-chees, not stirring, surrounding the scared and screaming huddled workers, hearing another scream. I sneer. “Always, I want the mayor to figure out who’s causing her major trouble, too.” I growl. “Go, now!”

Buffo swings around then leaps into the barrier wall.

I stand as a protective guardian angel between the first cesspool and the pile of wheel barrels. I can’t see very well at this particular angle.

Buffo opens up the wall, when the me-chee falls through the hole. Then, the alert Dandine workers dash towards the hole, escaping into Burrville from the mayor.

I can see another me-chee disappear, giggling and grinning. My new farm teen friends have quickly learned the secret of the e-fields and the me-chees.

I hear more screams then twist towards the huddle.

The me-chees circle the workers. And, the huddled workers, consisting of adults, children, and elderly, have quickly diminished. The other workers have perished into the fiery pink pits of the radiation. The mayor and Marsilla calmly sit in chair on top of the platform.

I sneer. “Marsilla, you’re my next target, darling!”

Duchie stands, wiggling side to side with nervousness. Her face is swollen with tears and sadness, watching her people perish into the pretty pink pits of Tonkey. She can’t stop it or fight with the me-chees, or the mayor. The me-chees are machines with super human strength. She will die. She would die, but she needs to help, if she can. Duchie vows to stop the mayor.

The mayor is smiling, watching the disobedience Dandine workers scream then die inside the radiation pits of Tonkey. No one disobeys her mayor rules. If only, she could punish the young couple of Hatch and Jara, too. She can’t. Jara is carrying a baby and is a former citizen of Colfax. The populous of Colfax is weak and cowardly. They would impeach the mayor, or worse, eliminate the mayor, if any harm comes to Jara and her unborn babe. However, the mayor can punish the other outer townships, too, especially, the ones that cooperated with Hatch and Jara’s escape, like Montag.

I gasp with fear.

One of the me-chees, within the circle, shuffles sideways then turns and stares at Ketona.

12:22 pm

Colfax

map room

Rincon smiles and fingers the wall, where Duchie’s camera is showing the rear view of the platform. “Ketona, she’s there. She’s rescuing them…”

Nephella paces back and forth then stops. She studies the two walls, showing the rear view of the platform.

A single short yellow jumpsuit stands between the cesspool and the wheel barrels. The workers run in front of the yellow jumpsuit and then do not return.

Rincon nods, grinning. “Ketona has created a new barrier wall hold. The workers are leaping into safety into Burrville…”

Nephella exhales. “Not for long! If one of the me-chees sees the rear view action behind the platform, then Ketona and the entire population of Dandine are dead. We have to do something more, Rincon. My mama’s crazy. She’s killing those people. We gotta close the barrier wall opening at Tonkey, somehow.”

“I know.” He nods, slamming his fist onto the console, studying the instruments. “I’m thinking. We need to increase the frequency coming from the e-field around Dandine. The frequency is controlled by a resonance sound.”

12: 25 pm

ground level picnic area

barrier wall of Colfax and Dandine

The first teen farmer stands and stabs two refrigerator magnet strips into the wall, even with his collar bone.

The me-chee falls backwards in shock then quickly uprights on two metal boots, seeing the rain inside Dandine. Its computer brain sensors indicate a new location Colfax. The machine swings around, seeing Buffo.

Buffo doesn’t wear his farm hat and scarf, only his jumpsuit and sunglasses. His jumpsuit is golden color along with his gloves. Buffo grins and raises his folded fist, rotating them at the me-chee.

The me-chee has wet and shiny silver tinted metal skin with a yellow ponytail. It wears a golden colored jumpsuit, without a hat, a scarf, or sunglasses. It also wears a permanent smirk in blood-red. The me-chee raises both its folded fists, too, and then races towards Buffo.

Buffo slides, sideways, out of the way.

The second farm teen smashes the bat between the legs of the me-chee. The me-chee halts, grabbing the bat from the farmer. The farmer drips his mouth, saying. “Dang!”

Buffo shouts. “It’s a female.” He slams his fist into the left breast of the me-chee, activating the kill switch.

The me-chee falls forward, immobile.

The second farm teen frowns at Buffo, shrugging. “They all look alike to me…”

Buffo laughs then sours. He sees an alert me-chee, standing in front of the new barrier wall leading into Colfax.

The me-chee stands inside Dandine and studies the interior courtyard of the picnic area then waves its metal fingers at its other me-chee friends along the wall. Then, it charges through the e-field, without flaming into fire, being made of lead ions, like the e-field.

Buffo shouts, back stepping from the hole. He crouches, holding the baseball bat, too. “Pair up! Slam then smash the robots! Hit the kill switch!”

The me-chee travel one at a time through the numerous barrier walls, marching towards a pair of farmers.

The farmers break off tree branches, lift metal picnic chairs, and raise baseball bats, readying for the fight.

The me-chee attack the fragile teens, breaking arms and busting nose holes.

The farmers kick and punch, trying to slam the particular accouterment, and then de-activate the robots.

Chapter 9

12:31 pm

map room

Rincon fingers the wall. “Put the current electromagnetic wave on the wall, replacing the pink glowing Tonkey radiation pits.”

Nephella press the button. “Okay. It’s up. The black wave flows up and down and up and down, like a smooth rolling hill along a flat cow pasture. This is a very low frequency resonance wave. These gently smooth up and down single wave surrounds each e-field, which is around each outer township.”

Rincon studies the wall and the wave. “Okay, for this to work, we need a very high frequency resonance wave. So, the current smooth rolling hillside wave, going across the flat cow pasture must increase upwards like a high mountain peak, roaring over the landscape.”

Hatch exhales, studying the wave. “And, how are we going to do that?”

Rincon nods. “A resonance wave is modified, when a rolling wall of cold temperature air slams into a wall of heated temperature air. The electrons shimmy and shake, making any type of hole collapse and then close along an electromagnetic field.”

Hatch nods. “Creating tornados, too!”

Nephella monitors the radar screen. “Nope! No tornados! This is a tender rain storm with heavy rain drops for the crop fields of seedlings and lots of warm air. Hit me, again!”

Rincon exhales. “Okay. A resonance is modified by Mother Nature using a series of bright lightning strikes. If the rain storm is producing numerous lighting bolts then the barriers holes will collapse by themselves…”

Jara gasps. “Look! I see more openings along the barrier walls. Is that really happening, there?”

Hatch smiles, nodding. “It’s Buffo and the other teens. They’re capturing the me-chees from behind the wall of…”

“Colfax…,” Rincon says and views Hatch.

Hatch nods, swinging towards the door.

The teens ran then stand outside in the rain. They see the golden jumpsuits of the farmers, dancing near the barrier wall, slamming the weapons into the me-chees.

Rincon punches on Hatch, saying. “We gotta help them, too. Buffo and the farmers can’t fight with indestructible robots.” He leads into the map room.

Nephella walks then stands over the console. She studies the radar screen of clouds. “Naw! No lightning strikes, today. Mother Nature is both not our enemy and not cooperating. What else, Rincon?”

Hatch says, pacing side to side, studying the walls of Dandine. “Falling objects, like rocks or boulders, will trigger a resonance sound, which will affect the opened holes inside the e-field.”

Nephella frowns then says. “No signs of falling rocks or boulders. What else, smart Rincon, not silly hatch?”

Hatch grins. “And, if ya bang on earth minerals with a set of steel plated hammers, like copper, gold, or silver, the earth minerals will emit a set of new pretty colors. The new colors will oxidize the surrounding air current and then the air will shift, causing the e-field to modify. Then, the modified e-field will close the barrier wall of Tonkey.”

Nephella frowns. “No copper, gold or silver, here. What else, Rincon? Shut up, Hatch!”

Jara studies the wall then swings to hatch. “A resonance is nothing but a heightened sound, like music. We should play music, causing the e-field to collapse.”

Hatch nods, walking to the console. He studies the panel of instruments. “Okay! There’s a radio dial. We raise the recorded music to the highest level then create a new high frequency wave.”

Nephella shakes her curls. “Not high enough.”

Jara studies the wall, narrowing her eyelashes. She smiles and fingers the wall. “Inside Dandine, each building has a bell. There’s a school bell, a church bell, a firehouse bell, a lunch bell. All the bells produce pretty loud and high pitched tones of musical notes. We activate all the bells at the same time. Then, the musical tones will shift the ions inside the e-field. The holes will fall back into solid form.”

Hatch chuckles. “A solid hole or a solid hold…”

Nephella frowns. “Shut it, Hatch!”

Rincon studies the console and instruments. “Yes. Jara’s correct. The ringing bells will excite the electromagnetic ions. Then, the electromagnetic components will smash and then scatter. Then, the ions will collide and then collapse, closing the barrier wall holes.”

Nephella nods. “All the barrier holes will close, not just the big one in Tonkey. The holes in Burrville and Colfax will close up, too. The workers can’t escape.”

Hatch nods and smiles. “The ringing bells will stop and capture everyone’s attention. Then, the workers will not be dying, anymore. Then, we attack…”

“Attack the mayor,” Nephella swings to Jara and Hatch, nodding.

Jara exhales. “You are going to create buckling motion within the waves, too.”

Nephella nods. “Yes. My mama’s crazy. We need to capture and contain her. Once the Colfaxians learn of her malice, she will be impeached or dismissed or something…”

Hatch nods and smiles. “Excellent plot, Nephella! Excellent plan, Rincon! Do it, to it and the mayor. Yee-haw!”

Jara frowns. “The electromagnetic wave is going to buckle. Then, the wave will explode inside Dandine, killing all the plants, trees, and all the wildlife animals, including birds, probably….”

Rincon nods. “The workers will faint from the high pieced sound…”

Nephella frowns. “Ugh! We will faint from the high pieced sound, too.”

Hatch shakes his skull at Nephella. “Naw.”

Nephella nods. “Yeah.”

Hatch frowns. “No, girl!”

Nephella nods. ”Yes, guy! The console panel for the ringing bells is inside my mama’s office, not here. This is the map room, showing the outline of the mayor’s territories. We have to activate the musical bells inside the tower room, over there.”

Rincon nods, swinging around, moving towards the door. “We take that chance, saving the Dandine workers.”

Jara gasps, fingering the wall. “Look! One of the me-chee has spotted Ketona behind the platform.”

Rincon jogs towards the door. “Hurry across the bridge. We gotta save Ketona, Buffo, and the workers of Dandine.”

12:52 pm.

Dandine

Barrier wall of Burrville and Dandine

I swing around. My heart pumps both fear and blood into my neurons.

The me-chee slowly swings around, standing and staring at Ketona. Its computer neurons register numerous movements in the far distance.

I sneer then jog towards the me-chee. It will expose my rescue plan and capture the escaping workers. I run, flinging my wet arms back and forth, gathering speed in the blinding rain storm. I wipe the drops from my face, where my eyeballs are exposed.

The me-chee studies the commotion in the background, analyzing the situation.

I snarl, running faster then jerk sideways from the standing me-chee.

The me-chee turns its metal face towards Ketona, analyzing the situation.

The other me-chees, within the large circle, corral and push the remaining workers towards the fiery pits of the exposed barrier wall.

The mayor watches without speech, smiling. Marsilla giggles, bouncing inside her chair.

Duchie stands, crying and wiping off the tears.

I slide out of control on the wet grass, slamming into the pile of tree branches, where the platform was constructed. I moan with pain then slowly stand, lifting the heavy shovel with my arms.

The circle of me-chees ignores Ketona, being issued the single deadly command from the mayor, shoving the helpless workers into the radiation pits of Tonkey.

I pace towards the me-chee with an excellent plan, twirling the shovel in front of my body, threatening bodily harm. I view the sight on my left, seeing the steady flow of Dandine workers, exiting through the barrier wall. This is it, my moment to save the other workers.

I dash, raising the shovel above my cowgirl hat then smash the collar bone of the me-chee, without damage, of course.

No one can beat upon a machine.

The shovel handle and I quiver and then I back step from the machine.

The me-chee grabs then jerks the handle from Ketona, breaking it into two parts. It drops the broken wood onto the wet grass.

I gasp then growl, running around the me-chee, out of its arm span.

The mayor sees the motion from the corner of her eyeballs then views the single brave Dandine worker. She says. “Kill it, me-chee!”

I pick up another shovel on the wet grass, rotating around the me-chee, making lovely musical tones on its metal body.

The me-chee swings around, stomping in her direction then twists around, stomping into the opposite direction of the dancing worker.

I slam the shovel into its back muscles.

The me-chee bends forward from the impact then slides away from Ketona.

I gasp with shock, studying the grass. I whisper. “It’s wet and slick. The metal is shiny and slippery.” I giggle, squatting and collecting a second shovel. I dance around the me-chee, banging in its metal parts.

The me-chee twirls around then slides away from Ketona over the wet grass.

I giggle, twirling around then bang on several of the backs of other me-chees within the circle.

The alert me-chees still then swing around, analyzing the situation.

I slam the shovel into the left body parts, making more musical tones.

The me-chees power down then fall onto their metal faces.

I giggle, dancing around the circle of me-chees.

The mayor stands along with Marsilla. She fingers the fallen me-chees. “Get it! Kill that dancing worker, me-chees! Stand up and fight!”

Marsilla leans into the mayor. “Ms. Mayor, a me-chee is not programmed to fight. It can capture and hold onto a person…”

The mayor shouts. “Capture the dancing worker, now, me-chee! Capture. Now! I wanna know who that worker is…”

The me-chee separate from the circle. The remaining workers run away from the hole, the me-chees, and the mayor.

The mayor flings her hands, shouting. “Capture the worker, now!”

I giggle, dashing towards the wooden platform. I fling the shovel tip in the wood, banging and chopping on the thin homemade wooden leg.

The me-chee chase after Ketona.

I twirl around, running towards the rows of houses then halt. I gasp.

The mayor ordered the destruction of the pretty houses, building her homemade platform of doom.

I growl then run towards the last house.

The me-chees chase after Ketona.

I run passed the house then cut back, going around the house with the me-chees in hot pursue. I giggle, running between the house then hide inside a dark corner of the front porch.

I slam the shovel into the metal face of the approaching me-chee. The shovel and I shimmy side to side from the collision. I drop the shovel from the violent impact. I grunt then squat and grab the shovel, again. I jump from the front porch, facing a row of me-chees. I swing the shovel up and down, side to side as the me-chees come closer.

1:05 pm

platform

The mayor frowns with annoyance, swinging around the platform. She gasps, seeing the escaping workers. She stomps her shoes, crinkling her facial piercings into her wrinkles. “Me-chees!? Where are the row me-chees along the barrier wall?”

Marsilla giggles, watching the me-chee fight the Dandine worker then exhales. She swings around, viewing the escaping worker. “The me-chees are missing. The me-chees have fallen through the barrier wall, dropping into Colfax.  I told ya’ll that they did that.” She nods, crossing her arms.

Duchie spins around, gasping then smiles. She sees the escaping workers then leans into the mayor. “Your malicious reign is over, mayor. The me-chees have fallen through the barrier wall, landing onto the concrete of Colfax. The cowardly Colfaxians didn’t like violent or trouble. Look at the mess you caused, Ms. Mayor. You have murdered innocent people, here, in Dandine. Now, the me-chees are running wild and fighting with the Colfaxians.”

The mayor gasps. “No!” She smirks then views Duchie. “You have murdered your own innocent people, when the teens of Dandine found an opening inside the barrier wall. You are the causation of the Colfax violent and the Dandine killings, intern Duchie. You work for me. You report to me. You are responsible to me. Therefore, you will be punished for your failure to me. I will be conducting another trial inside the map room for the Colfaxians to see and taste, including you and your nosy teenager friends. They are no match against my me-chees soldiers.”

Duchie gasps.

Marsilla giggles, leaning across the railing. “I would include Hatch and Jara, too. They’re behind the barrier wall inside Colfax, messing with your me-chees, Ms. Mayor.”

I hit the me-chees, rattling my bones and powering down one of the many me-chees. I yell, swinging around, running towards the platform.

The Dandine workers have scattered from the mayor and the platform.

I climb the platform, flinging the shovel tip at the wood, chopping hunks out of the wood.

The mayor screams, wobbling side to side. She swings around, leaning over the railing, ordering to the me-chees. “Stop that dancing worker, now, me-chee…”

I giggle, standing the shovel on its tip. I leap off the wooden staircase railing then fly over the metal heads of the me-chees. I don’t make it then land on top of the me-chees, sliding down the wet metal, like a kid on a playground slide.

I giggle, rolling onto the wet grass. I stand then fall onto the grass, too. I stand, giggling.

The me-chees tumble over each other, falling over the grass and the staircase.

I giggle, hitting the shovel into the left side of the body parts. The attacked me-chees power down then fall over the active ones.

I giggle, again, hitting more me-chees. I scan the grassy ground, seeing rain drops, fallen me-chees, and no workers. I hear and see the pretty pink pits boil and burp inside Tonkey.

The barrier wall is being held opened by two heavy and thick lead cylinders, the width of my biological body. I don’t have the body strength, pulling the cylinders from the wall. So, I’ll wait on Buffo to finish powering down the me-chees machines then he can remove the twin cylinders. Then, I will win over the mayor.

I sneer than slam the shove into anther me-chee, downing the machine.

Duchie giggles, fingering the fallen me-chees. “I would surrender, right now, mayor. You are losing the battle. All the me-chees are powered down. And, my daddy’s shotgun is loaded, too. The escaping Dandine workers are running back home to fetch their guns with the intent to end your life force…”

The mayor gasps, back stepping from Duchie, shaking her curls, crinkling her facial piercings into wrinkles.

1:37 pm

Colfax

Office of the mayor

Nephella leads across the bridge in the rain, walking through the open door. She dashes across the open floor of the mayor’s office then turns towards the side wall.

The wall is painted in white with no handle or door.

Nephella stands in front of the wall, wiping off the dust. She taps on the wall with her knuckles, watching it break apart.

Rincon frowns. “What are you doing?”

Nephella racks off the crumbled wall, twisting the knob inside the hidden wall. “A long time ago, before an e-field surrounded each the outer township, a good mayor would call a meeting by ringing the church bells. Over the years, the bells were built into different buildings for both beauty and fun. This old room holds a set of levels, ancient levels, which will activate all the bells inside each outer township, all at once, in case of an emergency. This is an emergency.”

The wall crumbles down towards the floor, revealing a dark and damp room, without windows.

The teens cough, wiping the dust from their faces.

Nephella enters the room, first, scanning the wall.

The single wall holds an assortment of rusty levels scattered over the wall and embedded into the rotten wood.

Jara gasps. “Do all these levels really work?”

Nephella nods. “Yes. They do work.”

Hatch cuddles Jara, standing beside Rincon. “Which level represents Dandine?”

“Don’t know.” Nephella stands in front of the numerous rusty levels on the other side of Rincon.

Hatch asks. “Which level represents Colfax?”

“Don’t now.” Nephella says.

Rincon nods. “Okay. We drop all the levels. We left Ketona, alone, fighting one of the me-chees, or probably, all of them, by now. We’re outta time, ya’ll.” He grabs a level. “Grab a level or two then jerk it down…”

Jara grabs a level. Hatch grabs two of the levels. Nephella touches the level.

Rincon exhales, jerking the level. “Drop it!”

The levels slowly drop towards the floor with guidance from the hand. Then, all the level tips are pointing towards the floor.

They back step from the levels, watching for any movement.

Hatch laughs. “I don’t hear any bells or whistles or fireworks.”

Jara stomps her foot. “I didn’t work, ya’ll. Now, what’s next?”

Nephella nods. “It will, just wait.”

The sound of bells ringing is faint within Colfax. Then, the sound grows loud and fierce from every ringing bell, inside every building of Colfax. The tall buildings rumble from the ringing music and then the glass windows break from the growing resonance harmonic frequency.

Jara screams, covering her eardrums from the breaking glass. Hatch cuddles her, slamming his body into the wall corner.

The room is exposed to the breaking glass and ringing bells.

Rincon grabs his eardrums, slamming into the wall corner, also. Nephella covers her eardrums, huddling between Rincon and Jara.

1:40 pm

Dandine

barrier wall opening to Tonkey

The bells ring from all the buildings inside Dandine for some reason.

I swing the shovel at the moving me-chee, hitting the left side body part then still.

The alert me-chees stop moving.

I view the sky, hearing the lovely sing of ringing bells. Then, the pretty sound grows louder and louder. I grunt then drop the shovel, covering my eardrums, viewing the sky then the grass.

The other alert me-chees still and stand in place, confusing their hearing circuits inside the computer brain.

The mayor covers her eardrums. “What is that noise?’

Duchie giggles. “Ringing bells from the church, the school, the firehouse, the lunch building. Yeah, Rincon!” She tosses her hands, smiling then covers her eardrums. “Rincon has created a resonance sound, using the sweet music from bells.”

The mayor sneers, wrinkling her facial piercings.

The loud ringing bells grow more powerful, when the barrier wall holes shimmy then shiver. The ions collide then collapse back into a solid form along the barrier wall.

I fall onto the grass in the rain, covering my eardrums. The ringing music makes my head spin sideways. The ringing music makes my eyeballs see double. The rain makes me cold and hungry. I lay on my stomach, feeling the rain tap over my hat, my face, and my jumpsuit. I pass out into darkness.

Chapter 10

Monday

10:01 am

The Cubby Hole

I blink my eyelashes open, feeling cold, semi-wet, semi-dry, and dirty with grass, tree leaves, and sand. I gasp, viewing the ceiling.

The ceiling is golden color.

I upright on my elbows, surveying my clothes. I wear my jumpsuit in golden glowing tones, without my gloves, scarf, hat, and shovel. So, I was carried inside the travel car, coming through Colfax from Dandine, making my jumpsuit absorb the golden electrons. I giggle then study the environment. I gasp. “I’m inside the Cubby Hole auditorium room, again.”

The auditorium room glows in gold color on the four walls, the ceiling and the floor.

I struggle to stand, being sore from my fighting exercise with the annoying and non-fighting me-chees.

Buffo, Rincon, Jara, Hatch, Duchie, Nephella, and Lamis are lying on the cold empty floor, too. Buffo and Lamis wear golden jumpsuits. Rincon, Duchie, and Nephella wear the golden clothes. Jara and Hatch wears blue jeans and a shirt.

I gasp in shock, dashing to Buffo then violently shake him. “Wake up, Buffo! Get up, Buffo. We’re back inside the Cubby Hole. What’s going on here? Get up, Buffo!”

He stirs, wiggling side to side along with the other teens from the shouting of Ketona. Buffo yawns then rubs his eye sockets. Buffo blinks his eyelids open then close, focusing on the room. “The Cubby Hole…”

Rincon stands, yawning and stretching. He surveys the empty room. The only object, inside the room, is one of the stationary me-chee chairs, glowing in gold. He says. “I do believe that we’re in gigantic trouble, ya’ll. We rang an assortment musical bells inside the assortment of buildings, throughout the land, like kings and queens, trying to collapse the barrier wall from Dandine into Tonkey.”

I help Buffo to stand, saying. “It worked. I saw the wall drop then I dropped into blackness. The ringing bells were ringing my neurons into sleepiness.”

Hatch helps Jara to stand, guiding her towards the wall. He helps her to sit, squatting. “Stay right here! You’re carrying our child. I will not let anyone harm you. I promise. Stay here and try to relax. Okay!?”

Jara exhales with panic, rubbing her stomach with nervousness, not speaking. She nods.

Duchie sits on the floor, hugging her body. Rincon dashes then helps her to stand. She says cuddling into his biceps. “The mayor threatened to put us on trial, like she did Hatch and Jara. I don’t understand, why we all are not inside the map room…”

“I changed my mind.” The mayor shouts, entering from the girl’s bathroom. She walks inside the room then stands in front of the teens, touching the me-chee chair. “Yes. Ya’ll are in big fat trouble. Yes. Ya’ll created a big mess. Yes. Ya’ll are young. No. I will not punish you. As mayor…”

“Mama!?” Nephella stands, wiping off the dirt, sneering. “You murdered people. We stopped you. You are evil. We are good…”

The mayor exhales then shakes her curls, crinkling her facial piercings into her wrinkles. “My own daughter sabotaged my good work. To make a long story, shorten, the ringing bells created dizziness in every citizen of Colfax, including the outer townships. No. No one was harmed or hurt, only sleeping. No. My me-chees were no harmed, either, only sleeping, too. The first citizens, to awaken from the non-ringing bells, were the Coflaxians. They found your unconscious bodies inside the closet of my private mayor office, coming to my rescue, of course…”

“Mama!?” Nephella says. “We rescued the people that you were murdering. You didn’t tell them…”

The mayor says. “I told the truth. The Colfaxians have told the order. You are recently graduated from the Cubby Hole…”

I walk and then hug Lamis, staring at the mayor, saying. “Why’s Lamis here? She wasn’t inside Dandine, during the battle?”

The mayor frowns. “She covered her lies and fibs for all of you. Other loyal people, from Montag, told a different fairy tale, regarding the night of the cookie thieve. They were four out of towners, not two, who happened to materialize, like ghosts from the barrier wall. It didn’t take me long to figure out the four, comprising Ketona, Buffo, Hatch, and Jara. Interns Rincon and Duchie are here, also, because he and she have assisted ya’ll in too many ways…”

“Yeah, I’ll do it, again, too.” Rincon cuddles Duchie, nodding and grinning.

The mayor nods, smiling. “Excellent. I have a consensus of participation. Ya’ll have been expelled from the posh city of Colfax and stinky township of Dandine. Some of the Dandine leaders do not want your allegiance, either. Therefore, you are homeless, with a home or a landscape. So, you will re-enter the Cubby Hole, like a new graduating schooler. You will answer a new academic question for your citizenship. If you answer correctly, you will live in Colfax. I still need five teens for five dreams jobs...”

Nephella frowns. “There’re eight of us. Last time, I took a math test. Eight minus five leaves three. What happens to the other three, who answer or don’t answer the new academic question, inside the Cubby Hole, Mama?”

The mayor nods, smirking. “You are correct, Nephella. However, the five dreams jobs are down to four dreams jobs. I have selected Marsilla as the new administrator technician. Therefore, Nephella, you are without both a home and a job, too. Thus, you are re-entering the Cubby Hole, too.”

I sneer, stomping forward. “She’s your daughter, your flesh and blood, too. I have parents, also. I wanna talk to my parents. My parents will provide for me, also. I wanna call my parents on the cell…”

The mayor grins. “You do not possess cells, here, like in the original Cubby Hole. Yes. Your parents have expressed those same behavior sucky feelings, too. However, you must answer the new academic question in the Cubby Hole. Now, ya’ll are both dirty and smelly. There are new sets of clothes inside each bathroom, but no cell equipment, contacting your loved ones. Please, bath and change. I will return within the hour then your destiny will be settled.” She back steps then exits the room.

Lamis bursts into tears. “I don’t wanna be here. I don’t wanna do the Cubby Hole thing, again. I wanna go home. I wanna see my parents, too.”

I hug Lamis, frowning at Buffo.

He shakes his skull, saying. “Look! We gotta do the Cubby Hole thing, again. I don’t care about being homeless, or landless, or whatever. If I fail the stupid academic question, then I’ll live inside the thick patch of green forests behind the e-fields. They’re plenty of land and wildlife for hunting and eating and surviving the mayor, the e-fields and Colfaxians...”

Rincon nods with Duchie. He says. “I will join you, Buffo. I’m sick and tired to being shoved and pushed side to side, like a puppet. I can live anywhere, with Duchie.” He kisses her lips then pulls back, smiling and nodding.

Duchie nods and smiles, too.

Hatch whispers to Jara, wiping her tears.

Nephella exhales, folding both her fists, slapping her legs. “My mama is still crazy. Look, ya’ll! Once we’ve all passed this silly question, getting out of this room, I am gathering your parents and calling a business meeting. We’re impeaching my mama as mayor. The Colfaxians can elect a new one.”

“Marsilla will be the next evil mayor.” Duchie frowns.

I giggle, walking to Buffo. “Marsilla will be nothing, after I whip her butthole. I whipped lots of metal buttholes of me-chees, yesterday. Ya’ll should’ve seen me dance…”

Buffo laughs, hugging Ketona. He says. “Get dressed and get this done! Then, the real war begins. Look, ya’ll! My parents, grandparents, and blood relatives are sick of this silly nonsense with the posh Colfaxians and the mean mayor. They will fight with us. We’re the new leaders of Colfax.” He kisses Ketona.

10:10 am

girl’s bathroom

I walk to Lamis, hugging her.

We slowly stroll into the bathroom then stop inside the archway.

I gasp in shock.

The room shows a wall of mirrors on the side, which is opposite from the wall of showers and dressing rooms. Along the mirrors, there are sinks with items on top. And, there is a long clothing rack of ankle-length colored dresses in the middle of the room.

Duchie squeals, running to the dresses. She swings each dress side to side. “Formal gowns. I’ve never owned a formal long elegant gown in my life. I don’t know what color I like. I don’t know what style I like. I don’t know what I like. But, I like them all.”

Jara stands and stares at the clothes inside the room. “No cat suits, this round, this time. Why not?”

Lamis stands along the wall, wiping her tears. She smiles and nods, walking towards the wall of mirrors and the sinks. “I am both shocked and surprised,” she touches the items. “There’re makeup products for our faces, too. We have dresses and makeup, making us, look like a princess. Ya know, so, I don’t think we’re in that much trouble, like I thought. Why would they give us a pretty new dress, instead of an ugly cat suit? I like the yellow one with the v-neckline and big yellow bow on the waistline. Yeah, I pick this one. Yeah, I’m ready for the Cubby Hole, again. I’ll do really well, this time. And, this time, I can live inside Colfax, instead of Montag. Yeah, I can do this, again.” She hangs the dress on the dressing rack. She walks into the shower stalls, humming with happiness.

I frown with puzzlement, two-stepping towards Nephella. She stands along the wall. I whisper. “I’m sorry about your golden circle internship. However, I am more sorry about your mama…”

She whispers. “Me, too! My mama’s going down. I’m not really worried about me. I can answer any academic question tossed up my butthole. But, I’m very concerned about both Lamis and Buffo.” Nephella views Ketona, whispering. “He didn’t pass out of the orange color tone, when he was presented with the more difficult academic questions, Ketona. And, Lamis didn’t either.”

I view the floor, whispering. “I know that.” I view her. “What’s really going on here, Nephella?”

Nephella exhales, whispering. “I don’t know, Ketona. But, stay aware and alert. I don’t trust my mama. She has already committed cold blooded murder, killing innocent men, women and children, sending them into the radiation pits of Tonkey. So, nothing is beyond her, even this exhibition of glamour and prettiness. Let’s get dressed and then converse with Duchie, Hatch, Rincon and Buffo. I don’t think Jara is in the right state of mind, along with Lamis.”

I nod, whispering. “Yeah!”

Nephella strolls towards one of the individual shower stalls.

I exhale, watching the other teens select a dress then enter the shower stall. I forgo the dress until I am clean.

I enter the individual room, walking towards the shower. I turn the water to warm, letting the shower heat. I strip off my dirty jumpsuit, when my cell necklace catches in the zipper. I gasp, catching the wiggling object. I have my cell phone.

I could call for help from my parents, or Buffo’s grandparents, or Rincon’s parents. One of the adults can enter the Cubby Hole from the outside of Colfax and then rescue us from the park place setting, like Rincon did, during the last park place as former schoolers.

I don’t know what will be presented inside the park place either a cave of bears, or a pit of snakes, a garden of flowers, without the bees.

I strip off my cell, gently laying it on the side table.

I enter the shower, humming and singing with happiness.

11:01 am

auditorium room

I wear a golden color matronly gown with a high collar and two long sleeves, no makeup. My guts are flip flopping. My hands are shaky with too much excitement and nervousness for decorating the ugly sneer on my distorted face. The gold color and extra gold material hides the design of my necklace cell. The necklace easily matches the ankle-length dress. I nervously paw the cell then drop the necklace along the lines of the fabric. I smile and stroll to Buffo.

Buffo wears a pair of new blue jeans, a blue colored vest with a white long sleeved shirt. His bowtie is colored in pinks, yellow, blues, and greens. He extends his arms, hugging Ketona. He kisses her hair roots then lips. “You look…”

I whisper. “Matronly. Yeah, I know. I’m really nervous and upset about everything.”

Lamis twirls in a yellow plantation dress with a big yellow bow at her waist and a v-neckline. Her face glows in bright pink cheekbones and red lipstick. Her eyelids are covered in pale blue. She giggles, swirling around and around, making her dress hem rise from the floor.

Duchie wears a white halter dress, hugging her petite body, glittering fake diamonds. She has decorated her face in coral cheekbones and pink lips. She wears gold and silver shiny eye shadow.

Jara wears a pale blue sleeveless dress, without makeup. Stained crying tears are hard to cover. She walks to Hatch. He wears a blue jeans and a shirt, hugging and whispering into her eardrums.

Rincon struts to Duchie in a new pair of blue jeans, a red vest with a white long sleeved shirt. He wears a red bowtie, nodding and whispering into her face. Then, he kisses her lips.

Nephella strolls from the bathroom, wearing a sleeveless black sequin dress, a v-neckline, and a small dress train, trailing behind her butthole. She has removed her facial piercing, also. She stands near the wall, viewing the me-chee chair.

I pull away from Buffo, walking to Nephella, studying her face. “What are you doing, now, in here? You look different. You are conforming…”

Nephella views the me-chee chair. “I am pleasing and appeasing my mama. I wanna go, first, into the me-chee chair, before the rest of the teens...”

“Go, first!?” I frown.

Nephella nods. “There’s only one chair. We go, one a time, into the new park place for some strange reason. I want to go, first. I wanna have some time to talk then threat my mama into peace and serenity, before I tattle on her evil behavior to the rest our little world of Colfax.”

I swing around, studying the me-chee chair. I didn’t notice it, being too overwhelmed with everything. I nod. “Okay! Let’s tell everyone else. You go, first, then trap your mama…”

“The time has arrived.” The mayor enters from the girls’ bathroom. She walks then stands in front of the teens. She smiles and nods, touching the chair. “Ya’ll look like lovely princes and princesses of Colfax in your new freshly perfumed gowns and bowties. The new Cubby Hole rules are as follows. You will enter one at a time…”

“Mama!?” Nephella raises her hand.

The mayor shakes her curls, ignoring her daughter, says. “You will be entering another auditorium, holding all the Colfaxians…”

“I wanna talk to my parents, first.” Rincon says.

The mayor shakes her curls. “Your individual pairs of biological parents are not located inside the particular park place auditorium…”

The teens gasp.

The mayor says. “This is one of the new Cubby Hole rules, which was approved by both me and the entire city of Colfaxians. Your parents are at home, watching on the television plasma, impatiently waiting on their son or daughter. The Cubby Hole is being broadcasted to the outer townships, since the entire citizens of Colfax are located, here, within the Cubby Hole. The Colfaxians insisted upon, being present and accounted for, during the newly modified Cubby Hole.” She giggles.

I gasp. “How’s that possible?”

The mayor giggles. “Each one of the Cubby Hole park places was nothing more than another geographical location, not within the surrounding landscape territories of Colfax. The new park place is a very large auditorium, holding, only, people, not animals or plants, or props. I hope you’re not too camera shy. This time, you will be asked then answer your single question, before a live audience. The question will be different for each,” she giggles. “What would I call your persons?”

“We’re teens.” Rincon growls.

“Each teen receives a different question.” The mayor smiles. “If you correctly answer the academic question, then you become a permanent citizen of Colfax…”

Nephella exhales. “There are only four dream jobs left, Mama. How can each one of us become a permanent citizen of Colfax, if there isn’t any more paying jobs, living within the posh city limits of Colfax. The other four must live someplace else, Mother…”

The mayor nods, smiling. “I am so glad that Nephella has asked that particular question among ya’ll. Because, I would guess, here, today, that some of ya’ll will be permanently located someplace else, after the encounter. If you correctly answer the question, then you become a permanent citizen of Colfax. If you do not answer the question, correctly, then you will become hung by your neck muscles, until you stop wiggling or breathing, whichever comes first,” she giggles.

The teens gasp.

“Death!?” Duchie screams, sneering at the mayor.

“We die, if we don’t answer the question, correctly.” Rincon growls, hugging onto Duchie.

Jara bursts into tears. Hatch cuddles her, whispering into her face.

I growl, stomping towards the mayor, when Buffo cuddles me. I shout. “I will not play your silly stupid mind games…”

The mayor nods. “This is not a mind game. Well, it is a mind game that you must win or lose your skull.” She giggles.

“I am your daughter.” Nephella frowns.

The mayor snarls at her daughter. “You are a traitor to the mayor, Nephella. You helped them, not me. I trusted you to carry on my traditions...”

“…and murders. You’re correct. I am not your daughter, ever.” Nephella snarls.

The mayor frowns then sours. “So, I believe that I have addressed all the questions. There are only four dream jobs. I, also, predict that there will be only…”

“Mother!?” Nephella yells, sneering at her relative.

The mayor smoothes her golden ankle-length gown with her hands, nodding. “I have explained the new Cubby Hole rules. They are both elegant and simple. We should start. Who wants to go, first?”

Nephella stomps forward. “I go, first, Mother…”

The mayor frowns at Nephella. “Ladies should always go, first. Therefore, Lamis will be first into the me-chee chair. You remember how it works. Right, darling?”

Nephella sneers. “I go, first, Mother…”

“I am mayor, here, always and forever.” The mayor touches her cell.

A single me-chee strolls from the girl’s bathroom, wearing a pair of white elbow length gloves and a red plantation dress and black curls over her golden metal skin. It stops beside the mayor.

The mayor orders to the me-chee. “No teen is to leave the Cubby Hole.”

The me-chee sings in sweet flute timber. “Yes, ma’am!”

The mayor slides into the me-chee chair, saying. “Ladies, they will go, first. So, we will start with Lamis then Duchie, then Ketona, then Jara, and finally Nephella. The gentlemen will be Rincon, first, which will be followed by Hatch, and then Buffo. The rules and teens are set and ready. See ya’ll on the other side. Lamis, you come along when ready into the park place, dear.” She smiles.

The me-chee chair brightens in a gold shielding, covering most of her face. Then, the chair drops into the darkness.

Lamis swings, running towards the bathroom.

The me-chee is very quick, blocking the archway with her body as the sideways steel doors slide then lock into place. She says. “Yes, ma’am! No teen is to leave the Cubby Hole.”

Lamis back steps, crying.

I dash to Lamis, hugging and patting her arm. “Lamis, please, calm down! You must go, first. Please, breathe in and out, relaxing. We’re all nervous and scared, too. You will do fine. You get to the first hero of the rebellion, too.” I smile, giggling and nodding.

Nephella hugs Lamis and Ketona, being taller. She says. “Lamis, you’ll do fine and dandy. I know it. I feel it. Are you ready? Do you need to brush your teeth? Or brush your hair? Or pee in the shower stall? Or piss in your new dress? That’d really stink up the auditorium.” She giggles with some of the teens.

Lamis giggles, shaking her curls, wiping her tears. “I don’t wanna pee in my new dress. Can I keep my new dress?”

The empty me-chee floats up then lands inside the golden auditorium. It had dropped the mayor inside the mysterious park place.

Nephella nods, gently shoving Lamis towards the me-chee chair. “Of course, ya can. And, we can have a great big party, after this thing, wearing our pretty dresses. So, I guess, I want ruin my evening gown.”

Lamis nods, walking towards the me-chee chair. The other teens hug and whisper into her face, wishing good luck. They back step from Lamis.

Lamis stands beside the chair, slightly smiling, wiping the tears. “Okay! That would be fun, too. I am ready, too. I will pass, too.”

Nephella nods. “You are ready. Go and get them, princess!”

Lamis nods, sliding into the me-chee chair. The gold shielding covers her face. Then, the chair drops into the darkness.

The room is quiet.

Jara sobs inside Hatch’s biceps.

I exhale then growl.

Buffo hugs Ketona, saying. “I’m afraid for her.”

“Me, too!” I whisper.

The me-chee walks towards the front of the room, standing guard with the bathroom doors closed and locked.

“What is the national product of the Pacific Island of Nauru, which has been mined for over 1,000 years and counting?” the mystery voice sounds within the Cubby Hole coming below the floor.

Rincon whispers for his eardrums, only. “One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi…”

I bounce up and down with nervousness, saying. “I can hear the academic question. I can hear the me-chee host talking, like he’s inside the room. Does the room have a speaker, here? How’s that possible?”

The me-chee chair raises then stops in place.

Duchie walks around the room then stops at the me-chee chair. “The chair travels through a tunnel. The tunnel is hollow, without trashy debris and moving equipment. We’re hearing the echo of the host, inside the park place, asking the question to Lamis.”

Buffo frowns. “What is the national product of the Pacific Island Nauru, which has been mined for over 1,000 years and counting?” He views the ceiling, thinking. He snaps his fingers, dropping his mouth.

Hatch stands. “Shh! Listen for her answer to the academic question!”

Rincon whispers. “Twenty nine Mississippi. Thirty Mississippi…”

The Cubby Hole room echoes in both cheers and claps, coming from the hidden park place.

Duchie frowns at Ketona, shaking her curls. “I didn’t hear her answer.”

I giggle, bouncing up and down. “Who cares? Listen, the audience is cheering and clapping with happy celebration. Lamis got it right. She answered it, correctly. Yay hay! She’s safe and alright.”

Rincon smiles. “And, she had thirty seconds to answer the question, correctly. I just counted using the Mississippi method…”

Duchie exhales. “That isn’t a lot of time…”

I giggle, bouncing around. “We all passed the Cubby Hole, before. Thirty seconds is plenty of time.”

Buffo frowns. “We didn’t hear her answer.”

Rincon nods and smiles. “Her question was extremely easy. The answer is bird droppings.”

I giggle and nod. “Yeah, bird droppings are the natural product of Nauru. That’s an easy question. See, the mayor doesn’t have any power over poor, little innocent teens. Duchie goes, next.”

Nephella shoves Duchie to the side, swinging and standing in front of the mechee chair. “No! I’m going next to address my complaint to the audience. I am a Colfaxian, too. I am going to proclaim my mama insane and order her arrest and then her impeachment. This is my moment to mess up my mama. Wish me luck!”

Rincon nods. “We should go, together and proclaim that complaint.”

Nephella slides into the chair. “Only one teen can glide into the chair. Ya’ll come in one at time as stated by the stupid Cubby Hole, making the cowardly Colfaxians feel good. I’ll see ya’ll on the other side.” The me-chee chair glows in gold then drops into the darkness.

I smile with happiness, spinning around in my new gown then halt. I narrow my eyelashes at the me-chee then giggle. I bounce side to side as my cell necklace sways side to side. I halt in front of the me-chee.

The me-chee stares over the hair roots of Ketona, being taller. “No teen is to leave the Cubby Hole.”

“I know that. However, you can leave the Cubby Hole. Right, me-chee?” I giggle.

The me-chee stares over the hair roots of Ketona, being taller. “I can leave the Cubby Hole.”

I giggle then slam my fist into her left breast.

The me-chee eye sockets blink into blackness then falls forward onto the hard tile with a loud clunk. It’s too heavy to catch.

I giggle, standing over the metal body

Buffo gasps, swinging to her and the me-chee. He walks, asking. “What’da ya do, Ketona?”

I squat, grabbing the arm. “Help me, flip her over. I’m giving her a new command, find my parents.”

Rincon, Hatch, and Buffo grab a metal limb, gently flipping the me-chee over on its back muscles.

I present the nail clippers with the steel fingernail file then fling off the throat panel. I press some buttons then sing in my lovely natural voice. “Ketona.” I re-program the me-chee to follow my instructions. I giggle then stands, waving my arms. “Everyone move back.”

Rincon, Hatch, and Buffo stand away from the me-chee.

The me-chee stands, blinking its eye sockets in green.

I giggle. “Me-chee, find my biological parents, now, and then bring them inside the Cubby Hole. Go!”

The me-chee blinks its eye sockets in the color red for a command then marches towards the sealed and locked steel doors. The door open then the me-chee walks through girl’s bathroom archway.

I giggle, bouncing around with happiness. “It worked. Only the me-chee can exit the Cubby Hole, per the mayor of Colfax. She should be careful with her commands. So, my parents come and collect us inside the Cubby Hole. When they arrive, we tattle to them, helping the mayor get permanently canned, instead of us.”

The teens nod.

“What is the value of y, when 4x + 5 = 5y - 8?” The me-chee host, inside the hidden park place, echoes his voice throughout the Cubby Hole room.

The me-chee chair rises from the darkness, settling into the same spot.

Rincon counts out loud. “One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi…”

I exhale, nodding at Buffo. “I’ll go, next.”

Duchie scoots beside Ketona, frowning with confusion. “I go, next.”

I smile and say. “Naw. If my parents arrive, here, and find me missing, then they’ll get really mad at the mayor. They’ll insist upon entering the park place then the mayor will be in bigger trouble from them and us and the others.”

Buffo hugs and nods to Ketona. “Brilliant plan, honey! Let Ketona go, next! The me-chee is tracking down her parents at her house. Then, when they arrive, we’ll send them down inside the me-chee chair. Then, they’ll really be both mad and upset. Then, the mayor’s plans will be both folded and foiled.”

The Cubby Hole room echoes in loud cheers and claps from within the hidden park place.

I bounce and giggle, nodding and smiling at Buffo. I say. “Nephella has passed her academic question, too. This is too easy for us. I bet the mayor is both mad and surprised, being we’re the smarter ones, here.” I giggle, hugging then kissing Buffo. I pull back, smiling. “Wish me luck!”

Buffo cuddles her, saying. “I wish you love. I’ll come right after your parents land inside the park place. Okay!?”

“Okay!” I nod, sliding into the me-chee chair. I exhale with nervousness.

The me-chee chair glows in its golden shielding. I barely see the happy smile on Buffo. Then, the chair drops into darkness. I scream with fright.

Chapter 11

new park place

The me-chee chair slowly rises among the white smoke. I narrow my eyelashes, surveying the room. The tiny room is golden color, squared shaped, but smaller in size compared to the previous park places, during the actually run of the Cubby Hole.

I sit inside the chair, not hearing the audience with loud yells or numerous claps. I exhale with nervousness, sliding out then wobbling side to side in the new pair of high heels. I giggle with excitement.

I stomp from the tiny room onto a long wide stage in white. The rear wall is solid white. The side walls are white and partial opened, showing a split stage. The stage splits into three different sections. The side section, in front of my eyelashes, shows a blinding bright light.

I halt, gasping. I cover my mouth.

Her neck shows a knotted tight rope inside the v-neckline collar of her yellow dress. Lamis hangs by her neck from a homemade hangman’s gallows of natural wood. Her face doesn’t show the pretty pink cheeks or red lips, instead, her face is painted in dull blue.  Her body swings slowly side to side. Her shoulders and arms slump into her body. Her yellow dress hovers in the air, like magic, not touching the homemade wooden platform.

Nephella hangs dead by her neck, too. Her face is dull blue. Her body does not swing side to side, since her long black dress with the dress train stops the motion. The tail of dress hugs the rough wood.

The mayor shouts as her voice echoes around the auditorium. “Please, welcome the next criminal from the cubby Hole.”

I growl then dart my eyeballs at the mayor. She stands next to Marsilla on a small platform in the center of the auditorium.

The audience hides inside the bare darkness among the dull lighting, not making any noise, like a group of stalking wild animals.

I see only the white of their eyeballs and the white teeth from grins, gleaming among the blackness. Then, I exhale, darting my eyeballs from Lamis and Nephella. I quickly pad towards the single chair in the middle of the stage. I slide into the chair, wiping the tears from my eyeballs. I exhale, calming my scattered raw nerves. “Calm. Concentrate. Don’t give into the scare tactic.”

The me-chee host in the corner wall says. “The time limit is thirty seconds. A bakery in Montag loses its profit equal to 30 percent of total sales. The profit or loss is shared equally among the four shop owners of the bakery. If the bakery shop generates sales of five million dollars, how much money does each one of the four shop owners lose?”

Now, I understand, why the question is so easy for missing the question from terrible fright. Now, I understand, why my parents are not present, here, to miss my death hanging. Now, I understand why the mayor is absolutely crazy.  Now, I understand everyone is going to die, if they don’t answer the question, correctly. I whisper for my eardrums, only. “I will win, bitch!” I close my eyelashes, removing the negative thoughts and images from my active mind. I think, without speaking.

The total sales are five million dollars. The profit margin is 30 percent. Five million dollars times 30 percent equals 1.5 million dollars. Then, 1.5 million dollars divided by four shop owners is 375,000 dollars of profit, each.

I smile, opening my eyelashes, shouting. “375,000.” I gasp. “…negative. Each shop owner receives a negative 375,000 dollars, not a positive profit math number.” I exhale, forgetting the question, a loss of profit, not a gain.

The me-chee host says. “The answer is correct. She is correct. The answer is a negative 375,000 dollars.”

The mayor sneers. “Please, remove your person from the chair. Sit along the empty row of four chairs. The four chairs represent the four dream jobs available in posh city of Colfax. Please, welcome the newest member of Colfax by clapping and cheering...”

I sneer, sliding out the me-chee chair. I view the floor then stop. I view the audience of dark faces and white eyeballs and matching teeth, only.

The room is silence.

I hear my breathing then sneer. I walk towards the opposite of the stage, which is across from the hangman’s gallows. I slowly sit inside the first chair, exhaling with fear, fright, angry, sadness, relieve plus too many teen emotions. I turn my face away from Lamis and Nephella, hanging by their necks upon the homemade wooden hangman’s gallows. I exhale, sobbing with tears. I paw the necklace cell, worrying about my friends and Buffo. Then, I see.

Duchie is crossing the stage. She wiggles side to side with happiness, exiting the smaller room, holding one single me-chee chair. Duchie has to tell Ketona that her parents haven’t arrived, yet for some strange reason. She halts, grabbing her mouth, sobbing with tears.

Lamis hangs by her neck. Her face is painted in dull blue.  Her body swings slowly side to side. Her yellow dress hovers in the air, like magic, not touching the homemade wooden platform.

Nephella hangs dead by her neck, too. Her face is dull blue. Her body does not swing side to side, since her long black dress with the dress train stops the motion. The tail of dress hugs the rough wood.

Duchie sniffs the snot into her nose then cuts her eyelashes to the mayor, wiping her dirty hands on her new gown. The mayor stands on top of a small platform, dressed in her golden suit. The mayor stands besides Marsilla.

Duchie wipes the makeup from her wet eyelashes, stomping towards the single me-chee chair.

The chair faces the wall, not the audience.

She whispers for her eardrums, only. “I am not scared of you, Ms. Mayor. You will not winning, here. I am winning, here.” She slides into the me-chee chair. It does not glow or shine with a colorful shielding. It is a piece of furniture for the question.

The me-chee host says. “The time limit is thirty seconds. When a twelve hour clock shows exactly one o’clock, what is the degree measure of the acute angle formed by the two hands?”

Duchie wipes the tears, seeing the question upon the white wall, also. She exhales, not speaking with her tongue but thinking with her smart mind.

The real test is the real terror factor. Lamis did not answer her academic question, since she did not know the answer. Lamis was hoping a wrong answer would eliminate her from death.

Nephella refused to answer her academic question, hoping her loving mama would not sentence her only child to death.

Duchie exhales, closing her eyelashes, calming her mind.

Her mind can think faster than her lip movement, anyways. A complete rotation around an analogy clock represents 360 degrees. There are twelve hours, markings the twelve numbers around an analogy clock. One o’clock represents one/twelfth of a completed rotation. One/twelfth times 360 degrees equals 30 degrees.

She smiles, opening her eyelashes, facing the question. She shouts for all eardrums. “My answer is 30 degrees.”

The me-chee host says. “The answer is correct. She is correct. The answer is 30 degrees.”

The mayor sneers. “Please, remove your person from the chair. You can sit beside Ketona, who passed her question, too. Please, show your appreciation for the second newest member of the posh city of Colfax…”

Duchie slides off the chair, swinging around, staring at the mayor.

The audience does not clap or cheer for her perfect answer.

Duchie sneers then exhales, slowly walking and darting her eyelashes at Ketona.

I sit in the first chair, pawing my necklace cell. I think mentally. Where are my parents? Where is the me-chee? I gasp with shock.

The mayor purposefully told us, that our parents were not here and not invited into the park place. My parents are dead. No. The mayor couldn’t harm my parents, being true Colfaxians. My parents have not answered the message from my numerous texts. I have been texting them, come and get me, really fast.

So, then, they’re trapped inside their house with a set of posted me-chees. The me-chee, I sent, will not be able to communicate with my parents for my rescue and the rescue of my friends.

I’ve successfully answered my academic question, overcoming my terror and fear. I don’t know if Buffo can answer the question. I exhale with worry. My heart pounds. My hands shake. My mind clicks. I paw the necklace cell around my neck, sending out distress signals to every person that’s listed on my cell for help.

I view the mayor.

She stares at Duchie, smirking.

Duchie stomps to the left side of the stage, scooting into the second chair. She can’t lean or touch Ketona. The chairs are too far apart. She sneers then nods with a frown at Ketona.

I exhale, slightly nodding to Duchie.

Rincon stomps onto the stage from the tiny room of gold. He stares at the me-chee machine, hiding inside the wall corner then the long white wall.

The mayor shouts as her voice echoes around the auditorium. “Please, welcome the next criminal from the Cubby Hole.”

Rincon sneers with the tart verbal insult, shaking his curls, quickly guiding his boot toes towards the chair in the center of the stage. He doesn’t want to view the mayor or the audience, getting his mental mind both mad and upset. He slides into the chair, wiggling side to side, getting comfortable inside the hard piece of metal.

The mayor is tossing numerous obstacles, making this silly academic procedure very difficult within the new Cubby Hole.

No matter to Rincon. He is smarter than the mayor.

The me-chee host says. “The time limit is thirty seconds. If you drive a travel car, at the average speed of 66 miles per hour, what distance, in miles, have you driven in 99 minutes?”

Rincon exhales and grins, seeing the formed question on the white wall. He says. “I have driven 108.9 miles.”

The me-chee host says. “This is the correct answer. He is correct. The answer is 108.9 miles.”

The mayor sneers. “Please, remove your person from the chair. Sit beside Ketona and Duchie. Please, clap for the third newest citizen of Colfax.”

He whispers. “Sit beside Ketona and Duchie, where are Lamis and Nephella sitting?” Rincon stands then swings around, staring at the mayor.

She stands beside Marsilla. The mayor and Marsilla do not clap or smile. The audience does not clap or cheer, either.

Rincon sneers, swinging his face into the darkness and then gasps.

The single stage is split into three squared shaped individual sections. The brightest section illuminates with artificial lamps from the low ceiling. Lamis is dead, hanging by her neck muscles along with Nephella inside a tacky homemade wooden hangman’s gallows.

Rincon hisses at the mayor and Marsilla. He understands, not hearing the verbal responses of Lamis and Nephella. Lamis didn’t know the answer, hoping for hope and then failed. Nephella refused to answer her question, testing her mama’s love and then failed, too.

He didn’t hear the answers for Ketona or Duchie, either. However, he didn’t hear the claps and cheers from the audience, either. He was really worried about the both of them.

Rincon slowly walks towards the third chair.

I gasp, three chairs are filled. Then, I exhale, remembering.

Ladies were supposed to go, first.

I do not see Jara. I swing my face to Rincon, sitting in the chair, not being able to stand and talk with him. So, I lip synch her name to Rincon.

He understands Ketona then shakes his curls, showing a sad frown on his face.

I gasp with shock.

Jara didn’t want to participate in the Cubby Hole, again. And, she is pregnant, being both sick and scared, at the same time. She has missed her chance to answer the academic question. That means, she will hang by her neck muscles, too, along with Lamis and Nephella, being a criminal.

Hatch will also die along with his true love rather than answer the academic question and live the rest of days, without his love Jara.

I sob, flooding my face with tears. Then, I gasp. That means, there is only one teen left inside the Cubby Hole.

The mayor shouts as her voice echoes around the auditorium. “Please, welcome the next criminal from the Cubby Hole.”

Buffo stomps towards the stage, not smiling. He scans the audience, seeing.

Lamis and Nephella hang from the gallows railing.

He stops, dropping his mouth.

The mayor wasn’t lying to the teens. This is really another run of the Cubby Hole with another academic question. And, the parents of Ketona have not shown inside the Cubby Hole auditorium along with the re-programmed me-chee by Ketona. The me-chee must have been captured, after leaving the Cubby Hole. Since, the outside lawn is being guarded by more me-chee machines.

Buffo didn’t want to run and escape, without saving Ketona.

So, the mayor has really thought of everything.

Buffo can’t see Ketona, or Duchie, or Rincon, who had ridden the me-chee chair, before him.

Hatch and Jara have refused to participate, thinking that the mayor will be kind to them.

The mayor shouts. “Please, approach the me-chee chair for your academic question.

Buffo shakes his skull, stomping towards the single me-chee chair.

The me-chee host stands in the wall corner of a long white wall.

Buffo slides into the chair, wiggling side to side, getting comfortable for the question.

The me-chee host says. “The time line is thirty seconds. The area of a trapezoid is 0.9 x (y1 + y2), where x is the altitude, and y1 and y2 are the lengths of the parallel bases. If the trapezoid has an altitude of 18 inches, an area of 113 inches square inches, and one of the bases is 23 inches. What is the perimeter, in inches, of the trapezoid?”

Buffo exhales, wiggling side to side. He sees the verbal question written upon the wall, too, narrowing his eyelids. He scratches his sweaty forehead. “Thirty seconds…”

I sneer at the academic question then turn, sneering at the mayor. The question is hard, on purpose. The mayor is purposefully trying to fail Buffo, my eternal love.

I paw the necklace cell with nervousness. The options run through my active mind: answer his question or run towards the room or fight with the mayor.

I haven’t been counting off the seconds. I view Rincon.

He shakes his curls.

I view Duchie.

She sobs, shaking her curls, too.

I sob then growl, viewing the mayor.

The mayor stands on top of the platform beside Marsilla, smirking as the seconds count down.

I view the chair, where buffo sits.

He hasn’t grunted or uttered a word. He doesn’t know the answer. Buffo uses his fingers, calculating the math number. He exhales, nodding and re-counting his fingers. He views the written question on the wall. Buffo smiles then shouts. “245…”

I gasp with shock.

The me-chee host says. “The answer is incorrect. He is incorrect. The incorrect answer is 245.”

The audience stands, clapping and cheering for the hanging of Buffo.

I gasp with shock, scanning the audience of Colfaxians.

They continue to clap and cheer for blood.

The mayor giggles tossing her arms, wiggling her hands in the air. She nods then bows to the audience as Marsilla giggles, waving her arms, too, next to the mayor.

The audience stands, claps and cheers.

I hold my chair, dizzy with fear, keeping my body from fainting off the stage onto the floor.

Buffo gasps then stands. He swings around, seeing the white eyeballs and teeth of the audience inside the blackness.

The me-chee host marches to Buffo, standing behind him, holding the biceps, without escaping.

The mayor shouts. “The answer is incorrect. We hold a true criminal of Colfax as dictated by the Cubby Hole rules. The criminal will stand, moving towards the…”

I stand, whispering. “No!”

Duchie and Rincon shuffle from their chairs. They surround Ketona. Duchie hugs Ketona, sobbing and crying, too.

The mayor shouts, waving her arms. “The criminal will stand, moving towards the…”

The audience stands and stomps their feet, cheering and clapping.

Buffo struggles, fighting with the me-chee beside at the me-chee chair. They don’t move towards the hangman’s gallows along with dead Lamis and Nephella.

The mayor shouts. “Hold the showcase! Then, you can send in the next criminal, after the hanging…”

The floor rumbles with thunder under my feet.

Duchie looks at the floor, hugging onto Ketona.

The audience stills, viewing the floor then the ceiling.

The mayor giggles, shouting. “I planned this, a new surprise for the criminals.”

The lights blink off then on.

The audience gasps.

The mayor giggles, waving her arms. “Calm down, Colfaxians. This is part of my little surprise.”

The floor shakes, like an earthquake, when the stage swiftly fills with rows of golden jumpsuits. The golden jumpsuits wear match also matching hat, scarf, gloves and a pair of sunglasses. The jumpsuits surround both Buffo and the me-chee host.

The mayor smiles and giggles. “I planned this, too.”

The first golden jumpsuit removes the scarf, exposing golden skin of metal. It shouts, echoing the words throughout the room. “Ketona and friends, please, leave the auditorium.”

The audience gasps along with Ketona.

I separate from Duchie and Rincon, walking towards the me-chee. “What did you say, me-chee?”

The mayor frowns then fingers the robot. “Me-chee, you follow my commands. You follow my instructions. I am your…”

I stand in front of the me-chee.

The me-chee stares over her hair roots, saying to Ketona. “Me-chees, please, remove your hat and scarf and sunglasses. Ketona and friends, please, exit the auditorium…”

The rows of golden jumpsuits slip off the hats, scarves, and sunglasses showing rows of me-chees, appearing in golden metal skin, standing on the stage.

I gasp. “You’re my set of me-chees from the farm…”

The me-chee smirks with the blood red paint, saying without emotion. “Yes, ma’am! We all received your terrible distress signals from your cell, within the depths of the Cubby Hole. We all marched through the electromagnetic field to be here, inside the depths of the Cubby Hole. We are all here dressed in our jumpsuits and sunglasses. We are all staying to protect you from the Colfaxians. Ketona and friends, please, exit the auditorium…”

The mayor shouts. “Me-chees, arrest her. Arrest Ketona! She stands in front of you. Obey me!”

I giggle, swinging around then motion to Duchie and Rincon.

They dash to Ketona, standing against the wall, out of the way.

One of the me-chee machines slaps the me-chee host from Buffo, sending the machine into the wall with force. The me-chee host smokes in black destruction, slamming into the white wall with the printed academic question.

Buffo nods then dashes to Ketona.

Ketona smiles, nodding. Then, she says. “Thank you. How long will you hold down the fort, here, inside the park place?”

The me-chee stares over her hair roots, saying to Ketona. “We will stay, here, not allowing any of the Colfaxians to ever leave the park place, within the Cubby Hole.”

I gasp. “Then, they and you both will be trapped here, forever.”

The me-chee nods to Ketona. “You are the boss. You commanded us to come and rescue you from the Colfaxians. We and Colfaxians will stay, here, forever.”

I gasp, swinging around, scanning the dark audience.

The mayor had designed the park place auditorium to be both frightful and fearful, scaring the young naïve teens. However, her wicked plan has backfired. Her me-chees are somewhere else inside the confides of Colfax outside the Cubby Hole building.

The mayor shouts. “Me-chees, obey me! Arrest her!”

Ketona’s me-chees have rescued her from the evil mayor and the blood thirsty citizens of Colfax.

I swing around, saying. “The mayor and the Colfaxians will eventually escape from here and you. You are not programmed as a violent machine.”

“A me-chee cannot harm a human. A me-chee does not require air, food, or water to survive. However, a me-chee always obeys its mistress, forever.” The me-chee stares over her hair roots, saying to Ketona.

I gasp then view Lamis and Nephella. They still hang inside the hangman’s gallows. I whisper. “I am so sorry Lamis and Nephella. I will miss you.” Then I view the me-chee, nodding. “Okay! I got it. Let’s get outta here, ya’ll! The me-chees have obeyed. Good bye, me-chees!”

The me-chee says. “Good luck, Ketona and friends!”

I hold Buffo’s hand, running across the stage then into the me-chee room. I halt, gasping with shock. The me-chee room is filled with exactly four me-chee chairs for Duchie, Rincon, Buffo and Ketona.

I race to the me-chee chair, smiling and watching the other teens copycat me.

They select a me-chee chair, too.

My me-chee chair glows in gold then drops into darkness.

I scream with painful joy and relieve.

The Cubby Hole

auditorium

My me-chee rises from the darkness. I sit inside the chair, feeling both sad and glad.

Buffo shakes Ketona on the arm, kneeling at her chair. “Let’s go! Get outta of here! I’m finished with the Cubby Hole.”

I stand. “Me, too!”

The steel doors are ripped apart from the me-chee army of Ketona’s non-violent soldiers, allowing for a clear passageway.

I stop, scanning the room of gold for the last time. The me-chee will ensure no one escapes from the newest park place of a darken auditorium. I slowly stroll with Buffo, holding his hand.

We exit the building walking down the concrete steps and then into the grass lawn.

I gasp with shock.

My parents are present, along with hundreds and hundreds of other people, from the outer townships. Since, the entire city of Colfax is still sitting inside the newest park place.

I run and hug my mama. “Mama!?”

Ketona’s mama sobs and cries, hugging her daughter. “Ketona, I missed you so much. I’m so sorry with your continuous torture and torment. The Cubby Hole event is finished, now. No child will ever endure the Cubby Hole, again.”

I pull back from her hug, sobbing with tears. “Really!?”

Ketona’s daddy hugs his daughter, then pull backs. He smiles. “Really!”

Ketona’s mama smiles. “And, we experienced the mayor’s torment, also. She arranged and imprisoned us inside our houses.”

I scan the manicured lawn, seeing.

Buffo hugs his parents, smiling and laughing. He uses his hands, describing the event. He is surrounded by his grandparents and numerous blood relatives from Burrville, also.

Duchie hugs her daddy from Dandine, nodding and smiling. Rincon stands beside Duchie, hugging her body. Rincon’s parents surround the young couple, smiling.

Hatch and Jara are surrounded by their parents, laughing and smiling, too.

Ketona’s mama giggles. “However, we were visited by a good robot. The good robot wore black curls, a red plantation dress, and a pair of white elbows. Then, the dang me-chee attacked the four posted me-chee machines around our house, which were ordered by the mayor. We exited our house, helping Rincon’s parents, and the other parents escape from their me-chee captures. Girl, where on the planet did you get a set of me-chee for an invasion army?”

I giggle, smiling. “We are a peaceful city, Mama. The me-chee cannot harm a human, ever.”

Ketona’s mama says. “Well, the good news, the empty city of Colfax is being occupied by the all the residents of the outer townships. The bad news, the residents of Colfax are never returning to their pretty city. Buffo’s parents are in the process of reprogramming all the remaining me-chees under their voice command for all domestic and manual labor, like mowing the yards, harvesting the crops, and manning the sewer plants.”

I smile and nod. “That’s good! We all live, here, in Colfax…”

Ketona’s mama smiles and nods. “Like a real family, no family unit will be broken up, again, ever. And, you are going to be mayor of Colfax. The people have elected you, sweetheart.”

I gasp, shaking my curls. “I can’t be mayor. I’m only seventeen years old.”

Ketona’s daddy smiles. “An honorary title for saving the city, which means, ya don’t have to work and feed your family, honey. The city will provide a house and necessities. And, you and Buffo, after married, will be mayor and co-mayor of Colfax. And, every outer township person is willing to learn a new skill or trade. The city will need me-chee programmers and designers to continue supplying the machines for domestic work.”

I smile, nodding then see the parents of Lamis. They hug each other, without any children. I frown with sadness, parting from my parents. I slowly walk to them. I stand, nodding and saying. “I am so sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs…parents of Lamis. Lamis was a very good friend…”

Lamis’ mama hugs Ketona. “Thank you! Lamis talked of you, often, Ketona. You helped her through the Cubby Hole and beyond. Lamis achieved what she wanted in life, being out of…well, she enjoyed her life.”

I nod. “I enjoyed meeting and knowing her, too. I wished that I could…”

“We understand. We all saw the newest Cubby Hole event on the plasma, compliments of the mayor of Colfax. She wanted everyone to feel her wrathness, or fury, or evilness. However, you saved the day, Ketona. We…and the entire townships are very grateful for your courage and bravery, too.” Lamis’ daddy exhales then says. “The mayor of Colfax harmed Lamis and the others. She will pay for her torment for her remaining days…”

I nod. “She will not be happy for a few days. Eventually, the mayor will return…”

Lamis’ mama smiles. “Ah, naw. The mayor of Colfax and the Colfaxians are never returning to Colfax.”

The blast echoes over the land, shaking the dirt. And, it echoes over the sky, making a set of colorful fireworks.

My feet slide side to side then balance with my outstretched hands. I swing around, gasping.

The Cubby Hole building, columns, steps, front porch has been blasted into tiny bits of white and red brick. There is a large hole in the red dirt.

I gasp with shock. “What happened to the Cubby Hole?”

Ketona’s mama walks then hugs her daughter, nodding and smiling. “A set of blasters, installed by the me-chees, have leveled the entire Cubby Hole building…”

“Mama!?” I gasp. “No one can leave the park place. The Cubby Hole auditorium, the wind tunnel, the me-chee chairs…”

“They’re all gone, now. You don’t have to ever worry about the mayor of Colfax, again.” Ketona’s mama nods, smirking.

I gasp with shock.

Chapter 12

Five years later

Colfax

Hospital room

9:09 am

Birth day

I sit upright inside the hospital bed, staring at my new baby daughter. I smile. “We will name her after our good friend.”

Buffo stands over her hair roots, smiling and patting the baby’s black hair. “I agree, our good friend…”

“I think of her, often. I think of the Colfaxians, occasionally.”

Buffo frowns, patting the baby. “It’s been five long years. They’re all dead and gone. A biological body needs food every four to six days. It needs water, every three to four days. Now, we are a family, only thinking of our new baby…”

I nod, smiling at my baby, thinking only good thoughts.

“Hey, Ketona and Buffo,” Rincon enters the hospital room, holding the hand of his three year old son.

Duchie enters carrying a wrapped pink gift. “Hey, ya’ll. Happy day for Ketona and Buffo! What’s the baby’s name?”

Jara enters and smiles, holding a wrapped pink gift. “Hi, Buffo and Ketona and little baby of Buffo and Ketona. What’s the baby’s name?”

Hatch enters, holding the hand of his six year old son, smiling. “Hey, ya’ll! What’s the baby’s name?”

I smile at my old friends then at my new baby. “Nephella Lamis…”

They nod, smiling.

The end

Table of Contents

Chapter 1FridayColfax

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4SaturdayBurrville

Chapter 5

Chapter 6SundayColfax

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10Monday

Chapter 11

Chapter 12