Story - Camp Life [Part 10]

[Author's Note: Well, I certainly feel like an █sshole now. 😅 I go out of my way to apologize for the slow progress on Outlaw Country, only to later find inspiration from a conversation I had with a friend. My friend and I are history and international events nerds and we were discussing details behind a book he was currently reading about political/economic unrest in Eastern Europe in the 1990's. I knew that I wanted to make the domestic side of the Federal Union bleak enough so that if Addams and Morris would flee if asked to make a decision that goes against their morals. That conversation and an hour later...that undid 25 days of inaction and mental block. Go figure, right? 🤪 CW: Riots, Police Violence, civil unrest, authoritarianism, bleak outlook – If any of those thing REALLY bother you, you can go ahead and skip reading this piece. I'll give you the condensed version here: The domestic situation in the Federal Union is so bleak, Addams and Morris would have no problem choosing to abandon their country, especially if it meant leaving Mei-Lin at the black site they were told to secure. What can I say, they're the good guys in this story. That's what good guys would do! 🦸 -- We return to Akinori and Morris, who are just about finished rewiring the whole radio tower. Morris, who is already at the top of the tower, shouts down to Akinori. “Alright! Hey Akinori, I think that's the last of the wiring that needed to be replaced! Let me make sure all the parts of me touching the tower are insulated, then hit the master switch on the circuit box!” “Ok, call out when you want me to flip the switch!” Morris gets up from the seated position on the tower to a standing position, where the only parts making contact with the tower are his boots (insulated) and his insulated gloves. “Alright, go ahead and flip it!” Akinori flips the master switch, where components on the tower and within the circuit box give off an electrical hum. Seconds pass...and no audible signs of failure. Morris looks up and down the tower, seeing everything appears to be operating as it should. “Hey Akinori, how does the circuit box look? Any odd lights on? Error messages?” Akinori looks to the circuit box, then calls out to Morris. “Everything appears fine! Green lights all around and no unpleasant sounds” “Great! Go ahead and turn it off. I'll climb down and then we can turn it back on when I'm on the ground.” Twenty minutes later, Morris and Akinori are in a small radio room, testing the equipment. Everything seems to be in good working order. Feeling satisfied, Akinori and Morris begin shutting down the radio equipment. “Morris, you are a lifesaver. Now that we have the radio working again, we can now better reach not only the militias, but other camps and settlements within radio range. You're going to make both Hardev and Mirei very happy.” “We're going to make them very happy. You gave me all the help I needed to get this done in only a few hours. Had it been just me, I'd only be halfway up the tower by now. Besides, this was more fulfilling work than what I was doing only a week ago. Back then, I was just another overqualified electrician working for the Federal Union military.” Akinori looks puzzled. Morris explains himself. “Addams and I, we were Special Forces in the military. We were trained to do highly specialized missions behind enemy lines, but that's during times of war. Now that the Russo-Federal Union war is over, we're not doing those missions anymore, but the military still has us on their payroll, so they find other work for us to do. Addams is a mechanic and small arms expert, I'm an electrician and demolitions operator. In times of war, we use all our skills, but during time of 'peace...'” Morris rolls his eyes and scoffs when he says “peace” “...but during times of 'peace,' we fall back on our less martial skills. Addams does repair work on wheeled and track vehicles and I did electrical work. Hell, me and a handful of other guys practically rewired our whole military base.” “Wait, why did you say peace like that?” Morris stops and thinks for a moment, then responds. “Oh yeah, that's right. Outside perspective. Akinori? Have you seen video coming out of the Federal Union recently?” “How recent is 'recently?'” “Hmm, let's say within the last month or so.” Akinori pauses and rubs his chin. “I have to admit, Morris, international events and foreign policy aren't among my interests. Last I can recall thinking about the Federal Union had to do with international media releases. They have some interesting movie studios and questionable culinary choices, but that's most of what we hear regarding the Federal Union.” Morris winces and inhales through gritted teeth. Akinori is unsure where the conversation is going. “Well, that just goes to show you the power of propaganda. I'll be real honest with you, bro...sh█t is looking real ugly back home. I mean REAL ugly. When the Russo-Federal Union war ended a year or two ago, people started finding out the real details behind the war. The reasons why the war was started, the collusion between the presidents of both counties, the real numbers behind the war death count, and the government vastly overspending during the war.” Akinori cannot believe his ears. Whenever he sees something Federal Union related, it's usually media/entertainment related. He had no idea about the country's domestic situation. “The government spent too much money on a war people were beginning to learn the truth about. Spending cuts happened, immiseration under austerity, economic hardships, people dying because they can't meet their basic needs...and while all this is happening, people see the nation's elites continue to flourish and the only thing the government seems to spend money on is police funding (against the people). Protests were inevitable, just like the brutal police backlashes. Protest become riots, riots become killing fields. The cost of living is too much and the government's only response seems to be 'beat people's █sses until they become compliant.' That's hardly a sign of a stable country people still believe in, right?” Akinori is shocked by what Morris has told him. While he doesn't regularly follow international events, he had no idea that the domestic side of the Federal Union was so bleak. Morris follows that up with some more unsettling news. “Just a few weeks ago, Addams and I got news that us and several Gamma Unit Special Forces were going to be activated...to operate within the Federal Union. Several regional government leaders were meeting with Federal Government officials...they were in talks about using Special Forces to “pacify rioters”...it's f█cked...it's really f█cked up.” Morris takes a moment to regain his composure. “When we heard, Addams and I were 100% against the whole thing. So were a lot of our guys. Some of them were as pissed off, if not more, than we were.” “What would you do? You know, if you were put in that position?” “We weren't going to kill our own people, that's for sure Akinori. Addams and I were in 100% agreement on that. A good number of guys already fled the country. Some went to Canadia, some to the Caribbean Archipelago, some even fled to Mojico and joined up with them. It's kind of funny, actually, as the Federal Union and the Mojican authorities have semi-regular border clashes. Well, in the most recent series of border clashes, the Federal Union Border Control Agency found out their agents were getting absolutely rinsed by new Mojican Border Defense Forces, trained up by the same former Gamma Unit Special Forces that previously fled the country. In trying to fix one problem (silencing the protests), the Federal Union government created two problems (highly trained solders deserting and some joining forces at odds with the Federal Union). So yeah, should the worst happen, Addams and I probably would've fled the country and defected somewhere who would have us. The two of us stumbling upon Mei-Lin at that black site facility? That just sped up the inevitable, and now the three of us are here in Outlaw Country. Akinori is stunned by what he has just heard. “I...I had no idea it was that bad out there. I heard a few rumors about the political and domestic unrest in the Russo-Confederacy, but even those were never verified in the media back home. We never heard anything regarding domestic issues in the Federal Union. The media mostly avoided the Russo-Federal Union War, mainly because our government wanted no part in it. “Well, that's back there. That's Federal Union problems, not ours. Our problem was that radio tower, and bro, we got that work done! Morris give Akinori a playful slap on the back. “Hey, let's go meet up with Addams, Mirei, and Mei-Lin. We can tell them we got the radio back in working order, plus if they still need help with any remaining vehicles, we can jump in and help. “Well, I have no experience in auto repair, but but I'm willing to help where I can.” “That's the spirit! Come on, let's head out to the garage.” The two get up and leave the room, flipping the light switch and closing the door as they leave.