Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Nicholas hated this part of his job, but it was his job. Rounding up people seemed wrong but orders were orders and his squad had been sent out here to the wilderness to root out a Spider Cell operating amongst the Amish people. The Amish were a bunch of backwards technophobes who were living in a time before electricity, holo-phones and I-dent cards, bunch of savages really. Nicholas broke down the door of the house, entered and found a middle aged woman and her just teenaged son standing in the kitchen.
“Ma’am you’re going to have to come with me” he said politely
‘So you can kill us!” yelled the boy whipping out a knife, waving it about
Nicholas brought his repulsors up, the woman stood between the two of them
“Jacob!” she snapped “Go to your room!”
“Ma’am he can’t leave” Nicholas explained
“This is between you and me, not my boy” she said as Jacob slinked away, glaring Nicholas
“This way please” he beckoned her towards the door
“You’re going to kill me” she stated
“No ma’am we just need to ask you some questions”
She simply removed the glove her left hand and pointed it towards him; a spider tattoo on her palm and fingers “Does this answer your questions?”
“Outside please ma’am”
“No!”
“Ma’am under the authority of the Supreme Commander...”
“Why do you hate us?” she asked
“You’re a spider” replied Nicholas bluntly “We shall not suffer a spider to live”
“Why?”
Nicholas paused, he’d never actually thought about it
“Why shall you not suffer a spider to live?” there was tone in her voice, but not anger
“Because you’re poisonous”
“Spider’s are venomous boy” she corrected ‘Have you ever asked; why is this law in place? Do I honestly look like a threat?”
“No ma’am but the law is the law”
“Slavery use to be the law. Compulsory going to church on Sunday use to be the law. Thou shalt not...”
“That’s different” said Nicholas dismissively
“How?”
“Ummmm I don’t know but it’s different”
“You are just a tool of an evil empire. You just follow orders”
“Now hang on...”
“No you hang on!” she snapped stepping towards him, waggling her finger in his face “You stormed MY property, kicked down MY door, are rounding up MY friends and family and are going to take ME outside to EXECUTE me and you believe YOU’RE not evil!?! Wake up silly child!”
Nicholas paused looking at the woman in front of him, seeing her as a person and not as a thing or an it
Sergeant Ermey marched into the house “What’s the holdup Rogers” he barked
“Nothing sir”
Sergeant Ermy smacked the woman in the mouth with the rifle butt then again in the stomach, sending her crashing to the floor
“Don’t listen to them Rogers. They’re poisonous”
“Venomous sir” Nicholas felt dirty, wrong
“That too!” The Sergeant grabbed her by the hair and started to drag her by the hair outside “Anyone else in here?”
“Sir no sir!” he lied, unsure of why
Nicholas flipped up his visor and watched as she was thrown to the ground. Her eyes caught his and didn’t drop away. Sergeant Ermy read out the standard execution protocol and then blew her brains out the side of her head. She hit the floor, her now dead eyes still firmly locked onto Nicholas Rogers who turned and vomited, holding onto the door frame for support
“You okay?” asked Private 1 Class Jackson Barnes
“I’m fine” replied Nicholas to his old Academy friend
“Suck it up Corporal!” barked the Sergeant “For we are Pennsylvania Iron Pigs!”
“Hoo-Rah!” responded the group of twenty soldiers
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU IRON PIGS!”
“HOO-RAH!”
Nicholas still felt sick, sick that he was cheering like some caveman as the bodies of people lay no more than thirty feet away, bleeding into the grass
"This is wrong" muttered Nicholas
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