A Dying Breed

    As was probably expected, nothing changed; Colin continued trudging along with his life.  During the day, he would go to work, then he would come home and occasionally he would take a day off to spend some time with a friend of his, Dominic.
    Dominic was actually Victoria’s younger brother, but Colin spent a great deal more time with him than she did.  Right now, that was exactly what Colin was doing, it was the night of the 25th of September 2031 and they were both walking down a street together.
    “That was a great film we just watched,” Dominic said.
    “I don’t know,” Colin said.  “I’m not really that in to horror.”
    “I loved it,” Dominic said.  “What made it so great was that the bad guy was just a man like you and me, it’s so much scarier when it’s nothing supernatural, don’t you think?”
    “I don’t really have an opinion on it,” Colin admitted.  “Maybe I just don’t care about films as much as you.”
    “How can you not?” Dominic said.  “They’re the most culture that we have these days.  Books are dying; do you really think that people will still be writing books in a hundred years?  Soon they will be gone forever and films will be the only way to pass stories on to the next generation, they’re more important than you think.”
    “I just think that a film is a good way to kill some time,” Colin said.  “If it takes my mind off things for a couple of hours then it’s been successful.”
    “What does your mind need to be taken off Colin?” Dominic said.
    “It’s nothing Dominic,” Colin said.
    “Life with Vic isn’t too good?” Dominic said.
    “Among other things,” Colin said.
    They continued walking by themselves along this quiet street until they came to an intersecting road, Colin kept going on the original route but Dominic stopped.
    “What are you doing Dominic?” Colin said.  “C’mon, it’s late and I have to get home, Vic will worry.”
    “There’s something that I have to do tonight,” Dominic said.  “I wasn’t going to include you but I think you need cheering up.  Follow me, Colin.”
    “What kind of something?” Colin said, getting rather frustrated.  “What about Vic?”
    “Forget her, she’s probably asleep by now anyway,” Dominic said.  “I’m going to be a part of something greater than myself tonight; I want you to experience it too.”
    “I don’t think so Dominic,” Colin said.
    “It’ll be a lot of fun,” Dominic said.  “I’m sorry I can’t say much more than that, it’s kind of a secret.  I can only promise that this’ll be a night you’ll always remember.”
    Colin looked down at his watch; it was almost twenty to midnight.  Looking back at this night he probably shouldn’t have gone with Dominic.  Maybe he was bored, fed up of his life, perhaps he was just searching for something more.  Either way, he gave in and followed Dominic down the narrow side road.
    “OK,” Colin said.  “I’ll come, but this better be over quickly, whatever this is.”
    “I’m afraid I can’t guarantee that,” Dominic said.  “It’s not entirely up to me.”
    “I want you to know that I find this all really strange,” Colin said.  “Can’t you just tell me where we’re going?”
    “What fun would it be to live life if you knew everything that’s going to happen?” Dominic said.  “Just trust me.  Who knows, we might have an adventure.”
    “I’ve never had an adventure in my life,” Colin said.
    “That’s why you need one more than most,” Dominic said.  “Now, back to what‘s important, do you know what the most important aspect of a film is?”
    “Please tell me,” Colin said.
    “It’s the villain,” Dominic said.  “It doesn’t matter if the main character is some boring guy with no personality, as long as you have a good nemesis.  The bad guy is what a person associates most when they think back, the villain makes the film.”
    “If you say so,” Colin said.
    Dominic went on to lead Colin through countless winding side streets to get to their destination.
    “Are we getting close?” Colin asked.
    “Almost there, don’t worry,” Dominic said.  “Hey Colin, can I ask you something?”
    “Sure,” Colin said.
    “Do you know when the parachute was invented?” Dominic wondered.
    “Not off the top of my head,” Colin said.  “Why?”
    “I was just curious,” Dominic said.  “Did they have them in World War One?  They must of; they did have fighter planes after all.  Imagine the first man to try one out, that guy must have been fearless.”
    “I guess,” Colin said.
    “What about this then?” Dominic said.  “Do you know this?”
    “I don’t know, you haven’t said what you’re talking about yet,” Colin said.
    “Sorry,” Dominic said.  “You don’t speak any other languages, do you?”
    “So?” Colin said.
    “But you can kind of distinguish between languages if you heard them can’t you?” Dominic said.  “You can tell the difference between French and German?”
    “Well yes, of course,” Colin said.
    “That’s because you know the sort of sounds that are in the language,” Dominic said.  “So you can imitate the language, even if you can’t really speak it?”
    “What are you getting at?” Colin said.
    “I was just wondering what it would sound like if we got a non-English speaking person to imitate what English sounds like to them,” Dominic said.
    “I have to be honest,” Colin said.  “I have no idea what you’re on about.”
    “That’s okay,” Dominic said.  “Not many people do.”
    After he said that, Dominic stopped in his tracks and clutched at his face, it looked like he was in pain.
    “What’s the matter?” Colin said.
    Dominic didn’t respond, he just moved his finger around his eye for a few seconds and then held his hand out for Colin to see.
    “What is it?” Colin said.
    “It was just an eyelash,” Dominic said while flicking it away.  “I really hate those things, why do we even have them?”
    “I think they’re supposed to keep dirt out of our eyes,” Colin said.  “We’d probably be worse off without them.”
    “I don’t care, I still hate them,” Dominic said.  “They always fall into my eyes and then they really hurt.  C’mon, let’s keep going, the thing starts at midnight.”
    “What thing?” Colin said.
    “Just wait,” Dominic said.  “We’ll be there soon, we can discuss it then.”
    “I do have work tomorrow, you know?” Colin said.
    “Yeah right,” Dominic said sarcastically.  “We both know that Vic does all the work, you can stay out as late as you want.  You want to hear something weird that I discovered the yesterday.”
    “What?” Colin said.
    “Were you aware that there is no such word as ‘Upstair’?” Dominic said.
    “What do you mean?” Colin said.
    “It has to be upstairs, plural,” Dominic said.  “All other words that are normally plural have a singular counter part, like trouser, but not upstairs.  What word would you use if you wanted to describe just going up by one step?”
    “I’m not sure Dominic,” Colin said.  “I suppose people never considered just going up one step enough elevation to warrant a word of it’s own.”
    “Well they should,” Dominic said.  “I’m going to start using it as much as possible.  Maybe if I get enough people to start using it, it might get a place in the dictionary.”
    “I’ll start using it if you want me to,” Colin said.
    “Great, thanks Colin,” Dominic said.  “But you have to get other people to do it as well; I’ve never invented a word before.  Well, not since ‘Moisty’ and that never really took off.  I also found out something else not that long ago that I couldn‘t understand.”
    “Go on,” Colin encouraged.
    “Do you know the phrases ‘Red Hot’ and ‘Ice Cold’?” Dominic continued.
    “Right,” Colin said.
    “Why is one a colour and one an actual thing?” Dominic said.  “Don’t you think it would make much more sense if it was ‘Red Hot & Blue Cold’?  Alternatively, possibly ‘Fire Hot & Ice Cold’?  Either one of those combinations would make more sense.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Colin said.  “Are you going to try and change that as well?”
    “No, I don’t think so,” Dominic said.  “But if I did I would definitely pick ‘Fire Hot and Ice Cold’ because the colours don’t make much sense either.”
    “Why not?” Colin said.
    “In astronomy the hottest start give out blue light and the coolest emit red light,” Dominic explained.  “It’s completely the wrong way round; it actually should be ‘Red Cold & Blue Hot’.”
    “Is there anything else on your mind that you’d like to share?” Colin asked.
    “Oh sure,” Dominic said.  “I’ve got hundreds of these little thoughts; I just can’t seem to turn my mind off.  Most of them just come from me not understanding something.  For example, I never could get my head around opposites.”
    “I don’t understand,” Colin said.
    “I’m glad I’m not the only one,” Dominic said.  “I never did get why the opposite of light is darkness.”
    “Do you mean because darkness is only the absence of light?” Colin reasoned.
    “What?” Dominic said.  “No, I don’t anything about that.  I mean because light and darkness are like all other ‘opposites’, they’re not really opposite.  They’re closer related to each other than to most other things, they’re both to do, in one way or another, with light intensity.  It makes more sense to say that the opposite of light is silence, because then they have absolutely nothing to do with one another.  Or you can say that the opposite of darkness is the theory of Evolution, it doesn’t matter what you choose as long as they aren’t related in any way.”
    “Have you ever met a woman who works for me?” Colin asked, giving him a sidelong look.  “She’s called Natalie Clark.”
    “I don’t believe so, why?” Dominic said.
    “I really think you should,” Colin said half under his breath.
    The two kept going a little longer, Dominic suggesting everything that happens to come into his mind and Colin humouring him every step of the way.  This ended when they stepped out of a dark alley onto a pavement of a wide and empty road.  On the other side of the street was what appeared to be a row of old warehouses or factories.
    “We’re here,” Dominic said.
    “This is it?” Colin said.  “Forgive me for commenting that you’re ‘adventure’ seems very unimpressive.”
    “Don’t be like that,” Dominic said.  “At least wait until we’ve gone inside.”
    Colin let Dominic take him by the arm and lead him across the street.  As they stepped of the pavement, Dominic stopped suddenly and remarked, “Did you see that?”
    “What was it?” Colin looked around alarmingly.
    “We just went downstair,” Dominic said, grinning broadly.  He shot off in the direction of the warehouses, continuing to cross the road, leaving Colin smiling slightly to himself.
    Colin quickly followed him to the largest of the warehouses at the end of the row.  It was old, rusty and looked like it hadn’t been used in decades.  Dominic directed him to a small door on the side.
    “In here,” he said as he pulled the door open for him.
    Colin entered to old building very gradually, it was dim, dingy and dank, really all the negative words that began with the letter ‘D’ had a place in this warehouse.
    Dominic entered soon after his companion and the door slammed shut behind them.  This made Colin spin round in fright to see Dominic giving him a reassuring smile, he took Colin further into this place, round a few corners, navigating the old pipes and sticking out chunks of heavily rusted metal.
    As they ventured further, Colin could hear something, it was like a woman’s voice shouting but not in pain, the voice was angry.  When Dominic led him into the main body of the warehouse Colin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
    Where once there was a storage facility, now a meeting hall had formed out of its remnants.  He could see a huge crowd of people filling the warehouse, a thousand at least.  They were all focussing on a woman at the front; she was in her thirties, tall and athletic, with short black hair.  She was standing on a sort of make shift stage while shouting some kind of rallying speech at the mass of people listening.
    The enormous room was lit only by a handful of candles on the walls and the stage.  Even with the obvious lack of electricity and poor lighting, Colin saw something that greatly scared him.  There were people lining the walls who looked like guards and they were armed.  All these people spread out around the walls and main stage were carrying the same kind of automatic rifle.  Their menacing appearance was amplified by their wearing of what resembled military helmets with hooks at the side attached to suspend face cloths, masking their identities.
    All the helmets and veils were varying shades of blue, even their clothing, although it was definitely civilian apparel, had a running theme of mostly blue, as if it was some sort of uniform.  The tension was growing within Colin’s mind and body; he had no idea what to think about the current situation.
    He looked over at Dominic for another reassuring smile but his attention was on the woman giving the speech.  His expression was stern as he joined at the back of the assembly, bringing Colin with him.  All he said was, “We’re late, she’s already started,” and pulled Colin deeper into the pack so they could listen better to the woman.
    “Don’t you see?” she half-screamed, half-shouted at the crowds.  “We don’t need them, we never needed them.  We’ve had our own separate parliament for over thirty years that deal with matters solely concerning us, which the English MP’s couldn’t vote on.  If you think that only we feel this way you’d be wrong, the English also banned Scottish MP’s from voting on matters that only concerned England, they want to be separate too.  In 2008, our parliament passed a law banning the selling of alcohol to under-21’s in shops.  This decreased anti-social behaviour and unprovoked violence drastically.  Do you now see?  We’ve been governing ourselves since the last century, in this small amount of time we have created a country greater than England, and they’ve been ruling themselves for over a thousand years.  We are now independent in almost all unofficial ways, but it being made official is more important than some of you may realise.  We need the rest of the world to know that we will be subject to neither another country nor the will of a continental government.  To have our own nation again may sound like an inviting prospect but it will be difficult to attain.  Our politicians are cowards, the SNP don’t press hard enough to have a vote on the matter.  If we want to be liberated, it must be by our own toil, but that will make the value of it so much greater!”
    Everyone in the warehouse cheered at that point, all except Colin who was stunned by the fact that his brother-in-law had cheered.  He looked back at the woman; she was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved navy blue T-shirt.  The most worrying part of her style of dress, however, was the large silver pistol tucked into the front of her trousers.
    “I know that we are all honest people and hence not wealthy,” she continued.  “But we have found sympathisers to our cause and they have granted us the means free ourselves.  In the struggle, we may have to defend ourselves against some of our own countrymen, but I think that you will agree that if they do not stand beside us; they are not our true brothers!  All true brothers and sisters of the cause, I have a gift for you all, it is the means to a more stable future.”
    At this point, a number of the guards brought out several large crates and planted them down at the front of the crowd.  Dominic fought his way to the front.
    “Dominic, wait!” Colin tried to say but he went anyway.  Colin looked back to where he had entered, he could’ve left and gone home but he didn’t want to go without Dominic.  He followed him through the multitude of men and women.  At the front of these crowds, the large crates had been opened and more were on the way.  Inside, there were dozens of the same rifles the guards were wielding.
    “Don’t worry,” the woman said, still standing on the platform.  “All of you will get one, we have plenty.”
    Colin looked in horror as the people began to form several lines to collect a weapon.  His horror turned to terror when he saw Dominic being handed one, he quickly rushed past the line and placed a forceful hand on Dominic’s shoulder.
    “Dominic?” he said.  “What in the world are you doing?  Who was that woman?”
    “That’s Aden,” Dominic said casually.  “She’s our leader.”
    Colin pulled Dominic out of the line, took him aside and tried to convince him discretely while the distribution of guns carried on around them both.
    “Why are you here?” Colin said, not being able to understand anything that was going on around him.  “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
    “You don’t want to be a part of this?” Dominic asked with a rifle in hand.  “We’re going to make history tonight.”
    “What on Earth are you talking about?” Colin demanded.  “This people are insane, why did you bring me here?”
    “I thought you wanted to come,” Dominic said, he was looking very sad by this point.
     In the background, Aden got down off her platform and began shaking hands with her supporters throughout the crowd.  She steadily made her way closer to Colin and Dominic, where the people were still collecting their new weapons.
    Aden caught sight of the pair arguing and made her way through the crowd towards them.  When she reached them, she clasped her hand on Dominic’s shoulder and smiled at him.
    “Dom,” she said, causing him to turn around.  “I’ve been looking for you, are you ready?”  Then she noticed Colin.  “Who the hell is this?”  Dom didn’t respond.
    “Who are you?” she commanded an answer from Colin.  “The people who attended this meeting were all personally invited, how did you get here?”
    “He’s a friend of mine, Aden,” Dom finally spoke.
    Aden turned Dom away from Colin and whispered to him, “I don’t know this person.  You can’t just bring random people to our base of operations; we can only win this war if we surprise the enemy.  You may have compromised us, how well do you know him?”
    “He’s my brother-in-law,” Dom said.  “He’s trustworthy.”
    “If you say so that’s good enough for me,” she said.
    They both turned back to Colin who then started speaking to Aden, “I’m sorry about this, I think my friend has made a mistake.  I’ll just leave you all alone.”
    Colin hastily pushed his way through the crowd, which was comprised of many people who were now armed.  The guards at the front had stopped handing out rifles by now and a lot of attention was on Colin.  The horde of people watched as Colin swiftly made his exit through the same way that they had entered.
    Aden, with her arm around Dom, said to him, “He didn’t seem very committed.”
    “Sorry Aden,” Dom said.  “I made a mistake, I thought he…it doesn’t matter, can we just forget it?”
    “I’d like to but he’s not one of us and he knows where our headquarters are,” she said.  “We’ve all worked too hard to take a risk like this.”
    “What do you mean?” Dom said.  “He’s my friend.”
    “OK,” Aden said.  “You’re loyal; you’ll make a good soldier.  Go on, join your brothers.”
    Dom took his place among the crowd once more and the guards continued handing out guns.  Aden went over to one side and started talking to a couple of her ‘soldiers’.  She took their new rifles off them and whispered something to them that no one else noticed.
    Colin was outside now and half-running home; he wanted to forget this crazy night and just go to sleep.  A little later, he was walking the empty streets and heard footsteps behind him, he didn’t dare look, he just picked up the pace a little.
    The footsteps weren’t going away; he could feel his heart thumping the rest of his body.  Colin took some sharp turns and walked even faster to get rid of the sound of those worrying footsteps.  He eventually found his way down an alleyway; he hadn’t heard the footsteps in a while so he glanced behind him, all clear.
     As he turned his eyes back to where he was walking, the sight had changed, their was now a large silhouette at the end of the alley.  He took a couple of steps back, the figure didn’t move.  He turned round; a second assailant blocked his way back.  Then this one started advancing on him, Colin looked around for a way out.  Before he could find one the larger man he first saw grabbed him from behind and pushed him, face first, against the brick wall.
    The second man approached the scuffle, he wasn’t as big as the other man was but he was just as intimidating.
    The larger man spun Colin around, held him against the wall and pulled out a revolver.  Colin now had a bloodied nose and a pistol jammed in his face.  The holder of the weapon got ready to shoot and slowly began to squeeze the trigger.
    “No,” the other man said who was now standing next to the large man.  This man had a thin face and dark brown hair whereas the man who had been so ready to murder Colin was bald and strong.  “Don’t use a gun; we don’t want to wake anyone up.  We need surprise, remember?”
    The large bald man nodded, put the gun away and pulled out a knife.  Colin began to struggle as the man placed his large hand over his mouth; he got ready to plunge the knife into Colin’s chest.  In frenzied panic, Colin lashed out with his shin and caught the man in the crotch; he grunted in pain and doubled over.
    At that point, Colin grabbed the man’s knife-wielding arm and used it to force the blade into the other man’s belly.  Colin pushed the large man off him until he hit the opposite wall and then took off as fast as he could down the alley and away from them.
    Colin had never ran so fast in his life, his legs were a blur underneath him; he ran all the way home.  When he got there, he didn’t even feel tired, his breathing was laboured but that was from fear.  He frantically looked around to see if anyone else had followed him, it looked okay.  Colin walked up the path to his home while wiping the blood off his face and trying to calm himself.
    He opened the door as quietly as he could, which was difficult because his hands were shaking when he slid his key into the lock.  Colin crept inside, leant against the door and took a few really long deep breaths to regulate his breathing.
    When at last he felt safe, the lights flicked on, causing his eyes to shoot open and his breathing to be rapid once again.  What he saw was his wife standing there, waiting for him.
    “Where have you been?” she asked.
    “Sorry,” he said.  “It’s been a crazy night.  Let me tell you about it.”
    “I’ve been trying to call you for hours,” she said.
    “I was at the cinema, my phone was off,” he said.  “I got distracted and didn’t turn it back on.  Now listen, there’s something I need to tell you about Dominic.”
    “No, you need to listen,” she said.  “Wellfield House called a few hours ago.  Colin, you’re mother’s died.”
    Colin opened his mouth in one last attempt to inform his wife about what had happened to him tonight but he couldn’t manage words anymore.
    He slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor, he wasn’t overcome with sorrow, he just felt that he couldn’t understand the reasons behind anything in the world anymore.
    Colin sat there for a few seconds; no one in the room was speaking.  This had probably been the worst night of his life and yet there was a small smile on his lips.  Nothing about this night had been amusing, except for the timing.
    He had lost one of his best friends to some bizarre paramilitary group, he had almost lost his life and he lost his mother.  Overall, it had been a bad night.