The Freedom Gang: The Rising

Centered around a not-so-distant future when minors have no rights, standing up to the authorities can mean jail time--or worse

The Freedom Gang is my first series, based in a not-so-distant future after the United States has undergone a second civil war over the rights of minors. As a results, the country has been split in two. On the East, things remain similar to how they have always have been, but on the West, everyone under the age of eighteen are stripped of their rights. A new branch of government surfaces: the Minor Authorities Branch, designed specifically to keep the minors in check. Rules are stricter than ever imaginable, and the consequences for breaking them are jail time--or worse.

Finally the school day ended and he was free to go home and do his best to get his homework done (he gave up after an hour of not getting a single correct answer for math). Immediately after dinner, Jeremy told his father that he was tired from the long week and he pretended to go to bed. 

In reality, he just lay there, deep in thought, until eleven-thirty when his alarm went off. He quickly turned it off before it could wake his father and jumped out of bed, already dressed completely in black. But before leaving, he made his way through the dark room to his dresser. In the bottom drawer were a bunch of his old possessions that had so far proven useless to him here in Washington. At the bottom of the drawer, pushed back into the right hand corner, were six ski masks that he, Aaron and a few other friends had used a couple of years ago for Halloween. Each one of them had a small red dot on the forehead as a way of telling them apart from anyone else who may have had the same costume idea.

He shoved the ski masks into a bag and snuck out his window. It was sprinkling out, which would make the task of getting in and out of The Overhang much more tedious. 

Natalie was already there, looking as nervous as Jeremy felt. And Robert arrived not long after Jeremy said hi to her. Jeremy only wanted to announce his bad news once, so he waited until everyone was there, sitting in a circle in the middle of The Overhang, a few drops of rain falling occasionally through the tracks above, to speak.

“I think we somehow made a mistake.” Nobody said anything. “My dad has been working on our case. He told me on Wednesday that they found something that may lead them straight to us. I wanted to warn you all sooner, but I couldn’t think of any way to do it. This was really the soonest we could safely talk. Whatever happens, I want to apologize in advance. 

“But the good news is that, so far, nobody has been arrested. We all made it safely here tonight, right?” He looked around the circle, illuminated by Trey’s and Kelly’s flashlights. Everyone’s faces were completely blank, as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but their eyes were full of fear. Natalie, who was sitting on Jeremy’s right, actually looked as if she was going to cry. Jeremy put his arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her, before continuing. ”So, so far we’ve done well. But I need to know. Did anyone maybe…let slip about what we did last week?”

Everyone’s eyes slowly trailed over to Trey. Even Kelly looked at him for a second before quickly glancing away. 

“What are you all looking at me for?” he asked, anger leaking into his tone.

Before anyone could answer, there were footsteps coming from above. 

“Turn off your flashlights!” Jeremy said quietly, and Kelly and Trey switched them off, plunging them into darkness.

“The boy said to go down into this ditch and follow it until we reach a cave. They call it The Overhang.”

At this point, everyone, even Kelly was staring, open-mouthed at Trey. “I swear it wasn’t me!” he whispered urgently.

Jeremy no longer saw any point in keeping quiet; whoever was coming already knew where they were. He reached into the bag he had brought and pulled out the ski masks. “I was afraid this might happen,” he said as he quickly passed them out. “Quick! Put them on!” Everyone hurried to do as they were told. The footsteps were getting closer now. Jeremy put his own ski mask on last and stood up. “Whatever happens, don’t say anyone’s names!” he said as everyone hurried over the earthen mound. “And don’t do anything to him!” Jeremy called, pointing to Trey. “We don’t know for sure that it was him!”

“There they are!” someone called from behind them.

“Everyone freeze!” Merlis’ voice rang through the silent night like the crack of thunder then came a moment later, followed by fatter, more frequent drops of rain.

Author's Note

The first book of the four-part series, The Freedom Gang, is now available through Wings ePress in paperback and e-book formats. For more information, message me or visit my website, http://www.writersportal.com/CassieMeno

Reviews

[Proletariat Uprising]

Sorta like a more mature version of Codename: Kids Next Door. And yeah, I referenced a cartoon, despite the fact that I'm an 18 year-old college student. What of it? Anyways, those damned cliffhangers again. Why do I love something that pisses me off so much?