"Hello," an excited Zac said to an arena full of people that were not only his fans, but also voting Democrats in the upcoming election. All supporters for his candidate. All supporters of him. With Madison by his side, holding his hand, he got more screams than he'd expected from a convention on 'boring' politics. "I'd like to start off by thanking each and every one of you for being here. Without you, we wouldn't have a chance beating the crap out of President Smith." His shouts of praise rose immediately. "All right! You guys are the greatest!" He emitted a tiny laugh. "But seriously, this is going to be an exciting week. We are one step closer to our goal and Davis here, come January, will be our next president." Zac turned to Davis and applauded him like the rest of the auditorium did before returning to the mike. "Welcome everyone, it's going to be a beautiful week and we'll show those damn republicans what a party really is!"
With the eruption again of screams, Zac stepped away from the microphone and pushed Madison towards it. When they died down he pinched her and she began to speak. "How many of you lost loved ones�friends, family, peers�in Korea?" The explosion of a response was more than any of them expected. It seemed that everyone lost someone they loved in Korea. "I lost my brother in Korea. And I haven't been the same because of it. Zac over here has lost two to it, but it completely different ways. Even though they're still alive, they still have breath, they are not his brothers any longer. No one comes back from that thing the same, no matter how much Smith says they do. He's sending children, boys and girls who can barely vote and fresh out of high school, some even still in high school, to either die or to be changed and plagued forever. Are we going to sit back and let that happen?"
"No!"
"Are we going to let another four years go by with that sorry excuse for a human send our families to die?"
"No!"
"Then we have to do something about it! Davis is the light at the end of our tunnel. Davis will bring us out of war, bring out loved ones home, and not only that, he will see that each and every one of them gets the help they need so they are the same people you know. Nothing he does will bring my brother back, or any of those people who died back, but he can help us deal with it and he can stop it from happening further. Smith will never promise that to you. Smith will manipulate and deceive until he gets his way. I say we send him to Korea!"
"Yeah!"
"And with that note, I'd like to introduce the man of the hour, Mr. Future President Ralph Davis!" Madison and Zac stepped completely away from the podium as Davis began to speak. As they were leaving the stage and entering the crowd with the other officials, Madison felt Zac's phone start vibrating in her pocket. It sent a chill throughout her body and Zac gave her a strange look.
"Did you just give yourself an orgasm?" he asked, leaning into her ear to whisper his question. She gave him a look.
"No! It's your phone!"
"Pick it up." Madison took the phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear, Zac bringing her to a secluded part of the convention center.
"Hello?" Madison said.
"Madison? Hey, it's Taylor. Where's Zac?"
"He's right here. Do you want to talk to him?" Madison asked. Taylor answered positively and Madison handed over the phone. Zac put it to his ear, still keeping an eye on the future president addressing his nation. It was a sight to see all right; the man was shining with confidence and hope. He was revealing some of his other plans for when he would be elected, most of them just fixing what Smith broke in his country.
"Hey Zac, you're in Los Angeles, right?"
"Yeah, what's going on?"
"They're protesting outside of the Republican Convention in New York. It's one of those good ones, not the ones we've seen lately. The press is all over it and they've got cops just in case a riot breaks out. There's got to be some�couple thousand people here. Central Park is just packed with people, there's hardly a place to go without signs and chants. It's awesome. You should be here."
"I will be," Zac said. "I'll be right there. Where are you?"
"I'm here. As soon as I heard I came."
"Great. See you there." Zac hung up the phone and handed it back to Madison. "We're going to New York."
"Why?" she asked, following him as he began to walk away.
"There's a protest and we need to be a part of it. It's more important than this. We won't be needed until tomorrow." He grabbed her hand and the two of them ran out of the convention center, met up with press as soon as they got out of the building. They were paraded by the vultures and made their way through the crowd without answering questions, finding a surprised Drake about to leave.
"Drake! Wait up!"
"What are you guys doing out here alone? Get back inside!"
"We have to go to New York," Zac said, not even explaining more before he opened the door and pushed himself and Madison inside. Drake got behind the wheel. "Get us to the airport and get us there as soon as you can. We have to be there now." Drake was still confused but didn't say anything more as he started the car and drove quickly away.
"Peace now, freedom now! Peace now, freedom now! Peace, peace, peace, peace!!"
Zac felt immediately at home. He'd created this. Rallies of this caliber were unheard of since the Vietnam rallies of the late sixties and early seventies�and God was he ever compared to them. Everything he did was compared to that period. He was that period. Things were a bit different�the economy was better, people had equal rights, and back then an eighteen-year-old kid had no say in the economy whatsoever, but there he was, smack dab in the middle of a peace rally in New York City's Central Park and he was loving every minute of it.
There were vendors selling food, drinks, and various trinkets for a dollar each, no matter how large the portion was. When he and Madison walked up to one of the vendors they were recognized immediately and didn't have to pay for anything. Zac discreetly put a fifty in the tip jar. Anybody who was handing out food and drinks at such a price when plain hot dogs were four dollars just a mile away deserved some recognition.
The people who weren't protesting were enjoying the beautiful New York summer day. It seemed the crowd was swelling with each moment. People were actually getting out of their cars as they passed by to join. Signs and banners paraded around as people protested exactly what Zac figured they were; President Smith and his Republican convention just a ways away. When was Smith not the cause of a protest?
"This is awesome," Madison said, taking a bite of her free sandwich. Things always tasted better when they were free. "Can we stay here all day?"
"I think it'll be broken up before long, so if we want to do something, we should do it now."
"Where's Taylor?" Madison asked, looking around. "Isn't he supposed to be here?" Zac looked around and was surprised to see Taylor standing on a platform speaking. Zac pointed and Madison and he walked over to the back of the crowd to listen.
"�and what else do you expect from a conservative republican who only thinks of himself? I'm surprised we're not all over there. Actually, I'm surprised he hasn't lowered the drafting age so he can send more kids over there to die. I'm surprised he hasn't shoved all of the people who get in his way over there. See, that's the way Smith works. If he's not being liked, if there's someone out there who sees things differently, he throws the competition away so he will be liked. He doesn't know what the hell he's doing. If Smith gets elected again this war will last another four years and longer, our economy will go to shit, and the only way we'll find peace is in another country. That man is responsible for this country's failure."
"He's good," Zac whispered to Madison. She nodded. "Maybe we should have him talk in LA."
"He won't talk in LA and you know that. They'll ask about Korea and he doesn't talk about Korea. He doesn't go on interviews for a reason, Zac."
"I know. I'm just saying he'll be good in LA." They moved around the crowd to the stage where Taylor was just getting off. "Hey man," Zac said. "Good speech." Taylor looked up and smiled.
"Hey! You made it! It's been awesome so far, they're having almost an open mike. If people want to talk, they can talk. We have tons of veterans here; they're just kids, too. They've been sharing their stories and talking smack about Smith. God, I love freedom of speech."
"It's what we live on. So how's the protest going?"
"Awesome. When I first got here there was only a couple hundred people but people have been actually pulling off the street and coming here. They're missing work, they're missing school, although it's not good to miss school I'll allow it, they're literally stopping all of their plans to be here to make a difference."
"Have you heard anything about the cops? What's up with them?" Zac nodded to the swarm of cops he'd seen around the park.
"They're just here in case a riot breaks out. They haven't stopped anything yet. I think they know the routine by now. They know we're not going to act out and start busting stuff." Taylor scratched the back of his head and looked around. "This is so awesome. Everyone's been getting along and everyone's been supportive of each other; it's like they all know each other and they're all friends here. I haven't seen anything like this in a long time."
"I bet Smith is going to make an appearance, though."
"Oh, there's no doubt either him or someone of high authority is going to show up. Someone has to. We're right outside the convention hall. You could probably hear us inside," Taylor said. "And that reminds me, how was LA? What's going on there?"
"It's awesome," Zac said, grinning. "It's so awesome. There's, like, a hundred thousand voters there who just completely agree with every word that comes out of your mouth and you know they're there because they want to make a difference in the world and the only thing they can do short of a recall is to vote for this man."
"Yeah but you know with our semi-elitist government no one will ever allow a recall of the president. And even if there is one, who'll be the president when we give Smith the boot? Fernandez, his vice-president? He's a million times worse!"
"But Fernandez won't send me to Korea."
"You never know what that man will do."
"You never know what Smith will do." Zac looked up at the stage that was currently empty. "Well, I should say something."
"Do you really want the chance of Smith finding out you�re here?" Zac looked back at his older brother.
"Smith already knows I'm here. He knew I'd be here before I knew I'd be here." Zac turned to Madison. "Are you joining me?"
"Of course." He took her hand and climbed the steps to the stage where his presence silenced the crowd. A smile crossing his face, he and Madison went quickly to the microphone and she immediately took it out of the stand. "Oh come on," she said. "You can do better than that! Don't look at us like we're strangers! This is a rally! We're not going to sit around in awe of a couple of political activists, are we? If Smith came up here right now you wouldn't be silent, you'd be booing and throwing things!"
Zac smiled at his girlfriend who, in the last year and a half, had become just as comfortable in front of a crowd like this as he was. Stick her in front of government officials, yeah, she'd throw up a few times, and stick her in front of crowd like this with an instrument and you'd get the same result, but stick her in front of a rallying bunch of protesting pluralists and she shines.
Madison tapped Zac and handed him the microphone. He'd barely gotten a hello in when he saw a number of men in suits coming towards the stage. "Shit," he muttered away from the microphone. "Is that Smith?" he continued into the microphone. "Hey, Smitty, nice of you to join us! Come up here!" The crowd look towards the men in the suits and before long Smith was up on the stage with Zac. "Nice of you to make an appearance." Madison disappeared and a moment later emerged with a second microphone for Smith. The crowd was silent, waiting for some kid of uproar to begin between the two most notable people in the country�one the most loved, the other the most hated.
"Well, Mr. Hanson, I knew you'd be here so as soon as I heard I just had to stop by and say hello," Smith said. Zac could see the hatred in the man's eyes and discreetly moved away from him. This was the one man in the country who still intimidated him, especially since he had dirt on Zac.
"That was very nice of you, Smitty. But why are you really here? Don't you have a country to run�a war to win?"
"You know, Mr. Hanson, it's funny you mentioned that," Smitty said. "that war will be the death of me, won't it? Or maybe it'll be the death of you." Zac eyed the man conspicuously. "Either way, it's nice to have you in town. Maybe you should come to the convention center and have a look around, I would like to speak with you."
"I don't know," Zac said, looking at his crowd. "Should I go? Do you think it's a trick?"
"Go!"
"All right." He handed the microphone back to Madison. She put them both back on their stands.
"I'm going with you."
"Miss Ashton, this is a private matter."
"No," Zac said, "I'd actually prefer that she's there." Smith looked between the two of them and relented.
"All right. She may come. But I'm not responsible if she gets thrown out." Zac waved goodbye to the crowd and took Madison's hand and the two of them followed the president away from the protest and into the Republican Convention Hall.