Chapter 186

They were in the courtesy tent that had been set up for them to warm up pre- show.  They guys had eaten and  were getting ready to go on.  Morbus come into the tent as Brie was giving Mike a basic chair massage to relax him before they went on stage.  It had become a ritual for them each to get a fifteen to thirty minute massage before going on stage, and another afterward when the buses stopped at the hotel.

When Morbus came in, he looked at Mike and laughed.  "So, is David sharing, or is it that Tina is sharing?"

"Neither.  Brie just loves me, that's all."

"Not nearly as much as she loves me, jack ass", David laughed.  He was snacking on a piece of cheese because he knew his wife wouldn't give him a massage if he ate too much sugar before he sat in the chair.  She didn't want him crashing before he went on stage.  He looked at Morbus.  "What's up, Morbus?"

"Rally's been canceled.  All of them have been canceled.  I'm to see you safely to the new safe house in Colorado.  Your gophers have been informed, and new ones are being recruited as we speak.  The people are too busy fighting off the Utopians to hold any rallies any longer.  It's nothing but anarchy out there.  Get back on your buses and let's get rolling.  We leave in forty- five minutes."

Brie patted Mike on the back.  "Get your ass up, Mikey.  Gotta pack up the chair so we can go."

"But, I've still got five minutes", he complained.

"And it takes thirty to get everyone on to the buses.  Get out of my chair before I dump you out of it."

"Damn it."  Mike looked at Morbus as he got up.  "You're a real buzz kill, you know that?"

"It's not my job to make sure that you enjoy a massage from Brie Draiman.  It's my job to keep you alive to enjoy that massage, or a blow job from your wife", Morbus said, looking Mike in the eyes.  "Now, Wengren, get your ass moving."

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Forty- five minutes later, everyone was on their respective buses and heading to the new safe house.  David and Brie were surrounded by their children, the younger one frightened by the fact that as the buses drove, there was gun fire and explosions outside.  "Daddy, what's going on?" Jeremiah asked.

"People are fighting, 'Miah.  That's what's happening."

"Will it stop?" asked Makayla.

"Eventually, I hope.  It's kinda my fault, though."

"How is your fault, Dad?" This from Jordan.

"Remember that speech I gave in Austin, Jordan?"

"Yeah.  What about it?"

"I stirred the people up to the point where they're fighting back.  That was my intention."

"What does 'intention' mean?" James asked.

"That what I wanted.  I wanted the people to fight back and that's what they're doing."

"Why did you want the people to fight back, Daddy?"  Meagan asked.

"Who are they fighting?" Maddie asked.

"Kids, your Daddy and I have been trying to keep this from you younger children, but you were all but your brother 'Chai born during a time of civil war.  That means that there's fighting here in the country.  For the most part, not a lot has been happening until your Daddy gave that speech while we were in Austin."

All of the younger children from Maddie down nodded.  Malachai, Jacob, and Jordan all sat straight with looks that would have shot daggers into the hearts of any Utopian soldiers that they might have encountered.  The three of them were more than aware of the war going on.  Hell, Malachai was alive when it started.  He remembered the day he was told that his mother was dead, and that he was going to have to go to his grandparent's house in Tennessee.  He remembered the day that David became his dad, when his mother picked him up from his grandparent's house with David at her side.  When he was old enough, if the war was still going on, he was going to join the Resistance Army.  That was going to happen no matter what either of his parents said.