Future America

One of the guards was going to shoo Didier off when he first saw him approaching, but his attitude quickly changed when he realized who it was. He recognized the young man from the campaign ads that the senior D'Toussaint had run in order to flaunt his 'family values.'

In the beginning of the two-minute television bit, Argent D'Toussaint had walked (addressing the audience all the while) through a quaint living room to a kitchen (neither were actually theirs). There a smiling wife & son happily prepared a family meal (as if they ever cooked meals for themselves, even then).

Didier had been the son in that scene, proudly wielding a chopping board full of diced vegetables. His siblings made their debut when Argent took the pot of food to a picnic table outside where the other D'Toussaints were seated.

The captor cleared his throat instead & straightened out his posture. "She's a dangerous radical extremist," he finally replied. "Responsible for the death of several innocent workers during their theft of a shipping truck."

"She'll be responsible for a lot more deaths when those pills don't get to their intended destination!" The second guard kicked Sara-Lin once more in the hip.

"Hey, watch it!" Didier accidentally let his facade of aloofness slip for split-second. He looked down at Sara-lin once more. He saw one of her hands weakly fumbling with a scrap of paper. He hastily added, "If she's unconscious she won't be able to name the other trash that helped her carry out her filthy crimes."

"That's what I've been tryin' to tell this knucklehead!" The first guard snarled and smacked the second guard on the back of his head.

"Well we had to make sure she was roughed up some! She's dangerous!"

Didier interrupted the two's bickering. "Here, let me help you lift her up." He bent down to lift Sara-Lin up & took the opportunity to snatch up the paper scrap as well. The first guard, still scolding the second, rushed over to help him lift her.

"Don't just stand there, you dolt! He's not going to help me carry her there the whole way, so hurry up & grab his end!" He tried to position Sara-Lin in a way that her weight was more so on him than on Didier.

The second guard grumbled but took over for Didier as he was ordered to.

Didier watched as the bizarre trio hobbled away. He wished there was more that he could do for the girl, but, given her committed crimes, there was nothing he could have done at the moment without seeming like a sympathizer. He reached into his pocket & felt the crumpled parchment he had taken from her.

Sara-Lin's ears rang. Sounds were hurting her ears, and everything was ringing. The ground appeared to be shifting in and out, making her head dizzy. She was dragged across the ground, making her knees burn. More rocks hit her face, making her face sting all over. Faces were blurs, and so was everything else. People kicked her as she walked by, and laughed at her pain. She kept hoping that someone was kind enough to read her note and do what it said. The guards yanked on her arms.

The guards eventually reached a tall, fortified building. To Sara-Lin, it was just a big blur. One of the guards kicked her.
"Wake up already!" She weakly coughed up more blood onto her shirt. They dragged her inside and threw her in a cell. "Who wants to see her?"
"Suzuki, you idiot!"
Sara-Lin curled up in her cell.

He intended to read the note later when there was no one else around. If he was caught reading a message that a radical had written that could be the end of his free train ride. He could not risk it right now, not out here in the open. He had run over to Sara-Lin with the intention of helping her, maybe even offer to purchase her to take her off of their hands, but he had never expected her crimes to be so...extreme. She had seemed so small & fragile. Alas, it would take a different strategy to help that girl.

For now he had other matters to attend to though. He took his hand out of his pocket & started heading back towards the bench, wondering if Synclaire had stuck around or not. In spite of what she had said about herself Didier found her to be quite likable. & her flawless appearance did not hurt either, of course..

Meredith could hear loud sounds from outside, but she figures she would check it out later. She had just gotten a make-over, she wore a light purple silk dress, ballet flats and her hair was up in curls. She had been pampered all day, and to be honest, she wouldn't mind looking like this more often. She looked like a true upper-class person. But if anyone found out who she really was, she was dead. She peeked out her window to see long drag marks in the ground, decked with blood.
"What the-" She muttered. Meredith went to the front door and opened it quietly. She closed it behind her. She went in the direction where it seemed to be coming from. She came to a street littered with sticks, rocks pinecones, you name it. She walked over to a man stuffing something in his pocket. She held her head up high, trying to seem more upper class like.
"Excuse me, but what happened here?" She tried to show as little concern as possible.

Before he was even halfway there, he was interrupted by a small, curly haired, upper-class girl in a purple dress. The child bore a strange resemblance to a life-size Shirley Temple doll. Looking up at him with large, round eyes, she asked, Excuse me, but what happened here?

He glanced briefly at the trail of blood that the captive had left in her wake- which must have been what the girl was inquiring about. He shook his head sadly, reluctant to recap the events to someone so young.

"They caught a violent radical," he said hesitantly. He decided to leave out any mention of murder & bloodshed, which struck him as too graphic & intense for her. "They took her to the prisons..."

He gave the child a curious look. "Where are your parents? You really shouldn't be out here alone."

She froze.
"Shit," She muttered quiet enough so he couldn't hear.
"My parents are at our house. I was just taking a small walk," She randomly searched for an excuse.