Free A Better World by Marcus Sakey Page A

details.
    Associated Press:
    There are also reports that guardsmen have threatened crowds.
    Mr. Archer:
    The National Guard is there to help. If a crowd is a danger to itself or others, it’s possible that they employ nonlethal crowd control measures.
    Associated Press:
    I have reports of guardsmen pointing riflesat citizens, even firing warning shots. If the situation grows worse, will the president authorize the National Guard to attack civilians?
    Mr. Archer:
    I don’t see it getting there. The president has the highest confidence in both the guard and the citizens of Cleveland, Fresno, and Tulsa.
    Associated Press:
    So the guardsmen will not be authorized to fire?
    Mr. Archer:
    I won’t speculate on that.
    CNN:
    I’m quoting a senior White House source here who says, “We have no operational knowledge of the Children of Darwin, literally none. They’re ghosts with guns.”
    Mr. Archer:
    I can’t comment on top secret intelligence. But I want to reiterate that every effort . . .

CHAPTER 8
    It had been two days since government agents had dropped by to tell him that his boss had been kidnapped and his family was in danger, and Ethan had thought of little else since. Every stranger seemed filled with menace. Every parked car might be scoping out their house. He’d spent the time in an edgy fugue, peeking out the curtains and fingering the business card Special Agent Quinn had given him.
    What had made it worse was not being able to share the whole load with Amy. Ethan had told her about Abe’s kidnapping, of course, but he’d downplayed the notion it was connected to their work. For one thing, there was no proof. For another, there was no way to tell her that without telling her what he was working on. Which he couldn’t do, not if he wanted to keep his job. Abe didn’t mess around with that kind of thing; Ethan had no doubt his boss would fire him without a second thought.
    And that can’t happen. Not with a ten-week-old baby. Not when you’re about to succeed.
    He’d taken to keeping the gun in the nightstand, though. Just in case.
    So when his neighbor Jack had called and invited him to the meeting, Ethan had jumped at the distraction. The idea was silly—a neighborhood watch to protect their homes? The cadre of lawyers and marketing execs was about as threatening as a middle school choir—but here he was, along with most of the guys onthe block, crammed into Jack’s living room, eating pretzels and drinking Diet Coke from red Solo cups.
    “So what,” Ethan said, “are we talking pitchforks and torches?”
    “No, of course not.” Jack looked disappointed. “This is about neighbors helping each other, that’s all.”
    Ethan thought of the case of milk his neighbor had given him and felt a flush of shame. “I don’t mean to be a smart-ass. I just don’t understand.”
    “It’s simple. Right now we can’t count on the government to keep things working. It’s been five days since the stores were cleared out, and still no food. There are robberies and arsons and shootings, and not enough cops and firemen to go around. The system has broken down, so let’s work together to get through this.”
    “You mean like patrol the neighborhood?”
    A man Ethan didn’t know said, “Why not? I know it’s not politically correct to say, but if you’re a crackhead from the east side, who you going to rob? The crackhead next door who’s got nothing? Or one of us?”
    “We’re not forming a posse,” Jack said. “But if the government doesn’t work, then it takes a village.”
    “I’m happy to help any of you,” Ethan said. He looked around the room, mentally categorizing:
guys you stop to chat with, men you wave at whose names you think you know, men you wave at whose names you are certain you don’t, total strangers.
Three or four of them were decent friends, guys like Jack. Or Ranjeet Singh, who, as Ethan’s eyes met his, mimed King Kong chest beating. Ethan started to laugh, covered it with