Side Story: Hell on Earth
Chapter 95
Confiscation
They had walked a long way and encountered three soldiers dressed in gray uniforms, gray hats, red-and-white checkered scarves, and rubber sandals, carrying bags of medicines and goods.
The soldiers might have stolen these things from second-hand shops and pharmacies. The rebels ran over, signaled for the car to stop, and asked Yingming for a ride. Yingming was still intoxicated by the drunkenness of "liberation," grateful to his benefactors, and warmly welcomed them:
"Where do you want to go?"
"About twenty kilometers South of the capital."
Yingming scratched his head and said that the car had only two or three liters of gasoline left. The soldiers told him to wait. They left one man to guard while two others went elsewhere. Half an hour later, they returned with a gasoline can, no one knew whether it had been stolen or robbed.
For four years, gasoline had been scarce, forcing people to buy it at high black-market prices, most of it mixed with other petroleum. Long ago at the embassy, Maria's family received a voucher for gasoline and bought it at the diplomatic gas station.
After filling the car, the soldiers ordered that seats must be given up. No one dared to refuse. Yingming urged his wife and Liberte to get out, then turned to his relatives on horseback.
Without waiting for the patriarch to speak, they shifted slightly to let his wife and child sit down. Two soldiers boarded the car, another climbed onto the roof, fired his gun into the air, and terrified crowds scattered to both sides.
The adults remained silent. Only Poupee Ange and Yi could not bear the fetid, suffocating air inside the car. The two children were frightened by the gunshots, tears streaming down their faces. Maria and Le gently soothed them. Yingming sang the old song again:
"Uncles are helping us leave here faster, don't be afraid!"
Ordinary advice from a blind fool made the listeners… feel… as if a fanatic had borrowed the words of coaxing children to praise the "benefactors." A wave of cold resentment washed over the family. A stranger suppressed a cold sneer: "You should be called Ignorant", only then would it be fitting.
The road was clear, and the car quickly escaped the crowd. Soon they passed the residence of the head of state. Maria's family wrinkled their noses at the smell of vomit.
They saw the corpses of coup soldiers scattered, swollen, and rotting under the blazing sun. The soldiers in the car fell silent, and Yingming's whole family trembled, huddled together. Maria held Liberte tightly, covering his eyes.
The boy did not cry or tremble, and Maria thought she had covered him in time. But she noticed Liberte's arm tightening and stiffening, painful tears soaking his tense little shoulders.
Her son tried to resist the stench of decay clawing at his throat. He feared vomiting would dirty his clothes and waste time cleaning. He did not want to stay in that disgusting place… and perhaps he feared that delaying the evacuation would drive the soldiers mad.
Maria embraced Liberte, still covering his face. The fragile woman was forced to be strong in chaos, determined not to let the devil gloat by "examining" her son's face, paler than the corpses. A woman who had never hated anyone now drove her hatred deep into the beasts who had destroyed her life and crushed her child's soul.
Two hours later, they reached Tama (Beginning) town, the first checkpoint. Rebels in green uniforms searched them, ordered them to get out, and demanded identification. The three soldiers remained motionless in the car, not having spoken a word since they had hitched the ride.
Yingming calmly and confidently presented all documents and official papers, including the children's birth certificates, IDs, embassy staff card, and his wife's Hexagon passport:
"I am from the Floating Kingdom. Maria is of mixed heritage from the Prehistoric Kingdom and Hexagon Kingdom. My wife and children are all Hexagon Kingdom citizens."
The ferocious soldiers stared contemptuously at Maria's family. They confiscated all the documents, tore them into pieces without even reading them.
"From now on, there is no the Floating Kingdom, the Hexagon Kingdom, or the Prehistoric Kingdom. Within the four seas, all are people of the Mountain-Sea Celestials. We are brothers, speaking only one language: Mountain-Sea tongue!"
Maria's family was shocked when the documents were torn up and thrown away. Everyone stiffened, trembling with anger, as they discovered countless banknotes of different denominations scattered on the ground, the largest being five hundred Res. The rebels sneered:
"From April 15, the day of the coup victory commemoration, Bo Dan's (the Fool Dan's) money has no value in the liberated zone!"
"Bo Dan" was a name filled with contempt, used to mock the coup faction's prime minister. They deliberately emphasized this ridicule to humiliate and intimidate the discontented, extinguishing resistance from the very beginning. When the search ended, the rebels signaled everyone to march south.
Maria grew increasingly desperate as time passed in torment, in stark contrast to Le's calm demeanor. Le was Ying's elder sister, and she shared the same thoughts as her younger brother. At that moment, she still expressed faith in overcoming disaster, because thanks to the three rebels, the family had easily left the capital.
Maria's family was luckier than hundreds and thousands of others who rode bicycles, traveled by ox carts, or even had to walk endlessly along the road. The miserable people carried children on their backs, bent under heavy backpacks, pushed overloaded carts, their legs staggering, their knees exhausted.
On that scorching summer afternoon, the humid heat burned away all strength, and children and the elderly quickly lost their energy. A hundred steps away, corpses lay by the roadside, dead from exhaustion or suicide. But no one had time, nor wished to stop to bury them. At that moment, the slogan was:
"Everyone takes care of themselves. The deities will take care of all!"
Maria's spirit was stretched tighter than a bowstring drawn back to its limit; her mind spun incessantly, forcing her to weep as she silently cursed her husband for dragging the entire family into this miserable plight.
Around 3 p.m., Maria's family reached Mulai Sekarang ("From Now On") village, about thirty kilometers from the capital. The three hitchhiking soldiers ordered Yingming to stop, bring down their spoils, and then board a boat moored by the Danau Lautan ("Ocean Lake") riverbank. The longer this situation continued, the more uncontrollable the family's anxiety became. Yingming, fearing they might go mad and anger the soldiers, boldly asked:
"Excuse me, how much longer until we reach the destination!?"
One of them replied without turning back:
"Keep going south, the Hive is waiting for you!"
The Hive, always the Hive, nothing but the Hive. From the beginning until now, every order or adjustment to the new life, the evacuees had only heard this mysterious, incomprehensible name.
Yingming happily thanked them repeatedly. His relatives, though bored, dared not show discontent, focusing instead on caring for the exhausted children. Breakfast had long passed, and they began to starve; Poupee and Yi cried again.
Maria's family rested under the shade of a large mango tree to eat lunch. Only a few dried fish and a little rice remained, and everyone secretly felt fortunate to still have something to stave off hunger.
When the food was gone and the destination remained unknown, Yingming decided to take one hundred thousand Res to the village to buy supplies. The family, annoyed by the patriarch's naïve stubbornness, no longer had the strength to advise him. They stayed silent, letting him do whatever he wished.
Moments later, the whole family stared at the pitiful pile of food the patriarch had brought back, exchanging bewildered glances. Everyone looked dumbfounded as he cheerfully set down a bottle of soy sauce (200 grams for 30,000 Res), one kilogram of cucumbers (20,000 Res), and 300 grams of pork (50,000 Res).
The old currency was depreciating, and food was especially precious. In a few days, money would have nowhere to be spent. The family did not ask about the exorbitant prices but instead questioned:
"The soldiers said that from now on Res is no longer valid. How could you still buy things?"
"The shop in that village is still open. People are still using Res to buy fruit, vegetables, and other food. Perhaps they haven't received orders from above yet, or they don't know that the money has already lost its value."
Everyone became so happy that they felt alive again, pressing their hands together to thank the deities for their protection. After eating and drinking their fill, they all agreed to hide the one million Res, thinking that perhaps one day everything would truly return to normal, or at least the money could be spent somewhere.
Each of them understood this was impossible, but they feared regretting it if they threw the money away, so they clung to hope. Apart from hope, they had nothing left.
After regaining their strength, Maria's family set out for Cari Lagi ("Repeat Security Check"). Unfortunately, when they reached the gate, their car ran out of fuel in front of the rebels. The rebels immediately searched it, seizing all books and magazines in Hexagonese, watches, several cassette tapes, and the children's textbooks:
"You no longer need to read books or listen to music. You will no longer use the Floating language or Hexagonese. From now on we will all speak only one language: Mountain-Sea!"
This warning made Maria worry that her children would not be able to attend school. The soldiers continued their repeat security check, took away most of the food Yingming had bought, and ordered them to keep moving south. But with no fuel left, the family had to push the car. Fortunately, the sun was gentler than before. By nightfall, the family reached the gate of Menginap ("Overnight") Temple, where evacuees had already occupied one-third of the grounds.
The monks shared with Maria's family a little rice mixed with corn and a ladle of green papaya soup. The food was meager but priceless, because the children had dinner, while the adults ate the children's leftovers. Later, Maria and her husband asked departing evacuees about the situation. They did not know either. But it was certain they had not yet reached the destination, so the family had to continue this uncertain journey. Where to? No one knew.
Early the next morning, the whole family pushed the empty car. A neighbor from the same building in the city was also there. Seeing a confused acquaintance struggling with the car, he said he would hook it to his own vehicle and tow it. Late at night, they arrived at another village. The village head was an old man, also a warga mendapat membebaskan ("citizen granted liberation").
He had not fully followed the rebels, but he had lived in the liberated zone for a long time. He received them politely, offered a simple meal, and allowed them to stay under a stilt house. Like many people from the Floating Kingdom, his thoughts had already been eroded by rebel propaganda, but as a kind and experienced man, he still retained awareness and humanity toward his fellow people.
The two children, exhausted, had long since fallen asleep. The whole family breathed a little easier, because at last they could rest. They spread a mat on the ground, without mosquito nets, huddled close together, and slept until dawn.
At daybreak, the family had to continue on with empty stomachs. The children, especially the youngest ones, began to cry. The village head gave them a bunch of bananas and several ripe papayas. He sighed and said softly:
"Children, go a little further, the Hive is waiting for you!"
Maria's family pressed their hands together in gratitude. Yingming politely said a few words and then took his leave. Maria took a few steps and instinctively turned back; she was haunted by the hidden compassion in the village head's glance, as if he knew something but could not or dared not say it.
A sense of insecurity clung tightly to Maria until she reached Stasiun Perpindahan ("Transit Station"), more than forty kilometers from the capital. The family stopped in front of a temple where many evacuees were living. Ahead lay Danau Lautan, and in the middle of the river a small Pulau ("Island") emerged. The whole family stayed in the temple until early the next morning.
In the distance, a tall man appeared in a military uniform. It was Wan. He had a head shaped like a rabbit's, a mouth resembling a bat's, and ears like a mouse's. His face was heavily pockmarked, looking like an interlaced scan. He was accompanied by three soldiers in black clothes, berets, red checkered scarves, and rubber shoes. He introduced himself:
"Hello, friends. I am Wan, a citizen of the Floating Kingdom and also the head of Pulau village. I have lived in the liberated zone for two years.
After greeting them, his words sounded more like boasting than introduction. Wan and his three subordinates observed the evacuees' physical condition. Based on the belongings they carried, they evaluated each person and quickly identified the wealthy, especially those with cars. Wan signaled them to line up, jerking his chin toward the distance:
"The boats are waiting to take away the selected families."
Wan and his subordinates, under the pretext of "peace," searched and confiscated their belongings again. Everything they liked was immediately stuffed into their pockets: jewelry, perfume, soap, medicine, needles, thermometers. Maria quickly hid some items at the bottom of a double-layer basket.
They brutally snatched the beautiful doll from Ange's hands, a Christmas gift from the Hexagon Embassy to the staff's children. Although Maria and her daughter cried and begged for the doll to be returned, Wan's face remained a mask of pockmarked stone. His gaze swept over them with the clinical coldness of steel, and he answered briefly:
"From now on, children do not need toys. There is no time to play. They have much work to do!"
Maria, helpless and dejected, could only try to soothe her precious daughter into stopping her tears. The monsters arrogantly declared:
"Do not cling to your material possessions, because you do not need them. In the future, you will only need two sets of clothes to change, one bowl and one spoon, nothing else. The Hive will take care of everyone and provide everything!"
Each time they confiscated personal belongings or keepsakes, Maria's heart ached as if stabbed and crushed.
At that moment, hearing the orders, the miserable woman suddenly remembered that on the road she had met a group of people who had previously been forced to evacuate from the city. They carried many things, but tried to bring as much food and rice as possible. Now she realized it was because of this despicable reason.
But it was already too late. Every hour, every minute, they sank deeper into a suffocating quagmire of despair. They had nothing left. All the evacuees, tormented in spirit, cared only about food and survival. As Maria's family was about to board the boat, Wan demanded that Yingming hand over the car keys:
"The Hive will use this car and return it when everyone goes back to the capital."
It was a deception beyond all lies. The zealot took pride in serving the invisible yet omnipotent Hive, believing without question. Meanwhile, everyone trudged forward to the place assigned to them.
The citizens of the new dynasty continued their endless journey, wandering without knowing when they would finally return home.