The Citizen Connection (Chapter 1)

The Citizen Connection

Chapter 1 : Meeting

   He was standing on the pavement. His eyes scanned everywhere for his target. It was a busy day like any other day. People rushing here and there trying to get from one point to another. The shops that were open were buzzing with activity. It certainly was a normal day for the Business District. While everyone was in a hurry, he was not. He just stood on the pavement beside a lamp post. He kept looking at his wrist watch. Time seemed to move very quickly. "Where is he?" thought the man. He took another look at his timepiece in hopes that time would slow down. It didn't. Any second now and he might get some very nasty questions from local law enforcers. It didn't help that a handgun was tucked in his trouser pocket. Nowadays, it isn't safe to go roam around without some weapon for protection. His personal favourite was the handgun. Small, easy to conceal and reliable. He had gotten out of some very dangerous situations thanks to it. Sure, sometimes when you need it the most it runs out of ammo but for most of the time it was ready for combat. He was wearing a hat and a grey suit. Typical businessman clothing. His shoes were in need of mending but he wore them anyway. Two pens were tucked into his front pocket. A blue one on the left and and a red one on the right. Although the arrangement seemed innocent enough, it's actually a cleverly code. Blue-Red indicated that the person was meeting somebody. The code and many more like it were being used all over the country by people like him. Citizens with normal lives during the day and secret lives at night. He was waiting for another man just like him who may be of very good use to the rebels.

   But still, a code like that has it's flaws. The government has been cracking down on operations and had cracked the pen code. That's way many of them switched to more complex code systems. The pen code had to be changed every week to avoid any further raid on their operations. He loved the simplicity of the pen code and chose it to signal his meeting. Once again, he peeked and his watch. 20 minutes had passed since the agreed meeting time. Another 10 minutes and the meeting would be cancelled. All of a sudden, a pat came on his shoulder. He turned around to expect his target but instead, stood an enforcer. Many nicknames were given to the governments law enforcers or better known as "Citizen Guardian" to the government. Some nicknames include "CGs", "Eyes", "Enforcers" and the lesser known "Sticks".

   "What is your business here?" questioned the enforcer."Nothing, just getting some fresh air," the man replied. But the enforcer wasn't satisfied with his answer.
   "I'm going to have to search you sir," continued the officer.
    "There's no need to,"
    "Why not?"
    "Because, I'm not breaching any law!"
    "We'll see,"

   The enforcer proceeded to search the man for anything that may be banned by the government. Firearms were one of them. The enforcer suddenly felt something hard in the citizen's pocket. It was the handgun. Trying to resist arrest, the citizen punched the enforcer's face and ran. The enforcer came chasing after while calling for backup on his radio. "Anywhere but here," thought the man as he ran for dear life. He pushed his way through the busy street knocking off innocent passer byes. He jumped over some boxes that were laying around and were blocking his path. He noticed an alley and bolted towards it. All the while, more CGs were on his tail. The man made it into the alleyway but it was a dead end. There wasn't any other exits to make other than the way he came through. But the exit was blocked by half a dozen law enforcers ready to arrest him or worse, become the judge and jury of his very life.