Michael and his band saw
the mercs blow up the mines and trap all those people. They knew that
there were women and children in there and they became enraged that Farukh
would order such a
heinous action to be committed. Michael turned to Paul Williams and said,
"Bro, we have to get them out of there before they die. Let's go!" There were
over two hundred men with Michael and Paul, which made the job, a little easier.
Using picks and some pipe bombs, they soon opened the mine entrances and
let the survivors know that they were coming to rescue them. It didn't take
too long to get everyone out of the caves. Soon, Michael had pulled the last
child out of the hole, and dusted him off. Carlos, wounded but steady, walked
up to Paul Williams and asked him, "Who's in charge, bro?" Paul and all the
Outlanders looked around at each other in confusion, as there was no one
in charge. Then one of the Outlanders said, "You know, it was Michael's idea
to help these brothers and to aid the rebels. I guess that kinda makes him
in charge." They all nodded their heads in agreement and so Michael said, "Brother, I'm in charge, for what
its worth. What do you need?" Carlos, shook Michael's hand and said, "I just wanted to shake the
hand of the leader of the brothers wit' the biggest balls, I have ever seen. Ya'll know that those soldiers
wasn't us, right?" Michael said, "What do you mean?" Carlos replied, "Man,
I heard them talkin' and they "speaka no English", get me? They's Africans,
man, real live ones, like Shaka and Mobutu, 'n shit. Guess them sorry ass
elders don' trust they own to come get us." Michael shuddered when he realized
the ramifications of what Carlos told him. The lousy bastards were using mercenaries.
That meant that, they would stop at nothing to destroy the rebels. Hell,
even the Outlanders now had to worry. He told Paul to go back to the farms
and relate the message that there were mercenaries and to be careful.
Farukh had taken over the responsibility of crushing the rebellion. He instituted
curfews and stopped citizens, on sight. If they couldn't produce a pass, stating
why they were outside, after the curfew, they were arrested and tortured as
sympathizers of the rebellion. Because of his harsh treatment of both rebels
and innocents, alike, Farukh actually enlarged the ranks of the rebels, as
the people finally understood that they were wrong, even if they were in
the right.
