the House part 26

Chapter Five in which Matthew gets the news and asks himself what the point of it all is
“Nice of you to join us in the land of the living.” Margret said as Matthew woke up.
“What?” He said, looking around the strange room, “Where am I? Why am I here and not my bedroom? Hold on, Why the Devil are you here?”
“You,” Lara January said calmly, as she stood up from her desk and walked over to Matthew's bed, “Are in the Psychiatric Ward of the hospital. Do you remember why?”
“Um,” Matthew said, trying to recall, “No, no I don't.”
“What do you remember from last night?” Lara asked calmly, she obviously had experience with this type of thing.
“Well,” Matthew said sitting up in bed and running his fingers through his hair, “I was in a meeting with Marc and then.....” He trailed off.
“Then what?” Lara asked, interested.
“That's all I can remember.” He said after thinking for several moments.
“You don't remember Ava coming in?” Lara asked.
“No,” Matthew replied, “Did she come in?”
“Yes she did.” Lara answered, “And she gave you some tragic news. Do you recall what it was?”
“No.” Matthew said, worriedly “What was it? Is everyone all right?”
“Unfortunately not.” Lara replied, “Ava told you that Johnathan June died while leading an attack on the upper floors that was meant to rescue Thomas March.”
“John is dead?!” Matthew said, shocked, “Oh My God, really?!”
“I'm afraid so.” Lara said, watching Matthew intently, “Do you remember what happened after you heard the news? Do you remember what you did?”
“No,” Matthew said, still reeling from the news, “What did I do?”
“You tried to kill yourself.” Margret told him simply.
“What?!” Matthew said, that was the last thing he had expected to be told, “No, I would never have tried to kill myself, you guys must be mistaken!”
“Matt,” Margret said gently as she got up off the bed and walked over to Matthew's bed, “You started to scream and tried to throw yourself down the stairwell. Marc and Ava had to forcefully restrain you. They dragged you in here and Lara had to drug you.”
“What?” Matthew said, “No I couldn't have. I couldn't have!”
“Matt,” Margret said, “You did.”
“Oh My God.” Matthew said, running his hands through his hair, “Um, did John manage to rescue Thomas before he died? How did he die, by the way? Who killed him? Was he killed instantly or did he die from his wounds? Tell me everything.”
“John's attack went wrong from the start.” Margret said, pulling up a chair. Lara checked her watch, walked to the door, and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
“How so?” Matthew asked .
“Well,” Margret said, “All the other squads were tasked with just trying to destroy as much as possible.”
“Really?” Matthew said, “That was John's big plan? Just sending a ton of soldiers up to the top floors and telling them to destroy as much as they can? That seems kind of simplistic.”
“That part was actually pretty successful.” Margret said, “Those squads are the only reason that We are still alive right now.”
“How so?” Matthew asked.
“Well,” Margret replied, “Basically our entire army was sent to attack the top three floors. It was an all or nothing operation. And they managed to cause enough damage that the Foremen weren't able to pursue them and launch an immediate counter attack.”
“Anyway,” Matthew said, “How did John's squad go wrong?”
“Well,” Margret said, trying her red hair back in a ponytail to stop it falling in her face, “They were the ones who were supposed to rescue Tom and somehow, I have no idea how, that mistook the hospital for the prison so they stormed that building instead.”
“Oh dear.” Matthew said shaking his head, “I can't see that going well.”
“It didn't.” Margret said, “If they had realized their mistake in the beginning they could have just turned around and leave but they thought that it was the barracks.”
“Lord.” Matthew said, running his hand through his hair.
“Yeah,” Margret nodded, “So they went through several rooms killing everybody and then they came to Brien May's room.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah, so John led the way and opened the door. Ben September shot him and was then shot in return. Brien May forced them back and they fled back to their base on Floor 46 without rescuing Tom.”
“Lord.” Matthew said again.
“But wait,” Margret said sarcastically, “It gets better.”
“Wonderful.” Matthew said, equally sarcastic.
“Yeah,” Margret said, laughing a little. She was prettiest when she laughed, Matthew noticed. She really was a very beautiful young woman. “'So Brien used Ben's death to his advantage.”
“No, really?” Matthew dead panned, “I never would have guessed.” Margret laughed again and a rush of triumph, he had made her laugh!
“Well,” Margret continued, “He used Ben's death to seize power again.”
“Fantastic!” Matthew said, “”Best news I've had all year! You know what? I think we should send him a card, Congratulations on Seizing Power, You Freaking Fascist, May you have many happy returns!” Margret laughed for a third time and yet again Matthew felt a rush of triumph and happiness.
“But that isn't the worst part.” Margret said when she stopped laughing.
“Oh Lord,” Matthew said “What is the worst part?”
“Well,” Margret said soberly, “This Morning, very very early, Thomas was executed supposedly in an escape attempt.”
“What?!” Matthew said, totally shocked. He had not expected this., “How do you know?”
“It was announced this morning.” Margret replied, “I'm really sorry Matt.”
“No.” Matthew said shaking his head, “It isn't true, it's can't be true! He's probably spinning it for political reasons, to shake us, you know.”
“Matt,” Margret began but Matthew cut her off.
“We need to announce that it's not true.” He said wildly, trying to get up out of the bed. “Tell everyone that Brien May is freaking liar and that we can't believe a word that he says!!”
“Matt,” Margret began again but yet again Matthew cut her off.
“I'll make that announcement. So that everyone knows that I'm alright. They might be worrying.”
“Matthew!” Margret yelled and Matthew fell quiet, “Matt, Thomas is dead. Stop!” She said as he opened his mouth to contradict her.
“Look,” She said gently, putting her hand on Matthew's shoulder, “I didn't want to believe it either, but Matt, it is true.”
“No It Isn't!” Matthew said, exploding, “It is not true! Lord! Brien is lying! He..”
“They had his body!” Margret said interrupting Matthew's rant, “Matt, they had his body. They shot him in the forehead and then showed it to everyone. Thomas is dead Matt, it's tragic as heck but it's still true.”
“So I guess this is the end then.” Matthew said, falling back on the bed., “The end of all of it.”
“End of all of what?” Margret asked.
“The revolution,” Matthew answered, “And really it was all pointless.”
“No it wasn't!” Margret protested.
“Yeah it was.” Matthew said, depression creeping into his voice.
“No it wasn't.” Margret disagreed, “We were fighting for freedom and independence and knowledge.”
“No we weren't!” Matthew said angrily, “Do you even know how John came to be leading the October Conspiracy?”
“Because you guys were Philip's closest friends and you thought that since the whole thing was in honor of Philip you should be in charge of it.” Margret answered.
“None of that is actually true.” Matthew said dismissively.
“Then why did you guys take over control?” Margret asked, no longer trying to be comforting but actually trying to get the information.
“Because John always has to be the smartest kid in the class,” Matthew said morosely, “He has to be the prodigy, the leader, the first freaking fiddle. Thomas wanted to start the conspiracy but John was against it. He wanted to protect us and go to the Foremen.”
“Really?” Margret said, she would never have thought that John would have considered selling his friends out to the Foremen.
“Yeah,” Matthew nodded and continued, “But then I talked to him and he said that Thomas could never lead the conspiracy properly so he said that he would. It wasn't about high ideals like freedom or knowledge or whatever the heck it was about John's ego and nothing else. We manipulated Philip's death more than anyone we played politics just as much if not more than Brien May or Allison October or Emily February. We sacrificed all those lives just for ego inflation and power. And now it is over and what in the name of God was the point? Tell me that Margret, John and Thomas are dead and what was the point?”
“You were fighting for Philip.” Marget said, “You guys made people believe in you. You guys made people willingly put their lives on the line. You guys elevated Philip to martyrdom, Lord, You made him almost a saint! Even if your motives weren't totally pure in the beginning by the end it was something bigger, How can you call that nothing?”
“Lord Margret!” Matthew said nastily, “Are we in some sort of Frank Capra movie? Are you my guardian angel come to show me how great my life is? How different things would be without me? If I ring a bell will you get your wings?” He jumped off the bed and began to walk around the room, his tone growing meaner and meaner.
“This thing isn't bigger than anything! It's over, do you understand that?! It is over! Primarily because it's two highest ranking leaders are in the freaking mental ward! And who are you to lecture me anyway? God Almighty, Just a few months ago I found you laying on your bathroom floor sobbing with glass laying everywhere because you had thrown a pistol through the shower door because it wasn't loaded when you tried to blow your brains out with it! So, Margret, I am a tiny wee bit hesitant to take psychiatric advice from you.”
“Matthew,” Margret said, she appeared to be close to tears, “You're being unkind.”
“Go off Margret!” Matthew yelled, “Go Off and Cry and be of no use to anyone because you aren't! Lord, you won't even tell us all of the 16 secrets! To Blazes with Philip's near sainthood, you're the reason he's dead and now you won't even reveal why he died! Lord Almighty! Talk about not having pure motives!”
“What do you mean,” and a Margret asked icily, “When you say that I am the reason that Philip is dead?”
“Well,” Matthew said, nastily, “He went back to talk to you, didn't he? And if you had warned him about whatever is on page whatever it is then he wouldn't have freaked out and he wouldn't have been shot. So really you are the reason he's dead.”
“Drop dead you little egotistical self important moron.” Margret hissed.
“You know Margret dear,” Matthew snarled, “Sometimes I wish that the gun that you placed to your beautiful head had been loaded and I had walked in to find your brains all over the floor. You could have joined Philip in the afterlife and apologized to him. Whoops sorry, I forgot that you guys probably wouldn't have gone to the same place.”
“Burn in blazes January!” Margret said and tried to spit at Matthew. She missed and the spittle landed in front of him. He laughed nastily
“Always a failure aren't you Margret?” He said. Margret made an obscene gesture at him and turned around. She began to walk off but was stopped by Matthew's voice.
“Say Margret,” he said jeeringly, “Did I ever tell you that Philip couldn't stand you? Yeah It's true, He only stuck around you because he knew you for so long, plus he had a little crush on your roommate Allison.” That was the final straw for Margret. She grabbed the clock off her bedside table and threw it at Matthew. Her aim was dead on. The heavy clock struck Matthew in the face and he fell backwards onto the bed.
“God Almighty Margret!” He yelled holding his bleeding nose, “Why did you do that?”
“Let's see?” Margret said sarcastically, “Because you were saying the evilest nastiest, cruelest things you could think of?”
“What are you talking about?” Matthew said as he wadded up his blanket and held it to his nose, “What evil, nasty, and cruel things was I saying?”
“You told me that I was the cause of Philip's death!” Margret said outraged. What In the name of God was Matthew playing at? Pretending that he didn't remember, or was he not pretending? Maybe the clock had given him amnesia.
“I said what?!” Matthew said, also outraged'
“You said that Philip was dead because of me.” Margret said staring at Matthew intently.
“No,” Matthew said, “No, I never would have said that. I think I must have blacked out. The last thing I remember was you telling me that Thomas was dead. My God Margret, what are we going to do?” When Margret didn't answer he continued speaking.
“First,” he said as he got up off the bed and began to walk around '''And I hate to do this Margret, but we need all hands on deck I'm ordering Lara to release you from the hospital . She can still treat you part time but I need you back in the game. We are all going to have put our personal problems aside in order to win this war.”
“That's fine.” Margret said, still starring at Matthew. This was very odd. He was his old self again the evil little monster that had temporarily taken over him seemed to have disappeared. He was back to being efficiency itself, brimming with ideas and ways to implement them. He was always the machine behind John, John was the leader he was the implementer, he was the ideal Vice President. He carried nothing for glory or power, he was happy working behind the scenes. The only people, Margret thought, who ever truly got how good Matthew was were the people who saw him like this. Pacing the room firing off ideas. John never really got it, he was too busy being the president and too into his own ego to actually think about anyone or anything else. Or maybe he did because, Margret remembered, whenever he wanted to get something done he would delegate it to Matthew. It seemed like ho hum everyday stuff but really that ho hom everyday stuff was the backbone of society. If the food machines weren't up and running then everyone would starve. If Thomas' speeches weren't convincing then nobody would join the army or support any of their ideas and then the war would end in failure. So maybe John did know how good Matthew was. While Margret thought these things Matthew continued to talk and plan.
“I think I'll have to dissolved the council. Make it be just three people who make all the decisions: Me, you, and either Ava or Marc. Ava's smarter but she's also kind of hard to work with, since you've been out of the action she's started trying to take over. In fact, I don't really trust her, so probably making her a leader isn't the best idea.”
“Marc is really nice.” He continued, still pacing, “But I'm not sure is he's really up to the job. But I think that he's pretty popular, Since Thomas has been gone he's been making all the announcements and speeches and I think that he is really catching on. The public seem to like his awkward charm just as much as, if not more than, Tom's charismatic confidence. I think it should be him. He'll be in charge of the things here, you will be in charge of strategy, with your knowledge of the enemy you should have been doing it since day one, I'll oversee everything and make the final decision. I'll keep Ava on as Chief Researcher, it's time to remember that we started this whole war because Philip tried to reveal something and was killed in the process. Are you sure that you won't rethink your decision not to tell us all you know?”
“Sorry Matt.” Margret said, shaking her head, little wisps of her red hair escaping the ponytail, “But no, even if I did tell you you probably wouldn't believe me and even if you did you would have tons of questions that I don't remember the answers too. If you find out the information of your own I will lead you to the bottom floor but you need to find out for yourself.”
“Can you at least give me a hint?” Matthew asked.
“Ok,” Margret said, “The only way the war will ever totally be over is if you find the information and use it.”
“That is not really a hint per se.” Matthew pointed out, “It's more of a warning. A hint would be like Look on page 55 of The Complete history of the house or something of the sort.”
“Ok,” Margret said, “Look into The Great Unpleasantness and the banned books you guys found the answer should be somewhere there. Is that good enough for you?”
“Yes it is,” Matthew said, “Thanks Margret.” He strode out of the room and shut the door behind him.



End of Part Five