Chapter 24: Go see your girlfriend, white devil. 14th of May 2021

"Go see your girlfriend, Gweilo!" the Chinese soldier shouted as he pushed Jared Pond out of the still-moving white van.

Hitting the asphalt with speed, Jared scraped his arms and knees, destroying his clothes and causing him to bleed profusely. Jared felt confused. He had never anticipated the CPOC operatives would let him out of the this alive.

As Jared's arms and legs were bound with cable ties, Jared wriggled until he could find a sharp surface. Jared rubbed the cable ties against the curb until they gave broke and he was a free man.

Jared got up. He thought about what the guard had shouted to him. Why did the CPOC want him to find Eileen Lu? Jared realised that he had to play along with the dictatorship's plan. He was wounded and carried neither money nor a passport. This was hardly ideal circumstances, especially since he didn't even know where he was!

Jared walked up to a group of people playing mahjong and spoke:

- Where am I?

The people shook their heads, picked up their game, and left without acknowledging Jared. Jared couldn't blame them. They must have seen how the secret police had thrown him out of a moving vehicle and had assumed that any contact with him was dangerous. Jared was close to collapsing in self-pity when he heard a familiar voice:

- Jared, what happened to you?

Jared looked up and saw the angelic features of Eileen Lu. He felt dizzy and blissful at the same time. He had assumed that he would never get out of captivity alive, and yet here he was, together with Eileen. Jared:

- My boss betrayed me and sold me out to the Columnist Party. I don't know why they let me go.

Eileen:

- Oh my god, Jared. What did those monsters do to you? We need to get you out of China.

Jared:

- But I have no money and no passport.

Eileen:

- Come with me. I'll help you get to the Australian consulate in Shanghai after the rally.

Eileen turned to one of her associates and spoke:

- Chen Lan, please help Jared. He'll need to walk with us, and then I'll take him with me to Shanghai.

Chen nodded and she helped Jared get back to his feet.

As Jared got up, Eileen kissed him and spoke:

- I need to hurry to the rally. I am giving a speech. Chen will help you, and I'll meet you afterwards.

Jared:

- Thank you, Eileen.

Eileen rushed off to make her way to the civil liberties rally.

***

Jared was sitting in an apartment overlooking the main square of the city of Suwan. Jared was listening to Eileen's speech, while Chen Lan was patching up his wounds. Chen:

- Do you want some tea?

Jared:

- No, thank you.

Chen:

- Okay, lah. This is my third cup. I love tea.

Saying this, Chen went to the kettle and filled her cup with some more tea. Jared sighed. He couldn't understand why CPOC had released him and he worried that something was amiss. Why did Jing's goons want him to meet with Eileen?

- AH! My back is burning!

Jared turned towards Chen who was lying on the floor, screaming in pain. Jared:

- Get on your stomach and stay still.

Jared got up, grabbed a pair of scissors and cut up Chen's blouse. Chen's back was full of bark-like rash that was spreading quickly. Jared had an epiphany; this must be the same virus that he had seen in the video from the Uighur concentration camp. 'So, this is why they released me. To frame me for the outbreak' Jared realised.

Jared got up. He needed to warn Eileen and the others for the outbreak before it was too late.

Chen wheezed:

- Help me. Don't leave me.

Jared looked at her for a brief moment, turned around, and left the apartment. He felt terrible for abandoning the woman who had patched up his wounds. Yet, if the Columnist Party aimed to murder the civil rights movement with the virus, there was no time to waste.

Jared got out from the apartment complex, and he ran towards the stage. When he was halfway to the stage, a man next to him collapsed to the ground. He was too late, but he had to save Eileen.

He got on the stage and shouted at Eileen:

- Chen is dead. Everyone needs to leave. The Columnist party has unleashed the Hei Bai virus on the crowd.

Eileen:

- What are you talking about?

Jared didn't have the time to answer, as one of the other civil rights leaders on the stage collapsed to the ground.

Eileen:

- Zhang Wei! What's happening.

Jared:

- Eileen! Tell everyone that they need to leave. The columnist party is attacking us with biological warfare.

Eileen shouted out the message to the crowd, but they didn't get far. Hundreds of white vans and soldiers in hazmat suits arrived and sealed off all the exits to the square.

Some of the soldiers ran up to the stage and subdued Jared and Eileen, and threw them into an unmarked white van.