In the back alleys, the rebel is not concerned but reassured by this turn of events, unexpected as it’s come even to him. In time, the working man and his rebel ally will come to regret the latter’s overconfidence, not because they’ll wind up on the losing side but because their lack of prescience and foresight will surely make their ultimate victory so much costlier than it’ll need to be. Not all is lost, and as it seems so unlikely for a nation so embroiled in bitter civil unrest to go to war against its rivals, but in fact it’s the perfect moment. As the rebel looks on, the wealthy man musters his influence and his strength in service of this new war, the wealthy man placing his faith and his fate entirely in the fight against nothing at all. And when the student, the parishioner, the worker, the trooper, and the migrant all learn Britain has gone to war, they react with unanimous outrage, taking to the streets not as disparate interests but as a united front, surging against the government and the wealthy men who control it like the raging waters of a powerful storm against the face of a dam. Though it may not be readily apparent, this is one dam about to spring the smallest of pinhole leaks, in turn about to collapse in a torrent. This is the last we’ll follow each of these men, each of these individuals who represent a facet of the working class movement, but their stories have yet to end. As the United Kingdom goes to war each will keep on fighting, in their own way.
Valeri’s heard the reports, seen the footage on his screen of the disorder gripping cities in other countries around the world, though none of the other powers are experiencing the open revolt here at home. What neither he nor any of the others in revolt know is this war was inevitable. It’s what major powers do to resolve internal crises and tensions brought about by decades, even centuries of corruption and exploitation. The announcement that war’s begun succeeds in calming the crisis gripping the streets, for a little while at least. But the corruption that’s been eating away at the innards of our way of life has left us weak and vulnerable, like the emaciated gazelle being stalked by ravenous lions. It’s enough for wealthy men to realize the futility of their struggle, and plan to take action anew. While they scheme, the world’s working men are made to march into the slaughter for reasons no one can understand even if there are those among the wealthy elite and their co-conspirators in government think they can.
As the nation’s armies gather and make off for war, the screens of the world watch with a curiosity unlike that of a nation facing a life-and-death struggle. The popular front is vociferous in its opposition, its apparatchiks like Miguel Figueroa and Rose Powell denouncing the mass slaughter of working men by the hand of other working men. But in these uncertain times, the outbreak of world war strikes a mood none can read in the working class apartment blocks and the shantytowns rolling along the hills. Young men are marched three abreast in a long line along the streets, many still wearing civilian clothes, while women, children, and the elderly crowd the sidewalks. No one quite knows what to make of it. In his secret headquarters Elijah considers the timing of it all, and issues orders to the swelling ranks of the popular front to cease their attacks. “Cast off the crutch,” he says, “and the body shall learn to walk anew.”
But it all comes down to the struggle of ordinary working men like Valeri and the other residents of Dominion Courts. With their limited armaments, they can’t hope to survive a resistance against a police raid they’re sure will come. In the lobby, Valeri stands with Tonya and Roger, the three of them having taken it on themselves to see all the residents through. “I won’t join the army,” Valeri says. “Nor will I,” says Tonya. “Nor I,” says Roger. “And if they come around to conscript us,” Valeri says, “we’ll fight. We were ready to fight them in spirit if not in form anyways, should they have come around to evict us. Now we’ll make a stand against them all the same.” It’s quickly agreed. But these are times more complicated than even they realize. While the rebel Elijah gathers his strength for his next move, men like Valeri plan for their own survival against odds growing longer by the hour.
“We are dangerously low on food,” says Roger, “water could cut out at any time.” And it’s true; whenever a local store receives a rare delivery of foodstuffs, it’s quickly dispensed to the crowded and starving people who make it there first clutching bundles of cash. “Don’t fear starvation,” says Tonya, “there’s plenty of food stored in warehouses in the industrial quarter. If we need to, we can raid them and take what we need.” It’s not been all that long since Valeri had worked in one of those industrial estates, and still he has friends in those places who’ve kept their employment even through these difficult times. For a time, he thinks to place a call and arrange for a secret exchange, but then realizes these very warehouses may already be under siege by desperate workers seeking very much the same thing as he. “We’ll live,” he says, “and we’ll thrive. It’s only a matter of pushing through this difficult period and learning ascetic virtues.”
They turn to other matters. Some residents in the building have already left, taking little but the clothes they had on with them. For the rest, this means their suites can be raided for supplies. “We’ve got enough arms to make a go of it now,” Tonya says. Valeri shakes his head and says, “no, we haven’t seen the sign yet.” Roger asks, “who will send this sign to us?”
“No one,” Valeri says, “we’re supposed to know it when we see it. It’ll be unmistakable, I’m told.” Tonya lights a cigarette, taking a drag off it before handing it to Roger. “That’s all well and good,” she says, “but what do we do if the police force our hand?” Roger takes a drag, then offers the cigarette to Valeri, but Valeri shakes his head and says, “then we’ll fight.” The three nod their grim assent.
After all that’s happened, it seems to Valeri that their deliverance is at hand, with it to come his personal vengeance against the apparatus that killed his parents fifteen years ago. In the midst of this, he realizes his roommate Hannah has come home, at last, the hospital having all but shut down owing to a shortage of critical supplies and equipment. “I’m not coming back for long,” she says to Valeri, “I’ve just come back to gather some things, get a night of sleep, and then say goodbye to you in the morning.”
“Where are you going?” Valeri asks. “I’m not sure,” says Hannah, “but I’ve got to go somewhere. There’s too much fighting, too much death. It’s become unbearable. I can’t eat, even if there was anything left to eat. I’ll die here, and I don’t want to die here.” She looks away. As she looks away, there’s the distant rattling of gunfire to punctuate the moment, forcing her look back towards Valeri who meets her eye for eye. This is an uncertain moment, one in which the war abroad could seem to shatter families and break apart the flimsy bonds that’ve held together our lives for so long. But it’s a fraud. As Valeri is starting to realize, these are bonds that’ve never been even as they were, fictional creations even as their grip on our lives have always been real. In Hannah, he sees his equal, his opposite, the perfect complement to his burning rage, unlike him in every way and therefore exactly the right person to stand aside him as he takes these decisive next steps into the rest of his life.