“This used to be the book repair room,” Mattie commented as they piled more discarded books on top of the clunky Machines.
“Well now it’s going to be a computer repair room.” 00’s eyes glistened in the light of candles that Mattie had lit in the disused room when they arrived. His grin broadened when he tucked his satchel of tools in the mess that they’d created. “I can’t wait to get started. You still have those books on solar panels handy?”
“Of course.” Mattie took one of the candles and led 00 back out of the room.
Blue and 62 stood awkwardly in the silence. Orange and yellow light danced along the walls of the cramped room. Blue looked tired, and worried. 62 did his best to smile. “Thank you for helping with all of this.”
“No problem.” Blue cast an anxious glance around the room. The lines of worry deepened when he eyed the pile where the computers lay. “I can’t let you all do this on your own. You’d be stupid about it and get yourselves hurt.”
“Maybe we would,” 62 said with a sigh. “But you still didn’t have to help. Thank you.”
“Well,” Blue said as his eyes turned from the evidence of their rule breaking to 62, “at this point you don’t have much to thank me for. Maybe all we did was go on a wild hike through a scrap heap to haul back some broken computers. If that’s all it is, then there’s not much trouble any of us can get into.”
“That’ll all change when 00 gets these things running.” 62 grinned.
“Yeah.” Blue frowned. “Well, between you and me, I hope he doesn’t.”
CHAPTER 30
00 HAD TAKEN BOOKS ABOUT off-grid electricity to study and made a list of the parts that he’d need. Blue had pocketed the list and signed up for disposal duty and was spending time between trash runs picking through the dump for pieces to build the solar panel. Mattie was back at the library protecting their secret stash of computer parts. And then there was 62, sitting at his desk in class, confronted with another lesson in survival. Sliced chicken.
Before they’d been given the grey, stringy meat to eat, the class had taken a trip to the barns and greenhouses that lay just beyond the town’s border. They’d passed through the enclosed orchards and noticed the small buds on the ends of their bare branches. Parker said those would turn into new leaves in a few weeks. Then they’d sloshed through the muddy livestock pens, past the animals 62 knew were pigs, like Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web. The gargantuan, pale pigs in the barns looked far pudgier and greedier than they’d looked terrific. They’d also seen cows, which were much larger than pigs, and horses, which looked a bit like cows but apparently were for working and not for eating. They’d ended their farm tour at the bird barns where the chickens, geese, and even gigantic birds called turkeys lived.
Staring at the morsel of dry meat, it was hard for 62 to reconcile this shred of food with the birds he’d been petting only a couple of hours ago. The chickens had been busy little things, pecking and squawking around the humans’ feet as they walked through the barn. Some had even seemed curious, coming up to eat feed out of their hands. And now, here he was, with part of a dead bird cooked and cut, plopped down on a plate in front of him. He raised his hand.
“Yes?” Parker called from the front of the class.
“Why do we have to eat animals? It seems... murderous.”
“Yeah. Chickens are neat. Why do we have to kill them?” 14 asked from nearby.
“They feel things, don’t they?” 11 asked. “The chickens we saw this morning looked happy.”
Parker heaved a great sigh. “When I first came here, I asked some of these same questions. I’ll tell you what my teacher told me. If you don’t want to be at the top of the food chain; that is, if you want to let other creatures live a life equal to your own, then that choice is in your power to make. But it’ll be a long winter of eating potatoes and beans if that’s what you choose.”
“Can we live on that? Potatoes and beans?” 62 asked.
“You can,” Parker admitted. “But you’ll be thin as a rail, cold to the touch, and hungrier than a hare in spring. If you look at the history of Mankind – the far past – before Adaline and Curie, and back to the beginning of Hanford, people ate all kinds of animals as a part of their regular diet. Birds, mammals, fish, even lizards and reptiles. By raising and eating the animals that we have in our farms, we help to maintain their population. Their sacrifice keeps us strong. We feed them from our plant crops, and they feed us with their meat. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Everybody wins.”
A student in the middle of the room picked the sample of chicken up off his plate. “This little guy didn’t win.”
Parker laughed. “Okay, maybe he didn’t win yesterday when he was culled from the flock and turned into dinner. But before that, he lived a good life on a farm with other chickens. He didn’t have to worry much about being eaten by other predators. If he were out in the wild he’d have coyotes and hawks to deal with, and they aren’t nearly as humane when they kill chickens as we are. Plus, he got all the food he wanted without having to hunt through the scrub to find it.”
“But he still died,” 62 pointed out.
“We all die.” Parker leaned forward in his chair. “Every last one of us. Either our death can be in vain, alone, and of no use to anyone, or our death can be for the benefit of someone else.”
“When we die — I mean people — isn’t that for no reason?” Man 11 asked.
Parker shook his head. He turned to the blackboard behind him and drew a quick map of Hanford’s town, and the farms beyond. “When a person dies, they’re taken out to the greenhouses that are fallow. Fallow means they aren’t being plowed right now. We bury the dead in these plots, cover them up with biodegradable waste, and they decompose over time, releasing nutrients into the soil. That rich soil is then used to plant crops to feed the animals. The food is healthier and heartier because of the decomposed bodies down in the dirt. While the chicken feeds you today, your body will feed future chickens after you die. We’re all connected in a big food cycle here.”
“So, if I don’t eat the chicken and I eat applesauce instead, I’ll live,” 62 contemplated aloud. “But my body will be turned into soil to plant food for chickens someday anyway?” Parker nodded. 62 picked up the cold meat and eyed it intensely. The gears of his mind turned this way and that. He thought about the animals in Charlotte’s Web, about Charlotte saving Wilbur from being turned into food for humans, and of the humans feeding Wilbur anyway. 62 took in a long breath, let it out slowly, and then took a small bite from the edge of the meat.
Parker chuckled. “Decided to give it a go, did you?”
62 chewed. Something strange had been happening, and he’d begun to taste things in a way that he’d never been able to before. Parker had told the class that this was their taste buds coming to life, helping them to discover foods that were good to eat. The chicken was cold; leftovers from yesterday’s cafeteria meals. The muscle squished as he bit down on it. The thin fibers split easily between his teeth. It tasted like chicken was supposed to, he guessed. Bland, but comforting in a strange way. The flavor lingered on his tongue, a sensation he’d never truly experienced before. Not a displeasure to eat after all. He looked up at Parker.
“I figure if a chicken’s going to eat my nutrients, I might as well eat its nutrients right back.”
“No such thing as a free lunch, eh?” Parker laughed. “Well, what do you think?”
“It’s okay, I guess.” 62 shrugged. “Tastes like chicken.”
Before long, all but two of the students had given the meat a try. The couple who refused vowed that they would only eat plants, and find a way to make it work. Parker applauded their decision, commended them for deciding on their own moral code, and then ate their portions himself.
CHAPTER 31
62 SAT IN THE BACK ROOM of the library, a diagram of a battery bank unfolded across his lap. He watched 00 move around knots of wire, buckets of water, and small stacks of metal that Blue de
livered the day before. Mattie hovered nearby, poking her head through the doorway to check on their progress from time to time. The mess of equipment had spread far beyond what a few tattered books and water-stained maps could hide. Little by little the library books and papers had been moved out, and now the space looked more like a mechanic’s shed than a place for literature.
“Salt’s here!” Mattie called from out front.
62 set the diagram he’d been holding aside and waited for 00 to untangle his legs from the wires that snaked around them. When they exited their small shop and entered the library proper, they found Mattie standing behind the ancient librarian’s desk. Blue leaned against the handle of a weathered cart, a bag of salt the size of a folded blanket lying on the cart’s metal bed.
“I didn’t know how much you’d need,” Blue said. “Figured nobody at the cafeteria would miss one bag out of the heap they’ve got.”
“What is it?” 62 asked as he leaned forward and scooped a bit of white dust that had leaked out of the bottom seam of the bag.
“Salt. They use it to cook with,” Mattie answered. “It makes food taste better.”
“But we’re going to use it to build our batteries,” 00 said, rubbing his hands together greedily. “We won’t need nearly this much though. You can take what’s left over back to the cafeteria in a few days if you want.”
Blue shook his head. “It was hard enough sneaking out of the pantry with it. Ain’t no way I’m gonna try to sneak it back in. You’ll just have to keep it.”
“We’ll find room for it.” Mattie shrugged. “It’s not like a bag of salt is going to get us in any more trouble than the rest of it.”
“Thanks again for letting us use the library to work in.” 62 placed his hands on Mattie’s shoulders. “You didn’t have to.”
Mattie gave a sad smile. “It’s fine. Not like they’re going to be able to do anything about it, even if they find out what we’re doing. Besides, like I told you before, hardly anyone ever comes here. Most of the people in Hanford are too busy surviving from one day to the next to make time to read.”
“But books make everything so much better.” 62’s face scrunched in confusion. “They teach you how to do things in new ways. They can be fun to read, too. Some of the stories make me laugh, or feel sad. I always feel less alone when I have a good book.”
“Yeah, well.” Mattie’s cheek quivered. “Not very many people care about that kind of stuff. They all just want to eat, and farm, and poop.” She said the last word slowly, punctuating the p’s and drawing the o’s out long.
“Please, let’s not talk about poop again. I’m having too much fun.” 62 shuddered. Mattie threw her head back with a long laugh.
“So, the salt.” Blue’s bored voice matched his rolling eyes. “What do ya want done with it?”
“Wheel it back here. I’ll clear some space.” 00 led the way into the computer room. He shoved some long plumbing tubes aside, emptying a corner. Blue pushed the bag of salt off the side of the cart and it landed on the floor with a thud. Without another word, Blue pushed the empty cart back through the door and out of the library, already on his way to return it to wherever he’d stolen it from.
“Where does salt come from?” 62 pushed the bag all the way into the corner. It was heavy for its size and it was a wonder the bag hadn’t ripped when it fell. “Do you grow it?”
Mattie entered the room and sat down beside the two Boys. She licked her finger and stuck it into the small pile of salt dribbling out of the weak seam on the bottom of the bag. She put her finger back in her mouth and sucked the little white crystals off of her skin. “It’s a rock. Comes from the mine.”
The air stayed silent for a minute as the two Boys watched Mattie put her wet finger back into the little pile of salt. She pulled it out and licked the small bits that stuck to her skin. “What’s a mine?” 00 and 62 echoed.
Mattie smacked her lips. “It’s a giant hole in the ground. When they built this place they had to get the clay for bricks and stone for tiles somewhere. They dug down into the ground and pulled the materials they wanted out. There’s salt down there. A crew goes down every so often to break some up for cooking.”
“But I thought the rocks out here are all radioactive?” 62 stammered in alarm.
Mattie tilted her head from side to side as she considered his worried question. “They probably check it. Maybe the radioactivity doesn’t go down that far. I don’t know.”
“They just go in a hole in the ground and get rocks, and then we eat them?” 00’s face scrunched and he stuck out his tongue. “That’s something I could live without knowing.”
“It’s good,” Mattie cooed in a singsong voice. “Try some.”
00 shook his head, but 62 did just as Mattie had and licked his finger. He stuck it into the little pile of salt. Tiny white crystals clung to his skin. He eyed them for a minute and then pressed the tip of his finger on his tongue. The taste was sharp and strong, but he supposed it tasted good. Eventually the initial jolt of flavor faded and his mouth watered. He couldn’t help but have another taste.
“Well, I’m not going to eat it.” 00 turned up his nose. He moved toward the rest of his supplies. “I’m going to make batteries with it.”
“You do that.” Mattie rolled her eyes and licked more of the minerally treat from her fingertip. “I’m going to sit right here and enjoy this.”
“So, you really aren’t worried about anyone finding out about all this?” 62 asked as he leaned forward for another taste.
Mattie shrugged. “Like I said, it’s not a big deal. There’s nothing they can do about it. The worst thing they can do is threaten to send me to the Oosa when I’m old enough, and I’ve decided to volunteer anyway.”
62’s face tightened in shock. Even 00 dropped the bundle of wires he was holding and turned to Mattie. She continued licking at the salt on her hand, seemingly oblivious to their stares. 62 pulled himself together enough to mutter, “You won’t.”
Mattie gave a single nod. “I will. I’ve decided. I want to know where my mother went. Where I came from.” The others continued staring and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on you dolts. It’s not like I’m volunteering tomorrow. I have to wait until they’ll agree I’m old enough. In the meantime, all this,” she waved her hand in the direction of the equipment, “is on me.”
“I don’t think you should make your mind up about volunteering now.” 62 frowned. “You’ve got a few years to think about it.”
“I’ve been thinking about it since I was born!” Mattie shouted. “Don’t you get it? I’m one of the babies the Oosa sent back here. I don’t belong with these Hanford people. I want to go back to them. To see what my mother saw. I belong with them.”
“You don’t,” 62 muttered.
“Oh, like you’d know. You stupid mole. You’re not even a real person. You know that? You’re a clone. A copy of someone else. You hardly even count as human.” Mattie pushed herself up off of the floor and pointed her long, wet finger at 62. “You can use my library and take my help to build your illegal Machine. And we can pretend to be friends while you do it. But you have no right to tell me what decisions I can make. You bot-bred freak.”
Mattie stormed out of the room, the worn-out door shuddering on its hinges when she slammed it shut behind her. 62’s eyes welled with tears. 00 coughed back his own. Finally, 62 got up, leaving the enjoyment of the grains of salt behind. He picked up the diagram that he’d discarded earlier and slowly returned to his roost on top of a stack of boxes.
“Well, that was mean,” 00 said in a terse voice as he casually wiped his eyes. “I guess we made her mad.”
“Guess so.” 62 sniffed.
“Do you think she meant it?” 00 asked
“I don’t know. I hope not.” 62 felt pressure building behind his eyes. He blinked the stinging sensation away. Just when he thought he’d figured out his friendship with Mattie, she confounded him again.
“Want to call
it a day?”
62 shook his head. “Being friends with a Girl is hard. Well, forget her. She can hate us all she wants for now. I’ll have Blue talk to her tomorrow. As mad as he makes her, he seems to know how to get her to come back around, too. Have you seen the way they fight? She says horrible things like that to him all the time, and then suddenly they’re friends again.” 62 swallowed hard, trying to rid himself of the lump that had formed in his throat. He looked over the room. “We’ve got all this stuff ready to go. We may as well put it together.”
“I don’t know how Blue puts up with her, honestly.” 00 shook his head and wiped his eyes one more time. “Let’s get on with it then.” The two brothers bowed their heads in silence and got back to work.
CHAPTER 32
62 DRAGGED HIMSELF OUT of bed. The day stretched out before him, but he couldn’t help but frown. He looked out the window at the windswept landscape. 62 didn’t feel like going out today and wished he could crawl back under the covers.
00 would have a bank of jerry-rigged batteries assembled in the next day or two, and Blue had begun dragging components for a solar panel from the scrapyard. In less than a week they’d be able to see if the computers they had would work. Today was also the day that Mattie was supposed to ask around about how they could get a meeting with the counsel. It had taken Blue three days to get her to talk to them again. She’d never locked them out of the library, but the whole time she’d been mad she hadn’t uttered a word to them. The silent treatment had been horrible. The harsh glares and dead air had been so distracting that it’d slowed down the Boys’ progress with the Machine. 62 wasn’t sure what Blue had told her to get her back on their side again, but he was glad that she’d blown off enough steam to at least pretend to like them once more.
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