Sector 27- Assignment

by J J Pasinella

  Both Caleb and Alice looked silently at Aaron, waiting for him to say something. Aaron leaned forward from the stool and began to fill the bowls with the vegetables. He slowly poured some into one bowl and handed it to Alice. Then another to Caleb. Then he took one for himself. He took a few bites before leaning back on his stool.

  "Aaron. What's down in the place Alice saw? Is it another grid?" Caleb asked.

  "No. That's a reassignment camp, and the pillars Alice saw were smoke stacks. It's one of the incinerators."

  Silence hung in the room. Caleb knew what he meant, Aaron had told him about the Inner Circle sending babies that were born with defects there. Alice still didn't know what he was talking about and asked, "What are the incinerators?"

  Aaron remained silent, eating his dinner. Caleb turned toward Alice and said, "Actually, I think you're better off not knowing."

  Aaron nodded at Caleb. Then said, "If you really want to know, I'll tell you. But I promise you, you aren't going to like it."

  "I don't care. I really want to know," she said as she leaned forward, her curiosity growing.

  Aaron went on to tell her what they were used for. Alice's care-free, happy demeanor changed as she learned the horrible facts.

  "That's disgusting!" she cried, outraged, "How can anyone do that to other people?!"

  "The Inner Circle members are disgusting Alice." Aaron said. "That's why I told you not to look at that place. I didn't want you to know about these things. As long as you know that it's dangerous out there, that's good enough."

  Alice sat, thinking through what she had just learned, and slowly said, "I know dad."

  The three of them sat quietly. Alice hadn't been able to finish her dinner, still reeling from the information she had just gotten. After a while she stood up and said, "I think I'll turn in now. Good night guys."

  Caleb and Aaron both said good night and remained sitting in front of the fireplace. Caleb stared into the flickering coals as the fire died down. He didn't want to have to leave this place just yet. He wanted to stay a while longer with these people. Even though he had just met them, they felt like family to him. It made him feel as if he still had his father with him. He looked over at Aaron and said, "Aaron, I would really like to stay with you both a while longer ... if that's ok with you."

  Aaron looked from the fire, over to Caleb, smiled and said, "I was going to suggest the same thing."

  2.9 (Beyond)

  Inside the cabin sunlight flittered down through narrow cracks between the wooden panels of the roof above. A pair of bright green eyes shot open, momentarily staring up at the ceiling. It was some time in the afternoon, the sun was directly overhead. Patrick had slept in much later than normal. "I guess I must have been more tired than I thought," he said under his breath as he sat up from his sleeping bag and stretched his arms out in front of him. He let out a long, drawn out yawn, and stood up. Just as he had gotten to his feet, the door of the cabin burst open and Alice came running in, full of energy. She ran across the room and jumped into Patrick's arms.

  "Patrick!" she said in an excited voice.

  Patrick lifted her off the ground, swung her around in the air, and held her in his arms. "How's my big, little sister doing today?!" he asked as he lowered her onto the floor.

  Alice was only about five or six years old, while Patrick was somewhere in his late teens or early twenties. Aaron had entered the room shortly behind Alice. "Good morning, son. I see you slept in late today."

  "Yeah, I must have really needed to rest. I guess yesterday took a lot out of me."

  Aaron was carrying a large back pack and bucket which he set down just inside the doorway. "I see that. How late did you get back last night? I must have fallen asleep earlier than usual," he said, as he crossed the room to the fireplace and began throwing logs into the fire.

  "It must have been pretty late. It was dark for quite a while before I made it back here," Patrick said as he followed Aaron over to the fireplace and began handing him logs, one at a time.

  "Patrick, Patrick, look what I found!" Alice yelled excitedly from behind them.

  He looked back at her and smiled. "Oh, I see you got yourself some berries there, huh? Now you don't want to go eating all of them at once, you'll spoil your dinner."

  Alice giggled as she shoved a handful of the berries into her mouth.

  "Do you mind bringing the vegetables over to me Patrick?" Aaron asked as he pulled a stool up to the freshly kindled fire.

  "Sure thing," Patrick replied, as he crossed the room, grabbed a few of the plastic bags filled with vegetables and handed them to Aaron. Then he picked up a black kettle and filled it a quarter of the way with water from the bucket and brought it over to the fireplace. "Dad. I found something yesterday, that's why I didn't get back until late."

  Aaron went about latching the kettle onto the metal hooks hanging above the fire. "Yeah, what's that?" he asked with a grunt as he struggled to set the kettle in place.

  Patrick bent over and held the kettle still so Aaron could more easily latch the wire to the hook. "Thanks, Patrick."

  "You’re welcome," Patrick said, then stood back up and pulled over a stool to sit across from his father, "I was walking through the woods, about six or seven miles from here, following that old country road from the ridge overlooking it."

  "You didn't see any of them did you?" Aaron asked.

  Patrick shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I followed it further than I have before and it led out to a much larger road. There were cars scattered all over it. Chunks of concrete were missing from areas here and there,” He gestured with his arms as he spoke, "There were two sides to the road, separated by a long metal rail in the middle. Each side had rows of striped white lines running next to each other."

  Aaron sat forward in his stool. "Yeah, that's one of the highways people used to drive on ... before everything happened."

  Patrick continued, "Ok, yeah, so, I crossed over both sides of the road and into another forest. I walked for another mile or so and found a long brick building with square glass windows lining the front."

  "Were there any words on the building?"

  "No, just brick and glass was all I could see. I went up to a set of double doors with metal handles on them and pulled on one."

  Aaron listened intently, waiting for what his son was going to tell him.

  "I rattled on both of them, but they wouldn't budge. I turned around to try to find a branch or something to break the glass with." Patrick began to speak more enthusiastically. "By the time I found one, walked back to the double doors and got ready to take a swing, the door flung open and I had a gun pointed at my face!"

  Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but Patrick cut him off and continued his story. "The man with the gun didn't look like one of Guardians that I've seen a few times on the country road. He was different. He was wearing a green jacket with black and brown splotches on it. And his gun looked pretty old, kind of like your shotgun," he said, as he pointed at the gun that was hidden above the cabinets, out of Alice's reach.

  "Then what happened? What did he say to you?" Aaron asked eagerly.

  "After I saw him, I realized there were five more of them standing behind him, all with guns pointed at me. I panicked a little bit and threw my hands up over my head. I didn't say anything, just stood there frozen in place." Patrick leaned back in his stool again. "They asked me what I was doing there and I told them that I was just walking around."

  "See Patrick, that's why I told you to be more careful when you're out there exploring. It's not safe to be ..."

  Patrick nodded. "I know Dad, you've told me that plenty of times. But after I told them that I was just walking around they had me follow them inside the building. They led me down a dark hallway with a bunch of doorways on either side. The only light coming in was from the sun shining through the windows of each individual room."

  "Was there anything inside the rooms?" Aaron asked.

  "I di
dn't get a good look, really. I was kind of lost in the moment, just following the guy in front of me," Patrick went on, "Toward the end of the long hall we turned and went up some stairs. I heard a humming kind of sound coming from the top, and I could see some light. Not sunlight though, this was some kind of white light, kind of like what we had back at the house."

  "Wait. They had lights on in there? How were they able to get lights?"

  "They told me later on. That humming I heard was the sound of a generator that was powering electricity to certain parts of the building. But before they told me that, they hooked me up to a machine with wires and asked me a bunch of questions. I guess I did well because they unhooked me and one of them said, 'At ease'. The other guys lowered their guns after he said that."

  "Did the machine draw lines onto scrolling paper as they asked you questions?"

  "Yeah it did. How did you know that?" Patrick asked, somewhat surprised.

  "It's a lie detector machine. It monitors your body’s reaction to questions they have you answer."

  "It could tell if I was lying?"

  "Yes, it can."

  Patrick reflected on that moment briefly before laughing, "Well then I guess I passed it!"

  "Ok, so, go on, what did they say to you? Who are they?"

  "After I answered their questions, they took me to a row of computers. They kind of reminded me of the television we used to have at the house, except this one had rows of text on it. The man who was leading me around, who seemed to be in charge there, told me it was a coded message. He told me that was how he communicated with the other groups around the area." Patrick began to speak excitedly again. "Dad, they're a revolutionary group! They told me that they have been working on different ways of infiltrating the Sectors. Apparently one of the Sectors near here has a few of their guys inside working as 'Black Militia' he called them, the Guardians."

  Aaron sat, leaning back in his stool, stunned. He had no idea that there were any groups outside of the Sectors actively working against the Inner Circle. "Patrick ... I don't know what to say."

  "Well, Dad, I told them about you and they said that I could come get you guys and we could all go back there. We could join the Resistance."

  Aaron didn't respond. Instead he stared into the fire which was now blazing steadily. He turned and looked at Alice who was playing with a strap on the backpack that was lying on the floor, then back at Patrick. "We can't go there Patrick. Alice is too young, I don't want her getting involved in any of this." He looked back at her and continued softly, "You're old enough to know what's going on in the world right now. I don't want her to know. I want her to have a peaceful life here if I can make it happen." He looked back at Patrick. "I wish I didn't know the things that the Inner Circle is doing, I wish I could be innocent like she is. I need to keep her away from all of this for as long as I can. It's the best thing I can do for her, she's so carefree and happy now."

  Patrick looked down at the floor, disappointed with his father's reply. He looked back up, stared directly into his father’s eyes and said, "Dad, I'm going back."

  Aaron's heart sank. "What do you mean?" he asked.

  "Look, Dad, I understand if you and Alice can't go, but I hate what the Inner Circle's done and is doing. It's only getting worse. This is the only way I can help the people they've enslaved. They can use me to pose as a Guardian and do what I can for them inside one of the Sectors. I know you probably don't like hearing this, but please try to understand ... this is something I have to do."

  Alice must have overheard Patrick talking. She yelled out from across the room with tears welling up behind her eyes, "Patrick, you're leaving us?"

  Patrick stood up from his stool and walked across the room toward her. He picked her up off the floor and held her in his arms. "Not forever, Alice. I'll come back."

  Aaron remained seated, staring into the fire. He felt his heart wrenching out of his chest. What could he do? He had been able to keep both of his children alive and safe. If Patrick wanted to join the fight against the Inner Circle, then he had to let him go, no matter how much he didn't want him to. Patrick had walked back across the room with Alice in his arms. He sat down on the stool and put Alice on his lap. "Let's say we get dinner started, huh Dad?" he said.

  With that, Aaron took some of the vegetables out of the bag, placed them into the kettle and began cooking them. He got up, walked over to the cabinets and took out three bowls. Then he made his way back to his stool and sat down. After a little while he poured the vegetables into the three bowls and handed one to Alice, one to Patrick and kept one for himself. They sat silently, eating. When they had finished, Patrick put Alice to bed and walked back out to the stool in front of the fire next to his father. He sat back down, and both of them sat staring into the flickering embers that had nearly burnt out but still gave off a faint glow. "Dad," Patrick said, "I can't stay here any longer. Now that I know they're out there, I have to go."

  Aaron looked over at Patrick, smiled and said, "I know, son. You do what you think is right. I’ll fully support your decision and be proud of whatever you do."

  Both of them sat staring silently into the faint orange glow of the embers deep into the night.

  2.10 (Beyond)

  Caleb woke up from his spot on the floor inside the cabin. It was early. He looked over toward Aaron, who was still sleeping. He listened to the rhythmic breathing coming from the spot where Aaron was laying and from back inside the bedroom where Alice was asleep. It was hard for him to tell if the sun had risen yet so he quietly picked himself up off of the floor and headed to the door. As he slowly pulled it open, it seemed to squeal and creak as if it would leap off of its hinges at any moment. He grit his teeth and continued inching it toward him. As he slipped through the tiny opening he had made, he looked back at Aaron to make sure the sound hadn't awakened him. He stood silently in the narrow crack until he was satisfied with the silence. Once outside he slowly shut the door, which seemed to make much less noise as it closed. He walked around to the side of the cabin, looking through the dense forest for any sign of sunlight shooting its rays through. He couldn't see any light, but he knew the sun must be rising because there was a dim illumination over the small patch of sky that was visible from between the tree tops above the cabin. He walked over to the wood pile that was along the edge of the forest and sat on one of the stacks. In quiet contemplation, he pieced together what had transpired over the past several weeks. The escape from the grid, the small abandoned town, the stream, the forest, the cabin, Aaron, Alice. He spent quite a while remembering his father, the things he had taught him when they were together, how he saved him from the bondage inside the grid.

  There was one thought that kept haunting him, receding for a little while and then overtaking his mind. How desperately he wanted the people still inside the grids to be free. Caleb felt a growing sense of sadness for those who were still left inside. If they only knew that there could be more to their lives than being enslaved to the Inner Circle. After the short amount of time he had spent with Aaron and Alice, he realized how much happier the people would be if they were freed from their tyrant's grasp. The more he thought about this, the more he entertained the idea of the Resistance groups’ existence. Did Aaron really know where to find one? Would they still be there after this much time had passed? The sky above him was beginning to become a clear, bright blue, as the sun inched its way ever higher into the morning sky. His thinking was interrupted when from behind him he heard, "Caleb? Is everything alright?"

  It was Aaron, peeking his head out from inside of the cabin. "Yeah, good morning Aaron," Caleb said, smiling, "I woke up early, that's all. Just out here thinking."

  "Ah, I see," Aaron said, as he closed the door and began to walk over toward Caleb. "Do you mind if I ask what about?"

  "Nothing in particular. Just ..." he paused momentarily, then continued, "…about how much my life has changed since the grid. Thinking about the people still left inside."

>   Aaron put his hand on Caleb's shoulder. "I completely understand. I think about it often myself."

  "Really?" Caleb asked, somewhat surprised.

  "Of course. Did I tell you that when I was a part of the Inner Circle, a friend and I were trying to help them?"

  "No," Caleb answered, his attention completely focused on what Aaron had to say. "What did you do?"

  "We were never able to do anything," Aaron said, as he stood next to Caleb. He was staring into the forest, his mind was elsewhere, lost in the past, remembering what had happened. "What we tried to do was come up with a plan to start taking away some of the restrictions placed on them that gave the Inner Circle so much control. We thought that if we could gradually take some of that control away, it would lead to the people gaining more freedom. It would have taken a while, but we thought it might work."

  "So what ended up happening?"

  Aaron looked down at the ground and remained silent for a moment, saddened. "I believe my friend was killed. I was lucky. I was able to escape with my children. We've been here ever since."

  Caleb stood up from the logs, looked at Aaron and said, "I'm sorry about your friend."

  Aaron nodded. "Thanks. Anyway, I think it would be a good idea for you to go with Alice today. She can show you where her garden is and how to pick the vegetables."

  "Are you sure?" Caleb asked. "You don't need my help around here today?"

  "Nah. Don't worry about me, I can still get around. It might take me twice as long, but I'll get things done," he said smiling.

  "Alright," Caleb said with a chuckle, "I'll do whatever you guys need me to do."

  Both Aaron and Caleb returned back to the door of the cabin and stepped inside. It creaked shut and the rustling of one of the sleeping bags could be heard from inside the bedroom. Soon after, Alice emerged, stretching her hands over her head.