Born and Raised

by R A Doty

  Chapter Three

  THE MAINLAND

  A rat scurried from under a log and raced through a carpet of dry leaves. It poked its head up at random intervals and sniffed the humus air. Another followed from ten feet behind and then another until a chain of scavengers formed. The forest’s floor came to life with shuffling leaves and the trail of rats ending at the decomposed body of a girl. She presumably was no more than ten when she died, her brown hair mostly stripped from her scalp to be used as nesting material for the scarce wildlife that remained on the mainland. Her flesh was nibbled to the bones and her interior organs stolen from their skeletal chamber. The remainder of her body wriggled with maggots while large brown flies buzzed through an invisible force field of stench. The rats pushed their way into the carcass to claim their share.

  A MAN CLOSED ONE EYE on his leathery face and aimed for two rats standing side by side. A slight breeze swayed his gray beard as he gripped an arrow and drew back his bow. When the moment felt right he released his grip.

  “Gotcha,” he yelled, as the rats screeched and writhed on the arrow’s shaft. Small victories always brought a slight smile to his face. What the hell else was there to get excited about anymore?

  He pulled back another arrow and repeated the process, this time impaling the skull of one rat that died instantly without making a sound. After thirty minutes, he walked over to the girl’s body and counted the rats with a smile on his face. Twenty arrows stuck into the ground surrounding the body, with at least one rat pinned to each arrow, some still writhing. And then he saw what was left of the girl’s face, and his smile faded. The reality of life came back to him.

  He removed the rats, careful not to break any of the arrows, and tied their tails to a rawhide string, which he looped around a twelve-inch Bowie knife attached to his belt. After taking the time to bury the girl’s body in a shallow grave, he headed for the distant aroma of burning wood.

  A THIN-FRAMED WOMAN leaned over a circle of rocks and placed a log onto the fire, her long, brown hair dangling just inches from the yellow flames. She closed her eyes as smoke surrounded her face. When she opened them, she noticed her daughter staring into the woods, a frightened expression covering the child’s face. She slowly turned to see what captured her daughter’s attention.

  “Samuel!” the woman yelled, eyeing the strange man walking toward them.

  The woman’s husband emerged from a cave with a rifle in his hand and ran up to his wife and daughter. His wife grabbed the child and stood behind him. “You can stop right there, mister,” Samuel yelled, raising the rifle.

  The man in the woods stopped and raised his hands in the air. “I mean you no harm, friend.” A cluster of rats hung from his belt. He tilted his head toward his waist. “I got a whiff of your fire and was hoping you and your family would share my feast. There’s plenty here for all of us if the misses would be so kind as to cook ‘em up.” A branch broke in the forest and the man turned around, his hands still in the air.

  A boy of nineteen walked forward with a twelve-gauge shotgun pointed at the man’s head. He was tall for his age and looked more like a man himself, with a boyish charm still evident on his face. “Want me to blow his head off, Dad?”

  “Not just yet,” Samuel said, walking closer toward the man. “Let’s hear him out, first.”

  “I’d be happy to speak my peace,” the man said, “but I’m not gonna lie; it’ll be difficult with two guns pointed at my head. Words might be hard to come by when all I can picture is a mouthful of lead. If one of you slip with the trigger it’d be damn near impossible to speak without a tongue.”

  Samuel stared at the man and then slowly lowered his rifle while nodding to his son. The boy lowered the shotgun.

  The man continued. “Now as I was saying, I got this here bountiful harvest, and I was hoping I might impose on you to cook them up on your fire. In return I’d be more than happy to share it with you and yours.”

  Samuel eyed the rats and then turned to his wife, who stared down at the frail girl standing beside her. She didn’t need to say a word to express to her husband how important it would be for their daughter to eat. Samuel turned back toward the man and extended his hand. “My name’s Samuel Thorpe, and we’d be thankful to you for sharing your food with us.”

  The man walked forward and gripped Samuel’s hand. “I’m Colton North, but I’d rather you call me, Cole.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cole.” Samuel pointed at the boy. “This is my son, Stevie,” he turned to his wife and child, “my wife, Elana, and daughter, Jessie.”

  Cole touched the tip of a wide-brimmed hat that was tilted slightly forward on his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. It’s been some time since I spoke to another human being. Damn cities are loaded with ‘em, but they’re not exactly the type you’d want to associate with, if you know what I mean.”

  “You’ve been to the city?” Elana asked.

  “Yes ma’am, I have. But I won’t likely go back.”

  Elana lowered her head, the fleeting hope for a normal life slipping away.

  “My wife’s been hoping that we can find a real place to live,” Samuel explained. “Something with a roof and a bed for the little one.”

  “I see,” said Cole. “Like I said, I’d stay clear of the cities, but I have seen such places near the coast.” He walked up to the small girl and reached into his pocket. Elana stepped in front of her daughter. “I mean her no harm, ma’am.” Cole pulled out a giant red strawberry. “Do you like strawberries, Jessie?”

  Jessie nuzzled up to her mother and wrapped her arms tight around her leg.

  “She’s never seen one before,” Elana said, caressing her daughter’s head. She looked down at the child. “It’s okay, honey.”

  Cole knelt on one knee and held out the fruit. “I’ve been saving this for a special occasion, but I can’t imagine a time would come more suitable than now. Here sweetie, this’ll calm your grumbellies until dinner’s ready.”

  Jessie hesitantly extended her arm, and Cole placed the strawberry in her hand. She smelled it first and then looked at her mother, who approved with a nod. Juice trickled into her palm when she took the first bite. Her eyes widened when the sweet juice hit her tongue. She took another bite, and then another. Her chin and hands became sticky with the nectar of the new food.

  “Thank you,” Elana said.

  Cole smiled with a nod. Nothing pleased him more than bringing happiness to a child in a world that forbids it. “I wish I had more to give her. I found that one in an abandoned garden. Birds got the rest of them, but that was hidden under a leaf.”

  “You said something about a place near the coast?” Elana said.

  Cole stood. “Yes ma’am, I did. If you head south there’s a place right near the beach. I considered staying there myself, but I’m not one for sitting idle in one spot for too long. I get kinda jittery.”

  Elana faced her husband. “Can we try to find it, Samuel?”

  “Well, hell,” Cole said. “You don’t have to try to find it. I’ll take you right to it if you’d like. It’s the least I could do considering you’re sharing your fire with me.”

  Elana waited for her husband’s response. The thought of her family sleeping in a house again seemed like a distant dream that would never materialize.

  Samuel wasn’t used to people offering anything without expecting something in return. There’s always a catch and he wondered what it was. “Why would you do that when it would take you right back in the direction you just came?”

  “Because it’s making a difference,” Cole said. “You don’t see that anymore nowadays. You seem like nice people, and that’s just what the world needs if we’re all to survive. Comes a time when you’ve got to put your faith in something again, my friend. So what do you say? You want me to take you?”

  Stevie stepped forward. “How do we know it’s not a trap and when we get there a bunch of your friends will be waiting for us?”


  Cole smiled.

  “What’s so funny?” Stevie asked, raising his gun slightly.

  “I’m sorry, son. I meant no disrespect, but the thought of me having a bunch of friends seemed somewhat humorous. I never was one for socializing before the world went to shit, so I doubt very much if I’m about to start now.” Cole turned to Elana. “Excuse my language, ma’am.”

  “Can we go, Samuel?” Elana said. “Even if it is a set-up we really don’t have much to lose as far as I’m concerned. What kind of a life do we have here? We’re living in a cave and sleeping on the ground. I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this, let alone Jessie.”

  Samuel looked down at his daughter, who was greedily sucking the stem of the strawberry, and then at his wife. He saw a side of Elana he’d never seen before. She never once complained and always made the best of what they had. Her will to survive was sometimes all he had to fall back on. He could see in her eyes that that will was nearly broken. He was a proud man, but he realized that if they were to survive it would take more than pride. Like it or not, they would have to take a chance now and then.

  He nodded to his wife. “Why don’t we get some food in our stomachs, and then we’ll decide what to bring with us.”

  Elana pulled her daughter close and kissed the top of her head.

  TWENTY-ONE HEADLESS rats hung from a wire stretched between two sticks. All of the hair was skinned from their bodies and their intestines removed. Small sticks wedged open the slit on their undersides as the flames of the fire tapped their dark red carcasses. They would be the only meat the Thorpes had eaten in the past month. Grubs, worms, and other sources of protein, mainly in the form of insects, had dominated as the primary ingredient in their meals. Saliva blanketed their tongues as they sat around the fire, anticipating the taste of meat. Elana placed another small log on the fire under the rats, being careful not to stir up the embers.

  “You folks been living here long?” Cole said, sitting on the opposite side of the fire from the Thorpes.

  “Long enough to wipe-out what little wildlife was left in this area,” Samuel replied.

  “Where are you from?” Elana asked.

  “Oh, no place in particular, ma’am. I’m originally from the south, but many others and myself had no choice but to move north in search of food.”

  “Don’t you have any family?” Elana realized the bluntness of her question. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”

  Cole reached down, grabbed a stick, and poked at the fire. “No, that’s fine, ma’am. I once had a wife, but when the grid went down ten years ago it was too much for her to take in. And then when the world’s remaining governments fell and the riots broke out, she just couldn’t handle it anymore. She wouldn’t eat what food was available at the time, so she grew weaker as the months passed. I begged her to eat something, but she eventually got to the point where she threw-up everything. She died within a year. I lost my daughter to pneumonia soon after.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Elana said. “You poor man.”

  “Some folks just aren’t meant to live like this, ma’am. It takes a real drive to survive when everything you’ve grown accustomed to all your life has been taken away.” Cole raised his head and stared at Elana. “One of my greatest pleasures is to encounter families such as yours that are hanging on in hopes of a better future. You people have what it takes to rebuild society back to what we once had.”

  “Thank you,” Elana said. “It is hard at times, but we know if we stick together we’ll be fine.”

  “It seems like you’ve traveled around quite a bit,” Samuel said. “What’s it like in other places? Are there many survivors?”

  Cole threw the stick into the fire and rubbed his hands together. “Well, Samuel, I can tell you this. I have traveled some, mainly in North America, but some parts of South America as well, and believe it or not it’s gotten a lot better than when the shit first hit the fan.” He smiled at Elana. “Again, please excuse my language.”

  Elana returned the smile, but it faded slowly. She thought for a second, and she couldn’t remember the last time she smiled. It was as if the reality of life had just been brought to her attention. Cole’s deep voice brought her back to the conversation.

  “As I said earlier, it isn’t safe in the cities, but was it ever? Even before the famine the cities were the worst place to be if you ask me. It just isn’t natural to cram that many living things into a limited amount of space and expect them to live together in harmony.” Cole directed his attention to Samuel. “How old are you Samuel, about mid-forties I’m guessing?”

  “I stopped counting years ago but somewhere around there.”

  “You must have had some pets when you were a kid, right? Back before every living thing was thought of as food.”

  “I grew up on a farm, so I had pretty much every pet imaginable.”

  “Well I had two pet rats when I was a boy. The interesting thing about rats is the fact that they multiply faster than rabbits. I started out with two, but before long I had more than I knew what to do with. They just kept multiplying; overnight it seemed. But the cage I kept them in didn’t get any bigger. I always changed their bedding and gave them plenty of food and water, but they started to act strange after a while, in a violent way. They’d bite me when I reached in to feed them and then one morning when I woke up half of them were dead. Torn apart. The dead and the living were covered in blood. I guess they just ran out of room. That’s what the cities are like if you ask me. Rats in a cage.”

  “What about the other areas?” Elana asked.

  “Fortunately, they’re nowhere near as bad. Most of the smaller towns and villages have even established some form of a government again. They remind me of a time my great grandfather used to tell me about. A time long before he was born, when we had no electricity or computerized robots or transportation that got you from point A to point B without ever touching a steering wheel along the way. A time when a man had to work with his hands to survive and didn’t depend on technology to do his thinking for him. The people in most of the towns I’ve encountered heat their homes with wood they’ve chopped and split themselves and they grow their own food in communal gardens. I can’t speak for the rest of the world, ma’am, but from what I’ve seen the population seems to be diminishing, which, I guess, is a good thing. In the grand scheme of things, you have to admit; Mother Nature has a way of balancing things out eventually.”

  Cole leaned forward and plucked one of the rats from the wire by piercing it with a pointed stick; its body steamed as he twirled it in front of his face. “I do believe they’re done.”

  Each of the Thorpes grabbed a stick they had previously sharpened and poked it through a chosen rat. As they each, in turn, yanked the tiny mammals from the wire, the remaining rats bounced up and down over the flames. They blew on the charred carcasses until they were cool enough to eat, and then greedily ripped the flesh from the bones. When every bit of meat was removed from the skeleton, they poked another rat and repeated the process.

  Chapter Four

  CONCRETE FLOORS AND chain-link fencing separated the kennels from the rest of Ancada. Each group of ten nutrimen shared a common yard, but in the evening when the lights went out they were locked in separate pens to deter random, uncontrolled breeding. After being released from their pens in the morning, most of the nutrimen eagerly waited to be fed.

  April sat cross-legged on the concrete, just inside the fence, staring at the dandelion she tried to reach the day before. She wondered why the yellow had disappeared, leaving behind a pod of green. A warm breeze caressed her face and thousands of tiny white objects glistened in the air, some passing through the links of the fence and landing on her opened palm. She pinched one between her fingers and brought it close to her face, and then noticed the fluffy white balls at the end of green stems, scattered throughout the grass. She smiled, making the connection.

  The other nutrimen sat in their pens, staring at t
he feed door. They instinctively new when feeding would occur each time, as did April, but she rarely awaited the moment as the others did. Most drew closer to the door when they heard the cart rolling down the hall, while others sat patiently, waiting for the tray to appear. When the plate of dehydrated kelp, seaweed biscuits, and a generous portion of fish appeared through the door, they all quickly grabbed it and huddled to the corner—a ritual that occurred twice daily. Their portions were calculated exactly to ensure the maximum yield possible. Too much food made their meat too fatty, and not enough made it muscular and lean.

  April heard her feed door open and the plate sliding into her pen. She glanced back, as if disturbed, and then continued studying the grass outside the fence. When the main door to the yard opened, she jumped to her feet and raced toward Calla.

  “Hi April,” Calla said, closing the door behind her. She grabbed a small shovel and broom from a utility closet and began to walk around the yard searching for excrement, with April following close behind. Most of the nutrimen were trained to use the sanitary facility, but a few of the younger ones hadn’t got into the habit yet. “Is the sun too warm for you today?” Calla asked.

  April said nothing, but she did recognize the words sun and warm, and of course, the name that Calla had given her.

  “If it gets too hot go into your pen where it’s cooler,” Calla continued.

  Cooler, April thought.

  A hollow concrete cube, standing chest high, was placed in the yard to entertain the nutrimen. Sometimes minor battles took place to claim the cube, although fighting of any kind was strictly forbidden and quickly extinguished, but mostly it was used as a place to nap in the sun. It was too heavy to move, so there were no worries about sliding it up to the fence as a means to escape. After Calla completed her task, she grabbed a high-pressure hose from the wall and sprayed the entire floor, diverting the water to the grass outside the fence. April held out her hand, rapidly opening and closing her fingers.