The Wilderness

by C. J. Harper

  ‘They’d have to find us first. We’re spread out on purpose and a lot of the cells are in remote locations. We rarely all meet up and when we do the location changes.’

  In the computer room, Ven flicks switches in a manner that manages to convey his irritation and scepticism. He cuts in front of me and seats himself at the computer.

  ‘Do you know what my problem is?’ he asks Kay.

  Kay flashes me a look. ‘I know lots of your problems, which one do you want me to say?’

  Ven makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a cough.

  ‘You’re smarter than you sound, pixie girl. The specific problem I was referring to was how much I want this footage. I wanted it so much that I went off on that reckless trip with your boyfriend and now I’m wasting my time up here because you two think you’ve guessed a password.’

  I’m not going to answer him. We don’t have to keep defending ourselves to him.

  ‘One of your problems,’ Kay says, ‘is that you do talking when you should do doing.’

  Ven raises an eyebrow. ‘Well now that I’ve reminded myself what a charming pair you two are, it’s assisted me in sufficiently lowering my expectations that’s there’s a hope in hell of this working, so let’s give it a try.’

  I straighten my back. He’s never going to let us hear the end of it when it doesn’t work.

  ‘What’s the magic word?’ he asks.

  ‘Beautiful,’ Kay says.

  Ven’s lips twitch, but he holds back whatever it is he is thinking and lifts his hands to type.

  It can’t possibly be the password.

  Ven’s fingers move quickly.

  Kay folds her arms.

  The computer screen blinks.

  The Leader’s flushed face appears. ‘Children need discipline,’ he says, slapping his hands together.

  ‘I knew it!’ Kay says. She grabs my hand and I squeeze it.

  ‘You were right!’ I say. ‘Wasn’t she, Ven? We got you the password after all, didn’t we?’ But it’s stupid of me to expect gratitude. Ven isn’t listening; he’s studying The Leader’s performance with rigid concentration.

  We all watch The Leader’s ranting for several minutes.

  ‘Children must learn their duty and if we have to beat that into them . . .’

  Then the Leader’s aide shouts, ‘CUT!’ and the image cuts to static.

  Ven keeps staring at the screen. ‘I might just be able to do it,’ he says under his breath.

  I don’t ask him what he’s talking about because I’ve just remembered who it was that actually gave us the password. I can’t work out Janna at all. ‘I thought Janna didn’t care about beating The Leader,’ I say. ‘Why did she let us know the password?’

  ‘It’s a puzzler,’ Ven says. ‘I’d suggest that we sit around wasting time discussing it but a) I don’t care and b) I’m trying to avoid all activities that bring me within three metres of you.’

  He has got such a nerve. Kay shoots him a look of disgust. She takes my arm and turns me away from Ven. ‘Maybe she was wanting to help us.’

  ‘But she was with the guards.’

  ‘That’s why she said it in a they-won’t-know way.’

  ‘A secret way. But . . . she was with the guards. She seemed so cocky and glad that I’d been caught.’

  ‘Did she want to go with the guards?’

  ‘She looked pretty pleased with herself.’

  ‘Janna is good at looking pleased. And she’s good at doing the thing that helps her mostly.’

  Janna is certainly one for turning things to her advantage. I suppose I don’t really know exactly what the deal was with her and the guards. I was guessing that she offered them information, but there’s no reason for me to assume that she was going to tell them the truth. I should just be grateful that she gave us the password – whatever her motive was.

  Ven is thoroughly unpleasant, but there’s no denying he’s decisive. He springs up from his chair, grabs several kids from the corridor and starts snapping out messages for them to take to the team captains.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Kay asks.

  ‘We’re going to do it,’ Ven says. ‘We’re going to cause a revolt.’

  ‘Really?’ I say. ‘When?’

  ‘Soon.’

  When Tanisha was talking, I had assumed their plans were long-term. ‘How soon? Don’t you need time to prepare?’

  ‘We’ve been preparing our whole lives. It has to be now. I can’t wait.’

  Certainly speed does seem to be of the essence because within minutes we’re in a meeting room full of the captains and vice-captains of each working team. I’m surprised to see Toren here. I hadn’t realised that he was a captain. Ven doesn’t want Kay and me to be there, but I tell him that we want to help and I don’t know if it’s because he is grateful we got the footage for him, but he lets us stay. The room is buzzing. They can feel that something important is about to happen.

  Ven doesn’t even have to yell for quiet. He just stands really still in the centre of the room and the noise drops away.

  ‘When you were a little kid,’ Ven begins. ‘You used to hear talk about the Big Day. For as long as any of us can remember, the Resistance have been waiting for the right opportunity to start a revolt.’ He pauses and sweeps the room with his dark eyes. ‘Well, here it is. It’s time for action. Five days from now we will strike with the Birthday Plan.’

  There’s a stunned silence.

  Ven is unmoved. ‘I’m going to choose to interpret your mealy-mouthed muteness as a soaring internal joy and a steely, but silent, determination to do your best. Let’s get down to—’

  ‘Five days?’ Paulo asks.

  ‘Yes. Don’t worry, if you forget which day that is I’ll remind you by handing you a gun and asking you to shoot anything dressed in red into a bloody pulp.’

  ‘I’m not sure that we’re ready.’

  ‘We’ve been planning this for eighteen years. How much more ready do you want to get, Grandma?’

  ‘But we always said that we needed something, a trigger—’

  ‘And we’ve got it.’

  ‘It just seems so soon,’ Paulo says, almost to himself.

  ‘The Leader’s Birthday Plan?’ Tanisha butts in. ‘We’re doing The Leader’s Birthday Plan, yeah?’

  ‘That’s the one,’ Ven says with faux patience. ‘And yes, Paulo, it is soon, but The Leader’s birthday, being a birthday, only happens once a year – why do I even have to explain this? We strike in five days’ time.’

  ‘So it has to be now because of the birthday?’ Nard asks.

  ‘Because of the birthday and lots of things. Now shut up and listen.’

  I lean over to whisper in Kay’s ear. ‘That’s what’s great about the Resistance; it’s not at all like the other side of the fence where everybody has to do what one bossy, crazy man says.’

  If anyone has any further objections to make they keep them to themselves. Paulo adopts his harrowed expression and starts delegating tasks from Ven’s long list.

  Ven is on a communicator, talking rapidly to someone who I gather is the captain of one of the cells.

  ‘Where did he get that communicator from?’ I ask Tanisha.

  ‘We, you know, “borrow” them,’ she says.

  ‘Don’t you get in trouble for taking people’s communicator things?’ Kay asks.

  ‘Not these people. They’re dead.’ She grins. ‘Sometimes when someone dies they don’t cut the account off for months.’

  I’m trying to decide what I think about that when Ven shouts, ‘Where are the happy couple?’ He spots us. ‘If you’ve finished smooching . . .’ People turn round to stare at us. Kay and I shift guiltily apart, even though we weren’t touching before.

  ‘We need to make some adjustments,’ Ven says, striding over to me. ‘You claim your computer skills outshine the dim-wits I usually work with, so you can help with this.’

  ‘If I’m going to help, do you think you coul
d explain precisely what the plan is?’ I ask.

  ‘Am I not feeding you?’ Ven glowers at me. ‘I thought that maybe the provision of food and shelter might in some way place you in my debt.’

  Oh that’s rich. I saved his life. ‘I find it sad that you value the bowl of stew and the blanket that you’ve given me more highly than the continued life that I’ve given you by pulling you from that rubble.’

  He looks at me with mild surprise. I suck my lips in around my teeth. There’s no point getting into a sarcasm war with Ven. ‘Look,’ I say, ‘the more we know about what you’re doing, the better placed we are to help.’

  He gives a sigh like a growl and starts talking really fast. ‘The Leader always gives some rousing little speech on his birthday, yes? This year, when The Leader’s birthday message is supposed to go out on the Info, we’re going to replace it with our own message featuring some scenes of what’s really going on, including your shots of The Leader flipping out and some other pretty nasty images that we’ve captured on camera. We’re going to trigger a riot. Specials, factory workers, the general masses, all of them will take a stand against the Leadership. Got it?’

  The idea of everyone in the country rising up and revolting makes me catch my breath, but I’m not entirely convinced. ‘I’ve tried that broadcast thing, remember?’ I say. ‘They have a fifteen-minute delay on The Leader’s “live” appearances.’

  Kay nods in agreement.

  Ven lolls his head back in undisguised annoyance. ‘I know that, Blake. If I wanted to listen to someone who thought I was an unprepared idiot, I could talk to Paulo. Have you met Paulo? You two should form some sort of club for young men who sound like old women.’

  I can feel my temper fraying. ‘Are you always this obnoxious?’ I say.

  His impatient eyes slide off to watch what’s happening on the other side of the room. He can’t even be bothered to give me his full attention. ‘No,’ he says walking off to talk to someone else. ‘Sometimes I’m asleep.’

  It’s my turn to make growling noises.

  ‘We’ve got someone in the TV department of the Media Control Centre,’ Paulo says, getting up from his seat and coming over to me. ‘They can override the whole system and broadcast anything we want.’

  I think about this. ‘You’re only going to be able to do that once, aren’t you?’

  He nods. ‘They’ll know it’s him. He’ll be busted almost as soon as it happens.’

  ‘So we’ve got to make this count.’

  ‘Which is why I’d really like to take our time over this.’

  On the other side of the room Ven is stood over a frantically scribbling Nard shouting, ‘Faster! Faster!’

  Paulo shakes his head.

  When the meeting disbands, Kay leaves with Tanisha to talk about fight strategies and I go with a boy called Jarit, who is the Intelligence captain. I’ve got to help him edit together the footage from the Academy with various pieces of film that they already have. The idea is to create something very short, yet convincing. Something which lays bare how evil the Leadership really is.

  Jarit picks up everything I show him quickly, but he seems to be another one in the Ven fan club.

  ‘I know he’s prickly,’ Jarit says, ‘but you have to know that he has done great things for the Resistance. Before Ven was in charge we didn’t have such clear aims. He’s the one who made plans to remove the Leadership. Before that we used to gather bits and pieces of intelligence, but mostly we were working so hard to survive that we didn’t get much time for planning. Ven’s changed all that. He’s made us efficient.’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure the use of child labour does wonders for productivity.’

  Jarit gives me a long look. ‘You don’t understand our way of life. We don’t have decades to live. There’s no long, innocent childhood for us and there’s no gentle decline into old age. We work towards the cause. That’s the way it is. At least now Ven’s in charge we have enough to eat and we have time to rest.’

  ‘I saw enough of children being exploited on the other side of the fence. I hoped things would be different here.’

  ‘They are different. Everyone here chooses to work. At least now we can hope that it’s going to get us somewhere.’ He looks back to the computer. ‘Hope is almost as important as food,’ he says in a low voice. ‘And you can say what you like about Ven, but we don’t go without either any more.’

  Jarit and I don’t chat much after that.

  We work right into the night. When we’ve finished editing the incriminating footage, we move on to trying to access the Leadership’s celebration plans for The Leader’s birthday. The solar lantern has faded before we’re done, so we work in the black room with only the computer screen for light. Finally, Jarit suggests that we get some sleep.

  On my way along the corridor to bed I see Nard pinning something to one of the numerous noticeboards around the hospital. Even though I have to pass him, I keep my eyes fixed ahead of me.

  I stumble forwards.

  When I look round, I realise that Nard has tripped me up. He smirks into his shoulder. What the hell is his problem?

  ‘Jumped-up water-carrier,’ I mutter.

  He takes a step towards me. ‘Water-carrier? What the efwurd are you talking about?’

  ‘You fetch the water. You’re the head of Aqua, aren’t you?’

  He bursts out laughing. ‘Oh that’s good! I thought you were thick, but I had no idea you were this stupid. It’s not Aqua as in water, it’s Aqua as in Acquisitions. I get the things that the Resistance needs.’

  I look him up and down with what I hope is undisguised disgust. ‘You mean you’re a thief.’

  ‘I acquire things. And I’m good at it, too. Don’t look down your snotty nose at me. Where do you think your clothes came from? This place wouldn’t survive without me.’

  ‘I can only hope that we get the chance to see if that statement is true,’ I say. And then I turn away before he can have the last word.

  Kay is already in bed. She rolls over to smile at me when I climb in.

  ‘How was your day?’ I whisper.

  ‘Fighty.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘What was your day doing?’ She’s leant right up against me, her mouth almost touching my ear, so that she can keep her voice right down. Her breath tickles. I like it.

  ‘I was doing stuff on the computer all day.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I guess it’s nice that we’ve both been doing something we enjoy,’ I say. ‘Why have you been fighting today? Surely you should be saving that for the Big Day?’

  ‘We’ve just been trying some moves and talking about . . .’ she hesitates and I know a new word is coming. ‘Strategy.’

  ‘Strategy is good. I’d hate to think that this rebellion was just something Ven had quickly cobbled together.’

  ‘What’s cobbled together?’

  ‘Something that hasn’t been thought about properly.’

  ‘They’ve been . . . How do you say it? Planning it for a big long time.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean they’re ready.’

  ‘What did you do on your computer?’

  ‘We edited together our footage of The Leader with some recordings they’ve got of conditions in the factories and Academies. Then we hacked into some Leadership files so we could see what they’re planning for the celebrations.’

  ‘How can you be looking at what’s on the Leadership computers when you’re here in the hospital?’

  ‘It’s the way they store the information. All their records are stored in remote government data stores.’

  ‘What’s remote?’

  ‘It just means that you can get hold of that information from anywhere. If you know how.’

  ‘Do you know?’

  ‘A bit. We found a few things. Actually, most of the afternoon was taken up by a lengthy discussion about whether the Resistance symbol should feature in the film or not.’

  ‘Why would you not be p
utting the thing in it? It’s for the Resistance, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, but at the moment it’s sort of secret; now Ven says that the time for secrecy is over.’

  ‘So it is in?’

  ‘After several hours of discussion, it is.’

  I must sound deflated because Kay squeezes my hand. ‘The film thing is important like the fighting,’ she says.

  And she’s right. Words and images and symbols mean just as much as any punches you throw. I promise myself that I’ll stay positive tomorrow.

  The next morning I get to work straight away. In order to get into the central square where The Leader is delivering his birthday speech, Ven has got one of his contacts on the other side to persuade some people with tickets to part with them. I don’t know if they used money or threats or a combination, but they’ve already managed to get us three tickets. Ven wants me to see if we can forge some more. I slide the tickets out of an envelope. I can see straight away we’ve got no chance of reproducing them. They’re chipped and each one has the name, age and occupation of the holder printed on – it’s a typical security measure for Leadership paperwork.

  My mind shifts to my own plans for the Big Day. If I want to kill The Leader, my best bet is probably to get into the square, too. I’m going to need one of these tickets. I glance sideways at Jarit, who is hard at work on the computer next to me. I wonder if I should take it now or try to find out where they’re kept.

  I’m interrupted by Ven striding into the room. ‘Stop fiddling about with whatever you’re doing,’ he says, as if he didn’t know that I’m doing the job that he gave me. ‘Blake, I need you to find some information for me.’

  ‘Well, I didn’t think you’d brought tea and biscuits,’ I say.

  ‘Steady on, let’s not waste your limited capabilities on sarcasm; you’re going to need all three of your brain cells to hack into The Leader’s itinerary.’

  He takes the tickets out of my hands and replaces them with some details. I can’t think of a reply vicious enough so I just slap the papers down on the desk. Ven has already switched his attention to Jarit, who is grinning up at him.

  My anger towards Ven starts to smoulder. He’s still completely ungrateful for what I did for him at the factory and he can’t even acknowledge everything that I’m doing for him now. There’s no way the Intelligence team would be able to access half of the stuff he wants without my help. It was me who exploited the fact the Leadership’s authentication mechanisms are susceptible to a buffer over-run, me who used it to gain elevated privileges, and me who gained access to their system. Jarit would never have been able to do that.