by G F Cusack
The history they had been taught was that the elite had saved the planet. The three companies that had started the Water Wars were radicals fuelled by socialist ideals. It was only the foresight of the elites that had managed to stop the total obliteration of the human race.
The stories of how the elites had saved the planet were vague but Zap accepted that anyone saving humankind deserved some respect. What he didn’t agree with was that all elites had a birth right to maintain their status until the end of time.
Zap didn’t know who his real father was but he must have been somebody powerful for his stepfather to take charge of him. His stepfather had been fair and never cruel to him. Whenever he asked about his real father, his stepfather had said that he had been a soldier who’d died fighting for the Sanctuary.
As a child, Zap had accepted this story but, as he got older and gained access to more information, his belief had weakened. After all, in the hierarchy of this society, even those in the officer class were never accepted into the ranks of the elites. Given his stepfather was a law official who lived on the fringes of the elites, he would never choose to endanger his own status by bringing up the child of a member of a lower class.
When the next name was called – “Byron 623” – a man walked forward to the waiting trucks. Two small, crying children were holding his hands tightly, trying to hold him back but to no avail. He turned, kissed them slowly on their foreheads and pulled away to walk through the line of Company soldiers. The barrier closed behind him and the children were left standing there alone.
No one came to collect the children. As more and more sacrifices advanced towards processing, the two small figures disappeared into the crowd.
Zap thought it a smart idea for the Company to follow the ceremonies with a fighting event. The atmosphere inside the stadium and the fights to the death tended to take over most people. Yet the blood lust didn’t work for everyone. Children who had lost their parents were particularly scarred.
The ceremony continued until the last name was called and the woman chosen slowly walked towards the trucks.
The Company had tried to make the ceremonies an enjoyable spectacle but it was a solemn occasion for many. Even those in the crowd who were not losing somebody this time were well aware that next list could include a family member – or themselves.
One feeling that tended to overcome grief was hunger, a link the Company capitalised on.
As soon as the gates opened, the crowd surged into the stadium. A limited supply of gel packs was available inside. If you were lucky enough to be at the front of the queue, you received one of these free gel packs.
The pack didn’t come as part of your normal gel rations – instead of having to scan your barcode, you were just handed one as you walk in. With the recent shortages of gel packs, some might have been surprised that the Company continued to give the free ones away at the stadium.
Although Zap was suspicious, hungry people tended not to question free food. There were rumours that at the next ceremony, the big ceremony that preceded the festival, the age limit was going to be dropped to forty-three. This was just a rumour but there were lots of murmurs of discontent around the Sanctuary, especially in the capital.
Not everyone could travel with their family to the capital for the ceremony: the Company provided free trains only for the chosen. Perhaps the Company bureaucrats saw the provision of free transport as merciful but, for people who would never see their loved ones again, the farewells at the train stations were filled with emotion.
Zap wondered if the time would ever come when they would not need the gel plants, when people could live longer and survive just from the planet’s resources.
He understood the stories that the Water Wars had decimated resources but his data analysis indicated not all of the stories made sense. The story that the qualifying age for liquidation might have to keep being reduced because the planet had been even more damaged than they were taught in history felt like pure propaganda.
A group of Company soldiers called the eco-warriors were supposedly working tirelessly to protect the planet. Their existence put more pressure on the average person to sacrifice for the planet too.
Zap thought it strange that the eco-warriors expected the sacrifice from the masses, but not from the elites. Officially the elites were always sacrificing themselves for the good of the people but that didn’t seem true to him.
For today he would soon be distracted from such questions. The elite seating was revolving so that, whereas they had previously looked out onto the ceremony, the elite now were viewing the arena. This was a prime viewing position for the fights that were about to begin.
18
Kath’s request to Pepper
03 September 2202
Pepper had been at the Farm for three days now.
The routine was the same each day. His door was unlocked and he was escorted down for breakfast. He was not allowed away from the main building and he had not had his weapons returned.
The Farm inhabitants were amiable enough to him and it helped that Flo was now up and walking. She had corroborated his story, which had earned him a certain amount of trust.
Over the last few days he’d had many conversations with Kath, informing her about the state of the country further south. They had also discussed the attacks by the Company forces.
He’d told her how he came across Flo in the rebel compound during the assault by the Company forces. Kath explained that this Farm was supplied by rebel guards. Although it was run (if not owned) by her and her husband Mitch, it was seen more as a coalition. The Farm provided valuable resources for the rebels and, in exchange, the resistance kept them safe. It worked in a time when food was life.
This Farm was clearly an important resource, which is why rebel guards – more than thirty by Pepper’s reckoning – were stationed there. Some farm workers also carried weapons, but they lacked the bearing of the rebel fighters.
Kath had been keen to know about Flo’s journey north. Pepper was nonchalant about the attacks he fought off on the journey but Flo’s recollections were that she owed him her life. Even though a reward was supposed to be the reason for his help, Kath had heard from Flo that she had felt his empathy towards her.
Most of the people at the Farm remained wary of Pepper, yet they seemed to be staring less and less by the day. As time went on, they were viewing him as less of a threat even if not enough to see him as one of them.
The one exception was that, whenever he was around Eric, he could feel the hate coming through the young man’s eyes. Even when Pepper was facing away from him, he could feel Eric’s eyes burning into his back.
A bit of mistrust was understandable but he’d done nothing to this boy. Seeing how Eric reacted to the return of Flo, you would think he would’ve been suitably grateful for her return.
Eric’s issue with Pepper had been there for all to see, ever since the night Pepper arrived, ever since he had taken his shirt off. On the third of his daily talks with Kath, he decided to broach the subject.
“So what’s the boy Eric’s story?” Pepper asked. “Why do I get the feeling he would like to plunge a knife between my shoulder blades?”
“Eric has been here for several years,” Kath began, apparently deciding that Pepper was owed some kind of explanation. “About seven years ago we discovered a young boy in one of the barns. The few clothes he was wearing were nothing but rags, he didn’t talk and he was more like a feral animal than a person.”
When Kath paused, Pepper held his silence, waiting for her to continue.
“Initially he stayed in the barn. Although we left him provisions, including food and water, he didn’t even try to wear the clothes but snuggled in the blankets like a dog in its bed. Around that time, Florence started to pay attention to him and ended up adopting him as a pet project. There wasn’t much for a young girl to do on a farm like this and, besides her chores, she had a natural way with sick animals.”
“So she is like his master and he’s her pet?” Pepper perked up.
“No, it has become much more than that. After many months of patience, she managed to coax him out of the barn and helped him communicate, eventually teaching him to read and write. Although he talks more now, back then he only talked to Florence and the bond between them is closer than brother and sister.”
“Did you ever find out where he came from or how he ended up alone and feral?”
“Florence called him Eric because he couldn’t remember his real name. It took a long time but eventually she got him to open up to her. It turned out that his parents had been miners and he’d been in the mine with them on the day it collapsed, which left him in the dark alone. At the time he was only seven or eight years old – it’s hard to tell exactly as his memory is still fuzzy on some things.”
Kath took a sip from a glass of water and before continuing. “His parents had been killed in the rock fall and, because life was cheap, the Company hadn’t even tried to rescue them. It was cheaper for the Company to just sink a new shaft nearby and leave any survivors to rot.”
She took a bigger gulp of water. Even though she knew this story by heart, it still made her sick thinking of the cruelty of the Company. “Eric is a survivor and managed to dig himself out of the rubble on his own. Who knows how long it took him to tunnel out by hand – days, weeks, maybe even months? He survived by eating rats and whatever other creatures he managed to scavenge. You may not have noticed, but his hands are badly scarred from their use as human shovels. He wears dark glasses during the day because his eyes have adapted to the dark, like some kind of nocturnal animal. The scars on his forehead are from his fights with animals in the mine. It’s hard to imagine what a child of that age went through, and what primal survival urges he would have needed to drive him to escape the tomb he found himself in. Whatever he endured, somehow he managed to escape.”
“That doesn’t explain why he hates me,” Pepper said, a little more subdued this time.
“One thing that is burnt into his memory is the Company troops who abandoned him and his parents. Apparently in the heat of the mines they used to strip to the waist, even though they weren’t workers. The Company brand on their shoulders is ingrained in Eric’s mind too. Whenever he sees a triangle brand, it is like fire touching dry tinder, the rage just erupts in him. Seeing your brand did just this.”
“How often does this happen?”
“We have tried to keep Eric on the Farm as much as possible but he’s a strong young man and is sometimes needed on supply runs. On a couple of supply runs, he’s been involved in skirmishes with the Company forces. From what his companions have said, these incidents have not ended well. He has spiralled into a rage and in his ferocity has killed several soldiers. Keeping him here is for the safety of others but also to avoid retaliation from the Company.
“When Florence initially disappeared, he wanted to go looking for her. Knowing the way he might behave and the chance that he would lose control, we decided to keep him here.”
“How did he react to the enforced confinement? He doesn’t seem the kind to listen.”
“He was not happy with my decision and for a time I felt some of his anger directed at me. Since you’ve arrived, you seem to have become the sole focus of that attention,” Kath said with a wry smile.
“Great, so I’ve got a young psycho who hates me for being part of the Company, which has actually been hunting me for most of my adult life?” Pepper said indignantly. “Well, the young girl is healthy and safe, so I think it’s time to discuss my reward. The reward I was promised.”
Kath, who had been expecting this conversation for some time, was actually surprised it had taken so long. “What kind of reward are you expecting?”
“I was offered as much as I could carry and although it’s very nice to have crops to eat, I need things that I can trade – weapons, tools and medicines if you've got them.”
“We can supply you with some medicines that we make from the plants we grow here. We trade them for other resources and they are highly sought after. We have limited weaponry to spare. However, we trade regularly with the rebel compound and they have a lot more resources. If you are willing to go on our next supply run, I can promise you enough weapons and tools to fill that pack of yours.”
Pepper felt that he was being played. “Excuse me, the bargain was that I get the girl here and I get my reward. I have kept up my end of the deal. Now you need me to go somewhere else to get the reward? This is not what I agreed to!”
“Perhaps the bargain you struck with a young girl wasn’t as precise as it should have been? I am willing to provide the reward you require. All I am asking is that you go on the supply run to collect them. The next supply run is in a week’s time and, if you are willing to go, I would ask that you take Florence with you.”
“Why would I take the girl with me when she’s just arrived? I thought you wanted to protect her?”
“She has some important information and I need her to give it to the rebel leader in person. In the interim, you have the freedom of the Farm. I will have your pack and weapons returned too. If you choose to leave without all of your reward, you can be on your way. If you want the tools and weapons, you will have to go on the supply run. We will continue to feed you and provide you a room while you’re here for the next week. I will check on your decision in three days’ time.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about it again in three days,” Pepper agreed.
He wasn’t happy with this arrangement but at least he could now get his weapons back. He’d felt naked without a weapon. Even though most of these people seem friendly enough, you never knew. He had not survived this long through blind trust.
19
The night patrol
05 September 2202
The wedding was a typical one for any of the poorer class in the Sanctuary. As most of the guests had jobs servicing the elite, the wedding was scheduled for later in the day.
Food wasn’t abundant but one of the groomsmen was related to the butcher, who had done them a good deal on some grade B meat. The farm workers among the wedding guests had also managed to collect some meagre food rations. Some of this food had even been turned into a local alcoholic hooch.
It was almost nine thirty and, with the ten o’clock curfew approaching, most of the guests had already gone home. As the few people remaining had drunk a little too much of the hooch, the groom’s family suggested that they spend the night. Although there wasn’t much room, they had the option of sleeping on the floor.
Simon, a friend of the groom, had a counter-offer: they could sleep at his place. Simon and his parents lived in a larger house than most and it was only twenty minutes’ walk away. He was loudly confident that they’d reach it well before curfew. They could travel between most houses in this area within twenty minutes.
The threat of the night patrols was serious but they were safe until the curfew claxon sounded. People could achieve a lot in twenty minutes – and that could be the difference between life and death at this time of night.
Simon decided to chance it. He and six other young men left the house at nine thirty. Even if they didn’t complete the journey in the next twenty minutes, they had a ten-minute buffer. Simon doubted that the patrols waited for the curfew ready to pounce – surely they had some safety margin? Perhaps the drink was clouding his judgement.
Carl was the leader of the patrol this evening. They had been out since eight thirty, driving round and preparing for action. Although curfew wasn’t officially until ten o’clock, he liked to patrol in advance and look for potential captives early on so that they could move in as soon as the curfew claxon sounded.
The initial purpose of the patrols was to provide security in the Sanctuary but, as the elite had their own security, the role of the patrols soon became to find victims to supplement the gel plants. They only patrolled the poor areas and some patrols had been known to turn a blind eye for a p
rice.
Previously, if they came across any black market activities, they had usually impounded the goods and let the criminals go. But now, with their increased quotas for the plants, they might still impound the goods but take the criminals to the gel plants instead of accepting a bribe.
Anyone caught out after ten was immediately transported to the gel plants. Some of his previous captives had pleaded that they worked for a member of the elite but that wasn’t Carl’s concern. He had quotas to reach and Carl always met his quotas. There was no reprieve for anyone supposedly protected by the elite. By morning they would be gel packs, beyond rescue.
Earlier that day, Carl had heard rumours of a wedding in this quarter, which gave him a good place to start. Carl’s troops had instructions to keep their eyes peeled any time after nine. This close to ten, not everyone made it home.
Carl had four vehicles under his command that night. They were spread out around the sector looking for anybody on the streets. At nine thirty, a message came over the radio. “Hello Bravo one, this is Bravo Two, over.”
Carl keyed the mike. “Bravo one, send, over.”
“I am observing a group of seven young males. I am on the corner of Stanton Street and Mill Road. They are staggering down the road, over.”
“We are five minutes away from your location. Do not let them get inside,” Carl shouted into the handset.
“Message understood.”
“Put your foot down,” Carl snapped at the driver, who immediately sped up.
Within a few minutes, they turned the corner to see a group of young men hobbling and staggering towards the vehicle. “Bravo two, this is Bravo one. Cut them off at the rear. We have them at the front, over.”