The Hunger Rebellion

by G F Cusack

  Glenn was the first among the soldiers on the outskirts of the crowd to put the butts of their rifles in their shoulders. He had already taken up his position at his chosen firing point and, like most of the snipers, he was on a raised area. The troops were far enough away that they weren’t observed in their actions but there was a sense in the air that the situation was about to change.

  The crowd was focused on the tables, which had boxes of gel packs stacked at the side. Individuals were handed packs as their bar codes were scanned and, because they were eating them straight away, it created a bottleneck, delaying the next in line from going over to the food.

  This was annoying for those waiting, but they accepted it as part of the process. The bottleneck also meant that it was some time before the crowd started to notice that the piles of boxes were not being replenished.

  Tom had been briefed that the people being fed last were usually the children and other weaker ones so had less energy to fight. Today, however, because of the shortage of gel supplies, some of those still in line were not so weak. The noise from the crowd was growing. People who had been standing there for hours, and hadn’t eaten since who knew when, were becoming more desperate. The usual pushing in the crowd was starting to escalate.

  He could see that the people at the front noticed that the troops had retreated to the screens and they were starting to point and shout at them. They had attended enough of these sessions to recognise that the troop movement was a sign that stocks were getting low. Today it actually meant that stocks had almost run out.

  With building unease, Tom saw people trying to grab the last gel packs before they were scanned. In an effort to prevent them, the civilian distributors at the tables were constantly using their clubs.

  This is how it began: not from a rifle shot but from six or seven people being clubbed to the ground. The prone bodies created a visible gap and allowed more people to see for the first time how little food was left.

  Tom became transfixed as he observed one of the crowd clubbed to the ground was still holding a gel pack and two others pounced on him to wrestle for the food. Very few gel packs remained in the boxes. Smit must have seen that things were about to devolve. Tom saw him lift his left arm, giving the prearranged signal for his troops to fire a volley

  Without any hesitation, Tom and the other troops with him simultaneously fired one round each into the air.

  From his high perch, Smit could hear the thirty rounds echo across the open space, but the noise of the crowd was growing louder and the sound of the bullets seemed to spark more panic.

  The large open space had the effect of dispersing the rifle shots. The sound of them echoed, making it hard for the crowd to work out where the bullets had come from. Although the plan was for these initial warning shots to disperse the crowd, they had the opposite effect.

  With no obvious source of the danger, the crowd was always going to head towards the food. Armed soldiers may have dissuaded rational people but these people were desperate for food, not as a casual snack but for their very survival.

  With a crowd this big and so few soldiers, control was always going to be a challenge. Tom watched as the civilians with the clubs succumbed first. They were closest to the last few gel packs and were quickly overwhelmed. Seeing them trampled and fearing for their own safety, Tom and his fellow troops opened fire. But the relatively few bullets had little effect on the rolling mass of bodies.

  Still looking through his rifle scope, Glenn had started shooting at the people in the crowd closest to Tom. He watched as the tables and distributors became encompassed by the mass of bodies. Next Tom and his unit ran out of bullets. They tried to use their rifle butts as clubs but it was futile for so few to try and hold back so many. They were standing in front of the screens that, in the minds of the crowd, hid more gel packs.

  Glenn and the other snipers were trying to cover their comrades but while Glenn was being selective in his targets, the others were firing to the edge of the crowd instead of the front of it, which was the threat to their comrades. The crowd’s anticipation of food beyond the screens increased their momentum.

  Despite his several years of experience as a soldier, seeing his younger brother in danger made it impossible for Glenn to stay detached. Tom had clearly run out of rounds as he was now using his rifle as a club. Very few of the troops around Tom were still firing their weapons and, as Glenn was fast running out of bullets too, he was becoming more anxious for their safety.

  He watched as the masses steadily overwhelmed the troops in front of the screens. Some of the troops had been disarmed and were being beaten with hands, fists and even their own empty weapons. Glenn was down to only three bullets and Tom was one of the last troops standing.

  A large group was approaching Tom. Glenn emptied the last of his magazine into them. “Tom,” he shouted as he watched him disappear into a mass of bodies. Then the screens fell down.

  This was when the hysteria really took hold.

  Behind the screens was nothing. The delivery trucks had left. There were no more gel packs, just an empty space. The discovery enraged the desperate horde. They had developed a bloodlust. As they swarmed over the tables that had held the remaining gel packs, they had become wild beasts. Anyone who had grabbed a gel pack was set upon by at least five others and not only lost the pack but also suffered injuries including bite marks on any exposed flesh.

  Glenn was still looking through his scope at the area that Tom had disappeared when suddenly one of the crowd stood up holding a human arm. The arm was covered in blood but it looked to be clad in the grey of the Company uniform.

  He wasn’t sure if the arm belonged to Tom or one of the other dead soldiers but either way he knew his brother was lost. Thinking of his kid brother, he felt a lump in his throat and the pit of his stomach started to feel hollow.

  Along with the stinging loss of his brother, he had other concerns. A group of well-trained soldiers had been no match for the number of unharmed masses they’d faced. After spending most of his military career feeling invincible, he was beginning to get a sense of his mortality.

  Then people in the crowd began to turn on each other, tearing off limbs to satiate a primal hunger. In a very short time, about a tenth of the crowd had been cannibalised.

  Glenn wasn’t the only one monitoring the situation. Smit realised that he could do nothing to save his fallen troops. His first priority was to save himself so he rallied his remaining troops to fortify his stronghold.

  “Hello Ariel command, this is Captain Smit at distribution point Alpha. We need gunships and we need them now, I say again we need gunships now,” Smit shouted into his radio.

  “Captain Smit, this is Ariel command. They are in the air and will be with you in fifteen minutes, over.”

  “Thank you, message received. Captain Smit out.” He was thankful that he had prepared for this support in advance.

  Within ten minutes the sound of rotors could be heard above as two gunships hovered and began firing randomly into the crowd. It was a pointless act as the rioting had slowed now the rioters had full bellies. Most of the people who remained were squatting on the ground, eating the less fortunate.

  The gunships became more tactical, spraying the centre of the crowd with machine gun fire in bursts designed to disperse it. Eventually the people began to move, some carrying the limbs of the fallen over their shoulders.

  Today was not the day to pursue them. Today was a day for Smit to prevent any further casualties on his side. He was not looking forward to reporting this event to Brand.

  25

  Pepper and Flo warn Frank

  10 September 2202

  When Frank’s right-hand woman approached, he was surprised to see her. Deb was supposed to be meeting the supply run from the Farm and supervising the unloading and security of the goods.

  “Is there a problem?” Frank asked.

  “I'm not sure. We’ve got unexpected visitors from the supply run,” she
said cryptically.

  “What kind of visitors?”

  “Florence the girl from the Farm, remember she went missing last year? She’s here with a man I don’t know. He’s called Pepper.”

  “What do they want?”

  “Pepper says they have an important message and they will only give it to you.”

  As always, Frank was suspicious of unexpected visitors. However, he was intrigued that the man was accompanied by Flo. After being missing for a year, here she was suddenly appearing on a supply run.

  “Where’s this Pepper now?” Frank asked.

  “He’s waiting outside with the girl. I thought that you might want to talk to them. They’ve been searched and relieved of their weapons so they should be harmless.”

  “Bring them in.” Frank cautiously pulled his pistol from its holster and placed it on his lap, under the table.

  In walked Flo with a tall, dark-skinned male. The man’s noticeable scars gave him a rugged look, telling a story of an interesting life lived.

  For his part, Pepper was surprised that this was the leader of the stronghold. He looked quite handsome, almost pretty – clean-shaven, with greased-back hair and Latin features.

  Frank sized up the new arrivals. Not being one for small talk, he began, “I understand that you have a message for me.”

  “It’s really the girl that’s got the message, I'm just the muscle,” Pepper said with a dry smile.

  “Okay,” Frank said, turning to Flo. “What’s this secret message you have for me?”

  Flo seemed subdued. She had wanted Eric to come with her too but the rebel guards had only allowed Pepper as her companion. They weren’t prepared to present another threat to their leader.

  Slowly and quietly Florence composed herself and said, “You are all in danger.”

  “I’m sorry,” Frank said. “You better have a stronger message than that. We are always in danger. It’s the nature of our lifestyle and career choice.”

  Clearly frustrated, she replied, “No, I mean you're in danger right now. The Company is preparing for a large assault on this compound and the surrounding area. It is going to attack with aircraft to obliterate this place. This is going to happen soon.”

  “Well, that’s a very interesting story,” Frank said. “Can you explain how you came across this snippet of information?”

  Flo looked at Pepper, prompting him to intervene. “This might sound crazy – to be honest, it sounded a little crazy to me when I first heard it. This young woman has certain skills or abilities.”

  Frank was losing patience. “What type of abilities are we talking about? Can she cook, can she fight? I have a lot of skilled fighters around here and the kitchen is well staffed.”

  “The best way for me to explain it, is that she has a mental connection with somebody else, between her mind and theirs and she can also read other people’s minds.”

  Frank was almost ready to kick them out of the room. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected but this messenger and this message were definitely not it.

  “I must admit, I hear strange things every day. I’m a busy man but I’ll indulge you for a short distraction.” Figuring she might have some kind of trick up her sleeve, he asked Flo, “What am I thinking of right now?”

  Flo quickly responded, “Right now you're thinking that you’ll play along with us so that you can make a fool out of me.”

  Frank was not convinced. “Well, that’s hardly news, is it? Someone turns up with a strange story that they can read minds. When they supposedly read my mind, they say that I don't believe them. That seems very convenient.”

  Flo hesitated before she spoke again. “What about Paris?”

  This gained Frank’s attention. “What did you say?”

  “Before we came into the room, I could hear your thoughts. From the other side of the door, I heard you thinking about your brother Paris, who was recently killed in a Company attack.” She paused. “Your brother Paris was the leader of the rebel compound further south. He and the rest of his people were killed in a Company attack there, a few weeks ago.”

  Frank looked hard at the girl, unsure if he was being played. He didn’t know how she knew this information but it was definitely a surprise. Although people knew he communicated with other rebel strongholds, few knew that his brother was the leader of a rebel base. He and his brother Paris had similar features but for their own security they never openly disclosed that they were related. They presented themselves as comrades and, like a lot of rebels, they worked well together. All messages between the two were coded so this girl’s knowledge of their relationship made him consider her words more carefully.

  “So you heard rumours of a Company attack. That doesn't really prove much,” Frank said.

  Flo thought for a moment and then spoke again. “I'm not sure but from the images in your head of where your brother was, I think we were there too.”

  Frank had only ever been down to visit his brother’s compound once. It was some distance away and he couldn’t leave his own compound unattended for too long. He had gone for a meeting with other leaders as it was central to several rebel strongholds, reducing the amount of time they would all have to travel.

  “What do you mean, you were there?” Frank asked. He was focused solely on Flo when Pepper spoke up.

  “Hold on,” Pepper said. “This base your brother controlled, was it near New Ohio?”

  Frank’s attention turned to Pepper. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because that is where I met this young girl. She was a captive of some members of the Murdoch Clan, who had taken her there to trade her. When the Company attacked, I was there to trade with the rebels. I met their leader and now I look at you, I can see some resemblance in your features.”

  This was all starting to sound a bit too convenient for Frank. “What other proof do you have? Apart from this young girl supposedly locking minds with someone, who is supposedly feeding her information?”

  Pepper answered, “To be honest I don’t really know much more but if what she says is true, you should probably listen if you want to live. I saw what they did to your brother’s place. As far as I know, we were the only two that escaped alive and that was only by pure luck. I assume that, if they are going to attack with aircraft, they will have spotters in the area. Have you come across more Company patrols than normal recently?”

  Frank thought for a moment. Only the other day, one of his patrols outside the base had caught someone lurking. Although he didn’t have the mark of a Company soldier, he had some strange electrical equipment with him. Frank’s people hadn’t figured out what the apparatus was but it seemed to transmit some kind of signal.

  Not wanting to add two and two together and get five, Frank decided he needed to investigate this matter further. If the warning was accurate, he didn’t have any time to waste.

  “It’s mid-afternoon now. Deb will take you to the mess hall and then I'll meet you in the tavern at seven o’clock – Deb will show you where that is too.”

  With that, Frank motioned for Deb to escort his visitors out of the room.

  Frank had things to do and people to talk to. First, he was going to interrogate the recent captive. The prisoner had been kept locked up for a couple of days now and Frank needed to find out more about the technology that he was carrying when he was captured. If it was linked to a potential attack, Frank needed to know today – or, preferably, yesterday.

  26

  The bar meeting

  10 September 2202

  Frank was waiting at the bar when Pepper arrived. After watching the stores getting unloaded from the Farm delivery, Pepper had spent over an hour walking around and inspecting the layout of the settlement.

  The fortifications here were pretty good although the place was a bit compact for his liking. Being compact would help against a ground attack but a few well-placed bombs from an aircraft could certainly do a lot of damage to this stronghold.

  Frank was sitting at
a table in the far corner. Planted on the table in front of him was a bottle of cloudy liquor with two glasses. Frank cradled a third glass, already half-empty.

  Flo had not come to the bar. She’d insisted on going somewhere quiet so that she could continue to communicate with Zap and Eric had stayed by her side. Pepper had been concerned that they were running out of time and had tasked her with gathering as much information as possible, as quickly as possible. She had grown to trust him, so was doing as he’d asked.

  Frank motioned for Pepper to sit down. “Would you like a glass?”

  “What’s in it?” Pepper enquired as he sat.

  “It’s brewed locally. Not the best-tasting drink in the world but it does what it needs to do. It sometimes makes life a little easier around here,” Frank replied, filling Pepper’s glass.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve had something decent to drink, so anything’s better than nothing. Have you had enough time to consider our information?” Pepper asked before taking a gulp from the glass.

  After taking a sip from his own glass, Frank said, “Yes, I have had a little chat with a recent captive. It took a while but he was eventually forthcoming with some information.”

  “It was nice of him to cooperate.”

  “I didn't give him much of a choice.”

  As the conversation went on, Pepper was taking the measure of Frank. Although he looked a bit of a pretty boy, Frank was well built and he must have a dark side if he could control a place like this.

  “So what did you learn?”

  “I learnt some more about the equipment that he had with him. It is designed to mark a target for an aerial bomb. My captive was not able to give all the technical details of the equipment. But the basics are that it marks a target, so that when an aircraft drops a bomb the equipment guides it to the target,” Frank explained. “He and some others have been sent to mark these buildings for an attack.”