by Anne Rasico
“We knew you’d wake up one day. I told Trent not to give up on you,” Sarah added. Desiree and Sarah had liked her ever since she and Trent dated in high school. It had been years since she had seen them, and she almost did not recognize the two tall, beautiful brunettes. She couldn’t have been happier to see all of them. Brooklyn didn’t want to think about microchips or government bills. For the moment it was just good to be home, whatever home was now.
“Do you want a beer?” Zane asked.
“Sure, I haven’t had a drink in two years,” Brooklyn replied and everyone laughed.
There was cake and a huge chicken dinner with corn on the cob and mashed potatoes.
“I didn’t want to go overboard, but this really is a big deal,” Zane said, knowing how Brooklyn didn’t like being the center of attention.
“This is perfect, Zane,” Brooklyn smiled.
“So, what’s it like being in a coma? Do you dream?” Desiree asked when they were all seated at the dinner table.
“She probably doesn’t want to talk about that, stupid,” Sarah snapped.
“It’s ok. I don’t remember dreaming. I don’t remember anything. It’s like I wasn’t alive at all,” Brooklyn said.
“Well, what’s important is that you’re here now,” Trent said.
“That’s right. The group wasn’t the same without you,” Caleb added, sinking his teeth into his corn on the cob.
“On that note, I’d like to propose a toast. To good friends,” Zane said holding up his glass.
“To good friends,” everyone echoed as they raised their glasses.
It was a great party right up until Desiree and Sarah went home for the night. Brooklyn waved goodbye as they walked out the door. She was slumped in an armchair in the living room drinking the last of the beer. Trent had gone to bed after dinner. Two days of constant driving without sleep had finally gotten to him.
“So how do you make all of this happen?” Brooklyn asked, gesturing around the room. “What do you mean?” Zane said.
“How are you able to have water and electricity?” she asked. She had had quite a few beers.
“We have a generator for the power, a well and a lake for the water, and a satellite for the Internet,” Zane explained.
“How did you get beer though?” Brooklyn wanted to know.
“Desiree and Sarah aren’t eighteen yet. They help us get things, like gas for the truck and cell phone minutes. They probably stole the beer. They have minor ID cards instead of chips. Minors don’t have to be implanted unless they commit a crime. It was believed that it may cause developmental disorders. When they turn eighteen, they will probably come live with us. We need more help around the farm anyways,” Zane replied, gathering the trash left over from the party and throwing it into a trash bag.
Zane was so intelligent that he had a hard time fitting in with people. His computer skills were by far the best out of the four friends, and he was also one of the best computer hackers Brooklyn and Trent had ever known. Brooklyn had always suspected he was the type of kid that had spent most of his time on his computer when all of the other kids were outside playing.
“I think I’ll go to bed now,” Brooklyn decided, rising from her chair.
“You can sleep in Ben and Brian’s room for now. I put some extra blankets in there for you,” Caleb said, coming down the stairs. He helped Brooklyn up the stairs and led her to a bedroom with two twin beds.
“Sleep tight,” Caleb said.
“Thanks,” Brooklyn said.
Caleb was like Zane in a lot of ways. The two most likely made such good friends because they were both so socially awkward. Caleb wasn’t nearly as obnoxious as Zane, though. He was shy, quiet, and liked to keep to himself most of the time. Brooklyn suspected he was that way because he was bullied in school for his obsession with computers and lanky physique and that he pursued a career in computer technology as a kind of revenge.
Caleb secretly fantasized about being an all powerful technological genius, who could control his enemies with the click of a button. He wanted to become a leader in the industry, and make everyone who ever laughed at him regret it. After all, no one is laughing at Bill Gates.
As she settled into bed, Brooklyn couldn’t believe not only that the world could change so much in such a short amount of time, but that everyone she knew had seemed to adapt to it so well and live their lives as if it were all completely normal. She was very impressed with them all.
Brooklyn awoke early the next morning before the sun had risen. It was all a dream! she thought. She breathed a huge sigh of relief. She couldn’t wait to call Trent and tell him about the crazy dream she’d had of microchips and living on a farm. Her joy turned to disappointment when she turned on the lamp beside her bed and saw the blue and yellow wallpaper of her new room in the farmhouse.
She walked down the stairs and sat on the porch swing in the foyer. The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky a beautiful shade of orange, pink, and yellow. Trent came down the stairs a few minutes later wearing overalls. “You’re up early,” he said poking his head through the foyer entrance.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Brooklyn replied.
“What’s wrong?” Trent asked taking a seat beside her.
“When I woke this morning I thought I was back at my apartment in Denver and all of this had been a bad dream and there was no chaos or evil government plans. I guess it still doesn’t seem real to me,” she admitted.
“It doesn’t seem real to me at times either. We should have seen this coming long before we did. The government kept getting more and more invasive shortly after your accident. They started tapping our phone lines. They didn’t publicly announce it, of course, but it became pretty apparent when anyone who used the words ‘bomb’ or ‘terrorist’ in a conversation, regardless of the context, had federal agents knocking on their door interrogating them. It happened to an acquaintance.
“She was talking about cherry bombs and the next thing she knew, two federal agents were at her door with a transcript of the entire conversation. They even began monitoring our internet usage, which made my job a lot harder. If you visited certain websites that Big Brother considered ‘questionable,’ you were considered a potential terrorist and your house would be searched,” Trent said.
“At least you had time to brace yourself for this insanity. I didn’t have that luxury,” Brooklyn replied. “I feel as though I’ve lost everything.”
“You haven’t lost me,” Trent consoled. They smiled at one another.
Zane and Caleb burst through the door, flinging it open and startling both of them. “Come on, Trent, let’s get to work,” Zane said.
“Yeah it’s your turn to clean the pig pen,” Caleb added, putting his straw hat on his head. The two headed outside toward the barn.
“Duty calls,” Trent shrugged and he got up and followed after them.
“Get in the water!” Trent called. Brooklyn was standing in front of the tree by the lake holding a tire swing that was tied to one of its branches. Trent was trying to convince her to swing from it and drop into the lake as he and Caleb had just done.
“You’re crazy,” Brooklyn shouted.
“Just do it like I did,” Trent shouted back.
“We’ve done this hundreds of times. There’s nothing to it,” Caleb said.
Brooklyn took several steps back from the swing, got a running start, jumped on it, swung over the lake, and let herself fall in. Trent and Caleb cheered. “That was kind of fun,” she exclaimed when she rose to her feet.
“We told you,” Trent said.
“Why don’t you join us,” Brooklyn called to Zane, who was lying on his back in the shade, reading a book.
“No thanks. I don’t exactly have a beach body,” Zane replied.
“Who cares? It’s ninety degrees!” Brooklyn exclaimed.
“I’m fine. I’m not much of a swimmer anyway. You kids carry on,” Zane said.
It had been several weeks
since Brooklyn had first came to live with them, and Trent was trying to cheer her up as much as possible. He wanted to show her that life wasn’t all about farming now. As Brooklyn floated on her back, she remembered the summer in high school when Trent went with her and her family to Florida. Brooklyn’s parents owned a condominium in Destin and they used it as a vacation home every summer. They sat along the shoreline as they talked about the future. It was then that Trent and Brooklyn decided they would join the Peace Corps sometime after graduation. Brooklyn told her father that night of their plans and he couldn’t have been more proud of her.
“Trent, do you remember when we were planning on joining the Peace Corps?” Brooklyn said floating around him.
“I remember we were talking about it. I thought it was an insane idea,” Trent replied.
“Then why were you going to go with me?” Brooklyn raised her head from the water to look at him.
“I wasn’t going to let you go to a foreign country alone. It’s too dangerous; you’re young and beautiful. What made you think of that?” Trent said.
“I’ve just been thinking about what our lives were like before…..before all of this happened,” Brooklyn’s voice trailed off.
“It doesn’t do any good to think about it. It just makes you long for what you’ll never have,” Trent said.
“We all had dreams, careers, and plans. No one wanted to end up here,” Caleb injected.
“That’s an understatement. Someone with my talents shouldn’t be stuck raising pigs and chickens,” Zane said closing his book and laying it on the ground. “Okay, someone with our talents,” Zane corrected himself upon seeing Trent’s angry glance.
“I’m not talking about a career. Jobs are replaceable, but families aren’t,” Brooklyn said. Her reply received only silence. “So, this is it? We’re just going to live in hiding for the rest of our lives, not even knowing what happened to the rest of the people we care about?!” Brooklyn demanded rising to her feet.
“Brook, you don’t know what it’s like out there,” Caleb said.
“I know. You guys have told me over and over. It’s one thing to abandon our dreams, but does that mean we abandon our friends and families? They probably need our help,” Brooklyn exclaimed.
“It’s too late to help them. These are the times when we have to fend for ourselves,” Zane said sitting up.
“You don’t think it’s too late to help your brothers, so how can you say that?” Brooklyn retorted.
“My brothers aren’t eighteen, so they don’t have a microchip, and the day they turn eighteen will be the day they come to live with us. Trent’s cousins will do the same thing. You don’t even know where your family is. You can’t go running around out there trying to save people. You’ll only get yourself arrested. You have to accept it,” Zane said.
Brooklyn climbed out of the lake, threw her towel around herself, and marched toward the house. “Brook, wait!” Trent called after her.
“Let her go,” Caleb said.
“Did you really have to say all of that?” Trent glared at Zane.
“She needed to hear it. The sooner she realizes that this is the best life she can hope for now, the better off she’ll be,” Zane replied.
“She doesn’t have closure because she never got to say goodbye to anyone. Who wouldn’t feel that way?” Caleb said.
“You don’t know Brooklyn like I know her. She’s always wanted to save everyone, which is why she wanted to join the Peace Corps. It’s just who she is, and now she can’t even help the people who matter the most to her. That’s why this is especially hard for her to accept,” Trent said.
“She’s had a lot to deal with. Having woken up from a coma doesn’t make it any easier. Just give her time,” Caleb said.
“I hope you’re right, man. I just don’t want her to try and do anything foolish,” Trent said.
Brooklyn was watering the garden when she saw Sarah’s purple sports car pull into the driveway. She was surprised that Desiree wasn’t with her; they almost always came to the farmhouse together. Sarah slammed the car door fiercely. She looked tired and worried as she ran up the driveway, passed Brooklyn without noticing her, and banged on the front door of the house.
“Over here,” Brooklyn called.
“I need to talk to you. It’s really important,” Sarah called back. Brooklyn set down the water pitcher and approached the farmhouse.
“What is it?” Brooklyn asked.
“Let’s go inside where no one else can hear us,” she said, wringing her hands.
Brooklyn called Zane, Trent, and Caleb inside, who were cleaning the barn.
“What do you need? We’re kind of busy right now,” Zane complained as he came in through the back door, throwing his gardening gloves on the floor.
“I’m really worried about Desiree. She’s gotten involved in something and she’s in way over her head,” Sarah confessed.
“What has she done?” Trent wanted to know. He stood in the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest.
“It’s not what she’s done but what someone else has done,” Sarah replied taking a seat at the kitchen table. “Desiree had an assignment in her history class to do a report on a certain type of government bill and its pros and cons. She chose this guy named Theo Thomas to be her partner because he’s really smart, so she figured it would be an easy ‘A’. Theo’s had a 4.0 GPA all through high school and he’s a member of the Debate Team, but he’s also really arrogant and doesn’t know when to shut up.
Anyway, Theo took the assignment way too far! He says he’s found evidence that the bill was passed illegally. I don’t know if he really found any evidence or if he’s just using this as material for his debate team, but he’s started a blog about it and mentioned Desiree as his partner.”
“He did what?! Trent cried.
“This is bad. It doesn’t even matter whether or not he has any evidence. If he has a public blog claiming that he does and the wrong people see it, they’ll come after him and her both,” Zane said.
“I think the wrong people have already seen it. Desiree says she keeps seeing this strange black car parked outside of the house. She says she sees it every day. I’ve seen it a couple of times too now,” Sarah said.
“If they’re watching her, they’re watching everyone in your house! Are you sure you weren’t followed here?!” Caleb exclaimed. Sarah nodded. “You need to be absolutely sure! They could come after us all!” Caleb cried.
“Alright, man calm down,” Trent snapped, seeing his cousin’s fearful expression. “Have you or Desiree spoken to anyone over the phone about this?”
Sarah shook her head. “Good! Don’t talk about it over the phone to anyone under any circumstances. You’re phone lines are probably tapped. Tell Desiree she needs to get this guy to take down his blog immediately or delete her name from it at the very least,” Trent emphasized.
“Did you say anything about this to your parents?” Brooklyn wanted to know.
“No, I can’t talk to them about anything anymore, not since they’ve gotten their microchips” Sarah replied.
“Even mentioning it in front of them would be dangerous. I tried to convince them not to go through with it but you know they don’t listen. I think you girls should stay here where it’s much safer,” Trent suggested.
”You can’t possibly be serious! The last thing we need is federal agents following them here!” Caleb shrieked.
“We’ve always agreed that they could come live here,” Trent retorted.
“But now they’re under government surveillance and you’re going to put us in a position where we could be as well! This is the worst idea you could’ve possibly come up with,” Caleb exclaimed.
“There’s got to be a way to sneak them to the farm without anyone noticing. I’m not turning my back on my family,” Trent snapped.
“You’re talking about the United States government, the most powerful, evil, and corrupt force in the free world! There’s a re
ason we’re all here hiding from them!” Caleb cried.
“Wouldn’t that just arouse more suspicion if the girls suddenly disappeared?” Brooklyn said. The room was quiet for a minute.
“Brook is right. It would only make them more suspicious and more determined to find Desiree and Sarah, and they would probably start wondering where you’re at, Trent, since you’re an extended family member. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary, Sarah. Just go on about your normal routine and maybe they will realize you and sister haven’t done anything wrong and leave you alone,” Zane advised.
“I hope you’re right,” Sarah said nervously.
“It’ll be alright,” Trent assured, walking over to her and throwing his arms around her.
Several weeks passed and no one had heard from Desiree and Sarah. It was unlike them not to show up to bring needed supplies or just to drop by. Brooklyn hadn’t realized just how much she cared for them. She hoped for the best, but feared the worst. Trent hadn’t spoken of them, but she knew they were on his mind one night when she caught him silently staring out the window. “I’m sure they’re just doing what Zane told them. They’re trying to seem as normal as possible and driving miles out of their way to see some farmers would probably seem suspicious to a bunch of federal agents,” Brooklyn said, breaking the silence.
“I have a feeling it’s something much worse than that. I should’ve insisted they stay here,” Trent said softly.
“It’s not your fault. It would’ve been too risky for everyone involved,” Brooklyn consoled, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“This is bad for us no matter what’s happened. We were really dependent on those girls, and we’ll be running low on supplies soon,” Zane said entering the room.