Famine

by R A Doty

  APRIL FOUND HERSELF alone, walking through the meadow toward the pond. It was early dawn. Her feet were bare, and the alfalfa sometimes poked at her soles. A mist hovered above the pond’s surface, and the sun was just rising over the horizon, its orange reflection stretching across the water. The air was surprisingly warm. Too warm for an October morning. But it felt wonderful. When she reached the edge of the pond, she squatted and sat on a tuft of grass. The scent of water and wildflowers enveloped her. She inhaled deeply, savoring every breath. Crickets chirped in the grass and frogs croaked at the water’s edge. A dragonfly darted past her, skimming along the water. The rays of the rising sun found her face, its warmth soothing her skin. It was suddenly so bright. The pond began to vanish, the meadow, now just a distant blur. She covered her eyes with her hands. Through the cracks of her fingers, a small amount of light entered until her eyes eventually adjusted. She then lowered her hands. Everything was gone. The dream had ended and she remembered where she was. She stood to her feet.

  WESTON WATCHED AS THE male nutrimen walked over to the wall of glass separating the two cells. It stared at the female nutrimen standing under the light. There was no other reaction. He checked its vitals. An increased heart rate. “Come on, say something,” Bill Weston said. “She’s right there.” The male turned away and walked back to the previous wall of glass and stared at the initial spot again. “You clever son of a bitch,” Weston said. He smiled. “You’re mocking me.” He pushed a button and the wall of glass between the two cells retracted into the floor, leaving only vertical bars to separate the two nutrimen. The female immediately ran up to the bars.

  “Manolin!”

  Weston smiled. He pushed another button and leaned toward a microphone. “Hello, Manolin. So nice to have finally met you.”

  Manolin looked at the glass, and then at April.

  “Come now, Manolin,” the voice from the speaker said. “Aren’t you going to say hello to April? She is obviously excited to see you.”

  April stood confused, her hands gripping the bars. She immediately recognized the voice as William Weston. What has she done? “I’m so sorry, Manolin. I didn’t know.”

  Manolin approached the bars. He reached up and touched her hand. “Hello, April.”

  Weston assumed the male could speak, but to actually hear it was somewhat of a shock. He clasped his hands together and sat back in the chair, his eyes focused on the male’s face.

  “You look well,” Manolin said, with a hint of a smile. “I’ve missed you.”

  “And I, you.”

  “Calla?”

  “She’s okay. She’s with friends on the mainland.”

  “Why are you back?”

  “I had to. They would have killed Calla and the others. They were all so friendly, Manolin.”

  Manolin nodded, his gaze dropping toward the floor. He looked back at April. “What’s it like?”

  “It’s beautiful, Manolin. Everything we imagined.” April smiled. “There’s so many trees and flowers and plants and birds. And the air smells of wonderful scents and the soil is soft under your feet. The city has different shaped buildings of various colors and the textures are all so different to the touch, some smooth and some rough.”

  Manolin tried to imagine what it must have been like. Just hearing about it brought a smile to his face, as if he had been there himself. He would give anything to experience it for just one day. He lowered his hand from April’s and walked over to the wall of glass.

  “You said if I spoke you would release us.”

  The hidden voice responded. “And I may have if you spoke voluntarily. With cooperation comes reward, Manolin. That’s something you must learn. April cooperated and now her wish is being granted at this very moment.”

  JOSH sat on the floor beside Jessie’s bunk. He had convinced her to eat some morsels of food now and then, but not enough to bring her back to full health. She was still weak. Instead of going to the cube each day, she lay in her bunk, too fatigued to move. He reached up and swiped the strands of hair away from her face. Her eyes opened briefly and then closed. He didn’t speak to her because she would waste valuable energy trying to talk. It was best to sit silently next to her until she got better. And she would get better. He knew it. He glanced toward the yard when he heard the kennel door open. It’s just the woman who takes care of us, he thought. Then he heard people speaking, the voices getting closer. The woman and two men appeared at the door.

  “There you are,” the woman said. She held out her hand, wiggling her fingers. “Come. You’re being released.”

  With furrowed brows, Josh said, “I don’t understand. Being released to where?”

  “Back to the mainland, silly. Back to your family.”

  A surge of excitement coursed through Josh’s body. His breathing quickened, and a tingling sensation started in his arms and ended at the tips of his fingers. Could it be true? Will he finally see his mother again? He jumped to his feet, and stood still. Like his feet were glued to the floor beside the bunk and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t move his legs. He looked down at Jessie. “What about Jess?”

  The woman jiggled her fingers again, only harder. “She’s not on the list. Now come on. Let’s go before the powers-that-be change their mind and you lose your chance to go home.”

  Josh shook his head, standing firm. “Not without Jess.” It was hard for him to say the sentence that followed, knowing that he would probably be given up the only chance he’d have to ever see his parents again, but something inside him made him say it. Something that made him who he was. “If she stays, I stay.”

  The woman lowered her hand. She sighed heavily. “If this is the way you want it.” She nodded toward the men standing beside her. They entered the pen and grabbed Josh by his arms.

  “I said I don’t want to go!”

  Josh fought, but his efforts were futile against the men. The picked him up by his arms and carried him away.

  Before leaving the pen, the woman glanced at the small child lying on the bunk. She shook her head. “Such a pity.” The door closed.

  Jessie slowly raised her head, prying her eyes open. “Josh?”

  ELANA rarely left her room. Her every thought was about her daughter, Jessie. How could she have given up on her so quickly? What kind of mother would do that? The same questions repeated over and over in her mind as she lay sideways on the bed, staring at the wall. What kind of mother am I? She remembered holding the rock over her daughter’s head. Would she have actually killed her little girl if the helicopter hadn’t showed up? The answer terrified her. She began to cry.

  A thumping could be heard in the distance. A steady even rhythm, growing louder by the second. She stopped sobbing, wondering if she was imagining it. She wasn’t. It was a familiar sound, but she couldn’t place where she had heard it before. She rolled over onto her back. Listening. It was much louder. She remembered! As she hopped off the bed, the bedroom door opened and Stevie ran into the room.

  “Ma, it’s the chopper that took Jessie! It’s landing!”

  She grabbed her son’s outstretched hand and ran from the bedroom, into the hallway. When they reached the kitchen, everyone else was already standing in the yard, just outside the door. They exited the house and stood beside them.

  With their hands shielding their eyes, everyone watched as the massive chopper landed just outside of the fence. The pilot killed the engine, and the rotors eventually came to a stop. No one knew what to expect. They stayed near the house, just in case the armed men had come back to finish them off. Colton doubted Weston would do that because he got what he wanted, but one never knows. He slowly walked forward, trusting his gut. The others instinctively followed. The side door opened and Brodie jumped out. He wasn’t armed and no other men followed. He faced the opened door of the chopper as if he was waiting for something. Colton and the others walked up to the fence. Brodie reached up, grabbed the child, and lowered it to the ground. He turned and led it to t
he gate. Only one child.

  Elana covered her mouth with her hand. Her legs went numb, and standing became difficult.

  Stevie held her tight, preventing her from falling to the ground. “It’s okay, Ma. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He guided his mother to the gate that Luke had already opened, and they walked through so she could receive her daughter.

  Before leaving Ancada, Jessie had been intravenously nourished at the medical lab. Her face was still gaunt, but the smile she made when she saw her mother was proof that she was well on her way to a full recovery. When her mother lifted her off the ground and held her in her arms, she buried her face against her mother’s neck. She laughed when her cheek was kissed repeatedly.

  “Mommy missed you so much, honey,” Elana said, studying her daughter as if it was all a dream. She kissed her again to prove to herself it was real.

  “Where’s Josh?” Jessie said.

  Elana turned to Monica, who was crying behind a forced smile. Her eyes were glossed and her hands trembling slightly.

  “Yes! Where is my son?” Thomas Steinberg shouted to Brodie. “William Weston said he would be returned in exchange for the girl.”

  “Mr. Weston was going to release the boy named Josh,” Brodie said, “but the child insisted that the young girl go in his stead.”

  Monica turned and raced to the house. Betty and Janette followed her.

  Colton walked up to Brodie, inches from his face. “He couldn’t release both of them? Is he really that god-damned cold hearted?”

  Brodie moved Colton back with one finger to his chest. “That’s not my concern. I was instructed to bring back the girl. That’s what I did.” He turned and boarded the helicopter. The rotors whined and slowly began to rotate. When they reached full velocity, the chopper left the ground and steered in the direction of the ocean.

  JOSH stood in front of the chain-link fence, his arms stretched upward and his fingers poking through the fencing. Normally, the view of the mainland was very similar, but today he was focused on the helicopter heading in his direction. It was the same one that had brought him here, initially. It didn’t intrigue him as much as it did that day. He turned away from the fence and walked to the cube in the middle of the yard, where he sat for the next hour. At least Jessie would be all right now. He knew she would be. That made him happy.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  NEITHER Colton, Dan, or Luke wanted to make the trek back to the church, but it had to be done. They decided the three of them would be best suited for the job, and the others would wait for their return. Janette and Cain disagreed, and wanted to come, but Colton stood firm with the decision. Cain would easily be able to guard the others from danger if anything should happen while they’re gone, and Janette would be able to guard the others from Cain. Colton trusted Cain, but not completely. Not yet, anyway. Before they left, Jessie walked up to Colton.

  “Can you read me a story?”

  Colton picked up the child and placed her on his hip. “There’s nothing I would like more, but there’s something I have to do first.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s grown-up stuff that you shouldn’t be concerned with. I promise I’ll read you a story when I return. Is that okay?”

  Jessie nodded.

  Colton lowered her back to the floor. “Now you go stand by your mother and be a good girl until I get back.”

  “Okay.” Jessie ran up to her mother and stood quietly beside her.

  “We should be back in a few hours,” Colton said to the others, who were standing around the kitchen.

  “If you’re not, we’re coming to get you,” Janette said.

  THE day had started out sunny, but as it progressed from morning to early afternoon, the clouds rolled in and cast a dismal shadow over everything. A chill was felt in the air, a prerequisite to an upcoming winter. Cole thought about it, and for the first time in a long time he hadn’t worried about food for the winter. Funny how quickly life can change, he thought. The only thing he worried about now was obtaining a boat to get to Ancada, the one place on earth he’d rather not go. But this wasn’t about him. It was about a young woman who he just discovered was his daughter, and a young boy who he admired very much for trading his own life to help a small girl that he had only met recently. People like that are extremely rare today. Colton was very much looking forward to meeting the Steinberg’s son.

  “What are we gonna say when we get there?” Dan asked, slightly out of breath from the hike through the woods. It wasn’t all that easy for him to keep up with Colton, who led the way, and brother Luke, who was right behind Colton. Dan raised a branch from a maple sapling and passed under it.

  “We’re just gonna ask where the boat is,” Luke responded. “And if they don’t tell us we’ll just shoot them one by one until they do.”

  “I really do appreciate your enthusiasm, Luke,” Colton said, “I really do, but we’re going to try to do this without killing anyone.”

  “Good luck with that,” Luke said. “I’m pretty sure they’re not just gonna hand it over to us.”

  “I’m sure they won’t either,” Colton agreed. “We’ll obviously have to barter for it, and it probably won’t come cheap. I hope Thomas is prepared to give up some food or supplies.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that, too much,” Luke said. “Everyone seems to be forgetting that me and Dan own the estate now, and we’ll give you whatever you need to help get Josh and your daughter back.”

  Colton stopped and faced Luke and Dan. Dan took advantage of the break by bending over to put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

  “That means a lot to me to hear you say that, Luke. When this is over I’ll have to figure out a way to repay you and Dan for all your help.”

  Luke placed his hand on Colton’s shoulder. “You know that’s not necessary, Cole. What we are gonna do when this is over is sit down together and share an ice-cold beer.”

  “Wait a minute,” Colton said. “You guys have beer?”

  Luke and Dan smiled. “A shit load of it,” Luke said. “Tom taught me and Dan how to make it.”

  “We even got a name for it and made our own labels for the bottles,” Dan said. He looked blankly ahead and held up his hand as if he were holding one of the bottles. “McAllister’s.”

  “I’ll definitely be looking forward to that,” Colton said.

  After walking for another ten minutes, the city appeared through the trees far ahead. It was quiet, like a sleeping junkyard dog waiting to charge at the first sound of life. The three men emerged from the woods as if they were trying not to wake the beast. The talking stopped, and they walked quietly in the direction of the church. When they reached the front door, Colton knocked on it with his knuckled fist. It felt odd to knock on the door of a house that was built to welcome all who came. But things were different now. People were unpredictable. Colton knocked again, and the lock rattled from inside. Luke gripped his rifle, ready to shoot whoever opened the door if need be. The door creaked a little and seemed to open by itself, an invitation to enter, if you dared.

  Luke entered first, his finger itching to pull the trigger. He saw no one. Colton and Dan followed. And then they heard the faint voice, emerging from behind the door. A small boy appeared. His clothing was ragged and his face dirty. Not exactly the threat they were expecting. They looked at each other, and then at the boy.

  “Hello. I’m Peter,” the boy said.

  Colton stepped up to the child and held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Peter. My name’s Colton, and these are my friends, Dan and Luke.”

  Peter shook Colton’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Are you bad or good?”

  Colton smiled, and then noticed how thin the boy’s arms were. He wondered when he ate last. “I’d like to think we’re good.”

  A man entered the room from a door behind the podium. “What do you want?” He walked up to the boy and pulled him by the arm. “What did we tell you about open
ing the door to strangers?” He pushed the boy in the direction of the door he came from. “Now go get David.”

  The boy ran to the door.

  “We don’t want any trouble, friend,” Colton said. “We just want to speak with David Crullen.” He extended his hand. “I’m Colton North, and this is Dan and Luke McAllister.

  The man studied Colton as if he had just spoken in a foreign language. And then he turned to the other two standing beside Colton.

  Colton lowered his arm, knowing a handshake from this man would be too much to expect.

  “David’s on his way, don’t you worry,” the man said. He continued to stare at the strangers, one at a time.

  Luke and Colton had no problem staring right back at the man, but Dan couldn’t make eye contact with him. He turned away whenever he noticed the man looking at him. For some reason, that made the man stare at him even more. Dan never realized how high the ceilings in churches were. He wondered how they got up there to repaint it when it was time. He glanced back at the man and the man was still looking. When he heard footsteps coming toward them, he exhaled a sigh of relief.

  David immediately recognized Dan as the one who killed Nicolas and slammed the butt of the gun against his head during the battle. He noticed the men were armed, but he continued walking toward them, nonetheless. What else could he have done? “Considering I’m not dead yet,” David began, “I can only assume you didn’t come here to kill me.”

  Colton shook his head. “We’re not here to kill anyone. It was brought to our attention that you have something we need.”

  “And what might that be?”