Welcome to Dystopia

by Gordon Van Gelder

  THE MEN WILL BE HUNGRY AFTERWARDS

  Ray Vukcevich

  At the Boy’s House

  The men will be hungry afterwards. She’ll bring fried chicken. Everyone loves her fried chicken. Maybe she should poison it and kill them all. She absolutely did not just think that! La la la la. Poor little Mia. The child should have known better. This was all the fault of her parents. They should have made sure Mia understood the rules and the dangers in breaking them. This is no laughing matter! La la la la. Turn up the heat to sizzling. Good fried chicken is all about what you do to it before you drop it into the hot oil. If there is anything even remotely good about this situation, it’s that her own son, Samuel, might come to realize the way of things and straighten up and fly right. The kids are only ten, she likes to tell herself, but still he needed to spend more time playing with the other boys and less time messing around on the computers with Mia. Now it’s come to this. She must remember to save him a couple of drumsticks.

  At the Girl’s House

  “The Fewer is an old meanie!”

  Just a tweet.

  She hadn’t even included a hashtag. She hadn’t addressed it to @POTUS and she had certainly not addressed it to His personal account. But she had also taken no precautions to cover her tracks, which totally surprised her friends, because if anyone knew how to surf the dark net, it was Mia. It was like she was sending him a message, sticking her tongue out at the most dangerous man on the planet. That had turned out to be a serious mistake.

  It was just a joke!

  Okay, okay, but let’s not do that again.

  Everyone stopped laughing when the President’s Patriotic Police in full riot gear swarmed in and arrested the entire town.

  The Upshot

  Fox sent in a team that was actually bigger than the whole town. There were cameras everywhere and people running all over the place managing cables and lights and shouting at one another. Unsmiling men in the black and silver uniforms of the PPP prominently displaying assault rifles stationed themselves strategically at every corner and in every business. Everyone worried they would fine the tunnel running from their church basement to the church basement of their sister city on the other side of the Wall, but so far, it had remained undiscovered. With any luck it would remain that way until after this was all over.

  The men of the Town Council milled and muttered about at the door of the church like they were waiting to be invited inside.

  Samuel and his father stood a little apart from the men. His father held on to Samuel’s shoulder both to reassure the boy with his touch and to make sure he didn’t bolt.

  Samuel looked up at his father and asked, “It’s just pretend, right? I don’t really have to do it, right?”

  His father looked around quickly to make sure no one had heard what the boy had just said. Then he leaned down to speak in a low voice.

  “That might have been true a few days ago,” he said. “We could have handled this if was just us and our so-called Political Officer. We could have bought him a few drinks, and no one would have been the wiser, but now it’s gotten totally out of hand. You’ll have to do it for the cameras, so all these people will leave.”

  Samuel looked around wildly like he was thinking of making a break for it. His father could feel him trembling beneath his hand on his shoulder.

  “It’ll be okay,” he told the boy. “Look over there with the other women. Your mom. I think she made chicken. This will all be over in a flash and we’ll be eating drumsticks.”

  Samuel looked over at his mother in the roped-off area for the women. She didn’t meet his eyes. None of the women were looking at him, either. Some were looking up and some were looking down. They were waiting for the signal to go inside and sit down in the pews.

  A moment later, a white woman in a fancy costume that made Samuel think of evil clowns stepped up and spoke to his father.

  “I think we’re ready to start,” she said. She didn’t look at Samuel.

  His father pulled him forward and into the church. The men followed them in, and then came the women of the town.

  The woman in the colorful uniform pulled Samuel away from his father and out of the way while the townspeople found their assigned places. Then she marched him over to his starting position just inside the door and in the middle of the central aisle between the pews.

  “Okay,” she said loudly. “Listen up!”

  Everyone got quiet.

  “Looks good,” she said. “Get ready. Here we go.”

  A moment later, she shouted, “Action!”

  Someone pushed Mia out from behind the curtain. You could see the big pushing hands dart back out of sight as the girl stumbled forward onto the stage where Father Diego usually stood to mechanically recite how they all had to try harder to make the President’s plans work. It looked like Mia might fall, but she caught her balance and stood looking out at the town, all her friends, her parents, her neighbors, the cameras, the news crews, the police and their guns. She wore a simple white summer dress with a pattern of green and blue flowers scattered down the front.

  She hesitated a moment more, but then, as instructed, she lifted her hands up to her chest and put her palms together as if in prayer.

  She looked terrified.

  The woman directing things gave Samuel a little shove from behind, and he moved forward down the central aisle toward Mia. On both sides, the townsmen had been lined up like a gauntlet. The women had been assigned places in the pews, and they all twisted around to watch him pass. The cameras and lights and soldiers made the place look completely alien.

  It was very quiet. Everyone was looking at Samuel. He was having some trouble getting enough air into his lungs, but he kept moving. When he got to the front, he turned sharply to his left and moved to the stairs leading up onto the stage. He walked up them and then turned back and walked up to Mia. She turned to face him.

  This was all so stupid, so terrifying, so adult. The future was a dark cave with teeth and tongue, and Mia and Samuel were about to be snatched up and chewed to bits and swallowed.

  He could choose to simply not do this. He could grab her hand, and they could run out the back and into the desert. They could hide in the gullies and eat prickly pear cactus fruit and sleep with the coyotes and the roadrunners. Surely the strangers would give up and go home sooner or later. Samuel and Mia could slip back into town unnoticed, could get back to their old lives, and everything would be okay.

  He looked into her eyes and she looked into his. He wanted to whisper that it would be okay, that it would be quick, that he was sorry, that he would always be her friend, but then he saw that there was a camera back there pointing right at his face. There would be another one behind him pointing at Mia’s face. They did not want to miss one juicy bit of this. If he whispered his words at her, they would read his lips and make them start all over again. If he did it right the first time, it would be over. He wished he could tell her that it would be best if he just did it right the first time. The two of them would grow up. They would become outlaws together! They would ride horses across this desert and shoot arrows at the President’s Police. Maybe they would get married and their children would never ever have to do something like this. Would she ever believe that he had had such a plan on that awful day? Her face was now completely blank like she had gone off somewhere else where things were not so bad.

  It was time to do it.

  He reached his right hand forward, low and with the palm facing up, as he had been instructed, and plunged it between her legs, pushing the thin fabric of her skirt back, too. He glanced down, as instructed, to check his position. Everything looked right. He grabbed at whatever was under there, her pussy, they said, and gave it a little squeeze.

  THE ROAD SOUTH

  Madeleine E. Robins and Becca Caccavo

  How’s it going?

  Hello?

  Emma?

  Where are you?

  hey mama llama. sorry bout that, d
ead zone was extra dead Dead, huh?

  As a dog.

  You’re in Texas?

  mexico. south-y

  Where are you now?

  around guadalajara? at least the road signs have been saying so. Stay away from the Mexico City sinkholes.

  but moooommmmm…

  I’m serious. There’s rioting again.

  yeah mom, i know.

  How are you guys?

  good. alexis has a cold. all good tho long as the snow lasts

  we can just tow him behind us on skis lmao.

  crossed into guatemala last night.

  how are you? how’s the school?

  I’m okay. School’s smaller than it was. Reika and her family left for Canada. Rolling blackouts: Oakland City Council threatened to sue the state. State laughed. The usual.

  Not too close to the coast, are you?

  no we heard about the flooding. wanted to go thru tegucigalpa,

  but it’s lakefront property now.

  how’s mycroft?

  Fine. Misses you. Hasn’t been made into a pie yet.

  thank goodness for that.

  That cat has 18 lives.

  How are you eating?

  OK. we glean, run into farms where we get fresh food

  when we can.

  got plenty of canned and dried tho.

  we on that oregano trail

  **oregon fucking autocorrect

  Now who’s not funny?

  So where are you, Emma-lem?

  Lemma?

  Dammit, Lem, say something.

  sorry had to take alexis to hospital

  Is he okay?

  no. medico said he was sick before we left US so, you know.

  rest of us are okay

  You staying in—where? until he’s better?

  hes not going to be getting better. i knew this would be hard,

  mom, but…

  Jesus, honey. I’m so sorry.

  i know mama

  left him in central nicaragua

  Need to get to cabo de hornas before spring tide get too high.

  hope you have a map.

  I might have to close the school.

  what mom no

  I might. No one has money. Tom Chun paid with a chicken last week. Good eating, but not good for taxes.

  the school is your dream

  And the city was poking around talking about licensing, anyway. They don’t care, just want the fees. Which I can’t pay.

  what would you do?

  I don’t know, sweetie. Maybe move out to Redding with Uncle Lou.

  and…the house?

  It’s just a house. You’re not coming back from Antarctica.

  but its our home

  Sometimes you gotta let go.

  I’m sorry. That sounded bitter.

  Lem?

  Please answer.

  Emma

  Please answer. Where are you. Are you okay?

  Lem

  im here i’m okay we got held up at border to panama

  When?

  thursday.

  no, friday morning.

  Are you okay?

  yeah they were looking fr plagues n shit

  we’re okay Im okay.

  Plague? I thought that was just in the north.

  they’re trying to keep it out out of here. had to wait

  for blood tests

  So you’re not carriers. Well, that’s a mercy.

  Boiling the water?

  oh absolutely, darling, just like at home.

  Will you hate me forever if I say you could still turn around and come home?

  won’t hate you…just won’t turn around.

  last boat to king george goes in november.

  Will they let you in?

  of course, without a doubt.

  I wish there was something here for you.

  i’m not going away from there, mom. i’m going

  toward antarctica

  school is still in session?

  More like day care now. The older kids are all working.

  older like how old

  All the kids over 7 are working the Oakland garden.

  Still have some toddlers and kindergartners. And runny noses!

  sorry I didnt text yesterday got stopped in Pasto in Colombia

  mom

  mama

  you are really really scaring me mom

  mom please

  I’m okay.

  I have that bug that everyone’s getting.

  what? bug? which bug? are you okay now?

  Don’t freak out. It’s not plague. Just fever and feeling tired.

  And I’m better today.

  What happened in Pasto?

  roadblock looking for contraband.

  they didnt know what to make of the reverse

  osmosis machine lmao

  held us over night on the good

  side though—FINALLY A SHOWER

  But you’re okay? Where are you guys now?

  in ecuador been trading goods and art and stories.

  its beautiful here. so green

  I remember green. :)

  When I was a kid there were trees and whole hills of yellow flowers in the springtime. I’m sorry you didn’t have that.

  What did you trade?

  some books some old tech just stuff. some ska-doodles

  No medicine, I hope.

  no mom im not dumb

  Have you been in contact with the settlement?

  ya via radio twice a week

  How are things there?

  Mom its amazing. the excavation sites—theyve found the first

  sign of a city under the tundra! The hydroponics are in their third

  harvest. The research station has launched a low-orbit seeding

  platform—makes me feel like we have a chance.

  Humanity, that is. and us guys in the van, too

  It’s good you’re going.

  that’s the first time youve said that mama, whats going on?

  Feeling a little blue. I haven’t shaken this virus.

  Had to close the school. Can’t keep up with the kids.

  but you’re okay right? you’ve kept the gaerden going

  and have been eating ogod food?

  wait no! closed school for good?

  It was going to happen.

  so what are you going to do…go to reading?

  I don’t know. When I feel better I’ll make a plan.

  im sending you healing love. i love you mom, so much.

  Me too, you.

  GREETINGS from catacaos peruuuu! remember miss lang from

  4th grade she would love it here

  Why?

  its beautiful…it looks like every photo she had on the

  walls of the classroom. the marketplace is insane

  Insane?

  so much beautiful fruit

  Sounds delicious.

  hey, mamallama

  Hey, honey.

  you still in oakland?

  I am. I’m afraid

  wait afraid of what is everyrhing okay?

  Sorry, I got interrupted.

  I’m afraid Mycroft is gone. He got out the window

  last Wednesday and hasn’t come back.

  no, mom, he could still come back

  I hope so, Lem.

  so its just you?

  Actually, no. Hua Tran and Luke moved in last week.

  They lost their apartment and I needed some help. So.

  what do you need help with.

  I haven’t been well.

  mom what kind of bug is this? you’ve been sick for weeks.

  Nurse thinks its one of the tick-borne ones. Bourbon or Heartland virus. Can’t afford tests, no retro-virals work on it. Don’t fret. It’ll work itself out.

  Looks like gardening isn’t so healthy after all.

  we stopped to work at a beautiful farm for a few days

  so glad i took spanish—but here they talk mostly quechu
a.

  on road south today. i’m learning so much, mom, every second.

  had a close call today

  What does that mean? Lemma!

  were okay now

  got stopped on the road by a local gang

  they took most of the food and kaila’s and stephen’s tablets

  didn’t find the trap door to the emergency food and money

  What happened? Were they armed? Was anyone hurt?

  tbh, mom, they just wanted stuff we handed it over

  everything was fine we were amicable, given.

  i bought this phone in cajabamba

  Were you frightened?

  Lem?

  ummmm…i was fucking terrified but played it

  super cool considering

  guns and screaming—

  we’re lucky only stephen got pistol whipped

  Oh, God, baby. I want you home Now.

  its ok mom nothign i havent seen in the bay tbh i just never told

  you

  we’re more than half way there mom

  and we’re okay it was not fun but we got through it

  I didn’t think you’d turn around. But

  I hate having you so far away.

  i miss you too. i love you.

  heading for argentina, then into chile. figure we’ve got about

  10 days til punto arenas then another few days to

  get to cabo de hornos

  So in two weeks you’ll be on King George Island.

  yeh punto arenas is our last big city

  we’ll be there in time for

  spring Spring in Antarctica. Wow.

  antarctica isnt what it was back in the day mom

  I know.

  Listen, Emma-lemma: you may not hear from me after you get there.

  what? no, mom, the settlement has net amd cell reception

  we can video-chat

  mom

  mom you there?

  I’m here.

  what did you mean before?

  Before?

  Oh. Nothing.

  If I go to stay with Uncle Lou, I don’t know what the cell service will be.

  mom you live in america. even when there’s no water or

  food or governmentthere will always be internet and cell service

  I just didn’t want you to worry. If you didn’t hear from me.

  im not worried that, i know that woudlnt happen

  Where are you now?

  left villa carlos paz this morning. heading back to highway.