Forager (Forager - A Dystopian Trilogy)

by Peter R Stone

  These desires, however, confused me, for what was I hoping to achieve by seeing her again? She would return to Hamamachi with Councillor Okada soon and that would be the end of it.

  I had read about romance in novels I found in Melbourne’s ruins, but it hadn’t ever occurred to me that I might experience it myself, since all marriages in Newhome were arranged by the children's fathers and were typically devoid of romantic love.

  My teammates were already in the Recycling-Works yard, lounging against the truck as they waited for me. Sergeant King and his squad were here too, talking quietly amongst themselves, their box-shaped Bushmaster parked near our truck.

  "Hey Jones, you wet the bed or something?" Shorty teased.

  "What?"

  "You've never been here before nine o'clock before," Leigh said, laughing alongside Shorty.

  "First time for everything," I laughed as I joined them. However, I wasn’t really listening to them, as I was straining my ears in the hope of hearing Nanako’s small footsteps.

  And then I heard them, coming down the street as she and Councillor Okada approached the Recycling-Works yard. A moment later, they stepped into the yard, the obento lunchbox cradled carefully in her arms.

  I stepped towards her, eagerly anticipating the chance to speak with her again, but I had taken only a few steps when a Custodian G-Wagon roared down the street and with a screech of breaks, drove into our yard. Three Custodians leaped out, unslung their semi-automatic rifles, and headed straight for us.

  Nanako and Councillor Okada stepped quickly back into shadows thrown by the gate. I moved back towards my teammates, face white with terror, for surely this was it – I had been found out.

  "We are looking for a Leigh Williams," the Custodian commander, a tall, wiry corporal, stated when they were practically in our faces.

  I was so sure they were here for me that it took a moment for their words to sink in. "Sorry, did you say Leigh Williams – but for what reason, Sir?" I asked, hoping against hope that Leigh had not done something exceptionally stupid.

  The corporal gave me a withering look and barked, "Is he here?"

  To my relief, Sergeant King chose that moment to join us. "Can I help you, Corporal?" he asked as he saluted.

  "Sir, I have a warrant for the arrest of one Leigh Williams, for allegations of serious sexual misconduct," replied the corporal as he returned the salute.

  "Let's see it then," King demanded.

  The corporal handed it over and waited impatiently, aware that King was a higher rank, but empowered by the warrant to carry out his task without obstruction.

  "All seems in order," King announced after giving the warrant a quick once through. "Mr. Williams, you will surrender yourself to Corporal Thompson."

  Eyes wide with fear, Leigh stepped haltingly towards the corporal, glancing back at me as he did so. I don't know what he thought I could do, but I couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to sleep with a woman outside wedlock, considering the draconian punishments that applied to those who did.

  "Wait a minute, there must be some mistake, Sir," I said far too aggressively as I stepped forward.

  The corporal and his men aimed their assault-rifles at me, thumbing off the safeties. "Step back, Civilian!" The corporal thundered.

  I locked eyes with the stuck-up, officious, pompous corporal and refused to budge. Leigh was my friend and one of my team - a valuable member and we needed him! I was going to press the issue when strong hands grabbed me and slammed me back against the truck's bonnet.

  "What the..." I began to snarl, but stopped when I saw that Michal was the one who had grabbed me.

  "Don't be a drongo, Ethan, they were about to pop you!" he hissed.

  "But Leigh!"

  "Has been an absolute moron," he replied softly.

  "You mean he's really been doing what they’ve accused him of?" I whispered back, shocked. I watched as the Custodians snapped cuffs on Leigh and marched him to their G-Wagon.

  "Remember what David and Leigh ribbed him about yesterday?"

  "Yeah, so?"

  "Well, Leigh and his neighbour's daughter - well, someone must have ratted 'em out."

  "Oh good grief," I despaired, as the G-Wagon reversed out of the yard and drove out of sight. I immediately ran over to Sergeant King, who was returning to the Bushmaster as though nothing had happened. "Sergeant King!"

  The brawny Custodian stopped but didn't turn around. "What is it, Jones?"

  "What'll happen to Leigh now?"

  He turned and appraised me with clear disapproval. "You know, Jones, I'm beginning to think you've got a death wish."

  "Sir?"

  "The little stunt you pulled back there? And attacking the Skel virtually single handedly two days ago? You'd better ramp it back, boy, or we'll be scraping you off the road before you know it."

  "But Sir, isn't there anything you can do about Leigh?" I pressed, ignoring his accusation that I was reckless.

  "Mr. Williams and the woman with whom he has been accused of engaging in sexual misconduct will face the magistrate today. If sufficient evidence is presented to prove their guilt, they will be sentenced according to the law," King explained, annoyed that I would not let the matter drop. "Now enough of this - to work - and that is an order."

  I fumed at King's cold indifference to the mater, but more than that, I was terrified for Leigh, for the typical sentence for sexual conduct outside marriage was the death penalty. At least for the woman: if the man was lucky, he may have his sentence transmuted to some lesser punishment.

  Dispirited and concerned for our friend, we clambered into the truck and drove off towards the gates with the Bushmaster right behind us. However, as we did so, a thought thrust itself past the fearful and angry thoughts consuming my mind - Nanako!

  I turned in my seat just in time to see her step out of the gate’s long shadow, disappointment etched on her face, for in her hands was the obento lunch she had gone to such lengths to prepare and deliver.

  I had a frantic impulse to tell Michal to stop the truck so I could quickly receive her gift, but with the Custodians behind us, plus King's displeasure that we were running late, I resisted the urge and slumped back into my sea, leaving Nanako behind.

  That I had let her down so dreadfully weighed heavily on my heart, and the memory of her sad face as she watched us drive away tore a hole right through me.

  What followed was one of the most unpleasant days I could recall. All day I fretted endlessly over Leigh and his girlfriend’s fate: had they seen the magistrate? Was there sufficient evident to convict them? Would the magistrate punish them to the full extent of the law, or would he uncharacteristically show compassion?

  Furthermore, I couldn't stop wondering what Nanako was thinking and feeling. How early had she risen this morning to buy the food to make the lunch? How long had she spent preparing it, adding personal touches like rabbit ears on the tomato and apple slices? Only for me to get so caught up in the morning's trauma that I completely forgot about her. I recalled how dejected she had been when she cried alone on the roof two nights ago, and feared my actions had only added to her misery.

  To make matters worse, another of those strange turns visited me as we worked. This time I saw a beaten-up ute parked in a derelict factory courtyard overgrown with shrubbery and wild blackberry bushes. And as before, although it felt as though I had seen this place previously, I knew for a fact I had not. It seemed these bizarre turns were here to stay, and as they were accompanied by a massive adrenalin spike, I decided to label them 'spike attacks' for want of a better name.

  * * *

  The workday finally came to an end and we drove back to Newhome in silence. Michal parked the truck with a screech of worn breaks and the four of us rushed into the Recycling-Works, signed off in the log book, and hurried to find the boss.

  He was in his office, a poorly lit room on the second floor, with dirty, virtually opaque windows that overlooked the scrap metal yard. He pushed bac
k his chair and stood when we knocked at his doorway. "Come in, boys."

  We filed in one at a time, careful not to knock over the piles of log books, scrap metal records, connotes and delivery receipts that crowded the floor in ungainly piles.

  "You've come to find out about Leigh, I suppose," he said, running his hand slowly through his balding hair.

  "Yes Sir," I replied, a sinking feeling in my gut, "Did he see the magistrate today?"

  "I'm afraid so."

  "And?" Shorty prompted, concern etched over his normally jovial face.

  "I'm afraid the magistrate found Leigh and a Miss Amelia Lin guilty of unlawful sexual conduct, and, ah, both were sentenced to death."

  "What?" we all shouted in horror.

  The boss held up his hands. "Wait! Leigh's sentence was transmuted to six years hard labour in one of the prison factories."

  I think I almost fainted with relief at this news, Leigh was going to be alright! Yet at the same time, we wouldn't be able to see him for six long years. Our foraging team would also be one member short.

  "What about the girl, Boss?" Michal asked softly.

  The boss avoided our eyes. "I'm sorry, she was executed by lethal injection at midday."

  My spirits sunk to a new low. "How old was she?" I whispered.

  "Sixteen."

  Outrage drove back the funk that had taken a hold of me today. "What kind of society do we live in that executes sixteen year old girls for falling prey to temptation?"

  "Be careful, Ethan, verbalising such thoughts could be considered treason," the boss cautioned me.

  "But Sir, how can they possibly justify such a sentence? It's barbaric!"

  The boss sank slowly onto his chair, and still not meeting my gaze, answered the question. "You know what their answer will be, Ethan. 'Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done, otherwise the very fabric of society will unravel and revert to anarchy.'" He looked up. "Now listen to me, Ethan - all of you - I know you are angry and disappointed with today's proceedings, and you'll find a sympathetic ear with me, but once you step outside my door, keep your mouths shut. The last thing I need is for the rest of you to end up in prison. Do you understand?"

  It took a moment to get my anger under control, but the boss spoke the truth and I knew it. I hated the system, but there was nothing I could do about it. And he was right, to even criticise it would see me in a prison factory alongside Leigh. Though at least that way I would get to see him sooner than six years.

  Our spirits crushed, my teammates and I wandered back down the stairs and into the Recycling-Works yard.

  "I'm going to go to the Foragers Club to get sloshed," Shorty said dejectedly as he looked up at us. "Who's coming?"

  "Okay," David agreed, though with some reluctance. He looked like he would rather be by himself.

  I grabbed Shorty's arm. "There's got to be a better way of dealing with this than getting drunk. Why don't we go for a long walk or something."

  "I’ll pass on the walk," Shorty shot back, "Look, why don't you come with us for a change, Jones?"

  "Sorry guys, I'm heading home," I said. I could think of a million better things to do than destroying brain cells and waking in some random location as sick as a dog.

  "I'll keep an eye on 'em," Michal said.

  "Thanks mate," I said, appreciating Michal's maturity, which always shone through at times like this.

  I got back to my small two-bedroom apartment half-an-hour later, showered, and was donning clean clothes when my phone rang. I watched it ring for some time, willing the person on the other end to give up and leave me in peace. But it just kept on ringing so I answered it. "Ethan speaking."

  "Good evening, Son. You must come over at once," my father said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  "Look, Father, I've had a really bad day and I need a quiet night."

  "Out of the question," he snapped. "Special guests are joining us for dinner, and your presence is required. Be here in ten minutes."

  "Special guests - Father, really, I'm in no condition to be socialising."

  "The young woman I have chosen for your wife, and her family, are joining us for dinner. I figured you would like to meet her before the big day."

  I think my reply came out as a strangled squeak. As all brides in Newhome were chosen by the bridegrooms' fathers, I knew this day would come, but I certainly did not expect it to come today. I had told Father on numerous occasions that I had no desire to marry before the age of thirty. "Very well, see you soon."

  I hung up the phone and stood there, dumbfounded. I really, really didn't want to do this today. The legal marriageable age in Newhome was sixteen years, and though most girls got married close to that age, the men did not. They normally married between the ages of twenty and thirty. So why was my father in such a rush?

  It was a short walk to my parents flat, for their apartment block was directly behind mine. As I walked there, I realised my mind was not pondering the girl my father had chosen for me to marry, but was instead fixed on a mysterious Japanese girl whom I feared I had inadvertently snubbed, and on the fate of my friend who was to spend the next six years in prison.

  Chapter Nine

  When I entered my parent’s home I assumed for a moment I had entered the wrong flat, for sitting at the dinner table on the far side of the room was Sergeant King, albeit in civilian clothes. Seated at the head of the table next to him was a man who was obviously his father for they shared the same large, muscular frame and facial features. At King senior’s left sat two women who had their backs to me - one with greying hair and the other brown.

  My initial reaction to this scene was one of stunned confusion, but upon observing my father and younger sister sitting at the opposite end of the dinner table - which had been extended to seat ten - my world collapsed about me. For the only logical conclusion I could reach from this unlikely scene was that the girl my father had chosen to be my wife was Sergeant King’s sister!

  With a flash of revelation, I realised why King had let me off with just a verbal warning today – he couldn’t have come home today and told his father that he had locked up his sister’s husband-to-be, now could he?

  “Come in, Ethan,” Father said as he rose to his feet to welcome me in.

  The others stood and my father introduced them to me. The sergeant's father, Aiden King, shook my hand with a vice-like grip that almost crushed mine. The sergeant himself - Liam - studied me with a rather disturbing intensity as his handshake crushed the few bones in my hand that had survived his father's grip. I could not even begin to imagine what thoughts were going through his head right now, as surely I was the last person in Newhome he wanted as a brother-in-law. Mrs King, who glanced at me briefly as she gently shook my hand, was nearly as tall as I.

  My bride to be, Sienna, was introduced last, and although in her mid teens, had already reached her mother’s height. She had a strikingly beautiful face – luckily she had her mother’s looks and not her father’s - long brown hair, and a slim figure, which like mine, had not yet filled out.

  The introductions over, I sat on my father’s right, opposite Younger Sister, while my mother and older sister brought in the pumpkin soup entrees in fine-China soup bowls.

  As we sipped slowly on pumpkin soup made as only my mother could make it, Mr. King Senior began his attack. "Your father has told me much about you, Ethan, but I would like to hear from you too. So tell me, what do you consider to be the most important things in life?"

  I shot my father a piercing glare - he had obviously been communicating with Aiden King for some time, so what was with the mere ten-minute warning he gave me? Did he think I would have gone AWOL if he had given me advance warning? Honestly, I may well have done exactly that.

  "Family," I replied to Mr. King Senior. "Family is the most important thing, with friends coming a close second. And not to use them and take advantage of them, but to give generously as well as receive, to put their needs and concerns e
qual or above my own."

  "A respectable answer," Aiden replied, though I got the clear impression it wasn’t the one he sought. "You are on a metals foraging team, correct?"

  "That's right, Sir. That's been my vocation since leaving school.”

  “I believe it is in that capacity that you have already met my son,” Mr. King Senior replied.

  “That's correct, Sir. Sergeant - I mean - Liam, is in command of the Custodian squad assigned to protect my foraging team.”

  "It's lieutenant now, actually. Liam's valour against the Skel who ambushed those two cars from Hamamachi earned him a promotion and a service medal," the sergeant's father announced proudly.

  "Is that right?" I replied as I glanced over at Liam, who met my gaze squarely, almost daring me to contradict his father. I wondered what story he’d spun to his superiors when he made his report. Of course, I couldn't exactly be angry or resentful for his lies and commendation, since those lies were the very thing that saved my teammates and I from being imprisoned for having illegal weapons. And for ignoring his direct orders.

  Completely missing the scepticism in my voice, King Senior continued proudly. "My son's goal is to achieve the rank of major so that he and his wife can live in North End. After that he will continue his ascent through the ranks until he achieves the rank of general."

  King had a wife? I found that thought rather unsettling - I hope the poor woman was as tough as nails. Imagine waking up next to him every morning.

  “What are your plans for the future, Son?”

  I ain’t your son, I wanted to snap back, but aware of my father’s iron gaze fixed upon me, I answered civilly. “Just the dreams of teenager, Sir,” I answered vaguely, for I couldn't exactly tell them my plans for the future were to help my younger sister regain her health and then run away during a foraging trip and never return. Dreams I would have to forsake if I married Sienna King.

  A swift kick under the table from my father informed me that I had given the wrong answer, so I tried harder. “Honestly, I guess my plans for the future are to get married, have kids, and raise them to be responsible, productive citizens.”