Forager (Forager - A Dystopian Trilogy)

by Peter R Stone

  "That's better," I affirmed him as I gripped his hand.

  When Michal returned an hour later, he found David asleep and me sitting in the chair next to him.

  "Shorty's okay, he just needs some time alone," he informed me.

  I stood slowly from the chair but had to grab the bed to steady myself, "Cool, thanks."

  "And where do you think you're going?"

  "Have to be at my parents by six."

  "And you're going to walk there?" Michal asked sceptically.

  "Well, I'd rather take a bus but can’t do that since Newhome doesn’t have any."

  "How about you sit back down for another half hour and after that I'll get you there in fifteen minutes."

  I fixed Michal with a withering glare. "I ain't going by wheelchair."

  "This is no time for misplaced pride, Ethan, but don't worry, I've got a better idea. Stay here, I'll be back."

  I gave him a mock solute as he sauntered off.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Michal delivered me to my parent's apartment by six, and as he promised, didn't hurt my pride by wheeling me through Newhome in a wheelchair. He dredged up a two-seat tandem bicycle from somewhere – I didn’t ask - and he rode while I pretended to. He even fetched a clean set of clothes from my place. I honestly don't know what I did to earn a friend like him.

  Walking up the three flights of steps to my parents flat turned out to be the most exhausting leg of the journey.

  "You're late," my father scolded me when he opened the door and let me in. He gave no indication of noticing my arm was in a sling. In typical form, his mind was fixated on one thing – which just now happened to be marrying me off to Sienna King.

  The King's had already arrived and were seated as they had been two nights ago. My mother and older sister were standing by the kitchen doorway, waiting for me to turn up so they could serve the appetizer. Mother's eyes widened in genuine concern when she saw me, for apart from the sling, I was obviously very pale. In deference to the formal setting, she did not speak, but I knew that once the King's left she would be fussing over me and bombarding me with questions.

  As Father returned to his seat, I greeted the King family formally, and then lowered my aching body in the chair on my father’s right, directly opposite younger sister, who was holding her hands to her mouth in shock at my appearance. I tried to flash her an encouraging smile, but I don't think I was quite up to the task.

  "Liam's been telling us about the Skel attacks on our foraging teams this morning," Aiden King said when I turned to face him. "Sorry to hear you got caught up in that, Son. How are you feeling?"

  "A bit worse for the wear, Sir," I replied. Actually, now that the hospital's painkiller had worn off I just wanted to lie down and die. Well, not literally. I glanced at Sienna, thinking she'd be concerned that I'd been injured; however, she was examining me with little more than casual interest. That horrible sinking feeling returned to my gut - I was to spend the rest of my life with this girl?

  A knock at the door interrupted my train of thought. I watched as Father rose and went to see who it was.

  "What are you doing here?" my father snapped quite rudely at the mystery visitor.

  "I came with the councillor from Hamamachi as his translator," replied a somewhat familiar voice. My spirits rose when I realised it was Nanako, but my initial excitement was followed immediately by confusion - what on earth was she doing here?

  "No," I heard my father say as he tried again, "What are you doing at my home?"

  "Oh, I'm looking for Ethan. Is he here?" Nanako asked, trying to see into the flat past my father's broad frame.

  I had parted company with her last night on a very negative note, and had spent the rest of last night, and all of today, down in the dumps because of it. So this was an opportunity I wasn't going to waste. I rose from my chair and stepped to the left so she could see past my father and see me.

  Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw the sling, and then, to my amazement, she slipped lithely past my father and rushed over to me. "What happened, Ethan? Are you alright?"

  "We got jumped by Skel while foraging today," I replied.

  She laid her petite, bronzed hands lightly upon my bandaged arm. "And you were hurt?"

  I was aware that both families were staring at us in a mixture of confusion and disdain - all but Lieutenant Liam wondering how I happened to know such a strange and no doubt unmarried young woman. And me? I didn't care one iota - I shut them out and gave her my whole attention. I pointed to the crossbow bolt wound, "I, ah, got shot by a crossbow."

  "You got shot?” she exclaimed, her eyes brimming with tears. “So why aren't you in hospital?"

  "They let me go," I said, which was kind of what happened.

  "But aren't you in pain?"

  "Well, just a tad," I said, pride stopping me from admitting the truth.

  "Oh Ethan, this is no good, you could have been killed! Promise me you'll find a safer job."

  I was surprised by the depth of concern she was showing - she really cared for me. "I'll think about it," I replied as I glanced at Lieutenant King. The fact was, with all the foraging trucks gone and the Skel besieging the town, there would be no foraging for some time.

  Nanako gestured to my chair. "Here, you'd better sit down, you're so pale."

  "Let me introduce you to everyone first - everyone, this is Nanako. She's the translator who came from Hamamachi on Monday," I said, after which I introduced each member of the King and Jones families to her. She bowed politely to each in turn.

  When I got to Liam, she said, "I am honoured to meet you again, Sergeant King."

  "It’s lieutenant now, actually," Liam replied, clearly uncomfortable with this situation. "And, thank you."

  My father had not moved from the door, which he was still holding open, clearly hoping Nanako would leave.

  I, however, wanted her to stay. "Does anyone mind if Nanako joins us for dinner tonight? She is an esteemed visitor to our town, after all."

  King senior and my father begrudgingly muttered their approval, resentful that I had forced them to do so by asking if Nanako could join us while she was still with us, for had they refused, they would have lost face.

  I ushered Nanako to the seat beside younger sister so she would be opposite me. As soon as she sat down, Sienna and her mother grimaced as though she was something the cat had dragged in from the gutter. My opinion of Sienna slid down a dozen more notches.

  I returned to my seat as Father closed the door and sat beside me. He kicked my shin under the table, glared at me, and then nodded to my mother and sister, who disappeared into the kitchen. They returned a moment later with bowls of tomato soup.

  "This is scrumptious, Mrs. Jones," Nanako said to my mother after she tasted it. "What ingredients did you use?"

  Everyone gaped at Nanako in disbelief - she, a female, had spoken at the meal table without receiving permission to do so from one of the men. My mother looked to my father, unsure of what to do. Although clearly displeased at Nanako's lack of manners, he nodded his permission.

  "It is an English recipe," my mother answered quietly, "It has tomatoes, butter, chicken stock, tarragon, basil, sour cream, salt and pepper."

  "I recognised the basil, but tarragon? What a fantastic idea, it really adds to the taste," Nanako replied enthusiastically.

  Mother smiled bashfully.

  Nanako noticed younger sister stirring her soup and taking the occasional sip. "You're Meredith, aren't you?"

  Younger Sister's eyes widened in alarm, and she looked to father for permission to reply.

  "Go on," I encouraged her, cutting in before father had a chance to respond.

  "Yes," she replied shyly.

  "You're very pretty," Nanako said, smiling warmly.

  Younger Sister looked embarrassed but at the same time, I could tell that she was moved by the compliment.

  Nanako studied her with knowledgeable eyes, and I guessed she could see Younger
Sister was not well. She had tried to cover the sores at the corners of her mouth with makeup, but they were still visible.

  When the soup was finished, my mother and older sister brought out heated dinner plates bedecked with roast chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, and beans.

  The tomato soup was the first thing I had eaten today, so I tucked into the roast dinner with gusto, grinning unashamedly at Nanako while I ate.

  Glaring with disgust at my undignified display of affection towards Nanako, Sienna King touched her father's arm deferentially, and he nodded, giving her permission to speak.

  "Nanako, is that how all the girls in Hamamachi dress?" she asked with contempt and stressing the word 'girl.'

  Nanako glanced at her attire. She was wearing the same clothes she had worn on Monday, the faded black and blue zebra stripped jacket, black top with blue and pink lace skirt, torn pink leggings and black boots, and as usual, the dog collar with bell and two gold rings. "This was the fashion three years ago in Hamamachi. It comes into vogue from time to time in remembrance of our Japanese heritage."

  "Are you trying to say that outfits like that are traditional Japanese fashion?" Sienna asked sceptically.

  "More recent Japanese tradition, but yes. It's from Akihabara in Tokyo in the late twentieth century, where fashion was inspired by Japanese comics and motion-picture animations," Nanako explained.

  "Is that right? And if you don't mind my asking, how come your parents allowed a child like you to act as translator for Hamamachi's emissary? Shouldn't you be at home with your mother?"

  My respect for Nanako increased even more when she refused to respond in similar fashion to Sienna's attack. "Oh no, I travel a lot, actually. You know, to other Victorian towns. And I serve one month a year in our Militia. And, I'll be nineteen at the end of the month, by the way."

  Sienna's eyes just about popped out of her head, for she had believed Nanako to be her junior, not her senior by two years.

  "What is this Militia you mention?" Liam asked.

  "It's our security force," Nanako replied between bites, "You know, like your Custodians."

  King looked at her doubtfully. "And you serve in that?"

  "Yes."

  "In what capacity?" he demanded. I got the impression this had suddenly become an interrogation.

  "My platoon patrols the outer lying areas of the town, you know, to provide security against raiders or Skel who try to steal our supplies or abduct our people."

  "But you're a girl," he protested rather too strongly.

  "So what?" she shot back at him with such feeling that everyone present flinched. "All Hamamachi citizens aged 15 to 55, whether male or female, serve in the Militia one month a year."

  “So you don't have any full time security forces?" Liam asked, surprised.

  "Apart from the Rangers, only the senior Militia officers serve full time."

  "Rangers?"

  "They're an elite military unit that specializes in countering Skel incursions and retrieval of kidnapped citizens, stolen supplies and livestock - stuff like that," she answered.

  "Interesting," Liam murmured, nodding thoughtfully to himself. No more questions came so it seemed the impromptu 'interrogation' was over.

  "Mrs Jones," Nanako said to my mother as she waited on us by the kitchen door, "The roast chicken is just amazing, I love the way you've brought out the skin's flavour with herbs and spices. And I love these roast veggies too."

  "Thank you," my mother replied, glancing at my father, hoping she had done the right thing by replying.

  "Oh, by the way Ethan, did you enjoy the meal I cooked for our dinner at your place last night?" Nanako asked me innocently.

  While I gagged on a mouthful of roast potato and sprayed it all over my plate, everyone else's mouths dropped open in shock. In fact, you could have heard a pin drop as all four King's, disbelieving what they had heard, looked to me to hear my response.

  My face was burning hot - I could not believe Nanako had just gone and blurted that out in front of everyone! "Ah, yes, it was delightful, thank you," I finally managed to reply.

  This response was met with stunned silence too.

  My father was the one who broke the uncomfortable silence, speaking just loud enough for all to hear as he spoke to me. "So when you rang yesterday and said 'something very important's come up,' this ‘something very important’ was having dinner with her?"

  My eyes darted frantically between my father, Nanako, and Aiden King. I wanted to avoid my father's wrath, and did not want to insult the Kings, but I also refused to insult Nanako's generous hospitality by playing down how much having dinner with her last night meant to me. "Yes Father, that's correct."

  Sienna and her mother gasped in shocked outrage, their hands flying to their mouths.

  Aiden King pushed back his chair and rose slowly to his feet, his voice trembling with anger. "Is this how you raised your son, William, to completely disregard courtesy, respect and honour? To be so flippant of his responsibilities?"

  My father stood, his mouth working silently like a fish out of water as he glared daggers at me. "I'm sorry, Aiden, I don't know what's come over him, he's never behaved in such a manner before," he practically whimpered.

  "Well, I have never been so offended in my entire life!" Aiden growled as he motioned his family to their feet. "Come Sienna, Wife, Elder Son, we are going."

  Leaving their half-eaten meals behind, the King family strode with exaggerated self-importance towards the door.

  I stood as well, knowing I should say something to salvage this situation, but having no idea what it should be, and in fact, having no desire to do so, said nothing.

  "Son, apologize at once!" Father ordered me.

  I sent a fleeting look at Sienna's haughty posture as she headed for the door, and then at Nanako's caring, kind face, and I knew I could not. The thought of marrying Sienna had scared the daylights out of me, and so this situation, although it brought dishonour to my family and I, was an absolute windfall for me. I shook my head.

  My father took a menacing step towards me but froze when Aiden King yanked open the front door and turned to face him. "And in case you hadn't worked it out, William, the marriage is off."

  I became aware of a menacing presence at my shoulder, and almost jumped when I saw Lieutenant King’s face less than an inch from mine.

  "Were you alone with that girl last night, Jones?" he asked far too quietly.

  "Councillor Okada came with Nanako," I replied - an answer, which if interpreted literally, was the truth. If I had answered in the affirmative, King would have arrested us both on the spot.

  "You'll pay for this insult to my family's honour, Jones, I'll see to it personally," he whispered into my ear before striding out of the flat and slamming the door behind him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  My father was quivering with rage. I had never seen him this angry before, and to be honest, I was scared. I had no idea what he was capable of like this.

  "What have you done, Ethan?" he shouted as he took a step towards me. "All of my efforts - weeks of negotiations and discussions - to find you a wife who could elevate your station, who could give you the motivation you need to make something of your life, and you throw it all away. And for what - to have dinner with her?" He pointed at Nanako but did not even grace her with a glance.

  Nanako stood and made her way unobtrusively around the far end of the table and came to stand beside me. I was thankful for her silent support, although she appeared as shaken by my father's naked aggression and hostility as I was.

  "I know you meant well, Father, but why couldn't you have discussed it with me instead of springing Sienna King on me at the last possible moment? She knew all about me but I was completely in the dark," I answered as strongly as I dared, which wasn’t particularly strongly at all.

  "What's that got to do with it?" he bellowed. "I met your mother on our wedding day. You should have considered yourself lucky I agreed to the King's req
uest to let the two of you meet before the wedding. Now go this very minute to the King's residence and apologise for your insulting behaviour and beg their forgiveness."

  I did not want to deal with this issue today, I was sore and tired and just wanted to go home and sleep. "Look Father, please don't think I don't appreciate the effort you put into all of this, but I don't want to marry Sienna King."

  "What you want has nothing to do with it, Son. To marry a girl above your station like Sienna is an opportunity you will never get again – especially once word gets around about what you’ve done. Now off you go."

  I didn’t move.

  "I gave you an order, Ethan," he yelled.

  To defy my father on any issue, and especially on a major one like this, went against everything I had been taught, yet I still wouldn’t move.

  "Now, Ethan!" he shouted furiously.

  "Sorry, Father, I just can't do it," I practically whispered.

  He took a big step towards me and pulled back his hand to strike me across the face, but little Nanako, a full head shorter than either one of us, suddenly jumped in front of me and dared him to strike her instead.

  Father stood there, blinking and shaking uncontrollably, wanting to strike her but unable to bring himself to do so.

  "Get out of my home, you confounded nuisance of a girl!" he finally managed to say, his voice shaking with rage.

  "What are you going to do if I refuse, Mr Jones - call the Custodians and ask them to throw me out?" she shot back vehemently.

  I looked down at Nanako in surprise - where had that burst of emotion come from? One thing was for sure, though, she had backbone. Far more than I had, in fact.

  Father glowered at her for a moment, and then abruptly stormed from the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

  Exhausted from standing too long, and from a confrontation that was going to come back and bite me, I slumped back into my chair.

  Nanako pulled out a chair and sat beside me this time. "Are you okay, Ethan?"

  "Jury’s out on that one," I replied.