by Hunt, James
The leaning walls and sagging roofs of shacks mirrored the faces and bodies of everyone in town, most of whom were just getting out of the wax factory, scuttling back to their homes before curfew. Everyone wore the same mass-produced rags from some community in the west. Each community had a separate discipline, providing a desired product that was distributed to the rest of the Coalition. Their discipline was candles.
The skeletons that Alex passed walked with a limp and a hunch from the perpetual curl of their bodies clawing at the hunger in their stomachs. Movements were slow, groggy, disoriented. The hollowed eyes shielded minds too tired to think beyond the prospect of their next meal.
Between the narrow alleyways of the buildings that Alex passed on his way home, he could see the quick movements of a shadow. The shadow stayed in step with him, and when Alex stopped to tie the loose laces flopping around on the top of his boot, he heard the rapid succession of feet sprinting toward him.
“Got you!” Meeko yelled.
But before Meeko could pounce, Alex rolled forward, sending Meeko face-first into a pile of mud. The young boy lifted his face and wiped away the thick clumps of earth covering his eyes. Alex extended his hand to help him up. “If you’re going to surprise someone, kid, you need to make sure you make yourself known after you’ve gotten hold of them. Giving them time to move out of the way isn’t a smart call.”
“But I almost got you,” Meeko replied.
“Almost doesn’t pay the bills, kid.”
Alex used what he determined was the cleanest part of his shirt to help wipe the mud from Meeko’s face to where the boy could at least see, and the two of them walked home. The little street rat was distributed to Alex’s community by the Soil Coalition when the communities were first established three years ago. Alex caught him trying to sneak an extra ration card out of a sentry’s pocket. He immediately liked the kid.
“So did you get anything?” Meeko asked.
“It’ll be venison for dinner tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Deer, kid. It’s deer.”
The cul-de-sac where the community members lived were comprised of fifteen small two-bedroom homes. Each home housed no more than four individuals and no fewer than two. Some of them were families by blood, most by association.
Once Alex and Meeko made it to the top of the hill, Alex gave Meeko a playful shove, and the two stopped, both bending their knees slightly, each eyeing the center house with its two front windows shuttered closed.
“Same bet as last time?” Alex asked, his muscles twitching in anticipation for the race.
“Double or nothing,” Meeko answered.
“That’s bold. You think you have enough gas in the tank?”
“Eat my dust, old man!”
Dirt kicked up through the air as Meeko got the head start. The fatigue from earlier lifted as Alex chased him and caught up with Meeko halfway to the front door. He could feel Meeko’s small hands smack the side of his leg, attempting to push him off kilter, but Alex was too big for the boy.
The two were neck and neck down the final stretch, both reaching their hands out to touch the door handle first. Just before they reached the front steps, Alex took two leaping strides and beat Meeko by only a few feet.
The two bent over, panting, trying to catch their breath. Meeko threw a punch into Alex’s arm. “C’mon. Can’t you just let me win once?”
“What? You think I should be taking it easy on you? I’m doing you a favor.”
“How is beating me every time a favor?”
“Because when you do beat me, you’ll know that I didn’t let up. It’ll be more gratifying for you.”
Meeko rolled his eyes and twisted the doorknob. “It would be gratifying not to have to give you what chocolate I have left.”
“Hey. A bet’s a bet.”
Alex rested his pack against the wall next to the front door, and Meeko disappeared into his room. The light from the oil lamps in the house cast the front living room with an orange glow, which included Warren, who seemed to have become a growth on the chair he was always sitting in.
“How’d it go?” Warren asked, not looking up from the book he was reading.
Alex looked down the hallway to Meeko’s room, making sure he was still back there. He took a step onto the living room floor, and Warren dropped the book onto his lap with a smack. Alex froze.
“Really?” Warren asked.
“What?”
“Shoes, Alex! How many times have I asked the two of you to take your boots off? It’s like living with farm animals.”
Pig noises squealed from Meeko’s room on cue.
“I will eat that boy,” Warren replied with raised eyebrows.
“I heard that!” Meeko said, his voice slightly muffled behind his closed bedroom door.
“I know!” Warren shouted back, returning to his book. “I don’t even know why you keep that punk around. He doesn’t do anything but make my life a living hell. The latrine sits right behind the house, so it’s bad enough I have to smell shit when I’m here, let alone hear the nonsense that comes out of that boy’s mouth.”
Alex tossed his boots next to his pack and headed into the kitchen. The cabinet Alex opened, just like the rest of the cabinets in the kitchen, was completely empty. But he reached over the second shelf along the side wall. His fingers wiggled a loosely fitted piece of wood on the back corner. Alex pulled the wood out with his fingertips and grabbed the key hiding behind it.
“C’mon,” Alex said. “It’s inventory time.”
Warren snapped the book shut and scooted off his chair. He pushed his glasses up to the top of his head then slammed the book into Alex’s chest, passing him on the way to the garage.
“Your willingness to help is always appreciated,” Alex said.
Meeko came out of his room reluctantly, holding two chocolate squares in his palm. “Here.”Alex pocketed one, then tossed the other back to Meeko. He winked and Meeko smiled. “You are getting faster.”
Warren was already in the garage lighting the oil lamps when Alex joined him. The floor seemed slightly rippled in the lamplight, like a part of it had been scrunched up. Warren moved to the corner of the garage then stopped to look back at Alex. “I can’t do it when you’re standing on it.”
Alex jumped back into the hallway, and Warren bent over and worked the corner until he had a good grip on the flooring. He walked backwards, bringing up a thin layer of plastic that crinkled and curled from Warren rolling it up.
Once the top layer was removed, it revealed the garage’s true floor and a small latch door. Alex tossed Warren the key, and he opened the lock. The hinges on the latch door creaked as Warren opened it. His foot found the first rung of the ladder, and he began his descent. A slight metal thumping echoed until Warren made it all the way down. Once the thumping stopped, Alex made his way down.
The lamp Warren was finally able to light cast its glow onto a narrow hallway that extended back under the house. Both of them shuffled sideways to squeeze through.
“Christ, you’d think you could have made it a little bigger,” Warren said.
“It wasn’t built for comfort, Warren.”
The tiny hallway finally ended and opened up into a much larger twelve by twelve foot room. Just before Warren reached it, Alex grabbed his collar and pulled him backwards.
“Be… careful,” Alex said.
Alex released him, and Warren elbowed Alex’s ribs. “I didn’t forget.” Warren bent down and slowly removed a pin from the side of the wall at ankle height. A thin, translucent wire ran the width of the hallway, then ran into the room, where a pack of C-4 explosive was wired to bring the whole place down on any intruder’s head.
With the pin disabled and the wire removed, both men stepped inside the makeshift basement. The walls were lined with shelves packed with mason jars filled with different varieties of fruits, vegetables, and meats.
“All right. Let’s get it over with before this whole
goddamn deathtrap caves in on us,” Warren said.
Warren reached for the clipboard, and through the hundreds of pounds of dirt that lay above them, the distinct din of the community sirens penetrated their ears.
“Inspection,” Alex said.
Warren dropped the clipboard, grabbed the lantern, and hurried through the hallway, scraping against the dirt on either side of him. Alex made sure to grab the key Warren had left hastily on the table and followed the trail of dust that Warren had kicked up behind him. On his way out he bent down, carefully putting the pin back into place. Alex poked his head out of the hole in the garage floor, and Warren almost rolled the plastic film over his face. “Take it easy, Warren, you’ll tear it.”
“Hurry up and move out of the way!”
Alex leapt off the garage floor and into the hallway. Warren finished replacing the fake cover over the top of their hidden pantry and they extinguished the lanterns. Once outside, the sirens grew louder. The entire community was already lined up by the time Warren and Alex joined them. The government vehicles had blockaded the cul-de-sac’s entrance, and the inspector was making his rounds with the aid of the community’s sentries.
“All right, citizens. Blood tests today,” the inspector said.
Alex immediately looked down to Meeko on his right side. He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “Have you been watching your rations?” Meeko nodded.
Food distributed by the Soil Coalition was only obtained through ration cards. The ration cards allowed the Coalition to measure each citizen’s nutrition level based off of the cards turned in at the meal station. The blood tests were administered randomly to ensure the communities were not exceeding their allotted ration cards.
However, there was fluctuation with the nutrition levels, which allowed Alex and the rest of the community some wiggle room. Alex made sure he gave enough extra food to the community for them to stay alive but still allowed them to stay within the allotted nutritional range.
In addition to the blood samples drawn, each house was inspected by the sentries. Any items in the house that weren’t on the citizens’ personal registry were deemed contraband, and the owners were sent off to the nearest farm camp to work off their crime. Alex had enough food down in the basement to put him to work at a farm camp for the rest of his life.
It took the inspector thirty minutes before he made it to Meeko, Warren, and Alex. “Arm,” the inspector ordered. Meeko extended his right arm with his sleeve already rolled up and his palm facing up. The inspector guided the needle into the small cluster of needle-sized scabs and drained a syringe full of blood from Meeko’s vein. The inspector scanned the small barcode on the side of the syringe and placed it in a briefcase with the other samples. The same procedure was followed for both Alex and Warren.
Once the inspector was done, everyone stayed in place until the test results were completed. The inspector disappeared into the large truck that housed his lab equipment while the watchdogs continued their duty.
The community was dead quiet during the testing. It wasn’t always like that. When the inspections first started, people tried to remain in good spirits, but the Coalition believed that individuals in good spirits were harder to control.
This younger guy in the community, who must have been twenty-five or so, kept cracking jokes during the inspection. Alex figured he was just nervous and was trying to lighten the situation, but their old inspector was a hard-ass. The kind of meathead that got kicked off the high school football team for poor grades and took out his frustrations on the underclassmen. Before Alex could blink, the inspector caved the man’s head in with one blow of his baton. The Soil Coalition set the tone of its reign early, and no one had tested it since.
When the inspector stepped out of the van, he handed one of the sentries a list. The sentry nodded and began his walk down the line, which meant someone was over the limit. The first member that the sentry snatched was Harper. His wife clawed at his arm, trying to pull him back, but the other sentries restrained her.
Then the sentry continued down the line of community members, searching for his next victim. The rhythmic stomping of his boots couldn’t drown out the thumping beat pounding in time with Alex’s pulse. Alex balled his fists tight. If he was on that list, he wasn’t going without a fight. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Just before the lead sentry made it to Alex, he snatched Meeko’s wrist and pulled him from the line.
“Let me go!” Meeko said, attempting to squirm free from the sentry’s grip.
Alex stepped forward but felt his arm yanked back. He looked down to see Warren’s hand over his wrist. Alex ripped Warren’s hand off him, then lunged for one of the sentries. Alex wrapped his arm around the sentry’s neck and wedged it into the crook of his elbow. He applied pressure, slowly choking off the sentry’s airway. The sentry clawed at Alex’s arm and tried reaching for his weapon, but he was slowly losing consciousness. The other sentries drew their guns. Alex propped the sentry in front of him to protect his own body. “Let the boy go.”
The sentry detaining Meeko pulled a knife from his pocket. He yanked the boy’s head back, exposing his throat, and brought the edge of the blade to Meeko’s soft flesh. “Release the sentry in three seconds or I kill the boy. One.”
Meeko’s whole body shook, and tears streamed down his face.
“Two.”
Alex released the sentry, whose knees hit the ground with a thud. The sentry hacked and spit, breathing in massive gulps of air. Even with the sentry freed, the edge of the blade was still glued to Meeko’s throat.
The sentry’s cold eyes held no emotion about his work. He could slit Meeko’s throat, toss the corpse to the side of the road, and go home and sleep like a baby. That was what they were trained to do. That was what they enjoyed doing.
“Stop!” the inspector called out. “The boy will work off his debt at the farm camp. Now wrap it up! We still have to hit three more communities before we head back.”
“What about him?” the sentry asked, gesturing toward Alex.
“He’s the community’s hunter. He’s not to be harmed.”
The sentry fisted a cluster of Meeko’s black curls then lowered the blade from his throat and tossed him aside. The sentry that Alex had subdued finally regained his composure. His face was reddened as he grabbed his rifle and smacked the butt of the gun into Alex’s forehead.
***
Indistinguishable sounds echoed through Alex’s ears. He groaned. His fingers reached for the point on his forehead where he expected to find his skull split in half, but all he felt was a tender spot just below his hairline. The voices grew louder, until one familiar one came in loud and clear.
“You’re an idiot,” Warren said.
“Then I guess it’s lucky I live with the community’s doctor,” Alex said, cradling his head. Alex’s limbs fumbled, seemingly disconnected from his brain’s ability to control them. He managed to push himself to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, where his feet found the floor. The room seemed to be lopsided, constantly leaning left, then right at a moment’s notice. “Meeko. Where is he?” Aside from Warren, there were a few other members of the community in his room. Harper’s wife, Alice, was one of the first to approach him.
“I don’t know how it happened, Alex. Since we can’t live together, I can’t watch his rations. You know how he gets!” Alice said.
The others started crowding around Alex, spilling their concerns and worries, only adding to the thumping in his head. Their voices blended together in one piercing cry. He felt himself grow hot. His right shoulder burned with heat. The voices reached a crescendo until he finally stood up and screamed.
“ENOUGH!”
The room silenced. Alex gripped his should er, trying to extinguish the imaginary flames licking his skin. He was sweating uncontrollably, and his breathing became sporadic. The faces looking at him had changed from fear of the sentries to a fear of him.
“All right, everybody,�
� Warren said. “Alex needs to rest.”
Warren ushered everyone out of the room. The only noticeable difference in their absence that Alex could tell was the quiet void that replaced them. Once everyone was out, Warren returned to the edge of Alex’s bed.
“Why don’t you ever let me take a look at your shoulder?” Warren asked.
“There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“You say that, but I see you picking at it non-stop when you don’t think anyone’s looking.”
“It’s fine.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yeah, you said that already.”
“Oh, so it seems like your memory isn’t damaged, which is good to know, because that way you’ll remember that it’s illegal to attack a sentry!” Warren punched Alex’s leg to accentuate the point. “You’re lucky a blow to the head was all they gave you.”
