plantation

by Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  Rabbit jumps in the middle of the circle. “We’re in trouble,” he says. “The camp has been raided.”

  “Details, Rabbit,” Damian commands.

  “I hid on the overlook and looked down at the camp. Somebody has been there. The area around the supplies building and the kitchen is a total mess. Plants have been bent and broken, tents pulled down. There’s scattered food everywhere.”

  “Get out of the path,” Damian says. “We should hide in the trees.”

  “What now?” Finn says when we’re out of harm’s way.

  Damian grabs Rabbit’s arm. “Rabbit and I will go to the camp to evaluate the situation.”

  “I’m going, too,” Daphne says pulling her pulse gun out.

  “Me, too,” Finn says.

  “No, you stay put and take care of the group,” Damian says.

  They set off and we sit in the bushes to wait for them to return. We are stunned and find it hard to talk. Then Finn does something unthinkable, something that I would have never been prepared for. He puts his arm around Daphne and reassures her that everything will be all right. “Damian and Rabbit will be back in no time,” he says. “Just be patient.”

  Daphne nods and rests her head on his shoulder for a moment.

  My mind goes back to what Tilly was saying right before Damian raised the alarm. Is it possible that what she overheard was Finn talking to Daphne in secret? What about? Since when are those two close?

  I peek at Tilly out of the corner of my eye. She’s sitting next to Biscuit, pulling her sleeves over her fingers. She is perhaps more scared than anyone. My questioning will have to wait. By the time this unexpected issue is resolved, I’ll probably change my mind and never bring the subject up anyway. What do I care what Finn or anybody does or talks about? We’re all free people.

  Evening is on its way. That’s not a bad thing as it will make hiding easier. The breeze is getting cooler and I close my eyes to concentrate on that refreshing feeling.

  “How are you holding up?” Finn’s voice startles me. I just about jump out of my skin. He takes hold of my hand. “Hey, calm down, it’s me.”

  He sits down next to me and I wish he’d put his arm around me the same way he did with Daphne. Maybe the danger we’re facing will make things all right between us again and we’ll be reminded of what’s truly important.

  “What do you think is going on?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. Damian is careful. They will be back soon.”

  Finn and his simple logic. Finn and his supporting system. Finn and his calm. Finn. I miss him.

  “Do you think the Sliman finally discovered the camp behind the facilities? They were dangerously close when you saw them the other day.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine, Tick.”

  “How long will we wait if they don’t come back?”

  It’s probably the wrong question to ask. Finn looks away but I can picture his expression. I’ve always been able to do that. I know that he doesn’t want to think about the ominous possibility I’ve put in front of him. I know that he yearns to be out there with Damian and Rabbit, to share the danger with them and to be able to protect the rest of the team.

  Finn prefers an adrenaline rush to safety. It’s the one thing I’m worried might get him in trouble some day.

  “I won’t think like that,” he says after a pause.

  Dusk invades the forest fast. Trees darken and grow taller. Shadows emerge on the ground and the moon starts its slow ascent. The ground feels wet and unfriendly. We remain quiet and still as the waiting stretches on into the evening.

  “Are you still mad at me?” I ask. The surprise I see on his face surprises me even more.

  “What are you talking about? I was never mad at you.”

  “You could have fooled me.”

  “Freya, don’t you know me at all? I was a bit disappointed, not mad or angry or even upset. I felt you needed a break from me. It seems you do the most stupid things when I’m around.”

  The ground starts to feel warm and I reach over to pat his hair. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “I know you don’t.”

  I shove him and slap his nose softly.

  He’s about to reciprocate when Daphne cuts in. “Keep it down, Freya. We don’t need the whole forest to know we’re here.” She turns to Finn. “Can I talk to you?”

  He nods and follows her several feet away from me. I can’t hear a thing they’re saying because they take turns to whisper into each other’s ear. Whatever it is they’re talking about, it doesn’t make them happy. I feel a bit nauseous and I have to take a few deep breaths to control my growing anxiety. It’s not easy not knowing what’s going on.

  I should be happy that Finn and Daphne have put their differences behind them and can confide in each other. We are a team after all and, as far as we know, the only free people left on Earth. I should follow Finn’s example and befriend Daphne. What is it that we really have to argue about anyway?

  It makes no sense that the way she touches Finn’s arm when she talks in his ear should bother me but it does. I have no time to decipher this strange feeling. I wonder if this was how normal teenage girls felt when their brother fell in love for the first time and lost interest in all the things they used to do together, like playing some kind of sport, watching movies or talking about the books they read; when they started to live and breathe for their girlfriend instead.

  Theo receives a message on his touchpad. Daphne springs next to him immediately.

  “What’s up?” she says.

  “It’s Damian,” Theo says. “They’re on their way back.”

  This is good news. I can finally concentrate on something else, something of real and tangible importance.

  When the two of them emerge from the shadows—Rabbit, tiny and flexible like a greased eel, with Damian right behind him, tall and built like a rock—we all gather up and form a circle around them.

  “It’s bad,” Damian says. “We didn’t actually see anyone. Whoever they are, they left the place hours earlier.”

  “This sounds good though, doesn’t it? Maybe it was just the wolves that messed up the place?” Tilly says.

  “I’m afraid that’s not a possibility,” Damian replies. “Whoever it was, they took most of our food and water when they left. Wolves could not have done that.”

  There’s a moment of silence before we all start talking at the same time. The news is overwhelming and everyone has to voice an opinion.

  Damian calls us back to order. “Listen,” he says, “we can’t waste any more time. We can’t go back to the camp. We have to find a safe place to spend the night and rest. We’ll have to evaluate the situation in the morning and take it from there.”

  Playtime is over, it seems. Time for some real growing up.

  Chapter 10

  I can’t sleep. I took the first shift with Nya and Biscuit to guard the entrance to the cave. It was a quiet two-hour period as Nya never uttered a word and Biscuit was too hungry to even think straight. I should have fallen asleep when Scout, Theo and Zoe took over, but my head has been full of persistent thoughts that cram and squeeze against my aching skull.

  It took us almost an hour to reach this mountain. We owe it to Rabbit who saw the big cave during one of his running expeditions. Nobody mentions the fact that Rabbit had no business being out here by himself. Not even Damian.

  The cave is big enough to fit twenty people – maybe even twenty-five. It is dry and cool with good ventilation. The ground is covered with moss and the walls are smooth except for a few spots where an ancient dweller had been carving with a big knife of some type.

  We will be safe here for the time being in the darkness and silence of the cave. Under my closed eyelids, I imagine we are in a turtle shell or inside of an egg. We can stay here for a long time if needed. Everything will be okay. That’s what I keep telling myself.

  *

  When dawn arrives, I open my eyes and immediat
ely get a splitting headache. I’ve barely shut eye during the night and the little sleep I did get was plagued with nightmares of doom and destruction.

  I hear whispers and turn my head in their direction at the back of the cave. I make out the outlines of two silhouettes, no doubt Damian and Finn. I try to get up when I notice a hand lying on my left thigh. I follow it up to the arm and shoulder and discover that it belongs to Tilly. She must have moved close to me sometime during the night. She looks so peaceful and innocent it almost breaks my heart. I have come to care deeply for her, the way I would have cared for my baby sisters if we had been allowed to stay together.

  I gently push Tilly’s hand away and walk the short distance to where Damian and Finn stand. They seem to be in a heated argument. They stop talking the moment they realize I’m next to them.

  “Any news?” I ask.

  The tension between the two is obvious. Finn glances at me for a second. “Scout and Rabbit have been sent out to the camp,” he says with a tone that indicates he doesn’t like that one bit.

  I’m about to ask him what his thoughts are on the situation when I hear two piercing voices coming from the cave entrance. Surprisingly, one of the voices belongs to the ever composed Nya. The second one belongs to Zoe. The two of them took on an extra shift and now they are having a go at each other while on guard.

  Damian rushes over to them. I prepare myself for the explosion that will surely follow but it never happens. He takes hold of the girls’ hands and, to my astonishment, speaks to them in a calm, low voice.

  “Hey, you have to keep your cool,” he says. “We need our heads squarely on our shoulders more than ever. Patience at these times is difficult, but we can’t let it get to us and ruin everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve.”

  “Gosh, I’m sorry,” Zoe says, shaking her head. “I don’t know what got into me. You’re right, Damian. This is stupid.”

  Zoe extends a hand to Nya who agrees with a nod. Just like that, the argument is resolved.

  Daphne springs up next to Zoe and pats her on the back. “It’s been a tough day,” she says. “I’ll take over, you and Nya can go get some rest.”

  I think I’ve seen it all when Finn offers to keep watch with Daphne and she accepts with a smile. I shake my head to clear it from thoughts. I’m becoming obsessed with all this. Enough with the Finn and Daphne stuff. The whole world has gone crazy.

  I take a look around the cave. Doc and Theo are working on their touchpads. Tilly has just woken up and is talking with Biscuit. Zoe and Nya are settled down, trying to get some rest. Damian walks past Finn and Daphne to step outside.

  I decide to follow him out. “Is it okay if I take a short walk?” I ask.

  “Why not?” he says. He pauses for a second before he adds, “I think I’ll join you.”

  His words sink in and I feel as if I’m having a dream or a nightmare. It depends on how you look at it. Under any other circumstances, I would have said that I needed to be by myself, but he’s been so odd today that I’m curious to see if I can get him to tell me what’s really going on.

  The sky is clear and the forest is cool and humid. We walk quietly for a few minutes and then he asks me if I am scared.

  “Scared?” I say and glance to him. “I haven’t been scared since the day I came into this world or I’ve been scared the whole time. Not sure which.”

  He stops walking and looks at me curiously. “You say the weirdest things sometimes, Freya.”

  “Well, you should know. You’re pretty weird yourself lately.”

  We continue walking. His hand reaches up to touch leaves and branches as we walk. I try not to think it, but I do. Gentleness looks good on him.

  “I’m not weird, I’m scared,” he says.

  I can’t help but wonder if this is really Damian I’m talking to or if he is setting me up in some way. “Did you just say you’re scared?” I ask in a whisper.

  He turns to look at me. His eyes are the deepest blue under the night sky. I can’t help the thought. Damian is handsome, or would be if he relaxed a little.

  “You know that’s what I said,” he says with a sigh. “We’re getting so close to the end of our little fairytale. It doesn’t feel right that we would go through all this trouble, escaping, hiding, living like fugitives, building, training and then one day, boom, it all vanishes and we’re back to plantation life waiting for our turn to slip into the unknown.”

  “It’s not…” I start to say but can’t go on.

  “It’s not what?” he eggs me on.

  “It’s not like you to talk like this.” There, I said it.

  “How would you know?”

  “How would I know? Everyone knows.”

  “Nobody knows anything, Freya. We pretend we know, but we’re like puppets really, thrown onto the planet as an experiment. We’re empty shells filled with lost experiences and dreams of a world we never knew. We act as if we know what we’re doing, but our plans may soon be spat out like poison.”

  “Wow,” I say to lighten the mood, “what have you been reading?”

  Damian smiles but his heart isn’t in it. Now I really begin to feel scared. If he cracks under pressure, if he loses his composure, the Saviors will be in far more serious trouble. Brutish or not, he keeps us together.

  I grab him by the arm and force him to look at me again. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “Because you understand what I’m feeling. I see it in your eyes, you can’t hide it. You think like me no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise. You understand the hopelessness of all this.”

  We stare at each other for a long while. The light on his touchpad starts flashing before I have a chance to respond, which is good. His vulnerability was becoming intoxicating.

  “Rabbit,” he says into the touchpad. “What’s up? Any clues yet?”

  “Yeah,” Rabbit responds. “You have to see this for yourself. Bring everyone back to the camp.”

  “Rabbit, I’m in no mood for games, just tell me what you’ve found.”

  “No, it won’t be anywhere near as fun as if you all see it with your own eyes,” Rabbit says. “Just come, it’s not dangerous.”

  Damian exhales hard, spews out a few curses and takes off toward the cave. He has forgotten all about me and our shared perspective. He is his usual self. As for me, I’m confused beyond words. I don’t know if he was playing me. I don’t know whether I want to be his friend or slap him across the face.

  I follow him unwillingly. I begin to feel glad that he’s started to act like a brute again. At least something in this world has not changed. I will always know what’s beneath his rugged exterior though. It will be a lot harder for him to act so almighty with me in the future.

  Chapter 11

  We get to the hill where Rabbit and Scout have been waiting for us. I’m prepared to be faced with something totally startling because it is so unlike Rabbit to be secretive and, most of all, patient. Usually, his enthusiasm gets the better of him and he blurts out everything in a split second.

  I reach the top of the hill and take a look at the forest and the facilities below. The view puts me in a state of shock. I cannot believe what I am seeing. A quick glance at the faces of the Saviors convinces me that they are all similarly stunned. Tilly and Biscuit break our bewildered silence when they burst out laughing.

  The camp has been taken over by a group of big apes and, as unlikely as that is, it is also a relief. We all smile eventually.

  Damian is the only one who seems to be more puzzled than joyful. “How is this possible?” he asks.

  That’s exactly my question, too, but at the moment the answer doesn’t matter. We’ve never seen apes before apart from in the animal books. The reason is simple. Apes are not from this part of the world. Our forest and mountains are not their natural habitat. These creatures should not be here.

  Doc steps to Damian. “I remember something that was said at the lab in Plantation-4 when I was a tr
ainee,” he starts. “Not in the form of random rumors but as actual, possible experiments. There was a particular one about messing with the DNA of chimpanzees to make them more human-like.”

  I turn to take a closer look at the action below. The apes are most likely chimpanzees if I judge by the pictures we have seen. There are seven of them and they are indeed behaving with an intelligence that exceeds that of any ordinary animal. They’re also quite big and look very strong and agile. They move their hands in a way that could be some form of language that they use to draw one another’s attention.

  One of them pours water in a cup and tries to drink out of it. Another one examines a touchpad device he has his hands on.

  “It’s true. These are no ordinary apes,” Theo says.

  “Look at that,” Damian says. “They’re aping our behavior.”

  We may even be more stunned now. Damian just made a joke. Who is this guy and what has he done with our normal leader?

  “How’d they end up here?” Finn says. “Do you think they escaped?”

  “Possible, but not likely,” Doc replies. “My guess is they were released into the wild for reasons known only to their creators.”

  “Creators or tormentors?” Zoe asks.

  “Both,” Theo replies.

  “They seem to be having fun actually,” Tilly says.

  “Not fun,” Finn says. “Something else. It’s not fun to be altered, to be driven away from your nature and to be thrown into a world completely foreign to you.”

  “Are we still talking about the chimpanzees?” Daphne asks.

  Finn just shrugs.

  “We need a plan,” Damian says. “We have to get them out of the camp and drive them as far away from us as possible. We can’t afford to share our food with them. Our crops are not as plentiful this year.”

  Biscuit sighs. “I’d like to share with them now,” he says, reminding us that we haven’t eaten since yesterday.

  “First things first,” Damian says. “First we deal with the invaders and then we can worry about our stomachs.”