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The house my brother took over a few years ago is one of the biggest in the town. It was previously owned by a wealthy family that had fled north before the wall went up and had been sitting empty for years. He not only picked it for the size and grandeur of it but because it had an antique hand pump connected to a well in what was once a decorative garden. The previous owners probably had it installed for a quaint water feature. For us, it meant life.
The house is big enough to hold all his men. Boyd likes having them all under his roof to better control them. When we had gotten all the wagons into the front entrance, they all left them there for me to unpack and they settled in, lounging on old dusty couches in the living room. That suits me just fine. I’m pumped full of rage at the way Boyd had threatened Claudia and was ready to gut him like a fish if he spoke to me. I’m getting a grip on some of the jugs to carry them into the kitchen when Marco’s excited voice rings out and Boyd yells for everyone to “shut up”. I let the jugs fall back into the wagon and step closer to the livingroom entrance to hear what he had to say.
“Alright, Marco. Start at the beginning.” Boyd commands.
“Right, so I go back to the square like you said and take a good look around. It’s not like normal where they leave the tables and partitions in place for next week. They’re pulling it all down and loading it up into the trucks. They even took the signs down! Instead, they put up new ones. So once the soldiers cleared out and the trucks left, I ran over to see what the new signs said.
You’re not going to believe it! They’re shutting the whole thing down. No more rations or water...at all! The sign says there will be buses coming next week instead to take everyone north to the camps. The government’s abandoning all the southwestern states completely!”
I peek around the corner to see into the room and watch as Boyd’s eyes go from rage to cold and calculating at the information. He spits onto the wood floor between his feet and snarls.
“No one’s taking me to any labor camp! What about the rest of you? You wanna go be some government big shot’s slave?” When all the men roar in the negative he leans back. “This is a game changer. If we’re going to survive without access to the ration stations then we’re going to have to take matters into our own hands and start stocking up right now.” He looks around and yells, “Somebody get me a map of town!” Once he has one spread out on the dirty table in front of him, they start marking occupied houses street by street.
I slip away from the door and go back to moving the supplies into the kitchen as my thoughts spin out of control. I don’t want to go to a camp either but I definitely don’t want to be around here when Boyd and his thugs burn the place to the ground. I know that’s what’s coming with his planning. They’re going to go house to house and force everyone to give up what little they have. People are going to get hurt. He won’t hold back now that he knows his supply chain is about to go dry.
I finish up quickly, grab a tall glass of water from one of the stolen jugs and head out the side door to the back yard to think. I like sitting out here after the sun has passed over the house and there’s a little bit of shade. I settle into an old wooden lawn chair and try to ignore the ugly voices floating out of the open windows as they compare notes on who lives where and what they might have. I chug back my water and then rest my head back and close my eyes. I can’t be a part of this. I can’t go loot people’s homes of the little they have left, especially when I know there won’t be more coming. I wish there was some way I could warn the town of what was coming and then find a way to escape this place. I’m so sick of being trapped here under Boyd’s thumb. I want to run. Run far away and find a new life but there just isn’t anywhere left to go. I feel all hope leave me when I realize I’m going to die in this town.
“...here first! Anyone else notice she seemed a little too well fed? I bet they have food stored up in that house.” Floats out through the window to me. I sit up as fear for my once friend fills me, but what I hear next changes my fear to determination.
“The girl’s mine. I don’t care what you do to the old woman or the brat, but no one lays a hand on the girl!”
I might die in this town but I’ll go out doing the right thing, protecting the last person who showed me kindness!