17 Lily and Arturo Hit the Road

Lily

 

“ Juan need to go back. ”

Arturo and I were walking through the large air-controlled greenhouses, his thumbs in his pockets, my arms folded in front of me.

“ Oh.” I felt too emotional, worn out from the revelations of the past twenty-four hours. “ So soon? But we only just got to see each other. ”

“ You so friend with Juan? ” he asked, perplexed.

“ No, silly, I meant you. ”

The initial confusion on his face cleared. “ Oh, no, I not go, ” he said. “ Are you kidding me? Uh-uh .” He shook his head from side to side. “ I keep you safe. ”

“ Really? You ’ re staying? ”

“ Sure. Papa and Abuelo say I need to stay with you. ”

It felt good knowing I wouldn ’ t be alone on this crazy adventure, but at the same time I recognized the conflicting emotion of irritation at the idea of needing to be “ kept safe ” by someone. I decided to ponder it later. Right now I would be grateful. “ That ’ s good, ” I said quietly.

His arm slipped around me.

“ Sí ,” he said. “ Querida Lily .”

 

Aaron and Meg were extremely high in the Seed Savers Network to also be GRIM-sanctioned growers. They told us that any other time of year we wouldn ’ t have been able to spend even one night with them, and even now we ’ d better be on our way. After a long day of talking and exchanging information, we were preparing to leave in search of my father. I wanted to write it all in my journal, for my own sanity mostly, and also as a record, but when I asked Meg , she said it was too dangerous. They had been appalled at the list Ana had given Clare and me but noted that it wasn ’ t current and probably wouldn ’ t do much harm if in the wrong hands.

Aaron affirmed that politically things were moving in the right direction. We would soon be entering an important election year, and there were many Seed Savers running for office. However, big money favored the opponents so it was imperative to educate people in order to enact change in the food laws. Aaron was certain GRIM would be eliminated within the next couple of year s but its eradication was only one thread in the fabric that needed unravelling.

When I asked if he knew where my dad was, he said he didn ’t —that it was better if he and Meg did not know. He would help me get to him, though . . . point us in the right direction.

I asked how my dad did it, how he had escaped.

“ Lily, listen. I can ’ t tell you any more. You and Arturo need to get out of Florida. It ’ s not a good place to be. I have a motorcycle you can use . It ’ s all-terrain but has no protection from the elements. I ’ m sorry. We tried for an ECV but weren ’ t able to get one on such short notice. ”

“ ECV? ”

“ Electric Capsule Vehicle. They ’ re really nice, haven ’ t you heard of them? ”

“ No. ”

“ Really? ” Arturo chastised. “ Wow, that w ould be so cool, ” he said to Aaron.

“ Anyway, the bike has a nav-map but I won ’ t program it, and I ’ m not going to write down where to find friends. I ’l l tell you some directions toward a few locat ions , the ones I think are currently safest. You ’ ll need to watch for the signs. The Savers who don ’ t work for GRIM can tell you more about finding and meeting your father . . . more about everything. ”

Aaron speculated that because I ’ d left the notes no one back home had panicked and alerted the authorities, thereby giving me a head start. Because I was undoubtedly under surveillance, however, after a few days suspicions would arise concerning my absence. GRIM would eventually track me to Plant City and maybe even here. But I was still ahead of them, and we all wanted to keep it that way.

He leaned over and picked up a mini-Monitor, a high quality one like I ’ d only ever seen in Stores but had never had the opportunity to touch. With a few flicks of his fingers, several images of Clare and Dante appeared—on their bicycles , standing at crosswalks. “ Your friends were tracked and didn ’t even know it, ” Aaron said. “ I’ m surprised they got away. They were lucky. ”

“ Who took those pictures? ” I asked.

“ T raffic-cams. Drones. They had the sense to travel at night , and fortunately they d idn’t go into many cities. But still—they could have done better. You two need to do better. ”

“ We will, ” I said.

“ You can believe in us, ” Arturo added.

For being members of Seed Savers you wouldn ’ t have known it by the meals Meg and Aaron ate . Meg blamed the season, but Arturo and I knew that with the hydroponic setup they could have grown whatever they wanted. Perhaps they were trying hard to stay under GRIM ’ s radar. But I had a hunch Meg enjoyed the ease of the packaged food groups. Arturo convinced me it would be impolite to ask. We weren ’ t surprised, then, to be given a substantial “ travel-pac ” of processed foods in all five food groups. Arturo sighed, missing the real food he was used to.

“ It ’s okay,” I said, patting his arm, “ you ’ ll live. ”

 

“ It would be best if you travel at night, like your friends, but this is an all terrain vehicle easily capab le of going off road so if it looks safe—no drones or people—you can go by day . Makes it a lot easier to see the signs. Remember to use your nav-map for directions only as needed .” We stood in the driveway, gear packed and helmets in hand, saying our final goodbyes. Aaron seemed agitated, talking more than he normally did.

“ Nice,” Arturo said, drawing out the vowel as he ran his hand over the shiny silver vehicle. Instead of two wheels, it had a continuous track, like on a tank. The treads reminded me of the yard robots advertised on the Monitor.

“ Like I said, all-terrain. This model is from the sixties, but it ’ s still in good shape , ” Aaron said.

“ Yes, ” agreed Arturo. “ It looks great. ” He had hopped on and was examining the control panel.

“ Hey, how old are you, anyway? ” Aaron asked. “ Are you sure you can drive this thing? ”

“ Oh, man, yeah, ” Arturo answered, maybe a bit too dramatically.

“ I’ m sure everything will be fine, ” Meg said. “ You ’ ll be careful, won ’ t you, Arturo? ” More of an assurance for Aaron and me than a question for Arturo.

Arturo ’s face turned serious and he stood up taller. “ Yes, ” (it still sounded like jess ) “ of course. I am protector of Lily, ” he announced to my embarrassment.