Stealing Silence(6)
Mitch led Avalon along a high hedge, devoid of leaves and then down a garbage alley, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. He pressed the unlock button and headlights flashed on a beat up Mustang. They jumped into the car, locking the doors. Mitch jammed the keys into the ignition and the car roared to life. Grimacing as the sound shattered the silence, he slipped it into gear and drove away, careful to not speed or attract attention. Avalon did not speak but watched the scenery flash by the window, relieved to be out of the cell and free once more, or at least relatively free. She still had no idea what Mitch intended, or why he was putting himself and his career on the line in such a fashion, and she was afraid to ask. She remained silent.
After putting several miles between the town and their current location, Mitch pulled onto a dirt side road and pulled into a scenic overlook. The Partridge river flowed sluggishly between the banks at a rate one-quarter of it’s normal levels. The banks were cracked and dry and the only sign of any green lay right against the lip of the water, but it was closer to chartreuse. He put the car in park, then reached behind him on the seat and grabbed a cooler. He flipped the lid open. “Help yourself to food.”
He pulled a bottle of juice from the depths and twisted the lid off, and handed it to her then opened one for himself, taking a long, cool swig of the nectar. Avalon took an equally long drink and sighed at the blissful sweetness of the drink.
“Now, it’s time for honesty, Avalon. We are going to sit here and eat our picnic, and you are going to tell me how to get to where you live, because you and I are going on a long journey. We will not be back to these parts for weeks, and you may never be back. I am sure there are things you want to gather for the trip and I am going to drive you there.”
“Where are we going?” Avalon picked at a thread on her pants that had snagged on the brush when they were hiding, regretting that they were damaged so soon. “I mean, I haven’t agreed to whatever it is you are planning. Maybe you should tell me why you sprung me from that jail cell. Then I will decide if I can trust you or not.”
Mitch pulled an object wrapped in tin foil from the container and handed it to her. She accepted the offering, eyes lighting up at the egg salad sandwich it contained. “You are a street thief. You know better than I that there is no food to be found anywhere in this town, other than that which is grown in the greenhouses or shipped in to the last grocery in operation, from the capital. The land is dying, Avalon. The drought shows no sign of letting up, and over the last several years the insect population has been in a state of serious decline. Crop failures in the open areas are at such alarming rates that there is no such thing as crop insurance any longer. Farmers must plant with no hope of rescue, and the drought has been so harsh, that they have abandoned the farms that have been in their families for years, and the only livelihood they have ever known, to take part time work anywhere they can find it. Where once they fed the world, they now struggled to feed themselves.
Last year, the government took over every last greenhouse nationwide. By a unanimous vote in parliament, they passed a law turning the ownership of all greenhouse facilities, to government control. The government now controls all food production in the nation. A lottery was set up to receive what limited assistance the government can supply. But there is not enough to go around. Those that do not win a tag, cannot buy the supplies they need to grow food in the greenhouses that surround their towns. Those who do not win this lottery, are doomed to even further starvation and for some, like Melona here, it could even mean the complete devastation of the town.
For Melona, it could mean disaster. With no food, the local economy will collapse completely. With no food, the people will starve. Most will move away.”
Avalon plucked an apple out of the lunch box and took a big juicy bite. She licked the juice from her lips and then sucked on the apple to draw out its sweetness. It was heaven.
She chewed, then swallowed, then said “Why should I care? They have done nothing to help me. When I asked them to share what they had, they chased me off with pitch forks or guns or set their dog on me. I make do just fine on my own,” she said, with pride, sinking her teeth into the apple then tearing off another chunk of white flesh.
“You should care, Avalon, because soon there will be no food, for anyone, including you. You are lucky I was there when you were arrested. The guards have been issued fire arms, and they have full license to shoot any who break in on sight, with no warning and no repercussion. If I had not been there when you were arrested, he may have done just that.”
Avalon took another bite and studied him over the dwindling core. “So, let’s say I believe you. What do you want of me? Why do you care what becomes of me?”
Mitch plucked out the other apple and shined it on his sleeve before taking a bite. “There is something about you, Avalon, that makes me want to help you. I can help you. But I need something in return.”
“What is that?”
“I need someone who is as skilled as you are, to steal something for me.”
Avalon’s eyebrows climbed into her hair as he went on to describe exactly what he wanted her to do. When he paused, she burst out, “You want me to break into the high security vault in the capital and steal some fertilizer? What kind of bullshit is this?”
“Believe me, if we had some bull shit, I wouldn’t be asking. But there are no farms so there is no fertilizer around, and we couldn’t use it if we wanted to. The government will not stop us planting again, after this harvest, but without the fertilizer, our chances of growing anything even remotely close to our needs is slim to none. We need this fertilizer to survive.”