The Revolution

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

After we'd made ourselves at home, we went to get some breakfast.  I went downstairs to see what was in the fridge, but when I opened it, my heart dropped.  It was empty.  I sighed deeply, what were we going to do for food then?  As I was thinking, there came a knock at the door.  I walked down the small hallway and opened it, to see Zayne standing there with a box of food.

"Thought you might need your fridge stocking up." He said, smiling.  I nodded, and let him in.  He went straight to the fridge and began placing different food items in there: apples, oranges, milk, lettuce, meat - there wasn't much but what was there was enough.  "This is just to get you started, for free, but you'll need to get a job to pay for the rest of your food." He began to explain. "The store is where you can buy meat, but if you can't afford their prices then you can always go and hunt by yourself - that's what I do.  Different people grow different vegetables, like Devon next door, she grows tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and potatoes, and if you're nice to her she'll give you a reduced price." He carried on.  I found it quite strange that even after everything that's happened, this small village carried on almost as if nothing had happened.

"Ok, so where can we get jobs?" I asked, once he'd finished explaining. 

"Well, you can grow food and sell it, you can tend other people's gardens, you can hunt for food and sell it or you can go out into the woods to make sure the military don't get too close." Zayne told me, smiling slightly.  "If you want, I'll give you a tour of the town, show you where everything is?" He offered.

"Um, yeah sure." I agreed, it would be helpful to be able to know my way around.

"Great, I'll come by at around 2?" I nodded and he grinned.  "See you then." He waved goodbye and walked back out.  When he'd gone, I opened the fridge and decided what to eat.  I'd never made my own meal before...I'm starting to wish I'd learnt how to.  Rachel walked in and saw the full fridge.

"Wow, where'd this come from?" She asked happily. 

"Uh, Zayne dropped some food in, to get us started." I told her, although I doubt she was listening as she was busily organising the food.  She pulled out a small bit of raw meat, some carrots and a bit of lettuce.   She pulled out a saucepan from the cupboard, placed it on the stove and began cooking the meat, occasionally turning it.

"Would you do the carrots for me, please?" She asked me.  I nodded and picked up the four carrots, not knowing what to do with them.  I didn't want to tell Rachel because she'd probably think I was stupid.  What do I do to carrots?!  I picked up the nearest knife and looked at the carrot, deciding how to cut it.  Maybe I should cut it straight down the middle, or do I need to chop the ends of first? 

"Watcha doing?" Aaron's voice behind me made me jump out of my skin.

"Cooking." Rachel replied, turning the meat again. 

"I'm cutting carrots." I told him, attempting to cut the end of one of the carrots, but it was very difficult.

"...with a butter knife?" He asked sarcastically, so I shot him an annoyed look. 

"Well, I could find any other knives." I lied, but then he opened up the drawer beside me and there were three or four very sharp knives in there.  "Oh."  Aaron chuckled and pulled out one small sharp knife, and another weird object.  "What's that for?" I asked stupidly.  Aaron looked at me, confused.

"It's a peeler...you use it to get the skin off the carrots." He said, this time not so sarcastically.  "Haven't you ever cooked before?" He asked quietly, and I shook my head in defeat.  "Well, look, it's not too hard." He held the carrot, and began sliding the peeler up and down it, making the skin come off.  I suddenly felt very stupid.   Aaron helped me with the rest of the carrots, but I could tear the lettuce by myself - I wasn't THAT stupid.  When we ate, the food was amazing, despite only being a bit of meat and some vegetables - it was probably the best meal I'd had.  My previously empty stomach had now stopped rumbling, although I was nowhere near full - there wasn't much food in the fridge, so we rationed it.