Rebellion

Chapter 4

We stayed in the forest for many days, feeling safe and worry-free for the first time in our lives. We could do anything we wanted, any time we wanted. There were no clocks; no schedules; no bed times; no school; no rules; and best of all, no Officers. I wanted to stay there forever, but I knew that eventually they would find us if we didn't keep moving.

After about a week of being in the clearing, we packed up our things, and we continued on. We spent our nights walking until morning, and we slept while it was light out. Landon did the hunting and cooking, while I gathered edible plants and water. I wondered if this was how people lived in the oldtimes, and I wished to have seen it. This wasn't the first time I wished that. Not by a long shot.

I don't know how many days we spent walking before we stopped again, but my muscles ached with every step. I could see my body getting thinner and my muscles more defined. Landon's already toned muscles became much more obvious by the day. I became full easier, and hungry less often, as my body adjusted to our diet. Landon's chin now had the beginnings of a beard. He looked like a man instead of the teenage boy I knew before. But that wasn't a bad thing. I liked the new us. It fit our new life.

When we did stop, we set up our camp like we had in the previous clearing, and we searched for our dinner. Landon had somehow taken down a small deer and carried it back to camp. His strength amazed me. It was much harder to try and cook a deer than it was a rabbit, and we had a bit of difficulty at first, but once we had finished, it was worth it. The deer tasted much better than the best of rabbits, and there was more of it. We were full before we had even finished it, so we saved some of the meat for later.

Preserving food was one of the hardest things to do in the forest. Food only lasted about a day, unlike society food which was filled with preservatives. And even if our food lasted, keeping it could draw in animals, like raccoons. We learned that we should only have enough food to eat at one time so we didn't have to worry about left-overs.

Like the first camp, we stayed for about a week before moving on. Walking for a long time became easier, and I didn't get as sore. I didn't know how far we had walked, but the trees were beginning to thin out. This worried us, because we thought we were getting close to a city, but we kept going. When the trees dissipated, we didn't see a modern city as we had expected, but the ruins of a city from the oldtimes, surrounded by water. We walked hesitantly towards the broken buildings and plant covered ground. A broken sign of some sort read Seatt. I didn't know what it meant.

"Hey Landon, did they speak another language in the oldtimes? Or was it always English?"

"They spoke English, why?"

"What's Seatt?"

"I have no idea. Maybe it was the name of the city."

"That's a weird name. It doesn't even mean anything. Seatt, Pine State."

"I kinda like it," he said, smiling.

We continued walking through what was left of the city. It looked like there was either an earthquake or an explosion. I couldn't tell which, but all the buildings were in pieces. There was a couple buildings that still had the first floor standing for the most part. They were full of things. Some had food, or clothes, or other things that I didn't recognize. "Landon, look at all this stuff from the oldtimes," I said, walking curiously towards the building with the clothes.

He followed. "I wonder if any of these will fit us." He picked up what looked like a very long shirt, and I realized that it was a type of clothing called a dress. I had seen people wear them in pictures from the oldtimes. "This looks like it might fit you. You should keep it."

I smiled and took it. "Thank you." I continued looking around at the clothes, and all the different colors they came in. Clothes in the society had a very limited color choice. The clothes from the oldtimes came in every color I could think of and more. I found multiple things that I liked and looked like they would fit and I put them in my bag. Landon found a few things for himself too.