Warehouse 7

Chapter 2

The wheat farm is the only reason we haven't been taken yet. The town watch, as we call them, come and take two barrels of wheat a week. They've been doing this every week for the past two years.

When your family can't produce the weekly quota the soldiers come to get you. The way my mom explained it, when a family can't produce the required amount, they send vans to take you away to the camps. The camps are like the labor camps during the Holocaust, so we're told. Apparently the only reason why we're still here is because they can't spare anyone else to farm our land and they need the resources our town produces.

I've heard of one family who tried to escape when they knew they wouldn't meet the quota. Soldiers were sent to every house. The family was found hiding in a barn near the mountains. When the soldiers got there, it was a massacre. The soldiers wiped out the family and the elderly couple who was hiding them.

We don't exactly know who the soldiers are. Two years ago they just barreled into town with guns demanding that we give them all our crops. At first we were skeptical but then when the first family was taken away for refusing to give their payment we knew these guys weren't messing around. There was a rumor near the beginning that a plan was in place to fight off the soldiers, but those dissipated quickly after the family got gunned down for trying to run away.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Beside the constant fear, our lives didn't change very much. We did our farm work and mom continued to homeschool us, at least as much as she could. Obviously life was better before, but we're alive and not in the camps.

Through it all Skylar made a point to keep our friend ship intact. He would come to see me during the nights when the soldiers weren't patrolling. He would make the two mile walk through the fields and come in through my window. Most nights we would just talk about whatever or sit in silence, tired from the days work. I looked forward to each night when I got to see him. It brought joy to an otherwise bleak day.

Our conversations were almost always the same.

He would start by saying "Abby, have you ever thought about escaping?"

To which I would say, "No. Everyone knows what happened to Jeffersons when they tried."

Then he would try to convince me he had a fool proof plan and I should go with him. The sixteen year old girl side of me said yes, but the realistic, grown beyond my years side of me said I couldn't leave my family. Every day he would come up with new situations and new ways we could escape.

The day before him and his family were taken, I played along with his fantasy and we came up with a plan to escape that could have actually worked.

***

"Abby, this one is fool proof! We could actually escape," he said.

I rolled by eyes and shrugged.

He didn't even acknowledge me. He was lost in his plans. "So the first thing we would need to do is gather about a weeks supply worth of food. This is the easy part. When I went to get our weekly supply of food I noticed that they don't actually guard the supplies. I guess they figured we would never have the balls to try and steal anything."

Hearing this made me a little curious. Maybe not for an escape necessarily, but my family desperately needed the extra food. While the soldiers do feed us, it's not much. Just enough to keep us going. For my family that meant so pounds of meat a week, a bucket of fruits or vegetables and a three loaves of bread. Typically we would only get two meals a day, sometimes only one with whatever my mom could concoct with extra wheat. If there was a chance we could get some extras, even by stealing it, we would have to take it.

Oblivious to my reaction, Skylar continued, "Once we get the food and a few other supplies, we would take the hiking trail to Marge, the old librarian's, cabin. From their we would head north into the woods. If we stay on path we should meet the North River. Then we follow that for a while until we come to somewhere we could build a home. It wouldn't be easy, but you and me, we could do it."

He looked over at me expectantly. I was a little too surprised to speak yet. Most of his plans involved some sort of town wide rebellion or something fantastic like that. This was the first one that actually seemed realistic enough to work.

"So what do you think? Are you in?" He skied impatiently.

"It's a really good plan" was all I could manage.

He grinned up at me with he contagious smile and said, "I knew you would like it. We would have to leave by day break. Are you going to tell your folks or should we just leave?"

"Wait, what? I never said I was going. and even if i was we would time to work out the details," I said shocked by his reaction.

Immediately his face fell. It was like I tore his heart in two. In all the years i knew him I had only seen this look one other time. I was seven and he was nine. we were playing near his house when his mom called him in. He came back out with that exact look. His beloved bunny, Tiffany, died.

For a while we just sat in my bed looking at each other. After a while he said, "But Abby you just said it was a good idea."

"I do think it's a good idea," I said, trying to make him less sad, "And I think we could do it. It's just that we would need more time to plan."

"What else would we need?" He said seeming a little more hopeful.

"Well all sorts of stuff." I said thinking quickly, "To start with a schedule of the soldiers patrol in that area. Maybe a list of food and supplies. A map of some sort. That kind of stuff. I think this could work, I really do. We just need more time. A week at least to make sure everything goes perfectly."

He held my stare, his face blank. I turned away but he kept staring for a few minutes. I didn't know what to say. He was acting like I just punched him in the gut.

"Yeah I guess your right," he said quietly. Our conversation stopped after that. I just rested my head on his shoulder. We stayed like this for an hour, just enjoying each others company. When I turned to tell him it was getting late, he still looked like his bunny had just died.

I really didn't know what to do. Skylar was like my brother. I always knew what he as thinking, what he was feeling, but today was different. Something was wrong and I didn't know what to do. It was the most frustrating feeling.

Noticing me staring at him, Skylar softened his expression. "You know I love you, right?" He said.

"Of course. I love you too. You're my best friend." I replied.

He smiled a sad smile at me. "I better let you get some sleep. Tomorrows collection day, going to be a tough day."

I knew what he meant. Collection days were always stressful. Even if you did have the necessary payment there was always the looming fear of the camps.

I smile, "We'll be fine. And we can talk more about your plan tomorrow, okay?"

He didn't reply, just smiled, kissed me on the forehead and left through the open window.

****

If I knew then that he would be taken to the camps the next day. Wouldn't have hesitated to go with him.