Island of the Unemployed

GOING FOR A WALK

It had been two days since River pulled the delirious old man from the train car. His name was Walter. Walter was still weak, but recovering well, and able to walk on his own. Even so, River was instructed to keep him in a wheelchair for a few more days, as a safety precaution.

Before being retired, things had been going well for Walter. He was ambitious, hard-working, and extremely intelligent. All qualities the company loved! The long hours didn't bother him. He would have worked them even if the company didn't require it. In his private life, he was a good family man who loved his wife and children. Sure, he made mistakes as a parent, but he did the best he could.

As years passed, he knew his time was getting short. He knew the company was going to retire him at some point. He just didn't know when or what it would look like, not until the wall in his work pod suddenly opened, and surrogates stormed inside.

River pushed Walter down a sparsely populated street.

"Where are we going?" Walter asked.

"For a walk," River replied.

"I don't remember saying I wanted to go for a walk. Please just take me back to my apartment." Walter said. "And why am I sitting in this ridiculous wheelchair?"

Their relationship was off to a rocky start. Truth be told, they didn't like each other. Neither seemed capable of seeing past their initial impressions of the other. To River, Walter was just a grumpy lazy old man who wanted to lay in bed all day, while Walter viewed River as a kid who hadn't been around long enough to understand anything about anything.

"You're in a wheelchair because you need to rest."

"That's exactly why I want to go back to my apartment!"

"I know, but you can't just lay in bed all day! It's not good for you."

"River, I'm seventy-five years old. I really don't think I need a seventeen-year-old kid telling me what I need to do."

"I'm twenty-one," River corrected.

Tension between the two continued, as they navigated the mostly empty sidewalks near Walter's apartment. Ten minutes later they reached an area where the sidewalks were more densely populated, with shops on each side of the street.

"Is this the center of town?" Walter inquired.

"Yes. This is where you'll do most of your shopping."

"How many blocks away from my apartment are we?"

"What?"

"Blocks! How many?" Walter's voice raised.

"From your apartment? I don't know!"

"You weren't counting?"

"No!" Why would I do that?

"Oh, my God! Really?" Such a blatant disregard for details was practically inconceivable to Walter. "What direction are we heading?"

"Direction? You mean like east or west?"

"Yes. Of course!"

"What difference does that make?"

"Oh, never mind! Just take me home!"

"Don't you want to look around?"

"Look around? Look around at what? This place is depressing! These buildings are a disgrace! Why doesn't someone paint them? And look at those windows. They're filthy!"

"I'm pretty sure the company stopped sending paint a long time ago." River wasn't sure what paint was, but after the beating he took regarding blocks and direction, he decided not to let on.