Running with Wolves

2

I hold tightly onto Mia's hand as we walk towards the train station. My stomach rumbles but I make sure to cough so that Mia doesn't hear. It's been a few days since I last bought us any food and we're slowly running out.

I had half a bowl of soup on Tuesday but have given Mia my rations ever since. They no longer give them food at school so she needs as much as she can get at home. All children under the age of 10 used to be fed a small meal at lunch but ever since the attack of Tuesday they removed that privilege.

"I'm hungry." Mia pouts.

"I know baby. I know." I squeeze her hand. "After work today I'll go out and buy you something." I reassure her and she gently nods her head. We eventually join the long queue and after waiting 40 minutes we arrive at the entrance desk.

"ID." The wolf demands. Our ID is a little barcoded dog tag like necklace that all humans are ordered to wear. It helps them know what offences you've committed and keeps track of your movements about the Outpost. I'm convinced they have trackers in them but I would never risk asking about them.

We both pull them out our shirts and hold them up to the scanner beside her desk. Her computer beeps with each scan and she spares a glance at her computer screen to determine whether we are eligible to go down to the trains before declaring, "Train 2."

I nod my head and we hurry inside the wall of the Outpost. The walls are heavily guarded by wolves and underneath the city is the train station. They didn't want it above ground in case someone followed the tracks, so instead they are kept tightly locked and guarded beneath us.

We head down the stone steps, simply lit by dim, spaced out lights above our heads. It's a few minutes before we reach the bottom and join the queue for Train 2.

There are other school children in the line also, ranging from about 4 to 20. At 21 you no longer go to school and instead work full time. I've only got about a year and a half before I no longer have to attend but that only means Mia has to make the journey alone.

"Hurry up." A deep and gruff voice booms, shoving some kids onto the train. I make sure to keep my head down and not look at the wolf incase I aggravate it more.

Soon enough we have squeezed onto the packed train and I find us a seat. I hold Mia on my lap as the train continues to be filled up until there is almost no space left to move, everyone crammed up against one another.

"I'm tired." Mia frowns and rests her head on my shoulder.

"I'll wake you when we get there." I kiss the top of her head and she shuts her eyes, leaning on me as she sleeps. I notice a few people are talking but most are silent. No one has anything to say. Everyone is depressed, skinny, tired and above all hungry. Talking requires energy that no one has.

When the rationing began we all became hungry, bitterly hungry. Then after a couple of days the hunger went away, we began to feel weak, we still wanted food, but the hunger pangs just weren't there anymore.

Soon one by one, as each person's personal fat stores were exhausted, the hunger returned. It is the most terrible pain, constant and grinding. That's when we humans began to look more skeletal with each passing day.

As a result, some people began to eat the hard baked mud and the inedible leaves that would pass right through us. People would do just about anything to alleviate the torture of the starvation and feed their families.

Some children were lucky enough to be fed with the food saved for their parents, thus giving them a more lively face and being. The rest of us are not so lucky.

The larger families had more people to work and so got better income and more food. Others could get better jobs and therefore more pay, thus allowing them to eat. Just being an adult allowed you access to more food because of your high wages and more hours available for you to work.