“Welcome to Farm Camp 0249,” Gordon said.
Chapter 3
Alex was shoving the last of his supplies into his pack when he heard the moans and shuffling of Warren, squeezing his way through the tight hallway.
“I swear I’m going to get stuck down here one of these days. Can you imagine? Dying right next to a big pile of food. I’d be the laughingstock of the community, not that anyone would know about it, of course,” Warren finished under his breath.
“You’re not talking me out of it.” Alex pulled a large box from the top shelf and rested it next to his pack. He opened the top and pulled out sealed bags of seeds. Warren snatched the bag off the table and clutched it to his chest.
“No, I’m not letting you take these,” Warren said.
“They’re not yours to keep,” Alex replied, yanking the bag out of his grip.
“Alex, you’re not thinking straight. These are non-GMO seeds. Once they figure out how to fix the soil, these are going to be a gold mine. Or if one of us gets in trouble, these are our get-out-of-jail-free cards!”
“I’m not taking all of the seeds. Just some of them.”
“Oh, well, in that case, please! Go right ahead! You don’t think they’re going to question you about where you got them? Hmm? Or why you didn’t turn them in once the regulations started? ‘Oh, gee whiz, Mr. Gordon, I totally forgot I had these and wanted to turn them over to you out of the kindness of my heart. I had them stored in my secret basement with the rest of my illegal food.’”
“Warren, enough,” Alex said, cutting into his rant.
Alex stuffed a bag of seeds into his pack then returned the rest to the top shelf. His pack smacked against Warren as he passed him. Warren climbed up out of the hole after Alex, who didn’t bother putting the seal back down to cover his tracks.
“So you’re going to demand to get both of them back?” Warren asked.
“That’s the plan.”
Clouds shielded the moonlight, so he would have good cover through the night. He’d be able to make it to Topeka by morning, and after just going through an inspection, the sentries wouldn’t be on high alert for a few days. Once he was in Topeka, his seeds would be all he needed to get Gordon Reath’s attention.
The front legs of the chair lifted off the ground as Jake leaned back. He rubbed his hands over the top of his hair, which was shaved down to nubs. His arms were tucked behind the chair’s back, exposing a thin but sturdy frame that was concealed underneath a black leather jacket along with the holster and pistol he kept with him at all times.
Gordon read over the notes from the soil sample that Sydney had typed up for him. The science was condensed to a language that a village idiot could understand. Gordon tossed the paper back onto the desk and rubbed his eyes.
“Fucking scientists. They’re all speculation,” Gordon said.
“Do you think it’s true?” Jake asked.
“All we know for sure is they found a patch of soil that will grow plants and that the soil came from Maine, specifically in the coastal region. But we have no idea who put it there or how the hell it made the trip from Maine all the way to bum-fucking-Egypt, Wyoming.”
“You want me to check it out?”
“I want you to find whoever did this,” Gordon said, picking up Sydney’s report. “I’ve had every single scientist we have working for us look at this sample and none of them, zero, nada, zilch, have any idea of how this soil suddenly rejuvenated to the point of supporting life.”
“Could get messy.”
Jake picked underneath his fingernails, flicking a speck of dirt onto the carpet. He inspected the rest of his short nails, running his thumb over the tops of them.
“That’s why I’m sending you,” Gordon said.
“When do you want me to leave?”
“Your plane takes off in thirty minutes.”
“Not much time to pack.”
Gordon extended Jake an envelope. “That’s the condensed version of Sydney’s report along with a profile of the closest community in proximity to where the sample was found. Sydney will be joining you on your trip in case you have any questions.”
Jake stuffed the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket. “I’ll be in touch.” He made his way out of the office and glided down the hallway. He maneuvered through the groups of scientists and office personnel like a ghost. He seemed to be able to move through matter then disappear in the blink of an eye.
The shoulder holster concealed beneath his jacket contoured to the flow of his movements. It acted more like an extension of his body than an accessory. Every eye was on him as he exited the building. They knew who he was by reputation more than by name. The man with the black jacket was infamous.
Jake looked over the notes on the way to the airport. The car rumbled over the rough asphalt and swerved hastily, avoiding the potholes that plagued almost every road in the country. The last swerve caused Jake’s shoulder to slam against the door panel. His glare caught the eyes of the driver in the rearview mirror.
“Sorry,” the driver said.
The driver’s eyes fluttered back to the road, purposely avoiding Jake’s prolonged stare. Finally, Jake diverted his attention back to the papers.
Most of the science Jake read was beyond his high-school dropout academia, but whoever was behind this had been planning it for a very long time. The scout team that found the soil must have just stumbled upon a test sample. He didn’t doubt there was more out there.
The driver hit another pothole, sending Jake’s head into the ceiling from the bounce. Before Jake’s ass hit the seat, he had the barrel of his pistol against the back of the driver’s skull.
“Hit one more bump, and I’ll drive myself to the airport. Do you understand?” Jake asked.
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s just… the roads. They’re not very good anymore.”
Jake pushed the barrel of the gun harder into the driver’s skull. “I said, do you understand?”
“Yes. Yes, sir.”
Jake holstered his pistol and looked out the window. There must have been hundreds of potholes, divots, and cracks along the highway that the driver was anxiously and carefully trying to avoid. The chances of him making it the final three miles to the airport without hitting them were roughly one in one hundred thousand. Jake didn’t like the driver’s odds.
The sun was just breaking on the easterly horizon and casting a pale yellow across Alex’s face. The big orange ball pushed its way upward and was a welcome sight. Dawn was always his favorite part of the morning, even before the famine broke out.
The early-morning glow cast the rolling hills around him in a blanket of gold. For a moment he could see the dead earth around him be replaced by the fields of wheat and grass that used to grow there. The morning made the earth around him still feel youthful. But the feeling would only last for another few minutes. Then the sun would grow bolder, revealing the premature aged spots that now dotted the land around him. In another hour, he would be surrounded once again by death.
Alex rubbed his eyes. The morning sun also brought along with it the tiredness of his body. His legs and arms felt heavy, and the squinting against the sun’s rays only increased the desire to close his eyes. He reached around to his pack and pulled out a small plastic bag. White pills lined the clear bag, and he popped one in his mouth. He washed it down with a swig from his water bottle and splashed a little bit of water on his face.
It’d take a minute for the caffeine pill to take effect, but once it started working its magic, Alex would feel like he could walk all the way to the East Coast. He’d bought the pills right before news of the soil crisis. He bought it in bulk, and he still had half the container full back home. With coffee now considered a luxury item, his body was thankful for the purchase of the pills to help ease the addiction from the daily five cups of coffee he used to choke down.