Revolution (24 page)

             
"What if Thomas Edison had listened to all those people tell him it was
impossible to make a light bulb?
We'd be standing here in the dark."

             
"Ok, fine
, y
es
, b
ut this is different."

             
"You say tomato, I say potato." She laughed and covered her lips. "What?"

             
"Nothing," she said and laughed. "Ok, potato, tomato. I get it. Still, this girl is stuck with potato soup. No tomato soup allowed, all right? Just friends."

             
I smiled. I refused to answer her. I didn't want to lie and I didn't want to make her worry. Instead I just scooped her some rice into a bowl and handed it over. Our fingers touched, as was my plan, and she jolted her eyes to mine.

             
I knew how the phrase was supposed to go. Tomato, tom
a
to. But in this case, we were so opposite that changing it seemed appropriate. Cain was a potato, I was a tomato, and Lillian was some version of the two.

             
I needed to get her across the tomato line. Pronto.

Hot Wired

Sherry
             

             
I heard the screeching and swung around to see the van sliding to a skid. Cain had stopped and was closer to them. I was roote
d to my spot with fear as
men jumped out of the back and
pointed guns at the warehouse. They wasted no time, not wondering if the people there were innocent or not. They just opened fire. I saw the lady who had told us to look at the camera. She was the first to go down and my stomach turned as I watched her fall.

             
Cain was yelling and waving at the men furiously, but they didn't listen. They ran inside the warehouse and I heard more shots fired before th
ey ran back out with stacked boxes in
their arms. They were there to steal the food and had taken out anyone there that may have tried to stop them.

             
For a split second I wondered why the Lighters weren't there. I figured they would be to protect their precious system and make sure it all went as planned. This seemed more like a government operation instead.

             
The men jumped into the van and one of them saw Cain as he ran to stop them. He must've thought he wanted a ride instead. Maybe thought a big guy like Cain would help their outfit as they played Robin Hood and st
ole food. The last thing I saw w
as Cain trying to fight him off as one of them grabbed Cain's arm and dragged him inside the back doors even as they
took off. Then Cain w
as shoved inside and
the doors slammed as they ran passed me.

             
Cain looked out the back window. I saw him beating on it and pointing to me, but they never stopped. "Wait! Stop!" I yelled, but they never even slowed down.

             
I gulped when the dust in the air was the only thing left of them. I stood there, empty handed and couldn't think of a single thing to do.

             
I turned and searched for someone. Anyone. I was alone in the parking lot. I ran back to the Jeep and yanked the door open. No keys. Cain still had them in his pocket. I squeezed my eyes shut tight.

             
I tried to think of what to do.
I had to get out of
t
here. If only I had keys, I could follow Cain. I peeked into the window of the car next to me. No keys. I slid down to the ground along the car side and tried to think
of anything that didn't involve freaking out
. Glancing up I saw a few thin wires sticking out of the steering wheel.

             
I did
n'
t know how to hot wire a car, b
ut I was about to try.

             
I pulled them out of the harness under the steering wheel and tried to make sense of the chaos of colors;
red one and white ones and green
. I reached under the seat for Merrick's knife that I knew he left there. I used it to slice through the wires and hoped that I could figure it out.

             
I sat there for at least a half
hour, trying all the wires in combinations. I tapped them together, I rubbed them together, I twisted them together. I tried everything and nothing made a spark or noise. I thought back to every movie I'd
ever
watched where they'd done it
so effortlessly and knew it was
all a lie.

             
Hollywood had tricked me into thinking this was something tha
t was actually doable. I fumed, feeling my face heat with anger. I would never make it back to the warehouse if I didn't get this stupid car to run.

             
There had been a few people to come and go. Some of them came out with boxes of food, others ran screaming back their cars. I tried to ignore them. They sure were ignoring me.

             
I lay my head down on the steering wheel and closed my eyes. When I opened them, two wires were dangling down further than the rest; a maroonish red one and a dirty white one. I took them in my hands and closed my eyes as I sent up my final prayer that this work. I tapped them together a couple of times and finally…got a spark. So I touched them faster and harder and was shocked to the point of squealing when the Jeep cranked to life.

             
I slapped the steering wheel in triumph and hopped into the seat. I threw it into reverse and looked back to make sure nothing was in my way…but the one little box of food there
took my attention. I sighed. There was no way I could take that puny box home and
see the look of despair on everyone
faces
as they realized it was hopeless
. It was going to be hard enough to tell them what had happened to Cain.

             
Cain.

             
I laid my head against the steering wheel once again. Oh, God
, please
… Where did they take him? Maybe he made them stop a
n
d throw him out somewhere. I lifted my head as the realization hit me. Of course he did! They ran so no one would catch them, but I was sure they tossed him on his butt somewhere. Probably right down the road and he was booking it back to get to me. I smiled at the thought, but stopped. I looked toward the warehouse. I had to see for myself. I had to see that
in
there was some food left to grab.
And I needed to hurry. I was sure that Enforcers would be
t
here soon.

             
I backed the Jeep up,
pulled it up to the warehouse entrance and put it in park. Leaving it running, because I didn't even know how to turn it off anyway, I got out and rounded the hood. The leg of the lady who had greeted us was sticking out of the large doorway.

             
I turned, feeling the gag in my throat. I didn't know if I could do this. But then I wondered if someone could be alive. That got me going and I found myself bolting through the door passed the lady and into the warehouse.

             
If one bloody body was enough to send me reeling, a whole warehouse of them was enough to make me scream. I looked. I didn't want to, but I looked. If there was someone alive, I needed to help them. I couldn't imagine just lying there, waiting for death…

             
I shook the thought away and made my way down the line. Every person there was lying still. "Hello?" I called hesitantly. My eyes continued to scan the people and found no signs of life. I felt like crying. I felt like bawling my eyes out.

             
The Lighters hadn't done this to us.
We
did this
to us
. Humans killed other humans for food.

             
I picked up the first box I found and looked around for food left behind by the murderers. They had taken all the breads
and bags of flour, a
ll the cereals and easy foods. I was beginning to feel the sting of despair once again until I came upon the last table. It was empty, too, and that made me think. There had to be boxes of food somewhere. They only brought out a little at a time to give the people what they needed, but there had to be a stash.

             
I opened the only door that I could see and gawked at
my luck and
the mountains of boxes. I knew I needed to hurry so I put my awe aside and opened the firs
t box I found. Cans of fruit were
inside. I almost burst into tears right there.

             
It would only be so long until all the can foods were gone
from the world
, too. Plants didn't grow so well anymore so there wouldn't be anything left to can. Same with can
ned
tuna and chicken. Soon, they'd all be gone and
I had no idea what we'd do then. But for now, I hoisted the massive heavy box of chunked pineapple, sliced pears, fruit cocktail and diced peaches and ran with it to the Jeep. I threw it in the back and ran back for another.

             
The next box I opened was macaroni and cheese. I grinned thinking of the kid
'
s happiness all wrapped up into one stupid little box of cheesy noodles. I ran with that one, too, and loaded it on top of the others.

             
After I was finishe
d, only seven boxes would fit in
the Jeep and the last one sat in the passenger seat, so when I ran across Cain he'd have to hold that one.
And it was full of canned Clam Chowder
, the heaviest one. Poor guy.

             
I slammed the Jeep into gear without looking back and pressed the gas pedal as hard as I could. I was so ready to leave this place. I sped out to the main highway and then adopted a slower speed in case any Enforcers were out and about. And I was sure they were. Or at least I hoped
they had some kind of alarm system. But then I though
t back. I'd been there for almost an
hour… No. There was no alarm system. I idly thought about how long those people would lay there before someone noticed. The next wave of people to come to the food maybe?

             
The highway was a long stretch of nothing. The grass was nonexistent anymore. Everything was dust and rocks and mud from melted snow. The tree
s
were dead or dying. There was no life left at all. The planet was dying, we were dying. It didn't make any sense. Why would the Lighters destroy the planet that they wanted to inhabit?