Page 10 of Resistant

I have a killer headache, but that might be more from stress than anything else. My neighbor Shelly is outside harvesting the last of her tomatoes.

“Hey Shelly, you got a minute?”

Shelly is exactly the woman I want to be when I grow up. She is in her early 70s and is a beacon of light in our community. She worked as an artist in The Before, teaching at the high school for many years. She wears colorful bohemian dresses and tunics all year round. Her hair is of undetermined length because she always wears it swept back from her face in a bun or twist. Her hands and wrists are covered in rings and bangles, and they clink as she walks, like little bells.

“For you dear, yes. And you brought coffee! How do you still have coffee?”

“I save it for special occasions.”

“Oh, so what is the occasion today, Ms. Brynn?”

“I need information.”

“Oh well, let’s take this inside. I have some biscuits that I can bake to share with our coffee.”

“Shelly, where in the hell did you find biscuits?”

“Oh, I made them with the last of my flour and they are in my freezer. Need to eat them before I run out of power credits to keep the freezer going. I’ll make a few extra to take to your boys.”

She retrieves a gallon Ziplock bag from the freezer, something I ran out of months ago, and pulls 8 round biscuits out and puts them on a tray to bake. I take a sip of my coffee, scald my tongue, and sigh.

“That’s a large sigh, Brynn. Though I guess we all have more trouble than we ever dreamed of in The Before.” She sits heavily in the chair across from me. I take another sip of coffee.

“Do you know of any way to get out of these government work programs?”

Shelly shakes her head, a sad smile on her lips.

I squeeze the handle of my mug so hard my fingers hurt.

“Shelly, they have set me up to be a whore. Excuse my French, but I’m pretty sure that fucking is not the vocation for me.”

My hand shakes, just talking about the work program has a negative physical effect on me.

“Has anyone you know declared themselves loyal to the New Reform? I don’t want to do that, but I might have to. Is there any resistance in the area? Anything at all?”

Shelly reaches for my hand, squeezing my fingers in sympathy.

“Oh my, dear, that’s terrible. I don’t have any stellar advice for you, the women in town who tried to declare themselves New Reform were executed last week. It was a message announcing if you had not already declared allegiance, then you are considered the enemy. I don’t think that’s a path you should take. I haven’t heard anything from Resistance in many months. I don’t know if there are any left around here. I know concentration camps are being built somewhere north of here and anyone not cooperating in the work programs will be sent there.”

She frowns and pats her hand over the top of mine.

“I don’t see that you have much of a choice, but I can ask around and find out if there are any ways to beat the system.”

“I’d appreciate that, Shelly. I can hold off for another week or two. My stockpile will soon be empty, and I’ll have to get some credits by then.”

I peek out the window. I glance down at my shiny new phone. I currently have 178 waiting messages. I wave goodbye and run out the door through the trees and into my backyard.

That evening, I tuck David into bed and ask Nathan to meet me in my room. I pull the government phone from my pocket and hand it over to him. Nathan scrolls through the few apps that are pre-installed.

“Mama, we don’t have hardly any credit left.”

“I know honey. I need to talk to you about what I’m going to do next. I’ve been assigned a job.”

Nathan opens the work app on my phone and scrolls through it for a few moments. His hands begin to shake, and when he looks at me, I see barely contained fury in his eyes. I’m startled by this; I’ve never seen him so angry.

“No, Mama. You will not do this for us. I can get a job.”

“Nathan, they will take you into military service next year. They won’t assign you a job. If you are lucky enough to be healthy, you’ll be assigned to be a breeder, and life will be easier for you. I must do something. I have to take care of you and David. I’ve asked around and if I can find a safe way out of this, I’m going to take it. But until then, we need to be prepared and accept this is what I’m going to do to provide.”

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