Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit (14 page)

The women continued to discuss their
current situation, and what it meant. John slowly walked over to one of the
beds and sat on the edge, staring down at the floor, and said nothing. After
sitting motionless for more than half an hour, he stood up, then paced from one
side of the cabin to the other, like a caged animal. "Are you all right?"
asked Hailey. "No," said John, in and angry tone. "What's
wrong?" asked Katie. "Nothing," said John. "Maybe we should
go for a walk or something," said Hailey. "I can't do this
anymore," said John.

Hailey and Katie were concerned
because they had never seen John act like this. Hailey walked over and stood
right in front of him, lifting his face up, so he would be looking at her, and
not the floor. "It will be OK," said Hailey, as she kissed him gently
on the cheek. His expression remained unchanged as she put her arms around him,
squeezing him as she put her head against his chest.

He stared at the wall, with his arms
hanging at his side. Katie took his right hand with her left, and said,
"Come on, we need you. You are the one who is always trying to pick us up."
She looked into his eyes, and it was as if John wasn't there. "Let's go
get some fresh air," said Katie, trying to lead John by the hand. With a
little prodding, they were eventually able to get him out the door.

They stood outside the cabin checking
out their new surroundings for a while. They found that each cabin had a fire
pit, and a cooking pot. "I'm getting thirsty. Let's go see if we can find
some water," said Hailey. The three of them walked back toward the village,
and as it came into site, they could see three people walking toward them. Two
men were carrying a container and a woman with them had a basket. "I'm
Rebecca. We have food and water for you," the woman with the basket said,
as they neared. In the basket were eggs, and two loaves of bread.

"Good, eggs. You have chickens?"
asked Hailey." "Yes," responded Rebecca, looking puzzled.
"You don't have to leave your cabin. We will bring what you need to
you," said one of the men. "We don't want to be moochers. We should
probably help with the chores," said Katie. "We are the caretakers,"
said the second of the two men, sounding slightly offended. "What are we
supposed to do?" asked Hailey.

"You are here to give birth.
Modifieds don't work," said Rebecca. "What happens after we give
birth? Do you take care of the babies too?" asked Katie. "If the
babies are caretakers, then we take care of them. If they are modifieds, then
we don't," said Rebecca.

"What?" both Hailey and
Katie said in unison, with looks of surprise on their faces. "What do you
mean, you don't?" asked Hailey. "If a baby is meant to be a
caretaker, then it will stay here. If it is meant to be a Modified, then it
will not stay here," said Rebecca. "Where do they go, if they don't
stay here?" asked Katie. "Those are enough questions. We can get in trouble
for talking too long to you," said the older of the two men. "I have
one more question. What happens to us after the babies are born?" asked
John. "No more questions," said the older man.

As they walked back to their cabin
with Rebecca and the two men, John, Hailey, and Katie said nothing else. They were
each trying to digest the disturbing information that they had just been given.
Because their predicament seemed dire, the walk back went
quickly, as they were each lost in their own thoughts.

John noticed something that made the
whole situation seem much worse. The path from the village to the cabins was
well worn. It had been used many times.
What happened to the other modifieds
that had used it? How many had there been,
he wondered. The two men set the
container down. It contained a smaller container of water and a change of
clothes. They placed it next to the entrance of the cabin.
I'm not letting
them have my baby,
thought Hailey, as she watched the men. Rebecca entered
the cabin and set the basket on the table. "I'll bring more food
tomorrow," she said, looking over her shoulder, as she and the two men
started back.

"We've got to get out of
here," said Hailey, looking at John. "I'm not going anywhere. Where
are you going to go?" asked John. "I don't know, but we can't stay
here," said Hailey. "She's right. We can't stay here," said
Katie. "You can run if you want, but I'm going to try to learn more and
come up with a plan," said John. "I don't care what you say, I'm
leaving tonight. Are you with me, Katie?" asked Hailey. Katie nodded.
"Go ahead. I'm staying here for now," said John. "You
coward," snapped Hailey, fuming.

John's mood had changed, and he
seemed focused, and no longer depressed. As they argued with the door open,
they noticed the other people coming, along with caretakers carrying food and water. One man in the group was
talking loudly, and was obviously upset. They waited until the caretakers left,
then went outside to meet their new neighbors.

They spent about an hour with
introductions, questions, and answers. Their new neighbors were from all parts
of the world. The man who had been so upset, was from Japan, and his name was
Isamu. He had found out just enough information to realize that he didn't like
any part of what was planned for them. He, like Hailey and Katie, wanted to
leave as soon as possible. He had been surviving with a woman from Russia, and
another from China. They all spoke English, at various skill levels.

John, Hailey, and Katie shared what
they knew, and learned a few things that they didn't know. From a Malaysian
woman they found out that when new modifieds come to the village, a man called
Enoch comes to the village to let the caretakers know they have arrived.
Someone asked who Enoch was, and they were told that he was a third level modified.
They also found out that everyone in this group was a first level modified.

Emotions were running high, and all
of the women, and most of the men, wanted to leave as a group, or fight when it
came time for anyone to take any of the babies. After much discussion, everyone
agreed that they would leave after dark and take their chances. Isamu asked for
a show of hands of those who planned to leave that night. Each person looked
around, as one by one, hands were raised, some more enthusiastically than
others. Everyone but John eventually raised their hand, leaving him as the lone
dissenter. "Stay here then," said Isamu, acting a little perturbed.

John was remarkably cool, and
confident. "Let me ask you something. Did you notice how well-worn the
path is, from the village to these cabins?" asked John. "So,"
responded Isamu. "Think about it. Do you think that all of the people
before us gave up their children willingly?" asked John.

Isamu took a moment to think about
what John had just said. "What do you suggest then?" asked Isamu.
"I don't have a plan yet. We have time to come up with one though. None of
the women are due to deliver for at least a couple of months," said John.

"Maybe we should wait," one
woman said. "I still want to go," said another. After back and forth
arguments, which lasted for hours, six people decided to leave that night.
While debates were still going on, John, Hailey, and Katie agreed to wait at
least a week.

After dark, they all assembled and
wished those who were leaving well. Hailey and Katie went into their cabin, as
John stayed out and talked some more. When he finally joined them, they were
enjoying some of the bread from their basket. By this time, they were all very
hungry and ate one entire loaf of bread and part of another. It had been a very
long time since any of them had tasted bread. "How are we supposed to
start a fire?" asked Katie, holding up one of the eggs. "I guess we
can find out tomorrow when they bring more food," said Hailey.

John seemed reenergized, and was on a
mission to try to figure a way out of this mess. They spent the next several
hours talking over various scenarios which might occur. As the night wore on, exhaustion
overtook them and they retired to their individual beds. They slept remarkably
well, considering what they had been through in the last twenty-four hours.

Early the next morning, hearing a
knock at their door, John got out of bed and opened it. There stood a German
woman. "They are back. The six who left are back," she said.
"Why did they come back?" asked John. "They didn't come back.
They woke up in their beds, as if they hadn't left," she said. "I
just wanted to let you know," she said, walking away. "Wow! That's
not good," said Hailey, sounding a little down. "I'm going to go talk
to them," said John, walking to the door. "Now isn't a good time for
'I told you so'," said Hailey. John heard her, but acted like he didn't,
as he shut the door.

"Wait," said John, trying
to catch the German. She stopped, then turned around and waited, as he jogged to
catch up with her. "My name is John," he said, extending his hand.
"I'm Karla. Glad to meet you," she said, as she shook his hand.
"Which cabin are they in?" he asked. "There," she said
pointing to a cabin where two groups of people were standing around talking,
that was two doors down from John's.

John knocked on the door, and Isamu opened
it. "What do you want?" he asked. "What happened last
night?" asked John. Isamu paused, then opened the door wider. "Come
in. Please have a seat," he said. "I'll stand, thanks," said
John. Again, Isamu paused for a while before speaking. "There isn't much
to tell, really. We were about a hundred meters from here, when we all had
severe pain in our heads. We don't remember anything after that, until we woke
up here," said Isamu, looking down at the floor.

"I've felt that pain
before," said John. "Look, I know we kind of got off on the wrong
foot, but I think we should work together and try to come up with something.
I'm not sure what, but I don't want to give up, and I doubt if you do
either," said John, looking right into the eyes of Isamu. "I'll give
it some thought. You do the same, and we will meet again this evening,"
said Isamu. "Sounds good," said John, extending his hand to shake
Isamu's.

"Well, what did you find
out?" asked Hailey, as soon as John walked in the door. John repeated what
Isamu had told him, as Katie and Hailey listened intently. "What are we
going to do?" asked Katie. "We can't stay here, but we can't leave. I
don't know if I can just sit and wait," said Hailey. "Well, I'm going
to meet with Isamu again tonight," said John. "We need to find out
more from Rebecca when she comes," said Katie. "Maybe she can help us.
Gathering information is as good a plan as I've heard," said Hailey. "Remember,
they said they could get in trouble if they talked to us too much," said
John.

"I'm getting hungry," said
Hailey. "Me too. Let's eat the rest of that bread," said Katie,
reaching for the basket. "We still need fire to cook those eggs,"
said John. "Maybe the eggs are hard boiled," said Hailey, taking one
out of the basket. "Only one way to find out," said Katie. Hailey
walked just outside the door and hit the egg against the door, finding that it
was hard boiled. "Cool, they are already cooked," said Hailey, as she
peeled away the shell from the egg.

After finishing off the rest of their
bread and eggs, they spent a couple of hours talking about what they might do
to get out of this place called E-3. There was a knock on the door, and before
they could get up, Karla stuck her head in. "They are coming with
food," she said.

The entire group of twenty-one people
gathered to watch the approaching group of caretakers bringing food and water.
As soon as the caretakers got close enough to hear, they were hit with a
barrage of questions. Remaining silent, the women proceeded to the cabins with
their baskets, and the men with their water.

After dropping off their items, they were
surrounded by the inhabitants of the cabins, who were eager for answers.
"We want out of here," demanded Isamu. "Why can't we go back
home," shouted Karla. "No questions today," said Rebecca in a
calm voice. "Wait. How do we start a fire?" asked John. "I will
return later with fire," said Rebecca.

John sought out Isamu, and said,
"We've been talking. What we need to do is to gather more information."
"How will we do that if they won't answer questions?" asked Isamu.
"I have a plan," said John. "I'm listening." The two walked
off to the side so they wouldn't be heard, and after much discussion, shared
their plan with the other cabins.

Later that evening, Rebecca returned
with a pot that contained hot coals. Rebecca was young, tall, and slender. She
had long, straight, black hair, and her skin was medium brown. Although many
caretakers were short and pudgy looking, she was built more like a modified.
She spent a couple of hours getting fires started in each of the fire pits,
with wood from the neatly stacked piles behind each cabin. Not a single person
asked a question of Rebecca while she was there.

The next day, like clockwork, the
group of caretakers came walking down the path, just like they had the day
before. This time though, one woman stayed in each cabin. The rest of the
people were outside milling about, or putting wood on their fires. The
caretakers were a little surprised by the lack of interest from the group. The
women caretakers took their baskets into the cabins, just as they had done before,
with each one taking their basket to the same cabin. Rebecca took hers to the
cabin that Katie was waiting in.

"Good morning," said Katie.
"Good morning. Everyone seems to be having a better day today," said
Rebecca. "I guess so. If you don't mind, I was wondering....when my baby
is born, how long before it will be taken?" asked Katie. "Usually the
second night after it is born," said Rebecca. "Oh, thanks. I was just
wondering," said Katie. "I'll see you tomorrow," said Rebecca
walking away. "OK, see you tomorrow," said Katie.