Inner City Read online

  It was a perfect day for travelling, white clouds gave some relief from the hot sun and a cool breeze managed to take the sting out of the day. Within half an hour of walking, Callen felt he was ready to climb back on his horse. He sat gingerly on the saddle and Lien watched him shift uncomfortably as he tried to avoid the areas already worn tender. It was time Callen received a tutorial in the art of riding a horse. Lien rode alongside and told him to relax. Callen couldn’t and with each new bounce he tensed up more.

  “Watch me,” Lien said as he moved his hips in unison with the horse’s steps. “Let your hips move in time with the horse.”

  Callen watched and listened as Lien tried to coach him towards a suitable riding style. Callen was finally getting the right movements happening and he would have relaxed further, if not for what Lien said next.

  “Think of it like having sex. You must know how it’s done, or have they banned simulators as well?”

  Callen blushed again, not from the subject, but because a discussion on sexual technique with the father of his forbidden partner was very uncomfortable.

  Callen began to move with the horse, his hips began to roll and he was soon moving in time with his mount. He was a long way from being a competent rider, but his initial bruising would not be made any worse as they continued on.

  An hour further and Eve came at a canter to join Callen and Lien. She’d ridden up ahead and brought news that they’d soon be in an area that Callen knew well. Callen was intrigued. Around a bend they came to a large cliff, looking down onto a river below. The same river Callen had camped beside when Eve and Ky’s party found and captured him. Eve took great delight in recounting the adventure for Lien’s sake. She included every significant moment of his herding to the city border, where he refused to leave the Outlocked world. Callen put up with the ribbing from Eve, but Lien was very aware at the barbed nature of Eve’s account. Further on, Lien allowed Callen to drop back slightly and he strode on his horse up alongside his daughter.

  “How about going easy on our friend?”

  Eve nodded and let a smile creep across her face. She was being instructed to be more social with Callen by her own father - things couldn’t have been working out better if she’d planned them.

  The group moved in silence until midday when they stopped to water the horses. It was only the second time they’d stopped all day and under the guise of going to help Eve care for the animals, Callen finally got a chance to talk to her alone. He was worried that Lien knew about them. Eve assured him he didn’t. She was positive he thought Eve hated Callen and quickly told of Lien’s warning for her to go easy on him. They both laughed at this and Eve provocatively told Callen she wouldn’t be going easy on him if she got the chance. This was too much for Callen, who glanced over to see Lien still a good distance away with his eyes closed as he rested. Callen moved back to him and followed his lead. If Lien was resting, Callen would too, anything to get on the right side of the man.

  After they’d been back on their horses for some time, they came to a fork in the road. Eve continued ahead, only to be called back by Lien. He pointed her the other way.

  “That’s the dead land?” she said.

  “I want to show him what they’re doing,”

  Eve understood and began to ride down the other of the two tracks. Callen asked what she referred to, but Lien wouldn’t answer. He thought he’d let Callen see for himself.

  As they rode the vegetation thinned. The trees looked spindly and bare and the surrounding growth was sickly and scarce. The birds had disappeared and an ugly yellow tinge hung over head. Callen first noticed the smell while riding directly behind Lien’s horse and he assumed it came from the beast. But as time went on, unless Lien’s horse was suffering from severe digestive problems, the smell was coming from the land around them. The ground was dead. Life of all kind was missing. Only those insects that thrive in poor conditions remained and even they were not the same shape as others of their breed. The track wound its way up a long incline and at the top Callen looked out to see nothing for miles. Dead tree stumps marking long dead trees were the best the landscape offered. Callen sat staring at the apocalyptic scene. Far off in the distance the cause of the devastation could just be made out. A billowing thick dirty cloud of smoke spewed into the air. It was as if the ground had opened up and given birth to the worst storm clouds nature could produce.

  “The exhaust from the city,” Lien said. “They have exhausts in each direction, but this one gets the most use because it’s east. The wind usually blows east.”

  “It’s killed everything,” Callen noted in complete disbelief.

  “I thought you should know.”

  Lien began to move again across the dead land. They kept well away from the city’s exhaust, but they couldn’t escape the pungent smell or taste that permeated every pore of their bodies. As they drew to the closest point they dared reach, Eve and Lien brought some cloth to their faces and tied it off. Lien rode back to Callen and gave him a similar piece and instructed him to do the same.

  “You’ll be more sensitive to this than we are”.

  It wasn’t long before Callen discovered this for himself. His eyes began to water and try as he might he couldn’t stop them.

  The three rode on and it wasn’t until well into the afternoon that they entered an area that was showing signs of recovery from the toxic mist. Lien explained they’d turned away from the breeze carrying the city’s exhausts and soon the land would be back to the best nature could provide. He began to discuss the ability of nature to regenerate itself. It was the basis of the Outlocked’s lives - allowing the course of nature to guide, instead of trying to pervert it to facilitate them. Lien spoke passionately and at length. In this world, the lifespan was an average of sixty to seventy years. To extend it would take greater resources than any one person could help provide. The Outlocked believed life to be a regenerative process and death - naturally occurring rather than delayed, was central to this. A generations worth, would be carried by the teachings imbedded in the youth of the next generation and that was the only genuine way to prolong life. In this world, there were few regulations that weren’t designed to facilitate nature’s own processes and when the Elders were asked to decide a complicated issue, it wasn’t an oft changed constitution or precedent they looked to for guidance, it was nature. Written laws and decisions quickly changed, nature continued on well past man’s life span and therefore, it made good sense to disregard decisions and guidelines that related to another time and another experience and focus only on what was before them. Lien made it clear, what had gone in the past was still studied to educate, but they’d learnt trying to regulate, for every unforseen event and for every individual, made life a process of regulation and litigation, instead of a process of living. To Callen, everything Lien said struck a chord. Lien was glad of it - he was trying, without Callen realising, to give him all the information he’d need to make a good showing with the Elders.

  As the afternoon stretched on and the sun lost its bite, the three joined a wider track surrounded by tall healthy trees. Lien explained from the exhaust outlet to the east, for many days riding, the pollution had killed the landscape. Away from the corridor of erosion, nature was putting up a valiant struggle to go unaffected. Callen found the transformation incredible and felt ashamed by what his world had done to another. He rode in silence trying to reconcile the practice in his own mind. It was something he couldn’t do.

  The peaceful ride was broken by a young girl running down the road towards them. She was in tears and waving her hands. Lien galloped to her. Eve was close behind. By the time Callen arrived, Lien was already rearranging his horse for a faster ride. He handed Eve a number of his supplies to lighten his load. The young girl’s family had settled in an isolated area and were trying to establish a farm. For those who succeeded, the rewards were enormous, but it also meant they had to take risks. The girl’s father had been creating a dug out home, and as he t
ried to reinforce the cavity, it collapsed. With few people nearby, the girl had run for the nearest road and was desperate for help. Lien only hoped he’d be in time. He put his hand out for the girl and swung her onto his horse. He issued some instructions to Eve about where she should camp for the night, so that he could return later and find them. Then he rode away at great pace.

  Callen and Eve were finally alone and away from Lien’s glare. The sun was an hour away from setting on what had been a warm day. Eve knew the spot Lien had indicated as a camp. She and her father had camped there before. She brought her horse up close and lent across to kiss Callen. She was sure he’d like the campsite and fortunately for them both, her father would be away for some time. If they hurried, they’d be able to enjoy the area on their own for a while. Callen liked the sound of this and he followed Eve at a canter, having found that a slightly faster pace allowed him to find an easier rhythm on his horse.

  Through a clearing, Callen looked down on a river. It was guarded by nature from every side and trees seemed to defy gravity as they grew from the steep hills. The smooth river rocks lined the banks and the waters swirled around a hair pin bend which left a rocky island all but cut off from the surrounding land. That would be their camp site for the night and Callen was immediately impressed with the beauty of the area. Together, the two guided their horses down the narrow track, carved into the side of the hill. Eve’s horse seemed far surer and she made her way to the bottom. She stopped and looked back, patiently waiting for Callen.

  They unpacked, watered and fed their horses, before setting up a very simple wind break with a piece of canvas that Eve had been carrying. After gathering some dried wood, Eve set about making a fire. She had it going within minutes. There was little left to do and Callen was looking forward to relaxing after a long day in the saddle. Eve had other ideas and slowly began to undress in the most seductive manner. As much as Callen liked the show, it caused him concern.

  “What if your dad comes back?”

  “He’ll be hours, yet,” Eve said as she dropped her pants and quickly slid her briefs down her legs to her ankles. She was now naked and any thought Callen had of erring on the side of caution disappeared. He stood and with an outstretched hand made contact with the side of Eve’s rib cage. She carried a long thin scar he hadn’t noticed before and he trailed it with an outstretched finger.

  “I’m going swimming and I hate swimming alone,” Eve said.

  She turned and walked to the river’s edge, climbed a stairway of large rocks, ending on the largest and highest boulder almost two metres above the water and with a graceful dive, disappeared into a large water hole the bend in the river had created. She surfaced with a giggle and waved a hand, calling Callen to join her. Callen quickly undressed. His shoes and socks lay on rocks ten feet apart. His top and pants formed a path heading to the boulder. Finally, standing high on the last rock, he removed his underwear, and threw them away without a care for where they landed. With a scream, he jumped as far out as he could, splashing into the water and disappearing from view. When he surfaced it was with a loud roar.

  “It’s freezing,” he screamed. He flayed his arms around trying to expel the cold from his body.

  “Because it comes from up in the mountains,” Eve said.

  It took Callen some time to get used to the chill. Eve dived under the surface and emerged in front of Callen, their skin touching.

  “I’ll warm you up.”

  Giggles began and playful screams let out as the two indulged in a few minutes of wrestling, before all went silent. In the shallows, with the water for a blanket, they shared a passionate kiss. The kiss evolved into the start of a longer, more extreme exploration of each other. The couple worked their way to a particularly smooth, flat boulder at the water’s edge that was still radiating heat from the day’s sun. Callen had forgotten about the chill of the water. It certainly wasn’t affecting him anymore, something Eve was pleased about.

  Above, on the very beginning of the trail to the river, Lien sat on his horse. He was a long way above the couple making love on the rocks below, but their passionate throws were unmistakable. He sat watching, feeling sick to the very pit of his stomach, as his daughter and this boy from the city revealed the depth of their feelings for each other.

  He immediately recalled Ky’s warning of an attraction between the two when Callen first came to the camp. A warning Lien dismissed as the product of Ky’s jealous nature. His anger grew as he wondered how long the relationship had been going on. His mind became clouded as he tried to place past events. He suspected he’d been played for a fool and whatever sympathy he’d held for Callen vanished.

  Chapter 11.

  Lien diplomatically took almost an hour to navigate the track down to the river’s edge. By the time he rode his horse into campsite, Eve and Callen were sitting, fully clothed by the fire, supposedly enduring each other’s company. The only sign of their lie was the wet hair they shared.

  Eve asked of Lien’s rescue of the girl’s father. In the end there was little for him to do. She’d run for a good half hour to find Lien and by the time they arrived back, others had come to assist the family and help the man. He’d suffered a badly crushed foot and would need to rest for a number of months until he recovered.

  Callen wondered how he’d support himself if he wasn’t able to work and Lien explained that his neighbours were going to keep some food on his table, at least until he was fit enough to go back to work for himself. Callen was impressed. Eve showed surprised.

  “How would they do it in the city?”

  Callen tried to skirt around the issue, but Lien wouldn’t let him.

  “In my time, they had twelve weeks.”

  “What happens after twenty weeks?” Eve asked.

  There was silence. Callen looked uncomfortable and played with some rocks, nervously bouncing them off his hand. Lien looked to him with the hint of a smile.

  “Are they still invoiced if they can’t work?”

  Callen wished the information had remained untold. Eve was looking puzzled.

  “What if they have no money?”

  “Callen?” Lien prompted.

  “They get taken”

  “They’re found incarcerated work. If they can’t manage that they’re harvested. For organs. Or has it changed?”

  Eve felt her father was teasing and tried to trip him up.

  “They have laws. You told me yourself – laws protecting people from everything. They wouldn’t just take them like that because they got hurt or sick.”

  Lien looked to Callen who was still playing with his rocks.

  Eve couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked to Callen who said nothing.

  “In my day the City taught people it was heroic. They had a wall with names on it of people who had donated their lives to extend a life of someone who could meet the standards for citizenship.”

  Eve looked to Callen horrified. Callen’s silence confirmed everything being said. It wasn’t an aspect of his world he was proud of, nor was it openly discussed within the city, but it was common knowledge.

  Callen remained quiet and to himself until he was called to come and share the meal Eve and Lien had prepared. The taste of barbecued rabbit that Lien had been given by locals didn’t excite Callen like his other meals had. He was thinking about his world compared to the one he was now experiencing. He found it difficult to be proud of anything that was uniquely city culture, so he found it difficult to be proud of himself.

  After dinner, Callen wandered along the river bank and sat himself down on the very boulder that he and Eve had made love on. He couldn’t stop thinking about his life in the city. His world had as many shortcomings as any and the lessons taught about its perfection and enlightenment were designed to ease the conscience of the population against the many inhumane decisions they either supported or failed to speak out against.

  Back at camp, the fire dulled and Eve asked Lien about Callen’s futur
e. Lien couldn’t say for certain, but the Elders had shown little enthusiasm to return city dwellers in the past and in Callen’s case, he thought they’d go out of their way to make sure he had no regrets about staying and making a new life with them. Eve tried to conceal her delight and had Lien not seen the couple together, her reaction may have gone unnoticed. She decided to go for a walk. Lien looked sceptical as he watched her wander off in the same direction as Callen.

  Eve found him deep in thought on their rock. Occasionally he’d flick a stick or small pebble into the water, but it was all done without thought. Eve joined him. Callen was worried about being together with Lien so close, but Eve assured him her father had no idea what was going on between them. She passed on what she felt was good news – the Elders were likely to let Callen stay. Callen didn’t share her enthusiasm.

  The nagging doubts he’d had about his world had firmed. For all the rhetoric about being civilised and advanced Callen had always known the truth. The City survived on misinformation. The powers spent their time and energy convincing everyone of a beautiful lie - ‘If you worked hard and obeyed you’d be rewarded with a lifestyle unimaginable’. But few ever saw the wealth or privilege touted everyday in the media outlets. The Outlocked had lifestyles that included families as a right and support if they needed it and he was overcome by the rules of the city that robbed him and so many others he cared about from having the same things.

  Eve couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t simply leave the city behind and move on, embracing the Outlocked world. He’d told her how his first parents hung over his life like a shadow – why would he want to go back to a world that would do that to someone? Callen showed his frustration. He was a city boy. He liked the technology, the advancements, and the benefits of the city. Certainly he’d rather have those benefits with the freedoms of the Outlocked, but at the moment that wasn’t an option.