Batteryville

The Farm

The fence was high, at least twenty feet, wire mesh with curled barbed wire along the top. It was the first barricade I'd ever seen that didn't look like it was put together with scavenged material.

Erin didn't want to leave the road but I wanted to see it. I said, "Come on."

"No, we shouldn't."

"Won't take long, I want to see it."

I pushed my bike up the hill to the fence and from there I could see another fence about twenty feet further on. There was nothing between the fences, it was like a no man's land, and then there were rows of plants in very straight lines.

Erin was still by the road, saying, "Come on, we shouldn't stop here."

"Let me have the binoculars."

I put my bike on the stand and walked to where Erin was standing on the shoulder of the road.

She said, "We're supposed to get past this as fast as we can, we're not supposed to stop."

"You knew about this place?"

"Yes, it means we're getting closer."

"What is it?"

"It's a farm."

"It's huge." I was still holding out my hand for the binoculars but Erin wasn't moving to get them.

"Yes, but it's dangerous, we shouldn't be stopping."

"That looks nothing like the farms by Batteryville," I said. "Look at that fence, have you ever seen anything like that?"

"It's just a farm."

"I want to see how big it is."

Erin made a big production of being mad about giving me the binoculars and when I took them and went back up the hill she said, "So just look quick and let's go."

Even with the binoculars I couldn't see all the way to the ends of the rows of plants.

Both fences were wire mesh with curled barbed wire on the top and they both had posts about every twenty feet with round black balls on top. I figured they were cameras. And if they were, there were thousands of them all the way around this farm.

The plants looked like corn for a lot of the rows and then maybe tomato, I wasn't sure. Some other things after that, farming isn't one of my big interests. But I was interested in how well put together this place was. And how huge it was.

Way in the middle of the rows I could see the tops of a couple of buildings and they also looked really big. And new.

Erin yelled, "Let's go."

I took one last look through the binoculars and for a second couldn't believe what I saw.

Way in the distance between a couple of rows of corn was a kind of tractor but not like anything I'd ever seen, not even in pictures. It had a kind of arm on the front that was picking ears of corn and putting them on a kind of conveyor belt that took them into a kind of truck that was following close behind.

Erin was beside me then saying, "We have to get out of here."

"Look at that." I held out the binoculars. "Look at what's going on."

She wouldn't take them, she said, "What is it?"

"Those machines are picking the corn."

"So what?"

"Look," I said, "there are other machines working out there, too, way over there, see them? I think they're watering plants. It's not spraying all over, just watering each individual plant."

"Sure, so what?"

I was looking through the binoculars again at the machines. I scanned as much of the farm as I could and then I said it. I still didn't believe it, but I said it.

"There are no people."

Erin said, "So what?"

"Look at the size of this place. Look how well designed it all is."

"So?"

"And it's completely automated."

"All right, yeah, so."

"It means you were right."

Erin was walking back down the hill towards her bike and she didn't look back, she just said, "No kidding, come on."

But I couldn't move.

I looked over the whole farm, it went on as far as I could see and probably way further. It was lush and green and high tech and completely automated. Now that I realized what I was looking at I saw the wind turbines and the solar panels.

And I saw the fence was electrified.

I picked up a rock and I threw it at one of the cameras on top of a post. I missed, of course, and the rock banged against the second fence, the interior one.

A loud voice said, "Stay clear of the fence."

Erin yelled, "Someone's coming, let's go!"

She jumped on her bike and started to pedal.

I picked up another rock and looked at the camera.

There was no way I could hit it, I could never throw that well. I dropped the rock and I waved. Then I said, "We're just passing through, don't worry about it."

The same voice said the same thing, "Stay clear of the fence." This time it added, "Security has been dispatched."

I said, "Don't bother, we're going."

It took me a long time to catch up to Erin. I could see her the whole time, the road was flat and fairly straight but I wasn't in any hurry. I didn't think any security was coming after us. I was sure the cameras saw we were just two kids and saw us running away.

I just wasn't in a hurry to catch up to Erin. I didn't think she'd say I told you so, or anything like that. We were getting close to the city and all she was thinking about finding her father and I was thinking how that might even actually happen now.

Now that I thought she was right. And Marco and the rest of the conspiracy theories.

That farm convinced me that people had a plan even before the Big One.

Some people were, like Erin said back in Batteryville, more ready than others.

Which means they were the ones who... got rid of everyone else.

Even as I was thinking it I couldn't really believe it. It was too crazy.

As I rode on I managed to convince myself that the farm wasn't really that big, that the high tech design wasn't really that high tech, it was something we could have done in Batteryville in a few years if we had a few more people, a few more engineers. It wasn't really such a big deal.

Yeah, sure, that's it.

Then Erin screamed and I realized I couldn't see her. The road turned and she must have been around the corner.

I pedaled hard.