Rats: Shai's Story

The Farm

Author's Note: Thank you everyone for reading. Please comment because I'd love to know your thoughts. I hope you enjoy!

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Ren’s eyes opened as she heard Brenner’s Officers open up the door to the warehouse. One raised his whistle to his mouth and let out three short blasts. It woke up anyone who wasn’t awake already.

Ren threw her legs over the side of her bed and forced herself off her mattress. The Officers were already starting to walk down the isles of beds and pull anyone still lying down up onto their feet. A few newbies let out screams of surprise when the Officer’s would grab them.

She rubbed her eyes with her palms and then ran them over her scalp. The prickly feeling of shaved head had always felt normal to her for the last twelve years.

“Come on! Get out there!” she heard one of the Officers yell at them. She looked over her shoulder to see with no shock it was Mitch. He was always the loudest and most violent.

All of the Rats shuffled out of the warehouse to outside. The air was still damp as a layer of dew covered most of the grass. There was still about an hour before the sun would come up. Brenner’s house was visible from the warehouse. A couple Officers escorted a group of women up to the house. They usually cleaned and cooked for the Brenner’s or prepared things that were meant to sell at the Market. Ren had never been in the house. Having a Rat in the house was bad enough, none of the Brenner’s wanted one that could speak properly too.

            The Officers continued to shout at them. She followed the crowd of Rats as they made their way to the barn. Mitch and a few other Officers pushed them foreword and continued to shout. Asserting their authority was something they loved to do and was one of the many things they abused.

            The pungent smell of the barn had become normal to Ren’s nose. She grabbed a bucket off the wall and made her way into the first open stall. Two large cows were standing in there chewing really loudly. The animals stunk, but Ren just ignored it as she picked up a stool from the corner and set it down beside the animal. She placed her bucket underneath it and began going to work. Milking was always her first job of the day.

            Bristol grabbed a stool and positioned herself next to the other animal. The sound of the milk hitting the metal bucket filled the barn. Ren bit down on her cheeks as she heard Bristol began to work. For what Ren couldn’t say, Bristol definitely could. She knew she’d have to listen to Bristol’s stories about outside the camps that never made sense.

            “You know what today is?” she asked her.

            Ren shook her head, even though she wasn’t visible because of the large beasts standing between them. That didn’t seem to bother Bristol at all as she kept going on with her story.

            “It woulda been my son’s birthday. Eight he woulda been,” she told her as she began her work. “I use to take him to the gates outside of Selkirk. He loved it. Use to believe he could be a Officer one day. Didn’t know it would be one who’d kill him.”

            Ren started to bite even harder on her cheeks. Everyone in the camp has heard many, many, times about her baby. The story about him had constantly changed from him passing away in his sleep, getting a strange form of the Virus, to Officers killing him.

            “Monsters they are. Working us like animals. I did nothin’ and they brought me here. Asked a few people to spare some money and next thing I know they’re arrestin’ me for harassment,” she said viciously. “Those no good ignorant bastards do nothin’ right-“