Famished

“Because we don’t know what’s going to happen. My stomach has been in knots all day.”

“Relax Frankie, tomorrow isn’t even here yet. And besides,

anything that goes down will not involve you.”With that said, I rolled over and glanced at the wall. My eyes shifted, locating all of the rocks that were imbedded in the dirt.

There were two things I had to recognize about today. Number one, that something was going to happen at tomorrow’s meeting. And number two, that maybe that kiss between Colin and I actually meant more to me than I was prepared to admit.

Chapter 3: The Meeting

You will certainly not die, the serpent said to the woman. Genesis 3:4

All seventy members of the colony poured into the small, compact meeting room. This room was only made to fit about twenty comfortably. Not seventy. I shoved my way to the front of the room, feeling like I was a crowded pea in a pod.

Someone backhanded me across the face. Another person stomped on my toe. Still, I pushed forward. I wanted to be in the front of the room for this. My attention switched to my father who was pacing nervously across the front of the room. He was worried. And when my father was worried, that wasn’t a good sign.

My mother stood against the wall with Frankie, her arms outstretched. “Georgie! Over here!” she shouted. But her shout was faint. The chatter in the room was so loud I could barely hear myself think.

I turned sideways, squeezing myself between people in the first row. “Sorry,” I said as I kicked someone in the shin by accident.

“It’s okay Georgie,” Colin commented. “I like it when you get physical.”

I continued sliding down the row. “Colin, I don’t have the time or strength to deal with you right now!”

When I was inches away from her, my mother grabbed me, pulling me toward her. She kissed my forehead gently, examining my face. “What was that about?”

“What was what about?”

She squinted. “What were you talking about with the Martin boy?”

I peered over my shoulder and caught Colin grinning at me. I faced my mother. “Nothing. He was just asking me a question.”

My mother threw her hands over my shoulders as I put my back to her. “Oh, what about?”

Why was she suddenly so interested in what I was speaking to Colin about? She knew I talked to him on a daily basis. “Nothing important.”

As Mr. Baker stepped forward, the chatter in the room died down to silence. The meeting was starting. “Alright everyone! Thank you for coming!” he shouted, his loud voice ricocheting off the walls. The small bulge in his stomach jiggled as he fidgeted with his fingers. He was nervous too. What the hell was going on here?

He removed a white handkerchief from his back pocket, wiping away the beads of sweat that drizzled down his forehead. Hushed chatter broke out through the room as Mr. Baker cleared his throat. Again silence.

Then, he gazed around the room, a stern look on his face, commanding the attention of the whole room.“Family members, we ask that you remain silent until this meeting is over!”My father stepped forward, standing next to Mr. Baker. All of the worry I noticed in him earlier was gone. “The council has taken a vote and we’ve decided to conduct a lottery!”

Even though the room was asked to remain silent, after that last comment, people began shouting. My father took command of the room. “Quiet down! The truth is, we need more gatherers, to go above ground and search for supplies! The council has decided to randomly select two teens, a boy and a girl. All of the kids between ages fourteen and eighteen will be entered into the lottery and at the end of the week two will be selected at random!”

I stole a glance at my mother. The look on her face, pure outrage. “Damn it Doug!” she yelled. “How could you? These are our children!”

Then one by one, the protests started flying.

“They are too young!”

“You men, are the ones that are supposed to be doing the gathering!”

“Have you lost your minds?”

“What about the cannibals? You expect us to just send our children to their death’s!”

Me, I was so baffled that I didn’t know how to react. I glanced over at Colin who mouthed, “I told you.” Then I peaked at my mother, whose eyes looked like they were about to shoot lasers into my father’s flesh.

The room started spinning. I winced, getting nauseous. Gatherers. The lottery. The news hit me all at once. I started falling forward, my eyes rolling back into my skull. But before I could hit the ground my mother caught me by the arm. “Honey, are you okay?”