Half Way Home by Howey Hugh

Author:Howey, Hugh [Howey, Hugh]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Broad Reach Publishing
Published: 2010-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

••••

Even as I abstained from the meat, I had to admit the smell was oddly intoxicating. My mouth watered at the odor of the roasting flesh, even as my brain rejected the idea of eating something dead. It was as if I’d skipped another training program. All I’d been prepared to eat was cultivated crops and protein mixes, but the other boys seemed to know without learning it that moving things were to be chopped up and cooked. And they also seemed to understand the best methods for doing both.

I finally rejoined the group as they finished eating, wary of ostracizing myself any further. Jorge made one probing jab at my manhood, but a look from Kelvin put a quick end to that. The other boys burped contentedly while the vinnies marched in a circle and my stomach continued to growl.

Eventually, we began considering our options aloud.

“Well, we certainly won’t starve to death,” Karl pointed out. “As long as the rains are steady, we’ll be better off than those inside.”

“The goal has to be more than that,” I pointed out. When everyone turned to me, I clarified: “Beyond just not starving.”

“You mean long-term,” Britny said. “Like I was saying the other day.”

“Exactly. I mean building things. And finding a regular source of water, something to irrigate with.”

“We discussed that on the way down,” Kelvin said. “Vincent was thinking we could hack away some of the canopy up top and rig up tarps to the tunnel. Most of the rain doesn’t even make it to the bottom. It’s all puddled up there on top. We could create a massive flow of it down here, like a river spiraling down.”

“That still relies on the rains,” I said. “We’ve been awake for almost a month and Colony’s told us very little of the planet—”

“Are you thinking of the snow on the mountains?” Tarsi asked.

I nodded. “There must be streams from the runoff. Maybe we should think about—”

“Who made you the boss?” Jorge asked, leveling his machete at me from the other side of the fire.

“Nobody,” I said. “I’m just asking questions—”

“Sounds like you’re making plans,” he said, then made a show of tearing off a bite from a cold piece of meat.

“Jorge, give it a rest,” Tarsi said.

“Porter’s right,” Kelvin said. “Peter was trained as a farmer, like me. He may have been thinking the same thing.”

“I don’t want to go chasing after Peter and Mica on a hunch,” Jorge said. “Besides, who needs farming when we can corral a bunch of vinnies. Right, Vinnie?”

“We can’t keep calling them that if we’re gonna live off them,” Vincent said, frowning.

“Agreed,” Britny said, putting her arm around Vincent. Several of us nodded as well.

“Making any decision is gonna to be impossible like this,” Samson said. “Who here is ranked the highest?”

“I don’t wanna get that kind of hierarchy going out here,” I told the group.

Karl pointed at me. “Guess we know who’s ranked the lowest,” he said.

Everyone laughed, and I had to join in. He smiled to let me know no harm was meant.

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