Rise by Kim Lakin-Smith

Author:Kim Lakin-Smith [Lakin-Smith, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Military, Action & Adventure, Fiction, dystopian
ISBN: 9781912950317
Publisher: NewCon Press
Published: 2019-11-16T07:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Kali had often wondered what happened to Mister Thatchett. Did the old man finish packing up all those empty boxes himself and make a successful journey to Augland, a sanctuary where, even now, he and his friend sat in chairs opposite one another, sucking their gums and berating the weather? It was a picture which appealed to Kali’s new sensibilities. Except then she would remind herself of all the years which had passed since that day when she ran from an old man needing help. And she would force herself to confront the reality of another, deep-seated memory – of all that took place the day after.

Gathering in her grandmother’s driveway, the guards had arranged themselves in pairs standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Watching from her hidey-hole in a large bush of feather gorse near the open gates, Kali had noticed how serious the guards looked – ten of them, dressed in long boots which came just short of the knees. She felt a mix of feelings in the pit of her stomach. Awe, because the guards looked so innately uniform, jacket buttons dazzling like tiny bites of light, and caps worn low over the eyes at an identical angle. Intimidation too, because there were so many of them, and because they moved as one.

To the fore of the group stood the sergeant; Kali had not known the woman’s rank at the time, but there had been a clear indication of leadership in the way she stood apart from the others and spoke with efficiency. Kali couldn’t hear more than a murmur, but the woman commanded the rapt attention of her unit.

Soon enough, Kali had begun to feel uncomfortable in her hiding place. The plumes of feather gorse had appeared soft enough, but now she remembered her grandmother’s warning about the sap which oozed from the plant’s exposed roots. ‘Give you ants in your pants!’ Grizmare Titian had warned, puckering her lips like a maw cat’s anus.

Her grandmother was right. Kali’s bare legs were beginning to itch.

She emerged from the bush, blotchy legged and ratty haired, just as the guards were marching out of the gates. Shading her eyes with the flat of a hand, Kali thought about calling out, just to see if any of the soldiers broke rank. What would happen if one of their number disobeyed an order, or allowed themselves to be distracted? Would the sergeant beat them for insolence? Would she produce a rock shot pistol and shoot the dissenter on the spot? Would she turn her gun on Kali?

In the end, as much as Kali was desperately, almost perversely, keen to find out, she was distracted when the National Guard marched dead ahead onto Mister Thatchett’s driveway and the sergeant approached the old man’s front door. ‘Too trusting’, her grandmother had always called the gateless property. Watching the guards smash down Mister Thatchett’s front door, Kali wondered if any number of gates would have stopped their assault.

“What are you gawking at there, child?” Her grandmother was coming down the driveway, floor length kaftan billowing, her thin grey hair disguised under a turban.

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