Chapter 2 Opposition continues

Most of our old problems are gone when the people left Earth. Global warming? There's no factories running now, no cars in the streets, there's virtually no human factor in the equation. Deforestation? There's no one here to cut the trees down. Wars? There's no people to fight with or fight against. Another set of problems set in, though. The commodities are scarce simply because there's no one here to make them. If you cannot make something that you want to have, you are not going to have them. There's no fancy cars. There's no fancy dresses. Luxury items are the thing of the past, and we are just trying to survive this.
Do kids still go to school? Hell ya. We try to teach them as much as we know here on the farm. They learn to handle guns in classes as well. It's a survival class where you are trained to keep yourself alive. You learn English, mathematics, science, history, and social science, and you also learn cooking, shooting, hunting, and crafting because you can't live without those skills. If you don't know how to do things yourself, you are going to die out there.
One of the good thing is that we know there are other colonies out there. The closest one is outside the neighbouring town, also on a farm. Travis Cornwall owns it, he's got about fifty people living on his farm at the moment. We talk on the radio everyday just to make sure that each other are alive and kicking. It's reassuring to know that someone is out there, waiting for this shit to end as well. However, it is difficult to find other colonies now. It's not that we haven't been trying, it's that it is just silent out there.
A figure appeared on the screen when I wasn't looking, but now the figure is clear as day. It is a woman in a white shift dress, she is not wearing any shoes. I have never seen her around here before. She is probably one of the zombie type. I better see if I can talk to her, or if she is too far gone, just shoot her on the spot.
"Hey, you out there. What's your name?"
Asking someone's name never get very far if they are sick so I try this approach first.
"I am Anna. Can you open the door?"
"I am afraid I cannot do that. We aren't sure if you are infected or not. You must excuse me for doing that. We don't want to die, you know."
"Sure, I was infected. But they cured me. Something really bad happened at the hospital. I know you don't care about that, they are a bunch of sick people, but I think you should know about what's going down."
"Yes. Just tell me over the intercom. I will let you in if I am sure you are safe."
"They are sending people from the moon to take the vaccine from me, but the virus got to the rest of the hospital staff so now the place is lock down. The people from the moon have decided to bomb that place, I just got out in time."
"So how are you sure that you are cured?"
"I've had the virus for almost a year now. Do I look sick? Do I sound sick?"
"No."
"Tell you what. Why don't you send out a syringe and you can look at my blood? Do you have a nurse in there? Or a doctor? She or he will tell you that I am safe."
"Yes, but I don't trust you."
"Well, I can tell you that they are coming for you guys next."
"What?"
"Yes, that's right. The last communication went like this, the people from the moon are coming to destroy your colony because they think you brought the plague to the quarantined people in the hospital. They don't care about whether you live or die. They just want to eliminate the troublemakers. Whether you did or did not bring the plague to the people in there is completely irrelevant to them. They want to repopulate Earth. Your little holiday is over."
"How do I know you are not just lying through your teeth just to get in?"
"I don't need to get in. I am immune to the plague now. I just need a place to stay. I also recommend you all leave this farm before they send the troops."
"I can't leave this place. This is my place."
"It's up to you. This place may be bombed first, then they are going to send in the ground troops. It's not going to be pretty."
"Those bastards. They left us then they want to kill us? What are we to them? Cattle?"
"Probably worse than that. They think you guys are sick. They are going to say that you killed all the people in the hospital and you are a terrorist."
"That's rich coming from them."
"I think I know a place where you can go."
"Where? This place is probably still safe for now, right?"
"You have to get out of there."
"What do you recommend? Miss, you look young, what do you know?"
"If you have some vehicle on the farm, load all the people into them. You have to come with me and go to the Star City."
"Why? What's there?"
"There's no one living there, there's only sick people, and that makes that place safe because they aren't going to send their soldiers that way to find you. It's too dangerous, and it's too far away from the hospital. If you have some friends, bring them. You really don't want to be in the firing line now that they found a cure for this thing. You've sat it out for long, don't you want to live to see another day?"
"I need to talk to the people in here. They have to make the decision to go or stay by themselves. I am the leader here, but I am not a cruel leader."
"Better talk to them quick because I don't think they are going to let you live for that long."
Faith, Angus and Chance are all in the lounge. I asked them to ask the others to come and start a meeting. I told them that Anna is at the door and everything she told me. Something big is happening out there, and if we are leaving this place, it is going to take some time to pack and get ready.
"Do you think she's lying? What do they care about us?"
"I don't think she is. Why should she say that they are going to come and kill us all? It's got nothing to do with her. She can run away before telling us and watch from a safe distance."
"You are right, Peter. What should I do now? Pack?"
"Yes. Bring everything that's useful and dump the stuff here if we aren't going to need it. If we are going to Star City, we need all the fire power we've got."
"And then some balls. This is not going to be easy. There's going to be kids coming, too."
"Don't worry about the kids, they are all trained up. It's an opportunity for them to be in the real world."
"Are you crazy? They are going to be really freaked out. They've never killed a sickie before."
"They will have to do it someday, why not today?"
We decided to let Anna in. According to her, we have two hours to get everything and leave this farm. There's no negotiation with them. It's interesting to hear what people have to say to that, and plenty of them want to stay put.
"Sander, you want to stay, and John wants to stay, too. I think I want to leave. So what's going to happen is this: the people who wants to leave will get ready within the hour, and the faster you can pack your stuff, the better. We don't know when they are going to attack, and we don't know how heavy the fire is. Sander and John can go into the underground bunker and hide this out, but I am not sure whether they will send in ground troops. They may assume that everyone is sick here and not check up on you. Sander, there's an exit to the bunker on the other side of the farm, and I will give you the key to that. There's a vehicle there. I recommend you to abandon the bunker when they start poking around here. It's hard to say what they will do if they see you. They may assume you are sick and shoot to kill, they may embrace you like a brother, but no one is certain. If you think you are in danger, get the fuck out."
"So I guess I will be in the Television Room, then?"
"Sure. You should always keep a person there just in case. You don't want to miss any action or you will die."
"Are you going to take a radio with you?"
"Sure. And I do want to come back to my farm after this is over. This is my farm, and I don't want to give it up."
"No one is saying you should. I will see you when I see you, then."
We took a look at Anna's blood. It is showing signs of the bug, but she is not dying. The number of the bug is decreasing. She's still quite weak, and I don't know how she survive out there.
"I thought you would have no power to escape from that place."
"I was pretty lucky. There's a window in my room. I jumped out and ran. There were so many of them."
"What do you want to do? You know you may not survive if you come with us."
"Oh, I am not going to sit here and wait to be killed. I've lied on that bed for so long that I don't think it's time for me to stay still any more. I want out. I want to do something once in my life and survive."
There is not much to pack for me. I've known that this day will come, but I didn't know it is this soon. I remember riding my bike up and down the farm, helping my father doing farm work. One day, the people came to our farm and demand us to leave with them.
I remember father saying that he'd rather die than leave the farm. He certainly did die in the end when the plague hit us, but not before then. Mother was there as well, and they kept the farm going. There were enough food for all of us, money ceased to mean much, but we survived. We are still surviving now, but it is going to be a hell lot harder to survive on the road.
I look at Anna and think about my mother. I think there is a lot to do, and no one else is going to do them except me.