“
There is no war going on. And you aren’t killing real people. You aren’t fighting a real war. You
haven’t been in that hell-hole since you were five. When they took you away, you were twenty nine. We were
engaged.”
“
But why did they take us away?”
“
To build the Wall...They found that there is this chemical then men produce when they hate...
goodbye feminism.... women and men aren’t equal after all! They found a way to use this chemical in weaponry.
Apparently it’s deadly. And now they are making a wall with it. They take the chemical, condense it into
bricks....”
His head was spinning.
“
And built a wall... we were like, ‘Against what?’ There hasn’t been a war for hundreds and hundreds
of years! We haven’t had an enemy for decades upon decades... why do we need a wall? To honour our
ancestors they said, who build this one...”She thumped her hand so hard down upon the stone work that she
blood begin to flow between the cracks...
So he was no soldier fighting for glory and honour; he was not even a man in some ways; he was just a
machine churning out raw materials.
“
So they took you, took you all...”Sobs wracked her as the avalanche of grief finally broke. He put an
arm around her shoulder, surprised at how natural the gesture felt. It was as if he had done it thousands and
thousands of times before.
They sat there for awhile, in an uncomfortable silence as her sobs turned to sniffles. He sat there, just
breathing in the air, feeling the wind, enjoying the small amount of sunshine seeping through. Suddenly life in
the pod seemed so fake, so virtual that he wanted nothing but escape. He wanted to sit here forever, his arm
around her, enjoying the company of another human being. He could sit here forever.
But right on cue, his alarm dug into his wrist, reminding him that he had to head back. He stood up, as
if to go, but she dragged him back down. “NO! I will not have you leave. You will stay.” He sat back down, out
of pity for her more than anything. He wondered what would happen now, as he sat next to her and gently
smoothed her hair back down. “No worries, I’ll stay.”
They sat there, two solitary people, looking down on the green hills that seemed barely touched by the
storms of time. Liang suddenly wished he could sit here forever, at peace.
Or at least, living an illusion of peace.
“
How is life for you? I know I am living in a pod but I have got enough food and things like that...”
“
Of course, you do. You are their prize chicken aren’t you? Laying their golden eggs....”
“
Enough of that... are you alright?”
“
They leave us alone, really. So life is just the same as before you left: little or no food, nights are cold,
days are way too hot and enough pollution in the air to ensure that you will get horridly sick by just
breathing...Do they dope you? Is that what makes you forget? Or is it just being strapped to a computer makes
you go mad?”
“’
Well... they do give us pills, but those are vitamin pills...”he stopped as he felt his watch dig again
into his flesh, more viciously this time. “How did you know where to find me?”
“
I watched the soldiers. They let them out, usually once a week. It had to be your turn once. So I just
hid and waited.”
He felt a certain sense of foreboding. He felt like he was being watched. They certainly would not let
him go so easily would they? He really should be getting back. But he suddenly couldn’t bear the idea of a
whole life of computer game playing that lay ahead of him. If he stayed here, they would probably kill him and
her too. He tightened his arm around her protectively. He could barely remember her now but he had loved her
once, hadn’t he? And she obviously loved him, or else she wouldn’t have cried, wouldn’t have stayed in here for
so long just waiting for him. It didn’t matter that he would die... he would die anyway. In the pod, where he
fought day in day out, he might as well had been dead then. Did it matter that your body was still alive when
your soul was dead?
They would come for him. And he would die. Good. But her? Did she deserve to die as well?
“
Go.” He said, gently pushing her away. “You better go hide.”
“
Where?” she asked, looking at him hopelessly. “And besides, you should come with me.”
“
I can’t,” he said, finally remembering that his watch did not only act as a timekeeper, “I’ve got a
tracker on me. I’m a national resource.”
He heard shouts break through the silence around them, and heavy footsteps heading their way.
“
Come on!” she said, dragging him into the building that they had leaned against.
They crouched down, in the mud and leaves, hoping they would just past them by. “Please, please,
please, please...”he whispered, suddenly wanting to live more than he had ever wanted to live. He stared down