Beth lounged in the dirt. She wiggled her fingers in the loose soil, enjoying the softness. She had never been able to sink her fingers into anything in the city besides her food and her parents quashed that habit before it could take root. She hummed tunelessly as she watched the landscape. Rolling hills, green and brown folded the land on one side. Before her, a patchwork quilt of vegetables, grain, and wild grasses blanketed the valley floor. A shadowy forest opposite the rolling hills made an overgrown carpet of bumpy, leafy green. The forest was bordered by a stubble of stumps where wood had been taken to build the town. It looked so small from here, quietly puffing smoke into the sky. The sky was Beth’s favorite. It was even better than the waving fields and the sweet rolls. It went on forever and never looked the same twice. Every time she looked up from her work there was a different pattern of clouds or a different tint to the blue. Now it was a deep navy, almost dark enough for stars to make their appearance. One moon hung low over the town. It was a sharp orange crescent. Another, looking like pale blue dot in the darker background shone faintly from higher up. Her mind wandered as she sat and she found herself reliving the events of the last days again.

She was among the recycling vats again. Walking from one to the next, checking their levels and adjusting the influx of waste as needed. Her breath rasped through her mask, a cumbersome thing which every farmer wore as naturally as their own nose. She slowly made the rounds of the five vats she had been assigned for that shift. Then the alarms began.

A wailing siren echoed and overlapped itself in the massive open caverns of the recycling level. All the farmers stopped but none knew what to do. They weren’t trained for this. The sirens were replaced by the voice of a priest.

“A mandatory evacuation is now in progress. Proceed along the marked paths and follow all posted instructions.” the voice echoed through the caverns and repeated soon making a mess of the instructions. At least the path markers were clear.

Red and white stripes flared into existence along the ceiling and began flowing in one direction. The farmers followed it and Beth followed them. She had no idea what was going on. She’d never heard of an evacuation before but when the priests called, you answered.

The path brought her to the end of a queue. She waited patiently as one farmer at a time entered a room she had never seen before. When she made it to the front of the line and the door slid shut in her face, she read the instructions posted on the door. They were simple.

Evacuation chamber instructions

Enter the evacuation chamber Sit in the evacuation recliner Do not move until the evacuation is complete

The door slid open seconds later revealing a small room with a single chair. Beth took a moment to wonder where all the people before her had gone but not wanting to hold up the line stepped into the room and gave the chair a try.

“Remain seated” piped through the room, so Beth didn’t move while a helmet slid over her head, obscuring her vision. There was an odd ticklish sensation at the base of her neck and she was suddenly somewhere entirely different.

She was on pale stone steps on the edge of some massive arena. It was easily the largest room she had ever been in and it was filled with people. She couldn’t see much. She was small for her age and couldn’t quite see above the shoulders of the people on the steps below her. There was a lot of shouting and Beth couldn’t figure out what was happening. Why would the priests bring so many people here? She’d never heard of anything like this happening before.

Just as she was working up the courage to elbow her way to the front of the crowd the priest's voice resumed. Even though many people around here were still yelling at something in the center of the arena she could hear the low voice clearly.

It said something about being victims which she didn’t understand but she latched onto the next sentences and didn’t let them go. She was going to be let into Arcadia. Apparently, it was some lesser form but that didn’t matter. This was what she was raised to dream about. She had time to wish her siblings were with her before she dissipated and came back to herself in a rainy square.

The angry shouting from the crowd quickly intensified, loudest at a point off to her left. After a few seconds there was a brief pause before the roaring continued and the crowd pelted off after some red flash. Beth was confused but as soon as the crowd filtered away her confusion was forgotten. She was in the open, and it was raining. Raining! Fresh, sweet water was streaming down from the sky! It flowed down the streets, splashed in puddles and cascaded off of buildings. There was so much of it. More than any citizen could clean in their lives! She whooped and jumped, finding the biggest puddles and splashing in them. She then took off at a run, laughing like a mad woman and reveling in the freedom to run in a straight line without the confines or crowds she was used to. She slipped and fell onto the street but that did nothing to dampen her mood, if anything she was even more elated.

She ran until she couldn’t run anymore and for once she was stopped by herself rather than the end of a corridor. She doubled over, hands on her knees as she blew out heavy breaths.

“What has you in such a rush?”

Beth looked up. A woman stood under a canvas protecting both her and her merchandise from the rain. She had run straight to the market. Her eyes landed on the colorful wares she had on offer.

“What is that?” She asked, pointing at a basket of red orbs.

“Are you making fun little missy?” the merchant responded, eyes narrowing.

“No,” Beth answered honestly “I’ve never seen those before”

The merchant sighed “What rock do you have to live under to not know apples when you see them?”

Beth’s eyes popped “Those are apples? Like the food?”

“Of course they are, what did you expect? Painted turds?”

Beth reached for one, still doubting that the little red balls could be food. The merchant woman grabbed her wrist before she could pull one away.

“Do you have the money to pay for that or have you never seen a copper before either?”

“What’s money?” Beth asked innocently.

“That’s enough of your stupid questions. Get away from my stall before I call the guards you little urchin.” The merchant used her grip to cast Beth back out into the street where she stumbled right into someone. She was about to fall into the mud for a second time when a calloused hand steadied her.

“Woah there, sorry to have bumped you.”

“Careful Grant, that muddy little urchin just tried to steal an apple from me.” The merchant warned.

“Is this true?” Grant asked, looking down on Beth with soft hazel eyes from under the wide dripping brim of his hat.

“I just wanted to look at it.” Beth said

The merchant spat into the gutter “You couldn’t think up a better lie?”

“It’s true” Beth huffed “I just came from the city and I’ve never seen real food before.

“What kind of city doesn’t have food?” the merchant scoffed “Your lies are getting worse and worse.”

“Did she take anything?” Grant asked

After a second of chewing on the word the merchant spat it out “no”

“Then no harm has been done.” Grant said before turning to Beth “If you’d like to see different kinds of produce I can show you mine. I’ll even let you have a piece if you help me get this cart the rest of the way up this blasted hill.”

Grant thumbed over his shoulder at a wooden cart covered with a tarp.

“I’m late to my delivery because of this blasted rain.”

Beth eagerly agreed and pushed at the back of the cart while Grant pulled from the front. Before long they stopped at one of the larger buildings Beth had seen so far. It towered over the road and water gushed from its gutters in a roiling stream almost as thick as the stream of boisterous laughter that spilled from the shuttered windows. They had pulled the cart around to the side and were in the shelter of a slanted roof jutting from the main structure.

“Wait here for a moment” Grant told Beth before disappearing inside. Beth was sorely tempted to peek under the tarp at the produce but she trusted Grant and decided to wait for him to come back. As she waited she began to shiver. Running through the street and pushing the cart let her ignore the cold but now with soaked clothes she began to feel the nip of the wind. Just as she was losing her patience Grant returned. He took a look at the still covered wagon and the shivering girl and grinned.

“Well done!” he said, taking a step forward and slapping her back “I had a hunch you were more honest than that old bag made you out to be.”

“What?”

“Sorry, I just gave you a little test. I know most of the little thieves in this town and you aren’t one of them. I just thought I’d give you the perfect chance to steal a little food and see how you acted. Come in, let me introduce you to Sue.”

Still confused, Beth was ushered in through the door.

“Stop!” shouted a domineering voice “What do you think you’re tracking all over my clean floors?” An impossibly round woman stood at the other end of the hallway. She wore a powder blue dress under an over-stretched apron. Her arms were crossed and one ham-sized fist held onto a rolling pin. A few wisps of auburn hair had escaped her hairnet.

Before Beth knew what had happened she was washed, changed into fresh clothes and set in front of a steaming bowl of stew.

“Well eat up” Sue commanded.

Beth poked at the stew. Sue took her hand and placed a spoon in it. Looking down the crowded bar Beth got the general idea. She dipped her spoon into the simmering gravy and brought it up to her nose, sniffing it. It was unlike anything she had smelled before and a deep growl in her stomach convinced her it was edible, even if it didn’t come in a tube. She tried her first bite. It was glorious. She was convinced that she never took a second and the soup just disappeared of its own accord. Sue gave her a knowing look and placed another bowl in front of Beth.

“The poor thing, she must be starved.” She commented tutting

Grant agreed “She does seem to like food. I found her admiring apples in the market. Mrs. Smithe nearly had her hands off.”

He turned to Beth “Do you have any family in town?”

Beth shook her head and gulped down her latest mouthful.

“I think my brother and sister are still in the city and my parents left years ago. I don’t know where they are now.”

Sue turned away and dabbed at her eyes with a corner of her apron. A grim expression stole over Grant’s face. “So you’re all alone out here?”

Beth nodded.

Sue and Grant exchanged a glance. Grant sighed and said “It just so happens I could use a capable helper on my farm. I can’t pay much but there’s a spare room you can use and while it’s not as good as Sue’s there’s plenty of food for hard workers.”

Sue surprised them both by squealing “That would be great! I was a farmer in my last life too!”