Actual Reality

Ride to State Sanctuary

We boarded the first train we could – an agricultural transporter on its way back to State Sanctuary. The engineer's cabin was cold and cramped.

"Well, this is uncomfortable," I whispered, pushed up against the window, "But D'Arcy's not a person that you mess with."

"It was the right decision to run," agreed Amy, "but I wish we could have found something less cramped."

"You think it's bad in here," came a rolling voice, "you should see what it's like inside the storage cars."

I laughed a little, and the burly man took it as an invitation to join us.

"I still can't believe you tried to stow away with the supplies," he said, "thought I'd seen it all."

He scratched his beard.

"Now, I would have said that you were lovers on the run, but you're old enough to be her grandpops."

"Very funny," I scoffed, looking into his soggy, blue-ringed eyes, "I didn't know that I was paying you to make jokes. Do I need to throw in something extra to make you shut up?"

He stretched his oil-stained shoulder.

"You're a real dick, you know that? And the chicken scratch you paid makes this an act of charity. But I'm not here to ask questions."

He took out a deck of cards.

"It's a long way to State Sanctuary, and I wanted to know if you were gonna play cards?"

We sat around the cabin table, cards close to our chest.

"Hey, Marcus," said Amy, "got any two's?"

The burly engineer plucked a single card from his hand and passed it to her.

"Daniel," she said, "gimmie your fours."

"Ahhh," I teased, tapping the table, "Go Fish!"

Amy groaned and reached for the deck.

"Anyway, Marcus," she said, drawing her lot, "what's in State Sanctuary?"

Marcus studied his hand.

"Farms," he shrugged, "Sleepers gotta eat."

"Have you been in the NEW LIFE?" I asked, but I knew by the ports on his arms that he had.

"Not in a long time," he said, uninterested "but Daniel, I'm gonna need your sevens."

I grumbled, handing him my cards.

"There we go, there we go, cough em up, baby."

Marcus smiled, putting his set down on the table.

"I hope you aren't going there for a good time. The air is better, but everything else is shit."

"What do you mean?" asked Amy.

"Well, it's just rows and rows of greenhouses and endless Rot."

"Dangerous, too," I wagered, not unfamiliar with our destination.

"That's right," agreed Marcus, "There's savages across state lines. When they get desperate enough, they raid the area for food and stuff. Nothing the company's guns can't fix, but it's still a risk. You know," he said after a moment of puzzled amusement, "I've never seen anybody sneak INTO State Sanctuary before."

"Why?" offered Amy.

"Because it's where they send people they want to get rid of!"

I looked out the window. The company had been using State Sanctuary as a prison camp since before I retired. I should have known D'Arcy would send Tillerman there. I really was getting dull. I watched a column of smoke drift across the flat, sludge ridden wasteland.