FIRE AND GOLD ▸ JOHN MURPHY (editing)

forty; half rations

"Sorry."

Octavia was dressed as the commander. She hated it but Indra insists on it. Before the doors open, Delphia puts her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm proud of you." She mutters as the guards open the doors and we both walk into the room, Indra walking behind us.

There were twelve people sitting in the circular table in the middle of the room, only three free chairs.

Octavia sits on the one in the middle while I sit at her left side, by Kane, and Indra sits on her right side by a woman from another clan.

One of the women started arguing about Cabor kom Delphikru stealing blankets, this argument went on for a while before any of us say anything. Soon enough they were talking about separate clans.

"Then what punishment does Osleya impose?" The woman asks after a while.

"For stealing blankets? Give them back." Octavia replies as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "What's next?"

Before anyone is able to speak, Kane shushes us as we start hearing thumping outside. Everyone looks up trying to understand where this is coming from.

"Someone's out there." Kane gets up and walks away to call Abby and to dress the radiation-free suit.

* * *

We weren't getting out of the bunker. The only way out was blocked by the Polis tower that had fallen onto it. We were in the main office, my heart as faced as it could be, hundreds of grounder outside.

Jaha gets in with a woman I didn't know and Abby looks up at him.

"I take it you already know."

"Everybody knows." He replies.

"Why is she here? She's not an engineer." Indra asks looking at the woman from up to down.

"Kara runs the hydroponic farm just like she did on the Ark. You need to hear what she has to say." Jaha explains and I take a deep breath giving her the bunker construction plans.

"Here are the blueprints. Go ahead." 

"I don't need the blueprints. I studied them well enough before taking this bunker for our people." He takes it from my hand putting them back on the top of the table. "You want to know if there's another way out. There isn't."

"Well, this changes nothing. We can't survive outside for the next 5 years, anyway." Kane tells him. "That means we have 5 years to solve this problem. What would it take to cut around the hatch or break through an outer wall? You point me to a weak spot, I'll get you a team that can break through-"

"You're not listening." Jaha interrupts the man. "Even if we could cut around the hatch, which we can't, I'm guessing that the tower collapsed above us, which means thousands of tons of rubble." He states. "As far as the outer wall, that's 12 inches of solid steel surrounded by bedrock. There are no vulnerabilities, and we don't have the equipment to exploit them if there were, not in 5 years, not in a hundred." I take a deep breath looking away from a moment.

"There's a more pressing issue. The hydrofarm's yield won't support us beyond those 5 years. Even if we replace the medicinal fields with food producers and rotate them for nutrient diversity, will eventually lead to a mass die-off." Kara tells us making me take another deep breath.

"For the plants and for us." Jaha finishes.

"Why are we just hearing of this now?" Indra asks her.

"Before now, I could manage it. When she allowed 1,200 people into this bunker, it was based on 5-year calculations." The woman points at Octavia and I look back at her.

"You're blaming me for this? You forced your own people out into that fire, and for what?" Kara keeps talking.

"Get her out of here." Indra mutters.

"This bunker wasn't yours to give..."

"Cooper..." Jaha tries to calm her down but fails.

"Jaha found it. It belonged to us. You had no right."

"That's enough." Kane tells her and she finally shuts up and shows herself the way out.

"What the hell is her problem?" Octavia asks Jaha.

"Kara's father died in the culling on the Ark, and her husband, well, he didn't make the cut for the bunker," Abby explains.

"She's done the math. She knows we'll have to consider population reduction yet again." Jaha states and Octavia looks at me.

"Not a chance. If we need an engineer again, we will let you know." O replies and Indra opens the door for him to get out.

"We should increase the guard presence on every floor. I suggest assigning them to their own clans." Indra suggests as she closes the door.

"I'll segregate meal times and convene the delegates," Kane tells her and we nod.

"Let's just get back to the fact that there are too many people in this bunker-" Abby starts saying but it's cut off by Octavia.

"Let's not."

"I agree. It's not a decision for today, but, as much as I hate to say it, Jaha's righ-"

"Is not in charge here. Neither are you or the delegates. We are, and I didn't save us all so we could just kill ourselves." Octavia looks at Kane and I breathe in.

"Octavia, this isn't a game." Kane looks at her. "What happens if we go to half rations? Does that buy us more time?" 

"Theoretically, yes, but we're already at baseline. It won't be long before we start seeing cases of adaptive thermogenesis, starvation response." Abby gives her medical opinion but it's cut off by Octavia.

"Will we survive or not?

"We'll survive. We'll just wish we didn't."

"Some of us already do," Kane mutters looking at Abby, who doesn't look back at him.

"Then we go to half rations." She decides and I look at her.

"Can we talk for a second? Alone?" I say and Abby and Kane get the hit to fuck off.

Only me, Octavia, and Indra are in the room.

"O, this is crazy. We'll starve."

"Do you have a better idea?" She asks me annoyed with all this as much as me.

"Population reduction-"

"We're not in The Ark, Inanna-"

"We're in worse." I tell her and she looks away. "We have no way out of here. Starving us to death won't solve anything."

"Population reduction will cause chaos." Indra states.

"Look outside.. they know we have no way out. Chaos is inevitable." I look at her.

"We'll go half rations, if things get worst we'll do as you say." Octavia looks at me and I nod not really knowing what else to do.