The Oracle Trilogy Book One Ohm's Node

Not a Bedtime Story

At one point we all thought we would barf if we ate one more bar. They were the miracle everything bar your body needed to keep trudging day after day except it wasn't, so fruit leather with added energy stuff was also being dropped along with water. The alarm would go off on our Lozenges and everyone would huddle with arms over heads. A few had bruises and shook their fists every time a drop was sounded.

'What's going on?' Ana squinted through the smoke at Yenny who watched for any news fed to them through their allocated devices. She spoke a dialect unfamiliar to her, usually in a slow tired way that made people yawn. But now, words flew from her mouth as though she was possessed. Her arms were flailing in emphasis, increasing her interest. This was new. They'd been traveling now for two months, and all small petty feuds had worked themselves out like the small pebbles in their feet so it had to be something else.

Not a brave soul but an inquisitive one, the designated cat of the sisters, she walked over, hesitantly, trying to catch the words.

'What is she saying?' Ana tried to casually blend in, as though she was only mildly curious but saw instantly that most distrusted whatever was pouring out of her mouth, until she finally threw up her arms, took off the lozenge from around her neck and showed her husband, pointing and turning up the volume.

He was versed in English and read, 'The new United Nations under the leadership of JAL has finally acted according to its original dictates and instituted a series of proactive steps to aid and support all refugees. The first will be a significant increase in band width which will allow you to do much more including watching movies and reading books. As a special gift, we are offering a just released work of speculative fiction, the first book of a trilogy, that portrays a future that perhaps we can only pray for.'

'Stop, hold up, so we're going to be entertained while dying of hunger!'

'No, this is just the beginning as I was saying, they're building us refugee communities, setting up food distribution sites with medical facilities,..'

'Screw them. This is all lies like everything else. They're telling us that they go from dropping water on our heads to real life! I'll eat this dirty hat if any of that's true! You hear...'

'Echo 3 to Echo 7. Han, old buddy, do you read me?'

'Stop! Lets see that.'

Ana watched as the never smiling, grumpy, hard core survivalist family, cracked. The kids had their mouths open, Yenny was smiling and Angel grew a tear as he watched the opening scene from a movie he had only seen the first few minutes before his parents' house had blown sky high along with his parents.

'Still', he said, pausing the movie, 'it's tiny and can't eat it.'

'Hey, if they're right about that. What do they say about food?"

'That there's an open-air market for us in two days', and Yannie paused for effect, 'with fresh fruit, vegys and some meat.'

'You speak English!'

'When I want to.'

Ana knew that another reason her mother stayed close to them was what Angel kept in a holster hanging from the right side of his waist like some outlaw. The rule had been no guns except for the three men who led the caravan. Last month, there had been no sign of an animal besides some birds flying north and no reason to shoot so no meat and besides they had been warned of diseases in wild pigs and cats. Now it also seemed that birds were off any future menu. But the real reason why they stayed close to Angels family was protection against the stories that would even make the horror story writers cringe. And they weren't just rumors because while out collecting wood Angels son had found the remains of cut up people near a fire pit.