Part II chapter 10

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Chapter 10

“You’re not allowed out? You can’t be serious?!”

Gwen sighs. Slumped in her small living room, knees tucked to her chest, she looks frailer – and older – than before. She is a ghostly figure, folded like origami into the chair beneath her; a fine alabaster statue daubed with crimson. The white bakelite chair cupping her small body nuzzles its mate across a small glass table-top, like a pair of swans grooming. The carpet is a green flock. Yellow paper patterned with orange fleur-de-lis lines the walls…

“If I leave the compound, even for a day, they’ll withdraw my medication.”

“Who? The Hospital? Can they do that?”

“They can do whatever they want, Noah. When they want.”

“How would they know?”

“They’d know. They know everything. Haven’t you noticed?” She gestures expansively to the room at large. “But that’s not the point. I’ve been stuck in here for so long… and I get so tired…”

Right on schedule, the pendant around her neck emits a soft chime. She reaches into her satchel, sat on the table beside her, for a palmful of medication.

“So I’d be no help anyways,” she chunters the words around a mouthful of water and pills. “But I’ll tell you what I can. What do you think you need to know?”

“I want to see the city – see how things have changed. I have no idea what it’s like out there…”

“Well I’ve been stuck in this place since I was nine. I don’t really remember things any other way, but from what we were told at school, it’s not like it used to be. The End of Oil changed everything.”

“Like what?”

“Like the shops. Shelves that used to be full of stuff from all over the world were suddenly empty. All of the big businesses - suppliers, farms, manufacturers, distributors - everything fell apart without petrol. High street stores and supermarkets disappeared overnight, and a lot of people went hungry. A lot of people died.”

“What did everyone else do?”

“People had to re-learn how to find food. The families lucky enough to have gardens were already growing for themselves, but space inside all the new towns was so limited… It didn’t take long before the abandoned land around the city Wall was all being farmed. The most damaged areas were planted with forests and fuel crops - to provide local sources of energy and raw materials for construction. Eventually, even the old roads were broken up to make more space for allotments. There is food on the shelves again now, but it is unpredictable - local, seasonal and expensive. I suppose Britain is a greener place than it used to be, but most of the green is outside the city…”

Gwen jumps up from her chair. “Here. Speaking of green, try this on.” She reaches into a wardrobe and pulls out a jade velour tracksuit. A pair of pristine white tram lines run down either side of the top and bottoms. Noah recognises it from the racks in the physiotherapy lobby. He takes a moment to study the outfit; it doesn’t look like something Gwen would normally wear.

“It was a gift.”

“From him?”

“From Darryl, yes. He gave it me because he likes me.”

“Do you like him?”

“Noah – come on! You’ll need clothes outside. You can’t walk around in that robe ALL the time. Here, I have something else for you.”

She picks up a small white device the size of a credit card from her dresser, and slides a thumb across one side. A lens extends out from the other face. She places it on top of the folded green outfit, before passing the bundle to him.

“Take me some pictures, then come back and tell me what it’s like out there… and Noah-”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.”

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