Whispers - The Fortress Series Book 1: A post apocalyptic dystopia Page 2

  He pushed his chair back, got up and began to move aimlessly around the room, grabbing and putting down whatever he could get his hands on.

  “Popo? Tell me what happened,” Ifa asked him.

  He turned and smiled at her, it had been years since she had called him Popo, an old affectionate nickname from her childhood. She felt the need to relax the atmosphere, to get close to him at that moment.

  “Tamer. He came to pick up a tool I fixed for him.”

  “Yes, I saw him this morning. That’s why I left. Oh, that reminds me!”

  She turned around and grabbed Raina’s jar on the desk where she left it when she came in.

  “Raina asked me to give you this.”

  Soroban smiled tenderly when he saw what was in it.

  “Dear Raina, she knows how to please me. I’ll pay her a visit to thank her.”

  He opened the jar and took out a piece which he ate immediately, with his eyes closed. He put the jar down on the table and turned towards Ifa, rubbing his hands together, as if to get rid of imaginary crumbs.

  “So that’s it. Tamer came to collect the tool and asked for my help with the Council’s new agricultural plan.”

  “What plan?”

  Soroban began to explain to her that the Council had voted to reorganize agriculture to favour fast, high-yielding resources, but that these crops needed more maintenance and especially water.

  “No, Ifa whispered. No, they can’t ask you that!”

  She could feel the blood beating in her temples and thought she would collapse within seconds. She closed her eyes and swallowed with difficulty.

  “They can do it and you know it very well. Tamer says I’m the only one who can generate enough filtered water to do this”.

  Ifa shook her head and tried to look at Soroban through the tears in her eyes.

  “You know the law, the Council can requisition any healthy person if their work can help the community,” he reminded her.

  Soroban approached Ifa.

  “When the time comes, I will be forced to go and stay there.”

  “I don’t want to! You can’t stay under Tamer’s command, he’ll make you suffer.”

  “Ifa, he will not supervise me, I will work for a member of the Council. They will ensure my safety.”

  “Of course they will, you won’t even be able to get out! You will be their slave! How will I manage without you?”

  “Ifa, you’re not a child anymore. At twenty-one, you’re a self-sufficient adult. You no longer need a guardian, so I can’t stay with you, and you can’t come with me.”

  “You talk as if everything is already decided! Did you say yes?”

  “No, of course I didn’t. I told him I’d think about it.”

  “Fine, then let’s go. Josette says there are a lot of resources around here. If we try, I know we can find the perfect place to live. A New World!”

  Soroban shook his head and sat down in his chair. He looked so fragile at that moment. Ifa was gasping for breath. It was impossible – he couldn’t accept the demands of the Council. He couldn’t follow Tamer in this senseless requisition. Surely someone else could help, not his grandfather who had worked all his life and who should be able to enjoy the years he had left. As if he was reading her mind, Soroban turned to her, looking very serious.

  “Ifa, I’m old. You know the life expectancy; it’s half a miracle I can still work. It would not be possible for me to go on an adventure – and to find what? It’s desert all over! How many days would we have to walk to get food? I am healthy because of my inventions and because I can eat well, thanks to our community, thanks to the Council’s cultures. I wouldn’t survive long in the wilderness.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

  “I can’t leave. I’ll have to accept.”

  Ifa stepped back and pushed him away.

  “What about everything you always said? You always told me that we had to be self-sufficient and not let ourselves depend on the Council. That we had to find other ways! And you want to spend the last few years you have left there? They won’t let you out, you know that. We won’t ever see each other again!”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks and her voice was trembling, but she didn’t care. She realized that she was almost screaming, that her whole soul was revolting at the thought of losing her grandfather forever.

  “My beautiful Ifa, I trust you. I know you’ll be all right. I’ve thought it over and I think it’s the only choice I have left. Tamer will keep coming after me as long as I don’t accept.”

  “Fine. Keep him waiting as long as you can.”

  Soroban approached Ifa again to take her in his arms, but she pushed him away.

  “Tamer is a tyrant, I refuse to be persecuted by him! I will not let him kidnap you and lock you up on the other side!”

  Soroban looked down.

  “Believe me, I’d like to find a solution, but it’s the only way.”

  “You’re going to have to convince me, because I don’t believe it at all. I’m going out – don’t wait for me.”

  She left the room without allowing Soroban to respond. Janis and the children looked at her without speaking. The youngest’s lips were trembling and her eyes were full of tears.

  “Is he leaving, Popo Soro?”

  Ifa stopped in her tracks, took a second to put a smile on her face, twisted by anger, and knelt down in front of little Sory’s chair.

  “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  She kissed her on the forehead and left the house.

  *

  Ifa was enraged. A mixture of outrage and helplessness was eating her head and heart away. She had hated Tamer for as long as she could remember. She had lived with Soroban since she was eight years old and the guard had always terrorized them. And now it was finally happening: Tamer was carrying out his threats. For years, he’d been warning Soroban, telling him that one day he’d have no choice but to give in and follow him. But Ifa was willing to do anything to stop him. Soroban was in good health, yes, but few people in the City were older than sixty-five. It was inconceivable that Soroban would spend his final years away from his loved ones. Away from Ifa.

  She crossed the street from her house and went to the Square. In the past, trees had grown there. Maybe people had come there to spend time in the shade and rest. Now there were only rotten stumps. The trees had long since disappeared from the City. Ifa herself had never seen any, except for the ones she could see in the distance, to the south. A few withered brown lines rising straight up to the sky.

  She turned back towards the cliff. The fortress stood there, undisturbed. A great stone wall overlooking the City as far as the eye could see. Every once in a while, there appeared a guard who kept watch by walking for hours on end, waiting for who knows what. What dangers could they be watching for? There hadn’t been an insurrection in years. Ifa had never experienced one, but Soroban had told her the story of a revolt when her mother was a child. The people of the City had tried to break down the gates of the Fortress.

  Just before the rebellion, the Council had determined that everyone should contribute to the smooth running of the community. They had established a policy of assigning a trade or occupation to each person with a particular ability or aptitude. Each citizen became a resource, and was requisitioned to the Fortress, away from the City and their friends and family, to provide labour for the Council. The fruits of this labour was then distributed among the inhabitants. But the labourers were never seen again.

  The rebellion had failed miserably. The guards had rushed into the City, shamelessly attacking anyone who stood in their way. The battle had lasted barely two days. In those two long bloody days many were wounded, and many died: all citizens. The guards then returned to their side of the Fortress, taking the few remaining prisoners to stand trial. They had never returned.

  No one had ever dared to rebel so openly again. Of course, the Council didn’t requisition every
one. The others were allowed to continue to live according to their needs and wishes, but if they did not serve the Fortress, they did not receive any food in exchange. Many people, like Soroban, worked primarily for the people of the City, but also performed small services for the Council in order to gain access to food distribution.

  Ifa did not contribute. At the age of twenty-one, she should have started working a long time ago, but apart from helping Soroban, she had not acquired any skills. She was afraid of everything, she never dared to take any initiative. If Soroban left the City for the Fortress, she’d have to find something to do. She couldn’t survive on her own. She could never accept charity from others. That thought caused another stampede in her chest. She sat down on the floor and closed her eyes. “1, 2, 3…” She had learned to count in her head to slow down her breathing when it became too fast. It helped her to calm down a little. But today it was harder. She got up and decided to walk around the City to clear her head.

  Soroban chose the easy path. He didn’t want to fight anymore. Ifa saw his capitulation as surrender and couldn’t bring herself to accept it. “But what could convince him?” she asked herself aloud. A child passing by looked to her with big eyes. She smiled at him and he quickly ran away in the opposite direction.

  Ifa was heading towards the river again. Something in that empty space had attracted her since she was a child. It was its tranquility that made her feel good. Near the river it was always much quieter than on the streets. The noises disturbed Ifa, but she didn’t tell anyone about it, because it was frowned upon. The noises affected her more than others, because she saw them as well as heard them. Each sound triggered different colours and shapes in her eyes. The wind made small, grey, almost transparent ripples. Conversely, someone shouting or working on something often generated lightning, peaks of colour ranging from green to red, through the whole spectrum of oranges and yellows. In addition to this sensitivity to sound, she also perceived the presence of people around her. When someone approached her, she felt their warmth, as if they were emitted a glow all around them.

  Ifa had never talked to anyone about these reactions except for her friend Kal. Kal saw colours in the sounds too. Kal could talk to Ifa in her head without even uttering a sound. They could talk when they weren’t even together. But Kal was no longer there. People like Kal and Ifa were called whisperers and they were considered dangerous. They were feared, and if the overseers found one, they would be captured .

  Ifa didn’t know what had happened to Kal. One day, he simply disappeared from the City. She couldn’t hear him in her head anymore. Ifa had cried for days after he left, feeling strangely lonely all of a sudden. Her mother had explained to her what whisperers were, and why Kal had disappeared. She had made her understand that it was better for whisperers to hide their gifts, and to act like others. Ifa hadn’t known, but she had always believed that her mother knew she was one and that this caution was directed at her. She wanted Ifa to be safe. They had never spoken of Kal or the whisperers again. Ifa would have liked to ask her about it. She would have liked to know how she knew so much about it, but she had never dared, after her warning.

  “So, Tamer left?”

  Ifa was startled. Titus was standing next to her, and she hadn’t felt him coming. It happened to her sometimes when she was concentrating on her thoughts. She became completely unaware of everything around her.

  “Yeah, just before I came back. He’s still making threats to requisition Soroban.”

  “He’s been doing that for years, hasn’t he?”

  “Yes… but this time Soroban is going to accept.”

  Her voice broke down and she let go of all the emotions she’d been holding back since she’d left the house. She couldn’t stop. Her throat was so tight that her crying was accompanied by uncontrollable sobs. Titus took her in his arms without saying anything. He stroked her hair silently. He himself felt great anger at Tamer, who was always on his heels, intimidating him with his presence. The bastard was now going to break up a family and destroy one of his only friends. He swore in his heart to take revenge on Tamer. No matter what it took, he would succeed in thwarting the tyrant’s plans.

  Chapter 3

  Titus returned home, shaken by his encounter with Ifa. He had never seen his friend in such a state, as she always had a neutral face, in almost every situation. He could barely accept what was happening to Soroban, but even more so Ifa’s reaction. To his knowledge, she had never really had to work or earn her own living. She would be in great need of help and comfort if her grandfather disappeared. He turned a corner and saw Tamer coming out of a house. He was putting something in his bag, smiling with satisfaction. “Hey, Tamer!” called Titus.

  The watchman looked up to find the voice that had hailed him and saw Titus, who had had time to get closer.

  “My good friend, Titus! What are you doing here?” he asked him with a condescending look in his eyes.

  “I should be asking you the same question – you never go this far down the street, as far as I know.”

  Tamer walked towards him, a big smile stuck on his face. Titus stood still, staring him in the eyes, his head thrown back to keep eye contact.

  “You won’t tell me how to do my job. If I have to visit people in your neighbourhood, you’re certainly not going to stop me.”

  “And who are you here to threaten? The widow Olivier? Her neighbour, Juno? Cibele?”

  “What difference does it make to you, tell me?”

  Tamer was now even closer, almost touching. He laid his hand on the knife he always wore on his belt, to make Titus realize that one more word from him would be enough to make him use it.

  “I don’t like people threatening my friends,” Titus replied, swallowing, with his eyes fixed on the weapon.

  Tamer laughed.

  “You’re talking about dear Soroban, aren’t you? News travels fast – I only came from his house this morning! You’ll know these aren’t threats, I’m only carrying out the demands of the Council. His knowledge could help people. It’s against the law to keep it to himself.”

  Tamer put his hands on Titus’s shoulders and pretended to straighten his collar. A black cloud passed over the street.

  “You might want to think about getting home before the storm hits. Don’t worry about Cibele. All she did was pay what she owed me. And as for Soroban, soon you won’t be able to interfere. In a few days, he’ll be out of your life.”

  He turned and walked away up the street. Titus growled. He would find a way. He continued walking home and realized he’d been keeping his fists clenched ever since he saw Tamer. “I really need to learn to stay calm with him,” he thought.

  He found Raina in her room. She was busy mending a piece of clothing. Titus came in and sat down beside her. Raina always left her canvas open in case anyone needed to talk to her. She had never liked closed spaces and preferred to live close to others. Titus paused for a long time, looking at her. Raina knew how to wait for confidences without rushing them. Titus hesitated. He wanted to ask for advice about Soroban, but he suspected that Raina’s answer would disappoint him. His eyes were fixed on Raina’s hands. Her nimble fingers, though deformed by age, moved quickly and efficiently over the cloth. Her needle disappeared, to reappear farther away and, little by little, reduce the hole that adorned the shirt she was patching. He turned into the common space and gathered his courage to speak.

  “I met Ifa in the square.”

  Raina still said nothing and continued her work, concentrating. She nodded gently to show that she had heard him.

  “She said that Soroban will give up and accept the requisition, he continued, lowering his head, looking stubbornly at his hands resting on his thighs.”

  He felt strangely tense. Anger he knew well – fear, too – but a new emotion was growing in him. He was struggling to swallow, as if he had eaten too many cricket cookies. He saw her move out of the corner of his eye, and looked up to see that Raina had put down her work a
nd was watching him.

  “I suspected it. And believe me, it is probably the best decision. It’s astonishing that he resisted for so long.”

  Titus rose suddenly.

  “The best decision? Ifa certainly does not think so!”

  He wanted to throw the chair across the room, to make as much noise as possible, to shake Raina, to reason her. All the anger he had managed to control from the street was rising inside him, ready to pour out on the poor woman.

  “You are still young, Titus, you have everything to discover, and so does Ifa. Soroban has resisted all his life and has been intimidated for years. Do you know why?”

  “Because it makes no sense to succumb to these barbaric methods! Because the Council abuses people and manipulates those who work for them!”

  “No. He did it for Ifa. He did it to stay with her. He couldn’t accept when she was a child, because he would have had to take her with him and he insisted that she should live in the City. That she should choose her own future. He always wanted to help people, but he wanted to help her first. Now that she’s grown up, there’s no reason for him to stay.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense! Helping citizens is what he does now with his workshop, he helps the people around him.”

  “He’ll be able to intervene on a larger scale once he’s there. Contributing to the harvest is helping the whole city.”

  Titus was about to go up in flames, he was so enraged. He didn’t believe for a moment that the Council’s innovations were really helping the city. He was convinced that they were keeping most of what they were growing, and that the City was only benefiting from the crumbs, the leftovers. He was going around in circles, moving between the soup kiosk and Raina’s room, looking all around him to find someone who would share his point of view. But they were alone in the house.