“I think you know what happens if you say no.”
I do—they’ll kill us. It might not be now, but they’ll kill us all the same. They’ll come back with more people and it’ll be worse.
“Do you know what the term ‘no taxation without representation’ means, Howard?” Andrew asks. I want to elbow him and tell him to shut up and just let them take some of our food, but I can’t move.
Howard chuckles and takes another long drag of his cigarette. “Iamyour representation.”
“I didn’t vote for you.”
“Andrew, stop,” I finally say, but I don’t look at him. I’m still watching the others with the guns. They’re gonna take what they want and we can’t stop them; they have the people and the weapons.
Howard looks between us, back and forth, then takes one final drag on his cigarette before rubbing the amber tip of it against the deck railing. He flicks the butt into the yard and reaches back for another—
But pulls out a handgun instead.
It’s trained on Andrew. Steady, unwavering. Everyone else along the backyard raises their weapons, too. My heartbeat quickens and I put up my hands, leaning toward Andrew—puttingmyselfin front of Andrew—but Andrew still doesn’t move and I wonder if he saw this coming.
“We’re taking your food,” Howard says. All pretense of politeness is gone, along with his smile. He whistles and three of his group come forward. “You can come after it if you want, but believe me when I say we’ll fight for it. We’ve fought for it before.”
When he says this, there’s a strange look in his eyes—I’m not sureif it’s sadness or anger. Maybe Raven was right and they should have focused more on security than crops. Someone else might have shown up at their settlement and done what they’re doing to us. Now they’re low on food. The three moving up the stairs pull bags from the packs on their shoulders. The Black woman hands Howard one of the bags and she takes a few steps back; her gun is at the ready, but not pointed at us.
Howard says, “Keep an eye on them, Rave.” She nods, and Howard joins the others in the house.
So this is Raven.
I hear them opening cabinets, ransacking, taking what’s ours. Just don’t let them go searching the rest of the house. Don’t let them take the medical supplies. Don’t let them try the lights or the water. Don’t let them find the safe and make me open it and take the handgun and ammo. They can’t leave us with nothing.
“What are we supposed to do?” I ask Raven.
She shrugs. “What all of us do now—do what you have to, to survive.”
“And you have to do this?” I ask.
She takes a deep, steady breath, then says, “We do. But...”
Raven takes her eyes off us long enough to look toward the house, then she takes a short step forward. She lowers her voice.
“This is more... performance than anything else.”
“Performance?” Andrew asks, not bothering to keep his voice down. Raven looks annoyed but continues anyway.
“Doyou think you’d survive out here alone? Just the two of you?”
“How do you know it’s only the two of us?” Andrew asks.
“Because they’ve been watching us,” I say. “That’s right, isn’t it?”
Raven nods. So all this is to leave us desperate enough to comefind them, because they need people. They need numbers and security, and maybe even people to work their crop fields in return for food and protection. And they want us to think we need them as much as they need us.
Their work is fast, and when they emerge, all three of them hold bags filled with our food. Raven goes back to the tree line and Howard turns his attention to us.
“We left some of it. Enough to keep you going for a few days.”
A few days. That’s not counting the deer in the freezer that was supposed to last us longer than it will now. And they’ve already taken the rest of the food from town.
“Remember what I said. Don’t come after us. Don’t throw your life away for nothing. Now, if you want to come out andjoinus, no weapons, you’re more than welcome. We’ll find a way for you to help out and a way for you to get paid.”
Raven was telling the truth. Thisisjust a performance. I wonder if they even need that food.
