The Farm
They are all so blind. Why can’t they see that it’s all a lie? Bribed by the corporations, the media writes stories about the “Last Farm” that remains after the outbreak. Do they not know that the infection was in the air? No one understands what goes on outside the city walls anymore. Most people just think that their pets got sick and died, but it is so much more than that. They don’t see that ranches as we know them don’t exist anymore. Only we humans survive, but with what we’re doing, I wouldn’t even call us humans anymore.
The disease annihilated all of the animals. It didn’t seem like anything was wrong until it was too late to stop it. For fear of it mutating to attack humans, a huge, isolated city was built behind a vast metal wall that was meant to keep the disease out. The world’s population was confined to separate it from the disease. The only access to the outside world was through a single gate at the front of the city. The corporations jumped at the opportunity to buy up all of the uninhabited land outside of the wall. Industrial farms were built on this land to feed the populace. The prices of meat skyrocketed. With growing demand, and no apparent supply; geneticist used human DNA to create livestock impervious to the infection. The government and the corporations blind the populace and split the profits.
I was like one of them once: ignorant. That was before I took a job on The Farm. Even though it meant leaving my family and the safety of the city walls, I needed a way to support my family and they offered a huge paycheck. I thought that all I needed to do was feed the cattle. I was shocked at what I found. They looked like animals, but they had an unmistakable look in their eyes. It then became clear what the geneticists were doing. When I told them that what they were doing was wrong, the warden knocked me to the ground and threatened everything I cared about. I wanted to go home, but he wouldn’t let me. I asked the warden if I could write letters to my family, he said that he would take care of that for me. I knew that if this wasn’t Hell, I would soon be there because of what I am a part of.
When I walk my route, I find it hard to believe that it is my fourth year here. The landscape is desolate and dry. Any land that hasn’t been used for growing crops has become a barren region of sand. I think about my family, living happily in ignorance.
At feeding time, I try not to look into their eyes; so blank, empty, and sad. No one is allowed to talk near them. I feel my spirit breaking; my contract ended over a year ago, but the warden won’t let me go. When I bring up my contract, he reminds me about what I have at stake. I can’t take this much longer. The horizon is unbroken save the city rising above the desert sand.
There aren’t many other workers on The Farm. The brutal warden thinks that he has broken me; it is the perfect time to make my move. In the early hours of the morning, I open the cages. They follow my blindly, like a moth to a light bulb. About a dozen hobble out of the darkness behind iron bars and into the daylight. I begin the walk through the one-mile corridor of desert to the city. Solid packed dirt and sand show a well-used path to the city gate. Soon after I began, I hear an ear-wrenching scream. It is the warden, and he has a gun. I began to sprint as a rush of sound fills my ears. One of my followers drops beside me. The sound causes panic and they all scramble. The shots continue one near miss after another. Almost at the gate, a burning knife buries itself in my shoulder. I have to make it. In my blurred vision, I see people in government uniforms coming out of the top of the wall. A second shot from the wall crumbles my leg from underneath me, just feet in front of the gate. I make the last effort to lunge at the gate. Amongst the chaos, deafening sounds, and excruciating pain, I turn the latch. The gate slides open. Through the gate, I see a long street, full of people investigating the disturbance. That is when I feel the solid impact on my back. I feel a wave of peace rush over me as all sounds rush away. As I lay there, I watch my followers pour into the city. My dreamlike state was shattered as the warden’s boot slams into my side. He glares at me as he draws his knife. Although I am the one on the ground, I defiantly stare into his eyes because we both know who the winner is. The plot ends there. The age of ignorance and greed is over. As I lay on my back watching the peaceful sky fade to gray, I feel hope that the world will be one step closer to righteousness. I pray that one day decency will overcome all of the sinful malevolence of greed.