CHAPTER 8
Two Men in Rags
A thick hedge surrounded the field and that night two figures lay hidden beneath it. One was a man of thirty and the other a youth of eighteen, and they gazed across the ground by the light of the star-dazzle. The hedge branches picked at their clothes and tried to pull threads loose, but that hardly mattered considering the already tattered condition of the garments they wore.
“See, Myron? Just like I told you, ears of maize are lying on the ground,” whispered the younger one.
“Those aren’t good ears, Izak,” his older companion replied. “Those are all stunted and rotten. That’s why the pickers left them in the first place. There’s nothing you could eat out there.”
“But there must be a few good kernels, at least,” pleaded Izak. “There must be something to eat.”
“You couldn’t get half a mouthful of anything edible from the whole field. Worse, you’d eat some of the rotten parts and get sick. Izak, come with me now. We’re going home.”
“No! If you won’t come with me, I’ll go by myself.”
“Listen to me,” said Myron. “If I could get anything at all for my wife and daughters I would risk it, but there’s nothing here. I’m going home and you need to come with me.”
“I don’t have anyone at home,” whispered Izak. He was on the verge of crying. “I lost my parents and little brother last year. It’s only me and I’m starving. The Hibbrians make guys like us work harder than anyone but we don’t get any more food.”
“That’s not true, Izak. The chief Hibbrian really does give more food to workers. You and I are better off than the old people and children.” Myron immediately regretted the thoughtlessness of his remark. He shouldn’t have said that after Izak had just mentioned his family. “I know how much of your portion you give away. That’s incredibly good of you.”
“I’m so hungry.”
“I know, but doing this won’t help anything.”
Izak’s voice became stronger and more resolute. “I understand, Myron. You should go now. Daisy and your girls need you, but no one needs me.”
“We all need you. Now if you won’t come willingly, I’ll drag you.”
“You can’t. That would make noise and you’d get caught too.”
Myron knew the truth of that. “I’ve known you since you were born, boy. Our families have lived side by side forever. You’re breaking my heart.” Izak grabbed one of Myron’s hands in both of his.
“I’m sorry, Myron. You’ve always been good to me and I hate to make you sad, but you can’t stop me. I’ll be careful. If I don’t find anything good right away, I’ll run.”
“You know what’ll happen if a guard dog gets a whiff of you. The Yuzoi will kill you just for being outside your house at night. It doesn’t matter to them that you’re just picking up garbage and not stealing anything worthwhile.”
“I want you to go now,” Izak said. “I won’t let you stay here. I’ll wait long enough for you to get away before I go out into the field, but I am going.”
Myron wanted to say more but his voice choked up. All he could do was squeeze Izak’s hands before crawling out from under the hedge and hurrying away. He was almost home when he heard a dog barking and the awful sound of a Yuzoi weapon firing.