Them and Us by Paul Schueller - HTML preview

Chapter 2

The next morning Sam came out of his room for breakfast and his dad was sitting at the kitchen table. Sam looked just as angry as he had the night before when he slammed the door. “Have you come to your senses yet?” Sam blurted out.

“You mean did us decide to have an abortion? No.”

“Seriously, what choice do you have?”

“Maybe it’s time to stand up. All the rules. This crazy city. You know what I mean. I know you feel it too. Claustrophobia, agoraphobia, call it what you want but I can see it in your eyes.”

Sam looked shocked but tried to hide it. “What do you mean?”

“I saw the application in your room for work outside the city. When were you going to tell us?”

Sam stammered. “I, ahhh…”

“Why do you think I’m a structural engineer? Every time our company builds a new skyscraper I get to be out there in the open air, hovering above the city. It’s the closest I’ll get. Tell me you didn’t feel the exhilaration yesterday on your trip. When everyone else was afraid and more comfortable inside. I live for those moments. Plus us pay more than us really should spend on this apartment. Without a little view I might go mad as many people like you and I did before us.” John looked relived to have shared his thoughts.

Sam absorbed the information but tried to remain detached. “Maybe you should’ve tried to get a job outside the city too.”

“I did try. Rejected every time. After a dozen rejections and years of wandering job to job I hit on the idea of being a structural engineer. It saved me.”

“So many people are afraid of being out there that I don’t understand why they wouldn’t take you.” Sam stated.

“Genetics. Same reason they might not take you. Not many of us left. Heard the city calls it the Wander Gene. They worry about people like us wandering off hoping to find nomads or just disappearing to live free until they die alone. That’s the reason most of the people with the gene died out over the centuries. They ended up dying on the open range, caught and

imprisoned or drunk, disappointed and alone in the city. Most didn’t have kids knowing at some level that their kids likely would end up like them.”

“Do you really think nomad tribes are out there on the open range? Us learned that the last of them died off centuries ago.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter if you are stuck in the city.” John stated.

“What can I do to get accepted?” Sam asked.

“You could try doing the opposite of what I did. I thought about this for years and I have some ideas. They’ll certainly do a DNA test during the application process, although your AI chip probably already has the information…let’s talk more soon.”

“OK but let’s talk about you and mom first, please.”