Anger of the Free Folk

By J L Johnson

Anger and her people, known as the Free Folk, had traded with the domed cities for the first time only a few decades ago. The Free Folk traded the food the domed cities desperately needed to feed its starving populations, and the domed cities were forced to trade the only commodities the Free Folk wanted, the ancient books and painted masterpieces the corporation had hoarded in their warehouses for centuries. 
They hadn't always enjoyed such peaceful relations. The powerful corporation which owned and operated the cities feared the Free Folk. They'd dropped bombs from remote-controlled drones on their villages for generations. The corporation had only stopped the bombing when it became clear they needed the Free Folk for their food.
The Free Folk were immune to the flu that had wiped out most of humanity centuries ago. The corporation had built the domed cities to keep the people inside isolated from the flu. 
The Free Folk had an open, self-sustaining society. They shared knowledge with whoever wanted to learn. And now it appeared there were a few residents of one domed city who were ready to learn...

• Language: English
• Publisher: J L Johnson
• Release date: Aug 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386068471

J L Johnson

J L Johnson has an absolutely beautiful and charming, highly intelligent daughter.  She also has two brilliant, extremely handsome sons, both US Navy Officers.  Her daughters-in-law are two of the most delightfully sweet, stunningly gorgeous young women in the world.  And to top it all off, she has three of the brightest, cutest, most genuinely gifted grandchildren on the planet.  Some people have told her she might be a wee bit prejudiced on the subject, but she very sincerely doubts it.  She was born in Montana where she grew up with a love of books and reading. Feel free to contact her at [e-mail].

Book preview

Chapter 1

I can't believe how massive the city is! It's... It's humongous! I'm glad you talked me into climbing all the way up here. You can't really tell how enormous it is from the ground, Anger told her best friend, Fable, as she re-positioned the binocs on her eyes, hoping to see anything at all inside the tinted, dust-covered dome.

Anger Hamilton and her best friend, Fable Somers, had climbed high into a magnificent cottonwood tree growing quite conveniently on a well-placed hill near the mammoth domed city. The tree's branches soared high above them, but Anger was afraid to climb any higher. She felt the branches were becoming too narrow to support her weight, but Fable had thrown caution to the wind, and climbed on.

They'd had to use ropes and harnesses to navigate the first twenty feet of the deeply-furrowed bark on the tree's trunk; cottonwoods shed their lower branches as they grew and the lack of handholds made climbing them rather difficult.

Fable had brought the equipment in hopes of finding a tree from which they could spy into the city. Anger hadn't expected to find one, but here they were, more than three-quarters of the way up a beautiful tree, spying on the city.

It's so much higher and wider than I ever imagined. That dome seems to stretch forever; I can barely see the other side of it, even from way up here, Anger exclaimed, lowering the binocs and squinting her blue eyes to glance up at Fable. Can you see all the way to the other side? she asked, blinking again and focusing her eyes on the wall in front of her.

Anger decided even the wall itself was impressive. It was made of solid concrete and towered well over one hundred feet into the sky. From a certain distance on the ground, it looked like a gargantuan granite formation, but Anger knew nothing found in nature was as perfectly aligned as the concrete edifice you saw as you approached the city.

The sections were also clearly marked where the cement had been poured during its formation. She knew without this specific tree, on this particular hill, they would've never had a chance to see anything inside that wall.

One small gate was the only opening in the gigantic wall. The gate was just large enough for a robotic cart to exit and enter on the only path leading into the city. No human passed the gate. Not in many, many generations. No one ever went in and most assuredly, no one ever came out.

I can't see much inside either. Even with those cleaning machines on the dome, it's all still so dusty, Anger lowered the binocs, letting them hang against her chest, and then tilted her head up to better see her friend, but Fable's silhouette was all she could see with the blazing sun shining right in her eyes.

She whistled sharply to get Fable's attention and reiterated. "Fable! Did you hear me? Can you see to the other side, or see anything inside?"

"Hang on, I can hear you... I can just make out the wall on the other side... Not much inside though. I'm thinking if the sun hits just right..." Fable scarcely glanced down at her and proceeded to climb higher still.

"Will you please be careful? You're not paying attention to anything at all, except spying through those binocs," Anger gasped anxiously, peering up through the myriad of branches at Fable.

"Oh Anger, calm down, you worry too much. You know I never fall, and I am paying attention," Fable said and laughed. She stood up even straighter on the thin branch she was balanced on, and leaned her body forward. She was holding onto the tree with only one gloved hand, and the binocs dangled loosely from her other hand.

"Put those around your neck, I swear, Fable, Anger exclaimed and then shook her head angrily at her friend as she gulped down her fear. You will fall if you don't pay attention. You could die!" It looked to Anger like one good breeze would knock Fable right out of the tree.

"Oh please, stop being so dramatic. In all of our nineteen years, have you ever seen me fall, even once? Fable asked as she shook her head and chuckled. Okay, maybe when Rockwell first taught us to climb, but that was years and years ago! I've never had more than a scratch from falling."

"You'd suffer more than a scratch in a fall from this height. You'd break your neck! Please? For me? Be careful?"

Fine. But only for you, Fable relented, wrapping the thin strap of the binocs around her neck, and then flipping her long, light-brown pony-tail out of the way. I should've braided this mess. Like yours.

You never plan ahead, Fable, it's almost scary! Anger had tightly braided her own long, dark-brown hair down her back, completely out of the way. You just barrel through everything. You never think things out. It's amazing you've lived as long as you have...

"Oh hush! At least I remembered to bring the binocs, Fable interrupted her rant, chuckling. You forgot. I had to remind you."

Yes, but you were much more worried about remembering them than I was, Anger snickered. If I want to see city people, all I have to do is look at some vids, not climb all the way up here and watch you almost kill yourself.

I promise I don't plan on killing myself, okay? Fable asked sarcastically and stuck out her tongue.

"Fine. It'll be good to know when you fall to your death, that you hadn't planned it. Big surprise there! Fable didn't plan something... Anyway, I'm sure it'll make seeing your dead, broken body seem less gruesome, Anger snorted. Besides, I'd probably end up having to clean up your bloody remains... So don't fall, planned or not..." She exclaimed and shook her head at Fable. Then she chuckled and pulled her binocs back up to her eyes to try and get another look inside the dome.

They had to use binocs to see anything at all. Their tree, although conveniently located, was almost half a mile from the wall. The ground surrounding the walls was barren soil, as dry and dusty as the desert to the south of their current location. Anger thought that must be why they needed the cleaning machines. The dust would completely cover the dome in no time without them.

Her older brother, Rockwell, told her there were mines embedded all through the ground surrounding the walls. There were even signs warning not to approach the minefield. Anger thought the city looked completely unapproachable even without the minefield.  It looked about as welcoming as a rattle snake's nest.

She thought about a stranger coming into their village for the first time and observing all the activity, all the kids and all the noise; she was certain it would look friendly and approachable.

The villagers were always open and welcoming, but there was nothing welcoming about this city at all. It reminded her of prisons she'd read about in books, only instead of fences, there was that massive wall, and instead of guard towers, there were mines.

Even animals weren't welcome here. She briefly wondered if any animal had ever approached that wall, or mistakenly set off a mine. Rockwell had their horses staked on long leads so they could graze, but they were kept far away from the danger of accidentally setting off one of the mines.

They also kept Milo, the husky Rockwell and his wife, Jaia, had adopted, tied up by the wagon to keep him safe. Being a husky, Milo was not at all pleased about this. He yipped and howled occasionally to make sure everyone knew he was miserable.

Milo had mastered the doggy version of a dirty look and he spent the whole day glowering at all of them for not releasing him from the lead. His expression left no doubt in anyone's mind how offended he was about the whole situation.

Anger was there to see the strange clothes and makeup the women in the city wore. In their village, women wore simple tunic shifts, or simple pants with short tunic tops. In the summer, the heat would melt makeup right off their faces, and in the harsh winters, the icy wind would dry it up and simply blow it off.

Makeup just wasn't feasible for Free Folk, and Anger wasn't sure she'd want to bother applying it everyday anyway. It all seemed pretty silly to her, but maybe it was the only way the women trapped inside could add any color to their faces.

A curved, transparent dome covered the city, keeping the purified, cooled air inside. The dome kept the UV rays of the sun out, leaving the inhabitants extremely pale, even those whose ancestors came from the darker-skinned races.

The city dwellers all had the same pasty-looking skin and they all looked half asleep. She'd heard the PC also encouraged the city people to take meds, certain meds to keep them awake and apathetic, and others to put them to sleep.

Her dad had told her the drugs kept the people inside easy to manage. He said the PC didn't want anyone inside the wall thinking too much.

Fable was much more interested in looking at the men. Anger knew it bothered Fable that she hadn't married yet. She was eager to have babies and start a family.

Both of Fable's older sisters were married with kids already and Anger knew Fable's mom spent a lot of time helping them. Fable would never say anything, but Anger knew her friend well enough to know she missed having her mom around more. The last couple of years had been hard on her and being considered an old maid didn't help matters any.

At nineteen, they were both considered old maids. Most people in their village paired off immediately after their schooling was finished and started creating new families. Having lots of children meant their village would flourish.

The Elders in her village never pressured them, though, and Anger was extremely pleased about that. She'd heard rumors of other villages where the Elders insisted all women have babies at a young age, never caring whether they were ready, or even caring if they wanted to have children.

She'd also heard that in those same villages, women were only allowed to work in designated roles. They couldn't study to be doctors or even hunt if that's what they wanted to do.

When she'd mentioned what she'd heard to Rockwell, he told her most of that happened right after the epidemic, centuries ago, and that all of those villages were gone. They'd simply disappeared; the women had abandoned the villages with Elders who thought like that. Good for them! Anger remembered thinking.

Anger didn't worry about getting married. She hadn't yet met anyone she loved enough to marry, much less anyone she'd want to spend the rest of her life with.

She hadn't been interested in any of the boys they'd attended school with, or even any of the older boys in their village. Fable had been interested in Rockwell for a very short time, but Rock had noticed Jaia instead, and Anger thought it ended the best for everyone concerned. As much as she loved her friend, Rock wouldn't have been as happy with Fable as he was with Jaia.

If she ever did meet someone and fall in love, she'd probably marry him, but if she never did, that would be okay with her, too. She was happy with her life just as it was.

Both her older brother and sister were already married, and even her mother had married when she was only seventeen. Her mom told her she knew she'd marry her father within mere days of meeting him.

Her father came from a Ranger family. His family had traveled to their village for vaccinations. The Elders made sure even the wildest of the Rangers understood how important vaccinating their children was, not only for them, but also for everyone they came in contact with. Some of the diseases the vaccinations prevented were almost as fatal as the flu which had wiped out most of humanity.

Her dad had met her mom at the clinic where she was studying to become a doctor, and he'd stayed in the village after his family started the voyage back to their home.

He claimed it was love at first sight, and he loved telling the story of the day her mom knocked his socks off, and changed his entire life. He'd become a scholar and an Elder, instead of the Ranger he always thought he'd be.

Irritated as she was at Fable, Anger had to chuckle at the determined look on her friend's face. Jaia glanced up to see what made her laugh.

Rockwell and Jaia had come to the outskirts of the city to trade. He must have been in a particularly good mood when he offered Anger and Fable, the chance to see the city. She'd offered to go with him many times and was overjoyed when he finally asked.

It had taken seven long days to get here in the wagons. The girls had fun driving the wagon during the days and sleeping in the tents at night. They had one wagon all to themselves, although Jaia had threatened Rock more than once that she'd ride with the girls if he insisted on singing all the way.

Her brother's singing voice wasn't one anyone would pay to hear; more likely, someone would offer to pay to shut him up. Anger loved that her brother was in a good enough mood to sing.

Rock, usually so solemn and serious, had joined them at night around their campfire, joking around and telling stories. He'd even spent time playing with Milo, throwing sticks for the dog to fetch and playing tug-of-war with him, the husky's favorite activity in the whole world. Anger loved seeing her normally-staid brother letting loose and acting so carefree.

Back home, at the village, Rock was always busy planning something, or building something, or hunting for meat to replenish their stores. She often wondered if all oldest siblings were as serious as her brother, but didn't really believe it, she was sure her brother was one of a kind.

She can look all she wants, Anger. She'll never get near any of them, Jaia said and smiled, clearly amused.

They're too afraid of us to come out of the city, even if they could, Rock claimed, walking under the tree and looking up at the girls. Any of them would make bad matches. None of them are immune. They're nothing but slaves of the PC, like prisoners... And just like prisoners, they'll never get out, they're stuck in there, behind those walls.

Anger cocked her eyebrow at Fable, Are you even sure this is his city?

Whose city? Rock asked as he glared suspiciously up at Fable and Anger. His eyebrows narrowed into a straight line, what are you two up to?

His name is Kevet Wye. Fable's been chatting with him on the net. She's hoping for a chance to see him, Anger answered playfully, watching Fable blush. I told her it wasn't going to happen.

Anger knew she was being a brat and didn't like acting like this. She was basically telling on Fable like they were still little kids, but she couldn't stop herself. She was afraid Fable was going to get hurt by her infatuation with Kevet.

This 'Kevet' could be anyone. He could be a lonely old man. He could even be a she, or kids playing a nasty trick on her friend. It was a sad story he told about life in the domed city, but Anger needed a lot more proof before she'd believe him the way Fable already did.

She'd gone along with Fable's scheme to find Kevet and his friend, Myles, but she desperately wanted her brother to talk some sense into her friend. No matter how she imagined it, she just didn't see this unlikely fantasy ending well for Fable.

I knew taking the filters completely off our net would create problems. How did he even get online? And how did he get past the PC's filters? Rock asked and scowled, his bushy eyebrows now meeting in the middle, like a dark-fuzzy caterpillar stretched across his forehead.

Kevet and one of his friends, Myles, engineered a program from instructions they found in an old book. They're not all dumb you know. They don't all just take meds and watch vids, Fable answered, scowling right back at him. Some of them want to learn. Some of them want out.

Learning can get him dead in there, and he has to know there's no getting out. The PC doesn't want those people educated. It's nothing like out here. You shouldn't even be in contact with him. Nothing good can come of it, it can only lead to trouble.

"They are treated like slaves in there. They never see the sun or go to school. They never even have enough to eat. I feel sorry for them," Fable said, her gray eyes glistening with tears.

Rockwell immediately softened his tone, his eyebrows loosening as he looked up at her. "I feel sorry for them too, Fable, but their great, great... however many great... grandparents made the choice to live in there. It astonishes me that they don't all break out, but that's their business. Their business, Fable. None of it is our business. We're only here to trade."

Less than half a billion people were left on earth and over sixty percent resided inside PC city walls, at least as far as the Elders could figure. There were PC cities on every continent and their number more than doubled the number of Free Folk living in villages scattered around the world.

Anger and her clan were part of the Free Folk, born with a natural immunity to the flu, or so it was said. The Free Folk lived simple lives in small villages. They were farmers, ranchers, weavers, potters, smithies and hunters. They raised their families on the land and lived in peace.

They tried not to use more than they needed and tried to replant and recycle as much as possible. The Elders knew about the devastation caused by the excessive use of the planet's resources by their ancestors, and swore they wouldn't repeat those mistakes. The Elders had no control over the PC cities, however.

Each domed city was managed by the PC leaders. They seemed to have only one goal, complete control of the citizens inside. They'd also tried to control the Free Folk, spying on their villages and occasionally dropping bombs.

Thankfully, the drones operated by the PC no longer hunted them. For generations, many of the Free Folk had been killed and maimed by the bombs dropped from the PC's menacing, sleek-black drones. When the PC finally realized how desperately they needed the Free Folk for trade, they stopped the attacks.

The PC, The Planetary Corporation, owned and operated the domed cities. They built the new cities while the flu pandemic decimated most of humanity. Every kind of luxury was available in the cities, the best of everything. Only those with enough money were able to buy their way in though.

Once inside however, they found only the top echelon of the PC enjoyed the luxuries. The rest found themselves prisoners, and as slaves of the PC, they were trapped forever inside the walls.

There were rumors of people escaping the cities, but Anger knew they were just rumors. No one she knew or knew of, had ever met anyone from one of the cities.

All of the old cities sat in ruin. Most of the former occupants were evacuated to nearby stadiums during the epidemic, but some people stayed hidden in the cities, hoping for help that never came.

The Free Folk would never forget the time of burning. It had happened hundreds of years before, but the Free Folk still taught the lessons of it to each new generation.

The PC would've left the bodies to rot, isolated as they were inside their impregnable walls, so it was left to the Free Folk to clear the ruins. The stadiums were the easiest to burn, but the remaining buildings in each city had to be searched separately, and searching for remains was a tedious task.

In some extreme cases the Free Folk burned entire cities to cremate the bodies, because there were too many corpses to carry away. In other cities, they were able to conserve the buildings and their contents.

Occasionally, they found survivors who were welcomed into their villages. Usually, they left empty buildings behind, slowly rotting in silent, desolate cities.

The PC thought the domed cities were the answer to stopping the flu pandemic. They thought the world would continue on as it had before the flu. That people would continue to work hard to buy the newest anything the corporation produced.

They forgot a few small, but very important details, like fresh food. So sure