The Freebies

By Alan Baylis

A worrying trend was developing amongst the farming communities of the country, in which long term farmers were failing to grow crops that they had grown year after year. Given that they had some of the most sophisticated equipment money could buy and that their automatic irrigation, soil testing and modifying machinery was working 24 hours a day, everyday, it was very unusual these days for any farmer to fail to bring in a harvest. Yet these farmers, but not all, would make some of the most basic mistakes in the running of their farms, from setting the equipment to the wrong setting, through to damaging the crop by harvesting it incorrectly or at the wrong time. The farmers themselves could not remember why they had acted to ruin their own crops, but the strange thing about this growing trend was that other farmers, in the same areas, were unaffected and their farms were thriving better than ever. To the farmers and those investigating the problem there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the spate of failed crops, yet the rumour going around was that it had something to do with a nomadic tribe of people called the Freebies.

The Freebies were a simple people, with simple needs, probably the simplest needs of any group of people in world. They had managed to survive outside of mainstream society by trapping the occasional rabbit or fox and would find the occasional gift pack of food left out by generous people who believed they existed, but this was becoming rare as the number of Freebies grew. Their numbers had been growing steadily since the introduction of a compulsory taxation scheme that demanded a fixed rate regardless of a persons earnings. At first it was just those that had no work that had had to drop out of the system but over time many of the working poor were also forced to join the ranks of the Freebies. These days it was all that they could do to find an abundant supply of snails and insects to eat and water to drink. It was either that or spend the rest of their lives working in a prison.

Johnny was born a Freebie, he was out this night as he was every night, always under the cover of darkness, foraging for something to eat. He was carrying all he owned in a small backpack which was wrapped in his oilskin coat. There was no need to wear a coat on a fine moonlit night such as tonight. As he walked across a farm he knew from his upbringing that he must not steal from the crops that surrounded him unless it was absolutely necessary, and even then it should only be an unnoticeable amount. This was the most important rule. As a fourth generation Freebie it had been drummed into him that should the police ever learn or even suspect of their existence that they would stop at nothing to bring them back into their society and ultimately prison. As he went about the crops he noticed the tracks left by other Freebies that night, strategically placed footprints and evidence of other footprints that had been carefully brushed over were everywhere, but only noticeable to another Freebie. The total lack of snails and other grubs was still more evidence that this farm had recently been visited by a very large group. He decided to backtrack off of the farm but was startled by the sudden ranting and raving of a man behind him. Johnny turned slowly to face the man, clearly the owner of the farm, who was waving a shotgun in his direction. But as he turned, the man went strangely quiet, dumbfounded at the sight of him. A dazed expression came over the farmer and he slowly lowered the shotgun, his eyes staring blankly at Johnny. Whether it was a curse, brought on by the sight of the most humble person the farmer had ever seen, or whether it was a form of instant hypnosis that had developed among the Freebies over generations, Johnny couldn't say; but this had happened before. Twice Johnny had been caught by farmers patrolling their farms, and twice the farmers had been struck dumb and then returned to their homes. As before, the farmer calmly turned and headed off towards the farm buildings, so Johnny didn't stick around. He quickly left the farm in the opposite direction. What had happened to these farmers was a mystery but also a blessing he thought to himself. If the population of the Freebies didn't grow too fast then they might just be able to continue this way of life.

Back in the capital city, a new bill was being considered by government in which it called for all of the inhabitants of the country to be implanted with a low yield nuclear weapon that could be remotely detonated. It was thought that this would dissuade kidnappers or could be used against an invading army in the name of national security. Little did the politicians know, rather than having the desired effect of bringing peace of mind to the people, that it had sparked a quiet exodus.