He filled the fruit sack with many things...
****
It was now all over except the explosions. Scar had flattened or closed off more than one pipe leading away from the machines. Those were mostly the smaller pipes, but that was just to begin the sabotage. He had also placed numerous timers, attached to charges, on each machine.
They were timed to detonate one after the other, to begin in approximately five hours; if one failed, the others would still follow at intervals. He hoped he had plenty of time to make it back up to the surface; then he would live in the upper world.
But...he had one stop to make, first. Scar wanted meat in his new world.
****
Scar first went to the rendering plants. Removing his backpack, he emptied it of his toiletries; his cup; bowl, etc. They had stored extras in the first storage dome in the village above; there was no need for him to take his.
From around the processing area, he gathered sausage, cut roasts, and raw chicken parts. Surprisingly, while he filled his backpack with them, he avoided anything made of human meat. He had learned well from Loni.
That man had told him, the reason the overseers were so dangerous, mad and aggressive. They were human meat eaters!
After shouldering this burden, Scar moved to the breeding stalls. He came first to the pig pens. Quickly, from a sow with a litter a week old, he scooped, from among those to choose from, three tiny piglets; one of black, a male; and two, one spotted pink and black, another pure white, each female, stuffing them together down deep into the fruit sack. The lack of air inside, made the squealing piglets quiet, and grow still. He then went about the pens and stalls, setting all others free: goats; sheep, cows and pigs; even the dogs and cats. Some followed him; others were more hesitant, taking their time, even when they realized they were free. He stepped around the milling animals, heading for the bird coops.
Here, Scar found the incubators of tiny chicks growing beneath the heat lamps. He stuffed in as many as the upper half of the sack would hold, hoping among them was both male and female. And so began the formation of his future farming endeavor.
He then set all the other birds free: ducks; geese; turkeys and grouse, chickens of every kind, that had been gathered, and brought through the transportation portal over the years. Most were unable to fly; they scattered away, among the rest of the menagerie, none knowing which way to go.
Fleetingly, Scar wondered where everybody was; why no one was around to stop him. His ulterior reasoning was to deprive the elite of their privileged meal fare, but he also had another, more devious, purpose in mind...
****
Loaded near beyond his ability to carry; the food at his back; the baby animals at his front, the one armed thief headed down through the sewer, where he would eventually get out , and up the ladder to the world above. His hope was the animals and poultry, he had set free, would follow, and distract the deadly monster, whose lair he must pass, feeding it, giving it its fill, before he arrived...so Scar could safely pass by.
Squealing little piglets moved on passed him, running hopelessly to their death, some stopping to gorge on tidbits in the running, fuming, rivulet beneath their feet, prolonging the inevitable. A large heifer ran by, the slope causing her to trip. she went down, then head over hoof, rolling like a giant miss-shaped package, eventually going over the shelf into the abyss beneath.
And then appeared the Hydra, its many heads swaying, one huge, fanged jaw opening, to catch the unfortunate cow in mid fall. It then, disappeared from sight to enjoy such a large, unexpected repast.
Scar breathed a sigh of relief; his distraction was effective. He took the shelf, moving over and across it, until he reached his destination: the ladder going upward. When he came to the rung-ladder he, and Loni, had so often traversed, he was shocked to find, he was not alone. Following, just behind him, determined, and more intelligent than most, also, fearless, was an obstinate nanny goat.
Ignoring her, Scar began the climb; for him, each bar difficult, with only one arm. One rung at a time, the man went up, and behind him, imitating his action, the goat found it easier, as it had four legs.
Let the dumb thing follow, then! It will give me milk.
What Scar did not expect, when he, and his shadow, reached their destination, and gained the outside ledge, behind the she goat, five offspring followed, as determined to go after mother's milk, as their parent had wanted freedom. Each had negotiated the rungs with unfailing fortitude.
And so, Scar truly had the makings of a future cattle farm.
Chapter 36
Loni sat on his mat deep in thought. They had to leave, beyond a doubt...and immediately.
This would be the beginning of a new life...
He would begin by getting out the two little ones he had, and of course, Gem, Da, and Lydia. Later, he might come back for other infants...or older boys...as they were prepared to handle them.
That would be a twofold endeavor: the work crew, and...future partners. Loni would be very careful whom he chose...
The surface would be their responsibility; they would be charged with repopulating that new upper world. For that, they would need at least two younger males. His daughter, and Da's, would bring about a second generation.
Dare I take more babies from this genetic gene pool? What if they tend toward violence, like the overseers?
He couldn't discipline a much larger group; Scar proved difficult enough. But with Gem's help...maybe, they could guide a two parent family...
For now, first things first, he
