Delivery Boys

Originally published in May, 2023.

The Department of Labour which was constituted to recruit people for emergency needs finally had it enough with delivery boys. These boys were tough, and dumb but muscular and knew all about how to breathe outside in the city with very little oxygen. But as with all things, money was the problem.

Ever since the failure of the last mission by the Department of Science to rejuvenate the atmosphere with more oxygen, the nation was dying out and it was no different than most of the world. Most of the jobs were lost and only critical services which were essential for survival remained legal.

Everyone stayed inside and worked from home, and only the fittest men and some women were allowed to do work that wasn’t possible indoors. This baffled most people as the pot-sized machines the Department of Science gave away for free to people and which were supposed to churn out oxygen didn’t do shit.

But they had to listen to the orders because anyone who was seen outside was either thought to be very healthy and made to do labor or was shot if they looked anything like spaghetti. To make sure people remained alive at home, Parliament made sure home delivery services kept running. But since most of the companies went bankrupt, the government took over the role.

The Department of Treasury issued a circular last week and to protect scarce resources, home delivery services were finally deemed irrelevant. The government finally allowed citizens to go out and buy stuff at select hours during the day. While this made citizens happy, home delivery boys like Kevin had their hearts shattered. Most of these boys came from rural areas and while they had plenty of muscles, they had pea-sized brains and didn’t know shit.

As Kevin was boarding the bus, he knew he was heading back to the one place he hoped he’d never have to see again. Like hundreds of boys, he was going back to the village where his tiny ancestral house stood with nothing but dust inside. His parents died of hunger in the village while he worked in the capital because nobody from outside was let inside apart from essential workers.

The government only cared about the capital because those politicians needed a place with some luxury for themselves. Kevin knew one thing for sure though, that while his parents are dusted and nobody lives in that damn village, he still has all the land to himself and if he can use his 2 brain cells to perfection, he can grow something to eat.

Little did he know that the government often carried out missions to these remote villages and executed anyone who resisted handing over agricultural produce.

Written for Fandango’s Story Starter #97.