Chapter 134: Hard Labor
The Florida sun felt like a branding iron pressing down on their backs.
Li and Clementine had been walking for an entire day without food or water. Their lips were cracked, and their throats felt raw, as if scraped by sandpaper.
They had originally planned to head north back to Georgia, but the position of the sun and the roadside signs told them they had gone the wrong way.
Tampa – 37 Miles
They were in Central Florida, not Georgia.
Li stood beneath the sign, clutching a can he had found in an abandoned house. The label had faded long ago, and it had already expired, but he couldn't bring himself to throw it away.
Clementine squatted by the roadside, hugging her knees.
The soles of her shoes were worn through, and her dust-covered toes poked through the holes.
"Maybe we'll find some food in the next house," Li said.
He crouched down, stuffed the can into his backpack, and gently patted her shoulder.
Clementine looked up. A crack had formed on her lip, and a trace of blood seeped from it.
She nodded silently.
The two continued forward, their steps slow and heavy, as if they were walking through water.
The town ahead was small, consisting of a single main street lined with rows of houses.
Most of the doors stood open. Everything of value had already been taken—even the curtains had been ripped away.
Li searched house after house.
The kitchen cabinets were empty.
The refrigerator doors hung crooked on broken hinges.
The stale smell inside nearly made him sick.
Meanwhile, Clementine crouched beside a fireplace, sifting through the ashes with a stick.
Nothing.
At the last house at the end of the street—a blue bungalow—Li pushed open the door.
The living room was in ruins.
The sofa had been overturned.
The coffee table had been chopped apart for firewood.
He entered the kitchen and opened every cabinet.
Empty.
Then he crouched down and opened the cabinet beneath the sink.
In the corner sat a single can.
The metal was rusted, and most of the label had peeled away. Only one word remained visible:
Beans.
Li picked it up, brushed off the dust, and checked the date stamped on the bottom.
Expired two months ago.
A smile appeared on his face.
To him, it was treasure.
Clutching the can, he turned around—
And froze.
Clementine stood in the doorway, her body rigid.
Two men in floral shirts stood in front of her.
Both were armed.
One was bald.
The other had curly hair.
The bald man wore a thick gold chain around his neck, while the curly-haired man had a crooked tattoo running down his arm.
"Put everything down," the bald man ordered.
Li slowly set the can on the floor and raised his hands.
The curly-haired man searched him, confiscating the knife at his waist.
Then he rummaged through Li's backpack, found the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a long drink before tossing it to the bald man.
The bald man drank as well.
Then he casually threw the bottle onto the floor.
Water spilled across the ground.
"Take them."
---
They were loaded into a pickup truck.
Clementine was shoved into the cab and seated between two armed men.
Li was tied up and thrown into the truck bed alongside several bags of fertilizer.
The pickup truck headed south.
Li watched the road disappear behind them until the town became a tiny speck on the horizon.
Then even that vanished.
His fists clenched tightly.
---
The green parks of Tampa were no longer recognizable.
Clementine was taken to a factory kitchen.
Steam filled the air.
Several enormous pots sat atop brick stoves, bubbling with foul-smelling sludge.
More than a dozen women crouched nearby, surrounded by piles of potatoes.
Their hands remained submerged in dirty water, their skin wrinkled and pale.
A heavyset woman approached Clementine and looked her up and down.
Then she shoved her toward the pile.
"Wash all of these."
"If you don't, you don't eat."
Clementine knelt down and placed her hands into the murky water.
It was warm and mixed with dirt, sand, and rotting potato peels.
She picked up a potato and rubbed it clean.
Nothing happened.
She scraped at it with her fingernail instead.
The skin came off, leaving a deep scratch behind.
The woman beside her glanced over but said nothing.
---
Li was taken to the plantation.
Rows upon rows of corn and soybeans stretched as far as the eye could see.
A bald overseer handed him a hoe.
"Three rows."
"Finish weeding them before sunset."
"If you don't, no food."
Li accepted the tool and got to work.
The sun beat down mercilessly.
Sweat dripped from his forehead and vanished into the dry earth.
When he straightened up to catch his breath, he spotted several armed guards nearby.
Some smoked.
Some chatted.
But none stopped watching.
A Black man nearby glanced toward him before moving closer and pretending to pull weeds.
"Hey, newbie."
Li said nothing.
"My name's Dwayne."
He continued working while speaking.
"Where'd they catch you?"
"I got lost in a small town," Li replied quietly.
"I was trying to get back to Georgia."
Dwayne sighed.
"Then you got unlucky."
"This is Latin Kingdom territory."
"Before the apocalypse, they were already one of Florida's biggest gangs."
"Half the people here are local survivors."
"The other half were captured just like you."
Li paused.
"And you're all just going to keep working?"
Dwayne laughed bitterly.
"What's the alternative? Bullets or whips?"
He gestured toward the perimeter.
"Every corner is guarded."
"No one's getting out."
Suddenly, a shout rang out nearby.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Both men immediately lowered their heads and resumed working furiously.
An overseer wearing sunglasses approached, looked at them suspiciously, then eventually walked away.
Only after he disappeared did Dwayne continue.
"Don't rush."
"Everyone here has thought about escaping."
"No one's succeeded."
He tossed aside a weed and moved to another row.
Li said nothing and continued digging.
---
That evening, the workers lined up for dinner.
A massive pot sat beneath a shed.
Inside was a thick gray-yellow paste.
The sour stench made Li's stomach churn.
The server scooped a ladleful and dumped it onto Li's metal tray.
The lump wobbled like something that had just been vomited up.
Li stared at it in silence.
The man beside him nudged his arm.
"Eat."
"It's the only meal you'll get today."
"If you don't eat now, you'll be working on an empty stomach tomorrow."
Li crouched down.
He scooped up a spoonful and put it into his mouth.
The taste was sour, rancid, and utterly disgusting.
His stomach immediately revolted.
But he forced himself to swallow.
---
After dinner, everyone was herded into an indoor basketball court.
Sleeping bags covered the floor.
Many were torn, exposing blackened cotton stuffing.
People were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, leaving barely enough room to turn over.
Two armed guards stood by the entrance, smoking and chatting.
Li found a corner and leaned against the wall.
Someone touched his arm.
"Li?"
He opened his eyes.
It was Clementine.
She crouched beside him with her hands tucked into her sleeves.
Her fingers were pale and wrinkled from being submerged in water all day.
Li finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Did they give you a hard time?"
Clementine shook her head.
"No."
"I just washed dishes, vegetables, and potatoes all day."
She pulled one hand out of her sleeve and showed it to him.
Li gently held it.
Her hand was small, cold, and wrinkled from prolonged exposure to water.
"We need to find a way out," he said quietly.
"If we stay here, they'll work us to death."
"And when we die, they'll throw us away like garbage."
Clementine nodded and pulled her hands back into her sleeves.
Nearby, someone rolled over and glanced in their direction before closing their eyes again.
In another corner of the gym, several people were whispering among themselves, though their voices were too soft to make out.
The guards at the entrance changed shifts.
The new guard flicked away his cigarette butt, crushed it beneath his boot, and yawned.
The lights were turned off, leaving only a faint glow spilling in from the doorway.
In the darkness, someone coughed.
Someone turned over.
Someone called for their mother in their sleep.
Li leaned against the wall, his eyes closed, but sleep refused to come.
Beside him, Clementine rested her head on his shoulder.
Her breathing was steady, as though she had already fallen asleep.