Sins of the Father by Mitchel Scanlon

deposited into a waiting sack at the other end of the machine. Leonard had watched the whole process so many times, it no longer held his interest. Instead, he turned away from the machine and began to head back to the stairs.
    It's kind of rude, the way they never talk to you , Daniel said as he walked beside him. Because there were other people about, the boy had reverted to whispering things directly into Leonard's mind instead of saying them out loud. You ever think you could teach them a lesson? You could play a trick on them, maybe pretend you were going to push one of them into the grinder. That would scare them. Imagine the look on their faces!
    It wouldn't be right, Daniel , Leonard told him, shaking his head slowly. Sometimes, it was like his friend didn't understand that the machines in the warehouse were dangerous. Somebody could get hurt. And, then, I could lose my job .
    I guess , Daniel sighed. Still, it's not right the way they always ignore you - especially considering how much they need you. I'd like to see what they'd do if you weren't here to help them. I'd like to see them dragging their own bags up from the storeroom. Then, maybe they'd wish they hadn't been so rude .
    It doesn't matter, Daniel , Leonard shook his head, more fiercely. I need the job for the money. Living in the city isn't like being in the Cursed Earth. You can't just hunt for food, or scavenge for the things you want. You've got to buy them. You heard what Freddie said. That's what civilisation is all about .
    If you say so , Daniel shrugged. Already, the little boy seemed bored with the conversation, his thoughts distracted by something he had spotted elsewhere in the warehouse. As they made their way towards the stairs, Daniel suddenly tugged on the tails of Leonard's coat to get his attention and pointed towards the approaching figure of Leonard's boss, Freddie Binns, as he marched across the warehouse towards them. Freddie did not look happy.
    Uh-oh , Daniel said, the words echoing in a sing-song tone inside Leonard's head. Don't look now, but I think you're in trouble .
     
    Freddie Binns was a charge-boss, and it was his job to recruit mutant labourers to work in places like the warehouse. Leonard had first met Freddie six months back, soon after he had come over the West Wall into the city from the Cursed Earth. In common with most other things in his life, Leonard had not given any great thought to what he would do once he was inside the city. He had wanted to find his mother, of course. Other than that, he had not planned how he would find food, or a place to live, or even where he would go after he got over the wall. Unlike most mutants, Leonard had actually been born in Mega-City One, but it made little difference; he had been thrown out of the city when he was three years old, and he knew no more about the city's geography than he did the surface of the moon. Lost and unsure of his bearings, he had wandered the deserted streets of City Bottom for days, eating rats and scavenging from garbage dumps, until he came across a group of fellow mutants camped out in the ruins of an old church.
    At first the other mutants had been wary of him, but eventually one of them had explained what they were doing there. Apparently, they had made it over the Wall a week earlier. The snakeheads they had paid to lead them into the city had abandoned them at the church and told them to wait. A man would be coming who would find them all jobs, the snakeheads had said. By the time Leonard found them the mutants were starving, and by offering to hunt and scavenge food for them he persuaded them to let him wait with them. After a couple more days, a van had driven up and Freddie Binns had been behind the wheel. He had told Leonard and the mutants that he had jobs for all them. "This is the Big Meg, friends," Freddie had smiled at them with a mouth full of shining white teeth. "This is the land of opportunity you all heard about. Just make sure you