Andy, Annabelle and Erica had not headed too far from the bank. They made it to a small field. Looking around, the natural landscape did not seem very reminiscent of England. Several things lead them to believe they were actually in a different country, despite how little sense it made. They halted their curiosity upon hearing an explosion from behind them. Turning around, they saw parts of the helicopter flying up into the air. “Told you it was going to blow up,” Annabelle had to tell them so. “One of the agents piloting that chopper was called Whisky. Another one was called Foxtrot if I remember rightly.” Both of the women looked at him blankly. “Don’t you get it? It’s the Nato-Phonetic alphabet. There could be a lot of these guys. Whisky’s dead, so is his co-pilot. Presumably that’s two of them down. But there could be as many as twenty-four left still.” They all looked at each other, worried.
In a smaller enclosure, Gwen found herself lying against the grated wall – though she was not chained to it. This cage did not appear to be for an animal as there were far less objects inside it. From around the corner, she noticed two of the agents approaching with Olivia. Jumping to her feet in an instant, she rushed to the cage wall, “Olivia!” They both looked overjoyed to see each other. The padlock on the cage door was unlocked, as the door was opened, Tango pushed Olivia in, locking the door again. “Listen, I’ve seen Elliot. He’s ok,” Gwen told her, she nodded surprisingly, “I know, I’ve seen him too.” But Gwen had a more pressing question, “Have you seen my daughter? Or Andy?” She thought momentarily but then shook her head, “I haven’t seen anyone besides you and Elliot come to think of it. No Reed, No Annabelle, No Erica.” They turned their attention back to Tango and Sierra, who still waited outside the cage. “I’m glad you two are happy to see each other. That’ll make this test a lot more, shall we say, interesting.” Both Gwen and Olivia were clearly fed up with her evil smirk. “This is a test of loyalty. Oh, and your luxury accommodation does exist, I promise. But only one of you can have it. You see, for most of our subjects that’s an incentive to win here. But since you two seem to be fond of each other, I’ll give you a better reason why you should have to take part in this test. You,” She pointed at Gwen, “You have a daughter, may I remind you. And you,” She pointed to Olivia now, “You have a boyfriend – we think. Whichever one of you wins, their loved one shall live too.” They both looked at each other, “How do we win?” Sierra threw a knife through the hatch, “One of you has to die…”
Trekking down an old dual-carriageway, Erica was starting to work out where they were. “I thought so,” she pointed up at a sign to confirm her theory. “Is that… French?” Annabelle remarked. “It is indeed. We’re in France,” All three of them looked at each other. “How is that possible? I mean, the people who took us, they were clearly British. So what’s the point of this then?” Erica shrugged in response, but could make an educated guess, “The helicopter. We already know it would take tonnes of fuel to keep that thing running this far in the apocalypse, right?” Andy and Annabelle nodded, “Well believe it or not, there actually is oil underneath this country. Despite how corrupt these people are, it’s clear nothing has really changed for them over the past two years. By coming over to this country, they should be able to keep themselves going for a few more years.” Annabelle shivered, “And I just brought the helicopter down… We have no idea how far it is to their base. Oh god, I may never see my mum again…” She froze at the realisation of this. “You will. We will find her. You know we will. We found Olivia again right?” Erica tried to reassure her.
Still following the scientist Jane, Vincent was still nagging her with questions. He hadn’t even realised nor cared that he had followed her outside into an airfield. “You marked me down as test subject ‘One-Eight-Five’ right? So therefore there’s been 184 other people here? Doing these tests?” Jane refused to answer. They stopped at an animal enclosure, Jane unlocked the door and stepped aside. Without saying a word, she used her eyes to gesture for Vincent to ‘get in’. As Jane locked the door again, his face showed that he felt betrayed. “Hey? What are you doing? I thought you weren’t like the others. The suited ones that kidnapped me. You’re telling me you are?” She stepped back and spoke into her radio, “Test Subjects One-Eight-Five and One-Eight-Six. Commencing the Dominance Test.” Two things caught his attention there, “Dominance Test? One-Eight-Six? You mean there’s another test subject in here?” Again, she gestured with her eyes for him to turn around. As he did so, his expression was a combination of shock and anger, “Elliot…” The two men engaged each other with their eyes. Elliot felt the chain around his foot unclamp. Removing it fully, he got to his feet. “Let’s see who the true dominant male is then…” Jane mocked from outside.
Olivia and Gwen still glared at each other, unable to speak. “I really don’t want to hurt you,” Gwen finally began, “If it was just our lives at risk, you know I would give mine up for you. Right, Olivia?” She laughed, “Come on Gwen, we both know you wouldn’t.” She looked away guiltily. “But I get it,” Olivia however did not look away from her, “For your daughter, right? If I had one, I’d do the same. All I have is Elliot. I’ve known him for a long time. I’m sorry Gwen but I won’t make this easy for you, I have to try and save him.” She nodded reminiscently, “May the best woman win then?” They walked towards each other, and shook hands, “May the best woman win,” With that final smile, Gwen grabbed Olivia’s arm and twisted it around, pushing her to the floor. Sierra and Tango watched heartlessly. From behind them however, Tina had run over, “What are you doing?” She enquired, “Excuse me? Shouldn’t you be with your mentor?” Tina looked down into the cage, at Gwen and Olivia fighting each other for the knife. “You can’t let them do that! If Olivia, or One-Eight-Three as you call her, lives in this one, and Elliot – I mean, One-Eight-Six, dies in his fight, doesn’t that render this pointless?” They nodded ingeniously, “That’s the whole point. If One-Eight-Six dies and she sees that, it will break her. We can get an unintended reaction test from it!” Tina wasn’t going to let this happen, “Sorry ladies,” She produced two syringes, and injected them onto the arms of Sierra and Tango. “Friends close, enemies closer, strangers the closest.” She left the syringes stuck in them to make sure they passed out.
Vincent and Elliot had wasted no time with a handshake of honour. They went right in with tackling each other. Running over to the tiger, Elliot pulled the spear out of it. Vincent ceased to charge at him. “I let you live last time; I’ll not make the same mistake twice!” He ran at him with the spear, but Vincent grabbed it under the sharp part and used it to throw Elliot off balance. Taking the spear for himself, he let out a war cry and slammed it down. Elliot had rolled out of the way just in time. The two men circled. Elliot did a fake-punch to make Vincent flinch. His foot knocked the chain, looking down to it, he had an idea. Believing he had an opportunity, Vincent charged at him with the spear again. Elliot dived out to the side and onto the ground. Vincent was now exactly where Elliot needed him to be. Launching himself over, he grabbed the chain and clamped it around Vincent’s leg. Trying to rip it off, Vincent used all his strength – but obviously the magnet inside it had been turned on again. Elliot stood back, as Vincent pulled desperately at his chain to reach out at Elliot, throwing his arms out like a rabid animal.
Intent on saving her daughter, Gwen had not even noticed Tina was trying to remove the padlock and rescue them. She now had Olivia on the ground, engaging her hands around her throat. She could have pressed down a lot harder, but part of her still felt immoral for condemning two people to death for her own loved one. Cackling, Olivia tried to point at the gate door, but Gwen was too fixated on her. With barely any time left to spare, Tina successfully opened the padlock, and pulled the door open. Running in, she tried to pull Gwen away, but she was unmovable. Olivia’s eyes became bloodshot. Tina stuck her last syringe into Gwen’s neck, forcing her to remove her hands from Olivia’s throat. She pulled the syringe out, but was too weak to act out any fu
rther. Losing her balance, she passed out on the ground.
Catching her breath, Olivia got up and balanced herself. Looking over at Tina, she nodded appreciatively. Partly out of shock and partly out of oxygen deprivation, Olivia fell back again. Sliding down, Tina caught her. Putting her arm around her shoulder, she supported her out of the cage.
Elliot looked in repugnance at the animal in front of him. “What have you become, Vincent?” He spat at Elliot. As he wiped the spit off of his face, Elliot looked to Vincent’s side and noticed a hammer. Lunging in quickly, he grabbed the hammer and pulled back again. He examined it quickly. “So… were you going to use the blunt side, or the claw side?” He asked Vincent, who continued to try and pull his chain off. “I know what side I would use. But if you don’t answer me, I’ll have to use both.” Still, Vincent rabidly tried to pull at his chain. “Well in that case… I’m sorry old friend. Thank you for the ride to London and all, but given how maniacal and animal-like you’ve become, I have to do what must be done. You nearly killed Olivia, you nearly killed me. This whole time I thought I was the curse getting people killed. But now I see it, the ones who deserve to die are the ones I kill, the ones who don’t deserve to die are killed by the ones I should’ve killed. I know that now…” Vincent was groaning and pulling so viciously at his chains, he had not heard Elliot’s speech, “We’ll meet in hell again someday I reckon.” In a circular motion, Elliot swung the hammer down on the back of Vincent’s head, the claw side digging in to his skull. Pulling it out, Vincent turned around with blood pouring down his head. He went in for a second hit, the claw side piercing his eye. Again pulling it out, there was a wave of blood. Elliot’s ‘old friend’ dropped to the ground and tried to cover his face. Kneeling down, Elliot finished the job, and swung the hammer directly down on his forehead. Now, he ceased to move. Elliot stared down in front of him, emotionless.
Unbeknownst to him, Foxtrot and Jane were not the only ones watching him, Olivia and Tina had joined as well. “Well…” Foxtrot began, “I most certainly was not expecting that! My money was on the other guy to be honest.” He went over to the door and unlocked it. “You passed your test. So has your comrade here,” he pointed at Olivia, “You’re not actually the first test subjects to survive, don’t worry. Your luxury accommodation is beyond this air field. From now on, we can work together! We’re not actually the government. We merely raided this place and acted like such a powerful force. That way, we mean more of a threat to people. Elliot stepped out of the cage, dropping the hammer on the way out. Foxtrot offered him a handshake, “You have potential Elliot. Join us. Join us, and you will be codenamed ‘November’. I’m sure you’ve worked it out by now – the Nato-Phonetic alphabet.” He looked up at him, “And if I don’t?” He sighed, “Then… An opportunity will have been missed. Your group will be sent out into the wilderness again, vulnerable to attack. You’re in France now by the way, good luck navigating around.” He looked to Olivia, who had a concerned expression still.
After debating in his mind for several seconds, Elliot accepted Foxtrot’s handshake. “Welcome on board then, Agent November. Oh, and I forgive you for shooting me by the way. In fact, that’s partly the reason why I chose to recruit you. Your merciless, your fierce.” Foxtrot could tell Elliot was worried about his friends. “Ah yes,” He picked up his radio, “Two soldiers to me please. Our guests needed seeing to their accommodation.” He turned to a guilty-looking Tina, “My dear, do not look so sheepish. I know you rendered Sierra and Tango unconscious. Fear not, it was all a part of your test!” She smiled, relieved. The only person who still needed convincing now was Olivia…
In what appeared to be a basement, Reed had been tied up and stretched against a large upright frame. “Let’s try this one more time,” one of the agents winded him with a baton, “You tell us everything you know. You tell us now.” He grunted internally out of pain, but kept silent beyond that. The agent questioning him nodded at the one with the baton. Going for a long strike, he winded Reed even harder. “Tell me everything you know about the parasite, Now!” She raised her voice. “Fine then, guess we’ll just find out for ourselves,” From the table behind her, she picked up a glass jar. Inside it, there were three large worm-like creatures, they were very bulky and lengthy, curled up in the jar. They appeared to be a light shade of salmon-pink. She raised the jar up to Reed’s face. “If you don’t talk, we’ll just have to use the parasites themselves to do a demonstration you.” Breathing heavily, he tried to keep his face away from the jar. The parasite-worms were clearly hostile, as they kept on jumping towards Reed, hindered only by the glass between him and them…
Interlude
Everyone had fled London. It had only taken a few days, but without any leaders or medics, residents had rapidly began to depart. Within a week of the Bandits’ attack, everyone had gone. Except for one seventeen-year-old girl. Searching around the place desperately, she is trying to find her mother Erica again. On one of the walls next to the main gate, there is a message written in chalk:
Cora, I’m sorry. We had to leave. I don’t know if you will ever read this, I don’t think you will. I’m sorry if I ever let you down. Good people needed me, I had to go and help them. If by some miracle you find this message, know that I love you always, and know to follow whatever road your heart desires.
-Mum.
Rubbing her finger over the message, Cora began to cry, flicking her blonde hair away from her face. Not everything was lost however, from behind her, a vehicle approached. It was the middle of the night, the bright headlights hindered her from identifying what type of car it was. The door next to the driver’s seat opened, as someone hopped out of the car. Squinting, Cora tried to distinguish this person. Again, it was too dark, the headlights hindering her vision too. As the figure stepped in front of the headlights, her eyes widened again, “It’s you! You came back!” She seemed shocked yet happy at the same time, “Have you see my mum?” The driver offered their hand out to her. She looked back at the message, specifically the ‘Follow whatever road your heart desires’ part. Turning back, she smiled, and accepted the driver’s hand.
Chapter 8
The year is 2029, it has been three years since it happened. For it was the apocalypse itself. A group of survivors now find themselves allied with a neo-Government force, tested by nature, and challenged by one another. Good people no longer exist, morality has lost its’ meaning. How far everyone will go in order to survive remains known only to them…
Elliot, Gwen and their group are secretly meeting regularly. As time goes on, they are beginning to lose hope for their missing comrades: Annabelle, Andy and Erica – it has been a year since their disappearance. Unknown to the Government agents, the group are planning to take control when they least expect it. Everyone has locked onto a certain member, biding their time and gaining their trust for the ultimate betrayal. They don’t know what they will do once they take control; they only know they have to if they want to find their friends again.
The youngest of the Government agents surprisingly was a fourteen-year-old boy, codenamed as ‘Agent Golf’. Elliot was endeared to him more than he cared to admit, simply because he agreed with the group’s intentions and even fed them information, acting as a spy.
For other survivors, it has been difficult to cope. Still longing to find their friends again, Erica, Annabelle and Andy are still having to cope with living in the unfamiliar territories of France. Giving up on ever seeing her daughter again, Erica is still struggling to keep going, supported only by her two unlikely allies.
Living in the airfield for around a year had taken its’ toll on the group. After a while, it had gotten boring. But none of them had forgotten all the evil things this pseudo-Government had done. For Gwen, she blamed them for the disappearance of her daughter and her best friend. For Reed, it was the death of his father – though the others could tell there was something else he wasn’t letting on. For Golf, it was his determination to find out which on
e the agents had betrayed and killed his older brother – the previous man codenamed as ‘Golf’. It was for these reasons that the group didn’t leave, continuing to rack up the trust of the agents.
Olivia had gotten to know Sierra, while Gwen had gotten to know Tango. Elliot was close with Foxtrot, and Tina was still working with Jane. There were other survivors of the agents’ test as well that the group were working with to deal with the other agents.
Currently, Foxtrot was hosting an announcement in the airfield. “Firstly,” he stepped up to the mic, “I would like us all to congratulate Agent November,” in reference to Elliot, “For staying with us for an entire year today!” Everyone applauded, as the group went along with it. “Now, to the reason why I have called you all here today. It’s no lie that for some of you, it’s been quite an odd journey. First we test you beyond your capacities, and then we expect you to live as ordinarily as possible with us. It has to be that way for many reasons. Be honest with yourselves, if we asked you to willingly fight a tiger, would you do it?” Everyone looked at each other, “Of course not. Now some of you did indeed have to do that. Those of you who did are the ones deemed fit to survive. Some were not so unfortunate, the tigers got the best of them,” He was silent for a few moments, “So you see, we’re not bad people. Not really. We’re just different. I hope you can understand that.”
Human Nature (Book 1): Human Nature I Page 9