Human Nature (Book 1): Human Nature I

by Borthwick, Finlay

  Following the demise of the Sinners, Pierre and Elliot had returned to Seymour’s mansion. Whence they stepped inside, they were greeted with a tremendous applause. “Well done my English friend! Well done I say!” Seymour and his men were all sat around the table. “Forever am I indebted to you, Elliot. A problem which we couldn’t solve in more than a year was solved by you in a matter of minutes. Well done! Anything you need from me, just say it!” Everyone was cheerful, for perhaps the first time in the entire apocalypse.

  Reed had snuck back into the underground lab again. His father’s head was still active due to the parasite burrowed within. This time, he closed and locked the door, ensuring nothing would stand in his way. Wasting no time with goodbyes or hallucinations, Reed swung the knife down into the open jar, directly into his father’s skull. The head began to twitch rapidly, some of the liquid splashing out. It took around a minute or so, but eventually the head ceased to move. He wasn’t sure if he had just deactivated the brain, or if he had actually hit the parasite directly. Either way, his father was now at peace. Behind him, someone was trying to unlock the door. “Who’s in there then?” Jane’s voice called from outside. Pulling the knife out of the head, Reed readied his weapon, willing to fight his way out of this situation.

  With the help of Tango – or Tracey – the group now had a car to decrease the length of their journey back to the airfield. In the back, Gwen had requested that Erica sit in the middle seat between her and Annabelle. The atmosphere was silent, which Erica couldn’t stand, so she tried to make conversation, “Tracey! It is Tracey, right?” She nodded slowly, disinterested in talking, “Because Tango is just your codename isn’t it? So, what’s your name then, Sierra?” Although her sister didn’t want to talk, Sierra agreed that the atmosphere was too quiet, “Well, that’s an interesting story actually. The reason why I was given the codename Sierra is because Sierra is my actual name as well!” Erica gasped overdramatically, “Well, how extraordinary is that? But wait a minute, isn’t the whole point of a codename to be anything other than your actual name?” Sierra shrugged, “Does it really matter nowadays?” Erica hummed in agreement, “I guess not!” Now, they had to try and make the other three more talkative. “So, Gwen,” But before Erica could say anything else, Gwen turned around and snapped, “Can you two please just shut up? Please, now is not the time for making conversation!” They swallowed hard, reverting to silence.

  While the others were eating and enjoying life in the dining room, Elliot had asked to speak to Seymour alone in the kitchen, “Celeste and Olivia, have you seen them?” He shook his head, “I left them to come back for you guys. Celeste told us they were getting on a boat. Do you know where they have gone? I can’t lose Olivia yet again.” He thought momentarily, then shook his head again. “You said you were indebted to me Seymour, well I need a favour from you right now. Please help me find her.” He nodded appreciatively, “I’ll see what I can do.” Elliot thanked him, “But not you though. Me and my men only. You’ve done enough for us already Elliot, you need not step outside again on this day!” Elliot responded with a look of intention, “A persistent one aren’t you, my English friend? Alright then, we ride momentarily!”

  With the master keys, Jane was close to unlocking the lab door. Reed hid behind it with his knife at the ready. When finally, she unlocked the door, she burst in with a gun raised, looking left and then right. From behind, she was apprehended by Reed, a knife against her throat, “Don’t scream, don’t shout. Drop the gun, now,” He gritted his teeth, as she followed through with his instruction. “Now then, I need two things from you. Actually, I need three things from you. Firstly, I need to know where you keep those wretched parasites, and then I need you to give me a lighter and a can of petrol.”

  Later that day, Gwen’s group had finally returned to the airfield. Pulling up, they loaded out of the car, but they also realised fairly quickly that things weren’t right. Tracey and Sierra went over to talk to some of the other agents. Shortly thereafter, they ran off towards the enclosure. “What’s going on there then?” Erica pointed them out, “Shall we investigate?” Without responding, Gwen already took off before her. “What about you Annabelle? Shall we investigate together?” Like mother like daughter however, she took off without responding as well. Erica threw her hands out as if to say ‘Fine! I don’t care!’

  Seymour and Elliot ventured through the tunnels, heading towards the harbour. “Don’t worry,” he could tell Elliot was unnerved, “Olivia will be fine. Celeste is a woman who looks after others better than she does herself.” He put his hand up at an instant, noticing a shadow around the corner. “Back!” he whispered to Elliot, as they hid in a small crevice. “Wait…” He listened in on the voices, “It’s them!” Elliot jumped out, his face filled with horror upon noticing Olivia begging for her life with one of the Sinners.

  Elliot turned to Seymour, gesturing for him to stay hidden. “Listen to me, ok, look at me. You don’t want to hurt that woman. Look at her!” Elliot suspected the primitive did not understand English, therefore used hand gestures to get his message across. He spoke to the Sinner as though he was talking to a toddler, “She,” He pointed intensely, “Is a very good person!” He spoke slowly, nodding his head with his thumbs up, “You, are a very bad person!” He spoke slowly again, this time shaking his head with his thumbs down, “Give the woman to me!” Again he spoke slowly with gestures. Olivia rolled her eyes, “No offence Elliot, but I would rather have him kill me than watch you speaking like an idiot.” He shrugged, “Oh, sorry for trying to save your life ‘Liv!” He had one more plan, he backed away slowly, as the Sinner growled and matched his pace. “I’m very sorry about this. You did kind of bring it about yourself though,” Elliot spoke normally now, trying to be reasonable to the Sinner. From behind, Seymour sent his sword straight through the man’s chest. He pulled it out again, throwing the Sinner into the crevice where he had hidden. “Where is Celeste?” Seymour turned back around, “I’m sorry, I don’t know. We tried making it back to the harbour, we were ambushed by Sinners. I don’t know where they took her. Some of the Sinners you sent over the cliff survived the fall; not many, but some. Most were killed by the rocks on the way down anyway.” Elliot looked to Seymour, “Still forever indebted to me?” He joked. “If anything happens to Celeste, you shall consider this my first, last and only favour to you.” Elliot couldn’t tell if he was messing around as well, or being deadly serious.

  Jane had followed Reed’s requests and given him two cans of petrol, as well as her own personal cigarette lighter. “Excellent. That’s two out of three things, now take me to the parasites.” This time, Jane refused and laughed at him instead. “I don’t think so. How are you going to carry the petrol cans and hold me at knife point at the same time?” He hadn’t thought this far ahead, “Never mind the petrol cans then. Just take me to the parasites.” Again, Jane didn’t move. Instead, she slammed her fist on the red alarm button on the wall. As the alarm sounded, all the lights turned on as well. “What a waste of solar energy!” Reed was referring to the fact that solar panels were providing the base with power, “As long as the sun exists, no energy is wasted here. Ever,” Jane felt even though Reed had the knife, she was the one controlling him now. Reed remained frozen to the spot, he could hear soldiers clanking above and outside the lab. “If I’m going down, I’m leaving a message behind,” He ran at Jane, stabbing her left knee, and then her right knee. She dropped to the ground and curled up. “Tell your superiors this: Ethan Jones may be gone, but his son very much lives on…” With that, he ran out of the room with one of the petrol cans, making a final attempt to find the parasites before being caught.

  After searching down several corridors, through several labs, and evading the soldiers, Reed had found the room where all the parasites were being kept in glass jars. Unscrewing the petrol can, he threw the liquid everywhere as fast as he could. All along the floor, all up the walls, everywhere. Leaving the room, he closed the door, and
pulled out the lighter. Lighting it, he stared into the flame, and then at the petrol seeping out from the gap under the door. “Son, don’t do it,” one of the soldiers appeared, “Don’t refer to me as ‘son’. Ever.” The rest of the squadron arrived, all five of them pointing their guns at him. “If you do this, we’ll have to kill you. You know how it works, Reed.” Obviously, the soldiers had read the file on him. He turned to fully face them, hovering the lighter above the seeping petrol. “If you shoot me, the lighter will fall. What will your superiors do to you then I wonder?”

  Above ground, Sierra and Tracey assisted Foxtrot with getting out of the animal enclosure. “What is that blaring alarm all about?” Gwen was getting fed up, “Who knows. There’s a lot going on here right now clearly,” Erica responded. She noticed Tina heading down the stairs which lead underground, “I’ll be back in a minute,” she left Gwen to chase after her friend. Now, it was Gwen who was feeling left behind instead.

  With Zach’s help, Elliot and Olivia had snuck back into the airfield upon hearing the alarm. “Elliot,” Olivia noticed something, “Is that who I think it is?” She pointed to Annabelle – who left a lot of space between her and her mum. “Oh my goodness, she’s alive!” They ran over to her.

  “Annabelle!” She turned around upon seeing Elliot and Olivia running towards her, at last, she smiled. “Elliot! Olivia! You’re ok!” They shared a group hug. “I can’t believe it! You’ve finally made it back!” Again, with his ability to read people, Elliot quickly deduced something wasn’t right. He looked at Gwen, noticing the large gap between the two, and also how moody she appeared to be. “Annabelle?” He didn’t need to ask the full question. “Is it true about Vincent?” She responded to his question with another question. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other sheepishly, “Did you kill him?” She followed up, as Elliot nodded, again looking rather sheepish, “I had to do it. He was beyond humane.” She wasn’t blaming him however, “No, I’m not trying to scold you, Elliot. I get it, Vincent was askew and spiteful. I’m hardly one to talk when it comes to putting someone down for what they’ve become.” He looked at her worryingly, “Wait… Where’s Erica? Was she not with you? And Andy? What happened Annabelle?” She looked away from him shamefacedly, “Erica’s ok, she’s here somewhere,” she got quieter, “But Andy isn’t…” Again, Elliot and Olivia looked at each other. They could hear Annabelle beginning to cry, as they brought her in for another hug.

  Watching this entire reaction, Gwen’s look became more and more disgusted. Not only had her daughter just killed her best friend, she was now fooling her two newest ones as well. Part of her didn’t even see the girl she raised in ‘Annabelle’ anymore…

  Chapter 12

  “Jane! Oh my goodness!” Tina found her scientific mentor with two stab wounds on her knees. “Hang on, I’ve got you. You’ll not die on me!” She used whatever items were in the room with her or on her person to help Jane. “Tina wait, she’s trying to say something,” Erica noticed her attempting to open her mouth. She bent down to listen. Erica listened for several seconds, but then Jane passed out. “No! Wake up!” Tina rushed to treat her now, “Stay with her!” Erica ran out the room.

  Reed was still threatening to drop the lighter. “Come on we haven’t got all day. Just give in already. If you were going to drop it, you would’ve done it already… Or are you just too scared to die?” Still holding the lighter he nodded, “Yes, I am. I am afraid to die,” He admitted, still holding the lighter, “Once I drop this lighter, I know you’ll kill me. Even if I hand it over to you, you’ll just shoot me anyway”. “Come on Reed, you know that isn’t true. You will be punished, sure, but not by death.” Still he refused to give in. “Wait!” Erica showed up behind the soldiers, “Reed, listen to them. Don’t drop it.” He was surprised to see “that easily forgettable woman” whom he had last seen back at the seaside town. “If you do this, you will condemn hundreds of creature who don’t know any better to death! It’s in the nature of parasites to take control of a host body. They don’t know any better! You’re going to burn them all alive just for that?” Still holding the lighter and drooling slightly, he shook his head, “No… I’m going to burn them so no one else has to suffer what my father did.”

  Erica took his available hand, “Please, I am begging you, don’t do this Reed. If you do, the soldiers will kill you,” They kept their aim steady to align with what Erica had said, “Then they will kill the rest of us. You’re a part of our group, they can hold us responsible as well. Come on Reed, you know what these people are like.” Looking at the flame and then back at Erica, he nodded his head lightly. “Ok,” he turned the lighter flame off and flicked the lid back over it. One of the soldiers moved in and cuffed him. “Arrest her as well,” the soldier gestured to Erica, “What? Are you kidding me? I just saved your research!” She too was placed in cuffs, “Association with this man. For all we know, you could be conspiring together. You will remain in custody until further notice.” She shook her head at the soldier who ordered her arrest as she and Reed were taken away.

  Elliot had asked Gwen about what really happened to Andy. “She killed him. In front of my very eyes,” she answered, “She didn’t even regret it. Instead she twisted the knife making sure the job was done. The worst part is that Andy’s final words were him forgiving her.” Elliot planted his head in his hands, “I’m so sorry Gwen. Not just for your loss, but for causing this. If I hadn’t of killed Vincent…” she stopped him right there, “If you hadn’t of killed Vincent, then Andy may still be here, yes. But not as the Andy we know. Vincent’s grip over him would only intensify even further. By killing him, you set both of them free. You destroyed the bad, freed the good. Don’t beat yourself up about it Elliot, you were in the right.” He smiled at her conventionally, but behind that smile there was huge regret and sorrow still.

  Unable to stand her mother’s disappointment in her anymore, Annabelle found the ultimate way to no longer upset her – go far away, very far away with no chance of return. She had asked Elliot and Olivia to help her, “No. No way. Absolutely not happening,” Elliot was completely against her plan. “Please Elliot. My own mother hates me”, “Then you have to sort things out socially! Annabelle, you can’t just disappear into the sunset and never return!” He still wouldn’t let her go, “The only way we’re leaving this place is together. We’ve been apart for a year now. In that time, we’ve lost Vincent as well as Andy. No one else is leaving. That’s final, Annabelle.” He left her bunker – which she was sharing with Olivia – without another word. “Olivia, please. You have to help me,” She begged Olivia now, who could empathise with her, “Annabelle. I tried the same thing as you,” she sat down next to her, “I tried running away from everyone else, twice. Both times, they found me again. And do you know what else? I realise now just how much these people mean to me. I regret ever ditching Elliot back in London in the first place. You have no idea just how blessed I feel to have him find me again. I was upset, and in shock, I was struggling to get by without Steven supporting me anymore.” Annabelle moaned, “This is different. I killed someone, Olivia. Not just a random someone, I killed a family friend. I don’t regret it, that’s the worst part. But with my mum against me, I can’t be here anymore. Olivia, I am asking you solemnly, help me steal one of the planes.”

  In the infirmary, Tina had treated Jane as best she could. The other doctors and scientists at the base had complimented her on doing such a good job in so little time. She waited next to her bed in the medical bay, joined by Sierra. “How is she?” Sierra asked, “Fine, probably… Did you find the person who did this?” She turned to her, and Sierra nodded, “We did indeed. We’re placing two criminals on trial this afternoon. You’ll be needed on the stand to make a statement.” She nodded in acceptance, “Of course. What will the punishment be? A life sentence?” Sierra quickly shut that possibility down, “For hurting another member of the base? A life sentence in the form of a permanent banishment? No. If the jury reaches
a majority, the attacker will be punishable by death.” Tina moved back slightly, “By death? That’s a little extreme isn’t it?” Sierra shrugged, “In this world, nothing is too extreme…”

  Zach had returned to the mansion to see Pierre and Seymour, “Any news on Celeste yet?” He asked Seymour, who remorsefully shook his head, “We’ll find her. Don’t you worry, Zach.” He looked over at Pierre, “They’re after you,” he caught his attention, “They’re putting Reed and Erica on trial later today. After what you did to Foxtrot, they’re out looking for you right now. You may go down for treason.” He leant back in his chair, “Let them come and find me then. They’ll never get us; you know they won’t.” But it was clear Zach wanted him to go back, “Think of all those close calls we’ve had in the past though. Pierre, we can’t run the risk of actually being caught. Not anymore. I’m sorry, you have to go back. If you don’t, I’ll tell them about this place.” Seymour was shocked by this proposition. “Please Pierre, one life to save six. They may not even execute you!” He looked at Zach feeling betrayed, “You’re quite the little Judas, aren’t you?”

  Realising how close Foxtrot and the agents may be to killing their group, Elliot and Gwen had devised a plan. “Remember back in London when the Bandits attacked?” Elliot asked, but her stand-out memory of that place was her murder of Kyle. “They used firebombs to drive us out. You see I’m thinking that we could adopt a similar strategy here. We firebomb this place, and finish off all the agents who escape. Then we don’t have to leave this area. I took care of the Sinners, once this pseudo-Government is gone, all the threats here are as well. We can build our own camp, with walls, with homes, starting from scratch. Build it all up like the Londoners did.” She liked the plan, but pointed out the biggest flaw with it, “How exactly will acquire firebombs then, Elliot?” He waved his finger, “Seymour’s group. They’re basically barbarians. They’ll have no trouble helping us make the explosives… Just as long as we find Celeste first.” Gwen looked at him attentively, “You think this could actually work?” He nodded jovially, “I think it could!” Gwen gave him her pistol, “Take this. Make sure you get to that mansion. I know you said you took care of all the Sinners, but you could still be wrong. Just kill anything which poses a threat to you, Elliot.” He nodded favourably, “I’ll come back, don’t worry.”