by S. E. Meyer
Anna wrinkled her brow. “What? You actually created all of this? You are a more horrible human than I had thought possible.”
“Yes, and we added a gene to give the virus a high propensity for mutation. It was necessary to manufacture such an event, thereby controlling it. We culled the herd and everyone left is that much stronger.”
“I recently heard a similar argument, but yours doesn’t hold water. What about all the people in New Easton? What about my mother?” Anna yelled.
Cornelius smiled. “Collateral damage.”
“You're nothing but a murderer.”
In a split second Anna pulled her arm back, throwing her fist into Cornelius's nose, crushing his cigarette into his lip. He stepped back, holding his face.
Two guards grabbed Anna by the arms, binding them behind her back.
Cornelius moved within inches of Anna's face. “I'm a hero, Miss Wool, regardless of whether your small mind can understand it,” he spat, a trickle of blood traveling from his nose and onto his blistering upper lip. “I saved us all!”
Cornelius nodded towards the guards. “Take her to the holding cell.”
He turned to face Anna. “It appears you're out of moves, Miss Wool.”
◆◆◆
Cornelius burst into the laboratory of Gentech's second floor. He found Frank Anderson staring out the window with the laboratory's lights off.
“What are you doing? Is it finished?” Cornelius asked.
Frank rocked back and forth, paying no attention to the intrusion.
Cornelius walked around the man to face him. “Mr. Anderson, do you have the cure?”
Frank looked up at Cornelius with tired eyes. He nodded, before returning his gaze to the window.
“Well? Where is it?”
Frank stood, removing a vial from the glass refrigerator. He handed it to Cornelius. “I've done what you asked. Do we still have an agreement?”
“And you only made the one?”
Frank nodded. “Am I free to go now?”
“Yes, no more Chamber for you.” Cornelius turned and left the lab, closing the door behind him.
James stood waiting for him in the hallway. “You have it?” he asked.
“Yes. One cure for Richard.”
James gestured toward the door. “And him?”
“Stick with the plan. Destroy the lab and Frank along with it. I can't trust anyone.”
CHAPTER 57
With barely a week passing since he was knocking on death's door, Richard entered the formal dining room of the Governor's mansion.
“Feeling better?” Cornelius asked.
“Yes, I'm feeling much better.”
“Good. You look better. The cure worked. That's all I've been waiting for, so now we can move on with the rest of the plan. I have arranged a public execution for next week. We will show this city what we do to terrorists and traitors.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Because Richard, you will be the executioner. This is your final test. Too many times have you shown weakness. You let Margaret go. Your inability to follow through with Atticus. So much of this unpleasantness could have been avoided if you had only done what I asked.”
Cornelius lit a cigarette. “You will be the one that kills Anna Wool. I need to know that you have the balls to do what it takes.”
Richard's jaw muscles protruded below his ears, staring at the man who caused him a lifetime of pain. A man that was his own flesh and blood. A man that should have nurtured and loved him.
Richard clenched his fists.
A hate brewed from the years of abuse; a yeast pitched daily now bubbling from the depths of his tortured soul.
Richard knew his grandfather would not take no for an answer, but this was an envelope he would not tolerate being pushed.
Cornelius waved Richard off. “What are you doing standing there like an idiot? It's the kitchen staff's day off, but they always make a few things and place them in the refrigerator. Go fetch us something to eat.”
Richard left for the kitchen. He opened the fridge and slid out a platter of fried chicken before setting it onto the granite counter. While taking down two plates, his blank gaze scanned the kitchen, arriving upon the jacket he wore while on the other side.
“I would have been better off dying out there.”
Richard returned to the dining room and set a plate in front of Cornelius. “Fried chicken.”
Cornelius grunted while grasping a fork. “That'll have to do.”
Richard turned, setting a bowl next to his grandfather’s plate. “And they made a pudding for dessert,” he said, placing a polished spoon to one side of the bowl.
◆◆◆
Anna sat in the holding cell, twisting her brown curls around her index finger. It had been more than a week of doing nothing, but sitting, waiting and reflecting on every detail of how things went wrong. Replaying the decisions and scenarios in her head was driving her to the precipice of madness.
Anna stood, slapping the bars of her cell. “I'm sick of this. What is going on?”
She turned, shaking her head. “I don't understand what's taking so long. Why haven't the people taken care of Cornelius by now? Why don’t they do something?”
Atticus let out a slow breath from the opposite side of the room. “The only thing necessary for tyranny to rein is for good men to do nothing.” He rocked his head. “It’s in their DNA, they've been conditioned to have someone lead them.”
Anna made eye contact with Atticus. “I can understand how the younger generations are not willing to stand up and fight, being that they have been genetically changed, but what about the older ones? If the use of CRISPR has only been going on for twenty years, why are the older generations so eager to tuck their tails and watch everything go to hell like a troop of mindless monkeys?”
Isabelle's touched her hand to her mouth. “Oh my God.” Her eyes widened as she stepped toward Anna. “This has been going on way longer than a few decades. With everything going on I haven't had a chance to tell you. I went through your mother's entire monkey file. Your mom figured out where Fleishman's actually came from. Where it all started.”
“Monkey file?” Atticus asked.
“It was a secret file my mom wanted me to find,” Anna replied.
Isabelle continued. “In 2021 there was a massive secret trial performed in this country. The test subjects were in the hundreds of millions.” Isabelle pressed her lips together. “In 2021, for the first time ever, a brand new kind of vaccine was introduced. It had never before been tested on humans and was rushed through approvals. The Food and Drug Board allowed it for emergency use due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Here's the kicker. It was based on the same Chinese research. The Corona virus vaccine was a DNA based messenger RNA cocktail that tricked the immune system into making antibodies. Prior to this time, all vaccines were always based on a sample of the virus itself. This new vaccine's genetic material is programmed and produced by a machine, making it cheaper and easier to mass produce. This was a historic change and had never been used before. Big Pharma said these vaccines were safe and could not alter human DNA because mRNA does not enter the middle of the cell where our full DNA strands reside. They were wrong. When you give the mRNA the right tools in the vaccine concoction it can enter the middle of the cell. Similar to how HIV binds with, and changes, the DNA of T-helper cells.” Isabelle took in a long breath. “This was all on your mother's drive and so far what I'm telling you is public knowledge. The next part is not. When the COVID-21 variant hit and spread like wildfire with a thirty percent mortality rate, wold governments made the new vaccine mandatory. Cromwell funded all the research and owns the pharmaceutical companies and with the successful COVID-19 trial he had the opportunity to manipulate the DNA of everyone on the planet.”
Atticus shook his head. “So that's how he did it. But I thought messenger RNA injections were temporary.”
Isabelle nodded. “Yes, that's what everyone thought, but
there wasn't enough research done. The scientists involved don't even know what happened, but something went wrong, and not only did the vaccine change billions of people's DNA, permanently, it affected the wrong genes. It actually made everyone more aggressive, reducing them to the most basic of needs and instincts.”
Anna chewed her lower lip. “That's why the walls went up.”
“Yes, it wasn't just an uprising and a civil war, people went crazy.” Isabelle replied. “Suddenly, we had a new disease, right? They named it Fleishman's. Everyone willing to accept, and could afford, treatments were allowed to live inside the city walls. Fleishman's isn't a disease at all, it was a failed attempt at making us more docile and suggestive. And to make sure no one was missed they also added it to our food. And guess what is in our mandatory treatments?”
“More messenger RNA.” Anna replied.
“Exactly, in order to cover up his mistake, Cromwell used his power to mandate weekly RNA treatments to reverse the permanent damage and succeed at what he set out to do in the first place; make us more docile and suggestive. Everyone else was left to die.”
Isabelle made eye contact with Anna. “There was also a message to you from your mom. Just two words. Handiest genotype.”
Anna closed her eyes and allowed the letters to jumble onto her eyelids. She slowly nodded. “It's an anagram. Mom had a name for the DNA they changed.” Anna paused. “The Dystopian Gene,” she whispered.
Jax shook his head. “Well, none of this even matters anymore. We can't do anything about it being stuck in here, can we?”
Anna whirled around to face him. “Here we go again.” She rolled her eyes. “Is that another dig on me? All of you have been blaming me since the minute Cornelius locked me in here with you. I'm tired of it.” Anna balled her fists. “I didn't put you in here, Jax.”
Jax pursed his lips. “No, we have Damarion to thank for that.”
Damarion buried his head in his hands. “I'm not even going to respond to that. We accomplished what we needed to. The wall came down, we showed the people there's a cure, that was our mission. Atticus is the idiot that allowed Anna to go off on some revenge rampage.”
Atticus gritted his teeth. “We wouldn't even be here if you hadn't ratted us all out to Cornelius years ago, and I didn't expect a betrayal by my own flesh and blood.”
Anna's eyes grew wide. “It wasn't a betrayal. I had a way in. All I needed to do was pull the trigger. My plan would have worked if you had taken down the guard when I told you to.”
Damarion faced Atticus with flushed cheeks. “I told you, I'm not the one who told Cornelius about us!”
Atticus pointed his finger at Damarion. “Then who did? You're the only one of us that could have. You're the one Cornelius had by the balls all along with Isabelle's mother in the Chamber, and then you allowed him to kidnap Isabelle herself. I know you Damarion, you would have done anything to save them both!”
Isabelle grabbed a hold of the cell door, rattling its frame. “Shut up. All of you, just shut up. I've been listening to your squabbling for a week. None of it matters anymore. It's over!”
George moved in behind Isabelle and draped his arms around her. She brushed him off. “I can't George. Leave me be.”
Anna drifted to the corner of the cell and sat on the cold metal bench. “This is all my fault. I should have known better, but that man has a way of getting under my skin. He pushes my buttons and then I snap.” She shook her head. “I should have listened to my gut.” Anna let out a long breath. “What are we going to do?”
“Die,” Cornelius coughed from the tent's entrance. “You're all going to die.” he stared the group down with reddened eyes. “I have scheduled a public execution and I’m broadcasting it on every device in the city. In three days your little rebellion will be over and this city can get back to normal.”
Three guards walked in behind Cornelius. “Miss Wool. Please stand with your back to the guard. Place your hands behind your back.”
Anna trudged towards the cell door and did as instructed. “What are you doing?”
Cornelius grinned. “I have something special in store for you.”
The guard slid his hands through the bars and cuffed Anna. “Everyone away from the door.”
The group stepped back, and the guard opened the door, escorting Anna out.
“Where are you taking me?”
“The Chamber awaits.”
Anna tensed, recalling the replay of her mother's experience. “Why? What more could you want from me? You've already won.”
Cornelius nodded, a grin wrinkling his blotchy cheeks. “I want you to pay for the problems you've caused. You're going to feel the buckle end of my belt.”
◆◆◆
The guards led Anna from the military tent and out into the Mansion's front yard. Anna turned her head to see only a handful of people standing at the gate. As they made their way into the house Anna viewed the north wall down below. Workers brought in heavy equipment. Cranes and dump trucks spanned the gap in the wall.
“You see?” Cornelius coughed, spittle running from the corner of his lip. “They're rebuilding it. As I told you before, the people have already forgotten.”
Anna hung her head as they entered the house and crossed the ballroom. They took her downstairs to the Chamber room.
“Lie back, Miss Wool,” Cornelius urged once the guard shackled her ankles to one of the chamber beds.
The guards placed the headset and connected the wires.
Cornelius tapped at the control board. “There, that should do.” He gave Anna another broad grin. “Sweet dreams.”
Anna jolted, her eyelids a flutter, as the machine did its cruel task of searching her mind. The scene that played out, was at first a pleasant one, but Anna knew how it would end. She breathed in the city as she neared the wall, her heart leaping with excitement. This was the day of Billy's proposal.
It's so real.
Anna stopped at a flower cart to smell a bouquet of roses. Her senses heightened, she could hear the traffic. The delicious smell the bake shop filled her nose as she passed before taking a left towards the wall. The scene changed and Anna looked up at Billy, ring in hand.
Her surroundings melted away and refocused. Anna stood in front of Billy on the day they banished him.
“You're angry,” Billy said.
I love you. That's what I wanted to say. I love you, Billy.
“Oh, you noticed. Damn right I'm angry, you never should have been on the wall.” Anna listened to herself repeating the words. The muscles in her body contracted as she tried to fight the past, struggling to change her words without success.
No, I love you. I love you and please wait for me. Wait for me, Billy!
Anna's body quivered.
That's what I meant to say. That's what I should have said. Then maybe things would have turned out differently.
The gate slammed shut with a clang that rang Anna's inner ears as she watched a mushroom cloud climbing into the sky behind it.
The scenery changed to the day of her mother's funeral. Anna dropped the tear-stained book into her dead mother's lap, grasping the coffin's frame to steady herself as a second scene played in the background behind the casket.
It was Anna and her mother tidying up the kitchen.
Margaret's voice flowed into her head. 'I eat my meals and help clean up the dishes. I mind my parents and do their wishes.'
Anna watched the stage in the kitchen play out. Margaret hugged her. “I love you,” she said. “To the moon and back.” Anna lost herself in her mother's strong embrace. “Thank you for helping so much around here. It means a lot to me.” The scene in the kitchen faded.
Anna let go of the casket to wipe her wet cheeks.
There was another sudden change in Anna's surroundings and she found herself in bed as a child.
Anna cringed.
The shadow man.
Heart pounding against her little ribs, young Anna opened her eyes.
>
The shadow brushed her arm.
Anna recoiled, pulling the blankets over her head.
Go away. Go away. Please, please, just go away, she thought, hearing his slow steady breaths while smelling a trace of familiarity in his cologne.
The shadow touched her again, squeezing her small thigh.
Upon the chamber's table, Anna's entire body trembled. Her legs twitched while her unconscious frame tore at the restraints around her wrists. She squirmed, writhing at the repulsive touch of the shadow man.
Then, while lying on the cold chamber table, a sudden consciousness came to her and Anna awoke. She opened her eyes and their color changed from baby blue to steely gunmetal-gray.
The console next to her bed turned off, then back on again, as the panel illuminated all of its LED's.
Anna closed her eyes, finding herself in New Easton. Sheila looked at her. “How can we welcome people into the heart of our town with an impenetrable wall around it?”
The panel next to Anna continued its flurry of flashes as her surroundings twisted into the shape of a wall. The concrete surrounded her as a large beating heart sat in the circle's middle. Anna could see the person in the hooded sweatshirt mortaring the last few blocks.
Anna side stepped the mountain of throbbing red flesh and moved behind the person laboring at the task with their back to Anna. She touched the person's shoulder and the hooded shape turned to face her.
Anna swallowed hard as the heart behind her pounded the earth below her feet.
The person staring back at her from below the hood with terrified eyes and mortar clumping her brown curls, was Anna herself.
The Anna in the sweatshirt spoke.
“I stay safe with walls and fences about. They keep me in and the predators out.”
The console sounded an alarm and the display read. 'Frank Anderson: File 146'
Anna's head throbbed.
What is happening?
The scene changed to the inside of a church. Anna watched Frank Anderson and Atticus sit next to each other on the front pew.
“How is your end going?” Frank asked.