“Then you’re a fool,” Chase spat. “How many more people do you have to kill before you realise? Doctors are supposed to save lives, not take them. I thought that was what you took the Hippocratic oath for, to observe medical ethics. Or should that be the hypocritical oath?”
“Nicola,” Adam whispered. “I did it for Nicola.”
“You’re just using her as an excuse. Would she want you killing people in her memory, for god’s sake?”
Adam didn’t answer.
“So why the change of mind. Why haven’t you told Moon where I am?”
Adam rubbed his face and then shook his head. “The whole idea behind the project was to alter food so that it could cure people of any illness they might have. It would also stop people getting ill. This just improves on nature, improving the evolution process. But now ... I don’t know what to think.”
“So what went wrong?” Chase asked
“Well, from what I’ve heard, it looks as though the human system contains too many pollutants. The experiment didn’t take into account the amount of chemicals we unwittingly ingest. Fluoride in the water, formaldehyde that leeches out of the plastic containers into the milk, oestrogen in the water system, pesticides, additives, e-numbers, and they’re only the ones we eat. There are others that are absorbed by the skin or carried on the air. We take in a chemical cocktail every day without realising. This cocktail has reacted unfavourably with the food enzymes, and as it’s the enzymes that determine the function of a cell, the intended chemical reaction is being inhibited or it’s interacting with the wrong cells. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a form of functional psychosis.”
“You mean they’re going mad”
“In a word, yes.”
Chase let out a sigh and shook her head. “I can’t believe anyone could be stupid enough to mess with our food.” She suddenly remembered Belinda’s face and how her features appeared to change. “And is there anything else? Is the food doing something more physical?”
Adam looked down at his hands. “There might be something else going on, but it’s hard to tell. I think that the food might be causing mutations. Evolution is all about mutating, so to be more precise, it’s taking us to the next stage of evolution before we’re ready ... But it might not be our natural stage ...”
“Oh my god.”
“Well, Moon now seems to think that you hold the key. That your child will be born with perfect immunity to disease and that they’ll be able to obtain the ultimate insulin from it. He hopes that this will also stop the mutations, letting the body reach a happy medium.”
Chase protectively grabbed her stomach. “You mean they want to cut my baby up to use it as a pharmacy!”
“Well, not exactly like that ...”
“That’s what you’re saying.”
“I don’t know what I’m saying anymore, but I like you Chase. And I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”
“So what am I going to do? Moon will find me wherever I am.”
“We’ll find a way. Trust me.”
What choice do I have, she thought as she stared out of the window, watching the rain fall like Gods tears on a blighted land.
CHAPTER 25
Ratty could hear voices in the fog, muffled and indistinct. He grabbed Izzy’s hand and dragged her into a hedge. He knew it wouldn’t hide them from anyone wearing the goggles, but it was better than standing out in the open, waiting to get caught.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Izzy protested.
Ratty glared at her and covered her mouth with his hand. “Shsss,” he hissed.
He didn’t know whether it was his imagination, or whether he had been walking around in it for too long and gotten used to it, but the fog definitely appeared to have dissipated slightly and there were no new emissions from the vents. They had circled the village, and rather than using the lane where they were more likely to come across wandering patrols, they had walked behind a hedge that ran parallel to the lane.
As the voices drew closer, Ratty tensed, his muscles bunched like taut springs. Making sure Izzy and himself were as prone to the floor as they could get, he peered through the hedge, but at first he couldn’t see anything. The hedge was prickly and sharp and the more branches he tried to move out of the way, the more it scratched him. He silently cursed. Then he saw them, drifting like ghosts through the fog: men dressed in white fatigues.
One of the men suddenly stopped and turned toward Ratty, and he felt a spasm of fear knot his stomach. Then the fog drifted thick and impervious over the scene, and when it eventually dispersed, the men had gone, vanished into the fog.
Ratty let out a sigh of relief. “Come on, let’s go,” he said, standing up.
“Who was that? Was it them?”
He knew she was referring to the hunters or soldiers or whatever they were, but he didn’t want to scare her by telling her the truth. “I don’t know. Come on, let’s go.”
“Are you mad? We can’t carry on.”
“Would you rather stay here?”
Izzy scowled at him. “If I didn’t like you—” She abruptly stopped talking, her cheeks flushed.
Ratty pulled a quizzical expression. “If you didn’t what?”
“Nothing. Just forget I said anything.”
“If you didn’t like me, is that what you said?”
“I didn’t say anything. Now can we get a move on because I’m cold, wet and miserable.”
Ratty grinned and kissed her on the cheek.
“What was that for?” she said, wiping the spot where he had kissed her.
“Because I … like you too.” He couldn’t believe what he had just done.
Izzy shook her head and snorted. “Come on Romeo, why don’t you get me out of here.”
Still grinning, Ratty took Izzy’s hand and they continued walking through the field, following the hedge.
After about twenty minutes, they came to the fence surrounding the compound, which they followed. Ratty assumed that it must be a boundary fence, erected to either keep people out or in.
The hum of a generator sounded in the distance and using it as a beacon, they headed toward it.
On the way they passed by a long building with numerous windows. Ratty peered inside, alarmed to see people dressed the same as those who removed the vicar’s body: white coveralls and gas mask type devices. They were working away at various stations, looking through microscopes and filling test tubes. One of the figures glanced in Ratty’s direction and he ducked down, pulse pounding.
“Come on, let’s hurry up,” he said as he crawled along the ground until clear of the building. He didn’t know what the people were up to, but it couldn’t be anything good.
Once they reached the source of the sound, they scurried behind the building, watching people wandering between other facilities, their appearance indistinct in the fog, like ghosts, trapped between the past and the present. When the coast was clear, Ratty checked the door to the generator room. Finding it locked, they decided to skirt around the building, looking for another way inside.
High up the side of the building, Ratty spotted a ladder, but it was too far up to reach as it needed another section to enable anyone to climb it. Further on, pipes emanated from the side of the building, but a metal fan of spikes stopped anyone climbing up them. He found it ironic they had decided to take so many precautions when the building was blanketed by fog and surrounded by a fence and guards; but then again, Izzy and himself had got through, so perhaps it wasn’t so ironic.
With no visible way inside, Ratty felt frustrated. He leaned against the building, wondering what to do next.
“So now can we get out of here?” Izzy asked.
Ratty ground his teeth. It looked as though Izzy was right. Perhaps they shouldn’t have come back here. Perhaps they should have just tried to find a way out of the fog.
Just then he heard a door open. Although apprehensive about looking around the corner, he knew this might be the only cha
nce he could have.
Carefully, he peered around the side of the building to see a figure disappearing into the fog and before he lost his nerve, he dashed out and slipped his hand between the door and the frame before it shut. He held his breath, hoping there was no one inside as he opened the door and called Izzy. She stepped from around the corner, looking dishevelled and scared as he pulled her inside the building, letting the door shut behind them.
His heart was beating fast. Casting a cautionary glance around the room to check there was no one around, Ratty made his way to the generator. He didn’t want to waste any more time. He had stuck a stick in a wasps’ nest, now it was time to wiggle it about.
Without any hesitation, he cut wires and pipes, much to Izzy’s alarm.
The generator chugged to a halt, steaming and hissing in protest. Ratty punched the air and gave a silent whoop of joy. Strike two. He didn’t know how much effect his sabotage would have, but it was better than doing nothing.
Izzy looked at him with undisguised panic. He knew she thought he was being foolish, but it made him feel better to break things, and hopefully, as a result, the fog would disperse.
Before he had time to speak to her, an alarm started ringing and Ratty’s expression momentarily mirrored Izzy’s. He should have known the generator would be alarmed for a situation such as this. The last one he broke was probably alarmed too, but they had been too far away to hear it. He heard shouting outside, and before Izzy had a chance to protest, he pulled her toward the door and they exited the building before anyone came to investigate. He quickly led the way along the side of the building. At the far end, they hurried into the fog. Ratty’s only aim now was to get as far away from the building as he could.
***
“So what are we going to do?” Chase asked.
Adam shook his head. “I really don’t know.”
Having recovered from her faint, Mandy sat beside Adam. She still appeared a bit woozy, and she had difficulty remembering exactly what had happened, which Chase envied. She could still see Belinda’s face as the bullets struck home, supersonic termites that ate into flesh and bone. No matter how mad or deranged Belinda had become, Chase didn’t believe she’d deserved to die. She had not been responsible for her actions – Nigel Moon had. If anyone deserved to die, it was him. He had used people as guinea pigs and turned a whole village into one huge experiment. And somewhere down the line, someone had let him. Someone, somewhere had allowed this to happen. Whether sanctioned behind the organised chaos of governmental departments or whether the authority came from a higher, shadowy echelon, she didn’t know, but someone had to be held responsible. Somebody, somewhere wielded the power to make things disappear, to sweep them beneath a covert carpet, now she just needed to lift the rug and let people see what had been hidden.
“Do you know if there’s a way out of the village?” Chase asked, leaning forward and staring at Adam.
“All I know is that there’s a fence around the village, the only road is blocked and there are soldiers patrolling in the mist.”
“Well they’re not doing a very good job if a teenage boy can get in,” she said, thinking of Ratty. “Perhaps after so long they’ve become complacent.” The thought instilled her with hope.
Adam shrugged. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll help me.”
“You know I will.”
Just then Chase heard a vehicle approaching, the sound more noticeable because of the lack of traffic in Paradise. “Can you hear that?” She stood up, alert and tense.
Mandy looked scared, staring around the room as though searching for a way out.
The noise increased, sounding like a primordial beast as the engine revved.
“It’s only a car.” Adam raised his palms and shrugged as though wondering what all the fuss was about.
“Only a car! And when was the last time you heard a car in the village?”
“I don’t know. I suppose it’s when the deliveries are made to the shop, or when Moon’s men come into the village.”
“They must have heard the shots and come to investigate.”
The noise of the engine seemed to come from right outside the house. Mandy was still on the settee, curled up in a ball.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Chase said, sounding calmer than she felt.
“It’s too late. They’re here.” Adam clutched his face in his hands and shook his head.
Chase pulled his hands away from his face. “We’ve got to go. Now.”
“It’s no good. We can’t go anywhere without Moon knowing about it.”
“Well we’ve got to try. Mandy, come on, we’re getting out of here.” She grabbed Mandy and pulled her to her feet. “If you don’t want to come, fine.” She looked down at Adam. “But we’re out of here.” She started toward the rear of the house.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” Adam called after her.
Chase felt relieved he was coming with them, and although she didn’t like it, Adam was armed.
At the rear of the house, Chase hurtled through the kitchen and fled through the back door. She pulled Mandy through the garden, almost tripping on unkempt weeds that had forced their way through cracks in the path. A rusted gate at the bottom of the garden led to a narrow lane and she tugged it open, snapping weeds that had entwined the rusted gate to the post like a natural padlock.
Unsure which way to go, Chase headed further away from the house, wanting to put some distance between themselves and whoever was in the vehicle. She thought she heard shouts to their rear, but the rain and wind dampened and dispelled any sound so that she wasn’t sure whether it was just her imagination, the wind through the trees, or the rain spattering off the leaves.
Mandy followed at her side like a well trained dog and Adam brought up the rear, casting fearful glances over his shoulder. As they rounded a bend, two figures appeared blocking the lane ahead, their features indistinct as they hunched themselves against the deluge. Chase hesitated, unsure whether the figures were soldiers, out to capture them.
“It’s okay,” Adam said, as though he sensed Chase’s uncertainty, “it’s only the pub landlord, George and a young man who lives a couple of doors down from the pub, Eric Stone.”
Chase wasn’t relieved, but she continued along the lane. As she approached George and Eric, Chase noticed the two men look up, their faces distorted by rivulets of water so that their flesh appeared to be melting (or was it changing?) Dismissing the thought, she suddenly recognised Eric as the man she had seen at her reception in Paradise. The man with the knife.
“George, Eric,” Adam said, acknowledging the two men.
Chase noticed Eric’s brow furrow into a menacing glare, his close-set, piggy eyes staring out from fleshy sockets. He had a stocky build, his arms folded across his barrel chest. The rain plastered his long hair to his face and he pushed his thick lips out in a contemptuous sneer.
At his side, George wore a sinister, lopsided grin, his crooked teeth protruding from behind his thin lips.
“Excuse me,” Adam said, indicating that he wanted to get past.
Neither George nor Eric moved.
Adam stepped forward, trying to pass between the men. He placed a hand on George’s elbow to gently nudge him aside. George looked from Adam’s hand to his face and growled, a low menacing sound that rumbled from the back of his throat.
“George, we really need to get past.”
George’s growl turned into a snarl and his lopsided grin transformed into a vicious grimace.
“George, are you all right?”
“Of course he’s not all right,” Chase spat. “Just look at him. Come on, let’s go back the other way.” An intense knot of fear twisted her insides as she turned to go back the way they’d come.
“They’ve got the change,” Mandy whimpered.
“Adam, come on.” Chase turned back toward Adam and saw that George had grabbed him by the wrists.
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