Still Life (Still Life Series Book 1)

by Isobel Hart

  We’d been stuck there for ten minutes or more when one of the men hit with the early shots started to move again. Then a second. Only the girl stayed down.

  “What the hell?”

  “They’re using neuromuscular blocker darts,” Edward said. I stared at him, trying to make sense of what he’d just said, and the implications if I was right.

  “Neuromuscular blocker darts? You mean darts with anaesthetic in them?” He nodded, and I looked back at the woman I now knew was dying in front of us. Neuromuscular blockers were short-acting paralysing agents. They were used by anaesthetists during operations to keep the patient still during a delicate procedure. Without providing ventilation the paralysis would cause the person’s lungs to fail to inflate, meaning the person would suffocate. The entire time they would be awake but powerless to help themselves. It didn’t take a huge leap in thinking to realise that if the person who suffocated was a man it would mean only a short wait for the virus to activate, with no traumatic injury to recover from. As I thought this through, the men, who were now back on their feet, turned and started shooting in the direction they’d come from. At their own people.

  The rate at which it had all happened was terrifying. A new expediting of the transition process. “You knew they intended to do this?” I asked Edward. He frowned at me. A remembered conversation with Richard played at the edges of my mind. “You gave them the idea? Because of my job?”

  “Not now, Sam.”

  “Oh my God, that’s barbaric. They’ll know the whole time that they’re dying. Their brains will be awake, but they’ll be powerless to do anything or tell anyone about it. That’s horrific.”

  “They’ll re-awaken.”

  “Only the men will,” I said, looking at the body of the woman. “And as one of you, not as themselves.”

  “It’s still life.”

  “It’s still murder.” We stared at each other, at a stand-off, until a cry of ‘grenade, get down’ effectively finished the conversation. The blast wave from the explosion seconds later blew me backwards, my head hitting the wall behind us, sending me straight into unconsciousness.

  ***

  “Pick her up and carry her!” a frantic voice yelled. It sounded female. Hands grabbed my arms and legs.

  “I’m okay, I can walk on my own. Help her!” Someone said – it sounded like Heidi. I hoped she might walk away from this.

  “What about this one? She’s still alive.” a voice said.

  “She’s bleeding too heavily. She won’t make it. We’ll have to leave her here. The other one is already dead.” Did they mean Ella, Tara, Peter or Edward? A wave of sorrow washed over me at the prospect of my child never meeting its father. “They’re re-grouping. We need to get out of here now,” the woman’s voice again. “This is the one we wanted.” I felt myself being carried over someone’s shoulder, jerking me around as they ran, the pain in my head blinding with every jolt, until oblivion took me.

  ***

  I blinked awake again, in a vehicle of some kind. Two people were crouched over me. “She’s waking up,” the woman closest to me said. She was dressed in black, like they’d all been, but she had the symbol of a red cross on her sleeve. A medic.

  “Sam?” a voice I remembered said. I tried to keep my eyes open, meeting the blue gaze of the second person.

  “Elliott?”

  “Thank God, Sam. You’re okay. We’ve got you now. We’re taking you somewhere safe.” Guns fired, the motion of the vehicle erratic as it evaded the attack.

  “I’ve lost my shooter. I need help up here until we get past the barrier,” a voice called from above. “They’re trying to get around us. I’ve never known them to fight back so hard. We must have something they really want this time.”

  The woman looked at me. “You go up, Elliott,” she said. She might have been a medic, but her tone of voice made it clear she was also in charge here.

  Elliott looked at me for a moment. “I’ll be back, Sam. You’re safe now. We’ll make sure of it.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead before disappearing through a hole in the roof. Renewed shooting started above.

  “How far to the barrier?” the woman called up.

  “Five minutes. They’re not letting us go. I’ve never seen them like this before.”

  The woman looked down at me. “Since you’re the only stranger here, and I know they don’t have special feelings about any of the rest of us, I’m assuming this devoted attention we’re getting has something to do with you?”

  I stared in response, remembering what Edward had said to me earlier.

  “Not talking, eh? You certainly inspire passion in people. Elliott has been obsessed with getting to you since I first met him. Put himself at risk more than once to find you. He’s a good guy – you’re a lucky lady. I hope you’re worth the effort.” We stared at one another for the longest time until:

  “Shit, he’s hit! Fuck!” the driver cried. I knew she meant Elliott. “We’re through the barrier!” she yelled, screeching the car to a halt.

  I heaved myself up, trying to ignore the wave of nausea that hit me from the movement. “What did they hit him with?” I said, as the second woman appeared, dragging the now-immobile Elliott through the hole with her. Behind the vehicle, gunfire continued.

  “There’s a dart here,” the driver said, and my heart sank.

  “It’s a neuromuscular blocker. You need to intubate him now or he’ll suffocate and then change.” The first woman stared at me in shock and then sprang into motion. She had a pack out instantly, tearing it open before positioning herself behind him, tilting his head back with practised hands so his neck extended then slipping the metal device down his throat to expose his vocal cords. Seconds after, she slipped the tube down, attached the bag, and started pumping the life-saving oxygen into his lungs. I released the breath I’d been holding.

  “Okay, Elliott, we’ve got you,” she said, as he lay there unblinking at us. “This little lady just saved your life.” She gave me her first smile. I nodded, the movement sending a blinding pain through my head, before blackness clouded my vision once more.

  ***

  “She saved my life. What more proof could you need? I’d be dead and changed if it wasn’t for her.”

  “She’s been with them a long time, Elliott. Longer than any of the other women we’ve rescued. I know you cared about her, but we need to be realistic here. She wouldn’t be the first woman to want to be on their side in all this.”

  “She won’t. She was with me in the beginning. The information I found out – she helped me. Hell, they nearly killed her for it. They falsified reports against her, then had her committed. She deserves our thanks, not our condemnation.”

  “No one is suggesting we punish her. Hell, she saved you – she probably saved loads of men who would’ve been hit by those darts if we hadn’t found out from her what they had in them.” She hesitated. “But that doesn’t mean she’s on our side. She’s been out of the loop for a long time . . . more than a month. Things have moved on a lot. I just ask that you have a degree of caution where she’s concerned.”

  I’d heard enough. Blinking, I opened my eyes. Elliott and the woman were seated beside me, this time in casual wear. The woman looked no less imposing for it. Elliott looked like a surfer. I smiled up at him. “Hi,” I whispered, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “I am, thanks to you. Hell, I knew that job of yours was good for something,” he said with a soft smile. “How are you feeling? How’s the head? You took a nasty injury to the side of your head in the explosion.”

  “I’ve still got a headache, but it feels better. Thanks for getting me out of there.”

  “It was the least I could do,” he said, picking up my hand and holding it. “God, Sam, I’m so sorry. What you must have been through. If I could . . . I hate what they-”

  “I’m okay. It was okay.”

  “It’s not okay. Rape is never okay,” he said, his eyes full of tears.


  “They didn’t rape me,” I said, without thinking, needing to put his mind at rest.

  “They didn’t?” the woman said, surprised. I realised my mistake.

  “Sorry, who are you?” I asked, trying to sit myself up.

  “I’m Commander Amanda Stewart. I head up this resistance base. And I know you’re Samantha Davis. So can we cut the pleasant introductions for a moment? Can you explain why it was that you were in the invaders’ captivity for almost two months and yet you weren’t raped?”

  “Lucky, I guess,” I muttered. “How is Heidi?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  “She’s fine. All things considered,” the woman jumped in before Elliott could answer. “She was raped. Repeatedly.”

  “I know,” I said, meeting her hard gaze with one of my own. “Can I see her?”

  “Soon. We need to speak to you first. The sooner you co-operate, the sooner we can decide what happens next with you.”

  “Am I a prisoner here?” I looked straight at the commander.

  “I think you’re what we would describe as ‘helping us with our enquiries’.”

  “Not so different from them after all, then,” I muttered. “Nice people you’ve got yourself mixed up with here,” I said to Elliott this time.

  “Sam, give them a chance. We want to help you re-settle, but you need to understand that people are afraid. They’re suspicious of everything and everyone. Once they get to know you, it’ll all be fine. Just tell them what they want to know and then we can go.”

  “Where were you planning to go, Elliott?” the commander asked him. “Where do you think you can go and be safe as a man these days? Most of the camps aren’t even accepting men anymore. Too many are compromised and then attack from the inside. You’re lucky we’re still allowing you to stay here because of everything you’ve done. And the daily testing.”

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “Kent. One of the female camps.” He looked at the commander. “Look, I know you’ve done me a favour, but it’s worked both ways. You know me. I’m still who I was. I’m hugely grateful to you for helping me get Sam out, but if she’s not welcome here, or if I’m not welcome here, then I’m happy to walk out the gate.”

  “I wouldn’t recommend it. Since she turned up with her friend,” she said, nodding at me, “there’s been a group camped outside. There’s definitely something she’s not telling us. I just want to know what it is. I’d suggest you tell us before we have to resort to more drastic measures.”

  “Steady on,” Elliott said, putting a hand up. “What the hell is this?”

  “This is a threat to our security. I am responsible for all the people in this camp, so you’ll forgive me if I don’t worry too much about hurting your girlfriend’s feelings here.” She looked at me again. “So are you going to help us, or what?”

  Chapter 32

  “You sound just like them,” I said.

  “I don’t really give a shit, to be honest. I just want to know how it is that you’re the first girl to have come out of there without having been systematically raped.”

  “A couple tried. Edward stopped them,” I said, thinking on my feet.

  “Edward?” she asked Elliott.

  “Her ex. He’s the one who was turned originally – on the first day. It’s how we connected – in the hospital after the accident. He was there with you?” he asked me.

  “Did you resume your relationship with him?” she asked. “Did you compromise yourself?”

  “Fuck off!” I glared at her. “I didn’t sleep with him. I didn’t sleep with anyone. He just didn’t let any of the others get to me either. He was protective of me. They’re finding the emotions of our kind hard to manage; possessiveness, jealousy, anger, they’re hard for them to deal with. It seems I bring all that out in Edward.”

  “That’s interesting,” she said, looking up at a mirror on the wall that I only now realised was two-way. I wondered who we had as an audience on the other side. “What about Aiden Parrish? You and he were close, it seemed.”

  “I barely met the guy. He wanted me as a stooge in his interviews to make him look better. They didn’t give me a choice. Told me they’d kill Heidi if I didn’t play nicely. What did you expect I’d do?”

  “See,” Elliott said, looking at Commander Stewart. “That’s what Heidi said too. They’re telling the truth.”

  “Maybe so,” she agreed. “But it doesn’t really explain why her. I mean there were lots of women who were jumping for a chance with Parrish. He’s got fan forums dedicated to him, despite everything we’ve told them. Why force her when he could have one of them?”

  “She’s gorgeous?” Elliott said, with a smile. I smiled back at him, knowing he deserved the truth. Knowing I was about to let him down badly.

  “Yeah, whatever.” The commander frowned. “The group announced a change in the laws – allowing married couples to be monogamous, banning contraception, that sort of thing. He claimed it came from you as an idea. Is that true? Was it your idea?”

  “Kind of. I told them they didn’t understand our women. That most preferred monogamy, especially if they’d bothered to get married. I was telling him off for the promiscuous ways of his people, but he saw it as a way to get people on-side.”

  “It worked. More people are siding with them as a result. It was the single most damaging move they’ve made in this campaign. We’re weaker as a result, thanks to you.”

  “It was a conversation.”

  “You helped them. We have only your word for it you didn’t intend to.”

  “And Heidi’s. She was there.”

  “Your best friend. Tell me, what are you both hiding?”

  “What makes you think I’m hiding something?”

  “Years of practice in interrogation. Oh, you’re being clever. You’re almost telling us the truth. There’s just . . . something slightly off I can’t put my finger on.” She was close. I could feel it.

  “I’m tired,” I said, needing some time and space to think. “Can I sleep now?”

  “Sure. Elliott will show you to your room. We’re not locking you in, but I’d ask that you remain inside until someone comes and collects you for lunch. I’d like to ask you some more questions this evening when we have some of your results back.”

  “Results?” My heart started to race.

  “Yes, we run tests on all our people. We’re in an enclosed space here, and there are not so many of us we can afford to have a serious infection go round. Biological warfare, given where they came from in the first place, doesn’t seem beyond the question.” I nodded, trying not to show my relief that they weren’t specifically looking for a pregnancy.

  “I’ll walk you back if you’re up to it?” Elliott asked. “Otherwise I can find a wheelchair for you.”

  “I’ll be fine to walk,” I said quickly. “It will do me good,” I smiled at him. I knew it might be my only chance to talk to Elliott without people watching. I had no doubt that whatever room I had been given was probably bugged. I stood and let him take my arm, then shuffled towards the door. “Goodbye, Commander.”

  “I’ll see you later, Samantha,” she replied, making the innocuous words sound like a threat.

  Out in the corridor, much like the ones that had led to the cells at the house, Elliott paused to hug me. “God, I missed you so much,” he said, pressing his head into my neck. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “I missed you too,” I admitted. “So much. But I can’t stay here.” I kept my voice in a low whisper.

  He pulled away from me, looking shocked. “What do you mean?”

  “Walk with me. I’ll explain.” I said quickly, aware of the cameras at the ends of the corridors focused on our every move.

  “Are you going back to them? To him?”

  “No, no, I’m not. I’ll stay on my own.”

  “You don’t know what it’s like. They won’t let you. Any woman not in a relationship with one of them gets rounded up a
nd herded to one of the breeding centres. There’s talk of that changing with the recent legislation amendments, but women are still watched closely for any signs of participation in the resistance. And they’re still expected to make themselves sexually available. Where did you imagine you were going to live? I don’t want to patronise you, but things have changed a lot since you were last out there.”

  “I don’t know. I just know I can’t stay here,” I whispered.

  “Why, Sam?” he asked, pausing outside the door to what I presumed must be my room, his face beseeching me.

  I took a deep breath. I needed to trust someone, and Elliott had never let me down before. It was only a matter of time before any blood they had taken from me came back spilling all my secrets anyway. I leaned in to him, wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug, pressing my body against his and my face into his neck so that my lips weren’t visible to any cameras. Elliott responded immediately, pushing his body back towards mine. “I’m pregnant,” I whispered. “Fifteen weeks – from when Edward and I slept together after the accident. The morning-after pill failed. Heidi knows – I didn’t, until they told me.”

  Elliott pulled away from me, his face stricken.

  “Don’t say anything,” I begged him in a whisper, my eyes flickering towards the camera. It was a lot to ask.

  I turned and opened the door to a room that closely resembled the cell I had been incarcerated in for the first month of my time with the others. White seemed the colour of choice for prisons these days. Walking in, I spotted the bed in the corner and headed for it, leaving a still-open-mouthed Elliott standing in the doorway. As the door slowly swung closed I still had no idea what he would do with the information I’d just told him.

  ***

  Sleep eluded me. I knew I needed help from someone inside if I was going to get out of here. Even with that help our chances were slim. If I did get out the hope of then evading detection by Aiden and Richard, with all the detection agencies and networks of CCTV cameras at their disposal, seemed equally slim. I didn’t know for sure what the women here would say to my pregnancy, but I could guess. I did know it would signify a shift in the battle, a gaining of ground for one side or the other. If my baby ceased to exist, then there would be no immediate threat to future generations of humanity . . . unless they could use my eggs and continue to try and breed from me. Alternatively, they could use me to understand what made me different in order to resolve the problem in the other women. It suggested Edward was right – these people would want me and my baby dead. I was in more danger now than I had ever been with Edward and the others. On the other hand, letting the others use me, my eggs and my children for their own ends held no greater appeal.