Winter Smith (Book 2): The Secrets of France

by Strange, J. S.

  Winter swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Fine.” David cut the conversation about his father. “I left after that. Government brought me, and for a while I worked closely with V. That was until Cedric came along.”

  “Cedric?”

  “He recruited me, if you like. Told me all about a new world order, a secret government that was now in power, and the truth of the apocalypse. When I heard that this was true, and he had the evidence to prove it, I knew I needed to carry on with what I had already found from London. Cedric saw me as an asset.” David said this with pride, a smug smile on his chiselled face. “But V found out and ruled my death. I was to be taken to labs where I would be thrown to the dead, or used in some sick experiment.”

  “That’s where she takes people?” Winter felt her world crumble. Had her parents already been changed?

  “I know what you’re thinking. Nathan and Olivia Smith are one of her most wanted fugitives. She would have another death set for them. They won’t be used in experiments. They’re still alive.”

  “How do you know? For certain?”

  David picked up a briefcase from his feet, and placed it on the table. He unbuckled it and lifted a brown envelope from the top. He slid it across the table to Winter.

  “Open it.”

  Winter peeled the envelope and took out a wad of A4 photographs, all in black and white, and of various pixel qualities. Some looked like they had been taken straight from CCTV feeds, whilst others looked like a professional had taken them.

  The first ones she saw were photographs of the carnage of Paris. The Notre Dame had been covered in anti-government graffiti. Flags with the words The Union had been carried by people marching down a street, before the next image showed the flags drenched in blood and the people massacred. Others showed Blitzers, doing their rounds of survivor’s camps that were in Paris.

  Then she saw photos of her mum.

  It shocked her. Her mother looked gaunt, and had been stripped down to tattered clothing. Her hair was gone, shaved off for whatever reason. Her eyes looked at the camera as if she was posing for a photo shoot, but judging by the quality of the camera Olivia had probably not realised it was there.

  “Taken two days ago and printed for you last night,” David said, looking at the photograph. “It’s from a CCTV feed.”

  “How have you got this?”

  “We have access to the feeds inside government headquarters.”

  “Which is where?”

  “The Louvre.”

  “The Louvre?”

  “It goes underground, where the prison cells are, and a couple of miles of laboratories. Then the offices are above the exhibitions.” David explained. “Nobody knew government had headquarters there.”

  “Then why aren’t we heading there?” Winter asked. “Why can’t we just walk in and save my mother?”

  “It’s not that simple.” David said. “Turn over.”

  Winter did, with shaking hands. She looked at a photograph of red Blitzers, all lined up next to the pyramid that stood outside The Louvre. The day was overcast, white skies and nothing else. It was like they had gathered for an end of year school photo.

  “Red Blitzers.” David said, as if this meant something to Winter. “They’re different to the orange Blitzers, but we don’t know why, yet. They seem to walk strangely, and speak strangely, and they never fight with guns.”

  “Red Blitzers stole my dad and Connor.”

  David nodded. “Which is significant.”

  “How is that significant?” Winter snapped.

  “Because red Blitzers taking people is extremely rare. Unless that person is important, they send out orange Blitzers. Most people are beaten up and herded like cattle, before being thrown into the experiments. The red Blitzers take people straight to V. Turn over.”

  Winter did again, this time to see her father and Connor. They were next to each other in cramped looking cells, with stone floors. Like her mother, they were stripped to tatty and ripped clothes. Connor had the side of his buttocks on display. It made Winter feel sick to see people she knew and loved in these conditions.

  “One day ago. Taken from CCTV footage. We know they’re there, and we know they’re alive.”

  Winter placed the photographs on the table in front of her. She didn’t want to look at any more.

  “What are we doing to stop this?” Winter breathed. She heard footsteps upstairs again. “I want to know everything you’ve got planned. We can’t sit here doing nothing. We need to save my family.”

  “Winter, Maria is doing everything she can to secure the right time to get into The Louvre and bring V’s operation to the ground.” David explained. “As you know, we can’t do that right now. We can’t just walk in there. We need to be properly prepared. Number one priority is bringing V down.”

  “David, I’m saving my parents first. My number one priority is saving them and Connor.”

  “You’ll listen to the rules Maria puts down, thank you,” David snapped. He picked up his notepad. “Now, Winter. I need you to know something. I’m writing a newspaper.”

  “Surprising. You mentioned this yesterday.” She sipped at her orange juice and looked out at the rain. “Why do I need to know about it?”

  “It’s been published twice. Because our resources are low, we can’t publish them daily or weekly. It is kind of whenever it happens. Nobody will distribute it because those shops that do still exist are owned by V. So she won’t publish a newspaper that is against her and her rules. So the main way to get this out there is to send people off on news round. Deliver it to people underground, leave it on doorsteps. The usual stuff. That will be your job for the next issue.”

  “It will?” Winter laughed. “Who would have thought it? I’d be distributing your tasteless writing.”

  “Only this time, it isn’t tasteless, thank you very much,” David pompously said. “This time, it is cold hard fact. But we need this issue to be rebellious. We need this issue to put us on the map and really capture the attention of V and her team.”

  “How are you planning on doing that?” Winter said, though she thought she already knew the answer.

  “You’re going to be our cover girl,” David said, looking Winter directly in her green eyes. “Cedric told me he’s already told you about his plan to make you ambassador. And I think that’s perfect. So, to begin, we need you to be on the front page explaining why The Union is so important…”

  “Woah, woah, woah.” Winter held up her hands. “You really think I’m going to take part in this?”

  “You want to find your parents alive and safe, don’t you?”

  Winter shook her head. “Don’t do that to me, David.”

  He always knew how to get under her skin. Reporters had written countless articles about her state of mind over the years, but David’s words had gotten to her the most. He had chased her, singling her out from the other countless celebrities out there. It seemed even now, he was set on making her headline news once more.

  “We work well together, Winter,” David said. “Come on, think of all the things we did in the past. I kept you famous. Your stories went headline news every time. I can do that again this time.”

  “I don’t want to put my neck on the line, David.” Winter shook her head. “I don’t want to be a target for the sake of being a target.”

  “Just hear me out.”

  Winter sipped her orange juice. She knew she had no choice. “Fine.”

  “We’re going to go from an angle that will get people going: your parents. Being Winter Smith hasn’t changed just because you’ve come to a place where people are dying. People will still know your name. And they will definitely know your parents, too. Especially because they had shop here for a little while, selling their products.”

  “Right.” Winter nodded. It had only been a few weeks, but the street Woolworth Lock had clearly made an impression.

  “If you come forwards as a girl who is lost, alone
and afraid, just looking for her family, people will be able to relate.” David explained, taking the pen and writing notes. “Everybody has lost somebody.”

  “Yes,” Winter agreed. She hated this story more and more.

  “You explain how The Union found you, and you’re working with them to get your parents back. With these images, we can prove they’re in government control. We can let people know they are there, and we can get people to join us and help you get them back.”

  “And what about Connor?”

  “He’s just a boy, Winter.” David shrugged. “He doesn’t need to be saved.”

  “How can you say that?”

  David clicked his tongue. “Because it’s true. He’s not important to us. Your parents could really bring something to The Union. Connor couldn’t.”

  “Connor could fight.” Winter argued.

  “He’s gotten himself taken away,” David pointed out. “To me that says he’s not very forward thinking.”

  “If we save my parents, then we save Connor, too.” Winter pointed at the notepad in David’s hand. “I want that in there.”

  David sighed, leaning back in his chair. “You were always a very difficult person to deal with.”

  Winter stared at David. “I’m glad. These are difficult times.”

  David scribbled a few notes down and then shut the notepad. He reached for the photographs and took them, putting them back in the envelope and back in his briefcase. “I’m going to write something up, and have it approved by Cedric. I’ll need some quotes from you.”

  “Really?” Winter smirked. “I had the impression you were great at getting words out of me that I had never said.”

  David shook his head. “Are you going to let the past drop?”

  “Not really, David. You made my life hell. I’m not going to forgive that anytime soon.”

  “So you’re going to work with me and throw nasty comments my way.”

  Winter shrugged. “Of course. It worked for us before.”

  David sighed again, adjusting the tie on his shirt. “Fine. I’ll write some quotes from you. Then, we’ll need to get a photograph of you. Maybe underground in the tunnels. You need to look afraid but determined to bring V down.”

  “You mean determined to get my parents back,” Winter said. “I know Cedric, too, David, and if I’m as important as you’re saying I am, then I will make sure this article goes my way for once.”

  David looked like he had just swallowed vomit. He glared at Winter with a hatred so powerful, Winter was sure she would have been struck dead if looks could have killed.

  Winter excused herself from the table, and headed towards the door. As far as she was concerned, her meeting with David Herald was over.

  “Oh, if you really want to get The Union portrayed as strong, then you need to interview the people upstairs,” Winter said, opening the kitchen door. “They have much better stories than I do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  September. Rain. Leaves falling from the trees and staining the already dirty ground told the people who survived that autumn was upon them.

  The world had gotten darker, and motivation was low.

  Since arriving last week, Winter hadn’t seen Maria. After two days, boredom had hit. They expected to be called to meetings and put into action, but that moment never came.

  David Herald had disappeared to work on the next edition of his newspaper, which Winter didn’t know the name of. She had begun to regret her decision to allow David to make up quotes. After all, she wanted to keep safe, too. Was it really that smart to anger a leader of a government that created the army of the dead outside these barbed wire fences?

  Violet had begun painting again. Her first completed painting was of a zombie she could see from her bedroom window. The dead body was stuck in the barbed wire fence, and hadn’t been moved for two days. Its arms reached out for nobody, his body stuck and twisted in the wire. Violet had used the colours of autumn, the colours of the man’s blood, and the Eiffel Tower for her newfound inspiration.

  The result had been striking.

  “I’m hoping to sell it to David,” Violet said. She had been intrigued by the prospect of an anti-government newspaper. “Newspapers always have art segments, don’t they? And I figured this newspaper isn’t exactly the norm. So I think he should commission this for me.”

  “You won’t be paid,” Missy said, over breakfast.

  “I don’t care about money right now,” Violet said, her fingertips stained with orange and red paint.

  It was the middle of the afternoon when a knock at the door got William to his feet. He headed into the hallway and opened the door to Cedric and Ruby.

  “How nice to see you.” Ruby exclaimed, hurrying in before Cedric. “Keeping busy?”

  “Day off today,” William said. “The others are in the kitchen.”

  William locked the door and followed Cedric and Ruby into the kitchen. The group at the table looked at Cedric, sure he had bad news.

  “V is experimenting on Connor.”

  Winter felt her world crumble. He wasn’t safe. Their time was running out to save him. If he was being experimented on now, did this mean her parents would be next? Had her mother already fallen victim to the virus of the dead?

  “How do you know?” Zach asked, level headed.

  “We have spies inside the government headquarters. And we have access to the CCTV footage. We’ve seen him being taken into labs. Right now, it seems pretty innocent. A couple of bloods taken. But they’re taking him in daily. Our insiders have started noticing that they’re worried about Connor. They’re seeing him as a threat.”

  “Why?” Winter asked. If Connor were a threat, he would be killed in no time at all. Time truly was running out.

  “We don’t know yet, but we’re finding out.”

  “We know where government headquarters are, don’t we?” Winter asked.

  Cedric nodded. “The Louvre.”

  “So why aren’t we going there? I’m sorry, Cedric, but we’ve been left to sit here after being recruited and we’re all getting bored.”

  “It seems like you’re not really doing much but planning.” Violet chipped in. “No action.”

  “It takes a lot more time than just planning and going in and killing V.” Cedric snapped.

  “We haven’t got time,” Winter said.

  “They’re doing the best they can,” Zach reasoned. “I know it’s difficult right now, Winter, but we have to be patient.”

  “How can I be patient when it’s my fault Connor is trapped there?”

  The truth was out. Winter felt guilty. She felt responsible for Connor’s situation.

  Cedric pitied her. “It isn’t your fault. This is the unfortunate effect of a new government trying to gain control. People are dying.”

  “So you admit he’s dying?”

  “Not yet. He’s a threat to them. They’re not killing him. He must have something they don’t. They’re going to keep him alive until they’ve got answers.”

  “What could he have that they don’t?” Winter thought aloud.

  “We have theories, but we’re not going to go with one thing until we know for certain.”

  “Then tell us your theories,” Violet said.

  Caroline nodded her agreement. “We need to be in the know, too.”

  “No, you don’t.” Cedric argued. “I’m sorry, but right now you’re recruits. It’s great that you’re trying to help us, but you can’t walk in here and take control. You need to be properly trained.”

  “We would be if you let us go to classes for training,” Violet snapped.

  “In due time. The teachers have been busy with more pressing matters.”

  “Oh, and Winter?” Ruby said, smiling as usual. Winter stared at her. “David will be around at some point today. He wants to photograph you underground.”

  Winter rolled her eyes. She almost felt like she was in London again, trapped in the lifestyle she had hated
. She had just been told her friend was being experimented on, and David wanted her to pose for photographs? It wasn’t right.

  “I’m not going to be the puppet of The Union, Cedric,” Winter snapped. “Why am I the only one being made the face of your newspaper?”

  “Because you’re good at that, and you’re important.”

  “You keep telling me I’m important, but I don’t know why.”

  “And I don’t think they really know, either,” Violet muttered.

  “You don’t have to know what we know just yet,” Cedric argued. “Just trust us and work with us. Connor will be saved. He will not die under our watch.”

  Winter resigned. “Fine.”

  Cedric looked at Ruby. “Come on, we need to go.”

  “That’s all you came here for?” Violet asked. “To tell us one of our friends is being experimented on, but you don’t know why?”

  “No action, either,” Lara said to Caroline.

  Cedric looked like he wanted to scream at the room. His temper was flaring, judging by the red patches on his cheeks. “Trust me.”

  Trust was something Winter had learned not to do. Trust had led her here, to a ruined France and to speeding danger.

  William escorted Cedric and Ruby back out of the house. He came back to a silent room. He took his seat opposite Winter. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head, staring at rising gas bubbles in a pint of lemonade. Something about it was calming.

  “I’m fed up of waiting. I’m fed up of wondering,” Winter said. “We haven’t been here long, but already I can tell that they’re just floating around, hoping something presents itself.”

  “I’m sure there is work going on that we don’t know about, Winter,” Zach said. “Maria secured this area for us. That takes some doing. The Union are doing well. But they’re limited, and things take time. V could easily wipe us out if we just walked into The Louvre.”

  “I get that The Union are doing things, Zach, but they’re not doing enough.” Winter looked at Violet, who nodded her agreement. “We need to save Connor.”

  “Then let’s do it.” Violet shrugged. “Lara and Caroline can get access to weapons, can’t you?”