Human Nature

by Finlay Borthwick

  “Hey, you! You feeling a little hot today?” Annabelle mocked the giant wasp, a she pulled the lid off of her two-litre water bottle, soaking the wasp with the water inside. It twitched rapidly, falling back from her and dropping to the ground. “Take this!” Keith grunted, then smashed up the wasp with the butt of his rifle.

  “Guys! Help!” Miguel called out, being forced under a desk by the other wasp. Annabelle ran over, throwing water over the second wasp from another two-litre bottle. The wasp cowered down to the ground. “Now unleash hell on it Miguel!” She helped him by stamping on it with her foot.

  Once the wasps had been taken care of, everyone rushed over to Vanessa and Cody. “Is he ok?” Miguel eagerly asked her, as she gravely looked up at him. “He’s… gone.” Miguel looked down, upset. “I’m sorry,” Annabelle tried to comfort him. “What’s up with his wound?” Cora pointed to the area where the stinger had entered. “The blood exiting it looks slightly pink to me,” she remarked. Keith’s expression of curiosity dropped into one of terror, “Radiation…”

  Everyone turned to look at him, “Radiation? What do you mean?” Miguel asked through his tears. “Think about it. The radiation is what makes these animals, insects, whatever, all big and scary, right?” Everyone nodded. “So what stops it from affecting us?” Everyone looked at him, dazed. “Nothing! Absolutely nothing! We’re all affected by the radiation. That’s why the blood from his wound is slightly pink. That flash of light,” he turned to Cora, “I was wrong before, we weren’t shielded by the radiation. Our blood, for all of us, is like that. The blood from my claw mark,” he pointed to his chest, “It was like that! At first, I merely dismissed it.”

  “What does that mean?” Vanessa was eager for him to get to the point, “It means… We could die. All of us, and any of us, we could die at any given moment…”

  Chapter 21

  Everyone in Elliot’s group were anxious. They approached the gates cautiously. “What if they just kill us?” Reed was expecting worse, “If they kill us, then we don’t have to worry about radiation poisoning anymore,” Elliot gave the dark silver-lining. “We’ll have bigger problems if they let us live…”

  Everyone stopped just ahead of the area covered by the spotlights on the two watch towers either side of the gate. “Seriously guys?” Elliot noticed everyone’s hesitation. “Just me then I guess.” Elliot took a deep breath, stepping directly into range. Instantly, both spotlights shone on him. “Stop right there! Raise your hands!” One the guards called out through a megaphone. Slowly, he raised his hands in the air.

  “Wait there for someone to come and collect you,” the guard ordered him, as the gate slowly opened up. Elliot turned back, “Come on guys! Step forward!” One by one, they all did. Reed, with Erica in his arms, was reluctant. “Come on Reed, it’s ok.”

  “What if they get the wrong idea? What if they think we’re contagious and kill us? Look at Erica right now! She’s properly passed out!” He panicked. “Reed,” Tina grabbed his arm, “If she dies, all of them will as well, by my own hands.” He was still reluctant. “If I didn’t think we were going to be ok, would I really risk Erica’s life?” He took a deep breath, stepping into the spotlights with her.

  “You!” One of the spotlights fixated on Reed, “Explain the condition of the woman you are carrying.” At first he didn’t say anything, looking to Elliot for support. “She’s alive,” Elliot answered for him, “We come seeking decontamination.” Both spotlights now focused on him again, still with his hands raised, “My group is infected by radiation.” Silence fell again.

  “Hang tight a while longer, we’re sending a hazmat unit to collect you.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “I told you guys we’d be ok,” Elliot turned to the rest of his group.

  After waiting several minutes, a van reversed out of the gates, as two people wearing hazmat suits jumped out, opening the back of the van. “Everyone in!” They all looked at each other, piling into the back of the van, except for Elliot. “Even you buddy, get in there,” the unit asked. Elliot lowered his hands, “I’m not infected. I’m Radiation-resistant.” The two units looked at each other, “Can you prove this?” Elliot thought for a few seconds, and then nodded. Pulling out his knife, he cut into the palm of his left hand. “See? My blood is red. No traces of pink at all.” The two units examined it closely, “He’s telling the truth…”

  In the back of the van, Olivia looked back at Elliot, worried. “I’ll be ok,” he told her, “I love you.” She looked at him, deeply saddened, as the two doors were closed. The van started up again, driving into the camp. Elliot was left alone waiting outside the gates, watching his friends drive off into the unknown.

  After some time had passed, Elliot was finally greeted at the gates by a relatively old man. He approached Elliot with the help of his walking stick. “Greetings!” He called over to him, “Do come in, my friend! I hear good things about you!” Scanning the area quickly once more, Elliot prepared himself, then walked into the camp.

  He looked around, several peculiar things jumping out at him: firstly, he noticed a makeshift hospital under a gazebo, with the patients strangely handcuffed down against their beds. “What’s the point of that?” Elliot asked the man, ignoring whatever he was already saying. “Oh, that’s our hospital.” Elliot pointed directly at the cuffs, “Why are they restrained?”

  “Ah. That’s for our own safety. The Radiation, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, can indeed affect humans. We’ve had just one case of it so far, but you can never be too cautious in times like these.” Elliot was concerned by the fact that Erica’s theory was correct. “Dark red eyes?” He asked. The man nodded, “He posed the exact same features as all the mutated animals. Mindless, reckless, vindictive destruction. Killing everything standing in his way.”

  Looking to his left, Elliot saw an outdoor gym, with several people training in it. “The heck is that about?” It was perhaps the strangest thing Elliot had seen over the past three years. “It’s survival of the fittest, remember. We have to keep our residents in shape.” This remark made Elliot sceptical – the last person who used similar words locked him in a cage to fight a tiger.

  “Now that’s a sight I’ve seen before,” Elliot pointed out several tables, with people playing card games on them. Spectators surrounded, with cups of, presumably, alcoholic drinks. “You have? Since Day Zero?” The man was intrigued. “Yes, we had a safe-zone with a bar… All the way back in England. That reminds me,” Elliot turned to the man, “Your accent. The soldiers’ accents. You’re all English. Yet we’re in the middle of France? How?”

  “Well, I could say the same about your group. You see, most of us took the chance to escape England when we could. This was before we knew the virus was a worldwide pandemic.” The man sounded confident in what he believed had caused the apocalypse. “You think it’s a virus? My group thought it was a parasite. Someone even suspected it was something in the water. I guess we’ll never truly know.”

  The man was interested by Elliot’s theories, “I’ve heard many. Some are quite plausible: Like the parasites you have just mentioned. Others though, well, I met a traveller who blamed the cause of it on aliens, of all things.” Elliot shrugged, “You know what, I wouldn’t even rule that theory out anymore. Nothing makes sense these days. Especially these radiation-mutated animals.”

  “As nice as this conversation is my friend, I still do not know your name!” The man put his hand out, “My name is William Hackley.” Elliot hesitated to shake his hand, “My name is Elliot,” he gave his name but did not shake. “The last person whose hand I shook, they turned out to be someone very bad. Someone very bad indeed. If you don’t mind, I’ll refrain from your offer for now.” William retracted his hand, “Of course. A wise move indeed, Elliot.”

  In the back of the van, Olivia looked worried. “He’ll be ok,” Gwen could tell what she was worrying about, “You know what Elliot is like, Olivia.” She nodded, “Exactly, I do know what he’s l
ike, That’s why I’m worried…”

  “Quieten down guys,” Reed was listening in on the driver and the passenger through a small gap.

  “I’m just saying, it would’ve saved us a lot of time and effort if the guards just killed them back at the gates.” The passenger said. “You know very well that we need to keep the peace and order in this place. Shooting at a group of strangers would cause quite a bit of unrest, don’t you think?” The driver responded.

  Reed turned back to the group, “They’re going to kill us!” He whispered. “Honestly, I don’t care anymore,” Zach responded. “We’ve nearly died so many times, it’d be a blessing if we finally got killed now.” Gwen looked at him intently, desperate to say something. She knew however that the group would give her backlash if she said what she wanted to.

  “Listen, as soon as they open those doors, we have to retaliate. Punch them, kick them, whatever. Just don’t kill them, otherwise it may bite us back later on.” Reed advised them. “Or, we could just destroy this place and move on,” Gwen suggested, “For all we know, Elliot could be dead right now.” This countered what she had said to Olivia, concerning her again. “What? It’s the truth! You’re all thinking it, don’t lie!” She was brutally honest.

  “I don’t think so,” Reed countered, “They’re only going to kill us because we’re infected by radiation. They don’t want us to infect the residents. Elliot being resistant on the other hand, I think they’ll spare him.” Everyone lightened up to his point.

  “Seriously? You think they’ll kill the rest of us and let him live? That’s a big risk to take for such a large community.” Gwen couldn’t stop picking out the flaws, which had caused Olivia to snap at her, “Gwen, listen, Elliot’s not dead. Now please, just shut up already.” She looked around, noticing everyone turning against her.

  William had taken Elliot to his office; which was just an ordinary trailer. “Now then, I believe we have to negotiate the terms of your stay,” William said, “You’ll have to learn to speak French if you do. Less than half of our residents can speak English fluently, or even conversationally.” Elliot sighed, “I know English and Spanish? Doesn’t that count for anything?” William shook his head, “Afraid not.”

  “So, if you let us stay, then what do we do have to give you in return?” Elliot knew there was a catch. “Everyone has a job to do within these four metal grates we call a home. You can be whatever you like. A builder, a doctor, a gym instructor, you can even be an author. We have several of those here. People like to watch plays every Tuesday evening.” The success of this para-society had Elliot on edge, “You know what day it is today? You can have a proper calendar in place?” William shook his head, “No. Well, at least not a proper one. We made our own calendar when we built this place. Today,” he checked a large piece of paper on his desk, “Today is Tuesday 3rd July 2029. Obviously, only the year part is accurate. It probably isn’t July, or Tuesday even. We tried to make the calendar as best we could by using the seasons. Since it’s Summer now, it’s likely either May or June, I guess we messed up right at the start. But the system works.”

  It was a lot to take in for Elliot, “So you’re telling me that everything behind those four wired grates surrounding this area has stood for three years?” William nodded, “Well, we’ve been attacked and had to rebuild several times. But yes, overall, we’ve sustained three whole years of success.” Elliot was impressed, but suspicious as well.

  “We’ve stopped,” Reed pointed out the obvious, as the van came to a standstill. The two doors opened. “Right, everybody out!” The hazmat units helped them load off. “Everybody, line up please.” They worked out a line order, noticing one of units producing a briefcase from the van. He opened it up, revealing several syringes with green fluid inside. “This will help destroy the radiation inside you.”

  Everyone looked at each other, knowing they had just heard a complete lie. The unit produced a syringe, pulling up Gwen’s arm. Before he could inject it, she yanked him whilst he was holding her arm, taking the syringe. “Don’t move!” She crouched over the unit on the ground, holding the syringe above his neck. “I’ll make he dies painfully if you try absolutely anything.” The man put his hands up.

  “Reed, Pierre, apprehend him.” They look to each other, then followed up with Gwen’s instruction. “Now then, tell us what exactly this green fluid is.” The man didn’t respond. “Fine then, guess we’ll just find out ourselves,” she moved it down on his neck again.

  “Alright!” The man tried to struggle. “It’s a lethal injection…” Everyone sighed. “Why would you do that to us?” Gwen was outraged. “Because you’re infected with radiation! Don’t you understand? Radioactive decay has consequences. We can’t risk an outbreak within this camp!” Gwen shook her head in disgust, “Do you even have ways to decontaminate us?” The man sighed, “Yes… But, they take a lot of time and resources. We can’t waste them on strangers. I’m sorry…

  “That’s ok,” Gwen mislead him, ripping the mask off the head of the man beneath her, sticking the syringe into his throat. “Gwen!” Olivia pulled her back from it, “What are you doing? If you do that, do you really expect the other one to help us?” She stared at her tensely, as Gwen looked back at her disapprovingly.

  Olivia turned around. “Please, I’m asking you nicely. Save us. Do that, and we’ll leave right after. Whatever resources you need, we’ll come back here if we find them. I promise,” Olivia had copied Elliot’s idea of making fake promises to everyone. The man nodded, “Alright, you win. The decontamination chamber is down those stairs,” he nodded to the left. “Keep him secured,” Olivia instructed Reed and Pierre. “Celeste, Tina, with me. Bring Erica.” They headed down the stairs.

  In the room down the stairs, they noticed a control panel on one side of the room, and a metal door with monitors next to it on the other. The metal door was labelled ‘DECONTAMINATION CHAMBER’. Approaching it cautiously, Olivia pulled the door open. Inside, it was like a sauna – with multiple wooden benches and vents around the room.

  Olivia looked back to Tina and Celeste, “Do we take the risk?” Celeste nodded. Tina looked down at Erica in her arms, “Yes, we do. Help me get her in there.” Olivia went over to her, as all three women helped get her into the chamber.

  Olivia went back up the stairs. “It’s legit. There really is a decontamination chamber down there. Or if it’s a fake, at least we’ll die knowing the answer to our final question.” Everyone looked at the hazmat unit. “Pull his mask off,” Olivia asked Pierre, who did so. “What’s your name?” Olivia asked him, “Raphael.” He responded, “My colleague who your friend put on the floor is Louis.” He nodded down to him. “Right then, Raphael and Louis, it’s time to show us how this chamber works. Release him.” Pierre and Reed let him go, as he helped Louis back onto his feet.

  Everyone piled downstairs. As they all headed to the chamber, Raphael stopped them, “Wait.” He called out, “We don’t have enough resources decontaminate all of you. I’d say we can only help five of you at most…”

  “So, when will I see my friends again?” Elliot had subtly pulled out his knife under the desk, grasping it firmly. “You’ll see them soon, Elliot,” William wasn’t a very convincing man. “If they’re being decontaminated, then why can’t I wait for them?” He didn’t have an answer, “You’re not a very patient man, are you?”

  Elliot jumped up out of his seat, jumping over the desk, apprehending William at knifepoint. “I’m an extremely impatient man when someone has kidnapped my friends. Now, tell me: Where are they? What are you doing to them?” William didn’t answer, “I know where it hurts the most to have your throat slit. Would you like me to demonstrate?”

  William flailed his hands, “No! Please! I’ll take you to your friends.” Elliot nudged him to get going. “If you lie to me, I won’t just kill you, I’ll kill everyone in this camp. Don’t try my patience…”

  Chapter 22

  Annabelle and Vanessa’s groups cont
inued to search around the airport terminal for anything that may indicate which city they had landed in. Cora was trying to keep Annabelle and Keith apart to avoid another confrontation between the two. “He told you about the boy he killed, I take it?” Cora assumed. Annabelle didn’t verbally respond, only nodded in disgust.

  “Look, at first, I felt the exact same way as you. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at Keith the next day. But eventually, I realised something. We have to do things, all the time. That’s how the world works now, Annabelle. It’s kill, or be killed. Even when you don’t have to.” Cora tried to change her mind, but Annabelle was all too familiar with what she had said.

  “You mean like what I did with Andy?” She couldn’t wash the thought of her mind. “I didn’t have to kill him. I don’t even remember why I did now. I spent an entire year with him and Erica. Despite knowing him before the apocalypse as well, it was like… I don’t know how to describe it really. It was like the last element of the past going away. Maybe that’s why I did it. Perhaps I was trying to become more a part of this world.” She lost herself in thought again.

  “I wouldn’t think too much about it Annabelle,” Cora advised her. “Like I said, it’s kill or be killed. Regardless of the situation. The question is, can you live with what you’ve done? The answer is, of course you can. I know that, Annabelle. I knew it the moment I looked upon your face and you told me my mother was still alive.” But now, neither Cora nor Annabelle were sure of the facts.