The Enoch Plague (The Enoch Pill Book 2)

by Matthew William

  “Are there any other entrances?” Kizzy asked, trying to catch her breath.

  “No,” the constable sighed.

  “That’s good,” Kizzy said.

  “No other ways out either.”

  Kizzy looked to the window behind the mayor’s desk. A woman had climbed the drain pipe and was trying to open it. The constable ran to the window, opened it, and with the butt end of her shotgun bashed the drain pipe off of the building. The woman held tight to the useless pipe as it toppled back down onto the crowd.

  They waited for what seemed like ages, sitting on the floor beneath the windows. When the night came, the crowd of women thinned, but at least 50 of them remained waiting out on the street.

  “Why are they still out there?” Kizzy asked.

  “They’re starving us out,” the constable said.

  “Do you think so?” the mayor asked.

  “That’s what I would do.”

  The mayor groaned. “I’ll go talk to them.”

  “I don’t recommend that,” the constable said, grabbing the mayor’s arm. “It’s only the truly committed ones left.”

  The mayor rolled her eyes and tore her arm away. “Are you going to tell them to go home?”

  “No,” the constable said.

  “Well, we can’t have the street blocked.”

  The constable shook her head in confusion. “What does that matter?”

  “Just help me get the furniture out of the way,” the mayor said.

  They moved the bookshelf and the couch back up into the office and the mayor went down to the front door and closed it behind herself.

  “Come on, you’ve got to get out of here now,” the mayor announced to the women.

  Everyone in the crowd just seemed to shout random things at her at once, they were getting worked up all over again.

  “You’re not getting Kizzy now,” the mayor insisted.

  “When?” a woman from the crowd shouted.

  “Never, alright?” the mayor said. “Is that what you want to hear?”

  The crowd erupted in angry boos.

  “Oh boy,” the constable said with a grin, standing up so she could watch out the window. “Let’s see her talk her way out of this one.”

  “Hold on! Hold on!” the mayor was yelling.

  Kizzy was afraid to be seen, so she kept far from the window.

  “I’m going to have to ask you to all go home now,” the mayor said.

  The crowd aggressively booed, Paige was at the forefront, acting as a cheerleader for the unrest.

  “Kizzy, Kizzy, Kizzy!” she began to chant and the crowd followed. They began to stamp their feet. Kizzy could almost feel the heat radiating from their angry faces and breath.

  “This is over,” the mayor yelled. The desperation was evident in her voice, the vulnerability only fed the crowds anger. “Go home!”

  They continued to chant.

  Kizzy finally stood up to look, she had to see what was happening. The crowd was closing in on the courthouse.

  “Oh no,” the constable said. “They’re going to charge the place.”

  At that moment a rock came careening through the air from the back of the crowd. It hung above the street for a silent moment before finally pelting the mayor right beneath her right eye. She never even saw it coming. Stunned, she toppled over and onto the ground, bleeding. The sight of the blood must have emboldened the crowd and suddenly more stones were flying.

  “No,” the constable said and instinctively ran down the stairs.

  Kizzy watched this all happen, her body completely stunned and numb. The mayor put her hands up in defense, but the crowd didn’t seem to care, they continued to barrage her with stones.

  Kizzy came back into her body and sprang down the stairs to join the constable who pulled the mayor’s body in through the door. The woman laid lifeless on the floor. Theresa felt at the mayors neck, shook her head, and slammed on the door with her fist. The women outside were throwing more and more stones. Kizzy could hear them banging off the wood.

  A puddle of blood gathered on the floor.

  “What the hell have they done?” asked aloud.

  “What’s wrong?” Kizzy asked.

  “She’s dead,” the constable said and darted back up the stairs.

  Kizzy was left near the doorway, staring at the mayor’s body, and listening to the roaring crowd outside. They were more guilty than she ever was.

  Suddenly the door sprung open, the women were coming in. Kizzy dashed up the stairs as fast as she could with her feet and hands in the chains. A woman grabbed her leg. Kizzy fell to her knees and kicked at the woman. The woman fell backwards, pulling Kizzy down the stairs with her. Finally, Kizzy freed herself and began to climb the stairs once more.

  The woman grabbed Kizzy by the chains around her feet this time. Kizzy was about to yell for help when she looked up and saw the constable there with her shotgun in her hands. With a thunderous bang she blasted the woman through the stomach. The woman’s face went red and she fell backwards down the stairs. The women behind her screamed, half in fear and half in rage as they caught their comrade’s body. They continued to rush up the stairs infuriated. They had turned into animals.

  Kizzy backed up against the wall and covered her already ringing ears as the constable descended the stairs with her shotgun. Her face was a dead stare. She shot two more women in the staircase. One was hit and fell backwards down the stairs, another twisted and fell silently to the ground. The remaining women fled back down the stairs and outside. The constable followed.

  The crowd outside screamed and dispersed. Kizzy sat there hearing the blast of the shotgun ringing out in the night. Once, twice, a third and forth times.

  The constable came back to the staircase and waved to Kizzy to follow her.

  Kizzy sprang to her feet and followed the woman through the devastation she had brought, her ears still ringing. Six women in total laid dead. Some looked as if they had been trying to run away.

  They crossed the street to the jailhouse. The bell rang cheerfully as they entered. The constable slammed the door behind them.

  She walked to her chair and collapsed, dropping her shotgun to the floor. She sat there completely still, staring off into space. This was the first time Kizzy had seen her uncertain in her movement and demeanor. She was lost.

  Kizzy locked the door and turned off all the lights. They sat for a while in the complete darkness.

  “Are you alright?” Kizzy asked finally.

  “I don’t even know how to begin to process this,” Theresa said. She sat there staring at her hands. “This is so messed up.”

  Kizzy went and sat in a chair on the other end of the room, terrified of the woman once more.

  “I can take those chains off,” the constable said, taking the keys from her pocket.

  Kizzy paused for a moment before getting up and going across the room. With shaking hands the woman undid the locks on Kizzy’s cuffs. The constable looked at the chains in her hands and began to cry. She wrapped her arms around Kizzy with her face against Kizzy’s stomach.

  “I’m so sorry,” the constable said through her sobbing.

  “It’s not your fault,” Kizzy said.

  “I’m supposed to stop stuff like this from happening. It’s all ruined now.”

  Kizzy didn’t say a word.

  “I thought if I just upheld the law, things like this wouldn’t happen.”

  Instinctively Kizzy put her arm on the woman’s shoulder. She caressed her hair, the way her mother used to when she was a child. Hours ago this person had wanted her dead, now Kizzy was taking care of her. It was strange for Kizzy, strange that it came so naturally. The constable’s crying diminished. They stayed like that for what felt like ages, in the darkness and the silence, the only noise was the ringing in their eardrums.

  Only meters away the mayor laid dead, along with the six women the constable had killed in recompense.

  Suddenly, the radio o
n the constable’s desk sounded, a worried, muffled voice came from the other end. “Constable Mazel, you there?”

  The constable seemed to snap out of the trance she was in and pulled herself away from Kizzy.

  “I’m here,” she said into the receiver, her voice rough.

  “We need help at the Rivera farm.”

  “I’ll be right there,” she said. She hung up, wiped her nose and eyes and put on her jacket. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Are you serious?” Kizzy asked.

  “Yes,” the constable said, looking around the room with a lost look on her face.

  “You’re going to leave me here?”

  The constable paced around the office unhinged and confused, like a junky looking for a hit. “I’ll lock you in the cell, they can’t get you in there.”

  “Can’t I come with you?”

  The constable shook her head. “It’s too dangerous, we don’t know what’s...” her voice trailed off at the end as she lost whatever thought she was going for.

  “You’re not going,” Kizzy commanded.

  “No, I am,” the constable said, shaking her head. “Come on, just get into the cell. You can take some food in with you. It’ll be alright, I’ll even give you the keys.”

  Kizzy took the set of keys from the woman and went inside the cell again. The constable picked up her shotgun and walked out the door, locking it behind her. Kizzy wondered if she would ever see her again.

  Kizzy sat back down on the bench she had gotten to know so well. What was the constable thinking? She must have just wanted some semblance of normalcy back in her life and going out on a call was the easiest way to achieve that. Kizzy couldn’t blame her. The woman had just shattered the one thing she believed in. Would the women of the country demand justice for all the things she had done? She and Kizzy were in the same position now. Kizzy felt secure knowing that the world was a little more messed up. A little more like her.

  She laid down on the wooden bench and closed her eyes. Again she wondered if Diego was alright and if there was anyone out there coming for her. The police radio continued to chirp its senseless babble.

  Just then there was a jangling of keys. Someone was at the front door.

  9

  A young woman barreled into jailhouse and closed the door behind her. It was Meg, the girl who had taken the keys earlier that day.

  “The mutants were here too?” she asked with her back firmly against the door.

  “What?” Kizzy asked.

  “Where’s the constable?” she demanded.

  “She left,” Kizzy answered.

  “Where was she going?”

  “I’m not sure. The Rivera farm?”

  “I just came from there,” Meg said. “I must have missed her.”

  She eyed Kizzy with suspicion. Kizzy could tell she was nervous, something about her seemed out of sorts. Like an animal with something else in its cage.

  Meg made a beeline to the gun closet, but it was locked. Was this girl part of the mob from before? She went to the constable’s desk and rummaged through it, but there was no key to be found. She growled.

  “What’s going on?” Kizzy asked, sternly. Trying to have an air of authority in her voice. Feeling at the keys in her pocket.

  The girl stepped from the shadows into the light. “The mutants in the city, there’s been an uprising. They’re invading the country.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kizzy asked.

  “Haven’t you heard? They stopped sending out the crates this morning and now they’ve breached the walls. They’ve destroyed everything in their path.”

  “What do you mean they’ve left the city?”

  “They’ve revolted.”

  “And now they’re out here – attacking people?”

  The girl nodded aggressively. “They’re at my farm as we speak.”

  “But why would they do that?” Kizzy asked. She wondered if this had something to do with Josephine coming to get her, maybe with a team of men. But why would they be attacking people?

  “They’re monsters. It’s in their nature.”

  “Are you sure guns are necessary?” Kizzy asked, hoping the night wouldn’t bring more violence.

  “Are you stupid? It’s the mutants.”

  “Let me go with you.” Kizzy said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’ve got the keys to the gun closet and I’ve dealt with the mutants before.”

  They rode in a jeep towards Meg’s farm.

  Meg had had an apprenticeship with the constable since she finished school. So when the mutants came to her farm she knew that the constable’s office was the only place in the country to get any guns. She rode in the passenger seat and let Kizzy drive; since Kizzy had never received training on how to shoot, she could potentially hurt somebody. Kizzy flew down the country road at a breakneck speed. Meg held a shotgun in her hands and carefully scanned their surroundings, in case any “mutants” came into view. Another two shotguns and a box full of shells sat in the back seat. A bit of overkill, Kizzy thought. These were only men.

  “I still don’t get why you wanted to come,” Meg said, looking at Kizzy then back out the window. “You were safe in that cell.”

  “I have a feeling they might be looking for me,” Kizzy said. “I can try and talk with them.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “I told you I’ve dealt with them before.”

  “Where?”

  “In the city,” Kizzy said flatly. “I’ve been inside the walls. I know what they’re like.”

  “Bullcrap.”

  “Honest to God.”

  “I’ve seen them,” Meg said. “They tore my neighbor’s house to shreds while she was inside, then they did the same to her.”

  The girl’s eyes were beginning to mist and Kizzy tried to imagine what she had actually seen. Whatever it was must have really shaken her up. The imagination was a powerful thing.

  “I’ll talk to them,” Kizzy said.

  “How can you be so calm about this?” Meg asked. “The world is falling apart.”

  “I told you I’ve dealt with them before,” Kizzy replied.

  “They’ll tear you apart,” Meg said as she began to cry. “They’ll tear us all apart.”

  Kizzy creased her forehead. “It’ll be fine. Just trust me.”

  “What were you in for?” Meg asked, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

  That was a strange question to ask. It seemed like every person in the country knew and had an opinion on what she had done.

  “Why do you want to know?” Kizzy asked.

  “What were you in for?” Meg asked, more sternly this time. “I need to know if you can be trusted or not.”

  “That doesn’t make a difference does it?” Kizzy asked.

  “What were you in for?” the girl asked flatly.

  “My friend died, Laura was her name. They say it was my fault.”

  “At least I know you’re not a liar,” Meg said. “I know about Laura’s death, everybody in the whole country does.”

  “I guess I’m finally famous,” Kizzy said.

  Meg nodded and looked out the window. “I can’t believe I did this. Theresa’s gonna kill me. This was a stupid mistake.”

  “Theresa’s got more important things to worry about,” Kizzy said.

  “Promise me you won’t try to escape.”

  “Well, I’m not going back to that jailhouse, that’s for sure,” Kizzy said and looked over at Meg who held onto the shotgun tightly with both hands. “I mean, most likely I’ll be needed somewhere else.”

  That didn’t seem to ease Meg’s nerves. She quickly took a pair of handcuffs from her belt and clamped one end around Kizzy’s wrist and the other around the steering wheel.

  “Come on, seriously?” Kizzy asked, trying to shake her hand free. She was stuck, in handcuffs again.

  “Now I don’t have to worry,” Meg said.

  “Well I do. What if w
e’re in a car accident?”

  “Then I’ll let you out,” she said and patted the keys in her jacket pocket. She went back to scanning the surrounding countryside.

  “Look it’s extremely important that I meet up with my friends. I’m a very important person.”

  The girl glanced at Kizzy with suspicion.

  “You might not understand,” Kizzy said with a shrug.

  “That’s pretty condescending.”

  “Well, it’s … Look I don’t know how to explain it in a way... let’s just say the world’s a lot different than you know.”

  “You’re aware that I’m three years older than you right?” Meg asked.

  “Some things have come to light.”

  “Try me.”

  “I can have children.”

  “You can have...” Meg asked, then laughed out loud to herself. “What does that mean even?”

  “Why do you think no children were born after we invented the Enoch Pill?”

  “Because there was no need for them, we’d live forever, so we stopped making them.”

  “Okay, so how did they make them before the pill?”

  “In a lab, with the mother’s and father’s DNA.”

  “And years and years ago, before we had labs?”

  Meg scrunched her nose as if the thought had never even occurred to her. History had ceased to be in the school curriculum and thoughts of what the world was like in the past were a rarity. All Kizzy knew was from books and movies her mother had lying around the house. Historical fact had been replaced with myths and legends of yesteryear. And all focus was placed on the future. Every thought everyone had was geared towards the upcoming. And why not? That’s where you were headed. The past was a limited time that was lost and gone forever. Why give it any thought when the future stretched out forever in front of you?

  “They must have done it without a lab somehow,” Meg said. “Mixed the DNA in a cup or something.”

  Kizzy shook her head. “That’s not how they did it.”

  “How then?” Meg asked.

  “You have animals, right?” Kizzy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “What kind?”

  “Cows.”

  “Okay, so how do they make new cows?”

  “What?”

  “How do they make new baby cows.”