EVO Shift: EVO Nation Series: Book Two

by Chapman, K. J

  “I’m not hungry.” I try to visualise anything other than the images conjured by the smell of the food. My stomach will probably start eating itself if I don’t have food soon, but the stubborn mule in me won’t take a bite.

  “Sure you are. If you’re tired I can feed it to you.” I feel the mattress dimple from where he perches on the edge.

  “I’m not hungry, and I don’t want to be fed.”

  “It’s this or a meeting with Dr Hollister, so what do you want more- food or Hollister?”

  I gingerly roll onto my back to face him.

  “That’s a good girl,” he says, smiling. I try to push myself up onto my elbows, but my back burns with pain. “I’m here now, so why not let me feed you?”

  “Are my friends getting food?” I ask.

  He cuts up a piece of bacon. “Of course.”

  “Promise me.”

  He tilts his head. “I thought my word meant nothing to you?”

  This is where I play him at his own game. “It didn’t, but now...”

  He lowers the fork a little. “But now?”

  “Well, you’ve been looking after me, and well, I guess- oh, I don’t know?”

  He touches the fork to my mouth and I take the bacon. “You trust me.”

  I shake my head. “Not exactly. Not yet.” Not ever, I think to myself.

  He offers a mushroom. “We’ll work on that. Your friends have food. I promise you.”

  “Thank you.” He feeds me some black pudding, and I force a smile. “I’m done.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’s making my tummy cramp.”

  “I suppose that will do for now as long as you promise to eat more later,” he says, making his way to the door.

  “I promise,” I say.

  He steps aside and lets two soldiers in. They force me onto my back and start wheeling the bed from the room. Towley stands in the doorway as we pass.

  “Where are they taking me?”

  “To Dr Hollister,” he says.

  “But you said if I ate—”

  “I said eating or Dr Hollister, and you’re done eating now.”

  “You bastard,” I scream.

  A smirk plays at his mouth. “Theyda, I know you. I’ve studied the ins and outs of you, and I haven’t broken you... yet. You may play the part, but I know it was all an act. My fiery girl would never give in so easily.”

  My fists shake with anger. “I will never be yours. You will never break me. I’m going to kill you! I will kill you!”

  Towley smiles, eats a piece of bacon from my plate, and heads down the corridor.

  One soldier watches me, his mouth hanging open. I look him dead in the eyes.

  “Just so you know, every time you wheel me into that room, you could be wheeling a corpse back out.” My sobs come thick and fast. “I don’t know if that means anything at all to you, but I’m a human being... I’m a human being. I have friends, and family, and a man I adore. And I haven’t turned my back on the Non-EVO- I never will. Most people are good people.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  Dr Hollister is waiting with his stupid clipboard, and his stupider glasses. I know the routine now; attached to chains, ripped from the bed, and left to hang like a piece of meat. It is worse this time, my muscles are already sore from last time, and I scream continuously for minutes until the pain numbs slightly.

  Dr Hollister watches impatiently, tapping his pen against the desk. “If you are quite finished, I would like to explain this session to you. It’s a Q and A session in which I expect candid answers.”

  “And what if I don’t want to play your game?”

  “We punish you by hurting them.” He nods towards the wall. Cooper and Wheeler must be on the other side just like last time. “I’d think wisely if I was you.”

  “Can I see them?”

  He shakes his head. “Question one- Is your name Theyda Woodman?”

  How do I answer this one? “No. My name is Theyda Leason.”

  Dr Hollister presses a finger to his watch. “Incorrect.”

  Cooper’s screams erupt from the other side of the wall.

  “That’s correct! I’m Theyda Leason. Rob Leason is my Dad. His name is on my birth certificate.” Cooper continues to scream. “Isaac Woodman is not my biological father and you know it.”

  “Question two- Were you involved in Isaac Woodman’s plan to attack the British government, start an EVO war, and murder innocent Non-EVO humans?”

  “No. I killed Isaac Woodman. He planned to use me and Tess Kersey in his plan, but we were innocent.”

  “Incorrect,” he says into his watch.

  Wheeler’s screams pierce through me. “Stop! Please, stop hurting them. I’m telling the truth.” The doctor pushes his glasses up his nose. “So, it’s that sort of game. You want the truth? I’ll give you a candid response. When you let your guard down, and you will eventually let your guard down, I will take those glasses and shove them up your ass- sideways. Oh, and then I will kill you.”

  He nods to the soldier from the corridor. The man steps in front of me, and I lift my head. You can look me in the eyes when you pummel me, thank you. If I get a beating for insulting the mad doctor, then so be it. It is worth it. Taking a deep breath, he thumps me in the face, my lip splitting open on impact. I swing on the chains, fighting to clear the dots from my vision.

  Dr Hollister clears his throat. “Your friends have answered their questions incorrectly.”

  He picks up a bloody cable from his desk. I know what this means. Rather than spin me, he walks around me and opens the back of my gown once again. First, he tears off the dressings, and then he cracks the cable in his hands. I flinch from the sounds, and he brings the cable down across my lower back. I bite my lip to stop from screaming out. He wants Cooper and Wheeler to hear my screams. He brings it down again; I gasp, but still hold in my cries. The thirds time cuts through my old wounds. This time I scream, and he dishes out another lashing for good measure.

  Chucking the cable on the desk, he stands in front of me and clasps his hands together. “I shall repeat questions one and two again. This time, I advise you think about your answers. Question One- Is your name Theyda Woodman.”

  This isn’t a test; this is torture to force a confession from me. I look to the floor. “Yes.”

  “Correct,” Hollister says into his watch.

  I hear Cooper shouting, but it’s not cries of pain. He shouts my name, calling for me not to give them what they want.

  “Question two- Were you involved in Isaac Woodman’s plan to attack the British government, start an EVO war, and murder innocent Non-EVO humans?”

  I hope Cooper meant what he said. “No, never,” I shout.

  “Incorrect.”

  “Good girl!” Cooper shouts, before breaking into screams.

  Dr Hollister steps closer, reaching up for my pinky finger. “Were you involved in Isaac Woodman’s plan to attack the British government, start an EVO war, and murder innocent Non-EVO humans?”

  “No,” I scream in his face. He forces my finger out of place, and I cry out, my legs shaking underneath me. He holds my ring finger and asks me the question again. “Never,” I sob. A second finger pops out of place.

  My defiance irritates him. He blows out his cheeks, taking another finger.

  “Change your approach doctor,” says Towley’s voice over the speaker.

  A sadistic smile twists over the doctor’s face. He heads towards the wall panel and places his hand against it. I take what respite I can get from his divided attention. It feels like lava flows over my back, and my fingers need relocating. I let my legs sag a little, and take some deep, gulping breaths.

  The soldiers stand statue still, staring at the far wall. The man I cried at in the corridor has a thick sweat on his forehead and dark patches under his arms. He flinches a little as the wall clunks and recedes toward him.

  Cooper and Wheeler hang from the chains stark naked and mottled i
n small burn marks similar to the ones on my stomach and thigh. They felt the wrath of the electrocution rod.

  “Are you okay,” I sob.

  Cooper nods. “You?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I say.

  The doctor laughs out loud, breezes over to me, and spins me to expose my back.

  Wheeler takes a sharp inhale. I know it’s bad, I can feel the blood running over my butt and legs.

  “You should have answered your questions truthfully,” Hollister says to Wheeler.

  “I did,” Wheeler screams, his voice sounding thick from swollen lips. Spit and blood drip onto his chin, and he pleads with me with his eyes. “I’m sorry, baby girl.”

  “You have nothing to apologise for.”

  “So, we have established that you are Theyda Woodman, but you have given an incorrect answer, hence why your friends have suffered the way they have.”

  I glare at him.

  “You are framing her! You’re coercing her answers. Don’t give them what they want, Teds,” says Cooper.

  The doctor acts as if Cooper hasn’t spoken, whispering something to the soldiers. They both nod and make their way over to Cooper. He tenses, but they pass him, retrieving a bed from behind him. He is lowered onto the bed, chains removed, and restrained in the bed straps. They do the same to Wheeler.

  A part of me sighs with relief. If this is just about me, I can concentrate on myself, give truthful answers, and not worry about the consequences to them. Hollister can dislocate all ten of my fingers and toes before I’ll falsely admit my allegiance to Isaac.

  “Did you think I was done with them?” Hollister asks me. “No, they will be your motivation for this next question. Answer it incorrectly and your friends will be executed.”

  Wheeler sobs as a gun is pressed into his forehead. Even, Cooper whimpers, his hands shaking in the restraints.

  “You are the one we need. These two are expendable, so don’t think that we won’t kill them. Question two- Were you involved in Isaac Woodman’s plan to attack the British government, start an EVO war, and murder innocent Non-EVO humans?”

  Wheeler’s body is racked with sobs, both soldiers stand poised, fingers on triggers, and a hand behind their necks, holding them steady.

  “Yes,” I scream. “Yes.”

  Dr Hollister ticks something off of his clipboard. “Correct,” he says. I sag with relief. “Kill them anyway.”

  My heart drops into my guts. “No!” I scream, thrashing on the chains.

  Cooper and Wheeler both start to scream and fight with little effect.

  “You can’t do this. She gave you the answer you wanted,” Cooper shouts.

  Wheeler growls from deep in his chest. “Be brave, Teddie.”

  “No! You’ve got what you wanted. Please... please!”

  Simultaneous gun shots ring out and both Cooper and Wheeler fall still.

  My legs fall away beneath me. The sound that leaves my throat is a mix of crying, screaming, and agony. Everything slows, only the ringing in my ears continues on. I’m throwing myself around, kicking out at the doctor, trying to bite any hand that comes near me. The soldiers pull sheets over Cooper and Wheeler’s lifeless bodies and wheel them from the room.

  More soldiers file into the room to help restrain me. I fight with everything I have in me. I don’t feel pain, only a hollow ebbing in my chest. The familiar sting of a sedation needle stabs in my thigh, but I continue to lash out until my body no longer answers to me.

  ***

  Lying face down has left a crick in my neck. My back is exposed, but there is a sheet covering my lower half. Sedation still floats through my body, and I am grateful to not feel the pain in my back or my strapped hand.

  “You did so well,” says Towley from my bedside. “So very brave.”

  I choose to ignore him. He wants my loyalty, he wants to break me, and hopefully my silence will make him as angry as hell. I turn my head, so I’m facing the wall.

  “I have dressed your back again. I wish you weren’t so hard headed and answered correctly the first time. I don’t like seeing you in so much pain.”

  I bite my tongue. He’s trying to get a rouse out of me, but he can rot in hell. Cooper and Wheeler are dead. That’s all there is.

  “You promised you would eat,” he says. I scrunch my eyes shut. “Theyda, you need to eat this or we’ll feed you through a stomach tube.” I turn my face into the mattress to blot him out. “I have to admit that I’m saddened that things have gotten this way between us.” Even though he tries to keep his voice soft, I can hear the edge. “Theyda!” he shouts, gripping my bandaged hand until I scream. “You will talk to me.”

  He drops my hand, and I sob into the sheets. I feel his hand stroking my shoulder and the back of my head. His touch causes every muscle in my body to tense painfully. Everything about him leaves me cold.

  “I’m sorry, Theyda. I’m sorry, I hurt you. I never want to cause you pain. I’m an impulsive man, but the last thing I want to do is hurt you. Forgive me.”

  I can’t help myself. I have to say something. “All you have done is cause me pain.”

  “I never inflicted any injuries on you. I will never be the one to do so, I promise you.”

  “Then, you’re no better than Roscoe- a pathetic coward. Do you know that I actually prefer Dr Hollister to you? Yeah he’s a bastard, but at least he’s got balls. I expect you’re like a Ken doll down there.”

  Towley swallows down his retort, and picks up the plate. “I thought you’d be interested to know that Syndicate have released another video claiming you as their ally, but don’t worry, we’ll straighten that lie out. Let’s see who turns out for their rally once they know that Theyda Woodman has just confessed to being a member of the E.N.C.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  “Wake up,” a voice whispers. The soldier from the corridor, the one who put a bullet in Cooper’s brain, stands over me. “Wake up, Theyda.”

  I jerk to the other side of the bed. He shines a torch in my eyes, and then counts my heart rate with his thumb on my wrist.

  “They have broadcast your confession, well, parts of it. They’re trying to turn everyone against you. We’ve just had a meeting, and Towley has informed us that Syndicate’s peace rally has been cancelled. After all, they’re lead advocate has just confessed to being a part of the E.N.C.”

  “Why are you telling me this? Is this another test or something?”

  He peels my gown back a little to check my dressings. “I shouldn’t be, but I wanted to tell you that I believe you.”

  I laugh into the sheets. “Screw you. You murdered my friends- my innocent friends.”

  “Keep your voice down,” he hisses. “No, we didn’t- stunt guns and sedative spikes. Towley and Hollister want you to believe they’re dead. They’re trying to break you.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because Cooper told me to tell you... ‘We assholes have to stick together.’”

  I laugh a slightly hysterical, relief filled laugh. They’re alive. That’s all I need to know. “So, what now?”

  “I have no idea. I will aid in getting the truth out in any way I can.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Anders.”

  “Why are you offering to help me?”

  “The government deny everything the Syndicate have been throwing at them. When they were called out about the detention centres, the government denied them, and then broadcast more information about you and your gang, or Syndicate’s affiliation with the E.N.C. They shift the focus and they’re good at it. They’re playing on people’s fears. Learning about the existence of EVO, and then being force fed every horror story to keep them on side, has turned ignorant people in hate mongers.”

  “If they tell you to hurt me, you hurt me, okay? Keep up the pretence, that’s all we can do. If you can get the truth out there, somehow, you will have done so much for me and so much for innocent people all over the world.”

&nbs
p; Towley enters the room with his hands in hands in pockets. “What are you two discussing?”

  “The prisoner expects me to get her food, Sir,” Anders states, thinking on his feet. “I have told her that she is not in a position to make demands, Sir.”

  “Quite right, but we’ll make an exception this once. Request a meal to be brought here at once. I shall remain present while Theyda eats.”

  Anders rushes from the room, barely able to look at Towley.

  “So, are you regretting our little spat earlier?” he asks me. “I was hurt by what you said. I haven’t been able to shake it all evening.” He appears genuinely upset. “But you have had a traumatic day, and you were in physical pain, so I took comfort in that.”

  “You took comfort in my trauma and pain,” I ask, pressing him further.

  His eyes grow wide. “No, not at all. All I meant was that it justified your hurtful comments toward me. It was that I took comfort in.”

  “Why do you want me? Do you think I’m pretty?” I ask. “You took my hair and I’m scarred.” I keep my voice little and pathetic. Second attempt lucky, I need to try a different tactic; broken, but fiery is the way forward.

  He pulls up a chair, resting his arms on the pillow. I don’t mistake the wariness in his eyes, but he’s also trying to judge my sincerity. Grazing a finger down my scar until he meets my lip, he sighs deeply. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”

  “You say creature like I’m an animal. I don’t want to be an animal.”

  “You are raw and wild and strong. You are a creature, Theyda. I reach out to you and you bite at me fingers. You can have no idea how euphoric it will be when the day comes that you accept my hand; when you fully let me into your fold.” He’s so close to my face that I can feel the air leaving his lips. One hand holds at my gown and the other works from my shoulder to my ear.

  Anders re-enters causing Towley to jump away from me, his chair screeching against the floor. What does he feel- guilt, embarrassment, shame? I’m not just reading into it; he believes every word he is telling me. What kind of sociopath is he?