"A Year in the Making" (Nature)

= Prologue = The year is 2029, it has been three years since it happened. For it was the apocalypse itself. A group of survivors now find themselves allied with a neo-Government force, tested by nature, and challenged by one another. Good people no longer exist, morality has lost its’ meaning. How far everyone will go in order to survive remains known only to them… Elliot, Gwen and their group are secretly meeting regularly. As time goes on, they are beginning to lose hope for their missing comrades: Annabelle, Andy and Erica – it has been a year since their disappearance. Unknown to the Government agents, the group are planning to take control when they least expect it. Everyone has locked onto a certain member, biding their time and gaining their trust for the ultimate betrayal. They don’t know what they will do once they take control; they only know they have to if they want to find their friends again.

The youngest of the Government agents surprisingly was a fourteen-year-old boy, codenamed as ''‘Agent Golf’''. Elliot was endeared to him more than he cared to admit, simply because he agreed with the group’s intentions and even fed them information, acting as a spy.

For other survivors, it has been difficult to cope. Still longing to find their friends again, Erica, Annabelle and Andy are still having to cope with living in the unfamiliar territories of France. Giving up on ever seeing her daughter again, Erica is still struggling to keep going, supported only by her two unlikely allies.

= "A Year in the Making" = Living in the airfield for around a year had taken its’ toll on the group. After a while, it had gotten boring. But none of them had forgotten all the evil things this pseudo-Government had done. For Gwen, she blamed them for the disappearance of her daughter and her best friend. For Reed, it was the death of his father – though the others could tell there was something else he wasn’t letting on. For Golf, it was his determination to find out which one the agents had betrayed and killed his older brother – the previous man codenamed as ‘Golf’. It was for these reasons that the group didn’t leave, continuing to rack up the trust of the agents.

Olivia had gotten to know Sierra, while Gwen had gotten to know Tango. Elliot was close with Foxtrot, and Tina was still working with Jane. There were other survivors of the agents’ test as well that the group were working with to deal with the other agents.

Currently, Foxtrot was hosting an announcement in the airfield. “Firstly,” he stepped up to the mic, “I would like us all to congratulate Agent November,” in reference to Elliot, “For staying with us for an entire year today!” Everyone applauded, as the group went along with it. “Now, to the reason why I have called you all here today. It’s no lie that for some of you, it’s been quite an odd journey. First we test you beyond your capacities, and then we expect you to live as ordinarily as possible with us. It has to be that way for many reasons. Be honest with yourselves, if we asked you to willingly fight a tiger, would you do it?” Everyone looked at each other, “Of course not. Now some of you did indeed have to do that. Those of you who did are the ones deemed fit to survive. Some were not so unfortunate, the tigers got the best of them,” He was silent for a few moments, “So you see, we’re not bad people. Not really. We’re just different. I hope you can understand that.”

The bunkers had been redecorated to make them more habitable for the survivors. Everyone regularly met in Elliot’s one as it was the midpoint for everyone else’s. “I think he knows we’re working against him,” Pierre, a new French ally of the group’s, was distressed, “I agree. It seemed a bit weird he would suddenly make an announcement like that,” Gwen added. “No, it doesn’t. He doesn’t suspect us at all. The most likely scenario is that another group is about to be brought in,” Elliot tried to reassure them. “To this day November,” Olivia referred to Elliot by his codename, “I’m still unnerved by you in that suit.” They looked at each other quirkily. At the bunker door, there was a knock, turning everyone’s heads. Cautiously, Reed opened it – it was Golf. “Golf! – or Zach, if I may – Where have you been?” Elliot had been waiting for his arrival, “I’m sorry,” Golf/Zach was French also, “Foxtrot wanted to ask me a few things.” While everyone dismissed his excuse, Elliot had taken note of what he had just said.

In Reed’s bunker, he was curled up on his bed. Still he had nightmares about the parasites and his father – whose head was currently in a jar somewhere else in the base. He very rarely attended the group meetings. “Son,” he looked at his desk, hallucinating his father sitting in the chair, “What’s on your mind, boy?” He was only slightly comforted by his vision. “Come on Reed. Remember, you can always tell me anything. Anything at all.” The hallucination knelt down next to his bed. He uncurled himself, and sat upright. “It’s the parasites father. Those worm things…” ‘Ethan’ nodded, “The others are worried about you, Reed. You know they are,” the sound of his own thoughts in his father’s voice also was not very comforting. He looked down at his father, “I miss you, dad. I miss you so much,” he began to cry. ‘Ethan’ got up, and leant in to hug his son. As Reed moved in to accept the embrace, he ended up clutching himself with his own arms. Opening his eyes again through his tears, he looked around, remembering his father was just a memory. Grabbing the pills and the glass of water from his desk, he lobbed two of them in his mouth, downing the entire glass.

After the group had concluded their meeting, Elliot asked for Zach to stay behind. “Zach, you’re on our side remember, not theirs’.” He nodded at him in agreement, “I know Elliot. I know that.” As he went to leave, Elliot wasn’t finished, “What did Foxtrot ask you? Earlier on.” Zach stopped and turned back around. “Oh, just general things. You know like, how much I miss my brother and that sort of stuff.” His ambiguity was not fooling Elliot at all. “Ok nice. Now tell me what he really asked you about, Zach.” He sighed, and drew the breath to answer Elliot’s question. But before he could, a knock at the door interrupted them. “Get that,” Elliot nodded to the door. Zach opened it, revealing Foxtrot. “Ah! Agents Golf and November. How are you two this evening?” Zach smiled whilst looking at Elliot still, “Fine, sir. Perfectly fine.” Foxtrot looked over to Elliot, “November? Is everything ok?” He noticed a look of distrust on Elliot’s face, directed at Zach. Turning back to ‘Golf’, he realised something wasn’t right. “What’s going on with you two then? Come on, we’re all allies here aren’t we? Open up about it, please. I can’t sleep properly knowing two of my most skilled agents are being bothered by something.” As Elliot continued to look distrustfully, Zach answered the question for them, “It’s just… well…” He had to think off a bluff quickly, “We were wondering when the next supply run is going out. We’d really like to be a part of it because…” He hadn’t thought out his bluff too well, “We really like these French cookies! That’s why! I came to see Elliot to ask if he had any.” Foxtrot breathed believingly, “My dear chaps, of course you can come on the next supply run! The team goes out in two days. Why didn’t you just ask me that in the first place Agent November?” Trying to go along with the lie, Elliot turned his distrusting expression into a more upbeat one, “Oh… because, I thought it was… a bit embarrassing. For a special request, I mean.” Foxtrot laughed, “Nothing is too embarrassing nowadays my friend… anyways, I wish a goodnight’s sleep to the both of you.” He bowed, and then left the room. Zach followed him out, leaving Elliot with a look of concern.

The following morning, Elliot and Olivia had gone to the hidden-away tiger enclosure. The agents had been breeding a pack of tigers for the past three years, ever since the apocalypse initially began. Inside the cage, there was now only one adult – the other of course having been slain by Elliot in a duel – looking after three cubs. “You know I’m not sure who to feel worse for: the next man that gets killed by one of those tigers, or the next one of those tigers that gets killed by a man.” Olivia could see Elliot felt remorse for having to kill the tiger which he did. “Hey,” She put his hand over his on the wooden slab. “You did what you had to. If you didn’t kill it, then it would’ve killed you.” He still appeared to be saddened, “Do you reckon that other one knows? Do you reckon it remembers?” Elliot nodded towards the remaining adult, it was quietly looking after the cubs. “I honestly don’t know,” Olivia responded. “But I mean… Which one of us truly deserved to live? The tiger was doing everything within its’ natural objectives. Hunting, killing, preying, all that. That’s not us, ‘Liv. Right before I murdered Vincent… he had gone crazy. I didn’t even see a man within him anymore. He wanted to kill me so badly he yanked at the chain like an animal. What if I’m no better?” She put her other hand on his shoulder, “Again, you did what you had to do. If you spared Vincent a second time, he may’ve even shot me again. It took me a couple of weeks to readjust with no walking stick, remember? Thanks to these idiots who didn’t sedate it and test it as well,” she joked, prompting him to laugh slightly. “The thing is, Olivia… When I held that hammer, and looked upon Vincent, all I could think of was you.” Elliot’s hands connected with hers. “I remember the look on your face when you got shot. My instant thought was ''‘What if this happens again?’'' Except what if the next time, he shot you higher up. What if I lost you?” His eyes became watery, she placed her finger over his lips, “But you didn’t… And you never will. Not now. You took care of him. Because of that, I’m still alive.” She brushed a small tear off of his eye, as they went in for a hug.

Reed had now moved onto the floor again, leaning against his bed frame, still looking mortified. “They get into your brain, don’t they?” The hallucination of his father appeared again. “They burrow right through the skull,” the hallucination was voicing his thoughts on the parasites’ function, “Those slimy buggers. They don’t just get into your brain though do they? They take control of it. All of your humanly processes, victimised by an invader.” Reed nodded, his face deathly frozen still. “But if you shut the brain off, like pulling the plug, the parasite can’t restart it again, nor can it burrow back out. It dies.” He fixated on the words of his ‘father’ – what in reality was actually his own thoughts.

Leaving his bunker, Reed headed down the stairs which lead under the airfield. Travelling through the labs, the blue lighting made him feel a lot drearier. He approached a lab labelled as ‘LAB 32’ on the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and entered the room. There, on a podium in front of him, there was a large glass cylinder filled with a lime-coloured liquid. Inside that cylinder was also his father’s head; Reed had deduced the lime liquid was preventing it from decaying. His father’s head however was still active – the jaw was still moving, the nose twitching, the eyes rolling around. It was though he was still alive, but Reed knew he wasn’t. It was just a parasite which had burrowed into his head and reanimated it post-death. Pulling his knife out from his side, Reed looked down on his father’s head, “I love you, dad,” In his mind, the head spoke back to him ‘I love you too son’. Because of this hallucination, he was hesitant to stab the head. Raising the knife up and wiping his eye with his cuff, he thought he was now ready to let Ethan go…

“Reed? What is this?” Elliot appeared from behind him. “I saw you leave your bunker. You looked pretty upset. I had to follow, I was concerned.” Stepping aside from the jar, Reed waited for Elliot’s reaction. “What the hell?” Rather than flinching like many would, Elliot edged closer to the jar, interested by it. “How is that possible?” He turned to Reed. “This is what’s been worrying me the entire time,” his voice was rigid and hoarse, “It’s a parasite.” Elliot’s eyes widened with shock, now he backed away from the jar.

Elliot had helped Reed back to his bunker. “You knew about this the whole time? You knew they had parasites here?” He nodded in fear. “Well, what are they like? Are they big? Small? Are they bugs? What are they?” Reed cleared his throat, “They’re worms. Supersized worms. About five and a half, maybe six inches in length. They drill into your brain through your skull. Even if you’re dead, they can control your corpse.” Elliot put his hands over his head, “I honestly cannot believe this. Just as we thought the apocalypse couldn’t get any worse!” Reed looked over at the door, hallucinating his father again. “What would he do?” He quietly asked out loud. “I’m sorry? What would who do?” Obviously, Elliot could not see the vision of Ethan. “My father…” Reed turned away from the door and back to Elliot. “He always hated the Government. He was the most anti-patriotic Englishman ever. Elliot, even if these people aren’t a real government, we have to shut this place down. It’s been a year, have we not gained their trust enough yet?” He shook his head, “I thought we had. But Foxtrot may be wary of us after all… Zach, I’m referring to. I think he may’ve sold us out.” Reed leant his head back. “Elliot, we have to act now. By tomorrow morning, they might even have deployed the parasites into our ears while we sleep.” Elliot put his hands out, “Don’t think about that, Reed. I know you’re afraid, ok? But we can’t anticipate something like that happening.” Reed curled up again, “We need my father. We need him.” Elliot rolled his eyes, and threw Reed his pills, “Take them.”

As Elliot prepared to leave Reed’s bunker, there was a rather slow then long knock at the door. The two men looked at each other. The knock happened again, “Three short and three long… It’s Morse code! An S.O.S signal!” Elliot dashed over to the door, however when he opened it, no one was there. Underneath where the door was, a piece of paper had been left up. Elliot picked it up and closed the door again, reading it carefully. “What does it say?” Reed asked. “Meet me at the Tiger cage in one hour.” Reed looked curious, “Does it say who it’s from?” Elliot nodded alarmingly, “Yes… Zach…”