Martinsville
February 28th 1936
Alice could do little more than look on as Harold slipped from her grip and fell for a second time. She cried his name over and over, only to see him disappear from view. Again she called to him, and as her own voice echoed in the distance, she knew there was going to be no reply.
Gripping a handful of wet Deer grass, she leaned from the hillside to the limit her balance would allow, trying look down into bones creek, but she couldn’t see where he’d landed, or if he’d even survived the fall or not. After pulling herself back in, she lifted her head looking across the tree tops in the direction of Martinsville, and somewhere amongst those trees she heard them, she knew it wouldn’t be long before they reached her. Reluctantly, she turned and carried on.
Without her brother pushing her onward, Alice found the going hard. The loose rocks and wet ground beneath her feet, made an already difficult task even more arduous. Tarboro Ridge was only ten feet above her now, if she made that, she could run and hide amongst the many shallow caves in the rocks, and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t find her. She looked back once more in the hope she’d see Harold catching up, but that wasn’t to be.
When she managed the top, she ran for all she was worth, tripping and falling time and again. The sound of the dogs had quietened, but only because they were below the ridge. She carried on running until she found a wide enough crevice in the rocks for her to hide in. Climbing up, she concealed herself inside as best she could. It wasn’t very deep, only a few feet in fact, but it would do. She curled herself into a tight ball and would wait until it rained again before moving on, however long that might be.
Unintentionally, Alice fell asleep and began to nightmare. In that nightmare she ran through the rain into the clearing by the creek, the dogs hot on her trail. She started across the water, pushing herself along on legs she could hardly raise anymore; she looked down to see them buried in mud, deep mud, up to her knees mud, pulling at her, holding her there, refusing to let go. She fought hard against the gum-like viscosity of this shallow incarceration, the throb of her heart, resounding inside her head, pumping through her ears like the tremendous whoosh of a blacksmith’s bellows. Then all of a sudden there was a calm, silenced serenity, as unabridged stillness surrounded her.
The rain ceased to fall, suspended in mid-air like transparent pearls of liquid, and the mud holding her rigid, ebbed, like a receding tide, releasing her from its grip. She turned on the balls of bare feet, twisting on the soft warm grass beneath them. The air, which only seconds before was thunderous and storm-seiged, now bathed her in its warm embrace. Twisting faster, she looked skyward whilst blowing out a soft breath, pushing one pearl into another and then another. She was safe now, her world ... tranquil.
Then the sound of a twig-snap from amongst the nearby trees, dared to challenge that tranquillity. Alice stilled and looked behind, she saw nothing, no-one. She looked harder, deeper into the trees, and that’s when she saw them. Small, deep-red, first two of them, then four, then eight, suddenly amongst the dark of the woods there were hundreds of them.
A solitary breath escaped her as the serenity once more erupted into unbridled mayhem. Huge balls of water began to beat the earth at her feet as the downpour resumed, only harder. The barking dogs were back, as the chase once more was ignited. She looked to the trees to locate the sound; it was everywhere, to her left, her right, above, and even below. Then the trees were no longer motionless, they’d become her pursuers, they were screaming her name and pointing at her, hundreds of them calling out, Alice … Alice … Alice.
Again she started to climb into a crevice, but before she managed to get all the way inside, she felt the grip of powerful jaws clamping down on her foot. The jaws began to pull at her, trying to extract her from her safe haven. She started screaming, kicking; she awoke sitting bolt-upright in the small crevice and struck her head. Dizzying and fading fast, she saw Zach, the dog handler sending in one of his dogs.
They’d found her.
*
Unconscious as she was, Alice had been taken back to Martinsville where the Collective still congregated in the town hall. Harold had been injected a few hours earlier and left where he’d landed by Bones Creek. The Primary One was waiting in his inner chamber for Alice to be handed over to him. He wanted to turn her personally, but when she’d been delivered to him, he was informed that Ella had already administered the injection.
Some hours later when Alice came to, she felt sore all over, she touched inside the small depression at the base of her skull expecting to find a small speck of dried blood, but there wasn’t one. She felt tender between her legs, and her inner thighs showed signs of bruising. The Primary One had raped her, of that, she had no doubt. She was trapped now. And if the rape resulted in a pregnancy, as Martins no doubt hoped it would, in just over four months he would use and kill the foetus, leaving her to miscarry. She could even bleed to death. She’d heard of two girls of seventeen and eighteen who’d died that way last year.
Her thoughts then turned to Harold, if she hadn’t made it, she had no doubts he’d have suffered any less. But what would they have done with him? All those who attempt to flee Martinsville and are caught doing so, are never seen again. But why had she been allowed to live? She could only assume for breeding purposes. But that doesn’t explain her not being injected.
Two more days went by before she heard of Harold’s fate. He’d returned to Martinsville and been locked in one of the cells in the station room. And there he’d stay until they decide what to do with him. Harold’s return was unprecedented; someone was overriding the rules, someone with great authority.
*
After a month had past, Harold still hadn’t been released, and Alice found she was pregnant. She’d been moved inside the town hall on the upper floor and locked in one of the small rooms. She’d be there until it was time, she knew that. A regular supply of blood was brought to her and to the other girls who were in the same situation as she. Thankfully, it was only animal blood, it tasted sour, but it was enough to keep her strength up. She hadn’t tasted human blood, and every day she prayed she would never have to.
During the evenings, and sometimes through the night, Alice would hear Ella checking on the other two girls, one on either side of the room she was in. She couldn’t be sure about it, but she had a feeling she received slightly better treatment than they did. Helen in the room to her left was also sixteen, she was eight weeks gone. Sarah, the girl on her right, was eighteen, this was her second pregnancy. She was six weeks gone.
*
A second month went by before Alice found out Harold was again trusted, and working on the extra tunnels needed to connect key points of the town. Very early one morning, she heard Ella knocking on Helen’s door, only thing was, Ella never knocked. The knock then came to Alice’s door.
‘Alice, I’ve come to get you out,’ a voice informed her; it was a voice she knew well, very well.
After hearing a key turning in the lock the door was pushed open, and in the dim yellow glow coming from the single candle she was allowed to have, she saw the scarred face of her brother. Alice threw her arms around him and held him tight. And for many long seconds, nothing was said between them.
As Harold stood away and held her at arms length, Alice reached out, stroking his face with the tips of her fingers.
Harold looked at her swelled stomach and placed a hand on it. ‘They turned you then?’ he said.
Alice shook her head. ‘No, Hal. You and I were turned at conception, but until we became sixteen, there would be no signs.’
‘But weren’t you injected?’
‘No, were you?’
‘Yes, out in Bones creek.’
Alice held his face in both hands. ‘And how will that affect you?’
‘I don’t know,’ Hal said, stepping back from her reach. ‘I can only wait and see. But none of that matters now. All that matters is getting you away from here!’
‘How did you get the keys, Hal?’
‘A friend gave them to me.’
‘A friend?’
‘Nevermind, Alice. You have to go, and you have to go now!’
Something struck Alice as odd. ‘You’re not coming with me, are you?’
‘No, I have to make sure they don’t follow you.’
‘But you can’t stay here, I need you, you know I do. No one out there will know us; we can say the child is ours, and that way we can be together always.’
Harold sighed taking hold of her shoulders. ‘No, Alice. I’ve told you before how wrong that would be. You have to leave, and you have to go right now!’
‘But they’ll know you let me out.’
‘No they won’t, trust me, no one will find out I did this.’
Alice could see his senses were on full alert; his eyes searching the half-light for the slightest movement in the shadows. She knew if someone should discover them now, it would mean certain death for them both.
Harold closed and locked the door to Alice’s room and they went silently down the stairs. They slipped into the main tunnel where Harold led Alice down into one of the newer tunnels, the one connecting to the dog kennels. This tunnel wasn’t complete, so the dogs wouldn’t be there. Alice could then go along their original route, over Tarboro Bridge and on to freedom. Alone.
Once they were at the kennels, Alice looked into Harold’s eyes and begged him to go with her. ‘Please, please come with me. I’ve left you behind once before, I don’t want to leave you again. I need you, Harold, I love you.’
Harold shook his head. ‘It would be wrong, Alice,’ he said again. Then from under his coat, he passed her something. ‘Here, take this with you.’
Alice frowned. ‘Where did you get this?’
‘From the same friend who gave me the keys, now go, don’t look back, and promise me you’ll never return to this place.’
Feeling him gently push her away, she nodded, turned on the spot, then ran.
