I woke up in bed with a pounding headache. It was obvious where I was–in the medical centre with that beep, beep, beep, of the monitors telling me that I hadn’t died and gone to heaven or hell yet...

The Chosen
By


Susan Brown

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Final Chapter

Previously…

I could hear my tortured voice above the noise of the wind in the trees and the fountains of the lake as I went ever closer to the water. I stopped at the edge, my mind confused, the voices were growing louder and I had to make them go away.

I stepped forward and shivered slightly as my hot, sandal-clad feet came into contact with the water.

It was cold but not icy. I felt compelled to carry on and I waded in, up to my knees, then waist and chest. The voices wouldn’t go away. It was all too much I couldn’t understand. I felt sick, disorientated and just wanted to sleep.

‘You are the Chosen One–’

‘Protect the unborn child.’

‘You are special, unique,’

‘The fate of the world rests with you…’

‘I–AM–JOHN––’

My head went under and as the water rushed over me, filling my ears and nose…

…I felt a tugging. I was being pulled back. Someone had me under the arm pits and was pulling me back. I was spluttering and breathing in some water as the person tried to keep my head above the water.

‘Just relax and let me help you,’ said a breathless voice, one I knew so well–it was Dada… Dada had come for me.

I was wanted, I was needed. I was loved. My Dada had come for me.

I stopped struggling, pleased that the voices had vanished and the only one I could hear now was that of the man I loved most in all the world–Dada.

I was tired; too tired to do anything to help him, so I just fell asleep–

And now the story concludes…

I woke up in bed with a pounding headache. It was obvious where I was–in the medical centre with that beep, beep, beep, of the monitors telling me that I hadn’t died and gone to heaven or hell yet.

When I bothered to open my eyes, I noticed I was in a room by myself. I was numb and a bit resentful that Dada hadn’t let me and the baby drown.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that I was deeply depressed. I wanted to cry, hit out at someone, anyone. Only, all I could hear was that beeping noise that was drilling into my brain. I wanted it to stop. I wanted to get up and finish off what I had started. It was all too much.

“Special one!” That was a laugh––!

I stopped thinking for a moment and felt under the bloody awful sick green hospital gown…

Yes, I still had my tiny bump. I was still pregnant. I hadn’t lost it. I was still the only person on Earth to be carrying a baby girl.

I started to cry silent tears. Why was I like this? I didn’t want to be. I wanted to be happy. I should be happy. I had found my parents again. I had a new life in me growing daily. I was safe–well relatively safe, bearing in mind the fact that the world was up the creek without a paddle.

The door opened and Doctor Eccles came in.

She approached me with a smile on her face. I couldn’t but notice the dark circles under her eyes and the fact that her hair was in serious need of treatment.

‘How are you feeling?’ she asked as she fussed about me, reading things off the monitors and generally doing what doctors do.

‘I don’t know. I feel sick still and my headache won’t go away. I…I…I want.’

It was all too much and I burst into tears.

Immediately I felt her come close and then hug me. I wasn’t sure if this was a doctor’s normal remit, but I wasn’t complaining.

After a short while, I calmed down and after wiping my face with a damp cloth, I felt a bit better.

Doctor Eccles sat down next to me while I got myself back together again.

‘Feeling better?’ she asked gently.

‘A bit–why am I having feelings like this? I was happy to have the baby and now…I don’t know.’

‘Well, I am waiting for some blood tests to come back, but it’s probably a combination of a number of factors building up to this point. You have had an extremely stressful time of it and the pressures on you to “perform” are great. It all seems to have come to a head now, when there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Things are going on in the UK which make me both excited and worried. It could go either way, anarchy or a sensible result, only time will tell, but we have to stick it out and do the best for everyone. As far as you are concerned, you need to rest, get better, take the pills that I am going to give you and talk to me as much as possible, so we can lay these demons of yours to rest. Does all that make sense?’

‘I s’pose so,’ I said not sounding too convinced, ‘so how long have I got to stay here?’

‘Until tomorrow at least, when all your test results are in. One thing that we have picked up is that you have an electrolyte imbalance, it’s a bit too low for my liking so we have to put an IV drip in you, to correct it. Also I am going to give you some medication to help stop the anxiety attacks. It’s all short term, but it will help you to feel a bit better, though the medication will make you feel a bit sleepy.’

She took some pills out of her pocket and handed them to me, making sure that I swallowed them with the rather tepid water from the glass on the bedside table.

‘Can I have my uPad?’ I asked.

‘I’ll ask the nurse to get someone to fetch it after she has sorted out your drip. Now get some rest and I’ll pop back again later.’

‘Thank you, Doctor.’ I said, smiling weakly.

‘Don’t mention it. Now lay back and have some rest. You will have no visitors for today because you must not get too excited.’

She smiled again, making her face look ten years younger and then left me to my thoughts. I just lay there staring at the ceiling. A few minutes later, a nurse entered and stuck a needle in my arm and connected it to the IV drip. It was a bit sore and scratchy, but by that time, I think the pills had kicked in and it did not bother me too much.

Without my really noticing it, the rest of the day changed into the evening. I had drifted in and out of sleep, not thinking about very much. I wasn’t bored–just pleasantly relaxed. I didn’t know what the pills were, but I was less tense and more contented than I had been for ages. I was given something to eat for supper, some sort of poached white fish and mashed potatoes and then I was settled down for the night.

Lying there in the semi darkness, I wondered vaguely what was happening in the outside world. I would have liked to have seen my parents and friends, to apologise for being such a numpty, but that would have to wait.

I must have fallen asleep again, but awoke with a start to discover Adrienne looming over me. She had just let go of the IV tube. She looked decidedly jumpy for some reason or other.

‘Oh hello,’ I said sleepily, ‘I thought that I wasn’t having visitors.’

I yawned hugely and then gazed up at her.

‘Shh,’ she said moving away from the bed, ‘I sneaked in. The nurse has gone off for her break so we have a little while.’

She sat down beside me and looked at my face. She looked troubled.

‘What’s wrong,’ I asked, ‘has something happened?’

She looked at me again and then got up and went to the door. She opened it and peeked out and then closed it again, quietly. Soon she was back by my side.

She looked at the bedside table and picked up the water jug.

‘Do you want a drink, you sound parched?’

My mouth was dry.

‘Yes please,’ I said.

She poured me the drink and handed me the glass. I noticed distractedly that her hand was shaking slightly and she had a rather tense look about her, but I was still a bit out of it from the trancs, so I wasn’t very with it.

I drank down the tepid water and my throat appreciated it, although it was a bit bitter tasting. Adrienne sat down by the bed and took hold of my hand.

‘Look, Rebecca, I need to tell you something.’

‘What?’

‘Just listen, I haven’t got much time–’

I just shrugged. I was feeling quite laid back and relaxed about things. Those pills were quite powerful–

‘Okay.’

She looked at me and took a deep breath.

‘My parents work for the government––’

‘–I know that–’

‘–please shut up. I have to be quick. I told you that I was transferred to St Clare’s, that was true. What I didn’t say was that almost from the start, I have been working for the government. I was what they called a sleeper. I was to do what I was told and ask no questions.

‘Why?’ I said, trying to concentrate, except it was getting harder.

‘Because if I didn’t my parents and little brother, Stephen would be harmed if not killed. They have been under arrest ever since I was put into that school. I was able to give the authorities information about individuals at the school–troublemakers or those who weren’t happy to be The Chosen or assimilated. I hated doing it but I had to. I had no choice.’

‘–I don’t understand–’ I said feeling even more sleepy and trying my hardest to stay awake.

She slapped my arm, making me jolt with the shock.

‘Stay awake. I need to tell you, I have to tell you.’

Her face showed a hard, scared look now. She had hurt me, my friend Adrienne had hit me–she looked very pretty though, I wished I was as pretty as her.

She paused for a moment as if she was listening and then continued.

‘I have given you something to send you to sleep so that when I inject you, you won’t know or feel a thing. They gave me it so that I could eliminate you. They said that if you lived then my family would die. I have no choice; I love them so much and little Stephen is only seven. But you are my best friend. I couldn’t kill you without you knowing how sorry I am and that I love you as a sister.’

I was hearing what she was saying, but I wasn’t paying much attention. I was so tired–vaguely I saw her take a syringe out of her bag and stand up. Tears were streaming down her face and her hand was shaking.

She came to the side of the bed and I looked at her through drooping eyelids. I couldn’t move, but there again I didn’t want to. Mind you that needle looked sharp–

She stopped for a moment and looked at me. ‘Say you forgive me–please!’

‘Why?’

‘I have to do this I have no choice!’ She shouted, and with tears streaming down her face she grabbed my arm and stuck the needle in it.

‘Ouch!

There was a noise as the door flew open.

I was looking at Adrienne’s face swimming before me. There was the sound of an explosion and her face appeared to disintegrate in a fountain of red and she fell out of sight––

I felt a sharp pain in my arm and then everything went black.

~ §~

When I awoke, it was morning and I noticed that my room had changed. The curtains had been drawn back and I could see the gardens out of the window.

I felt remarkably fresh and without pain. The drip had gone and a plaster was over the spot where the IV needle had entered my arm.

I shook my head and remembered the strange, silly dream that I had had where Adrienne had tried to kill me. Now that was weird, as if my best friend would ever do something like that!

I discovered I was wearing a cream cotton nightdress rather than the “glamorous”–I don’t think–hospital gown I had on previously.

I sat up in bed and gazed around. There were a host of get well cards on the bedside cabinet and more on the shelves too, together with several bunches of flowers, making the room look pretty and bright.

I wanted to know what was happening, so I just pressed the button on the end of the cable by my bed and awaited developments. I was sort of hoping that someone might come in with a nice breakfast and a cup of tea. I also fancied jam sandwiches and pickled onions. My mouth watered at the prospect–

The door opened quietly and I glanced up.

‘Mummy!’

She was all smiles as she came to embrace me.

‘How are you feeling, darling?’ she asked, sitting by the bed and taking hold of my hand.

‘All right, I guess. I think that I’ve got over my pre-baby blues,’

‘Well, honey, Doctor Eccles calls it prenatal depression.’

‘Mmm, anyway, I feel much better now, more clear headed. I hated the weird dreams; some of them were rather graphic.’

She looked at me strangely. ‘What do you remember?’ she asked.

‘About what?’

‘When you weren’t feeling very well.’

‘I don’t know. I suppose it was as if a great weight was on me. Everyone expected me to be thankful and grateful for having a baby girl growing inside of me, but somehow I wasn’t for a while. Before that I was all enthusiastic and then it just changed and I couldn’t take the pressure. Then there was Bethany and Adrienne going totally over the top with their girliness and somehow I felt left out as if I had missed the hoverbus or something. Am I making sense?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

‘When can I see Dada, Beth and Adrienne?’ I asked.

‘We’ll come to that in a moment. Tell me about your dreams,’

‘I don’t want to talk about them, they were horrible.’

‘Doctor Eccles has asked me to find out about them. It will help, believe me.’

I looked around the room.

‘I suppose that she’s listening in on this?’

She smiled.

‘What do you think? You are being monitored for your own good and we need to get to the bottom of all this. Can you please tell me about the dreams?’

I took a deep breath.

‘Some of them didn’t make sense, like the one I had about my losing the baby and everyone scorning me or the other one where I woke up and I was still a boy, back at school and I turned up for class wearing a dress and was being laughed at. Others I can’t really remember, just that they upset me. The worst one was terrible. Adrienne came in and said that she was going to kill me and injected something in my arm. She kept saying sorry and that her parents were in the hands of the government, her little brother too and they were going to kill them if she didn’t do what they told her…something horrid happened and her face sort of fell apart and then it all went blank––’

My voice trailed off as I saw the expression on Mummy’s face.

‘No–NO!’

~ §~

It was a while before I calmed down. I couldn’t believe it–Adrienne dead. I think that, despite my feeling better, I was still a bit fragile and they had to give me trancs again to calm me down.

The next day, I woke up feeling more myself, although there was an empty space inside me where I still felt a great loss.

I hadn’t had any visitors but I was told by the nurse, Sally Strong, that everyone was thinking of me and wished me well. Evidently things were happening in the outside world, but I wasn’t to be told yet as I wasn’t ready.

It was frustrating that no one would tell me what was going on but I had to bide my time. I spent hours on my uPad, reading books and watching vids or playing games. Sadly, there was no ’net access which was a bit frustrating.

I was allowed to get up to go to the toilet–not wanting to use the horrid bedpans–so that was the only exercise I got. Mind you the number of times I went, defies belief! I had strange cravings for food, such as the jam sandwiches with pickles. I had heard that some pregnant women liked to eat dirt and other strange things like coal, but I wasn’t that abnormal.

Mummy and Dada came in occasionally, but they were busy. Bethany wasn’t allowed to come though as she was evidently very traumatised over recent events and needed help herself.

My pregnancy was going fine and baby hadn’t suffered from the mistreatment my body had received–I was thankful to say. She must be some tough cookie! My blood pressure was of concern though and it was thought that I should have bed rest for a while. Every day, I asked about what was happening and whether I could get up. One thing I was told was that the UK government had fallen and things were in a state of panic and disorder on the mainland.

On the fourth day, Doctor Eccles visited me. ‘Well now, Becky,’ she said, ‘you’ve been lazing about for long enough and I require the bed, so get dressed and go and see your parents in conference room 2. You have twenty minutes. I want to see you at nine o’clock sharp tomorrow morning in the clinic consulting room: wear something loose.’

She smiled, kissed me on the cheek and then went out.

I didn’t have to be asked twice, so as soon as the Doctor shut the door, I jumped out of bed and went to the closet. I put on some panties, a bra and then a white cotton peasant blouse and denim skirt with elasticised sides. I wondered when my svelte figure would return–if ever. After slipping on some black sandals, I went into the bathroom, looked ruefully at my face, noticed that my breasts were becoming balloon-like–even this early–and then brushed my hair. It desperately needed a wash, but I had no time for that. I should have done it when I had my shower earlier.

I didn’t bother much with makeup, just a smidgeon of foundation and powder and some pink lippy. Looking at myself in the mirror, I could still see that I was rather pale and anaemic, but I had no time for uber makeup so I left it at that.

I left the room and headed for the conference room, nodding and waving at people I passed.

I suddenly felt someone’s arm go through mine; looking around, I squealed.

‘Beth!’

‘Becky!’

We both sort of jumped up and down and made silly noises. She wasn’t so, shall we say, flamboyant in her dressing today, just a plane pale blue dress and minimal–for her anyway–makeup. As we ambled along I kept glancing at her. She was pale and drawn. I think that she had been through the mill too.

‘So, Becks, how are you, hon?’

‘Weak but hanging in there; you?’

‘Oh, I was let out of prison today––’

‘Prison?’

‘Well, the clinic, if you prefer. I went a bit funny after you know–Adrienne and you. I don’t know why. I wasn’t really a friend though we had become closer since she was transformed. Then she went and tried to kill you and got killed herself. I only have one cuz and I nearly lost you, and the baby too of course. Look, here we are, we’ll have a Zinga or something later. I suppose you were summoned too?’

‘Yes, I wonder what it’s all about–?’

The doors swung open and discovered the room was nearly full. There appeared to be an awful lot more people here than there used to be and I hadn’t realised it while making our way here.

We found a couple of empty seats and more people came in behind us. Rapidly, the room became packed, with many standing at the sides and the back. In front, facing us all were Mummy, Dada and Auntie Chris, together with Mariah Hepstone and a few other people I didn’t recognise.

Dada glanced up and smiled at me. He mouthed ‘later,’ then turned back to the others.

A few moments later, Mariah came out to the front and raised her hand. There was an almost immediate silence.

She cleared her throat and began to speak. ‘Thank you for coming, everybody, I wouldn’t have called you away from your work unless it was very important and this is. As from mid-day today, we have a new, interim government headed by Pia Constantine, our esteemed retired leader who has agreed to step up and take over for a while.

‘For those of you not in the loop, I’ll explain what happened. A few days ago Alysia Wellgood’s government fell. What wasn’t broadcast was that Alysia together with some of her key personnel were assassinated by her own personal guard. The army then came in under the leadership of General Bryant and has taken control until alternative arrangements can be arranged.’

There was a buzz of conversation, quickly quelled by Mariah’s raising of her hand.

‘Please let me continue. The rioting has stopped and the police force, in conjunction with the army, are now back in charge of the streets. All schools and centres for The Chosen have been suspended pending enquiries and the children have been returned to their parents unless there is a medical need for them to stay under supervision or hospitalisation.

‘The US of A and C and other countries have stepped down the level of threat and their forces are on standby on the edge of UK territorial waters. I and a number of others have been asked to go to London to help with the setting up of the government and we will be leaving shortly. The remaining members of the old government and all those who have helped keep the corrupt party in power are to be investigated and if found accountable, they will be charged with crimes against the people.

‘Other ways will be found to continue solving the female baby problem. We hope that our Becky here will be key to this, but if not we will carry on doing our best to find a solution. Pia is of the opinion that we should use only those who volunteer to be transformed and not some form of lottery or arbitrary Chosen system, but these are early days so we have to learn to walk before we can run. News is coming out of Australia that two transformed girls are pregnant with a high probability that the foetuses are female, but that is still to be confirmed–’

Mariah went on for a while about other things, but my mind dwelt on the possibility that I was not alone anymore and that, hopefully, others were would give birth to girl babies. Only time would tell.

~ §~

Mummy and Dada came to see me in my room a short while later. They were going to spend a few hours with me before going up to London with Mariah.

Auntie Chris was seeing Beth too in her room, as she was going with my parents.

Mummy and Dada had tea and I a tumbler of Zinga as we sat talking for a while. There were still gaps in my knowledge as to what had happened in my hospital room and they agreed to fill me in. Dada did most of the talking while I held Mummy’s hand.

‘We had our doubts about Adrienne early on. Her parents had lost touch with the underground movement at about the time you were transferred from Overdean Boys’ School to the girls’ one. Then Adrienne somehow managed to find out the name of one of our agents at St Clare’s and offered her services. We have no idea who the leak was but that doesn’t really matter now.

‘She was taken on trust, which I think was a mistake, but as we had so few agents on the inside, we accepted her at face value. She managed to break out with some others on the night of the breakout at St Clare’s. Once again, she must have been tipped off because she was at the right place at the right time to be “rescued”.

‘We think that she spiked your drink or food before you had your breakdown. She had not been searched at the time, but after she died, we found a sizeable selection of drugs, stashed away–enough to keep even the Borgias happy. The blood test taken after your breakdown showed that your had a powerful drug in your system that compelled you to feel suicidal and led to your little one way swim. It was a crude way to try and get rid of you but that shows how desperate she–and the people who sent her–were to kill you.

‘Then she had a second chance which was easier for her. She made sure that you were alone in the clinic and decided to inject you with sodium thiopental cocktail. It is a nasty way to go and that is, we think, why she gave you a powerful sleeping draft in your water first, so you wouldn’t be in too much pain. It was a crude, botched effort which shows that she didn’t really know what she was doing and had had little or no real training. She actually had cyanide pills in her lethal stash and could have used those. Maybe she tried it that way because she wanted to relax you and explain things before she gave you the final “coup de grá¢ce”.

‘What she didn’t know was that the nurse returned to her station early, saw you both on the vid and called security. Jack Robbins, the head of security, got to your room in the nick of time and as you were being injected, took a snap decision and shot Adrienne. Luckily he managed to do that before the lethal cocktail went into your system. The fact that she was trying to inject into a muscle rather than a vein also showed her lack of proper training.’

I felt sick at the explanation and the thought of how close I and my baby had been to death. I know that Adrienne had a sort of excuse for what she did, but I do not believe in killing one person to save another.

‘What about Adrienne’s baby?’ I asked.

‘She wasn’t pregnant; it was a lie which would have been found out very quickly on examination. We believe that she was ordered to get in, do the job and get out again before she was examined by anyone.’

I smiled briefly, as Dada’s words reminded me a tongue-twister from my boy days: “the cat crept into the crypt, crapped and crept out again”. ‘Oh.’

I wondered how many other things about her were lies. Were her parents really under the control of the government or were they the ones in control? And if so, what parent would send their child on an assignment like that? I would never know, as they and Stephen were never found.

Shortly afterwards my parents left, promising to see me as soon as possible. It was a tearful farewell, but not too bad, because I knew that we would be together again quite soon.

~ §~

The following several months were interesting in many ways. I grew gradually bigger and bigger. I had back ache, front ache, side ache and breast ache; not forgetting swollen ankles; another fun part of being ‘with child’. They say that pregnant women glow–I just moaned.

Eventually, I had my baby girl by Caesarean section. I wasn’t around at the time of the birth, being in the land of the nod. She was eight pounds two ounces of sheer heaven. As I held her for the first time with Mummy and Dada, the proud grandparents, standing next to the bed, I was overcome with emotion. She was so beautiful; now I knew what it felt like to be a mother and it was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Things had been moving along swiftly in the outside world. The two Australian women gave birth to baby girls and there were many other instances after that. Scientists had finally been able to do something genetically to isolate the cause of the human race’s malfunction, as some toffee nosed, incredibly condescending, white coated scientist told us on the vid one day.

All this should have made me happy, but I was sad, because so many people had been changed or killed because of this. If we had left it to nature, it might have sorted itself out after all and whole families throughout the world would not have had to suffer.

They never did find out the cause of genetic change that nearly brought about the extinction of the human race and the geneticist’s just called it a blip–some blip! Even now though, we teeter on the edge. Many boys are changed into girls, just to keep things going until nature takes over.

What’s surprising is the number of boys who–without any compulsion–volunteered to be changed so that we might all survive. If Alysia Wellgood and her corrupt government had chosen that route, rather than terror, corruption and murder, perhaps they might be in power still to this day.

Epilogue.

Looking back on all our troubles, I’m pleased that things are now going well, relatively speaking. Nations throughout the world are coming to terms with the changes that the genetic problems have caused. I would like to think that the world is now more tolerant and equal, but there are still a few places where men have the ascendancy over women. I only hope that time will change that.

Just after my fourteenth birthday I was spending time with my parents and gorgeous child. Mummy and Dada were now an important part of the government, both being key heads of department in foreign and home affairs and have had little time to spend with us, so we treat times like this as something precious. Mariah Hepstone had become Prime Minister at the head of the coalition government and she kept my parents busy and that was why we didn’t see as much of them as I would like.

We were in the garden of the mansion headquarters of the old resistance on the Isle Of Man and it was a lovely hot day. I was wearing a pink strappy dress and floppy Panama hat to keep the sun off. Our puppy, Sandy, was playing with my sweet Davina, making her giggle.

I was just a mother, but not alone. Several of the transformed girls including my ditzy cousin Bethany are staying here with us and we have a house mother called Jennifer, who is quite nice but keeps us in order when we get too rowdy.

My boyfriend is Nigel MacIntyre. At 15, he is tall and handsome and I love him very much. He doesn’t know it yet, but we will be married at some stage. He loves my little girl and it’s nice to see him and little Davina getting on so well. His parents are in the Foreign Service and he is staying with us for a while; aren’t I the lucky one!

Bethany is pregnant; she doesn’t want to know the sex of the child and had artificial insemination to conceive, not wanting to have real sex with a man until she is older. Knowing how sex mad she is though, I don’t expect her to wait forever. I want to wait until Nigel and I are married. I may be a mum, but I’m old fashioned that way.

Looking back, I have come a long way in a few short years. I am happy with myself and my body. I have a wonderful family and friends and the world is getting to be a better place to live in.

I am contented.

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Please leave comments…thanks! ~Sue

My thanks go to the brilliant and lovely Gabi for editing, help with the plot-lines and pulling the story into shape.