No axe to grind

CORA

CHAPTER ONE

Angela was one of the ones who died peacefully, in her sleep. She was the latest to fall. She was only twelve. She didn’t stand a chance, but at least she didn’t go crying in pain like the others. Timothy, who died at seven, came back from above a changed person. He wasn’t that happy go lucky boy that left us, rather full of wrath. In the end, it was Kane who had to subjugate him, killing him just using his own strength. Having to sit on him to stop him from losing control. Even now, I see Kane kneeling at the patch where he killed him. He still can’t talk about what happened.

Everyone gathered in a group just outside the sleeping hut. A large poly tunnel area, full of wooden huts, leaves and vines that grew like snakes to the ceiling. The grass was freshly mowed, and the sun beat down on the ground. I stared up at the brightness above me, a glass ceiling covering us all, the sun in the middle of the sky beating down on the settlement. Everyone was chatting to themselves as I politely pushed past, leaving a gap behind as I wheeled on through to the sleeping hut, to see Kane standing above a bed at the other side of the room. It was all wooden, with single mattresses either side like a runway, all tightly squashed together. With one main wooden wardrobe at the back of the room, lamps either side on the walls, making the room warmer as well as lighter. White fur rugs lay all across the wooden floor.

“At least she went without pain.”

“How do you know that for sure?” Kane turned to me as I parked myself next to him, staring at Angela’s lifeless body. Her golden hair fell past her shoulders, her beautiful brown eyes closed tightly.

“I don’t, but we have to hope, right?”

Kane nodded his head slightly, stroking her cheeks, “What about Paulie? She was close to her, wasn’t she?”

I sighed. “I’ll handle her, she’s my sister.”

“Good Luck, it’s not gonna be pretty” he said as I trailed back out, to where everyone was gathering around.

As the oldest child here, Kane included, it was my responsibility to tell news to everyone. I hadn’t seen Paulie anywhere to warn her first and I tried frantically to see her amongst everyone. There had been leaders before, but they had passed while I was a small child. The rumour was that one day a small group of very young children arrived, provisions appeared daily for them. As they got older, they named the ones upstairs The Bewitchers, nobody knows why, but the name stuck.. Since then babies had been arriving through the elevator that sat at the far end of the tunnels.

I held my breath and spoke, "Everyone, everyone, please can I have your attention for a moment."

As I began to open my mouth, I saw my little sister hiding at the back of the crowd, her bright green eyes glowing, her brown hair tied up in a plait searching around like a lost deer.

"We've lost another." There was a light sigh but nothing more, it had become a regular thing that the children will die.

"Who?" a few voices called out.

I caught Paulie's eye as she stared up at me. "Angela" I said simply.

Paulie’s eyes enlarged as if she were really a fawn trapped in fog lights, then she turned and ran away, into her sleeping hut. I tried to catch up to her, reaching for my wheels, avoiding conversation from the others but as soon as I pushed away, we heard the sound of the elevator’s metal doors slowly opening.

Everyone turned in the same direction as the doors opened ever so slightly, to show a Moses basket on the ground. The group stared at me, sighing, I wheeled towards it, everyone making space either side for me. Moving closer, it was obvious what the object was, it seemed to be a regular occurrence these days. A crying baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes with a note attached to the basket that read ‘Emily - 3 months.’ I took the handle and placed the baby on my lap turning myself around and moving towards the others. Kane was now standing at the front, with a baby’s bottle filled with milk.

"How did you know?" I asked, parking next to him.

"You should know the pattern by now Cora. Look, I’ve got this." He scooped Emily from my lap and smiled.

"She's called Emily."

"Thank you, go, honestly, we'll be fine."

The room was dark. The lights had been blown out and Pauline was sitting on top of her covers in complete darkness. She jumped as my wheels scraped on the wood as I moved towards her.

She dashed for the light, jumping as she saw me. "You scared me!"

"That's what happens if you sit in the dark for so long" I tried easing the tension.

She just glared at me, and then moved into a foetal position, her knees under her chin.

"I'm sorry," I said simply.

"How long have you known?"

"Since daybreak. You were asleep, and then you'd disappeared, I wanted to break it to you gently, I just couldn't find you."

She nodded weakly, staring at knees. "A baby has arrived too; I heard the elevator."

I nodded.

"Girl or boy?

"Girl, Emily, she's only 3 months, you can help out Kane if you like."

She shook her head slowly and looked at me weakly. "Do you think she'll be gone soon?"

"Do you want to..."

"I want to see her, just to say goodbye."

Paulie stood over her lifeless body, just staring at her face now shut to the world.

"It's not fair..." She whispered into her ear.

Hearing her only faintly, I took her arm lightly and took her to one corner. I shook my head firmly. All we knew about those above was that every so often, one was called up into the elevator and came back not feeling themselves, eventually dying in the few days after. Every death was different, but we had no idea why this was, we just excepted it, it's what we always knew, what we were always taught from the others as children. She pulled back forcefully, she knew exactly what was expected.

"Food has arrived! I heard one of the younger children's voices shout.

Each day, a basket of fruit and vegetables and basics, were dropped from the elevator to share with us all, at the start it seemed a disaster, but as the years progressed, we managed to share the food, so everyone got a fair portion. Wheeling over to the pile of food, I shifted through today’s produce. As we all gathered in a huddle around the food, a large metal wall arose from the floor, separating the group from where Angela was lying. They were disposing of her. The walls were so dense and so hardy that nobody would be able to enter.

This was the norm when one of us died. We would be busy with breakfast, while The Bewitchers, up there, sorted everything out. We had no idea who or what they were. They could have been robots and we had been obeying the words of machines for years. Everyone had their own theory, the only thing we could agree on, was that they governed us all, tried to keep us living, before they decided when to kill us.

Nobody really knew what went on up there. Those who had been chosen talked about a white room, white floor, white walls, one glass table and a white hospital bed. They would hear their name called from above and were told to enter the elevator. When it opened again, they entered into the room where they were asked to sit and drink the contents of a clear liquid, placed on the table, in front of them. I've always wondered why they didn't just refuse, but of course being in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar voices would make anyone uneasy. They remember little after they drink it, they say, only remember lying on the bed, dazed and confused, and then they are told to leave. The liquid must do something to their mind to make them fall into a deep sleep because every single time, hours pass before they reappear.

I picked up a loaf of bread and placed it on my lap, Kane followed holding fresh butter. We both entered one of the huts assigned to cooking, a fire pit stood in the middle where a hole in the roof let out smoke. I passed the bread over to Kane, who would butter it for the whole group.

"I'm guessing they’re taking her now" Kane said taking a pen knife and slowly spreading the butter on to the bread.

"She didn't take it well, as you'd expect. I feel terrible."

"There's nothing you can do Cora, ah, by the way, can you feed Emily?"

"She doing okay? Where is she now?"

"With Sam, just take her after this, she's organising the rest."

Sam was the third oldest. She would be sixteen the following month, so if Kane and I were busy with cooking duties, she was next in charge. We also knew that Kane and I didn't have much time before we were called up, it seemed odd that we hadn't been so far. I worried for the group without us, but especially for Paulie, without me she'd be lost. If this was how she took the news of Angela’s death, losing me would destroy her.

We were in fact related by blood, or that's what they told us. When a little baby girl arrived 13 years ago, I was only three years old, so only have a vague memory of being told that the note attached read

"My name is Paulie, I am 4 months old, Cora is my older sister."

We did look alike. We both had gleaming green eyes and tatty mid length brown hair and that gaunt facial expression, so it did seem likely. I was about twelve when I first wondered about my parents, a topic that has come up amongst the others over the years. We had no idea if we were orphans, or an experiment or why we were all here.

The dining hut was always full of chatter, with everyone helping themselves to toast. All sitting on benches of six, in lines side by side. I pulled up next to Kane, with Sam sitting opposite with Emily by her side, they were watching Paulie eat alone across the room, where she would usually sit with her best friend.

"Emily’s been excellent, honestly," Sam commented, taking a piece of toast into her mouth with one hand while gently forcing a bottle into the baby’s mouth, as she sucked greedily. Emily was a beautiful little baby. Tuffs of light brown curls on her soft head, large, almost black eyes, staring up at us all as we awed.

"She really is beautiful, isn't she?" I smiled making funny faces in Emily's direction.

Sam was built like a machine. She had long blonde hair tied into a plait, pale blue eyes and small features. Her shoulders were bulking and full of muscles despite being only 15.

“I heard she didn't take it that well." Sam continued taking the empty bottle from the baby.

I shook my head and looked at Paulie over in the corner. Other children gathered around her, but she just looked so lost.

"She's taken it so badly, as you'd expect, but I'm hoping now they've taken her away..."

A large noise of shutters came from outside the hut. Already, children and teenagers were running outside. I closely followed to see the metal shutters slowly come back up while everyone continued with life as normal. We had access to a sort of school, an education as such. Books were provided for us and learning was passed down from each person. It was how everything was, how it had always been.

Paulie who hadn't touched her toast, suddenly stood up and started racing back to the sleeping hut. I waited for her outside the dining hall. I could hear her crying out, then the next thing I knew, she came racing out and darted over to the elevator. She began kicking and screaming, punching the doors with her fists in a state of anger, shouting loudly until everyone gathered around. Kane began to run over, but I quickly stopped him, racing over myself instead.

"I got this."

I pushed myself over to my sister whose energy radiated the area shouting at the top of her lungs, still hitting and punching.

"LET ME IN! LET ME IN YOU COWARDS! I WANT TO BE WITH HER!"

I grabbed her hands, peeling them away from the doors.

"Hey, hey now..." I tried to reassure her.

From her effort, she fell to the floor in exhaustion, kneels curled up in front of her breaking down in huge raking sobs. Bending down, I put my arms around her shoulders, burying her head into my lap.