Chapter 18: The Hunted
The enforcers arrived at the temporary accommodation. They hammered on Morgan’s room door. ‘Open up, enforcers here,’ yelled an enforcer as the others continued hammering on the door.
Morgan opened the door. An enforcer punched him in the face. Morgan fell backwards. Latma screamed. The enforcers shouted at her to stay back. Then they shouted at Morgan to get on the floor. He did so promptly. One enforcer kicked him hard in the side. Another enforcer grabbed Morgan’s arms and handcuffed his wrists behind his back.
Two enforcers pulled Morgan to his feet. A third enforcer punched Morgan in the stomach. Morgan groaned in pain. They pulled him through the door into the corridor. Some of the Inquisitives had come out to see what was causing the commotion. The enforcers ordered them back into their rooms.
Darius ran towards the enforcers, shouting for them to stop. An enforcer named Arville swung his baton, striking Darius in the face. Darius fell to the ground hard. Demarcus ran over to his brother. Arville was going to strike both Darius and Demarcus. Rednik rushed over to stop him.
‘Enough,’ said Rednik, ‘we are not interested in them.’ The two enforcers had a brief stare down.
‘We need to find Victor, search all the rooms, and make sure nobody tries to leave,’ shouted Arville. The enforcers forced their way into each room, but there was no sign of Victor.
Jacob carried Darius into the room and placed him on a bed. Darius slowly regained consciousness, but his head was bleeding. Janice wrapped a makeshift bandage around his head in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
The enforcers became more aggressive as their search appeared to be failing. Arville grabbed Darlene by the hair. Darlene screeched loudly. He dragged her into the corridor. Demarcus and Jacob rushed towards her in an attempt to protect her, but two enforcers got in their way. Arville grabbed Darlene by one arm and by one leg. He lifted her over the external railings, threatening to drop her.
‘Somebody tell me where he is or I’ll drop her,’ shouted Arville with full force.
‘Please don’t do this. We don’t know where he is,’ pleaded Jacob.
Other Inquisitives looked on, but they did not know where he was. They had been ill and had not spoken to him that day.
‘I’ll count down from five. No answers. She gets dropped,’ shouted Arville. ‘5…4...’
‘I know where he is,’ blurted Darius as he pulled himself up. ‘He’s on the far side of the Agriculture Zone,’ he continued as he fell back down onto the bed.
Arville pulled Darlene back over the railings. He dropped her to the ground. ‘Excellent, that’s how we motivate others to do the right thing,’ he said smugly.
Demarcus, Jacob, and Janice ran over to Darlene. She was breathing very heavily but did not appear physically harmed.
Vulay had made her way into the Agriculture Zone. She believed Victor would be at the far end. She knew that’s where he went when he wanted to think. The quickest way to get there was by foot. She sensed that some of the enforcers were following her. Therefore, to lose them, she chose to take a slightly longer route that would involve weaving in between some of the larger crops.
When she reached the giant greenhouse, she did a complete lap of it. In doing so, she found herself behind the two pursuing enforcers. She waited as they went off in the wrong direction.
Despite losing the pursuing enforcers, she knew she had limited time to reach Victor. She ran as fast as she could. Her aim was to bring Victor in safely and then prove his innocence. She had little faith in some of the other enforcers. Victor could be in great danger if he chose to resist, or even if some of them were a little overzealous.
She was relieved to see him sitting there in his usual spot. ‘Victor, Victor, Victor,’ she called out to him.
Victor rose to his feet.
‘I’m so sorry, I have to take you in,’ she said as tears began welling up in her eyes.
Victor bowed his head for a second and looked over at her. ‘You never cared about the Inquisitives or the cause,’ he said in a shaky voice. ‘It was just a thing we had sometimes. Promotion and being the new Head Enforcer are what mattered the most to you.’
‘No, no, listen to me. I don’t want to do this,’ said Vulay in a determined voice. ‘This is our only chance now. They are coming for you. I will protect you. I will figure it out.’
‘Lies and manipulation,’ said Victor as he started to break down. ‘Now that the time is right, you can be the hero. I let it get this far because I love you.’
‘This isn’t for my career. I’m doing this because I love you,’ said Vulay while still remaining composed. ‘We just need the opportunity to prove your innocence. We can’t do that if we run.’ Vulay pulled out the handcuffs. ‘Please trust me,’ she said softly.
‘I’m not going with you,’ replied Victor. ‘I’m not abandoning everything I believe in.’
Vulay grabbed his hand to cuff him. Victor struggled. She kept trying, and he kept resisting.
With a hard push, she fell to the ground. Behind Victor, she saw an enforcer approaching with his weapon drawn. ‘Get down, get down,’ she shouted in desperation. It was too late. The enforcer fired his weapon. Victor was shot three times in the back.
Victor’s blood splattered on Vulay. He fell to the ground in front of her. She sat on the ground in shock. The enforcer who shot Victor was Arville. He ran over to check if Victor was alive. Another enforcer ran to Vulay to see if she was hurt. Physically, she appeared fine. Arville confirmed that Victor was dead.
Arville looked across to Vulay, who was still sitting on the ground. ‘Am I your hero or what?’ he said in a cocky tone as he blew her a kiss.
Vulay gazed into space as she was trying to process what had just happened. Soon, a larger group of enforcers arrived on the scene. Arville appeared proud of what he had done, but most of the other enforcers did not share his enthusiasm.
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