Prologue: Part 2 and the beginning of chapter 1

'hunter
Prologue: Part 2

The one seditioner that he wanted to track down or capture more than any other was Madeline Derwent. He had nearly managed one day shortly after the initiation of the BHI in a (in his opinion) particularly sneaky set-up, but somehow she had managed to escape. Maddy had been one of the brightest sparks in his book club, a shy girl, but strong minded and willed when she felt that something was morally wrong. Six of the book club members had been taken down in one setup, but three had escaped; Madeline Derwent, Melissa Kenny and Santiago Rodriguez Smith. He had tracked down Melissa fairly quickly, but Madeline and Smiddy had eluded his grasp. They had joined a resistance group known as the 'Freedom of Knowledge Fighters', and freqently participated in raids and attacks on the BHI and Alliance Officers in an attempt to overturn the regeime. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he captured them, though; the Fighter's raids were getting more and more daring.

Chapter 1: Part 1

“Madie, look over there – any text books, papers… Heck, you know what to look for. Grab them quickly,” Jess said, then she looked up sharply and moved to the door. “Out now. Out the window – warn the others and run. The ‘hunters are coming.”
Madeline obeyed without question and went out the window. She wondered why Jess wasn’t following her so she turned and looked through the window. The ‘hunters had surrounded her. One of them kicked her in the back of her knees, forcing her – unwillingly – to the ground. The last picture that Madeline had of her face, was Jess staring down the Sergeant who aimed his gun at her head and –

BANG!
The sharp sound of a round being fired, and thudding into a tree near her brought Madeline back to the present briefly. This was too similar to what had happened all those years ago…

Madeline ran hard for the library, finding Melissa on the way to where she, Matt and Mr. Reynolds had been searching. Melissa had wandered off on her own, and at the time it was probably the reason why she was still alive. Madeline quickly explained the situation to the only person in the group who was remotely near her own age, and Melissa nodded.
“Mr. Reynolds and Matt are in the library. I will see you ‘round, mate. Good luck,” those were the last words that she heard from Melissa.
She found the library, and approached one of the windows stealthily. She could hear people talking inside, and she could only recognise one of the several voices in there. She looking in through the window and saw that the ‘hunters were already there. Matt was kneeling on the ground with his hands tied behind his back, but Mr. Reynolds…
“Traitor,” Madeline said, her voice barely audible. She ducked down beneath the window as Matt looked up at where she was hiding – he must have seen her!
Mr Reynolds had betrayed them all to the ‘hunters. How long had be been one of them? He had been the leader of their group. He’d had so much information about what they should be looking for and where they should be looking for it. Madeline swore. Why hadn’t they noticed this earlier?
She crept back around to the door and put her ear to it. She could hear one of the ‘hunters talking to Mr. Reynolds. “The teams report that they have incapacitated two seditious individuals. You said that there should be four, counting this one.” The ‘hunter kicked Matt in the side and the man crumpled.
“Why don’t you just kill me, you bastards!” Matt yelled. “You’ve got all of us!”
“Why don’t we just kill you? Because what would be the point in that? No, you, you seditious idiot, you will suffer for all that your kind do to undermine the rule of the Alliance,” Mr. Reynolds said. Madeline realised that far from being the leader of their group, Mr. Reynolds was clearly an important man in the ‘hunter ranks. He also knew her name, and where she lived. It was time for her to run.

It was the running that was causing the flashback. She was running from the ‘hunters now, just like she had run from them when she was 25. It was a little easier to do now – now that she had practice on her side. She also knew that this was the last dash for freedom that she would ever make. Her time had come. She was running more to protect her friends than for any other reason. She had been lucky that she had got such a head start on the ‘hunters. It was not their usual way. She knew that they could have caught her at any stage in the past hour or so. They were teasing her. Why?

She kept running. All that mattered now was for her to get far enough away from the Freedom camp. Everything depended on the ‘hunters not finding out where they were hiding.

She turned and looked over her shoulder, trying to see where they were, and made her first mistake. She was looking for just a fraction too long and found herself falling head over heels. Before she could stand and keep moving, they were on her. They had been closer than she thought. There were six of them surrounding her, all with their weapons drawn, and pointed at her head. She had seen enough of these arrests to know that they would shoot her if she so much as breathed too loudly.

“Put your hands on your head, seditoner. Anything you say in your defence will be disregarded. You forfeited your right to a hearing at your first seditious thoughts. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Another soldier said, as he handcuffed her wrists behind her.

“What are you going to do with me?” she said. She cringed as the ‘hunter standing over her raised his rifle to hit her.

“Kill you, eventually, probably. No, don’t. I want to talk to this one before we take her in.” Another voice joined the conversation from behind her. It was a familiar voice – one that she remembered from that fateful day that had started all of this.

“Mr. Reynolds…” She said. She couldn’t believe that he would waste his time over the arrest of a mere seditioner. “What are you doing here?”

“My, my, Madeline, you do have a lot to say for yourself. Most of you never say anything.” He turned to one of the ‘hunters. “Let her up. I want to talk to her face to face.”

“On your feet, seditioner!” He dragged Madeline to her feet by her arms.

“So, this is where you got to all those years ago, is it? After you ran that day, rather than save your friends. You could have saved Matt and Melissa, you know.”

“Don’t you dare bring them into it. You used to be a teacher – you used to have a passion for passing on your knowledge. And now what do you do? What have you done for the past thirty-odd years? You’ve spent your time oppressing knowledge. You’ve betrayed your calling!” Madeline’s outburst was cut short when one of the soldiers slammed the butt of his gun into her stomach, winding her.

Mr. Reynolds just laughed. “The seditioners did their work well with you, I see. I merely took my place in the new world; I did not betray anyone or anything. Well, perhaps I should rephrase that. I did not betray anyone or anything who did not ask for it in the first place.”

“Jess, Melissa and Matt never ‘asked for it’,” Melissa said, trying to pretend that she was not winded from the blow.

“They did – and so did the others that I have handed over to the Alliance. Your group was not the first. I was amazed that you didn’t come running back when your family was executed.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear? Didn’t your seditious friends tell you what happened to them?” Mr. Reynolds bent in closer towards her. “The Alliance was very disappointed that I only brought them three seditioners. I had promised them four. I had to make it up to the Alliance somehow.”

“Brought them? You killed them!”

“No, not at all. They were quite alive when I handed them over. What happened after that was out of my hands. I am only a faithful agent of the Alliance. I find seditioners and hand them over. Didn’t your friends tell you that?” Mr. Reynolds shrugged when Madeline did not respond. “Where was I? Oh yes, your family. I knew who you were, so it wasn’t too difficult to track down the rest of your family. You know how paranoid the Alliance is – to be merely related to a seditioner is to be guilty. The Alliance were quite happy to take them into ‘care’. Your parents, I believe, were executed alongside Melissa and Matt. Your brother proved most apt in reguards to the resetting and was actually recruited by the Alliance. He wanted to be the one to lead this mission, but I’m afraid I had to pull rank.”

“You’re a sick bastard,” Madeline said.

“Watch your tongue –“ one of the ‘hunters said.

“That’s physically impossible.”

“They say insults are the last resort of those with no intelligence, and that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. You were such a promising student, Madeline – what happened to you at the seditioners camp?”

“I learnt the truth. And you, Mr. Reynolds, you have confirmed all that I was taught by my friends. This world needs saving from where it has gone.”

Mr. Reynolds frowned. “I tire of talking to her. Knock her out and put her in the van.”

There was a blinding flash of red in her vision as Madeline was hit in the head with the butt of one of the rifles.

Madeline woke up in a tiny cell. It was barely big enough for her to stretch out on her back. She didn’t know how long she had been out of it for – or what the ‘hunters had done to her. Her body ached all over. She sat up and immediately regretted it. Her head spun and her vision went murky, Not that it was easy to see in the cell anyway. The only light that came into the room was through a crack at the top and the bottom of the door. The ceiling was high, though, so high that she couldn’t make out the roof. There was a mirror on one wall and Madeline assumed that it was one of those mirror-windows that she had read about.

Someone switched on an overhead fluorescent light and she let out a yell. It hurt. She closed her eyes to help cope with the sudden brightness, and when that didn’t work too well, she tried to raise her hands to cover her eyes. She let out a yell of pain. Her shoulders felt like they were on fire. Before she could do anything else, she heard the door open and someone came into the room. They hauled her to her feet by one of her arms, compounding the pain in her shoulder. She was dragged out of the room and into another. She could tell that this one was larger, even before she opened her eyes. The light was also softer – or she thought it was until she opened her eyes again. The ‘hunter who had dragged her into the room shoved her into a chair and someone swung a light towards her.

“Welcome back to us,” Mr. Reynolds said. “I was quite worried that my son had gone too far with you and that you weren’t going to wake up.”

“Your son?” she said. Madeline was confused. His son had been no more than 12 years old. Or that was what she could remember. Surely Reynolds wouldn’t have a child performing interrogations. The only other option was to admit that she had been here for longer than she thought. But how could she not have remembered anything.

“Yes. I recall that you seemed very friendly with him on the day that you were caught. What were you hoping that day? That you could convince him to run away with you?” He laughed. “He was most curious to meet you again, for all that it has been many years since he saw you.”

“Years? How long have I been here for?”

“Seven years, three months and four days. You’re one of our longest-lived inmates. I was – I am surprised that you have survived for long enough for Jack to learn our interrogation techniques. Jack was quite pleased too.”

“Seven years…” Madeline couldn’t believe it. How many interrogations had she gone through? Had she given anything away about the Fighters? Most importantly, why couldn’t she remember any of what had happened?

“Yes. The Alliance were all for having you executed. They really do not like those who undermine their authority. I, on the other hand, saved your life. And the Alliance had their execution too, come to think of it. We took a runner off the streets and altered her appearance.”

“No…” Madeleine didn’t want to think of it. Her Fighter friends would believe that she was dead. They would never mount a rescue. Most of them had probably forgotten her – or had died or been captured themselves.

“Well, I’m sure that you now understand the situation again. We have had this discussion many times. Your body seems to deal with shock by creating an amnesia about your time here. It always comes back to you sooner or later, though. You have no more friends. No more alliances with seditioners. There is no-one that you must protect. Tell us where you were based and we will put you out of your misery.”

Madeline couldn’t gather her thoughts. Had they given her something to cloud her memory? She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. Mr. Reynolds took the small movement as a negative response.

“You don’t believe me? Perhaps I should hand you back to Jack. I spoke with him last night and he did seem eager to meet with you again.” Mr. Reynolds stood up and turned to one of the ‘hunters. “Fetch Jack for me, would you. I think Miss Derwent wishes another conversation with our head interrogator.”

“Yes, sir.” The ‘hunter saluted and marched out of the room. He returned later with a young man in tow. His face was familiar, Madeline realised. She had seen him when he was younger – that fateful day…
Suddenly all her memories of the past seven years came flooding back. There had been countless interrogations, long periods of time where she had been left alone to come to terms with what she had told them. She had revealed the locations of several of the safe houses closer to the city. Several arrests and executions of Fighters that she had worked with over the years had been the result of that, but she knew that she had never given away the location of the Fighters’ base camp.

The many executions that had been her fault lay heavily on her conscious. Alexis, Jamie, John, Amy, Oliver, Smiddy, Bob and Velma… memories of each of them raced through her head. Oliver and Smiddy – his real name had been Santiago Rodriguez Smith – had arrived at the Fighter’s camp at the same time. She had known Smiddy from school – he had shown her around when she had first started high school. Some of her friends had even thought that they were an item. It hadn’t worked out in school, but when they had met up again at the Fighters’ camp, their attraction had blossomed again. Oliver had teased them mercilessly for six months or so – until he had found out that Smiddy was serious about it. Madeline and Smiddy had declared their love to the Fighters’ Leader and their pairing was recognised. Amanda had been born two years later.

Madeline let out a sob. She had been responsible for Smiddy’s death – and he had known it. Before he had been taken to the public square where the executions were held, Mr. Reynolds had allowed the pair one last conversation. Smiddy had been happy to see her alive one last time, and he forgave her for giving away the location of the safe house where he, Amy and John had been hiding after an encounter with the ‘hunters had left them separated from the other Fighters and stranded in the city.

“Love, you did not know that I was there when you gave the location of the house – and after the reception that I have received here, I do not doubt that you were coerced into giving the location away.” Smiddy had been brave to the last. Word of his execution even reached Madeline’s ears. He had been adamant in his beliefs to his last words – many accused seditioners tried to recant, believing that the Alliance might allow them to live.

“Smiddy…”

“Ah, so you do remember some things,” Mr. Reynolds said, but Madeline did not hear him. She was too deep in sorrow, remembering all the others that Reynolds had brought to her just before their executions. Not all of them had been as forgiving as Smiddy had. John and Amy hadn’t been allowed to speak, but they had been there with Smiddy. She hadn’t felt any emotions coming from them – perhaps it hadn’t been that they hadn’t been allowed to speak – perhaps it had been that they had lacked the energy or the inclination.

The next ones to be bought before her had been Oliver, Velma and Jamie. Oliver had forgiven her, but Jamie and Velma had been very angry. They had trained the three of them…

“Come, Madeline. You know that all of that was your fault,” She recognised Jack’s voice. He grabbed her shoulder and the pain blossomed once more. She remembered what had happened to them now. Jack had dislocated them during the last interrogation. “When will you tell us what we want to know?”

“Never.”

“Wrong answer,” Jack twisted her shoulder and she felt it dislocate once more. “Now tell us what we want to know.”

Madeline woke in the cell again, but this time she remembered everything. She did not try and sit up this time, because for once, she actually remembered what happened. She lay still, and kept her eyes closed. No lights came on, no doors were opened. She ran through the interrogation in her head. Finally she had given them a location. Perhaps that was why they had left her alone thus far.

“I’m not going to ask you again, Madeline. Where is the seditioners’ base camp?” Jack asked.

Madeline was slumped in the chair. Her right wrist was hanging useless at the end of a useless right arm. Jack had only just broken it, but the pain from her shoulders hid most of it. None of the other interrogations had been so ruthless. Reynolds had left the room a while ago, and returned with a medic. The young woman watched in horror at Madeline’s treatment.

Madeline was having trouble clearing her mind. The medic had given her some pain killers, but it wasn’t enough. She doubted that even if she were willing to tell them where the camp was, she could remember where… although…

“If I tell you, what will you do to me?” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Ease your pain.”

“You mean kill me.”

“If that is your wish. Of course, we cannot hand you over to the Alliance – there will be too many questions.” Jack looked at his father for confirmation. “We could, however, release you back into the world. You will be of no further use to us.”

“I’d rather you just kill me.”

“If that is your wish. So, you are ready to tell us?” Jack sat in the chair on the other side of the table and stared her in the face.

“I am.” Madeline took a deep breath and immediately regretted it, as the movement made her shoulders and wrist ache again. “In the hills behind west of the River City, there is a valley near an old train line. The entrance to the camp is halfway along the valley – its marked by a ghost gum.”

“We have checked that area several times – there is no sign of an entrance.”

“Do you – do you think that it would be obvious?”

“Are you calling us stupid?” Jack raised his hand to hit her again.

“No, Jack, that is quite enough,” Reynolds said. He signalled to the medic and the girl was at Madeline’s side immediately. Reynolds and Jack left the room.

“I am sorry for you,” the medic said. “I always thought that the Bureau’s interrogation methods were – “

“Do not say another thing. This room is monitored. You will be pulled up for seditious thoughts. I have lived my life, and lived it well. I have no regrets.”

The girl looked taken aback. She set about setting Madeline’s wrist and popping her shoulders back into place.

Madeline had then been taken back to the cell and left alone. The medic visited her several times over the next few days, and was unhappy about the condition of her patient. The Bureau hadn't told her to keep visiting the prisoner, but they hadn't told her not to, either. Madeline's condition was getting worse, as if the woman had lost the will to live. The medic could understand why. She had been through so much, perhaps it was better to ease her way.

Two weeks after the final interrogation, the medic slipped an overdose of sleeping pills into Madeline's water. The woman passed on without so much as a word of protest from the Bureau's Investigators. When the medic heard that they were conducting an autopsy of her body, however, she disappeared, heading for the hills west of the River City. If the Bureau found out that she had killed the prisoner, then she would be in trouble. She carried word of Madeline's fate to the Fighters and was accepted into their ranks.