Captured

"I hear you had fun today," Evan said.

Evan wouldn't have thought it possible, but Liv's sexual appetite was bigger than ever that night.

A couple of months passed. Ron set Liv loose in a weight room to burn her physical energy. He brought in a tutor named Angelica to teach her to read. Surprisingly, Liv became fast friends with the 50 year old woman.

Ron delegated the job of escorting Evan to and from the gate for his hunting trips to a lesser settlement official. Martin was an imposing man, but quiet and soft-spoken. He seemed intent on giving Evan the opportunity to explore the settlement. He would bring Evan back and forth by different routes each day, even cutting through factory floors and office buildings.

Evan saw citizens going about their daily business. He saw people cooking food, farming and making various products. At first he was impressed with their industriousness, but then he noticed something disturbing. Most people seemed to be doing their work in a daze, repeating tasks by rote. If he would try to talk to them, they just looked at him dully, then went back to their work. The people whose jobs demanded it seemed fully alert, but most others seemed to have just enough mental capacity to handle what they were given and no more.

Evan mentioned this to Liv.

"Sounds like they are sedated," she observed.

That made sense. They had captured him with drugs, they were controlling him with drugs, so why not the rest of the population.

"We need to get out of here. This place is sick." Suddenly, he had a new thought. "Liv, you are still receiving daily injections, right?"

"Yes."

"Ron admitted I wasn't getting antibiotics anymore, but instead, the drug that creates dependency. He said you were not on the same thing. So what the hell are they doing to you?"

"I don't know. I feel alert and feisty as ever."

"Has anything changed?"

"Well . . . I'm horny as fuck all the time. I never used to be that way."

"Why would they want you perpetually horny?"

"Maybe they want to turn me into a sex slave?"

"Don't you think they would have put you to work by now? The only one you're fucking is me. I can't believe that your "higher purpose" is to keep me sexually satisfied so I will bring home meat for the settlement. Wait...what are you doing?"

"Getting naked. All this talk about sex is driving me wild. Come over here and lick my pussy and give me an orgasm before I explode." Liv didn't let him stop until she had three.

The next morning when breakfast arrived, Liv took one look at it and suddenly declared she felt ill and ran to the bathroom. Evan was concerned and asked the guards to get Ron.

"Ron, something's wrong. Liv has been remarkably healthy since we got here, but now she's throwing up."

Ron took her to the infirmary. He summoned Evan a couple of hours later. Liv looked better when he saw her. She said she felt fine. Ron led them to another building that Evan had never been to. It was grand and official looking. They entered into a small banquet room. A number of people were already seated at tables laden with a sumptuous spread of food. Ron led Evan and Liv to the center spots of the head table and gestured them to sit.

What was this about? First Liv was sick, now suddenly they appeared to be guests at a banquet. It made no sense.

Ron addressed the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming over on short notice for this impromptu celebration. This is Liv and Evan. Please join me in congratulating them on this momentous occasion. With your help, they have done something no one thought possible and now they are about to change the face of human history."

Evan looked at Liv and she shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what was going on either.

"You see, my esteemed colleagues, Liv is pregnant. Yes, for the first time in 20 years, a human baby will be born on earth."

There were gasps across the room.

Evan looked at Liv. She was in complete shock. Then he saw the anger rise in her face. She stood up suddenly and stormed out of the room. Evan looked at Ron and asked, "Don't you think you should have told her first?" then he ran after her.

Liv ran all the way back to their room and slammed the door behind her. Evan was about 15 seconds behind her. He knocked on the door.

"Go away."

"Liv, its Evan, I'm coming in."

"If you come in here I'll kick your ass."

"Liv, you know I didn't know about this."

He opened the door and she grabbed his arm and yanked him into the room. She stood glaring at him, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, she closed the distance between them and collapsed into his arms, sobbing.

Evan didn't know what to say. Honestly, he didn't even know how he felt about the situation. He did understand the magnitude of what was happening though. This development meant the difference between human existence and extinction.

"Liv?"

She looked at him with a tear stained face.

"Liv, no matter what happens, no matter what you do . . . I love you."

"I love you too, Evan. I'm just scared. I didn't ask to be the fucking savior of the human race. I just wanted to be Liv . . . and to love you for the rest of my life. This is too much pressure. What if I miscarry? What if I mess up and the baby dies? Then what? Extinction of the human race is my fault?"

"Liv, think about it. One baby can't make or break the human race. There needs to be more. They need to grow up and procreate with each other. Somehow, these people figured out how to make it happen. There will be more babies. It's not all on us. I bet they've got 50 other 'Livs and Evans' fucking in locked rooms in this settlement, all making babies with their secret formula. We just happened to be the first ones to succeed."

Ron came to the door. "We're coming in."

"Not a good idea right now, she might just kill you," said Evan. "Let me come out and talk to you."

The door opened and Evan stepped out, closing the door behind him.

"Probably a good choice for my sake, I suppose. If she were to attack me, the guards' orders are to defend her, not me. She is way more important than me," Ron said.

"Ron, how many others are there?"

"Liv's is the very first pregnancy, you know that."

"Yes, but how many other couples do you have locked up in this settlement, trying to make babies?"

"12."

"That's it? You plan to repopulate the earth with 12 couples?"

"No that is just the start. We should be able to refine the drugs now that we know what works. We've got fifteen hundred women in this settlement alone young enough to still bear children. Still, we shouldn't assume too much yet. We have no idea what the success rate will be. That's why Liv and your baby are so important. Please convince her not to do anything rash."

For the first night in months, Evan and Liv did not make love. He just held her tight. In the morning, Martin stopped by alone.

"May I come in?" Martin asked.

"Of course."

Martin entered and sat down.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, I think, we are still getting used to the idea," said Evan.

"You do not need to go hunting today. We would like you to stay home and celebrate your new family."

"Thanks."

"Evan, I have given you the opportunity to see a bit of the settlement on your way to and from your hunting trips. What do you think of it?"

"It seems to operate quite efficiently."

"Anything else you have observed?" He seemed to be hinting at something.

"Most of the people seem in a daze, what's up with them?"

Martin looked at him quietly for a moment, then said in a voice barely above a whisper, "They're sedated."

"Why?"

"Control. The overseers want complete control over their subjects." His voice got even quieter, "Some of us believe this is wrong."

He looked for Evan's reaction. It was Liv that spoke up. "You're damn right that's wrong." Evan nodded in agreement.

"You need to keep what I am about to tell you a secret."

"You can trust us," said Liv.

"There is a small, but growing resistance movement, of which I am a part. We believe the technology to restart human reproduction must not remain under the sole control of this oppressive regime. Some of the key scientists are on board. We had hoped that we could eventually gain enough power to overthrow the leadership here, but we are many years away from that. Your pregnancy has forced our hand.

We are planning an escape. Our scouts have located an abandoned research facility that can be restored to support our work. We want you two to come with us to start a new settlement there. This is no place to raise a child. The leaders here are not likely to let you raise it yourselves anyway."

Evan looked at Liv. She was furious. "Nobody is taking our child! I will kill anyone who tries."

"I must leave now. If I stay any longer, someone might get suspicious. I am not supposed to be here without guards. We will talk again tomorrow. Oh and one more thing: you can trust Angela."

Later that day, Angela arrived at the room with several books. When she entered the room, she went straight to Liv and embraced her with tears in her eyes.

"Congratulations, girl"

"Thank you."

"Angela, this is Evan, my . . . um, partner."

"Ah, the proud papa. Pleased to meet you."

"It is an honor, I have always had the utmost respect for those who seek to enrich the minds of others," said Evan.

"Is he always such a suck up?" Angela asked Liv. She turned to Evan, "I'm glad you feel that way, because I have brought some reading material for you, too."

Angela pointed to the door, where two men were standing guard just outside, then put a finger to her lips in a sign of silence. She set her books on the table, and opened one to a page. She pushed it across the table to Evan. The page showed a map of the US East Coast. Evan was puzzled, but he looked at the map. He knew the location of the settlement was somewhere on it, toward the northern end.

Angela turned to Liv. "Let's show Evan how much you've learned. I'll have you read a passage from this book."

"OK, that's where we'll start...right here." She pointed to a spot on the map as she said it.

Evan understood. That was their current location.

Liv began reading aloud, halting for some of the larger words and sounding them out. After a few minutes, Angela said, "Very good. That's where we'll end." Angela pointed to another spot on the map.

Evan looked at the map. That was to be the destination of their new settlement, some 500 miles to the south. It would not be an easy journey.

Angela continued Liv's lesson.

Evan studied the map, looking at the topography, the hills they would need to climb, rivers they would need to cross, trying to commit it all to memory. He found the next page had the same map, except instead of topography, it showed roads. The old roads were still the easiest way to travel, but sometimes the most dangerous, as many marauders followed them as well.

That afternoon, Martin came with four guards and escorted Liv and Evan to the courtyard. He carried a basket and a blanket. "We thought you might enjoy a picnic."

The guards stayed at the entrance to the courtyard, while Martin led the couple to the shade of a maple tree at the center of the yard and spread out the blanket.

"Enjoy," Martin said, and turned to walk away.

"Martin?"

"Yes, Liv?"

She gestured for him to come closer. She whispered something in his ear. He reddened and looked a little shocked.

"Just thought you should be warned," Liv called to him as he walked back toward the guards.

"What was that about?" asked Evan.

"Nothing . . . Let's eat, I'm starved."

After they ate, Liv looked at Evan intently.

"What?"

"I want you."

"I want you, too. Let's head back to the room."

"No, I want you here . . . now!"

"Here? You can't be serious. Martin and the guards are right there."

"I don't give a fuck. In fact, I hope they enjoy the show. I already warned Martin."

"Damn, Liv, you're crazy."

"Yes, I hear pregnant women can be very unreasonable and have insatiable sexual appetites."

She stood up and began gyrating her hips as she removed her clothes. Evan knew he was in for a wild ride.

Over the next two months, Martin relayed details of the escape plans to Evan as they transited to and from his daily hunts. The settlement was built on a peninsula that extended into a lake, so the intent was that the majority of the 50 or so members of the escape party would leave through the north gate, which was the only one that allowed land egress.

Six of the twelve couples engaged in the fertility treatments would be leaving, and 10 key scientists along with assorted guards and a few settlement officials like Martin. Four other hunters were included. Like Evan, these hunters would be relied on for their survival skills in the wild. Two hunters would leave through the North gate with the major contingent. Evan and the other two hunters would each leave through separate gates and each take a few key people with them. That way even if trouble arose at the North gate and not everyone escaped, they would still hopefully have sufficient capability to continue the fertility work at the new location.

Evan would leave from the same gate he used daily for hunting. Martin, Liv and one scientist would depart with him. They would leave before dawn during the new moon to take advantage of the cover of darkness.

In preparation, about 2 weeks before the planned exodus date, Evan began leaving before dawn for his hunting trips. He explained to the guards at the gate that the best hunting was just around daybreak. This way, the guards would become accustomed to seeing him at that time.

Evan had some doubts about the escape. He wondered if they were being selfish. He felt the weight of humanity's future on them. The continuation of the species was already hanging by a tenuous thread. Didn't they owe it to the human race to take the lowest risk approach to survival of their offspring, even if that meant a life of oppression for many generations of those descendants? Liv had no such doubts. Her child was going to grow up free from the oppression of this settlement and no argument was going to sway her.

Ultimately, Evan concluded that the escape was a just cause. Once they got the new settlement up and running, the plan was to provide the treatment freely to the general public. Even if they all died in the escape attempt, there would still be plenty of capacity left at the current settlement to continue the fertility program.

Any remaining doubts were swept aside by an incident Evan witnessed one day while returning from his hunt. He passed a man walking the opposite way on the street. The man was meandering unsteadily. A completely vacant look was on his face. Two guards trailed him by about 20 yards. The man walked straight into a tree. He registered no surprise or pain, he just bounced off and continued on a different trajectory. The guards quickened their pace and caught up to him. Each took an arm and guided him away.

Evan turned to Martin for answers.

"The drugs they use to control these people eventually cause brain damage. Sometimes the effect comes on suddenly. One moment a person can be working productively and the next they just wander off, no longer capable of rational thought."

"What will they do with him?"

"They will take him to an evaluation center where he will be checked out. Most likely he will get a lethal injection and be tossed in a mass grave on the west end of the settlement," Martin showed little emotion as he relayed this, suggesting to Evan that he had become numb to the situation.

"This place is fucked up. We need to get out soon."

"Five days till the new moon. We leave then."

Five days later, hours before dawn, Martin met Evan and Liv at their door. With him was an older gray haired man carrying a metal case. Martin introduced the man as Dr. Solomon.

Evan was dressed in his customary beige tunic. It needed to appear as though he were headed for his normal daily hunt. Martin escorted him through the streets to the gate as he normally did. The other two were dressed in black and followed in the shadows.

Evan and Martin arrived at the guard building at the east gate and went in the door as they had so often before. The two guards barely glanced at them. Evan went straight to the storage closet and got changed into his hunting clothes and gathered his crossbow and hunting knife. Martin lingered, making small talk with one of the guards. Evan gave Martin a small nod, then suddenly brought his crossbow to the nearest guard's temple. Simultaneously, Martin drew a gun on the other guard. Both guards were taken completely by surprise.

"What the hell?"

"Relax, just cooperate and nobody will get hurt. We just want to slip a few extra people out the gate," said Martin.

As he said this, they heard a muffled cry outside the door.

Martin looked at Evan with a raised eyebrow. Evan was alarmed at what that noise might have meant.

They bound and gagged the two guards and shut them in the storage closet.

Evan burst out the front door with trepidation. Liv stood over two unconscious guards, wooden bo staff in her hands and a broad grin on her face. Martin had been surprised when she chose the humble staff as her weapon, but Evan knew she could wield it with lethal results.

"These two were headed for the door. I had to take them out before they barged in on you."

Dr. Solomon was looking at Liv in awe. "Thank god she's on our side. I don't think I have ever seen anyone move quite so fast."

Evan went to Liv and said, "You're scary . . . and so hot." He kissed her passionately and reached down to caress the small bulge of her pregnant belly. She slid a hand down between his legs in response.

"Come on lovers, break it up. We've got to make tracks."

"Not shy are they?" observed Dr. Solomon.

"You have no idea. If I didn't interrupt them they might just make love right there."

They slipped through the gate. The next step would be the risky one. Guards were posted on the top of the wall to watch for intruders trying to enter the settlement. The escapees should be able to slip away in the canoe to the other shore unnoticed in the early morning darkness, unless the guards turned on the huge spotlights mounted on the wall. Evan knew the guards seldom turned them on. Martin had mentioned that they used them sparingly out of concerned for burning out the bulbs, as there was no source of replacements.

All four of them loaded quietly into the single canoe. It rode low in the water with their weight. Evan paddled away as quietly as he could. The guards were accustomed to him and the other hunters departing by canoe, so as long as nobody noticed the extra passengers, they would be OK.

Suddenly, Evan heard gunshots in the distance, coming from the north. That likely meant the party leaving from the north gate had run into trouble and were fighting their way out of the settlement. This meant bad news for their mission.

The spotlights came on, but the canoe was already beyond the reach of the light. Soon, they reached the shore and slipped into the woods. Evan led them through the forest to the rendezvous point. They took cover at the edge of the small clearing and waited.

The groups that had left from the northeast and southeast gates arrived safely soon after. About 20 minutes later, as the misty dawn arrived in the forest, the refugees from the north gate began streaming in. There was confusion as the first few black clad guards arrived and several were nearly killed by friendly fire before they could make it clear they were members of the exodus and not attackers from the settlement.

Fifteen of the 35 who had attempted to leave through the north gate had not succeeded; either getting killed or captured. One of the escapees who made it to the clearing arrived with an arrow stuck in his back. The doctors tended to him as best they could.