NaNoWriMo Prep 2017

Contest: Antagonist Background Story

By the first of the year, Joanna found herself pregnant again. This pregnancy went smoother, after the first trimester where she had horrible morning sickness which was a rarity for her, and she was able to focus on what she needed to that following year. Wet nurses were supplied for her youngest children and the nannies helped keep things in order, which was especially helpful as this was the year Joanna learned the truth.

Joanna was coming up on heading into her third trimester and she felt heavier than usual. She was in her father’s office looking for paperwork that he had requested. It was heading into the end of the year and he wanted to gather up information on total followers and those who had ventured in since the beginning of the year. A young man who worked for her father came in looking for him. He carried with him a thick envelope which had come by carrier that morning. Even though it was for Henry’s eyes only, the package was given to Joanna as she was, they knew, the future leader of the order.

Curious and intrigued, Joanna sat and held the envelope in her hands that seemed to have come from a suburb outside of Morgantown. She’d been there over a dozen times with her father when she had been young, many of the them prior to the outbreak. It was often a place they went during the summer as a family. There was a fellowship there that they had often called their second home when they were away from Hamberville. Seeing the name of this suburb surprised her and brought back happy memories. But why? She wondered, would a package come from there? The fellowship had long since merged with their own, along with nearly all of the survivors post-outbreak. Who was there now?

She knew it was against the rules for her to look at what was inside. She was female. The leadership of the order was to men. It was as God said. It was why they were allowed to speak the Word of God and females were not. It had been ingrained within her since before she could speak. And yet… and yet she opened it anyway and pulled out a thick manila envelope from within. A single loose leaf with some writing on it laid on top. Dearest Henry… The date was marked a week ago.

Dearest Henry,
I regret to inform you that test XZT-1900G has failed. We even used DNA sequences from the strain that had been used on Victim Zero, per your request. Most of the subjects went either insane
or went into pure vegetative state within two weeks. I wish I had better news for you sir. We have brought in a new scientist who comes from New York City who has some ideas. Fresh ideas. We are beginning
that as I write this. I hope to have some better news for you next month when I send you our next monthly package.
I would like to add, sir, that even though we are encountering this failures, we are indeed learning what we can and cannot do. The brain is a complex and fragile thing and we are continuing to
learn about it. I hope that you will visit us soon so that we may talk about it more in depth and get your input.


With all honor and respect,
Lucian Daniels

She sat there holding this loose leaf piece of paper in her hand. She didn’t feel it as it slipped from her hand and slide across the floor and under the cabinet. She didn’t think much at all as she tried to take in what she read. The thick envelope sat promptly on the edge of the desk where she had left it. What is going on? She wondered. And she wondered right over to her father. She had brought him the paperwork he’d asked for and the package that had been brought to her. He didn’t even acknowledge the package in her hand or even that it had been opened. He didn’t even acknowledge her, except to thank her for the paperwork. He took the package and had tossed it on the table they were all surrounded by. The meeting went on for nearly two hours and she waited. Everyone had left except for her and her father.

“So you know.” He said. He bent over the table and grabbed the package. She remained quiet, knowing that he would be upset. She’d never defied him before in anyway. She knew she was his favorite, even over the son he’d given his name to. It was why her husband would be leading the order and not him. “I could have you beaten right now, if I so chose it. You defied me and my order. You know that women aren’t allowed this knowledge.” There was a sliver of fear that raced down her back, but she didn’t show it. She’d known full well what she’d get herself into when she opened it. She again, chose to stay quiet. “This is secret. Even your husband has no knowledge of what is inside that envelope. Junior has no knowledge of it. Your mother has no knowledge of it. Even some of my closest advisers have no knowledge of this.” He stopped and looked at her. “I had, in time, planned to tell you about this.”

Now this had surprised her. She let the surprise show all over her face and he gave a curt laugh. “Ah, my daughter shows her emotions finally! I surprised you! I know you are the strongest of my children. I know you know this. Your husband isn’t the heir apparent for nothing. Even so, he’s a soft hearted fool. You, my daughter, are the heir apparent. It was my own failure to not produce a son with the will and strength that you, my daughter has. But alas, here we are.” He sighed deeply and waved her over.

“This is a project I became involved with just before the birth of Junior. It was top secret and hidden in an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Gideon. It was the reason we visited Gideon so often when you were young. I made annual visits to see their progress. We wanted to recreate the perfect human. We wanted the human before Even destroyed it. I felt it deep in my bones that we could do that. It was what God put me in this Earth to do. We tested on children that had met prerequisites once our scientists had developed an actual serum that they felt was ready for human testing. They had believed they’d done it. As I’m sure Lucian thought they had just recently. Now regretting to inform me now that no sir, no we didn’t.” Henry rubbed the beard growth on his chin, which was now more salt than it was pepper. When had that happened? Joanna thought queerly. When had time flashed by so quickly?

“Anyway, we had ten subjects. Five “Eves” and five “Adams”. One of those Eves escaped somehow. She, my daughter, was the pale horse who brought pestilence upon us and the world. Those that the followers have so quaintly dubbed the Ferals are the results of that project.” He walked over to the large walled window that overlooked the university. The sun was setting and put her father in complete shadow. She felt like this man was a stranger to her. How had his seed created her? How was she apart of him? Wasn’t this against God? An affront to everything he stood for? “I won’t lie and say I wasn’t afraid. It was a judgment by God. It was like Noah’s flood. I had hoped that the strength of my religion and my faith in Him would not only protect me, but protect you and my family. It was. That we stand here today and that you are heavy with child proves our strength in Him.” He turned back and looked at her. “We have continued those studies and I might die before they figure it out. I most likely will and you, my daughter, will take up the steed. You will visit the lab and you will see. There were many many labs across the country during the initial outbreak. There aren’t so many now, just a handful. But you will visit and you will see. Before this child of yours is born, you will see.”

And she did see. She met with the scientists and she even saw the children. Her father hadn’t been lying about any of it. The sad part was that she understood on a deeply religious level. This was what she was put on this Earth to do. She swore to herself that she would find a way to make this work. If we could be as God had intended us to be… and if a woman made it so. It would make up for ruining it in the first place. And that was the plan from then out. From then out, Joanna would accompany her father on his trips to Gideon until 2112 when her father became too sick and more or less became bedridden.

A few months after the trip, in October of 2109 her daughter, Danielle Aylin, would be born. Her birth seemed to be the most important, in Joanna’s mind, as she realized the importance of the project her father had begun so many years before. It was also much more important each future birth would be.

The following spring, around the same time Joanna found herself pregnant for the fourteenth time, she noticed how large the order was becoming. 2110 started with 1,600 followers, a huge number increase from the 275 that had migrated south with them only three years previously. She knew the welcoming center was constantly busy. They had to give them more people to handle the influx. Marriages were at an all time high and again, children outnumbered adults 10:1. Children were always about. Playing and being silly and also being studious and responsible. They’d dispensed with the marriage as soon as puberty set in, which had been Joanna’s idea. It had been pushed back to at least sixteen, but most got married at eighteen. Also, most marriages weren’t arranged, but normal and for love. Joanna wouldn’t ever regret her marriage to Charles, but if she’d had the choice herself…

That September, Joanna celebrated her twenty-sixth birthday with her brother, Richard, whose birthday was five days after her own on the 19th and also those of her son, Norman, and her nieces and nephews. There was cake and ice cream and her father prayed for all of them. It had been, in Joanna’s mind, a wonderful day that had brought back wonderful memories from the before.

As December rolled in, so did a harsh and bitter winter and another son, Luke Ross.

That winter continued to be a brutal one, keeping many inside where it was warm and it lasted well into April. Because of this, there were many many late summer and early autumn births. Joanna was no exception. The snow hadn’t yet melted when Joanna realized she was pregnant. There were times where she wondered what life would be like if she wasn’t constantly pregnant. If she would know what her body would look normally and if her breasts weren’t constantly full of milk. As soon as those thoughts arose though, she would dismiss them just as quickly. She loved her children and she would die for them if necessary. It had been something asked not just of her, but of every female, including her mother. It was for the Lord, for their God. It was their chance to make sure the world would be filled with good and God-fearing people.