Read Children of the Cull for Free Online Page A

I’d ever owned, including a potted cactus. Who kills cactuses, of all things? They’re like cockroaches.
    Not that it made much sense to me, anyway. Growing flowers in the midst of all this. I looked up to the horizon, seeing the derelict houses across what was once a busy ring road. Shops, schools, even a sports centre... there would have been people everywhere.
    Sometimes I imagined them all. Children hanging around the car park when they should be heading home. Trains thundering past on their way to London, cars navigating seemingly endless roundabouts, shouts from the football fields beside the sports-centre, a plane flying overhead...
    It made me smile and ache at the same time. I would have hated it. Weekends traipsing around out-of-town shopping centres. No, thanks. But it still hurt.
    Most of the buildings in the base were empty now, although we maintained some of the amenities. From what I’ve read, Abbey Wood had four restaurants when it first opened—the largest now acted as our staff canteen here in Neighbourhood Three. There were hairdressers, a gym, tennis courts and a five-a-side football pitch, which I could see from my office window. We even had our own Sunday league; technicians vs medical vs security and so on. I’d never made it to a match, but had spent many a long hour watching the teams practise.
    The puddle-strewn pitches were empty now; not because of the weather, more the threat of being shot during the second half.
    Raids stop play.
    “Dr Tomas, should we call a general meeting?”
    I jumped, looking up to see Olive at the door, clipboard in hand. I hadn’t heard her come in.
    “How long have you been there?”
    She gave me what she obviously thought was a kind smile. Poor Dr Tomas, lost in thought, cracking under pressure. Losing control.
    And all the time Olive stood in her perfect little dress, with her perfect hair and perfect make-up. Where did she even find lipstick anyway?
    “It’s just that people are starting to talk...”
    “I bet they are.”
    Olive took a tentative step forward. “There’s talk of poisoning. Rumours are already spreading.” She glanced at her clipboard. “We should clear the rest of the day, hold a town hall, in the atrium maybe.”
    The look on my face told her what I thought of that suggestion.
    “We need to something,” she insisted. “The last thing we want is people putting two and two together and making five. You know how quickly gossip spreads around this place. Only last week, Nurse Tyler told me—”
    “Yes, yes,” I said, raising a hand to stop her mid-flow. “You’re right, we have to do something.”
    Olive beamed. “Excellent. Shall we say five o’clock, then?”
    “Let’s say nothing, yet.” She went to argue, so I shut her down quickly. “I want to have all the facts at my disposal before we do anything. Some people...”—I let that hang in the air for a moment—“are going to gossip come what may.”
    There was a knock at the door and I felt a rush of gratitude for whoever it was.
    The door opened and Des Moore entered. I felt my heart sink a little bit, but seized the moment all the same.
    “Chief, please, come in.” This was going to be tough, but anything was better than hearing my assistant drone on. “Thank you, Olive, that will be all for now.”
    She left with a face like several thunderstorms rolled into one. Chief Moore shut the door behind him.
    I let out a sigh, and rubbed my temples. My long-awaited headache was gaining ground.
    “Are you all right, doctor?” Moore asked as he strode over to my desk. I nodded, motioning for him to sit.
    “It’s been quite a day, one way or another.”
    “And it’s not over yet.”
    Ain’t that the truth . Well, there was no preventing the inevitable.
    “Any luck with the discs?” I asked.
    The subjects’ rooms were all fitted with closed-circuit TV, the feeds automatically burned to recordable DVDs. A dreadful invasion of privacy, but necessary to the