A New Way of Living

Chapter One

"I swear to God, if you try something, I'll kill you," she surprised herself by saying. She suddenly grew embarrassed when she heard laughter.

"Woah, better watch it boys," someone chuckled. "Got ourselves a fighter, here."

"Hey fellas, who would win in a fight? Her or Baby John?"

More laugher followed.

"I like her odds."

A while later, they seemed to stop. Vivienne felt herself being lowered to the ground. With her blindfold removed, she found herself in the distant light of a street lamp in the gap between two derelict tenement buildings. The three original guys had now turned to five and she let her eyes adjust to try and get a look. But they were in the shadows and she couldn't see their faces, meaning she was still at a disadvantage.

One of them, a shorter one, stepped forward.

"Are you a doctor?" he asked, his voice low.

"Huh?"

"Are you a doctor?"

"No."

A collective groan was shared amongst them.

"Jesus wept, Mouthpiece, I thought you said you'd got a doc?"

Another, stocky and wide-eyed stepped forward. She guessed this was Mouthpiece.

"Hey, I saw her come out of the medical school building! It was definitely her I followed," he said, his voice high in defence.

"Well now what?"

"Take her back, I guess."

"She's seen too much!"

The shorter one stepped forward and pointed his finger in her face. She pushed herself against the wall, away from him.

"You ain't lyin', are you? You sure you're not a doctor?"

She shook her head. "No."

He gave her a glare and turned around on his heel.

Against her better judgement, she found her mouth opening and the truth spilling out. "I'm a nurse. Or...in training, anyway."

They all looked up at her, suddenly alert. The shorter one returned and came closer to her, analysing her expression.

"You swear?"

"It's not really something I can fake," she replied, surprised at how annoyed she sounded.

One of the other guys laughed. The short one shot him a glare which shut him up. Reaching out, he grabbed her wrist and began pulling her into one of the skeletal buildings. She pulled against him, but felt a strong pair of hands on his shoulders pushing her forward. She looked up and saw the looming figure of a larger, stronger guy. She decided it would be best not to fight back against him.

They pulled her through a large hole in the side of the building, where piles of bricks and dust lay. They past through several rooms, until they reached one that looked lived in. Empty beer bottles lay scattered on the floor. When she looked up, she saw more bodies wandering around the room. On the floor, someone lay groaning, laid out on what looked like an old bedsheet.

A taller boy with thick arms and full torso walked over to her and looked her up and down.

"She's good for it," the one behind her said. "She's a nurse."

"In training," she corrected, swallowing down her words when the one in front of her shot her a silencing look.

"He needs help," he said, pointing to the figure laying on the ground. "Do something about it and we'll let you go peaceable like."