Fabienne Gschwind - The Fallen Heroine

The Fallen Heroine

by

Fabienne Gschwind

The novel "The Fallen Heroine" is the English translation and upgraded version of the German-language novel "Reprosquad" by Fabienne Gschwind and Will Hoffman.

Call me Matthis Kembs, I’m 19 years old and I come from a tiny Alsacian Village in France.

I will start tomorrow as a cadet in the Repro-Security unit from the french city “La Rochelle.”

Repros are the plague of the twenty-second century. These are genetically reprogrammed creatures that have been infected by a virus. The reprogrammed animals - named repros - become mindless monsters that attack everyone. Either the attacked person or animal is torn to shreds or it is contaminated with the virus, which also turned him into a monster.

No wonder that the reprogrammed creatures are simply called "zombies". Because they are just as hard to kill as these mythical figures. Specially trained soldiers of the Repro Security - called ReS - hunt and kill these monsters.

I myself was forcibly recruited by the ReS a month ago and am now assigned to Captain Arlette's unit.

It is the most famous repro squad in France with the legendary Tamara Arlette as commander. Everyone knows her and her deeds are celebrated worldwide. So it is an honour to serve with her.

I have just arrived at my new apartment in La Rochelle. The apartment was rented for me by the Repro Security headquarters.

Fortunately, my new apartment was furnished and I only had to unpack my few belongings. Just as I finished, my multicomputer beeped. It was a video call from the Repro Security headquarters.

In the call was not only someone from Human Ressources but also the chief editor of Multichannel-1, the biggest TV station and publisher in France!

They quickly explained to me what it was about. They asked if I would be willing to keep an accurate diary and give insight into my life in the ReS Squad of La Rochelle.

And of course, more importantly, to describe exactly what the famous commander Arlette was doing, behind the scenes. They had already projected the earnings and offered me 30% of the profits. Should I die in action, it would all go to my family. I just stared at the amount I could earn and immediately agreed.

That same evening I prepared a computer file where I would describe all my experiences in detail.

The last two weeks were very intense and I hardly got to write. I had to go through an intensive "boot camp" and get to know everything. Meanwhile, the equipment is already very familiar to me and I have learned many procedures and behaviors. A few more weeks and I would be ready for my first real mission! I have seen our commander only a little, because she was on a large mission in Lion. But now she is back, that means I have to write down everything what we do.

So let's start from the beginning: The way to my new workplace in La Rochelle is like something out of a travel magazine....

First a few steps on the beach boulevard, then along the marina and turn right into a small street where the barracks are.

In the north wing of this building we have six rooms on the first floor, and in the basement we have a gym, storage, the locker room and our shooting theater.

I headed for the office in the very back corner; the large office of our boss, Captain Tamara Arlette, commander of the La Rochelle ReS unit. The acronym ReS meant Repro Security and encompasses all the units and the organization that works to protect humanity against these beasts and strives to one day eradicate them altogether.

On the door sign, someone had stuck an old-fashioned Post-it note with the words 'Tartelette'. Tartelette, that was the nickname of our boss. On the one hand, because it phonetically reminded of her name, on the other hand, because she loved to eat; because 'Tartelette' meant 'tartlet' in French. And the commander was really exceedingly voracious, as I knew after a couple of days. I sat down at my makeshift workstation at the windowsill, and put on my service beret, which belonged to the fancy dark blue ReS uniform.

The apocalypse caused by the repros was only three generations ago. My great-grandfather had experienced it himself. He used to often tell how suddenly the disease broke out and reprogrammed people's genes. They became intelligence-less monsters who wanted to kill everything.

Decapitating a repro was (and still is) the only way to kill them, it is the only way to prevent further commands from the brain to the body. Well, if you shoot the repro to a pulp, you get rid of it too. Now, 75 years later, we have a good vaccine and only rarely a human is still reprogrammed by the retroviruses. But with animals it is still a problem, the mutated genes lie dormant in them, and again and again they turn into repros.

I myself actually wanted to become an animal keeper. After graduating from high school and successfully getting accepted to study in animal medicine, I got an internship at the animal hospital. Two weeks later and after three repros, which I had sensed in time, I was called to serve in the ReS. There are only a few people who are sensitive to the repro smell. And there is a big shortage of personnel in the ReS because of that.

Normally, training starts with a Backcountry ReS unit that controls the large uninhabited parts of France. From a safe distance, the repros are hunted down by simply shooting them down with bombs and rockets. The ReS soldiers are in safe Combat helicopter - called decacopters- or heavily armored robotic combat suits.

However, I was assigned directly to a city ReS, which mostly has to fight repros in close combat to avoid killing bypassers and destroying infrastructure. I don't know why, but I was stationed in La Rochelle. A small town on the Atlantic coast. And so I've been an apprentice at ReS La Rochelle for two weeks, or to be more precise a cadet because we are a military organization.

The work is extraordinarily well paid, but also tremendously dangerous.

In public, ReS soldiers are celebrated like heroes. Parades, commemorations, speeches and many many fan events show how important the ReS soldiers are so that the society can live safely. But unfortunately...The death rate is extremely high, average service time in active patrols is barely seven years.

My mother burst into tears when she saw the "job offer" from ReS headquarters. She was full of fear that I might die early. My brother and father only saw the monthly salary and were thrilled. My father comforted my mother. "No, no don't worry, Matthis is smart, they will quickly get him off front line duty and put him to work as a coordinator or strategist."

The ReS organization also promised me a lot of things to make my service palatable. After ten years of service, they would send me back and also pay for my medical studies. I would receive a pension for life and if I unfortunately died in service, the pension would go to my family and they would give the money for my studies to my sibling.

But there was a second letter. It was addressed to me and was highly confidential.

If I refused to come or violated the laws of the ReS, my family would be vilified and lose house and all property. I myself would be exiled to a colony as a traitor to the country, where I would have to toil as a kind of modern slave. The ReS laws were simple, I had to pretend that serving in the ReS was the greatest honor and play the proud soldier. Never was I allowed to talk about depression or anything like that.

I kept this letter a secret. My family was not allowed to know about it under any circumstances! I quickly replied to the ReS headquarters that I would accept the offer. I loved my family and pretended that I was looking forward to contributing to the security of the society.