The Abandoned Trilogy (Book 1): Twice Dead (Contagion) (41 page)

“Good luck Sir,” Corporal Peters said into the radio.

The radio went silent. Corporal Peters gripped the walkie-talkie in his hand, he looked haunted.

“Goddamit!” Private Jasper said and he kicked the grass under his feet viciously and clenched his fists in frustration.

“They don’t stand a chance,” Corporal Peters said with equal anger, “Shit! They don’t stand a fucking chance!”

“No they don’t,” Phoenix said from his computer. He liked to state the obvious.

“Put a sock in it Longshanks,” Seb said sharply, “You miserable git.”

“And I thought it couldn’t get worse,” Percy murmured and he shook his head and pulled on Jack’s soft brown ears. Gabe said nothing, but rested his head on his partner’s shoulder. He looked as tired as I felt I thought numbly.

Mitch fumbled in his pocket for his cigarettes, he had stocked up from the local newsagent when Wolf had let them go into town. He lit one and inhaled deeply.

“It’s in the lap of the Gods now,” Adag said and I noticed she fingered the pendent around her throat when she spoke.

Jasmine spoke up, timidly, “Can’t we help them?”

We all turned to look at her. She flushed and looked at her feet, thinking she had said something stupid.

“We’re strong,” Cassidy spoke suddenly “We are strong.”

“Oh I don’t know about that.” Paul pulled his blanket around his arms, but there was an odd look in his eyes as if there was something he wanted to say, but couldn’t. At least not then. He looked at me and tilted his bald head slightly.

Private Jasper and Corporal Peters eyes met mine. I wondered why they were looking at me and not Mitch or Adag. I was just another resident from the home; nobody special, just Lucia Valerie Lal, the girl with the busted leg, and a genetic abnormality that caused a buildup of fluid in places in her body were fluid shouldn’t go.

“We can’t do anything much surely?” Adag said, but she spoke hesitantly, not with her usual confidence and suddenly she was also looking at me.

What the hell was going on?

“Nothing much,” Mitch echoed, but I saw his eyes moved to his van with the GPBs, and then he too was looking at me.

“I’m scared,” Eden said and her voice wobbled “I’m really scared Lucy.”

“Me to.” Gabe said, “But…” he inhaled deeply and bit his lip and I saw his free hand that wasn’t holding Russell with, flutter toward Percy’s free hand and they entwined fingers and then they were looking at me as well.

Jasmine moved from where she was standing with Eden and went to stand beside Corporal Peters, she didn’t say anything, she just took his hand in hers and then her eyes were on me as well.

“What are you all looking at me for?” I demanded crossly, “What the hell can we do, we’re just...” Stevie stepped in front of me cutting off my words.

“I’ll go if you go,” he said.

I didn’t understand what he was saying for a moment, I blinked.

“Me too,” Cassidy piped up.

“Us too,” Gabe and Percy spoke simultaneously.

“Count me in,” Mitch said and took a long drag on his cigarette.

“OK,” Jasmine nodded her head and Corporal Peters put his arms around her, holding her tightly.

“I’m scared,” Eden said, but then she straightened her body up and added “But…but ok…”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Adag nodded her head.

“I suppose it is,” Phoenix didn’t look up from his computer, but I heard his words.

“We go to war then,” Paul’s voice was almost serene.

“You’re all bloody nuts,” Seb was the voice of reason for about three seconds because he added with a sigh, “Oh what the hell, might as well go down fighting, why the fuck should I change a habit of a lifetime?”

All eyes were still on me, neither Private Jasper nor Corporal Peters had spoken since Jasmine had put the idea out that we should go to the Colonel’s aid.

“You lot are creeping me out,” I said.

“We can’t do it without you,” Corporal Peters said shocking me into almost falling flat on my ass yet again, “There’s two of us, but we don’t know where to go, or what to do, yes we’re soldiers, but we are not leaders, we leave that to the likes of the Colonel…and you.”

W
hat the hell was Corporal Peters talking about? Who was he calling a leader? Had he lost his marbles? Had everyone in front of me lost their marbles in fact?

              “I’m not a leader,” I said when I finally could speak, “Don’t talk bollocks.”

              “You’re wrong there Lucy,” Private Jasper said gently, “Even the Colonel knew you were a leader, he listened to you, all the men saw it, that’s why some of them didn’t take to you at first, I mean you were supposed to be one of the idiots who lived in a home, but you weren’t, you never were and Duke said you were clever, very clever and he was right.”

I wondered if my hearing had been affected by the Twice Dead attack on the coach. What the hell was Private Jasper telling me? I wasn’t a leader; I was just another resident doing their best to survive in a world full of cannibalistic creatures that were once our friends and family.

“You are in charge Lucia,” Adag spoke, there was no resentment in her voice, “You have been since the day my world ended, this is your world now, and now you have to step up to the mark, what do you want us all to do? Stay here, or go to help the Colonel?”

I shook my head. I wanted to scream that she was talking a load of shit, that she had lost the plot, that we had done all we could for the Colonel and his people, that we were a bunch of retards and cripples who needed looking after, not the other way around, but the angry words died in my mouth and the reality of Adag’s and the two soldiers’ words slowly sank into my not so very bright brain.

Seb had called me the leader of the pack not so long ago. I hadn’t understood what he was pointing out. I thought he was being his usual facetious self. But even he saw it. Mitch had seen it too. Coming to me in the garden before we knew what had actually happened to the planet, taking my advice about quarantining Gregory, agreeing to go into town when he knew Adag would flip, and the other residents, they had gravitated toward me, looking to me for answers, reasoning and support.

Eden with her concerns about Jasmine, Seb when I told him the truth about Eden’s kleptomania, Cassidy in his desire to be valued and appreciated and Stevie needing my understanding in order for him to fully comprehend what was going on.

When Stevie had stood up in the coach and taken on the Twice Dead he had done it not only for himself, but for me, and the others had followed his example. Even the newcomers Percy and Gabe listened to me, on the first day we met in fact, when I ordered them to take cover and I stayed alone in the shop to face Wolf and his men.

Moreover, Adag had come to me, knowing full well I was strong enough to do what would have to be done if there had been no alternative.

And the Colonel, yes he had deferred to Adag at times, but mostly he had come to me, he had treated me as his equal and I hadn’t noticed it because if I was honest with myself, I didn’t want to notice it. He had pointed it out to me during the rescue of Percy and Gabe. Or rather he pointed out the fact that I wasn’t aware I was a leader.

And I couldn’t avoid Duke and his sly jabs about how clever I was, how I wasn’t like the others in the home I lived in. His horrible test on Private Salter to see what my reaction would be.

However, most telling of all was Paul and Phoenix, two young men with Autism and Asperger’s; they had accepted my orders, requests and rebukes without the blink of an eye. I knew I couldn’t inhabit the world inside their heads, but I could tap at the door and request to be let in on their terms.

Leaders weren’t always the people with power or in power, sometimes they took you by surprise as to who they actually were. I couldn’t avoid what had been before me for quite a while but which I had subconsciously chosen to ignore.

              All eyes were still on me. The world was silent this side of Brocklease, just a soft breeze on the air and the sounds of birds in the trees. I could tell everyone to go to hell that it wasn’t for me to make life or death decisions. The thought terrified me. What if I made a mistake? What if someone got bitten? I’d never forgive myself, but then what alternative was there?

              Wolf had made the decision to return to us once he knew the truth about the Twice Dead outbreak. He hadn’t hesitated. Yes, he was a soldier, yes he was a pain in my ass, but he was also a human being who had done his job the best he could, until he realised he too had to make a decision about what world he wanted to live in.

              And I had tried to protect the people I lived with, my newish family of sorts, and without realizing it, drew in others, like Corporal Peters, like Private Jasper, like Elise, even like young Salter. And yes, like the Colonel too.

“If any of us survive this shit,” I directed my words at Private Jasper and Corporal Peters when I finally broke the tense silence, “You can tell Wolf it was all your idea and I just came along for the ride.”

Private Jasper laughed, and there was a long collective sigh of relief from everyone else.

“Lock and load then!” Seb said “What’s the plan Lady of Shadows?”

“Why does he call you that?” Private Jasper asked curiously.

“He’s a dick that is why,” I said testily, “Right Cripple in a Tank?”

Seb laughed and I spun around, taking in our environment and then I said, “Everyone, gather wild garlic flowers, as much as you can, come on, we don’t have much time!”

We were ready in half an hour. Every vehicle had Wild garlic in it. I made everyone rub it all over their exposed flesh and put it in their pockets. No one complained. Well Phoenix did, quite vocally but I ignored him. I told him if Eden could tolerate the odour with her hyperemesis then he could too.

Next we sorted out what real weapons we had and what could pass for a weapon in a fight with flesh eating, Twice Dead former humans.

              Seb and I had our Glocks and four magazines each. Corporal Peters and Private Jasper had their Glocks and some of the magazines from the supply the Colonel had left me, plus their rifles, but they had limited ammunition for those.

              We shared out the GPB’s, telling everyone to be careful with them, as they had not been tested. Seb took four of them and put them in the side panels of Lewis.

              Mitch had his father’s war trophy, the elegant black covered samurai sword which was strapped to his back. To my surprise, he produced a heavy bag from the back of his van, which he unzipped, and he pulled out weapons he told us were something called a Tactical Katana sword.

              “Where did you get these from?” I said picking up one of the weapons and pulling it out of its leather sheaf and looking at it.
It had a deeply curved black blade, with a solid polymer handle that had been wrapped in plaited leather to give it a good grip. It was just over two and a half foot long and I reached out to touch the blade with my finger, but Mitch shouted at me not to as he had sharpened all of them on the grinder in the garage.

He then told us he got them from the sports come camping shop in town. Apparently, the owner of the shop had an eBay account where he sold specialist replica swords and other weaponry.

              “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to use these,” Mitch explained as to why he had not given everyone a sword before, “That’s why I gave everyone cricket bats, but we have gone beyond just using them, we don’t have much in the way of weapons, but these will do the trick.”

              We were all given one each, with the exception of Adag, Paul and Phoenix. We then had a ten-minute instruction on how to use them without cutting oneself to pieces.

              I emphasized to Cassidy that he was only to use it on the Twice Dead and that he could let his anger and rage talk through his sword. The big teenager had looked at the sword in awe.

              “You can’t let the Twice Dead bite you,” I told him, “Don’t let them bite you no matter what.”

              It was decided that Phoenix would travel with Adag and Paul in the Land Rover, he would be our controller of the Bee-in-the-SKY and Adag would relay messages back to us via the walkie-talkies.

              Paul was too weak to do anything other than to have Jack and Russell on his lap. The two little dogs cuddled up to him and he wrapped his arms around them and held them close.

              We left the same way we had come in, but we took another road that ran parallel to the MoD land.

              We were going into battle and none of us knew if any of us would survive.

Two years on from that battle, I try not to think about it too much, but there are reminders of it in every single face of those who survived. We all changed that day; we had already started to change, but that battle was our D-TD-Day. Deliverance from the Twice Dead.

              We commemorate it by placing flowers on Gregory and Sergeant Griffin’s graves. They were the first of our friends who fell, the first we lost. We lost others after that, the attack at Rachel’s house where seven died and then the final battle to save Wolf and his people.

              Yes, we survived, and the price was high, but in paying it we, the residents of the Thorncroft Residential home for the Physically Disabled and Mentally Impaired found our place in a world made up of the broken pieces of our old lives.

              As I sat in the coach, sitting in the PA’s seat, Mitch driving this time, I thought of my life before the Twice Dead. Was it a good life? A bad one? An indifferent one? I found I couldn’t answer the question. At least not then.

              Private Jasper was sitting on the step between the seats whilst Mitch steered the coach, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Corporal Peters was following in Mitch’s van.

              “I wish I smoked,” I said enviously.

Mitch laughed, “Be glad you don’t, filthy habit.”

              Paul’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie, giving us directions as where we had to go next. We were coming in from the South, stopping to fill up at a deserted petrol station. I went into the shop and picked up some cold water, crisps and sweets for everyone.

The shop was devoid of human life. It was an all-night petrol station, run by an Asian family by the look of it as I saw on the wall above the till a garlanded colour picture of the elephant God Ganesh in a heavy oak frame and underneath that a black and white photo of an elderly woman and man, both wizened with age, wearing those awful national health spectacles that were doing the rounds in the 1970s. They were staring intently into the camera, unsmiling, composed.

              I thought of my real parents, something I rarely did, but Adag had made me remember things I had forgotten. My parent’s estranged families, had they survived the contagion? Were they part of the chosen elite? Probably not. How did I feel about that? Indifferent was the word that sprang to mind. Indifferent and sad at the same time. That surprised me. I looked away from the photo, now was not the time to think such thoughts.

              I heard the growling as I opened one of the fridges, I froze, turning slowly around, realizing I had left my Glock on the coach. We looked at each other, he cocked his head to one side, his growl was not menacing, he peered at me from behind the counter. His black eyes quizzical, his moist nose quivering as he sniffed the air, another growl, but not an unfriendly growl.

              “Hey sweetie,” I said softly and slowly he edged his way from his hiding place. He was young, about 12 months old, a Black and Tan German Shepherd. Was this his home? He sniffed again and then slowly padded over to me. I stood still and then hesitantly I put my hand out. He sniffed it and then he pushed his head under my hand. I felt the softness of his fur under my fingers. He went mad then, whining, crying, barking. I hugged him, stroked him and said words that had no meaning.

My eyes burned as they had done when the Gorilla had died, but I did not cry. I pressed my face to his doggy face and inhaled the musky smell of another living creature who was still alive in the desolate world of the Twice Dead.

              His name was Karma; that made me smile, he had a nice leather collar around his neck with a heavy silver nametag on it. I found a large dog basket under the shop counter. He had obviously been a much-loved pet for there were toys in the basket and a blanket.

He had survived because he had been able to scavenge for food and also because when his Twice Dead Master had stumbled out of the shop the door had been left wide open. So he could go outside. He had been very lucky; water had been plentiful in the guise of a tap left running in the staff toilet that was situated off the storeroom behind the counter. It was then I noticed that most of the food on the lower shelf in the petrol shop had been chewed on; empty crisp packets with teeth marks on them littered the floor.

              Had Karma gone hunting in the grounds behind the shop? Probably, we were on a country road, not an overly remote one, but it had fields nearby, rabbits and such like, he didn’t look too thin, and he had obviously stayed close to home. Hoping against hope that his beloved Master would return.