The Abandoned Trilogy (Book 1): Twice Dead (Contagion) (14 page)

He looked confused for a moment and then he understood. He nodded his head. I shut the door behind me and made my way to the lounge.

Seb was putting on a DVD for Cassidy, Jasmine and Eden whilst Stevie was sitting with Paul at the dining table, a checkerboard between them. Stevie loved checkers and he was surprisingly good at it. Of course Paul was the better player but sometimes Stevie managed to win the odd game.

“Do you play chess Lucy?” Paul spoke as I moved across the room toward the kitchen.

I did actually though I had not played with another person in a long time, normally I played on my phone. Jack, the boy who had wanted to be a soldier had taught me. Funny how memories can surface for no reason at all. Painful memories, seeing Jack in agony, sweat on his forehead, crying because his pain medication wasn’t strong enough.

I had liked Jack. So had our foster mum. She made the decision to adopt him.

Theresa. Hair as red as blood, freckles on skin sun blemished and lined, too much lipstick, a wonderful belly laugh and that soft Donegal accent. She had been teaching Jack and me to speak Gaelic,
Fíor-Ghaeltach
she called it. I could still speak it.

I had lived with Theresa and Jack for three years, it would have been longer if…I pushed the memory away, not wanting to visit it.

“Yes,” I said to Paul, “I can play chess,” He nodded his head, and I knew it was his way of inviting me to play a game with him at some point. I just might do that I thought, it was better than tapping away on my phone.

Adag was in the kitchen with Mitch, they were going through the store cupboards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw soldiers moving back and forth between the office and the outside of the home.

They said nothing to us and we in turn said nothing to them. Seb wheeled himself over to me and said, “Care to join me in the garden?”

I followed him outside. There’s and old bench by the water, butt on the side of the home near the garage. I sat on it and Seb pulled up beside me. We watched the movement of the military personnel for a few minutes and then Seb said, “How’s Phoenix?”

I told him, “They took his computer?” he said incredulously and then added, “Bastards!”

“They didn’t take his mac book,” Seb took this information in and then his mouth formed into a big smile.

“Good,” he said, “We need to know what these fuckers are up to!”

“They are just the military, obeying orders,” I nodded toward the men and women in the distance, “They are as expendable as we are, only they haven’t quite realised it yet.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Seb conceded, “So Lady of Shadows, what do you think they will do with the guy Gregory bit?”

“I don’t want to think about it,” I turned to look at Seb, asking the question yet again that was still bothering me “Can you even think how we survived this Seb? Have you any ideas at all?”

He looked back at me helplessly and shook his head, “No,” he said, “It’s weird, I’ve been ear wigging a bit on what the grunts have been saying, you know disabled people are really invisible you know?” he gave me a crooked grin, “So far they have only found a few other survivors outside of something they call the contained zones, at least here in the UK, more in the USA, but still not a lot, I think the contained zones must be where the people were who were part of this experiment are, underground by the sound of it.”

“Where did they find the other survivors in the UK?” I asked curiously.

“In really remote places apparently, but they didn’t say where.”

“We’re not that remote,” I said reflectively.

“We are if you think about it,” Seb nodded toward the vast swathe of trees in the distance, “I mean there is only one way out of here, if you go in any other direction you meet hills, a lake, fields, woods and a couple of bloody forests!”

That was true.

“Nothing makes sense.”

“I doubt if it ever will.”

“Great,” I said in a sour voice.

Seb laughed and then his expression changed.

“Iron knickers alert,” he said. I looked at him blankly and then I became aware of Captain Lacks-Renton approaching. I turned my head and our eyes met. Seb rolled his eyes and looked away.

“The Colonel wanted to know if you wanted us to bury your friend.”

It took a moment or two before I understood what she was saying. Bury Gregory? I hadn’t expected that.

“Why?” Seb asked bluntly.

Captain Lacks-Renton blinked, “He’s dead.”

“Are you sure of that?” Seb was picking for a verbal fight.

“Stop it,” I said before Captain Lacks-Renton could make a rude response, “Yes, we would like him to be buried, he liked to eat lunch under that tree over there,” I nodded toward a huge oak tree near to the gravel road path, “The soil is soft there, could he be put there?”

Captain Lacks-Renton nodded her head. I watched her walk away.

“Bloody military iron knickers,” Seb muttered and I had to smile.

Epsilon Command
-
One of the NWS command bases. Epsilon is fifth letter of the Greek alphabet and this base is responsible for the European countries who are tied in with the New World Succession. The other continents linked to the New World Succession have their own Command Bases, also named after letters in the Greek alphabet.

W
 

e buried Gregory just before teatime. We had to stay inside at first. His remains were in a sealed container, one of three the army had bought with them, but even though it was airtight and completely sealed, the men carrying it wore their yellow biohazard suits.

Some of the soldiers had dug a deep grave in the soft earth, using planks of wood from Mitch’s workshop to stop it filling in on itself. They only let us come over to his grave once it was completely filled in. They had also laid heavy stones they had collected from the ruined wall on the border of the home.

              Eight of the soldiers, including the Captain and the Colonel stood away from us as we stood looking at the final resting place of Gregory, also known as the Gorilla. They stood silently, watching us shuffle into position.

              Adag’s face was pinched and worn, her eyes were bloodshot, she looked ill. She stood beside Mitch staring not at the mound, but into the distance. Probably thinking of her daughter Pia who she would never see again.

              Where did she find the strength to go on? I looked at the faces of my fellow residents one by one and thought about their grief when they learned their families were gone. Seb had been stoic about his family, matter of fact about it, but I sensed he was holding his grief deep inside of him. He was strong, he didn’t care he said, they had abandoned him. They had forgotten him. Been ashamed of his fall from grace. Why should he grieve? That was what he said to me but I knew he was hurting but he refused to show it.

              Mitch cleared his throat as we huddled around the turned earth, “We are here to say goodbye to the Gorilla, he was a colleague, a friend, a carer, we lay him to rest here in the grounds of the home Thorncroft, his place of work, we won’t forget him, he is still with us, he is still our friend…” he then leaned over and dropped an old lighter into a gap between the stones, “Sorry I pinched your lighter,” that made even Adag smile, Mitch was a terror for appropriating his work colleagues lighters and forgetting to return them.

              Adag stepped forward next, she knelt down and placed a small clear plastic bag with four strawberry cream Cadbury’s Roses in it. She carefully tucked it under two stones so it would be safe. They had been Gregory’s favourite sweets and all the staff and residents if they had any Roses chocolates would give him their strawberry creams.

              “Food for your journey,” she said and then she stood up, “Goodbye Gregory.”

Seb edged Lewis near to the grave and from down the side of his wheelchair he produced a can of beer. He flicked open the can and poured the contents over the stones near his feet.

              “You only let me drink this low alcohol shit,” he said, “Bastard,” his voice cracked slightly and he put the empty can on top of the stones, “You knew I liked Red Stripe.”

              Jasmine and Eden had an armful of pink blossoms which they scattered over the stone covered mound, “We will miss you Gorilla,” Jasmine said and Eden echoed her words

              Cassidy was next, Gregory had been kind to him, kinder than some of the other staff in the home. He often let the teenager choose the Saturday night movie when he was in charge of the weekends much to the irritation of the other residents as Cassidy always choose the same film. WALL-E.

              Cassidy had bought one of his WALL-E models with him, which he put next to Seb’s empty can of beer.

              “You liked EVE, Gorilla,” he said as he stepped back from the grave, and then he added, “And I’ve got two of them,” this made me smile.

              My offering was a book, “Brother in the land,” I said, and the book the words were from was placed with the other gifts, I had wrapped in clear cellophane so it would not rot. “You are our brother in the land,” I also placed an old Mobile phone on the stones, Phoenix’s gift, as Gregory was always coming to him to fix his phone when it broke.

              Stevie placed a pack of cards next to my book, he and Gregory often played cards together, usually on a Sunday when it was quiet. Like me he had wrapped the cards up, in cling-film. He knelt down on one knee and carefully put the cards between two heavy stones, he touched the gift lightly, “Bye bye Gregory,” he said softly, and he patted the stones and lowered his head.

              Paul handed Adag an old remote control, covered in black gaffer tape and blue tack, it had a crack in the side and the rubber buttons were stick, “You wouldn’t throw this away,” he said, “You said it still worked,” the remote control was added to the gift pile.

              It was done. We stood for a moment longer in silence. And then I heard one of the soldiers say loudly, |” Waste of fucking time,” a cold fury ran through me, for it was the same voice I had heard when we had returned from our foraging.

I swung around, ready to retaliate but Wolf’s voice was like a whip, beating me to it, “Private Salter you will keep your opinions to yourself, Captain Lacks-Renton, I think everyone here needs an eight full hour pack run right now!”

              Whatever a pack run was, it caused a collective groan from the other soldiers, followed by swearing and muttering that Salter was going to pay for his “big fucking mouth,” Wolf turned to me and the others, luckily, only a few of us understood what the soldier meant with his words.

              “My apologies for that,” Wolf said stiffly.

              “No need Colonel,” Adag spoke, I could taste the acid in each and every word that dripped off her tongue, “We don’t expect any better from your men.”

              “Well I do,” the officer said, he was furious, surprising “Captain, you heard me, full pack run now!”

              The Captain bellow out an order and the soldiers moved swiftly away, I saw someone thump Salter hard on the arm, making him stumble and the words, “You little fucker!”

              Wolf then swung on his heels and headed back to the Home.

              I looked at Seb who raised his eyebrows. Mitch exhaled and muttered, “Fucking Yanks!” as he walked off, heading for his garage.

Adag pushed Paul in his chair, the young man looked very tired. The others trooped after her, Cassidy was saying he wanted a drink of tea and Jasmine had linked Eden’s arm and they were now giggling, the sombre and uncomfortable moment forgotten as they talked about what they like to cook for the next meal.

              “Come on Stevie,” I said to the young man who had not left Gregory’s grave with the others. I touched his shoulder. He turned to look at me and said softly.

              “Are my family dead Lucy?”

              I went still. My first thought was to lie, to say no, but I found I couldn’t lie. Not to him.

              Instead I said, “I don’t know Stevie.”

              “Yes you do,” he wasn’t angry, he wasn’t even accusing me of anything; he was saying what he felt and thought.

              “No, really I don’t,” I shook my head, “I wish I did.”

              “Do bad people want to hurt us?”

A good question, “Sort of,” I said, “They used to be people, but something happened to them, something bad and now they aren’t good anymore.”

              “Is that why Gregory became bad?”

              “Gregory was never bad,” I said firmly.

              “I saw him,” Stevie said simply, “I thought it was a dream, but it wasn’t, was it?”

              What could I say? Tell him it was a dream when it wasn’t?

              “No, it wasn’t a dream,” I said finally, “But Gregory wasn’t bad because what you saw wasn’t Gregory anymore.”

              “But it’s Gregory here now?” he pointed at the mound of earth now covered in pink blossoms.

              “Yes,” I said simply, “That is Gregory now.”

He nodded his head, “I won’t tell the others,” he said taking me by surprise again.

              “That would be for the best,” I responded.

              We walked slowly back toward the building and before he headed for the dining room and his companions, he looked me in the eye and said, “He likes you.”

              I blinked, “Who likes me?” I said.

              “The man who shouted at that soldier, he likes you,” And with those words Stevie trotted off leaving me staring at his broad back and wondering if all people with learning disabilities had a touch of insanity encoded into their DNA.

Adag was giving Paul his pain medication. Seb went to join Mitch in the garage where the driver was tinkering with the engine of the home’s coach. Cassidy was sitting at the dining table with a jigsaw that he was doing with Stevie and Eden had put a DVD on to watch.

I limped into the kitchen; the brace on my leg was beginning to chaff. I needed to take it off and elevate my leg. Jasmine was making a cup of tea for herself and I said mildly to her.

              “It’s good manners to offer to make tea for other people too Jasmine.”

She blinked at my words then went to the kitchen door and shouted out if anyone wanted tea, which they all did and she trotted, back to make it. I told her to make it in the big metal teapot and use less tea bags because we needed to make them last.

              “We can buy more from the shops,” she said.

              “Not for a while,” she looked puzzled, but she did as I said.

I headed for my room, the door to the TOR, which had been converted, into a quarantine room was open.

I saw him lying on the mattress, trussed up like a turkey, from his ankles, to his knees, around his midriff, and then his hands, clasped in prayer with the white plastic wire that you often see police officers use on aggressive prisoners.

The hole in his cheek was filled with the black ooze that I had seen coming out of Gregory’s neck. He hadn’t changed totally as yet, his eyes were still human and they met mine.

A soldier in a biohazard suit, the unit’s Medic, I presumed was kneeling beside him, they had a cannula in his neck and he was endeavouring to push liquid into the tubing. Another soldier, also suited up, was holding the sick man’s shoulders, and another was kneeling on his legs to hold him still.

Two other soldiers in yellow stood a way back from the men working on their comrade.

“Fuck!” I heard the Medic say, “It’s backing up!” I watched in horrified fascination as the liquid in the injection began to leak out of the top of the syringe. The cannula in his neck seemed to pulsate and then there was a small explosion of black blood which made the three men tending to him jerk back. It splattered over them but they were protected by their suites. The cannula flew out of the bitten man’s neck, luckily it didn’t hit anyone.

The bitten soldier began to shake and froth at the mouth. One of the soldiers standing away from the men kneeling on the floor spotted me looking in.

I saw the bitten man sit up, snap his teeth together, his eyes met mine, the whites in them were almost gone. He was fighting the Pathogen, physically and mentally fighting it from taking over his body but he was losing the battle. He was slowly turning into one of the Twice Dead. His body jerked, and he began to drool and the spittle was tinged black. His breath rasped in his throat and I heard the words, “…Wolf…get Wolf…”

The bio-suited soldier who had seen me at the door moved fast, he stepped out, slamming door shut behind him, he pulled his bio hazard helmet off his head and I looked once again into the unfriendly face of Corporal Duke.

“This room is off limits,” he said, “Get out of here.”

“He’s going to go into the sleep coma, isn’t he?” I said before I could stop myself, “Are you trying to keep him awake?” I shouldn’t have spoken; I should have gone to my room but my curiosity got the better of me.

Duke stared at me and I felt my skin prickle. He surveyed me with his bright blue eyes. Nazi eyes. That was what an African girl at one of my schools had said of the blue eyes of the youth who had just racially abused us both in the school lunch room.

“You’re not stupid, are you,” not a question. A statement. His words got my back up.

“No, I’m not, what’s your excuse?” I shouldn’t have responded but I simply couldn’t help myself.

“Get out of here,” he said, his voice was level and he smiled at me.

I took the sensible option this time, I limped away, aware of his eyes still on me as I headed for the sanctity of my bedroom.

In my bedroom, I took off my brace and sat on my bed as I rubbed my leg, which was throbbing. I was suddenly really tired, I knew how Adag felt, the responsibility that had been thrust upon my shoulders was beginning to chaff as much as my leg brace.

I didn’t owe anyone in this building anything; no one was my responsibility, not Cassidy, not Stevie, not Eden, not Phoenix, not Paul, not Jasmine, no one. Social Services who had once ruled my life no longer existed. They were gone, Twice Dead, or in their case Four Time Dead, no that wasn’t fair, they had done their best for me, I had fared better than many people who ended up in care and Foster homes.