Seasons of Z (Book 2): Dead Spring

by Riva, Aline

  She had to think of something when the time came, but what, she was yet to know. There had it be a way out for both of them, because after all they had been through and how much she had seen him change and got to know the real Mickey, she wasn't going to let echoes of the old world return to snatch him away, not after all that had happened. This outbreak had changed everyone surviving it, including him. And if that wasn't reason enough for a second chance, she didn't know what was...

  Then something moved, a shadow in front of the gate. Joy blinked, then she stared at the sight of a woman in a long, plain black dress, she wore a brown hooded cloak fastened with a brooch, the old fashioned kind with a cameo set into it. For a moment, Joy stared at her, and she looked back at her with icy blue eyes, smiling as crow's feet deepened around her eyes. She looked to be in her mid fifties, maybe older. Brown curled hair sat at shoulder length, visible as the sun caught on her hood, and she just stood there looking at Joy as she stared back at her strangely old fashioned clothing. Who the hell was this weirdo?

  “Can I help you?” Joy asked, keeping her weapon in her hand as she walked to the large, barred gate as she looked over the top as the woman looked back at her.

  The woman said nothing.

  “Is there a problem, can I help you with something?” Joy asked again, pulling up her old police tone of authority.

  The woman's hands were clasped in front of her benignly. If she had a weapon it was concealed. Joy bore that possibility in mind as she spoke again, still with her own weapon at her side.

  “I said, can I help you?” Joy asked again.

  The woman smiled a little too warmly as her eyes glittered in a way that said emotion had not quite reached them, at least, nothing that resembled warmth.

  “I live past the woodland,” she said, indicating past the field of Halloween scarecrows and towards the trees in the distance, “We saw the smoke after the hay maze burned. We decided to wait to come and visit. You are all well?”

  There was something odd about this woman, and not just in her manner of dress. It was there in her tone of voice, in her icy gaze... the apocalypse sure brought out the weirdos from the woodwork... It was just a feeling, a pure gut instinct that everything about this woman was wrong somehow. Joy felt a chill run down her back even though the sun was behind her as she spoke again.

  “It's all fine, thanks,” Joy replied, and now her police instinct was really kicking in: She had spoken as if she knew she was not alone here. She had also said, we. Was this woman one of many others, and had they been watching the house? The maze had burned three weeks ago, that was a long time to watch new people before making an approach...

  “All is well here,” Joy added, “My name is Joy, and you are...?”

  “Rosemary Letherhex, of Rainhill House, do you know this area, Joy? Do you live here or are you -”

  “Passing through,” Joy replied, keeping details to a minimum. If Rosemary wanted to hear an I or a we, it wasn't going to happen, she was not going to give out any details of her people or their situation...

  Rosemary nodded. She pushed back her hood and smiled again at Joy, a smile that was anything but sincere as she spoke again.

  “I remember the lady who used to live here before the safe times ended. I knew she was dead, the spirits told me. They talk to me often. Loved ones who have passed on, or sometimes souls who are wandering through. This apocalypse was planned, Joy. A purging of the earth, so that we can start again. You're more fortunate than you know. All survivors are. It's up to them to begin again, to build a brave and remoulded world – a place where this can never happen again.”

  She had said it so sincerely. Joy looked at her cautiously. Okay, she was odd. Maybe a little crazy too. All that talk of spirits and purging the world, as if the outbreak was some kind of wrath of god... maybe she was just a deeply religious person who had gone a little crazy after the end of the old world, but even though she stood there apparently unarmed, and still with that too warm smile on her face as her eyes stayed icy, Joy knew she could not be trusted. She would never be coming further than the other side of this gate, she knew someone who was disturbed when she saw them, and this woman ticked all the boxes...

  “We don't know this can never happen again,” Joy replied, “It was an experiment that went wrong, an infected person got to others and that's how it spread. There's a lot of theories on the reason why, but we will never know the answer.”

  “Insight brings answers,” Rosemary replied, “The spiritual among us understand. And those who are not, have capacity to learn. I open my doors every Saturday morning to invite newcomers into my Circle of Knowledge. You're more than welcome to attend.”

  Joy smiled as she looked away – this woman still crossed off dates on a calender? Since the normal world had been swept away, all she had thought about, like everyone else, was surviving each day. Now and then, they worked out the date. But life wasn't Monday to Friday, nine to five any more. Clearly for Rosemary, she had her own way of doing things – and this circle was something Joy never intended to visit...

  “Are there many of you?” she asked.

  “We are growing in number,” Rosemary replied, “And I really think you should come to the Circle. Bring the child with you. Bring the cripple and the blind man, too. The world is new again, Joy. The young and the weak shall be favoured as builders of the future.”

  Joy sucked in a tight breath as she took a step back : The child, the cripple and the blind man? Was this crazy bitch watching them so closely that she had worked out Mickey had disability and Chris was blind? Were they out there in the woods lurking, up in the trees with binoculars? They had seen the smoke three weeks ago. Rosemary and her people had been watching them for three weeks... that was just sinking in. The grip on her weapon had just tightened as she held it at her side, trying not to let unease reflect in her gaze as Rosemary smiled again, that horrible, big smile that creased the flesh around her eyes yet did not warm her icy gaze one bit.

  “Perhaps it's too soon,” Rosemary concluded, “You go back inside to your friends and we can speak again another time.”

  Joy's eyes narrowed. It was time to make a few facts clear.

  “Keep away from this property! We have weapons!”

  Rosemary's smile faded.

  “There's no need for hostility,” she stated, “A lack of understanding simply needs eduction. I was told the woman who favours the cripple would be protective. But that doesn't make up for the fact that he is not your husband. And the child, you are so kind to her, always spending time with her in the garden – but you're not her mother. You regret not having children.”

  Joy's eyes widened as anger flashed within.

  “I suppose the spirits told you that.”

  Rosemary smiled again.

  “Yes they did.”

  “And which spirits are those, the ones you drink or the voices you hear because you're missing psychiatric medication?” Joy said coldly, “Or was this what you did before the outbreak? I know your type, you prey on the weak. In the old days we called you con artists, but in times like this, you're just plain dangerous to the vulnerable – and no one is vulnerable here!”

  Rosemary stood there regarding her calmly. Allowing her to rant as she took it all without a single shred of anger, without a single shred of anything. Then as she looked over Joy's shoulder, she spoke again.

  “Ah, the cripple... I was expecting to meet him.”

  As she said that, Joy heard Mickey's stiff foot falls on the drive as he approached. He had seen the conversation taking place, then listened, heard Joy's raised voice – and now he had a shotgun in his hand as he stood beside her.

  “Hi weird cloak lady!” he said, then his voice darkened as he raised his weapon, “I'm the cripple with the gun. Do yourself a favour, fuck off!”

  Joy felt ice run through her blood again as Rosemary stood there unflinching as she looked at the gun, then past it to Mickey.

  “If you only knew what
awaits you on the hill... Wash the blood from your hands and the anger from your heart and maybe you will not be punished with that stiff leg and that shaking hand any more. The weak will inherit in the new world. I know this.”

  Mickey was glaring at her as he held the weapon steady.

  “I said, fuck off.”

  Rosemary put up her hood and turned away, then began to walk down the lane, back towards the road. Mickey lowered the gun, anger still blazing in his eyes as he watched her leave the lane then begin to cross the field of scarecrows, heading for the woodland. Joy was still watching her, not feeling the warmth of the sun as it shone down as she thought about that look in Rosemary's eyes – who in their right mind stayed so calm and unconcerned when looking into the business end of a shotgun? She didn't show a flicker of fear...

  “I wanted to shoot her!” Mickey fumed, “What she said to me about my disability – I remember when I was a kid, my Dad took me to faith healer who said if we prayed enough, if I was a good boy, I'd be normal like the other kids! I hate people like her, she picks up on stuff that no one else would think about and uses it -”

  “She twists it,” Joy agreed, placing her hand on his shoulder and giving it a rub, “And I sincerely hope your Dad didn't listen to that charlatan.”

  Those words brought a brief smile to Mickey's face as he shook his head.

  “He told her he'd never heard such a steaming pile of shit in his life, and we left,” he replied, “I may have had the worst sister in the world, but my parents loved my unconditionally. They didn't think of me as Mickey the cripple, I was Mickey, their son.”

  “I wanted to slap Rosemary just now, when she called you a cripple.”

  Mickey shrugged it off.

  “I've been called many things over the years, Joy. Mainly by my late sister. And that old saying about sticks and stones is bullshit. Names do hurt. And that woman is crazy,” he added, looking over to the field of scarecrows as Rosemary crossed it, heading for the trees, “But at least we know she's there, and we know she's been watching the house. That just means we can't be lazy about guard duties. The way the world is today, it's not just the zombies we have to watch out for.”

  Joy paused, feeling tension knot her guts.

  “She also mentioned the child and the blind man. She said Poppy should come along to her knowledge circle. Maybe we should move on from here.”

  “Rosemary could be a single loony all alone talking to thin air in an empty room. There may not be others. Even if there are, I'm guessing it's a small handful of weirdos just like her all muttering to themselves in their creepy circle. We've been here three weeks, we can stay a while longer – we have guns, we're safe.”

  Joy looked at him doubtfully.

  “I've got a bad feeling about this. Call it gut instinct.”

  Mickey paused for thought.

  “Let's go back inside and tell the others,” he replied, “Then we can make a decision together.”

  Chapter 5

  “Some lunatic said WHAT about Poppy?”

  As she said that, Sage looked as furious as she felt. She looked over at the window, through white lace nets, watching as Poppy sat there in the garden sketching, oblivious to the dangers beyond these walls. Poppy had seen enough, been through enough... and now a mad woman wanted her to go and join her creepy circle?

  “We don't know if she's dangerous,” Mickey added, “She's irritating, I'm sure of that. But she seemed harmless enough.”

  As they stood in the kitchen discussing the matter, River looked over from the table as she laid it for dinner, and then spoke up.

  “If she's deranged, if there's anything about her that suggests she's less than sane, we should consider her a threat. Maybe in the old world she was a harmless eccentric, or perhaps managed any condition she had with medication – but now we live as we do with little or no access to medicine, if she has a dangerous condition, she could be a threat. We just don't know.”

  “Maybe it's time to move on,” Chris suggested as he sat at the table and reached for a mug of tea, “River's right, she might not be harmless.”

  “You're the doctor,” Sage said to River, “Would you say she's a definite threat?”

  River stopped setting plates on the table and gave a sigh.

  “I don't know! I didn't meet her. She sounds out of touch with reality. Maybe she hallucinates too. If she does have followers, it could make her dangerous, or they could be people desperate for shelter and using her hospitality for practical reasons.”

  Sage stared at her.

  “I hadn't thought of that...”

  Now a thought was running through her mind: If there were others there, maybe staying there simply for shelter from these dangerous times, if that was the case, on this route to the coast, could Bess be over there? Nothing was impossible...

  “Maybe we should go over and check the place out.”

  “We?” Mickey had raised a mug of tea, now he paused, regarding her over it as steam rose, “You want us to go over there, into an unknown situation?”

  “At least we'll know if she's crazy – or not!”

  “I think that's been established, Sage!” River said as tension crept into her voice, “She's out of touch with reality – that says, she's someone we need to steer clear of. We can't afford to trust anyone who seems a bit off in any way, under these circumstances. It could prove to be a fatal mistake.”

  Then Chris spoke up.

  “She said she wants to meet the blind man. I'll go over there if Joy and Sage come with me, and we're all armed.”

  River's eyes widened in alarm.

  “You could be walking into a trap!”

  Chris smiled.

  “Not if we turn up unannounced. She won't be expecting us.”

  Sage was still thinking on that creepy woman who wanted Poppy to go over to the house.

  “Okay, I'm in – but Poppy stays here with Mickey and River, I need to know she's safe.”

  Mickey looked at Joy.

  “You really want to do this?”

  Joy glanced at River, who leaned on the table, briefly bowing her head as she gave it a small shake and exhaled heavily.

  “I'm so against this idea...”

  “I'm in,” Joy agreed, “But we take the long way around – down the lane, past the scarecrow field and cut in through the trees, make our way up to the house and take a discreet look around before we even think about letting them know we're there. If we see anything concerning, we back out, come back here, pack up and leave. We're not in this to fight battles, our priority is staying safe and alive!”

  Mickey breathed a relieved sigh.

  “Now I feel better about this plan.”

  Joy had her doubts, but now Sage and Chris were on board, she guessed there had to be safety in numbers. They would all be armed, too.

  “We'll be okay,” she said to Mickey, “Don't worry,” then she looked to Sage and Chris.

  “We should do it tonight, at dusk.” she added.

  As evening shadows began to fall across the field, making the Halloween scarecrows look even more like dead bodies as the breeze shifted their bobbing heads and tapped at their fingers, Joy led the way down the lane and into the road, heading for the trees in the distance where the road met with a small bridge, as Sage followed close behind and Chris hurried along side her, his hand on her arm as she led the way.

  “Are you sure you can handle this in the dark?” Joy asked as she glanced back.

  Chris knew that question was for him, and he was quick to put her mind at rest.

  “I can see shapes and shadows in the daytime. The less light we have, the more my other senses make up for what I lose. And I still say I can smell death everywhere.”

  There were nothing but the scarecrows in the fields, fixed to their posts as birds took flight in a dusk sky. Not a zombie in sight...

  “Maybe it's on the wind, coming from somewhere far off,” Joy replied as they reached the bridge, then she led the way of
f road and into the darkness of the trees, as the others followed.

  Back at the farmhouse, the fire was glowing low as River closed the window. The sun had dipped out of sight an hour before and evening shadows were gathering fast, bringing with it a chill that was set in the air as a subtle reminder that Summer was not yet here.

  “I'll make some hot chocolate for you, then you can go off to bed,” she said as Poppy sat by the fire, looking up at her sadly.

  “I wanted to go with Sage!”

  “I know that, but it's not safe out there. Sage wanted to find out what was beyond the forest – so did Joy and Chris, so they decided to take a look after it got dark. You know Sage wanted you to stay here, she's always thinking about your safety. I get that it's hard to be left out sometimes, but you're a kid and you do need to stay here tonight.”

  Poppy's eyes went wide.

  “Do they think there might be zombies out there?”

  “No,” River replied, “There could be a few somewhere, but we haven't seen any since the maze was burned. It's very quiet out here, it's reasonably safe - certainly safer than the towns and cities. And if there are zombies, Sage and the others all have guns, so don't worry.”

  Now Poppy smiled.

  “And zombies don't carry guns.”

  “Right,” River agreed, then she left the room to make hot chocolate for Poppy before she went off to bed.

  Poppy got up from the fireside and left the front room.

  “I'm going upstairs,” she called out.

  “Okay, I'll bring it up when it's ready,” River called back, then Poppy went upstairs to get ready for bed, feeling sure that she wouldn't sleep until Sage came home safely.

  Outside the house, Mickey was feeling stiff as he walked from the gate to the house and stood by the porch, weapon in hand. He looked to the road, nothing stirred. Then he stepped away from the house and looked up in time to see a light go on. Poppy pulled the net curtain back and gave him a wave. He waved back and then turned towards the barred age at the end of the drive where nothing stirred but the ghost balloons in the trees as the wind blew gently, rattling wings of Halloween bats strung along the lane. His thoughts wandered to Joy, out there as night fell. He knew she could handle herself, but it didn't stop him worrying. He guessed this was what being in love did, he would always worry, especially in a world like this one, every time she was out of his sight...