Resurgence: Green Fields book 5

by Adrienne Lecter

  Kat evidently had other ideas than to let Sam explain as she continued her muttering, interrupting her.

  “He is dead, so how can he tell you all his secrets? Or is it you who is sharing all your secrets with him?” Her head flipped from one side to the other, but her gaze remained trained on me. “Why do you share secrets with the monsters? The monsters don’t listen! They eat you!” The last part she screamed, spittle flying from her lips, and the laugh that followed was on par with the rest.

  “And there she goes again,” Sam grumbled, then explained with a sigh when I still made no move to do more than back away slightly. “It’s always about the monsters. At first we thought she meant the zombies, but it just makes no sense. We don’t think they’re real. They’re just a figment of her imagination.”

  Or were they? My mind was racing, but it was hard to make sense of anything with Kat still staring at me like that.

  “How did she get here?” I asked Sam. “Were you with her from the start?”

  Sam shrugged. “I told you that they came to fetch you? Remember, she only lived down the street from us, in that new high-rise. After they bundled me into a car, they got her, too. She was sick with a high fever by then, but they gave her that same shot they gave me to bring it down. With me it worked, but the fever must have fried her mind. When they got us out of the city she started screaming when she saw what was going on down there. She’s been like this ever since. Always talking about the monsters.”

  I remembered her telling me about that, but I had been too exhausted to properly listen to her then—and make any possible connections. “Who exactly was it that fetched you back then?” I asked. “You said they were soldiers?”

  Sam nodded, a hint of irritation crossing her face, either at my questioning, or Kat’s unnerving staring. “I don’t remember what branch they were, but some had FEMA patches on their uniforms. I only got one name, from their commanding officer. Captain Hamilton.”

  I had to suppress a curse. Of course it had been him—and if I wasn’t completely wrong, Burns, Martinez, and Cho had likely been part of that group, too, before they’d all ended up at the Green Fields Biotech building. I’d never bothered to ask them what they’d been up to leading to us ending up together, beyond a few tidbits that had been related to the spread of the virus. After that it had been all about our continuing survival. Resentment wanted to come up inside of me but I quickly stomped it down where it belonged; none of them could have known about Sam, so even if they’d seen her, none of them would have made the connection. To them the feverish survivor they might have helped rescue had no connection to the woman in the photo that I’d spent way too many lonely nights clutching to my chest. It didn’t matter, really.

  But the involvement of the same old parties in the same old shit that kept threatening to drown me was one detail that I wasn’t going to ignore. Of course, just because Bucky had been in charge of the operation that had rounded up Sam and Kat, he didn’t necessarily have to be responsible for the shit that Taggard was up to—but they’d both been at the factory, and those were way too many coincidences to ignore. Just thinking about all that made me tense, my fingers curling into fists.

  “Why were you talking to the ghost?” Kat whispered from far too close, making me shy back once more from her. The look on her face was still insane, but the spark of intelligence in her eyes was too uncanny to ignore. “What secrets did you share? I always said, they should have made you a ghost, too. You were too close to the ghost. I always said you could finish what he started, that’s why you should be a ghost, too.”

  I couldn’t help it; her words made my heart slam into my throat, my fight-or-flight instinct roaring to life—and not just because she basically had just told me she’d aimed to have me killed.

  “Kat, who is the ghost?” I asked, kind of needlessly so. My guess was that she was referring to Raleigh—and that she’d seen me talk to Nate, at that coffee machine, and had rightly identified him as Raleigh’s brother.

  “Oh, you know. No need to rehash useless details,” she replied, giving me a grin that was way too wide—and proved clearly that with her mind, her sense for dental hygiene had gone down the drain as well. “They said it had to be done. Thecla did it. She knew it had to be done,” she confirmed my guess. “But it broke her. Made her weak. I told her, she had to do it again, with you, but she wouldn’t. Said you were too important a resource to waste.” I had to admit, that did sound like my old supervisor—and it made a lot more sense now that she’d murdered Raleigh if that hadn’t been her idea from the start.

  “Who are ‘they’?” I asked. “Who told her to—“

  Kat made a hissing sound, cutting me off. “Don’t say it! We’re not allowed to say it where anyone can hear! They already have laid all the leads, the bait is ready. If you say too much where the wrong people can hear, the plan won’t work!” She threw her head back and laughed, but her attention snapped back to me a moment later, all serious again. “The plan has to work! How will everyone know about the monsters if they cannot see them? They are everywhere! You have to know that they are monsters! How will you know if you cannot see?!”

  She started crying, tears streaming down her face, fright making her eyes huge. Sam tried to pull me away again while Margo reached for Kat, but in a moment of surprising situational awareness Kat made a lunge for me, her fingers digging into my shoulder so she could keep me in place.

  “They are trying to cover it all up! They always cover it up. But not this time! The plan has to work! Lori promised that it would work! She promised!”

  Her nails bit into my skin, underscoring her vehemence, but from one moment to the next she let go, sagging in on herself. Tears and sobs turned to laughter as she looked at the sky above, her fingers raised as she seemed to be trying to reach for the single cloud in the sky, smiling like a child. Mary joined Margo and together they pulled Kat away toward the house behind the chicken coop. I stared after them, trying to make sense of anything Kat had said—and a lot of it made sense, even if it was easy to see it as the ramblings of a madwoman.

  “She’s usually not that agitated,” Sam explained, worry etched into her features as she glanced from Kat to me. “Recognizing you must have triggered some memories, or what’s left of them.”

  “So she’s not always raving about the monsters?” I asked, my own voice shaky.

  Sam snorted. “All the time. It’s the rest that’s new.” She paused, a strange look coming to her face. “Can you make any sense of what she said? She sometimes gets this weird when she sees someone who reminds her of someone else, I think. At the base where they evacuated us to, one of the psychologists told me that maybe if we’d understood what she’s referring to we could help her mind find a way out of the labyrinth it’s locked in, but chances are slim if nothing makes sense, you know?”

  I shook my head, hoping that the mechanical gesture simply looked like I was deeply disturbed—not like my own mind was tearing apart theories and rearranging the fragments into new images. I didn’t understand everything Kat had mumbled, but two things were obvious, particularly in reference to the small tidbits that Ethan had provided at the underground complex. Kat and Thecla must have been working for the same people, and they’d killed Raleigh… to prevent him from succeeding in his goal to find a cure for the terminal effects of the super soldier serum. My guess was that those were the monsters Kat had been screaming about—the zombie-like, mindless creatures anyone who had been successfully inoculated with the serum turned into. The part about making the monsters visible—could that actually mean that it was whoever Thecla and Kat had been working with had been responsible for the outbreak? That Raleigh’s death had been a convenient dry run? I vaguely remembered that someone—Martinez?—had mentioned that one of the first reported cases of sudden conversion had been a customer in an ice-cream parlor. But wouldn’t he have made the connection to the serum? Or had he already tried to tell me something with that? I really couldn’t remem
ber. I’d been too scared at the time to do much analytical thinking that went beyond how to stay alive.

  Another small detail swam up in my mind. Before Thecla had killed herself, one of Nate’s people had insta-converted. All those months I’d thought she’d meant the zombies at large with her cry that “it” was out there, although the large outbreaks had only started to happen that night, and her none the wiser of it. But if she’d known that there was a virus targeting just a few… and it was working, her mission was a success, and she could finally alleviate all her guilt in suicide.

  But if their goal had been to expose the super soldiers, why had billions of people died rather than just a few thousand, and another few thousand until they had been taken down? Had they been stupid enough not to do thorough testing on ‘normal’ people? Or was Sam right and a slice of the population was actually immune, and dumb luck had made the test subjects come from that group?

  Or had something else gone wrong, like the virus recombining with a flu strain, for instance, that had already been infecting the population, thus turning it from a somewhat well-honed instrument into a weapon of mass annihilation?

  “Bree?” Sam whispered, quickly correcting herself. “Anna? I can tell that there’s a lot going on in that head of yours.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “Are you lying to me? Is any of this really making sense to you?”

  My mouth was already open in denial when a loud shout coming from further down the village made all of us turn around.

  “Caravan approaching! From the east!”

  The suspicion on Sam’s face was quickly replaced by a look of sadness. “That must be your husband.”

  Or not, as the voice at the back of my mind screamed at me. I didn't know where my people had been so I had no idea which way they’d use to get here, but I knew what definitely lay to the east. And it would be just like Taggard to wait four days to let me develop a good amount of hope that he could swiftly and brutally squash once the hammer came falling down.

  Ignoring the weird look Sam gave me, I ran back to the dormitory, quickly taking the stairs at the back to get onto the roof. Unaided my eyesight wasn’t good enough to make out a lot of details past the palisade, but even with my eyes refusing to focus in the bright sunshine, I could make out the silhouettes of the two vehicles approaching. Neither of them was a dark SUV, and when my squinting eyes recognized the front one as a Humvee, I felt my blood run cold. My first impulse was to run, scale the palisade and jump down from there, ignoring that I would likely break my ankle, or maybe even my neck. I could use a rope, or if I had to, knot the sheets from the cots together to craft one. It didn’t have to hold for long, just long enough to let me escape—

  But there was something about the second vehicle that made me pause. It was smaller, more like a regular-sized car—and it was mint green. Who was stupid enough to drive around in a car with a color that could in no environment whatsoever work as camouflage? Not even the most ignorant trader would go for that. Madeline, knowing nothing about stealth, had gone for such a car…

  And that was when it hit me. Nate knew me well enough to realize that my mind would make that connection—a connection that no one outside of our group would understand, and it was inconsequential enough that no one had ever mentioned it in any story. But my special dislike for the woman would always make me remember it. He also knew that I was about as blind as a mole, but even with watery vision that color stood out like a beacon. That still didn’t explain the Humvee, but it was enough to calm me down a little.

  I could still bolt if the people coming in through the gate were not those I expected.

  My pulse refused to decrease as I scrambled back down and rejoined the other women. I cautiously looked around, but there was no sign of Kat. The last thing I needed was for her to recognize Nate—again. Back then his hair had been dyed black, which had been enough to throw my hormone-crazed mind for a loop. Now it was blond again, and if he still hadn’t cut it, it would be about as long as his brother had always worn it. They didn’t look enough alike to be spitting images of each other, but still. And if Sam and Kat were here, there was no accounting who else might be. I’d only paid attention to anyone I’d perceived as a direct danger to myself, not tried to find more familiar faces.

  Shit. I hadn’t thought this through. I should have insisted to meet them right at the gate. But as I looked around now with the entire village gathering in the middle of the houses and the guards getting ready to do their thing, I realized that it was too late for that. Why had I been so stupid? An exchange at the gate would have made so much more sense… but only for someone who wasn’t pissing their pants at the aspect of being out there, without the perceived security of the walls. No trader would have staged a reunion out there if people could come inside. I would have blown my cover the second I’d brought that possibility up.

  It was about time that I got out of this damn village. I really wasn’t made for all that lying and keeping my stories straight thing.

  Sam looked concerned as I rejoined her, but I did my best to smile at her reassuringly. “It’s them, I think.”

  “Them?” she asked. “Oh, you mean the people who picked your husband up?”

  Was that real suspicion in her voice, or just me projecting it there? I gave her a shrug, which helped even out her features. “Sure, who else would it be?” I offered, my voice just a little shaky. She nodded, but the tension remained in her shoulders. It took me a few moments to realize that it didn’t stem from her thinking I was lying, but plain old separation anxiety. My first impulse was to hug her, but there were enough guards around that I refrained from it. The last thing I needed was to make life harder for her. Then again, even old friends would hug before they parted—

  I really, really needed to get back to where I wasn’t jumping at shadows anymore.

  The settlement was small enough that as the gate opened to let in four figures on foot, I could identify them. All of them. My shoulders slumped with relief as I realized that it was Nate, Burns, Andrej, and Martinez, the latter three in tan-colored uniforms, and Nate wearing some kind of… was that a poncho? With the hat and sunglasses he looked as if he’d tried to mash the most iconic characters that Clint Eastwood had mimed all into one ridiculous appearance. I almost muttered the “what the fuck?” my mind was screaming out loud, but cut down on it. As far as camouflage went, it was effective. No one looking at him would think “most-wanted scavenger” at first glance. And judging from the uniforms the other three were wearing, the Humvee suddenly made sense. They must have “picked” all that up together.

  I was so relieved to see them that it took my mind an awfully long time to actually assess the situation. It was so easy to dismiss the lineup for coincidence—or if not that, the result of those volunteering who I spent the most time with. Those who were like brothers to me, not just part of our unit. But I knew Nate well enough to rest assured that strategic value always trumped emotional attachment. That lineup wasn’t built on who would want to make sure first that I was safe. Those were three of our heavy hitters, each and every one of them strong enough to just up and carry me and still make it out of here, and our medic—because Nate was likely convinced that I’d need him.

  Fuck.

  Slowly letting my breath out, I looked around me, trying to get a good sense for where everyone was—and who of them could quickly become a danger to me. The count was low enough, and my heart sank when my focus turned to Sam next to me. Swallowing thickly, I tried to decide what to do. She was a liability, no sense debating that. From what she’d told me she hadn’t spent a single day out there where she had to take care of herself. There’d always been someone to guard her, to help, or make sure that the road was free. She likely didn’t even know what life was like for most people in the other settlements where everyone worked hard from sunup to sundown to provide for the village, and make sure there was enough surplus to last everyone through the winter. She would be the ultimate weak link that anyone that atta
cked us would go for, and any injuries or deaths resulting from that would be squarely on me. If I took her with me, there was a high chance that disaster would strike. But I couldn’t just leave her here.

  Leaning closer, I pitched my voice low to make sure that not even the women standing close to us would be able to make out my words. “Sam, you need to come with me. Please.”

  She jerked as if she’d been so focused on glaring at the arriving party that she’d forgotten all about me. Her eyebrows hiked up as my words registered. “But—“

  “It’s not safe here,” I explained, forcing myself to slow down so she’d actually understand what I was hissing at her. “I thought it was just my paranoia and a reflection of what happened out there, but they don’t even know that yet, and they’ve planned for a worst case scenario. Please, just come with me. You don’t have to stay with us. I understand if you don’t. But you need to leave, and you need to do it now. We can drop you off wherever you like. I know you people have a really skewed view of Dispatch, but it’s not that bad over there. Or you can join the people in Wyoming, they’re good folks. Or the enclave in Utah, we have friends who are from there. Or Harristown. They kicked out that asshole John, I’m sure they would welcome you with open arms. Just, anywhere but here. Please!”

  I expected a vehement denial, but what I saw on her face was mostly confusion. “What are you talking about?” she asked. A small frown appeared between her brows. “How would you even accomplish that? You’re just traders, and excuse me if I say so, but you got ambushed and lost out there.”

  Hard pressed not to snarl at her, I forced myself to keep my temper in check. “We’re not.”

  “You’re not what?” she asked, but her voice already took on a hint of sharpness that made it obvious that she had understood.

  Sparing a glance in Nate’s direction, I estimated that I had maybe another two minutes until the guards were done frisking him and shooting whatever shit they had to shoot with the pretend soldiers. They’d all given up their rifles but had been allowed to keep their sidearms and knives, just underlining how little the guards knew about proper procedures. Turning back to Sam, I gave her a look that I hoped was just condescending enough to make her angry, but not too angry to listen to me.