Human Nature (Book 4): Human Nature IV

by Borthwick, Finlay

  “Uh, yes. Yes, we are.” Sandra was confused by Elliot’s behaviour at first, but she soon quickly noticed that his pupils were grey, as well as the bright scar that stretched across his eyes. “Oh, are you, um…” She didn’t know what the politest way to ask this question was, “Blind?”

  Elliot nodded in affirmation, “I am indeed… Don’t worry, you don’t have to be coy about it. The name’s Elliot, by the way.” He held his hand out for a shake, albeit ever-so-slightly in the wrong direction.

  Kieran smirked and supressed laughter at this, for his sense of humour was beyond broken.

  “I’m Sandra.” She shimmied around out of respect for the blind man and accepted his handshake. “This here is Kieran, though you’ll probably hear him referred to as ‘grumpy old git’ quite a lot of them.” She joked with a light-hearted smile.

  “Oh, ha-ha. Very funny. Very funny indeed.” Kieran rolled his eyes.

  Gwen’s eyes shot open, though she did not move.

  “Uh, Sandra…?” Kieran called over to her.

  Sandra scurried over to Gwen’s side before assisting her with sitting upright as well.

  After rubbing her eyes, Gwen quickly glanced at her surroundings, completely ignoring the two strangers looking down at her. “It… It worked?” She remarked.

  “What can you see?” Elliot asked his stepmother. “Gwen?”

  “Elliot…” Gwen was completely flabbergasted, for she recognised her surroundings perfectly. “The lights that Anna mentioned, the old camp: They’re one and the same. Elliot, we’re back—"

  “What?” Elliot cried out in disbelief and shock, “You mean… You mean we’ve landed right back in it?”

  “Yeah… Yeah we have.” Gwen affirmed in a soft and surprised tone.

  “Now hold on a minute,” Kieran interrupted their conversation, “You mean you lot have been here before?” He was starting to believe his theory about Cora more and more by the second.

  Gwen cleared her throat and perked up, “Well,” she brushed the soot off of her jacket, “Where would you like us to start…?”

  Chapter 7: Reunion

  The following morning, Erica was slow to wake up. Aside from her banging headache, she had also just had a rather strange dream about her long-lost daughter.

  Cora had been at her mother’s bedside all night and was awake nice and early to see her finally come round again.

  The bedroom creaked open, drawing Cora’s attention.

  “Oh, sorry!” Rylie apologised, feeling that the creaking may have disrupted Erica’s sleep.

  “Don’t worry.” Cora nodded to Rylie forgivingly, “Can I help you?”

  Rylie nodded, “One of the others have woken up. I thought I’d tell you just in case, you know, it’s another one that you know.”

  Looking over to her mother once more, Cora kissed her on the forehead before rising from her bedside. “I’ll be right back.” She mumbled to her.

  Cora had followed Rylie into another hotel room just down the corridor.

  “It’s this one.” Rylie nodded to a woman through the gap in the door.

  Instantly, Cora’s face lit up. Without another word, she pushed the door open and entered. “Well, aren’t you a sight for eyes?” She jovially commented, for the woman in the bed was none other than her old friend, Annabelle.

  “Is that… Cora?!” Annabelle was in complete astonishment. As such, it took her several seconds to process the familiar face.

  “My goodness!” Cora was overjoyed to see Annabelle. She crouched over the bed to embrace her.

  “I—I can’t believe it!” Annabelle too was completely flabbergasted. “You’re alive! All this time, you’re alive, Cora!”

  Cora nodded frivolously, “It is so good to see you again!” She further noted. Then, she cleared her throat to ask a more serious question, “I know it’s been a long time, but… Vanessa and Miguel?”

  Annabelle regretfully shook her head, “Gone.”

  “Oh, I see.” Cora nodded understandingly. “Anybody else? I know Tina is okay. Any other ex-Londoners still going strong?”

  Annabelle smiled brightly and nodded in affirmation, “My mum is still alive. Elliot is too. They’ll both be around here somewhere.”

  “That’s great to hear.” Cora patted Annabelle’s shoulder, feeling happy for her. She waited for several moments, having expected to Annabelle to list off more survivors.

  Realising this was what Cora was waiting for, Annabelle broke the hard news, “…Olivia.” She didn’t need to say anything more for Cora to know what had happened there.

  “That’s a shame.” Cora corroborated; after all, she had spent a lot of time with Olivia prior to Elliot’s group arriving in London for the first time many years ago now.

  Harkening back to their last encounter, Annabelle now had question for Cora. “Did you find Beth in the end?”

  Cora wistfully shook her head, “I searched the whole of England; literally. In the end, I gave up. I couldn’t make Keith’s dying wish come true.” She regretfully confessed. “But I did as you asked of me: I waited in England for you all to come back. Sure, I might’ve taken a detour to Ireland at one point, but I stayed local mainly.”

  “Was that out of choice or because of a lack of planes?” Annabelle asked in jest, as another call back to their shared apocalyptic past.

  Annabelle responded in an equally humorous manner, “Lack of planes, one-hundred percent. Otherwise, I would’ve taken you up on your request to ‘bounce back to France.’” She quoted word-for-word exactly the last thing that Annabelle had said to her before they split ways.

  “Well, we’re back now.” Annabelle reminded Cora with a light-hearted chortle, “And I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon. It’s great to see you, Cora.” She stated once again.

  “You too, old buddy.” Cora chortled back, completely ecstatic to finally have her best friend back in her life.

  Soon after reintroductions with Annabelle were complete, Cora had returned to her mother’s bedside.

  And now, at long last, Erica finally awoke.

  As Cora’s leg jolted up and down rapidly in confusion, her face filled with contentment upon watching her mother awake. “Mum?” She addressed her in a soft manner so as not to induce a shock attack.

  The hotel room door creaked, redirecting Cora’s attention towards it.

  There, Rylie stood peering through the gap, eager to see this family reunion.

  “Where—Where am I?” Erica rubbed her head to minimise the swelling she had injured, her question bringing Cora’s attention back to her.

  “You’re safe. You’re absolutely safe.” Cora affirmed with eyes of delight, “Welcome home.”

  With her other hand, Erica rubbed the sleep out of her left eye, “Where am I…?” She enquired again, more hazily this time.

  Cora took Erica’s hand, “Home.” She began to caress it gently, “You’re home, mum.”

  The room came over with a vacant silent. Although Cora had assumed this silence was due to her mother processing her latest remark, the truth was that Erica’s deafness had prevented her from hearing what her daughter had just said.

  Fully awake, Erica now gazed her eyes upon her estranged daughter.

  But much to Cora’s dismay, Erica simply sighed and rested her head back against the board.

  “Mum? Are you alright?” Cora was at a loss.

  “Five dreams about you in one night.” Erica softly professed, “That’s a new record.” She clearly believed that her daughter returning to her side was just too surreal for it to be true.

  “No, mum.” Cora raised her hand to brush her mother’s face now, “I’m here. It’s me. This isn’t a dream.”

  But still, Erica was delusional.

  “Ouch!” Erica proclaimed loudly as Cora pinched her arm.

  “Sorry about that, mum. But I need you to understand that this really is happening!” She simply couldn’t wait for her mother to come to her senses in her own
time; she was desperate for their reunion to commence.

  As she cast her eyes upon her daughter a second time, Erica’s eyes filled with melancholy, “…Cora?”

  Cora began to tear up, “Yes, yes! Mum, it’s me!” She hadn’t noticed that her mother was no longer looking to her eyes and was now instead reading her lips.

  “I—” All of Erica’s emotions struck her at once, “I don’t believe it.” She was too worn out, both mentally and physically, to display the true extent of what she was currently feeling.

  Unable to hold back any longer, Cora pulled her mother in for a long overdue embrace. “…I knew you’d come back for me!” She declared as she snivelled into her mother’s shoulder.

  Although Erica had felt the vibrations of Cora’s words throughout her body, she had not heard what was said.

  The mother and daughter broke from their cuddle.

  “Cora, I—” Erica knew not of where to start, “There’s so much I need to tell you.”

  Her daughter shook her head with a relieving smile, “Don’t worry. Annabelle’s already brought me up to speed with what I need to know.”

  Ironically, however, Cora had not been told of the one thing that she perhaps needed to know above all else.

  “Oh.” Erica asserted bluntly, still not entirely convinced that she wasn’t in a fever dream. “So, you know about me…?” She queried with regards to her deafness.

  Cora had misinterpreted what Erica was trying to say, “Mum, you told me yourself that you’re lesbian a long time ago--”

  “No, not that.” Erica intervened, “I mean, did Annabelle tell you about my condition?”

  Cora’s delighted smile now turned into an apprehensive one, “…Condition?”

  Erica nodded indolently, “I’m deaf… Slightly” Her voice cracked with despondency as she declared this.

  “You’re—What?” Cora was baffled at first, but then, as she realised that her mother was reading her lips more than she was looking into her eyes, it became clear to her that this fact was true. “…How?”

  Erica looked to the floor in consternation. “There was an incident,” she began, “We were attacked in Czechia--”

  “Czechia?!” Cora exclaimed in astonishment. “How far across Europe did you go—?” She cut herself, feeling as though now was not the time to be asking these questions, “No, whatever. Carry on, mother. Please.”

  Erica took several moments to decipher in her mind what she had just read on Cora’s lips; what was that one word in that last sentence which she could not interpret? Was it ‘Galleon?’ Was it ‘Gary on?’

  “Carry. On. Mother. Please.” Cora repeated her final sentence, acknowledging her mother’s hesitance.

  Erica resumed her explanation immediately, in a desperate attempt to gloss over how much her partial deafness was affecting her. “The fallout of this attack—Well, I think you know it. It left me extremely hard of hearing in both ears.”

  Cora struggled to process this information and then remembered a certain event that she herself had witnessed several years ago. “Was it the radiation?” She queried.

  Erica thought she had misread Cora’s lips, but asked her the following question anyway, “How do you know about that?”

  Cora was equally flabbergasted, “How do you know about that?”

  “Ha!” Erica proclaimed with gloating eyes, “I watched the explosion happen!”

  “Oh, yeah?” Cora folded her arms, “Well I encountered two giant wasps!”

  But Erica was far from done with this little competition, “I fought off a pack of giant wolves!”

  “I flew through a flock of giant birds!”

  “I nearly got eaten by a giant lizard!”

  “And I nearly— Wait, what?” Cora conceded defeat, curious about that last encounter which her mother had mentioned.

  Erica squinted in shame upon realising that she had gone completely off-topic, “Uh, back to the original question, no. It wasn’t the radiation. That happened a long, long time before this other incident I’m talking about.”

  Cora nodded as she followed along with her mother’s story.

  “Our little riverside town was bombarded. Quite literally, we had bombs dropped over our heads.” Erica revealed as her eyes dipped into her memory of the traumatic event. As she turned away from Cora, she noticed a beady little face peeking through the gap in the hotel room door. “Hello? Who’s that?” She asked Cora, still facing towards the doorway.

  “Oh!” Cora looked over, “It’s okay, Rylie. You can come in!” She gestured for her friend to enter, but they did not.

  “Don’t mind Rylie.” Cora mumbled to her mother, “They’re just a little shy, that’s all. Once you get to know them, you’ll be as fond of them as I am.” She said with a confident smile.

  “I’m Erica!” She called out, introducing herself to Cora’s new friend. “My daughter here tells me that you’re Rylie. It’s very nice to meet you!”

  Although Rylie nodded in salutation through the ajar door, they kept their distance, remaining outside.

  “Is Tina alright?” Erica turned her attention back to her daughter, “And Elliot? Gwen?” She was eager to hear about how all of her friends were doing.

  “They’re fine.” Cora quickly substantiated, easing her mother’s worries. “They’re all still asleep, but they’re fine.”

  Due to her head injury, it had taken Erica’s vision a while to properly adjust to her surroundings. Now, she could properly process her daughter’s face, “Look at you.” She noted, “You’ve grown so much.” After all, it had been around six years since she had last seen Cora.

  “You’re one to talk.” Cora nodded in jest at her mother’s short hair; the last time she had seen it, it was all long and wavy.

  “You were just a rebellious teen when I left you behind… Now, you’re a full-grown woman.” Erica now accepted that the woman in front of her was, indeed, her Cora. “But you’ll always be my little girl.”

  And with those words, the mother and daughter both broke down into a tearful frenzy, embracing each other as they did so.

  In her own room, Adela sat upright with her arms folded; nobody had come in to check on her, and as such, nobody knew she had awoken.

  Then, there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in.” Adela called out with a slight tone of disgruntlement.

  A head leant in as the door opened up; it was Emile.

  “Finally!” He threw his hands up as he stated this. “Are you alright?” He asked Adela as he made his way to her bedside.

  “…What are you doing here?” Adela was confused by his arrival in her room.

  “I’ve been knocking on doors all up and down this hotel.” Emile explained, “I was looking for you.”

  Adela scoffed at him, “Me? Why?”

  “Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Emile retorted.

  Adela shook her head negatively, “Absolutely not. We’re not even acquaintances. We’re nothing to each other.” She told him sternly.

  Emile sighed and scratched his head, “Our past would beg to differ.”

  At this remark, Adela cast a scornful look at him, “We don’t have past… You and I both agreed on that. So, get out. Don’t even so much as look at me ever again.” She ordered him unruly.

  “You ran to the toilet quite a few times up there.” Emile referred to their flight.

  “Were you watching me?” She shook her head at him in disgust, “Absolute pervert.”

  “I was worried about you, Adela!” He defended himself.

  But still, she was refusing to give him the benefit of the doubt. She looked away from Emile and towards the room window.

  “The first time you ran to the toilet, I went after you.” Emile confessed. “But Erica, well, she got to you first. Just a few more moments, and it would’ve been me in that cubicle with you--”

  “Is this going anywhere?!” Adela raged at him, still staring towards the window.

  Emile swa
llowed hard, “I listened in on your conversation with her… Is it true?” He asked firmly.

  “Is what true?” She fobbed him off.

  “You know what I’m talking about.”

  “No, I don’t.” She continued to talk to him as though he were lesser, “I told you to get out, and yet you’re still here. For Christ’s sake, just leave--!”

  “Are you pregnant?” Emile intervened, cutting off Adela’s furious rant.

  Now, Adela finally turned away from the window and looked Emile straight in the eyes without giving an answer.

  “…You are, aren’t you?” The despondent silence told Emile all that he needed to know. “Christ.” He remarked as he rose from Adela’s bedside and threw his head dismayingly into his hands.

  “She doesn’t know.” Adela further commented. “Erica, I mean. She doesn’t know that—” She choked slightly as she struggled to admit the game changing truth, “That you’re the father.”

  Emile headbutted the wall forcefully, “No!” He exclaimed guiltily.

  Adela swallowed hard, “Listen, we don’t need to tell anyone.” Now, it was her doing the begging. “When this baby is born, we’ll just tell everyone it belongs to some random survivor I never saw again—”

  “And who the fuck is gonna believe that?!” Emile erupted at her.

  Adela gasped in astonishment at him, “It takes two to tango, Emile.” She reminded him. “I’m not the only one to blame for this!”

  Amidst uneasy breaths, Emile thought to himself for several seconds. “Alek’s gonna know.” He expressed his deepest fear. “He knows me better than I know myself… The minute he sees your baby for the first time, he’s gonna know the truth.”

  Adela fell into a shameful silence.

  “And Tia!” Emile pointed intently at her, “How do you think your sister’s gonna react, huh? When she finds out that ‘Uncle Emile’ is also her sister’s—” He was too ashamed to finish the sentence.

  Again, Adela swallowed hard, “I’ll lie to her too.”