Human Nature (Book 4): Human Nature IV
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Chapter 22: Another Time
LONDON
NOVEMBER 2034
It was a rather quiet night in the safe zone. As such, after all the noise and commotion that had been going on recently, Erica had found herself unable to sleep.
Progressing on through the empty streets, that were still filled with debris from the storm, she took a moment to reflect on what everybody was doing in their homes as she passed them.
Looking up at the hotel, she knew that Elliot, Gwen, and Annabelle would all be fast asleep in their individual rooms on one of the middle floors. She also thought it likely that her new friends Sandra and Ryle were likely somewhere inside the building as well.
Around the next corner, Erica passed the hospital that she was now very much the director of. Aware that Alek was spending the night inside just in case, she found it reasonable to assume that Emile was at his side still as well. The thought of their relationship brought a smile to her face.
And then, Erica found herself paying a visit to the only area inside the four walls that she had been avoiding: the graveyard.
The wooden crosses that she had once erected to mark the graves were still stood there in the ground. Over the years, they had become so stuck and buried within the soil that not even the supernaturally strong hurricane had been able to blow them away.
She loomed over the first grave, which was marked:
‘PRICE
1972 – 2028’
“It’s good to see you again, old friend.” Erica lamented as she bowed respectfully to him, recalling a fond memory as she did so; a memory from a time long before Elliot and Gwen had shown up with their group at the main gate...
LONDON
APRIL 2027
Erica had been called in by Tina to assist with a situation that she had only radioed in as “dire.”
Within minutes, she was bursting through the hospital doors. “Tina! Price!” She yelled to her friends who were carrying a man on a stretcher.
“Erica! Follow us!” Tina ordered the woman who, little did she know, would one day be married to her.
As she followed her fellow medics into the operating theatre, Erica insisted on more information. “What the hell happened? Who is he?”
“We don’t know!” Price answered in an equally desperate tone. “He just showed up at the gates and told us he’d been stabbed!”
“Stabbed?” Erica shuddered as she requested verification.
“Listen to me, you’re the only one who can do this.” Tina comforted Erica upon hearing the distress in her voice, “You’ve treated gunshot wounds in your time, you’ve got more experience than Price and I combined—You can do this, Erica.” She told her firmly.
Taking several deep breaths, Erica nodded, hesitantly accepting the role as chief surgeon.
“Keep him steady, Tina.” Erica requested as she closely examined the man’s stab wound. “Alright Price, I’m gonna need you to fill that syringe with alcohol.” She nodded to the metal bowl on the bedside cabinet.
Price complied and, once having filled it, handed the syringe to Erica.
“This is gonna sting,” she mumbled to her patient, “But that’s to be expected.”
The patient was rapidly losing consciousness. As such, the only reaction he could give to the stinging sensation was a low groan.
“I’m gonna have to sew this up before we bandage it,” Erica noted, “Price, clean the needle.” She once again ordered him as she gestured to the alcohol in the bowl.
Price dipped the needle in the liquid and then carefully threaded the nylon through the eye. “Here.” He carefully handed it to her, double-checking the sharp end would be facing away from her fingertip.
“Much obliged.” Erica took the needle without turning away from the wound and then hovered the needle over it, her hands shaking with hesitance.
“You can do this,” Tina reassuringly whispered to her from the other side of the bed, noticing how nervous Erica was, “You’ve got this, Erica.”
“I know, I know.” She affirmed, mostly in reassurance for herself.
LONDON
NOVEMBER 2034
“You were so complicit,” Erica recalled in front of Price’s grave, “You did what I asked without any question or confusion; I needed the syringe? You gave me the syringe. I needed the needle? You gave me the needle.” She laughed before she stated, “You were the best damn apprentice I ever had.”
Noticing the engraving of his name on the cross, combined with a year that was strangely long gone, had sent Erica into a wistful silence.
LONDON
APRIL 2027
Sat alone on one of the park benches, Erica was crying into her sleeves; the surgery had not gone well.
“I thought I’d find you here.” Price declared with a smile as he ominously appeared from behind the bench.
“Oh, Price!” Erica quickly wiped her tears away, not wanting her emotions to be seen by anyone.
Price sat down next to her on the bench, “It’s okay to cry, Erica. A man died in your hospital this afternoon.”
Although these words had been said in an attempt to comfort her, they had actually caused Erica’s eyes to water up even more.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He said the exact words that she needed to hear. “The moment that man was brought in through the gate, he was already dead.”
Erica wouldn’t let herself believe this, “I could’ve done more, Price!” She professed nasally, “Maybe if I hadn’t had stuttered right at the start, or if my hands weren’t as shaky and sweaty, maybe he’d have made it!”
Price rubbed her back caringly, “And maybe if the man wasn’t stabbed at all, he would never have needed surgery.” He joined in with the blame game, pointing out to Erica that there were a thousand different conditions that prevented the man’s death from being her fault.
Erica snivelled, “I’ve been dealing with minor cuts and bruises over the past year,” she spoke about how ‘easy’ her time in the safe zone had been as a nurse so far, “Dishing out plasters here and there, nothing major—This was the first time since everything went to shit that I had a proper wound to deal with, and I messed it up!”
Noticing that she was about to break down, Price took Erica into his arms and hugged her tightly, “It’s just how things are now, Erica. It’s just how things are…”
LONDON
NOVEMBER 2034
“And you were so sweet to me.” Erica caressed the wooden cross as she remembered Price’s tenderness. “I’ll never forget that… Thank you.” She gave one last smile to his grave before turning in the other direction to look at the next one.
The adjacent grave also had a wooden cross to mark its’ deceased contents. This one read:
‘STEVEN
1993 – 2028’
Erica sighed and looked to the ground dismayingly, for she had not thought about Steven for a long time. Intrinsically, many memories of him came flooding back to her as well. Though one particular memory stood out amongst all of the rest…
CAMRBRIDGE
AUGUST 2027
As a form of post-apocalyptic summer vacation, and also to boost everybody’s spirits, Steven had planned a pilgrimage all the way up to Cambridge in order to help everybody remember what their lives used to be like, and also to help them see that the end of the world really did not have to change everything.
It had taken them three days to walk up there for various reasons. These reasons included, but were absolutely not limited to: Roadblocks, getting lost in woodlands, people having breakdowns, maps being read the wrong way up, and so on and so forth.
As a result of these delays, there was much happiness amongst the group when they had finally arrived in the city.
“Holy shit,” Price commented in amazement, “Is that the university?”
“It is indeed,” Erica confirmed with a smile as she too was astounded by this sight, “I’ve never seen it with my own eyes before, look at it! It’s huge!”
But Keith, being the life of the party as always, had to point out the one thing that ruined the entire landscape, “Look at all those dead students along the riverbank!”
Steven nudged him forcefully in the diaphragm, “Don’t be so disrespectful! They’re people’s sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, you know.”
Whilst crouched over to regain his breath, Keith raised his hand apologetically.
“Poor sods.” Price mumbled as he shook his head in misery.
“Do you think they died on Day Zero?” Erica proffered a question to the rest of the group.
Steven nodded remorsefully, “Judging by the state of their bodies, it looks like it.”
Although the university was on the other side of the river, Steven could clearly see just how rotten and grey the dead students’ flesh was, as well as the fact that there were pools of dried out and bloody vomit around the areas where their heads were rested.
“Should we—Bury them?” Price asked respectfully.
“Best to just leave it, I think.” Steven answered in an equally polite manner.
As the rest of the group continued walking on down the street, Erica continued to stare at the bodies in awe; all she could think about was how it was just by pure luck that Cora was not in the same state as them…
LONDON
NOVEMBER 2034
“It’s pity we never did such a thing again,” Erica bemoaned over Steven’s grave about how their excursion to Cambridge was the only holiday the London group had done, “I mean, in all fairness, that wasn’t exactly your fault, was it? You were dead by the following summer.”
Again, another pensive few moments passed as it truly hit Erica just how long it had been since The Bandits’ first attack on London.
“Six years, hey?” She was in utter disbelief. “So much has happened in all that time.” Again, thoughts came flooding back into her mind.
The cross over Steven’s grave creaked lightly, as though an insect in the soil beneath was crawling around it.
“We lost Olivia,” Erica revealed, “Though I’m sure you already know that. You’re probably elsewhere together right now, in fact.”
Although she did not believe this in heart, she still had hope that it was true, and that the siblings were indeed watching over her.
“Elliot remains,” she added, hoping that it would provide some sort of comfort to their spirits should they happen to be listening somehow, “And not a day goes by where he doesn’t think about either of you—He loved you like a brother Steven, and he loved Olivia like the woman he was supposed to marry.”
Erica shook her head in dismay, as even she herself once had dreams about Elliot and Olivia’s wedding day. “He deserves to be happy,” she felt comfortable expressing her true feelings only at the graveside of a dead man, “He’s been through so much for the rest of us… I hope that he’ll find something, or someone, that puts a smile on his face forevermore one day.”
She looked down the street which she had come up, towards the hotel in the distance where Elliot currently was.
“He’s blind now, by the way,” Erica cackled as she revealed this, “I only find that funny because it just further goes to show that the man doesn’t know when to stop! Heck, you and Olivia of all people would know that, wouldn’t you? You knew him before the apocalypse—I wish I had done to. He seems like he was such a cool friend.”
There was a very faint breeze through Erica’s hair, which she interpreted as Steven’s way of letting her know that Elliot was indeed a good friend to have before Day Zero.
“Anyway,” Erica rose from Steven’s graveside, “I’d best get on with my walk.” She bowed her head to the grave, “Take care of her for us, will you?” She referred to Olivia, then sighed at her own remark, “Who am I kidding? Of course you will.”
As Erica passed the main gates, she kept her distance from the two people on watch duty as she was not in the mood to have a conversation with any living soul right now.
Instead, she waved at the two people at the gate from afar. As her pupils adjusted to the darkness and the one streetlamp between her and them, she realised who they were: her old friend, Annabelle, and the newcomer, Maylene.
Being sweet, Annabelle and Maylene both waved back at her.
In an odd way, Erica just felt something so wholesome about seeing Annabelle in the company of someone a similar age to her; perhaps, at long last, if Annabelle could, then maybe Cora too could finally have the proper girly friendship group that she’d missed out on in her teenage years.
And thus, a plan formed in Erica’s mind. In order to bring the younger residents together, she was going to host a party.
Chapter 23: The Party
Inside the safe zone, there was a small park which many of the residents liked to take daytime strolls through.
But on this night, however, Erica had put a huge number of resources into making it all bright and fun.
Several gazebos and marquees had been set up on the grass, there were chains of bright lights hanging from several recently erected poles, and there were tables of food and drink all around.
“There!” Erica commented as she set up the final set of hanging bulbs.
Then, looking out across her work, she put her hands on her hips and smiled; she was impressed with the party that she had set up.
“Erica, come in please.” Tina radioed to her with impeccable timing.
“Go for Erica.” She replied to her wife.
“I hope that party’s set up…” Tina cryptically told her.
“It is—Why?” Erica was confused at first, but then, she heard it…
“Oh yeah! Oh yeah!” The partygoers on board the minibus were singing loudly and proudly till their hearts’ content.
After The Bandits had been defeated, Tina had wasted no time in fixing their abandoned minibus and had jazzed it up with rather luminous decals, stickers, and on the inside, LED light strips.
“Jump! Jump! Jump!” The partygoers were still singing in perfect unison with each other as they jumped up and down, punching the air carefreely in the same moments.
“We’ll be coming in hot soon!” Tina yelled back to her passengers, but also down the radio to Erica.
“I—I don’t believe it…” Erica mumbled in dismay and disbelief as she listened out for the party bus speeding around in the distance, headed straight for the park given some more time.
“So uh, mum, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” Cora addressed Erica as she placed down the last platter of food in the nearest gazebo, “But, what exactly is this party for?”
Erica shrugged, “Oh, you know, just for us to all get to know each other a little better.”
Cora rolled her eyes, “I know when you’re lying, mum. I wasn’t born yesterday. Give over, what’s the real reason?”
Erica sighed and smirked a little – she was pleased that her daughter knew her so well after all these years still – before confessing the truth to her daughter, “Alright... Well, if you want the truth—Look, I know you were quite a lonely kid as a teen—”
“Oh, thanks.” Cora felt slightly disheartened to hear mother say this, even though she knew it was not meant in an offensive way.
“No, I just,” Erica was quick to rectify herself, “Never mind. The point is, I want you to have friends now.”
Cora squinted at her mother in confusion, “I have friends, mum. Mac, Kieran, Valorie, Elliot, Annabelle, you know, all those wonderful people I’ve met over the years.”
“Yes, yes, I know that.” Erica was struggling to make sense to her daughter, so said the situation for how it was, “I just think it would be nice if you had friends your own age as well.”
“Mum, please—”
“No, just hear me out, Cora, please.” Erica persisted, “Rajan’s lot, the ones who arrived a few days ago, there’s a couple of girls in their twenties, j
ust like you. I know for a fact that one of them is called Maylene, and I think another one is called Vivian or Vivi or something like that—”
Although Cora initially felt that her mother was being too overbearing, she quickly let go of this inhibition and, much to Erica’s surprise, embraced her.
“Oh…” Erica didn’t know what to think of this embrace, so hugged her daughter back in kind, “You’re welcome, I guess.”
“Their names are Vivi, Maylene, and Yelena,” Cora answered whilst burying her face in her mother’s chest, “I saw them all clumped together earlier today, and I just—I wanted to talk to them, but I just couldn’t!”
“That’s alright,” Erica informed her daughter as she slowly released her from their embrace, “I get it, Cora. We live in a tough world now, that’s no lie. It’s natural that you’d forget how to approach people and befriend them… So, to answer your initial question, that’s why I’m throwing a good-old fashioned party.” She told the truth with a warm smile.
“Thanks mum.” Cora sounded truly appreciative of this gesture.
Sat at the back of the party bus was the aforementioned Vivi. Although she was going along with the great party atmosphere, it was also taking her mind back to a time long before the apocalypse to when she was just seventeen…
HERTFORDSHIRE, JULY 2025
SEVEN MONTHS BEFORE THE GLOBAL APOCALYPSE…
It had been a long day at sixth form. Vivi had received an unnecessary amount of pressure and homework from her courses, and by just four o’clock in the afternoon, she was all worn out and ready to go to sleep.
“Hi dear!” Her mother called out from the kitchen, though was completely blanked by Vivi, who instead opted to dash up the stairs and straight into her room.