I stood there and stared at them for what seemed an eternity. A thousand thoughts spinning in my head.
Fear and anger, yes, white-hot anger swelling up in me. Had I had a gun and had these brutes been anywhere near, I would have gone for them! Killed them all!
How could they! What had these four people done anyway? Other than being alive and not members of the Nemesis? Why had they had to die like this! Such a horrible death! I started to sob, sank to my knees and didn’t give a damn anymore whether anyone saw me or not. I just cried and cried like I hadn’t done for a long, long time.
Four souls, four sentient beings extinguished! In such a cruel, callous way!
Without the least sign of remorse or hesitation!
And how the man had pleaded for their lives! How he had tried to protect the lady! To no avail.
What kind of people were this Chris, Pete and the other man that they had just killed these people as if. They were like animals!
No, it didn’t bear thinking. What kind of world was this? What had the world come to?
Kneeling there in front of these dead people, exhausted and scared, angry and confused, I didn’t think I would ever find the strength and will to move.
It was the singing of a bird nearby that helped me get out of there. And the thought of Alice!
The sun had disappeared behind clouds moving in fast from the West and the air was chilly. I had to move. I had to leave these four people.
Before, I hadn’t dared touch them. But now I stepped forward and briefly touched every one of them, whispering, “Fare well! I wish you happiness, wherever it is that you now are!”
All the while tears streaking down my face.
No, I wasn’t afraid of them anymore. No.
But I didn’t like to leave them as they were. They should be buried, at least covered with something.
But it wasn’t safe. If I moved them, covered them, and if their killers came back here, they would know that other people were around and would start another manhunt.
So, I just stood in front of these four, spoke a silent prayer of a kind for them, bowed to each of them to express my sorrow, my respect, and my sadness.
Then I abruptly turned and continued down the path along the river, toward home.
For the first ten or twenty minutes I walked as if in a haze. My thoughts were still with these four people. Every now and then anger rose within me, an incredibly strong, almost furious anger at how callously they had been massacred.
How could anybody do such a thing to another living being, a human being!
Everything I had ever learned, had taught me one thing in particular, like an absolute law:
Life is a miracle!
Whatever form it takes!
And it must be treasured in whatever precious form it appears!! And never, never, must it be destroyed lightly or wantonly!
Tears were burning in my eyes and my throat felt tight. I had trouble breathing evenly. I stumbled on and only when I almost fell over a root of a tree that stuck out onto the path, did I come to my senses.
Alice! I must protect Alice!
It wasn’t over yet! I couldn’t, for Alice’s sake, allow anything to happen to me! I must make it and protect her!
If these people killed with such complete disregard of any humane feeling, they wouldn’t spare a child. Alice!
She needed me. I had to make sure now that she was safe down there in the sub-basement. I must be careful, not give away my presence or intentions and be ready to act to protect her.
That we were a target of this people had become clear from what this Chris had said. Obviously, if Steve were to get his way, he’d go for us again. We may not be high up the priority list of other Nemesis members like Chris, but if Steve got his way, anything might happen.
Steve had only revealed the more unpleasant sides of his character after his plan to ingratiate himself with my Dad and Nate had failed. But once it wasn’t necessary for him to be nice to me anymore, he’d made the mistake to let me see his petty character: With him it was always “tit for tat”, he would always retaliate. Any and every real or imaginary insult must be paid back. And with twice if not treble or four times the force that had been directed against him.
I had known that when I had devised the plan how to mislead him. I had factored it in.
That was why I wanted to get home or at least within sight of home as soon as possible.
Knowing Steve, he would storm back there and try to destroy something. What this would be remained to be seen. But I must see what he did in order to protect Alice. And Yuki and Nin.
I must stay focused!
By now I had reached to point where the water from the swamp to my right slowly flowed into the river. I stood in the shade by the little, metal bridge crossing that dark water for a while, checking the situation carefully. It was risky, because once on the bridge I’d be visible all around. This was a very open spot. And I couldn’t be sure that no-one was over there, on the other bank of the river, and would see me easily.
But I had to move and so, eventually, I mustered up the courage, stepped onto the bridge and quickly crossed it.
Nothing happened. No gunshots or shouts. No-one pursuing me.
For a moment I felt almost weak with relief. Then I hurried on. It was now just a matter of another twenty minutes and I was at the spot where I had to leave the river and climb the still wooded slope toward our house. I scrambled up the steep slope, following a narrow deer path. A small brooklet, just a trickle of water really, cut down the slope, disappearing in a wooded grove. That grove led all the way up the slope to where our house was. There was a stretch of open field eventually between the grove and our house, but just a small stretch.
Panting a bit, I climbed the steepest bit of the slope and got to the lower edge of the houses. Our house stood above a cluster of eight houses, some of them semi-detached on the lower end of the slope, maybe thirty metres above the river. Above those houses, there was a meadow and then our house and the one of our immediate neighbour, the one with the garden-shed
From the cover of the tree I observed the houses for a while, but I couldn’t detect any movements, signs of life or the like. Finally, I retreated in the grove and climbed and scrambled up the slope through bushes and undergrowth until I was level with our house. Still inside the bushes I paused and crouched down.
I was so exhausted by now, emotionally and physically, that all I wanted was to get some rest.
I took my binoculars out of the backpack and scrutinized our entire house and surroundings carefully. Nothing, just a cat in the bushes; but around the house and from within the house nothing.
Good! So far so good!
It seemed strange. Here I was, looking over at our house. Knowing that in there, down in the safety of the sub-basement were Alice, Yuki and Nin.
So close, and yet so far away!
If only I could tell them that I was here, that they needn’t worry, that my plan had, so far at least, worked just as I had intended!
But not yet! I must wait! First, to see what Steve was up to. And then, a truly sobering thought indeed, to make sure I hadn’t gotten the pathogen myself. According to Josh, the first two weeks after exposure to that pathogen were crucial. Either one died or survived. So, should I have caught the pathogen somehow on the way here, yesterday or today, then in about ten days I would know. All I had to do was stick it out here, not move far and certainly not venture in any of the houses. Which I had no intention of doing anyway.
So, ten days to go.
How was I going to survive them? I was already getting cold again. Just from standing here after the exertion of walking and climbing up that slope. And it wasn’t even 5 o’clock yet. If I was to survive until just the next morning, I urgently needed some warm place.
Which left me with two options: Above our hose and separated from it by the drive leading up to it was a sprawling plot with an old house and quite an extensive garden. In older days i
t had served as a plant nursery, but for many years now the vegetation had been left to its own and the plot was a bit of a jungle. We had played in it a lot as children, as it was the perfect place to play hide-and-seek. And the way I remembered, there was a big old garden-shed not far from the boundary to our plot. Last time I’d been in there, there’d been sacks and some old blankets in there; apart from all the other bits and pieces stored in there. They would keep me warm. The drawbacks were the proximity to our house and the location of that garden-shed just on the opposite side of a big hedge between our plot and that house. I wouldn’t be able to see anything from there. In order to reach a spot from where I could observe our house well and from a safe distance, I would have to move around quite a bit. Too exposed and dangerous. Especially since I was sure that Steve would show up here in the not too distant future.
This left option number two: the barn belonging to the farm house on the other side of the grove I stood in right now. It was just forty or fifty metres away. In there, plenty of straw would be keeping me warm. The only drawback here was that I’d have to venture uncomfortably close to the farm house itself. That could be dangerous. On the other hand, I could reach that barn by walking through the grove and wouldn’t have to venture in the open anywhere. That was a huge plus. So, that was that, the barn was the place to go.
I slowly retreated into the grove and headed for it. I reached it, no problem there. There was a small side door at the back, toward the grove, through which I entered.
I listened carefully and sniffed the air. All seemed safe. No sign of animal or people. No stench of rotting flesh. Not that I had expected that anyway. After all, the farmer stored hay and straw in here; this wasn’t a barn to house animals. But still, it came as a relief.
But, those other barns with the horses and cows weren’t far away. And then there was the farmhouse itself. Shouldn’t I go and check whether there was anyone there who needed help? And check whether there were any animals locked up in their stables? Should I sneak over to the main house and try to find out? Was it wise? Probably not. But what if somebody was there and needed my assistance? These were not complete strangers who had lived here, we’d known them for years. They might not be friends, but they were neighbours.
More because I knew I wouldn’t be able to rest than because I really wanted to, I finally decided to take a quick look. Carefully, I approached the farmhouse from the barn keeping close to the trees.
The rear door of the main house was open!
I stood and listened but I couldn’t hear anything. I glanced over to where they normally parked their cars and saw that these were all gone.
So, carefully and holding my breath I entered the house. Mustering up all my courage, because this felt a lot scarier than walking and camping out in the wood at night, I slowly walked through the entire house.
But there was no-one! It looked like they had left!
Good! It was a relief. Not only that I didn’t happen on any dead bodies. But the idea that they might have made it and gotten away was exhilarating! It gave me hope that many more people might have made it.
The rear door of the house led into the kitchen, and as I passed through it on my way back to the barn, my stomach rumbled. I paused and debated whether to raid those kitchen cupboards or not. After all, things might be contaminated.
In the end, the thought of another ten days in the barn with little warmth and the need for extra calories to keep me warm decided it. I gathered as much food as I could carry and headed back toward the barn.
Feeling brave now, I made a detour to check the stables and found all the doors open and no animals anywhere. Good! That meant that they had either been released or brought elsewhere. Hopefully they were safe and alive, too.
Back in the barn, I had to decide where to settle down for the night.
Near the back door might be safer if I had to make a quick escape, but I’d also be exposed to the wind and nightly cold very much. Over there, at the back of the barn the farmer had piled balls of straw; there were piles and piles of neat, rectangular blocks of tied-up straw. I could use those to build a tent-like shelter for myself where I would be warm and safe.
Immediately, I set to the task and within half an hour, I had created a little cave-like structure, its entrance completely hidden from view. Unless you knew it was there, you couldn’t guess its existence. Perfect!
It was getting dusk already; a glance at my watch told me that it was almost seven. Happy, for this shelter that was not only warm but as safe as it could probably get, I settle down in my little cave, spread out the sleeping bag, and wrapped it around myself. It felt so good to be in a dry, warm place! Slowly, even my cold feet got warm again!
By now I was so exhausted that I just took a sip of water. I didn’t feel like eating anything. All I wanted was to sleep!
Sooner than I’d thought I drifted off.
But nightmares haunted me. People running and being hunted down! People being shot! Piles of bodies everywhere!
And Alice, I couldn’t find Alice! Yuki! Nin! Whenever I thought I’d seen or heard them, I ran into another dead body!
Several times I woke up with a start only to slip back into exhaustion moments later.
In my dreams I was still searching in vain for Alice, Yuki and Nin, when a drumming sound woke me up in the small hours of the night. It was dark, but I felt warm and immediately registered that the drumming sound was rain. Drumming onto the roof of the barn. A bit like the sound of rain on a tent wall. A cosy, reassuring sound.
And finally, to the sound of the rain pouring down, I managed to fall asleep.
Chapter 10 – Steve’s back
Wednesday, 6th April 2072
When I woke up it was still raining and it was late morning. Ten o’clock in fact! Wow!
I felt refreshed and ready to face another day. Anything actually. And I was warm! Wonderfully warm! What a change to the night before!
I didn’t linger and got up quickly. And had to sit down straight again. My head was spinning and I felt dizzy. From hunger! I hadn’t eaten much yesterday, just some granola bars in the morning. Now my body demanded food. Urgently. I rummage through my supplies and settled for some more granola bars and two apples which I washed down with water.
Then, I grabbed my backpack, pocketed another apple and some bread from the farmhouse and set out through the grove toward our house.
At the edge of the grove I found a big, tall fir tree under whose wide branches the ground was still totally dry, despite the heavy rain of the last hours. The perfect spot for observing our house without getting wet and being seen. I settled down, leaning against the tree-trunk, facing toward our, but careful to remain hidden from view. Taking the binoculars out of my backpack I meticulously surveyed every angle and part of our house.
Everything seemed normal.
It was still raining. Not heavily, just some light drizzle. And it looked like it might clear up later. The wind blew from the West and the sky was already clear further away.
Despite the rain, I could hear birds singing. But nothing else. It was certainly impressive. And terrifying: just some few weeks ago, there would have been a constant stream of noise from the nearby highway, the roads, the airport, and the nearby city and villages. Now there was just birds and silence Eerie.
Done with checking out every nook and cranny of our house, I lowered the binoculars, leaned back against the spruce tree, resting my hands on my knees and prepared myself for a long, eventless wait.
Around noon the rain abated and then stopped. The sun came out and there was even a rainbow to be seen! What a lovely sign!
But while I was still smiling at the sheer beauty of it, I heard the sound of cars! Not one, several! I tensed up. I had been expecting this. Still, I felt fear rising within. I grabbed my binoculars and made sure that I was well hidden from view.
Soon I saw two cars approaching down the little driveway toward our house. The first one drove far too fast and ca
me to a screeching halt right in front of our garage. Steve jumped out!
Right! So predictable!
Of course, I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I saw that he was very, very agitated. In fact he looked as if he’d gone mad. He was yelling around and gesturing for the others to follow him. Some other men got out of the cars and they all walked toward the house. The front door was locked. Steve took out a pistol, shot at the door, and kicked the door open.
The sheer violence of that action made me flinch! I was shocked!
Steve and the men disappeared inside the house and an almost unbearable wait began.
What were they doing inside? Why did it take so long?
Please, let them not find the others!!! And please, please, let Alice, Yuki and Nin not do something stupid now! Just remain silent! Don’t move! Please!!
Like a mantra, I repeated those words; as if by doing so I could will them to come true.
After what seemed like an eternity, Steve and his men reappeared. They didn’t look happy which made me rejoice.
The men walked over to their cars and took out some boxes, while Steve stood there waving something in his hand. I couldn’t make out what it was. The men carried the boxes into the house and they all disappeared again.
What the heck were they doing?
Another seemingly endless wait. This time even more unbearable. Then, finally, when I felt like I couldn’t bear it a second longer, they all walked back out of the door, trailing a cable behind them. Steve still carried the something in his hands. Two of the men retrieved some canisters from the cars and started walking around the house, pouring a liquid all around.
Fuel? Did they intend to set fire to our house!!!
But then I saw what they were doing with the cable and I almost jumped up in shock. They were going to blow up our house!!!!
No!
I jumped up, not caring anymore whether they saw me or not.
The men were done connecting the cables now, and stood back toward where they’d parked their cars. One of them drove Steve’s car a bit backward, away from the house. All the while, Steve stood there, a silly, gloating smile on his face. As soon as the men had reached safety, he pressed a button on the thing he was holding and a deafening noise exploded all around and a cloud of debris completely obscured my view.
Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct Page 18
