by Nick Harland
Esme walked off to the transit van and I watched her. Eve said, ‘She’s right you know, we can’t start second guessing ourselves or we’ll go mad.’
Before I knew what I’d said, I said it, ‘But it’s not ourselves is it, it’s me. If something were to happen it would have been me that made the decision. If I’d told her to leave it she would have.’
Eve looked at me silently. I took a breath to come back down from what I suppose was anger and said, ‘Sorry, please say something, you’re freaking me out.’
Eve’s face relaxed a little and she said, ‘No you’re right, we do look to you. We ask you to make decisions and that’s a responsibility. Don’t think for a moment anyone would blame you if anything went wrong though, or that if you made a call I didn’t feel was right I wouldn’t tell you. There are very few right’s or wrong’s though, just decisions. The reason people need leaders is because most people would either debate all day, not say a word, or try and dominate everything without listening to anyone else, which is even worse. Leaders make sure stuff to gets done when it needs to get done and natural leaders are rare. You happen to be one of them.’
I still struggled with what Eve, Esme, and the others thought of me. When I tried to look at myself through their eye’s I still saw a young lout who’d been nothing but a lay about gamer. Accepting what I had become, and the position I had come to fill in the group, was a daily challenge. Sometimes I struggled with the responsibility, mainly when it came to Eve and Esme and putting them at risk. Having said that, I felt it, something inside me, a certainty. I rarely doubted myself and when it came to it, I always had an answer. I had no idea if it was the best answer but there was always one there. It was foreign to me that other people didn’t seem to have that.
I looked back at Eve and was about to say “sorry”, but I realised that wasn’t what she needed to hear. For a moment I thought of her when we first left the security of her house, how uncertain she was. Then I remembered when we were speaking in her kitchen after we’d had sex for the first time, how vulnerable she was. She put on a brave face and waded into battle without hesitation; she had her own kind of confidence, but inside there was still uncertainty and vulnerability.
I said, ‘Thanks, and as long as you trust me I’ll be there for you, and as long as you have something to say I’ll listen. It would be easier if I didn’t love you and Esme so much but I suppose that’s part of what gives me strength, the need to protect you both, and the rest of them.’
Eve smiled, ‘Good, I’m glad we got that sorted. Now, there should be some perks to being a leader so when we get back why don’t you let Esme and I tell you exactly what we did after you passed out and you can show us what you would have done if you had been able. I believe the last thing you remember was my beautiful big breasts dangling over your face and me putting one of my lovely soft nipples in your mouth.’
Esme got into the van and started it up and we got back into the Range Rover. I had to adjust myself before getting in to the passenger seat. We went ahead, Esme followed, and the Q5 took up the rear. The journey home was trouble free and I needn’t have worried, but I knew the day I stopped worrying would be the day it could all turn to shit.
Chapter Twenty Two – While you were sleeping
Gary was kind enough to get Don up to speed on proceedings while we drove back. There were the expected questions and then the “I’m so sorry’s” when he explained his own situation. We picked up that Don didn’t actually know Gary that well, and they certainly weren’t on hugging terms, but when he saw a familiar face he couldn’t help himself. Gary was turning out to be a remarkably human surgeon. By the time we arrived at base Don’s rehabilitation was well on the way so he’d only be as utterly messed up as any other Zombie apocalypse survivor.
We had done well for time, despite the late departure, and we headed straight for the electron microscope when we got back. Esme found Bill and we hung onto Don and Gary. Eve said, ‘We should check Bill and Don’s blood before we do anything else. It would be useful to know if they’re the same as Brad or if one or both of them have antibodies to the new cell types the alien cells formed when they joined with and mutated our normally occurring bacteria cells. If they have antibodies, cells that seek out and destroy the mutated cells that host the aliens, then we have the start of a cure.’
Gary pitched in, ‘I’m no microbiologist but I know the human body and the ones out there are only still walking around because of something the aliens brought with them. I have no idea what process they are using to keep their hosts moving, but it’s not any biological process I would recognise. I’m pretty sure if you injected one with a cure and the alien cells died, the person underneath would die too.’
Esme took her turn to talk, ‘A biological way of killing them wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. I know we’re thinking way ahead here but if it could be made airborne we could spray hordes or area’s using the plane or some car based system.’
The thought of crop dusting area’s clear of Zeds was certainly attractive but things seemed to be moving very fast and I didn’t want anyone overhearing and getting carried away. I said, ‘Let’s just test the blood and go from there shall we. Even I know that having someone who has an immunity is not the same as producing a vaccine or cure.’
Gary grabbed Bills hand and a needle and said, ‘Brad’s right, let’s do this one stab at a time.’
Bill nodded and Gary stabbed his thumb and placed the resulting droplet of blood onto a slide. As Esme was putting the slide into the microscope Gary repeated the procedure with Don. We waited for the screen to light up and as I had no idea what I was waiting to see, my eyes’ were on Eve and Esme. Tension filled the air and I wasn’t the only one holding my breath. Esme said, ‘Well it seems you and Bill have something in common, you both have naked aliens inside you, all swimming around with no friends to murder so they can take over their bodies.’
I shuddered involuntarily and I saw Bill do the same. Esme swapped the slides and we waited again, a few people had gathered behind us and I could hear whispering. Esme blurted, ‘We have a winner. Don isn’t only more than able to kill the bastards on the outside, but on the inside too. No alien cells of any kind.’
Don took a step back and regarded himself. Gary patted him on the shoulder and said, ‘Well mate, like it or not you just became one of the most important people on the planet. I’m sure there must be others, somewhere maybe, but right now you’re it.’
Don forced a smile and said, ‘Ok, just as well I didn’t take the easy way out after all.’
Gary laughed, ‘Just as well indeed.’ Then looking at Esme and he said, ‘So what’s next, my bladder’s not getting any smaller?’
Eve said, ‘Now we have Don as well as Bill and Brad we have a dilemma. The original plan was to stab Brad and do the homeopathy thing. We would dilute the sample until it only has a few cells in it. Then we would need to see if your body can cope with those few cells and kill them, hence producing anti-bodes to the cells that must be in the saliva. Then we’d see if that would be enough to protect you when we let Andrea bite you.’
‘Alternatively we just inject you with some of Don’s blood that already has antibodies in it and hope they proliferate enough when you’re bitten to fight off the Zeds cells. I could go on for hours about all the things that could go wrong and how many leaps of theory we’re relying on here, but as we don’t have the time, knowledge, or equipment to narrow the field, we just have to guess.’
Gary said, ‘I might be missing something here, but if we’re using blood then shouldn’t the blood types be compatible. I’m going to die one way or another, or at least turn Zed, but I’d rather not die stupidly. Also, can’t we see what happens in a petri dish if we mix some Zed saliva with Don’s blood as a safe test. I know it probably wouldn’t work with only a few cells but if it’s a simple blood to saliva battle and we have the microscope, wouldn’t that work?’
Eve blurted loudly, ‘Blood
y idiot. If Andrea were here to shout at me she’d be calling me a bloody idiot. How could I forget blood type. We picked up some testers from the clinic which is good, but it’s definitely a barrier to wider inoculation. Right, new plan, blood typing if you don’t already know yours then blood vs saliva battle to the death in a petri-dish while we dilute Brad’s blood. Fuck this is turning out to be complicated.’
I had no idea what my blood type was and neither did Don. Luckily Don was compatible with Gary and it didn’t matter that I wasn’t, as mine was being diluted so much. Esme and I went to visit Andrea with Mike and Chris in tow in case we needed some muscle, which seemed likely. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of days, but Eve and Esme has visited her a couple of times and had mainly stuck to talking to Andrea rather than the Zed.
I approached the cage and said, ‘Do you remember me?’
The Zed replied, ‘You lie and kill my kind, you feel us. You will die, we will kill you.’
I rolled my eyes deliberately and replied, ‘Blah blah blah, and actually I didn’t really lie, I just ranted for a while to keep you busy. Then yes, I killed absolutely fucking loads of you, hundreds and hundreds of you….again.’
Then I had an idea so I raised my voice and started to rage. I held my hand open behind me so Esme could see, ‘I kill you because I fucking hate you, every fucking one of you, and every time I kill one of you it makes me smile. You’re ugly and smelly and you don’t belong here. You’re so fucking dumb so it’s almost too fucking easy.’
Then I started banging against the cage and I could see the Zed’s expression change, it started to look angry. I raged on louder and louder, banging the cage and pressing my face against it, ‘You could at least make it a challenge so there was some sport in it, but you’re just too fucking dumb. You want to bite me but you can’t because look at you, queen of the Zeds, fucking dumbass, useless, didn’t even have the decency to go down with a fight, Zed.’ Then I spat at her and shook the cage, ‘Fucking’ spit, ‘useless’, spit, ‘dumbass’, spit.
Then it happened, finally, as I was running out of both expletives and spit. The Zed charged the cage and spat at me. I was ready and closed my eyes and mouth. After the warm spittle hit me I turned around and said from a tiny part of the side of my mouth, ‘Little help please.’
Esme said, ‘Sorry yes, just…’
I felt the side of something scrape the spit from my face, then a cloth wipe it. I opened my eyes to see Esme staring at me, ‘That was… inventive.’
I smiled, ‘Sorry, it just came to me. I figured saliva wouldn’t be easy to forcibly remove and I didn’t want to hurt Andrea or risk a bite. It seemed the easiest way to get it.’
Esme smiled back, ‘I know you’re the idea’s guy, but a little warning might be nice. And poor Andrea having to listen to that foul mouth of yours.’
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the Zed who was still pressed against the mesh of the cage hissing. I smiled and said, ‘I have one last thing to say to the rude Zed temporarily occupying my friends body. Dumb… Ass. Now I’m speaking to Andrea so keep your hissing to yourself. I’m sorry for the language and spitting, it was very rude of me, but I needed this dumbass to give me a sample. I do hope to speak to you sooner rather than later as the conversation here is so dull. Now we have a sample from me, and another person who fought the infection off, we’re pretty close to inoculating people from the bites. We might even be able to produce a poison that will kill any Zeds who come into contact with it. That’s because we’re smart, and they’re dumbasses.’
The Zed opened its mouth and gurgled against the cage. I left Esme saying a few calming words and went back inside with the others. Eve was waiting and said, ‘What was all that about? I heard shouting and banging.’
I said, ‘Sorry, I pissed the Zed off again, but I got a nice big saliva sample as a result.’ I wiped my face where the Zed had spat on me, ‘Make the most of it as I’m not sure I could get away with it again.’
Eve stepped back, put her hands up and frowned, ‘Yuk, don’t think you’ll be coming anywhere near me until you’ve had a really good scrub, even then I might need a day or two.’
I smirked, ‘Yes, I’m all on board for the scrubbing, but don’t kid yourself you could resist me for a couple of days, even if I get dirty again.’
Don looked at Gary and said, ‘Are they always like this?’
Gary replied, ‘I’m afraid so. Bat shit crazy the three of them, far beyond your therapeutic skills I’m afraid, but you get used to it and they do get the job done.’
Esme came in looking sad and the atmosphere changed immediately. Eve walked up and hugger her as she came towards us, ‘Don’t worry, she’s in there and we’re going to find her. In the mean-time we’re going to make sure no one else ends up like her.’
The science stuff took a while. Gary took blood from Don and I; Bill won the game of rock paper scissors for who got stabbed. Esme busied herself diluting my sample while Eve observed the petri-dish war. Eve said that the saliva had a huge concentration of the alien cells in it and that they weren’t quite the same as the original ones but also weren’t the same as the mutated ones in the blood.
When she mixed most of the saliva sample with some of Don’s blood she told us that Don’s white blood cells did seem to be killing the alien Zeds cells but that they seemed to die in the process. We had to go back and get a blood sample from Andrea, rather than just saliva, but Esme banned me from going, saying I was no use with my shoulder anyway. I’m not sure what she thought I might do this time but I guess I couldn’t blame her from not wanting to find out. The blood vs blood battle went better but the conclusion was still that it wasn’t a cure, or Zed killing poison, and it would take a lot of blood to make an impact.
It was late by the time we’d finished and Esme had what she thought was a diluted enough sample. We decided to sleep on it and consider doing the injections and letting Andrea bite Gary in the morning. Gary certainly didn’t mind the delay.’
We were all tired by the time we went to bed and I did have a good scrub before doing so. I lay on the bed with my boxers on and my arms up under my head watching Esme and Eve get undressed when Esme looked at me and said, ‘He looks very pleased with himself. Am I missing something?’
Eve replied, ‘Well, I might have made him a promise and not told you about it.’
Esme had undone her bra but she held it to her chest so it still just about covered her, ‘Oh no, fess up, what was it?’
Eve climbed onto the bed and knelt over me while she undid her bra. She held it in place while she leaned over me so the straps fell either side of my head, ‘While you were walking to the transit van he had a little wobble on the subject of leadership so I told him we’d show him exactly what we got up to the other night after he passed out.’
Esme climbed onto the bed on the other side me and let her bra fall. She said, ‘I see, that was a bit rash. I suppose we better start where we left off then.’
Esme went to lie down on her side next to me and I put my arm under her to hold her bum and pull her close but she recoiled and got back onto one elbow, ‘No no, that’s not how we were. Your hands were by your sides, you could barely move them remember.’
I slid my arm out and laid it by my side. Eve was still over me holding her bra and said, ‘Anymore nonsense from you and you’ll spoil the reconstruction. You wouldn’t want to do that now would you?’
I frowned comically and shook my head. Eve said, ‘Ok then.’ Then she pulled her bra away and let her breasts fall onto my face, it was bloody lovely. Then she lifted up a bit and put them down on me again saying, ‘Esme, I can’t remember, was I here or’, she moved them again, ‘here.’
Esme knelt up beside me and slapped my hand down when I went to reach for her bum, ‘Ah ah, naughty.’ Then she said to Eve, ‘Why don’t we start a couple of steps back, maybe that’ll help you remember. You were leaning over him and I leant forwards like this hoping you’d kiss my breasts.’
Eve replied, ‘So you were’, before licking then sucking one of Esme’s lovely pink nipples.
Esme moaned a little and looked at me sternly, ‘Remember, you were pretty much out by this stage so no moving.’ Then she wiggled slightly and moaned again saying, ‘Yup, I definitely remember that. Yes, right there. Fuck that’s nice. How did I have the will power to pull way when you were doing that to me.’
I groaned myself and had to grip the sheets rather than reach up and grab a piece of both of them. Esme smiled down at me, ‘Ok, but only because she promised.’ Then she pulled away and Eve sucked hard to try and stop her until there was the wet pop again and he pert breast sprang back to where it was, though this time with a very hard nipple. The urge to touch myself or one them was unbelievable but I was used to resisting it so I continued to play along.
Eve made a satisfied ‘Mmmm’ sound before saying, ‘Of course, now it’s come back to me. Then I lifted by lovely, big, soft, tits, and put one down right….here.’
Eve placed her nipple in my mouth and let the rest of her breast cover my face. I reached my limits and sucked it but Esme held one of my hands down and Eve moved her hand to hold the other so that’s all I could do. Then she pulled away and I could feel my grip on her wet nipple loosening until it popped out of my mouth.
I said, ‘But you promised to show me what happened next and to let me join in.’
Eve smiled and kneeling up on her knees opposite Esme again she said, ‘Yes, and we’ll keep that promise, but you sucking my nipple like that wasn’t what happened was it.’ I sighed in acceptance.
Eve and Esme looked at each other and Esme grinned and said, ‘You’re cruel, you know that?’
Eve smiled, ‘Maybe, but you were pretty quick on the uptake and didn’t hesitate to play along, so you’re just as cruel really.’
Esme said, ‘I just wanted you to suck my nipple again. I don’t know why it’s so good when I’m kneeling up like this with you below me, but it is.’
