by Nick Harland
We began to walk away and as usual Esme lingered for a moment. Then she shouted, ‘Andrea!’
We all turned to look and Esme said, ‘She smiled, I know she did. You made a joke and told her news that would only aggravate the Zed but she smiled. It was only for a second but I saw it. It wasn’t an evil smile it was Andrea, just for a moment, but it was her. The Zed said, ‘No Andrea only me, you will die, we will kill you.’
Esme walked up to the cage and said, ‘Falling back into old speeches because you’re uncertain won’t change it. I saw her and you know I did, you can feel her and you just lost your first of many battles for control. Now you know she can fight back and win it’s only a matter of time. She smarter and stronger than you are and she’ll be back with us soon. Do the decent thing and submit to her, maybe it will be less humiliating, less painful when it happens.’
The Zed turned away, sat in the corner, and wouldn’t meet Esme’s eyes. Esme added, ‘Or you can sulk like a child who’s been caught being bad and knows they deserve the punishment, both work for me.’
Esme waved her hand to move us away and followed us. When we were back inside she jumped at us both and hugged us, ‘She’s in there I saw her, she’s going to win. Don’t speak to it again, no one speaks to her except me. Only I know her well enough and I know you wouldn’t admit it, but I’m also the only one that truly believes she can win.’ Before we could speak she added, ‘It’s ok, it was a naive belief at best but it’s coming true. She needs that certainty and the Zeds needs that doubt. Only I speak to her, make sure everyone knows.’
We took Gary back to the communal area and Eve disinfected his wound, dressed it, and bandaged it. Gary was groaning between his teeth with the pain and said, ‘Either way I’m a dead man and I deserve what could still be a last supper, do me a favour and send me to bed with one of those pretty pills would you. It hurts, and not just my arm.’
Eve smiled and kissed him on the cheek, ‘Of course doc, it would be my pleasure. Who would you like to stay with you, we’re not leaving you alone tonight.’
Gary winked and answered, ‘Well you guys plainly have some unfinished game to play and Don already said he’d stay with me. Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s too obvious amongst the rest of it, you guys are crazy odd. I was quite the prolific gamer myself in my day and it’ll be nice to drop off imagining.’
Eve smiled, ‘You realise I’m the one who’s going to get a punishment because someone noticed?’
Gary said, ‘And I’m sure it will be wonderful.’
For the first time since we met, Eve blushed, ‘You are a rascal aren’t you. Let me take you to you’re van at least and give you a quick present to say thank you while Brad finds Don.’
I admit I was worried and confused but Esme grabbed me and dragged me away, ‘Don’t worry you dolt, she’s just going to flash him, I think. I suggest we give him a little time before we send Don over. Don’t worry, Eve will be back way before that and frankly I hope she is a few minutes. It’s good for a girl to have secrets and even outside or current deal I want you to promise me something.’ She grabbed my arm and squeezed it hard, ‘Seriously. Never ask her and don’t let it change a single thing about the way you act towards her. Pretend she was trying it on with another woman if it makes it easier. She might tell you anyway, I won’t tell her not too, but never ask her, ok?’
I was taken aback by how serious Esme was and her eyes were piercing as she started into mine. I replied, ‘Ok I promise. I know it’s important, I get it.’
Esme stopped, still holding me, her eye’s searching, delving deeply, ‘Wow, now I know what she first saw in you now. She told me once there was a moment when you were both eating or something, that first day you met. She said she saw something and knew she wanted to be with you. I see it myself now.’
I looked back at her blushing, ‘I’m flattered and I don’t want to burst any bubbles, but I have no idea what you’re talking about. I remember something passing between us when we were eating and talking but I couldn’t name it if I tried.’
Esme smiled, ‘And if you could you probably wouldn’t have it. Sometimes there is nothing more powerful than naiveté, like my belief in Andrea. I’m not sure I could name it very easily ether but if I had to, and I know it won’t change you so I will, I’d say it was female empathy. It’s also part of the reason you’re so good in bed. Secretly every female wants to know what it’s like to be with another female and although masculine and dominating can be nice, a man in touch enough with his female side to have genuine female empathy trumps it every time, for most women at least.’
We had only just got back to the van when Eve caught up with us. She looked at us and said, ‘Did I miss something?’
Esme smiled, ‘No not really, at least nothing you haven’t already seen. We were just chatting and I saw that bit of him you told me you saw that first day. I didn’t need to see it to want to be with you both, but I must say it’s nice.’
Esme grinned, ‘Wow, I did miss something then. It is nice isn’t it. But let’s not let his loutish ego run away with itself by talking about it anymore. Gary’s all tucked up in his van and I gather Don’s giving him a moment just in case, your work I assume?’
Esme giggled, ‘Yes, I made a few assumptions. That’s what started the conversation.’
Eve looked at me and held my eye’s for longer than usual, ‘I see. Nothing’s changed then?’
Esme said, ‘No I don’t think it has, except maybe that he’s not suffering right now and I want him to be. In light of revelations I’ll let you be just a little bit generous, and I might be myself later, but the rules of the game remain.’
Eve smiled and walked over to me. She lifted her top up and pulled my jeans open. Then she shuffled me back to the bed, pulled my boxers down, and made me sit on the edge of the bed. She looked over her shoulder at Esme who came over and stood beside her so she could see. Esme nodded and said, ‘You better hurry though or there’ll be nothing more you can do. Gently though, I like to see your lovely pink lips against him.’ Then she looked at me and said, ‘I know you love it too but this is all about me remember, so lie back and put a pillow over your head so you can’t peek. Stay there until I say, understand, no matter what.’
I laid down and said, ‘Yes mistress’, before covering myself with a pillow. I obviously didn’t see what followed but Esme allowed Eve to be generous and I’m sure she wasn’t the only one. Afterwards Esme made Eve moisturise her all over, with both of them naked. She made me watch and didn’t allow me to touch anything. We had a short break for some supper and within a few hours of returning to the van Esme’s score card was most defiantly fulling up, and I was most definitely suffering with the ever increasing tension.
She remained steadfast in not letting me get involved and made sure I suffered the entire time. There were a few moments when she let me help out but then she dismissed me to the side lines the moment she had no more use of me. Her stamina and recovery were impressive but Eve stayed with her. Eve was so into the proceedings she had a little accident on one occasion and marked both of their score cards at the same time. She said that had never happened before and looked genuinely in another world for a minute or so. Esme forgave her lapse and I know she was actually delighted.
When we woke up Esme straddled me and said, ‘You we very good last night and you’re about two thirds of the way to where you want to be. Be good today, suffer in silence, and we can end the day just like this, or like this but better. I know I was hard on you last night but it wasn’t all my way as you might be tempted to think.’ Wriggling on top of me to get comfortable, as I became increasingly uncomfortable, she added, ‘I wanted you last night, several times, but it was for the greater good.’
Then she turned to Eve and stroked her hand down her breast, over her tummy, and between her legs, making her shiver. ‘As for you my talented princess, you were very good and, ignoring your little indiscretion that I take as nothing but a compliment, you d
eserve a treat. You lie right where you are and let us take care of you. I’ve firmed up your snack and it will be my pleasure, I assure you.’
Eve must still have been tingling from the previous night because she was fast and hard. The atmosphere and her attention brought me close myself but I knew I wasn’t allowed. Eve had never teased me so thoroughly or for so long as Esme was, and it had always been awesome after she had. I was looking forwards to the evening very much indeed.
Chapter Twenty Six – Choices
No one had disturbed us during the night so we assumed Gary must be ok. He walked into the communal area when we were finishing breakfast. Although he put his hand on his forehead again and smiled, he looked pale and in pain. Looking at me he said, ‘Good stuff that blood of yours.’ Then he winked and added, ‘Though you’d be nothing without those ladies.’
News quickly spread of the apparent success and Esme wasted no time in parading Gary in front of Andrea. We spent the day following Esme’s protocol for diluting my blood. It was simple, add the same volume of boiled cooled water, that was hopefully sterile, then divide in half, then repeat with each sample a further twelve times. Luckily one sample of blood went a very long way but the process and making sure all the containers were sterile, and waiting for water to cool, was time consuming. Esme had to check every sample but the process seemed consistent and she passed them all.
By lunch time we had enough samples for everyone and several left over. Everyone met in the communal area for lunch and Gary was still feeling fine, for someone who’d been bitten by a Zombie and was dying of cancer. It was Gary who spoke to the crowd, ‘You all know what’s been happening here and that I had the injection yesterday, allowed myself to be bitten, and that I haven’t shown any signs of infection. This is good news of course, but no one can guarantee one hundred percent that it will work exactly the same for all of you. Everyone has a choice, to have the injection or not. I would suggest that only one or two do so in the next couple of days to see if the effect is reliable, as far as the injection itself not turning them. I’m not sure I would suggest anyone else tests out a bite though.’
I felt the need to add something, to bring everyone back to what was inevitably a harsh reality. I said, ‘Make no mistakes what this means. We can inject everyone, but there are very few people who survive a Zombie bite, not because they turn, but because if things are so bad people are getting bitten they will probably get bitten enough to die as a result. The Zombies bite hard and deep and they favour the neck. If you get bitten on the neck…you will die.’
‘This also doesn’t mean that we have a cure or some magical biological weapon against them. For almost all of you, this doesn’t change anything. We’re still outnumbered a million to one and they are still getting more and more dangerous. We’re still trying to survive, day by day, in an apocalypse. In truth, we are all far more likely to die at the hand of Zombies, or perhaps from a lack of food or water, than we are of natural causes. This doesn’t mean we should stop trying or fighting, we’re doing really well, but it means we have to stay realistic. If we become complacent I guarantee you we’ll all die.’
Jim stepped forwards and even before he’d said, ‘You heard the man, we have work to do’, the crowd began to disperse. Jim didn’t follow them and instead rolled up one sleeve and said, ‘One of those bastards might get close enough to bite me once but it will be the last thing they ever do. I want the injection and I don’t want to talk about it.’
Esme picked up a needle and said, ‘Fair enough’, before injecting him.
Jim rolled down his sleeve again and said, ‘Now I want to talk. I have a suggestion.’
We gathered round, intrigued. Jim carried on, ‘A few more days and this place will be as secure as we can reasonably get it with the resources we have. I still think splitting up and taking the factory back is a good idea. I’ve assessed the back door thing but the drills around escaping this place by the front door in a convoy have worked well, so as it’s a lot of work and adds a weak spot I don’t think we need to. If we can’t get to the escape vehicles it’s unlikely we’ll be able to get to the back door either, though I’d like to see the fuckers try with the fences as they are.’
We hadn’t been involved in any of the base works but every day we saw things change. All the fences had been made higher and plates of metal had been added that stuck outwards a downwards making them almost impossible to climb. There were wires everywhere outside and a colour-coded system so watchers would know where a wire had been tripped, though rabbits regularly caused false alarms. There were trenches full of spikes covered over with sticks and grass and the watch and patrol systems were working well.
I asked, ‘You said you also had a suggestion, what is it?’
Jim stood tall and said, ‘I’ve been talking to the captain. That plane out there won’t fly forever without maintenance and there’s only one thing it’s really good for, finding more survivors. When we split up we’ll be ok but I think we’re stronger when there are more of us. Recent events have proved that. I heard tell you folks spoke about saving the human race before you came to find us and if that’s true, we’re going to need more people, and more children.’
‘The captain reckons the plane can make it to at least three large airports, one at a time of course, and still make it back. He reckons he could make it to London in one trip, but would have to re-fuel to get back. This place has computers and printers we could fire up and he could drop leaflets giving a date and location we could meet people at and telling people to light a fire if it’s safe for him to land. Or he could drop a radio like we did the last time.’
Esme and Eve flanked me but stayed silent. I said, ‘I agree with the principal. My main problem is that there is only room for two in the plane and one has to be the captain. We’ve had almost no Zed encounters recently where if there hadn’t been at least four of us we might have been overwhelmed. One person and the captain wouldn’t last long on the ground. As far as flying over and dropping leaflets or a radio, that’s safer.’
I asked, ‘Is he sure about the range of the plane and his ability to navigate?’
Jim answered, ‘He seems pretty confident. You guys went down the A19 and survived. We could meet people at the start of the A19 from the A1 because anyone could find that. Then we could bring them here. Like you said last time, if people are still alive they must be fighters and probably have transport. By this stage they might want to stay where they are, they might be doing as well as us, but it would still be useful to know and exchange news. We could drop them some vaccine, maybe trade if there is something they have that we really need.’
I asked, ‘So who would go with the captain, it’s still a risky mission?’
Jim answered, ‘Mike said he’d like to go but he wouldn’t mind taking a gun and having a little practice first.’
I looked around at Esme and Eve. Eve shrugged her shoulders, ‘He’s not wrong about more being better. We were going to see who might be worth teaching to shoot anyway so if Mike wants to try he can. Unless he shows some talent though, it’s more dangerous to take a gun than not. He’s not bad hand to hand but if he uses a gun and misses they’ll be on him and he won’t be ready. If he doesn’t have a gun that will never happen.’
Esme chimed in, ‘Agreed.’
Jim rounded up Mike and the captain. The captain confirmed he wanted to try and Eve gave Mike a try with an M9 at the shooting car. He did ok for a beginner, maybe even a little better than expected. She left him with Chris and a box of ammo and they took a car and a couple more people for back up and went to find any local trouble.
We sat on the couches to see if anyone else would turn up for vaccination, but no one did. It wasn’t unexpected. In their position I would have wanted to wait a day or two as well, just to make sure. Esme said, ‘It was really close the other day and I’ve seen the cells. I’m going to have the injection.’
Eve said, ‘Me too, it was really close for me too.’
>
They injected each other and we sat down again. I said, ‘Dropping leaflets and setting a meeting point where the A19 meets the A1 isn’t a bad plan at all. My worry is the same as it’s always been, if we find more people they won’t all necessarily be good people. Look at last time.’
Esme replied, ‘It is like last time and like last time we have more to gain than lose, though of course there are risks. We dealt with it last time and we can do so again. Also, more time has passed now and bad eggs in a group are more likely to have been dealt with by now.’
Eve said, ‘I agree it’s worth it. I still think we need more guns and more ammunition and that’s what we should do tomorrow. There are a few hours left of today so why don’t we ferry the gardeners to the village so they can do a little more work. I’m sure there’s stuff they can be doing.’
Esme sighed, ‘That would be nice, almost like a holiday, it’s pretty there.’
Jim relinquished the gardeners and Mike, Chris, Ben and Izzy came too. Mike had found a couple of local Zeds to practice on and had taken one down with four shots before Chris had to help. He needed more practice. We crammed into two cars and planned to take a look at a couple of other cottages and back gardens to see what we could find. It was a successful trip and more gardening got done.
Mike came with us while we hit a few houses back in the village. He learned a useful lesson when we came across a couple of Zeds that for whatever reason hadn’t joined in the big charge. He fired four shots as they charged from the back door of the house and although two hit the leading Zed it didn’t drop. We were there to clean up the mess and Mike was the first to say, ‘I’d be dead if it weren’t for you guys wouldn’t I?’
Eve said, ‘Probably, but you weren’t too bad under pressure and you got one in the neck, but not centrally enough to kill it. They don’t bleed out but if you smash their spinal column they do drop. Overall, considering you’ve only had a gun in your hand today, you’re doing ok. If it had only been you and you were using a weapon, what do you think would have happened?’
