“I am a great believer in fate,” she fingered the pendant around her neck, “Your real father, he was a Hindu; you know that, don’t you?”
I had known. Social Services in all fairness had told me about my real family. They had treacle covered it a bit when I was younger, but as I got older I learned the truth of how neither of my parent’s families wanted me so I was abandoned to the care of the local council. All of my records of course followed me to Thorncroft.
Adag smiled, “I was born here,” she said, “So were my parents, I am as Westernised as they come…but,” her voice trailed off and she fell silent for a moment, “But there are some things that are harder to let go of, even Pia, she was living with her boyfriend, but she wanted to walk around the fire, she wanted to wear red on her wedding day, we don’t let go that easily of where we come from and we want to pass it onto our children.”
Where did I come from? I knew very little about my real family, only what I had been told. I hadn’t asked many questions whilst growing up, and I asked even less now I was an adult. It was if a part of me didn’t really want to know. I knew the surface of it all, but I wasn’t willing or ready to go deeper, but now it didn’t matter. The world as we knew it had ended, the past was well and truly Twice Dead.
“There isn’t anyone I could have children with,” I made a face, “Anyway, I am not mummy material, not now, not ever.”
Adag stood up, “Think about it,” she said and she left taking our empty tea mugs with her.
I dreamt that night, I haven’t had dreams for a very long time, or if I have, I don’t remember any of them, but this night was different.
I was standing on the edge of a stone platform looking down into a quarry, staring into a stone pit filled with the Twice Dead, they were looking up at me, swaying, moaning, drooling, their hands stretched above their heads as if to reach out for me.
The earth then began to shake and I lost my footing, I fell forward, I tried to scream, but I couldn’t, my lungs seized up in my chest, my arms failed about, I was going to fall into the pit of the Twice Dead! I heard the wind rushing in my ears and the faces of people I had met throughout my life looked up at me from the quarry, their teeth bared and bloody waiting for me to land among them. Waiting to rip me apart and devour every part of me.
I woke with a jerk, my hairline damp with sweat. The room was dark and my heart was hammering so loud in my ears I thought it was going to explode.
I swung my legs out of the bed and reached for my dressing gown. My leg throbbed as I snapped my leg brace on. I needed a cold drink, something sweet and sugary.
The corridor was lit by low night-lights as I made my way to the kitchen. I got a drink of apple juice from the fridge and drank it down as I sat at the Butchers Block which was now the breakfast bar. I had my night eyes so I didn’t bother putting on the light in the kitchen. Eventually I headed back to my room.
I was surprised to see a light was on in the Yellow Room and the door was partly open. I started to call out, thinking it was Adag in there when I saw a flash of combat green and blonde hair. My mouth snapped shut; I stepped back instinctively into the shadows of the deep alcove behind me. I now had a clear view into the Yellow Room.
Duke was at the shelf with the intravenous medication on it that Nat had given to Adag for Paul. He was fiddling with the boxes. I watched as he removed the thick glass phials filled with clear liquid from the top four boxes. These he put in his trouser pockets, replacing the empty boxes with four similar looking phials from another pocket.
He did this swiftly, making sure that the boxes were neatly stacked the way Adag had put them. He then switched off the light and stepped out of the room as he shut the door behind him After we had eaten our lunch, which surprisingly we both really enjoyed, Paul had asked Phoenix to come to his room with his lap-top. Strangely enough these two residents of Thorncroft rarely interacted, despite both of them having similar traits when it came to being obsessive and reclusive.
Combining their brilliance hadn’t been my idea, it just happened and things became a lot clearer after. Too clear in fact.
I pressed myself hard into the alcove, not daring to breathe. He didn’t look to the side of him; he just walked away, his boots soft on the floor tiles. I stayed where I was for a good ten minutes. Not moving until I was sure, he was no longer in the building.
I went into the Yellow Room, keyed in the code to unlock it and then shutting the door behind me before switching on the light.
I reached for the four boxes I had seen Duke handling. I was careful when I took the phials out. I laid them on one of the empty shelves side by side and then looked at a box he had not touched.
They were almost identical. The only difference was the liquid in the exchanged ones was slightly darker and appeared a bit thicker in consistency.
What the hell was Duke doing? What was in these four phials? My mind was in a turmoil. I contemplated going to Wolf, showing him the phials and telling him everything, but whom would he believe? Me or one of his men?
Moreover, I didn’t know what was in the phials, though I doubted if it was anything good. I took the four changed phials and threw the empty boxes away. I was at loath to tell Adag about what Duke had done. She would probably go mad; confront Duke, and then what? It would all come out, what we knew, what we half knew, that couldn’t happen.
Grimly I set about making the room look as if it hadn’t been tampered with. I switched off the light and quietly left the Yellow Room, the four phials in my hand. In my room, I put them into my sock drawer, hiding them in an old pair of pop socks.
It was only when I got into bed that I realised that Duke knew the code for the Yellow Room door, the only people who knew that code were Adag, Mitch, me, and Seb, and of course Nat as he was a medical person.
Was Nat another Command Epsilon plant? No, if he was, then he could have doctored the phials himself, Duke probably asked Nat for the code and Nat would have thought nothing of it and given it him. After all, he was a fellow soldier.
I would have to speak to Adag tomorrow, and I would have to stop her from going off at a tangent. I closed my eyes. The day the military left Thorncroft would be the happiest day of my life, which is if we all lived to see it.
Adag was stunned when I told her what I had witnessed the night before. Stunned at first, and then so angry, I thought she was going to run out of her flat, find Duke and physically attack him.
I barred the door and said urgently, “Forewarned is forearmed Adag! Think about it! If you accuse him, he will know we aren’t as dumb as we seem, think about it!”
“What the hell is in those phials?” she hissed. She was shaking with rage and I felt the same way, but we both had to stay calm.
I had gone to sleep thinking about that and I had woken up with a horrible idea of what they could possibly contain.
I told her. Her anger turned into horror.
“The Twice Dead pathogen?” she whispered when she finally could speak, “You think they contain the contagion? Oh sweet Shiva!”
I nodded my head. She had to sit down. I in turn sagged against her front door.
“But by infecting Paul now,” she said when she could finally speak, “Would make their quarantine here longer surely?”
I hadn’t thought about that.
“Maybe they are leaving sooner,” I said suddenly.
Adag slowly nodded her head. That made sense.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
We did find out. That same afternoon. Elise came to the kitchen where I was drying the lunch cutlery and putting it away. I was on my own.
She stood at the door and I smiled when I saw her, “Want some more proper coffee Elise?” I said.
She didn’t smile back, “We’re leaving,” she said abruptly, “Tomorrow morning.”
I slowly wiped the large serving spoon I had just picked up off of the draining board and I nodded my head.
“Epsilon Command need us elsewhere urg
ently,” Elise said.
“So much for your quarantine,” I responded as I put the spoon away and reached for another item to dry. A glass this time.
“Yes,” she said and she turned on her boot heels and I watched her walk away, heading for the office.
“The die is cast now,” I murmured, “Well and truly cast…”
We all watched the soldiers get ready to ‘bug out’” as they called it. They lined their trucks and jeeps up in front of the home, and started to pack up their equipment and gear.
It didn’t take long for Cassidy, Eden, Stevie and Jasmine to get wind of what was happening. Eden was disappointed they were going because she wanted to do more listening, the boys were sadder about the loss of the big green trucks they had liked to look at each day. Jasmine though fled to her room in floods of tears.
Gabe and Percy took the dogs for a walk, after being told, they showed no interest or emotion in the news.
“Good riddance,” Gabe said and Percy pretty much said the same.
Mitch shrugged his shoulders, he no more cared, about the army leaving than Gabe and Percy did. He went back up on to the roof whilst Phoenix and Seb worked together at wiring up a box that was needed for the satellite dish.
Seb’s response to hearing about the soldiers leaving was equally as indifferent and Phoenix just said, “I’m thirsty, can I have a coke?”
In a way the bugging out of Wolf’s unit meant that, no one took any notice of what we were doing, not even Duke and his female counterpart, Loretta. They were too busy getting ready to leave.
Later that afternoon Wolf called Adag and me into her old office. He looked tired I thought, tired and worried.
“You’ll be glad to see the back of us I think,” he said when we had sat down.
“I think that is a mutual feeling,” Adag had a slight smile on her lips when she spoke.
“Epsilon Command have a policy of vaccinating all survivors before they leave with us, however you aren’t leaving with us, but they still want you all vaccinated.”
“Vaccinated?” Adag said politely, her face not showing any emotion. My stomach felt hollow, “What vaccinations? And why?”
“It’s protocol,” Wolf was tapping his fingers on the desk, I watched his face, if I didn’t know any better I’d think he was more troubled by this particular set of orders than any of the others he had been given.
“I don’t see the point in it, seeing as none of us are going with you,” Adag said calmly.
“Neither do I,” Wolf agreed with her.
“They probably have their reasons,” I felt I had to say something.
“Probably,” Wolf didn’t sound any more convinced than we did.
“Perhaps you could write up we have been given the vaccinations?” Adag suggested delicately, “And leave it at that.”
I waited for Wolf to refuse, but to my surprise, he nodded his head.
“Nat will give you the vaccinations for you to administer,” he said to Adag.
“Oh,” Adag said and she nodded her head slowly, she glanced at me. We now knew at that moment that the phials that Duke had put into the Yellow Room more than likely contained some form of the Twice Dead contagion.
Wolf stood up and walked to the window, looking out into the grounds of the Home. He put his hands behind his back, his legs slightly apart.
“Nothing is what it seems,” he said and he shook his head.
Was he speaking to us? Or himself. Adag and I looked at each other.
“We will be leaving very early in the morning,” Wolf was still staring out of the window, “We will try to be as quiet as possible, Private Salter can sleep in the billet tonight.”
“Could he stay on late tonight? I know he has a curfew but could you let him off it for tonight,” I said, Wolf opened his mouth to refuse my request and I added, “Just so the boys can say goodbye to him before they go to bed, they are very fond of him, please?”
Wolf exhaled, and then he said abruptly, “He needs to be back at the billet for 2315 hours, tell him I will bust his ass if he is late.”
We were being dismissed. We stood up, Adag exited first and I had just got to the door when Wolf spoke again.
“Do you have family outside of here Lucy?”
I stopped and turned to look at him, he was still at the window, his back to me.
“No,” I shook my head, “No family I know of.”
“Do any of the others?”
“Yes.”
“I had a wife,” he said quietly, “In Atlanta, she was visiting her parents.”
“Seb’s family were in London,” and then I added, “So were Adag’s.”
“Do you believe it?” he said.
“Believe what?” I frowned.
His reply shocked me, “That what happened, the pathogen being released was actually an accident?”
I almost stepped back when his words fully registered in my brain. My mouth dropped open, then I snapped it shut. Lie! I screamed to myself. Lie!
“No,” I said when I finally did answer, “I don’t.”
“Why?”
“Does it really matter what I think?” I replied.
“Probably not,” I smiled then, and he moved from the window back to the seat at Adag’s desk. I don’t know why I did it, honestly, I don’t, I hesitated, then I walked back to him, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He looked startled. He went still.
“Live long and live well Colonel Wolf,” I said and I left him sitting in his chair, rather surprised I think, but not at all offended.
Private Salter had been told by Captain Lacks-Renton that they were bugging out. They were both in the lounge near the dining table. He was stony faced as she was.
“Well you will both be glad to see the back of us,” I joked but neither of them laughed.
Salter walked away, heading for the kitchen not looking at me and I sighed, “You should never get attached to civilians whilst you are on active duty,” Elise said curtly, “He hasn’t done himself any favours.”
“Look after him Elise,” I said quietly.
“He’s a soldier, he can look after himself,” was her cool response.
“Duke has it in for him, and it’s my fault, please, please look after him,” I expected her to refuse again but to my surprise she nodded her head. I had pretty much told who had kicked the shit out of the young soldier but I sensed that Elise could deal with Duke.
“Thank you,” and I reached out and took her hand, squeezed it, I expected her to pull away but as I started to take my hand from hers, she gripped it tightly.
“You’re a fucking pain in the ass, Lucy,” she said.
“I know,” I didn’t argue with her and the hug she gave me was quick but strong and then she strode away, leaving me surprised and touched at the same time.
Private Salter spent his final evening with Cassidy and Stevie, playing cards and Cassidy’s favourite game, Ludo. Jasmine refused to come out of her room and Eden was with her. Seb and Mitch were as usual in the garage and Gabe and Percy had taken the dogs for a walk and upon their return, retreated to their flat for an early night.
Adag was with Paul and of course Phoenix was in his room, monitoring the Twice Dead World outside of our sanctuary. I in turn sat on the sofa in the lounge area with my sketch book, behind me I could hear Cassidy laughing, Stevie’s mellow voice as he asked if anyone wanted a snack before the next game. Cassidy did of course, when didn’t he want to eat, I thought with surprising fondness for the big teenager.
Private Salter said very little to me, and I didn’t attempt to engage him in conversation. I just let the boys enjoy his company and he theirs.
All too soon it was time for Cassidy and Stevie to go to bed, Adag allowed them to stay up until 11pm rather than 10pm.
I made Cassidy his night time cocoa and mixed in his medication, a very light sedative that helped him sleep each night.
“Bye Kai,” Cassidy said cheerfully and he slapped the soldier on the sh
oulder, and then he lumbered off to bed clutching his drink and a chocolate biscuit he had wheedled out of me.
Stevie had gone to his room briefly and he returned, carrying a small box. He held it out to Private Salter who looked at it and then at Stevie, “It’s for you,” Stevie said.
I noticed that Salter’s hands trembled when he took the offered box from Stevie. He opened it and took out a simple wooden checker set, a travel one.
Stevie gave Private Salter a happy smile, “It’s brand new,” he assured the young soldier, who was staring at it, his lips pressed together, “You can play with your friends, like you did with me.”
“Thanks Stevie,” Private Salter said, “It’s really…” his voice cracked slightly, he inhaled and continued, “Kind of you…I’m…sorry I haven’t got anything for you.”
“That’s OK,” the good hearted Stevie said, and he made it worse for the young soldier because he hugged him. A warm strong Stevie hug.
I was pretending not to notice the exchange between the two young men. My head was bent and I was looking at the sketch I was just finished off.
Private Salter was like a statue, Stevie’s loving arms tightly around him, the soldier was rigid, unyielding, and then he surprised me, he hugged Stevie back, equally as hard and with equal feeling.
“Take care of yourself Stevie,” Private Salter finally said and he stepped away from Stevie and put the gift into an army canvas pouch in his waist band.
“I will,” Stevie promised him as he patted his friend’s arm, “Night-night,” he turned to look at me on the sofa, “Good-night Lucy.”
“Good night, Stevie,” I responded, “Can you put my bedroom light on for me, please?”
“Will do,” he said and he headed off to his room.
I stood up. Private Salter stood where he was, watching Stevie disappear out of his life.
“You better get back to the billet,” I said to the soldier. He didn’t move.
“It’s not right,” he said and he rubbed his face, struggling to compose himself.
“What’s not right?” I knew what he was saying but I wanted to hear him say it out loud.
The Abandoned Trilogy (Book 1): Twice Dead (Contagion) Page 25
