“It must have been scary in London.”
Ellen nodded. “Sure was.” She decided not to add any details.
“I’m going in to see if there is anyone to take back with us,” the soldier told Tommy. “Can you show them inside? They’re free to move around. No quarantine needed.”
“Right, thanks for everything,” he answered.
“No problem.”
“I can show you where the administrator’s office is, Hanna,” Tommy offered. “I guess she’s sorted out your rooms.”
She smiled. “Great. Come on, Ash, let’s go and get settled in.”
“Cool, Mum,” he replied, jumping up. He ran to her with Bob dancing around his feet.
Tommy put his free arm around his son’s shoulders as they walked towards the entrance. “There’s a boy I want you to meet, Ash. His name is Barney, and we saved him and his sister, Ruth. His mother died.”
“That’s sad,” said Ash. “Does he like football?”
“I think so. Don’t all boys like footie?”
“She seems nice,” Ellen remarked to Marla once the reunited family had disappeared inside the building.
Marla shrugged. “I guess, but she hates me.”
“Really? Why? Didn’t you get on?”
“She thought I was to blame for their divorce.”
“But you and Tommy were just friends, no?”
“Yeah, but she thought there was more to it. Even when I started dating Mark, she still wouldn’t talk to me.”
Ellen nudged her sister. “Maybe things will be different now. You know, everything that’s going on puts things in perspective. People settle their differences when bigger things are more important.”
Marla smiled. “Thanks, sis.”
“You’ll see.”
“You know, me and Tommy had an argument the other night.”
“How come?” Ellen asked.
Marla glanced the other way. “It was my fault really. I was annoyed at how he is with Jakob and I accused him of being jealous.”
“Hmm, I’ve always thought he had a soft spot for you, Marl.”
“I don’t think so. I thought we were real friends, especially after everything we went through on our way here, but he seems to have become more distant lately.”
“I think that’s because of Jakob,” Ellen pointed out. “Honestly, Marl, I don’t think you need to worry about Tommy. I’ve often wondered how sometimes you don’t notice the things right in front of you. You’ve got a friend for life there and anything else you want.”
“No, he said he didn’t have any feelings for me and laughed.”
“Really, you asked him?”
Marla squirmed. “Kind of.”
“I reckon you’ve got your wires crossed. Tommy looks like he’s already forgotten about it. Let’s go inside,” Ellen suggested. “And stop pouting. I’m the one who should be sad, now that Robert doesn’t want to see me anymore.”
“I’m sorry, little sis.”
“It’s okay. It was the thing he wanted to tell me when I met him the other day after he’d been out on patrol. Bigger things are more important now and I get his reasons. I don’t really need to be in a relationship anyhow. I have you and my friends, and that’s enough. And I want to focus on teaching here and the sleep study. It will be so cool if my dreams help Doctor Grice in some way and even better if he can cure me.”
Week 12
Monday 22
Marla jumped at the knock upon her door. Placing her book upside down to save the page, she slid off the bed and hurried to answer it. Standing outside in the corridor was Tommy. “Oh, hi, what brings you here?” she asked.
“Do I need an excuse?” he asked, smirking.
“I guess not! I’m sorry about the other day,” she added sheepishly.
“No worries. You’ve already apologised enough. It’s damn easy to get weirded out in this place, being all closed in all the time.”
Marla smiled. “Thanks. How’s it going with you?”
“Great. I was just with Ash.”
“How’s he settling in? You look really happy.”
Tommy’s grin widened. “I feel happier. It’s great. He’s great. And he and Barney seem to be hitting it off, which is cool as I didn’t want the kid to feel left out now that my family are here.”
Marla felt herself wince slightly at the word ‘family’ as she thought immediately of Hanna’s scowl. “How’s your ex – you two getting on okay?” she asked warily, remembering how they had fought like cat and dog towards the end of their marriage.
He paused and seemed to consider his reply. “Yeah, it’s good. Better than I expected.”
Marla felt her stomach drop, but she forced a smile. “That’s really great.”
“Yeah, we’ve decided to let bygones be bygones. Those freaks put everything in perspective,” he added with a laugh. “I guess it’s made us grow up a bit, and we’re really chatting about stuff.”
“Great,” she mumbled.
“Anyway, that’s why I knocked. We’re just about to go for dinner – well, the grand old cafeteria, where else? I asked Ellen and she’s coming. Billy and Eric are popping along, and Barney. Thought it would be nice if you could come. I know you and Hanna were a bit frosty in the past.”
“She hates me.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t,” he said.
“Well…”
“So are you coming?”
Marla bit her lip and pictured the scenario in her head: happy faces all round, except for Hanna glaring at her. She was not quite sure how she would react around Tommy and his ex playing happy families with their son. Something about it made her feel queasy and she was not sure why. “I don’t think so, Tommy. Maybe let her settle in a bit first. We were never the best of friends.”
Tommy nodded. “Fine, I understand. Next time?”
“Yeah, let me know. And have a nice time.”
“Sure will. Night.”
“Night,” she replied.
Upon closing the door, Marla turned and rested her back against the wood. Why did she feel so odd about this? It was great her friend had been reunited with his family. He deserved it. It was what she wished for too, with her own mother, although that would take a little longer. And Hanna was just Hanna. She was sure the two of them would not get back together again…
Marla stood up straight and scowled. Get back together again? So what if they do? What exactly am I feeling? Jealousy for my friend, really? So stupid!
Shaking her head, she flopped down on her bed. Turning the book over, she stared at the words swimming before her eyes for a moment before refocusing and forgetting everything but the story within.
Thursday, 25
“Come in!”
Marla opened the door and walked into Commander Caballero’s office. “You asked for me, sir?”
“Yes, sit down,” he said, shuffling some papers on his desk. “We have a suspect to interview regarding the incident in the basement.”
“That’s good you’ve found someone, sir.”
“Yes, he turned himself in because of the number of people who died. I need you to interview him?”
“Me? Why?”
“Basically, because he asked for you,” Caballero replied, looking her straight in the eye. “You know him. It’s Robert.”
Marla blinked. “Robert?! Are you sure? Why would he…”
“That’s what I want to find out. He’s dating your sister, isn’t he?”
She shook her head. “He was, but he broke it off with her. She told me that he had been saying some strange things, but I put it down to the pressured situation in here, sir.”
“It appears it was something else. And please drop the sir, Marla. It’s Juan.”
“Right, sir.”
He chuckled slightly and stood up. “We have him in the interview room, so if you’d like to come with me, we can get started.
“You know that whatever he has done has nothing to do with me or my sist
er?” said Marla, feeling wary.
“I do know that,” he replied, his tone unchanging.
***
Marla walked into the interview room and closed the door quietly behind her. The place was completely empty except for two metal chairs and a matching table. There was something clinical and detached about it. When the man sitting at the table lifted his head, she almost did a double-take. He looked completely different, as if he had not slept in weeks. His appearance was unkempt and he rubbed the side of his face in a nervous way. Marla thought he did not look himself at all. “Hello, Robert,” she said, pulling out the chair opposite him.
He nodded.
“You asked to speak to me?”
Robert failed to make eye contact, focusing on a spot on the wall instead. “I didn’t really plan to do anything... I wouldn’t have, not really, only…” His sentence trailed off.
Marla stayed quiet. She sensed the man wanted to tell her something, but he was having trouble getting his words out. Moving her chair away slightly, she leaned back to give him some distance. If he was feeling paranoid and nervy, leaning towards him was not going to help.
He scrutinised his fingers as though seeing them for the first time, and he turned them over and over, examining them, before looking up again, straight into her eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, only them.”
“Who are ‘them’?”
Robert shifted in his seat and peered around the room as though wary of someone listening. “Them, the things, they’re not who we think they are.”
“You mean the dead that are alive?” asked Marla, resisting the urge to lean in.
He shook his head. “No, the other ones.”
“I don’t follow. You mean the dead in here that the scientists were working on?”
“No.”
“Okay, you mean there are more of them in this place?” she asked, her pulse quickening.
With a sigh he shook his head again. “You are not listening. They are in here, inside! They’re not the dead out there or in here. They’re different.”
“So what are they?”
Robert lifted his hands in the air and turned them, palms up, towards her. He leaned backwards. “I don’t know, but they’re not like us. I don’t know what they are. You can’t see them. I was trying to get rid of them, save everyone. They don’t want us here.” He started to scratch the side of his face, grimacing as he glanced behind him.
Marla did not know what to say. The man was obviously disturbed by his experiences and imagining things that did not exist; only they were very real in his mind. She considered what to say next, but she did not have to as he spoke first.
“They’re not who they seem and Doctor Sleep, he wants to read your mind, control you. The power over life and death is…” He faltered and stared at the wall.
She frowned, perplexed, but decided to go with his hallucination. “So you thought that using the dead to kill them was the right idea? You could have killed everyone.”
“I know, I know,” moaned Robert, bowing his forehead low to the table and placing his hands on the back of his head. He laced his fingers together. “And I have to live with that. I only got one.”
“One what?”
He looked up again and smiled. “One of them.”
Marla stared at him. She had no idea what he was talking about and guessed he was not going to elaborate, probably because he couldn’t. Robert seemed to be living in his own private hell and she had no wish to make it worse. At that moment the door opened and Caballero strode in.
“Are you leaving?” Robert asked Marla, looking distinctly frightened. He seemed to shrink away from the commander.
“I’m sorry,” Marla answered, and she was. Sorry that he was suffering. But, really, with everything that had been going on over these last weeks, she would be very surprised if he was the only one cracking under the strain.
“Thank you,” said the commander, nodding towards her. “I can take it from here.”
“What’s going to happen to me?” Robert pleaded as she got up to go.
“Don’t worry,” she replied. “They want to help you.”
“They’re liars,” he shouted out. “You should check down below, Marla. The secret places.”
She glanced back to see Robert place his head on the table and cover it with both arms. Caballero stood over him. As she left the interview room, she hoped her words were true and that Robert would gain the necessary care he so clearly needed. Her conscience wrestled with what she should tell Ellen.
Friday, 26
“Penny for your thoughts?” asked Jakob.
Marla fiddled with the spoon in her cereal. “Sorry, I was miles away.”
“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“It’s too early in the day for me,” she replied. “I’m too sleepy to concentrate.”
“Does it bother you?”
“What does?” Marla asked.
“Her?” said Jakob, flicking his wrist in the direction of a nearby table in the cafeteria. “His ex-wife. You keep staring at her.”
She followed his gaze to where Tommy was laughing with his son. “No,” she said, turning back. “Why should it? He’s my friend, like I told you before.”
“I was just wondering. You seem different, preoccupied with him.”
“That’s nonsense. I’m just the same. What does it matter to you anyway?” Marla added. “We’re not dating or anything. We’re friends, no?”
Jakob frowned and bit into his toast.
Week 13
Sunday 28
It was coming up to 5 p.m. when Marla eventually knocked on Tommy’s door after thinking things over for the entire afternoon. From inside she heard muffled sounds and then the door yawned open. Tommy greeted her with a lopsided smile and a vibrant, “Hey!”
“Marla!” a young voice called out.
Caught off guard, she peered over Tommy’s shoulder to see his son playing with Bob. “Hi, Ash, how’s it going?” she asked as cheerfully as possible, but as soon as the Labrador spotted her, he bolted forward, wagging his tail with so much effort that his butt looked about to fall off. He was such an attention seeker. Giggling, Marla bent down to ruffle his ears. “If you’re busy, I can come back,” she said, standing up again.
“No, it’s fine,” said Tommy. “Come on in.”
“Ah, I needed to talk to you privately, but it can wait.”
He looked at her for a moment. Marla guessed he detected it was something serious because his expression changed. Turning back to the boy, he said, “Ash, I need to speak to Marla for a little while. Can I take you back to your mum?”
Ash stood up and gathered his toy cars. “Sure thing, Dad.” After stroking Bob one last time, he followed his father out of the room with a shy nod to Marla.
“I’m just taking him to Hanna, so stay out here,” said Tommy, locking the door. Marla nodded and sat down on the floor with her back to the wall. Raising her knees, she watched Tommy take Ash’s hand and lead him towards the elevator. They disappeared inside. After ten minutes or so, Tommy reappeared and made his way back to her. “What’s happened?” he asked.
“Thanks for talking,” Marla said, standing. “I don’t know where to start, to be honest, but I can’t discuss it with Ellen. There’s some weird shit going on in here and I don’t know what to think.”
He scratched the side of his jaw. “Okay, start at the beginning and go from there.”
“We can’t talk here.”
“How about we grab a coffee in the cafeteria?”
Marla shook her head. “Too public. I need to talk to you alone. My room, come on,” she said, walking a few rooms down.
Mystified, Tommy followed her inside her room and sat on the chair by her desk. “I’m all ears.”
She closed the door and kicked off her DMs. After smoothing her hair behind her ears, she perched on the end of her bed. “What I’m about to tell you is going to sound odd,” she began.
“Okay.”
Marla took a deep breath. “Right, well, don’t say anything until I finish. Robert was responsible for releasing the dead that were being experimented on…”
“Robert? Hell no!”
Marla raised her eyebrows.
“Oh, right, sorry, go on,” said Tommy, leaning back in the chair.
“I was asked to interview him because Robert asked for me. It was secret, so everything I’m about to tell you I was told not to tell anyone. I haven’t even been able to tell Ellen, which makes me feel crap. I’m going to have to tell her at some point.”
“Not necessarily…”
“He broke things off with her. She has no idea. He only told her that he couldn’t cope with things because he was depressed. I know Robert wasn’t acting himself recently because Ellen told me, or she tried to, but I didn’t take it seriously. He kept talking about people in the facility not being who they seem. He said they’re not like us and dangerous. I thought he meant the dead-lookers as they were being experimented on in here.
“I had no idea they were keeping the dead in this place until Jakob told me once, but he still didn’t tell me that it was going on now… and then the incident in the lab happened and I saw for myself. Anyway, Robert kept saying he meant people who look like us, but aren’t like us. He said he only got one of them.”
“Who did he mean by them?”
“Exactly! I’ve no idea. When I pressed him on it, he was answering me, but then Caballero stopped the interview. I just thought Robert had cracked up under the pressure of being here. And I have no idea what has happened to him since.”
He leaned forward in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. “Maybe he means someone is working against everyone else – someone from the government maybe, or a terrorist?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Government would be my bet, but what could they be hiding here?”
“I don’t have any answers. Perhaps they’ve been engineering something new and the virus was a side effect?”
“I don’t get it. I’ve been thinking and rethinking, and I didn’t sleep much last night. It doesn’t make sense.”
I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven Page 15
