Dead World Rising

by Katerina Petrova

  I was sad that I didn't get to see my dad before he died, but I was thankful that they had each other all these years. I did feel a little angry at first, when I found out where they were. They shouldn't have left us, but I knew they were trying to find a cure for this thing, and that was more important.

  I already missed everyone back at Sanctuary, without them I never would have got my sister back. It was more than that though, they had become like my family. Frankie was the glue that held everyone together, Tamara was the one who cheered everyone up when they were down. Jensen was wise beyond his years, and Jade, well she was like my adoptive mother.

  I never quite figured out where I fitted in, but we all had our uses and no matter what we were always there for each other. When Frankie lost Nikkita, it had been beyond hard. Yet everyone rallied round to help her cope, and now she was on her way back to herself.

  As we came to an old house on the very edge of the town, the rain turned fierce and the wind nearly knocked us over. The sky was dark and I could tell that a storm was on its way.

  'I think we need to take cover,' I told her.

  'You're right, lets check out that house.' As we approached the house, we could see it had been fortified. The gates were reinforced, the windows boarded up and a couple of cars were parked in front of the gates. I went in front, looking for a way in. I climbed on top of the cars and peered over the gates, the court yard was clear of walkers. There was no sign of trouble, I couldn't hear any moans.

  'Hello, is anyone there?' I called. I heard some rustling coming from the bushes, I got out my crossbow, aiming it at the bushes. A rabbit jumped out and scuttled across the yard, I looked to the right to see the door open. I put down the crossbow, not wanting to scare anyone. A tall guy in his mid-twenties came out, he was tanned with long black hair and dark eyes. He was muscular and held a rather large axe in his hands.

  'My friend and I need help,' I told him.

  'Is it just you two?' He asked in a gruff voice.

  'Yeah, she's a doctor so we can help in exchange for somewhere to stay,' I told him. His eyes lit up, and called inside to his friends. I couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but as he came and opened the gates to let us in, I assumed the conversation was a positive one. Another guy in his mid-twenties came out with him, he had the same tanned skin and black hair.

  'I'm Finn, this is Ellen,' I said politely.

  'I'm Carl, this Angelo. You really a doctor?' He asked Ellen.

  'Yes, I spent years working in Tameside hospital,' she replied.

  'Come in then, we could use your help,' Carl said. The place was pretty posh inside, it was a large house with at least twenty bedrooms inside. Pale blue walls decorated the downstairs, with plush, thick grey carpets and paintings of various pretty countrysides hung in each room. The furniture was still in tact, it was old but well cared for. I noticed something strange as we were shown around, aside from those who worked here, everyone else was elderly and disabled.

  'What is this place?' I asked curiously.

  'It used to be a private old folks home,' Carl told us.

  'How did you come to be here?' Ellen wondered. 'I worked here before everything went to hell, as did a few of my mates. Some people came to check on their loved ones, while others had just heard of this place and thought it would be safe. Most of the people who came, wanted to stay,' he replied.

  'Where are the doctors, the nurses?' Ellen asked him.

  'They just left, ran back to their families and just left these old people here to rot,' he told us angrily.

  'And you stayed?' I said in shock.

  'My nan lived here, I couldn't just leave her. So yeah, I stayed.'

  'Is she still here?' I asked carefully. I saw the sad look in his eyes and knew the answer. 'No, she died last year. She went quietly though, and I put her down before she could come back. It was a better death than most people, have nowadays,' he replied almost smiling.

  'That's true, thank god for small mercies,' I told him.

  'What is it you need help with?' Ellen asked.

  'Some of our patients aren't doing so well, and we can't figure out what's wrong with them,' he replied sadly.

  'I'm more than happy to help, we were on our way to Holywell Green when the storm struck,' I said.

  'I'll talk to the others, but if you can help us we might be able to sort you out with a car,' he smiled.

  My eyes lit up, we'd struck gold here.

  'That would be great, thank you,' Ellen replied graciously.

  'No problem, its the least we can do. Now let me take you to our patients.' He took us upstairs to a room at the very end of the hall, there was a man laying still in a bed. He looked to be about seventy-five, he was skinny with a bald head and old scars that covered his upper arms. He coughed in his sleep, but didn't wake up.

  'This is Roger, he's been ill for a while but we can't figure out what wrong with him,' Carl said worryingly.

  'What are his symptom's?' Ellen asked in her doctor voice.

  'He keeps complaining of pain in his back and round his ribs, shortness of breath and he's been getting a little feverish,' Carl replied concernedly.

  'I need you to wake him up, and ask one of your men to check your medical supplies. I need to know what you've got,' Ellen said sternly.

  'Right away.'

  He went out into the hall and called to one of his friends, he then came back in to wake Roger.

  'Roger, its Carl. Wake up, there's a doctor here to help you,' he whispered gently.

  'What?' He murmured sleepily.

  The old man opened his eyes and groggily sat up, his blue eyes blinking a few times before he was lucid enough to talk.

  'I'm Ellen, I'm here to help you. Can you tell me what the problem is?' She asked kindly.

  'I've been getting pain in my ribs and back, as well as shortness of breath. I've been feeling really hot as well,' he told her.

  'Does it hurt when you breathe in?'

  'Yes.'

  'It's Pleurisy, it can be treated with some strong antibiotics, what medicine do you have?' She asked Carl.

  'We've got antibiotics, painkillers but its the strong stuff,' he replied showing her a large plastic bag full of meds.

  'Give him three of these everyday for a week, you'll feel better soon Roger,' she smiled.

  'Thanks, we were stumped trying to figure out what was wrong.'

  'Who's next?' She asked tiredly.

  'Don't worry there's not many who need your help, I promise not to over work you,' he laughed.

  'That makes a change for me,' she smiled.

  'Finn is it?' Carl asked.

  'Yeah.'

  'My guys could use some help in the yard, they're on cleaning duty,' he said.

  'I'm guessing that doesn't mean actual cleaning,' I smiled.

  He shook his head and smiled back at me.

  'No, a few dead sometimes roll in and get stuck in the fences. If you don't mind, would you give them a hand?'

  'Sure, no problem. Ellen, you gonna be alright without me?'

  'Yes, I'll be fine,' she replied. I headed out of the room and towards the stairs, I stopped outside another room as I heard one the men reading to a little boy. He couldn't have been any older than seven, he was a tiny boy with short black hair, hazel eyes and dark skin. He looked well fed, then again most of the people here did.

  'Rest now son, you'll feel better soon,' the guy said.

  The boy closed his eyes, while the man got up and closed the door on his way out.

  'Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you,' I said.

  'It's alright, I'm Terry. You must be with the doctor,' he replied politely. 'Yeah, I'm Finn. Is that your son?' I asked. He didn't looked very old, definitely not old enough to have a seven year old son. Terry was short, maybe 5'5 with short blond hair and pale blue eyes and alabaster skin. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he certainly didn't look like the kids dad.

  'No, he's my cousin. Our family was from Set
tle, but they died after everything happened,' he said sadly.

  'Not than I'm an expert, but you seem to be doing a pretty good job of taking care of him,' I told him smiling.

  'Thanks, he's sick though. I'm hoping your doctor friend can help him,' he replied sadly. 'What's wrong with him?' I wondered concernedly.

  'I don't know, he's been off for a few days since we got back from a run. H-he wasn't bit or anything, but he's burning up and he can't keep anything down,' I could hear the worry in his voice. The kid was his last remaining family, just like I'd thought Faye was mine. I was lucky that Faye had found our mum, most people didn't have families any more. Like Frankie, Jade, Tamara, they'd lost their families long ago.

  'Don't worry Ellen will fix him right up,' I smiled as we walked down the stairs. We got to the yard to find a few of the guys wrestling with the dead, the walkers had gotten over the barricade. I raced over to them, taking out my crossbow as I gave them a hand. I took out two of them, but it didn't do much good. There were a few dozen of them at least, Terry ran inside to get some help. I wasn't great at hand to hand combat, I was better with the crossbow but that wasn't going to do the job this time. I took out my knife and delved into the fray, I grabbed one the had a guy pinned down. I took it out before it could get me, I pulled the guy up. He was a short stocky guy, with ghostly skin, azure eyes and long red hair that he kept tied back.

  'Thanks mate,' he said breathlessly.

  'No problem, lets get those crazies,' I replied determinedly. He nodded as we rejoined the others. I took out a couple more before reinforcements arrived, there was thirteen of us now dealing with them. I wiped the blood off my face as I killed another, I turned to see Terry, he'd got his leg trapped under a fallen tree. The storm was still bad, we could barely see in front of us. The wind howled, the rain pelted us hard as it came down. I could hear the thunder bang, see the white flashes as the lighting whipped at the sky. I raced over to Terry but it was too late, a walker was upon him. The others were too busy to see, but I pulled it off of him. I threw it to the floor, stamping on its head until the brains spilled out. I pushed the tree off Terry, as I looked down at his wound but knew it was too late. He'd been bitten on the arm, just below the elbow.

  'He needs help,' I shouted.

  The short stocky guy came running over, he saw the bite on Terry's arm but rather than panic he just said, 'get him inside, we can fix him.'

  I was confused but didn't have time to say anything a corpse lunged at me, I shoved it out the way before stabbing it in the head. I went to give Terry a hand as he walked back towards the house. 'How can you be helped?' I asked.

  'We've had people be bitten before, if its in the right place we can remove the limb,' he replied sternly.

  'Never thought of that before,' was all I could say.

  We went back to find Ellen, she was upstairs helping out Terry's cousin. The boy looked more ill than he had earlier, poor kid.

  'He'll be fine, he's just got a bad case of the flu,' she told them smiling.

  'Are you sure doc?' Terry asked concernedly.

  'Yeah I'm sure, don't worry. What's wrong with you?' She asked worryingly.

  'I've been bit, but if we get my arm off in time I might just survive,' he told her.

  'Alright then, well I'm just about done for my rounds so lets get you somewhere private,' she replied simply. There was a shed in the yard, it wasn't overly clean but it would do. I was glad that no one else had been bitten or killed during the attack. The men were now tirelessly putting the fences back up, Carl escorted us to the shed, keeping an eye on Terry as we went. Ellen opened the door to find a large room with shelves that had various tools in, a big, dusty wooden table sat in the middle of the floor, it was covered in a white cloth that had old, dried blood on.

  'Get him on the table,' Ellen ordered them in her doctor voice.

  'Ah, son of a bitch that hurts like hell,' Terry cried.

  'I know, but we're going to save your life so be thankful,' Carl told him.

  'Bedside manners aren't your strong suit,' Terry joked.

  'Stand back, let me look at his wound,' Ellen said. She rolled up his sleeve and examined the bite, it was a few inches below the elbow but the black veins had already began to spread. The had reached just above his elbow, there was still hope for his survival.

  'Do you have any sedatives, or Morphine?' Ellen asked.

  'No, don't waste them on me, just do it,' Terry told her.

  'Alright, but I'm going to need something to cut your arm with. Preferably something clean,' she replied. 'There a good saw in here somewhere,' Carl said as he started looking on the shelves. 'You need to hurry, if the veins reach his shoulder we've got no chance to save him,' Ellen told him urgently.

  'Ah, here it is,' he handed the saw to Ellen.

  'I'll need you two, to hold him down,' she said sternly. I took hold of his legs, while Carl held his chest and other arm. I looked away as Ellen started cutting off his arm, he screamed in pain but she kept at it. The sound of the metal cutting through bone was enough to make me feel queasy, I pushed his legs down as he writhed in pain. I couldn't imagine the agony he was in, I turned my head just in time to see her cut through his bone, the crunch it made as it was sawed was horrible. I watched the blood spurt out of the gaping wound, Ellen kept on working not flinching or even stopping to wipe the blood off her.

  'There, its done,' she sighed with relief after patching him up.

  'How long will it take to know if its worked?' I asked.

  'A couple of hours at most, we'll keep a guard on him at all times until we're sure,' Carl replied.

  'Thanks doc,' Terry smiled.

  'No problem, glad I could help,' she said happily. The next morning after Ellen had double checked all the patients, we set off. Terry was fine, much to everyone's relief. He'd be missing an arm, but at least his cousin still had family. It wasn't too far to the lab, Faye had given me clear instructions on how to get there. Of all the times I'd dreamt of finding my parents, this didn't even come close. As I opened the trap door, and walked down the long, dark hallway and came face to face with my mum, I found myself shocked at her appearance. She was thin, too thin. Her face gaunt, her eyes missing that sparkle I loved. Her hair lacklustre, her skin too pale. I didn't care though, for at that moment all I could do was throw my arms around her, and thank every god there ever was or ever will be, that I was back in my mother's arms.

  Chapter 23

  Nathaniel

  It had been six days since I got her back, in the process I'd lost everything else. I almost didn't get her back, she was on her way to set off a bomb but luckily for me someone else was already there. I grabbed her and ran, I didn't look back for my men not once and I didn't feel guilty about it. We made it out to the woods, and from there I drove us back to the castle. She was relieved to see me, I almost cried. I held her in my arms as we fled, I knew that nothing would keep us apart again. She was my world, and I was hers. I felt free, being away from my men. Like I could actually be myself, I just hoped that whoever I really was, wasn't the monster I'd portrayed for so long.

  Once we made it back to the safety of the castle, she told me, she was pregnant. I didn't know what to say, it was a shock given that we'd only slept together once. Yet there was a part of me that had always longed to have a family, I never thought it would happen though. Certainly not like this, but now we were together and away from all my men and her family, we could try to build a life. The only trouble was, she'd changed, she wasn't the sweet innocent girl I'd cared for. She was a fierce and strong, an almost cold woman. I felt sure that once our child arrived she would go back to herself, in the meantime I just had to be patient with her.

  'Are you sure this is the best place for us?' Maggie asked on day fourteen.

  'Yes, there's nowhere else for us to go. Not only that, if anyone did survive the battle, we don't want to risk them finding us,' I told her gently.

  'You're right, I just hate being stuck in
all the time,' she complained.

  'I know but at least your safe, and that's what's most important,' I replied. She sat down at the table as I took out dinner, it wasn't much but I'd made sure to give her more than her usual share. She'd gotten so big, in such a short space of time. Tonight's dinner was roasted squirrel and tinned vegetables, not a great meal but still better than nothing.

  'It's actually pretty good,' she said as she took a bite.

  'I know its not as good as the fresh stuff you had in Sanctuary,' I replied.

  'No, I like it. Honestly.'

  'Do you miss them?' I asked suddenly.

  'Yeah, I do. But I couldn't stay with them, I wasn't the girl they knew and it would've broken their hearts to find out the truth,' she told me sadly.

  'But now it's just us, you don't have to be that person any more,' I replied.

  'It's not something I can just turn off you know, I don't think I can ever be that girl again.' 'Why?'

  She sighed, I knew she hated talking about these things, but I didn't want her to be this person when our baby got here. 'Because everything that happened changed me, even before I came to you I was different from who I used to be. I understand the world now, there's no room for the soft hearted, or the weak,' she said sternly.

  'If I can change, so can you,' I told her. 'There's a difference between you and me, you were only pretending to be that person. I actually was, it doesn't bother me when I think of all the things I did. I knew I wasn't going to be like the other women, when I became your queen, I enjoyed it. The power, the strength, the luxuries. I wanted to it all, and I'd gladly do it all again,' she replied coldly.

  I didn't know how to get through to her, she was lost in all the pain, all the trauma. I knew the girl I'd fallen for was in there somewhere, I just had to get her out.