The scientists were both waiting for him when he arrived. Berthon, Mayoh and Handley all stood nearby. For some reason it seemed odd to see the doctor handling a pistol, but as they were so short of soldiers now, especially those who did not carry an injury, the normal responsibilities had been ignored.
“We thought we should wake you before we enter,” Rhind said. He indicated the nearest room.
Lewis felt a great weight settle upon him although this time it was not accompanied by any sense of optimism. There had been too many disappointments to consider anything other than failure. He rapped on the door. There was no answering scream. He almost did not want to peer in, but forced himself to open the door. He was not entirely sure what it was that made it so abundantly clear. Perhaps it was the limbs, gnarled and rigid in an unnatural position, the complete and utter stillness, or the waxy appearance to the skin, or perhaps it was merely his expectation, but the man inside was unmistakably dead. Darby had not lasted the night.
They went in and even so, Lewis entered with trepidation. He nudged the body with his rifle and it was stiff and unyielding. Standing over the corpse he felt a strange wash of relief. The poor boy was at last released from the relentless pain and torment that bred such rage. He had been imprisoned within his body days before they had imprisoned him in that room. It had been torture to watch the young man suffering so much. Lewis said a quiet prayer before wiping his eyes and leaving the boy at last in peace.
“And the other?” he asked.
They led him to Wood’s cell. Lewis knocked but again there was no reaction.
“There hasn’t been a sound from him for hours now,” Bennet said.
“Well, if it’s worked then we’re safe to enter. If it hasn’t then I’ll shoot him. So let’s go in.”
The door squeaked as it was pushed open. Lewis checked his rifle again, then took an uncertain pace forwards.
Wilson woke her up, as he often did. He had obviously not been house trained and so needed attention early in the morning. As Charlotte Collins stood she realised something was amiss. She had been sleeping near Lewis and his mattress was empty. There were noises coming from somewhere and she immediately felt nervous. Wilson must have sensed it too as he stopped yapping and looked anxiously up at her.
Matthews burst into the dining room with an unreadable expression. He was flustered and short of breath. He saw her and called out, this time not even trying to be quiet.
“Come. Come now.”
He did not wait and she had to run to keep up. Others had been disturbed and there was now movement amongst them all, a general pervasive tension amongst them all.
Her pace slowed as she neared the area. Her feet became heavy and she wanted to vomit. Her palms were slick and her heart thumped. Wilson trotted just beside her but she was hardly aware of him, or anything else. Her vision started to grey-out at the periphery, and she sagged. Matthews reached a hand towards her to give her support as he looked at her in concern. There was a cluster of soldiers at the entrance to Wood’s room but she barely acknowledged them. She could not meet their eyes as they turned and silently parted to allow her through. Their low mutter of conversation died the moment she arrived. There were already tears forming as she peered in.
“Go in, go in,” Matthews nudged her forwards.
Singleton and Handley were crouched on the floor. Lewis stood to one side and the two scientists clucked and chatted excitedly. Between them all, on an improvised mattress of cushions, Wood lay still. His clothes were covered with vomit and blood but his body seemed, somehow, to be at peace. His breathing was laboured and uneven and his hands shook, but his eyes were open and clear. When she entered his gaze turned to her. He looked hard at her for several seconds, his vision appeared to be cloudy and uncertain but finally there was a flicker of recognition. His cracked lips parted slightly and despite the missing teeth it was the most magnificent smile she had ever seen. She made no attempt at stopping herself from crying, nor did she approach any closer. She just stood in the doorway shaking as the tears cascaded.
Others had followed and now a small group was forming behind her.
“Well, well. Not even I thought he’d survive that one,” a Scottish voice chuckled from the back of the huddle, before hurrying away to prepare a celebratory breakfast.
Wood remained where he was for the rest of that day. Anyone who still needed medical attention was ignored completely as the entire medical team attended exclusively to him. Everyone went to visit but the doctors insisted that they all remain outside. They could have a quick peek and that was it; their patient was not to be disturbed.
Only Collins was allowed unrestricted access to him but she found herself feeling a little shy and awkward. She was content to just sit numbly at his side and hold his dry hand whilst others tended to him. Rhind and Singleton vied for the position of the most excited person in RAF GVF, but for slightly different reasons. Lewis kept a concerned vigil but said little to anyone. It was only when Collins found herself alone and back in her makeshift bedroom that she started to accept what had happened. She collapsed onto her bed and began to tremble and cry. She stayed like that for hours until emotional exhaustion finally claimed her.
Lewis tasked Berthon and Hutchison to take the most mobile men and sweep the area thoroughly. Whilst quiet and unassuming, Berthon had proved himself to be highly capable and he was growing fast in Lewis’s estimation. They found no further diseased and no signs of any other vampires. The compound was declared secure - again.
“See,” Lewis remarked to Singleton as he sat in the medical centre. “I have learned to delegate.”
“Finally,” she said as she jabbed a needle into his arm drawing a yelp. His was the only match for Rohith’s blood type and although Lewis was weakened from their ordeal of late, losing a little more blood would not kill him. Delaying the procedure might, however, kill Rohith. But, with the transfusion there was just a chance that he might pull through…
By the next day Wood was a little improved. He was conscious for a fair amount of the time and although he was still a bit vague in conversation, he was now permitted visitors. Collins was first to see him and she went into the room alone.
Before she entered Singleton took her aside. “Go easy on him. Try not to tire him out. He’s a little… hazy about certain things and a little forgetful.”
This time her reserve had disappeared. She wept openly as she sat by his bedside, holding his hand and kissing it gently. He allowed her to cry, not saying anything.
“You see,” she stammered as her sobs subsided, “I never gave up hope.”
He smiled for a moment but then confusion clouded his countenance. “You’ll have to forgive me,” he croaked with a wince. “I can’t seem to remember much, but who are you again?”
Her face crinkled as the tears flowed freely once more and he instantly regretted it.
“Hey I’m sorry, that was a bad joke,” he rasped as he gently turned her face to him with his parched hand. “Infected humour. Of course I know you. You’re the reason why I survived.”
She smiled. “Someone wiser than me, or you, once said that you were a born survivor. It looks like he was right.”
He grinned again. Each time he did his lips cracked and filled his mouth with pain so he tried to avoid it, but with her it was impossible. And just for the moment that was all right by him. Not all pain was bad.
Back in the cafeteria Vallage was banging pans and whistling.
“You can always tell he’s in a good mood when he’s being loud,” Matthews joked to Neale.
“He’s not in that much of a good mood, the cantankerous old git!” Leading Aircraftman Neale moaned. “He’s still ordering me to slop out the toilets.”
“Ahhh well,” Matthews grinned and gave him a slap on the back, “I hear effluence rolls downhill my man.”
“Yeah right,” Neale cursed as he trudged away. He was still not thanking Vallage for making him do it, but for once the chore did n
ot seem all that bad.
Lewis, Bannister and Matthews all poked their heads in together to see Wood, as Collins sat beside him. For a few moments there was silence as they struggled for words. Finally Bannister broke the impasse.
“Strewth, you look dreadful.”
“Bannister – really!” Lewis reprimanded him. “Is that all you can say to your friend?”
“Sorry sir but he does.”
Wood raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Collins but said nothing. He did still have a distinct air of illness about him. His skin was clammy and pale, the rims of his eyes were decidedly off-white and the muscles of his face hung a little loosely, but he looked significantly better than he had done just two days previously. For starters, he now looked human.
Mathews was staring at him keenly, having noticed the clumps of hair that had fallen out. “I guess if this cure does mean we manage to save all those sickos out there, then we’re gonna need a few skilled hairdressers in the new world to make good the damage that’s been done.”
“Matthews!” Lewis snapped, but he could barely stop himself from laughing.
“Yeah,” Bannister quickly added, “and some dentists who can work bloody miracles too, by the looks of him.”
At this even Wood was smirking, despite the pain, displaying a couple of missing teeth. “So, we’re going to go out and start saving more people then? Once you fools have had enough of teasing me?”
“Well, you’re not going anywhere,” Lewis ordered. “You’re going to stay here and rest. Rhind is just preparing to inject his wife any time now. And then, yeah, we’ll head out to find some more ‘sickos’ to try and cure.”
“Might I ask what you’ve got planned?” he said quietly.
“Well, it’s not going to be easy, but I guess we’ll just have to try and work out how to catch them and inject them without being bitten ourselves. We haven’t really got any further than that as yet.”
“Mind if I make a suggestion?” Wood asked after a pause.
Lewis nodded. He had the odd sensation of déjà vu.
“What we could do with is someone really fast and strong to help us deliver the antidote. Anyone happen to know of a friendly vampire sympathetic to our cause? If we could track him down and enlist his help that would save us a whole lot of trouble and danger.”
They were all speechless for a moment but the truth of what Wood was saying was obvious and Lewis kicked himself for not having thought of it before. But where to start looking for Sebastian? And if they ever found him, how would they convince him to help?
“So I guess we’re finally there,” Bruce Matthews said with a faraway look. “We’re safe. The vampires are dead. We’ve created the antidote. We can save what’s left of humanity. We’ve come to the end of our struggle, and at last it’s all over?”
“No Matthews,” Lewis replied grimly. “It all starts now. This is the beginning…”
END OF BOOK THREE
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The Author: Antony J. Stanton
From The Author
I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to read “Twice Bitten, Twice Die”. I hope you liked all three books. As before, if you did enjoy them please do consider telling your friends, and if you’d be kind enough to post a short review on Amazon, Goodreads or your ebook retailer’s website I’d be eternally grateful. Such reviews are probably the number one most important thing to help promote books so I would be extremely grateful. Many thanks. Also, please do feel free to contact me with comments or feedback, I’d love to hear from you and will reply to everyone:
My website: www.oncebittentwice.com
Or Twitter: ajsobtd1 https://twitter.com/ajsobtd1
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Acknowledgements
Huge thanks go first and foremost to Ric Mayoh of www.PlaneTalking.com for marketing expertise, web design and continuous ideas, sane or crazy, and to Barbara Campos for unyielding support and belief. Also to anyone who has helped in one of many ways, ranging from marketing assistance, editing, anyone who has taken time to write a review on Amazon, their ebook retailer’s website and/or Goodreads (more important than you might believe), anyone who has sent me a photo of yourself reading one of the books (please do keep ‘em coming, the more unusual and inventive the better), or just anyone who has bought the book or even several books, and given them away as gifts. Hugely appreciated.
Also, my thanks to the talented Tom Teodorczuk of the highly recommended www.HeatSt.com, Liane Moonraven of the most excellent Carmen Online Theatre Group ,@ArtBySamM on Facebook, and to the various people who I have never met but who have been supportive and enthusiastic, such as Corina Gidei and TheVampireBookworm (on Instagram).
Basically, you probably know if you have helped me, and I most certainly do. Hugely appreciated, one and all…
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Hall of Fame
Here are a few photos from some of you who have been kind enough to take snaps of my books, anywhere around the world. Please do keep these photos coming – the more unusual the better - and I will update this page every month.
Many thanks.
Continued on next page…
Twice Bitten, Twice Die (The Blood of the Infected Book 3) Page 38
