Aftermath

by Meiling Colorado

  And that, thought Terrell, took finesse. At least he hadn't killed or maimed anyone in the process, he thought smugly, though the village had suffered some structural damage from his efforts.

  ¨You seem very full of yourself this morning.¨ Leni's almond-shaped eyes were still fixed on the street ahead, but he was pleased she had decided to acknowledge him.

  ¨And you seem very thoughtful. Rough night?¨

  She shook her head and shrugged dejectedly. ¨Not more than usual. You know, T. Some days are just better than others.¨

  Silence fell again as they made their way along the dirt track leading back to the village. A rabbit ran across the trail, and he saw Leni's eyes following it, her features lighting up for a second, before going back to their stony expression. Terrell felt at a loss for words to comfort her, and it was so easy to say the wrong thing.

  He did indeed know what she was talking about but, unlike Leni, both his parents had died so long ago he couldn't remember their faces.

  Small mercies.

  He had arrived at the village with his aunt, only seven years old, all pouty lips, big brown eyes and cute wild afro. When his aunt had died, one month later, the people there had sort of collectively adopted him. His cuteness and warm easy-going nature had seemed to make everyone eager to nurture and help him out, and who was he to complain?

  Leni, however, had only had her mother, Rose. She was now eighteen, a year older than him, and both women had suffered a lot before finding the village three years back, though neither of them had ever talked about that, either. The quiet girl with the sad smile had just seemed glad that their trials were over.

  And then Leni and her mother got ´jump-started´ along with the rest of them.

  Rose had survived, but had not been able to come to terms with whatever had changed in her.

  The woman had cracked.

  Leni herself almost hadn't made it. Consumed by the temperature and locked in a fierce struggle, she had finally woken up to find her mother had jumped off a cliff two days before.

  Leni's story sucked big time. She was damaged in many ways, he guessed, but she was his friend, and he loved her. Plus, her talent was way cool. At least she had that.

  ¨Let's sit down for a minute,¨ she now said, panting slightly. They had now reached the village gate, and the first run-down houses were visible from here.

  ¨I should have carried that for you,¨ he said guiltily, ¨I could have floated both of them just as easily.¨

  ¨Show off,¨ she scoffed, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, which made him feel better. He knew his friend was proud of his progress.

  Sinking down next to her on the cobbled street he plucked a tiny twig from her dark, short spiky hair and grinned when she nodded her thanks at him, settling down in a companionable silence. She seemed calmer now, her mood more mellow.

  Until the stag appeared.

  Where had that scruffy blond dread-locked lunatic taken himself off to now?

  He had done his rounds. Everybody was doing their job, even that thug Quentin and his lot. One of these days they were going to have to address that problem, it definitely wasn't getting any smaller. Maybe tomorrow, at the village meeting that bunch of mutts could be put in their place. If it were up to him he would have kicked them out a long time ago and let them try their bullying ways with some real stuff. God knew there was enough messed up shit out there beyond the perimeter.

  Anyway, the village was as secure as it was going to get and there was little else to occupy his thoughts with.

  Besides Resnan, of course. And his failure to keep him safe.

  No, take that back. He, Garand, the supposedly responsible adult, had consciously pushed the teenage boy out into the world with an uncertain plan to get back home. Forget keeping him safe. He had all but killed the kid with his own hands.

  Just like that all the thoughts he had been holding back all morning flooded his mind. No wonder Sri was staying away from him.

  He sat down wearily, acutely conscious of the stiffness of his left hip, a remnant of the post-war years, which had begun paining him more in the last couple of months. Probably due to their incessant traveling. Sri tried to ease him as much as possible but really, there was little that could be done,

  and he didn't want to worry his friend. The man had enough on his plate, dealing with not only the changes in himself and the other people in the village, but also having to read the guilt running through his head. Garand tried to mask it, but that shit was just too much, and Sri was too good with that mind-reading ability.

  ¨You thought there was a pandemic here,¨ Sri had reminded him. ¨You tried to keep him safe and bring help at the same time.¨

  ¨Shouldn't have let him go alone. Bloody irresponsible.¨

  The world was now a dangerous place, and though you could travel in peace for weeks, and even meet nice people, shit could turn nasty in a heartbeat. This had happened several times while he and Resnan had been out there, and he had been really grateful at how quickly the boy had mastered some degree of self-defense. They often joked about how they would have lots to tell their grandkids. And now the boy was probably dead. He should have known better.

  ¨We...I, couldn't have managed without you, and you know that. You probably saved a lot of lives, organizing the supplies, security…I mean, I didn't know what had hit us, all those sick people,¨ the doctor had countered, ¨ It wasn't such a big distance back to your settlement. Nothing to what you two had done already…¨

  ¨That's what I thought, man. So, why isn't he back yet?¨

  Unfortunately, the glib know-it-all hadn't had an answer to that.

  And where was Sri, anyway?

  He heard their thoughts first, which gave him a few precious minutes' advantage to pull his tattered pants on. They usually weren't that big on modesty around here but still, Sri didn't fancy standing stark naked in front of that particular young woman. Leni had enough on her plate as it was.

  The dark, violently sexual nature of her past experiences before finding the shelter of the village had left her heavily scarred. Sri had often wondered whether Terrell was fully aware how special it was that she had chosen him, a male, for her only friend. Leni was deeply, emotionally traumatized, which made the way she could relate to animals through her Talent even more of a miracle, and a gift.

  He had recognized the exalted babble of her thoughts first, closely followed by Terrell's confused, questioning ones. Leni obviously hadn't been able to do a good enough job explaining the images the...deer, stag? whatever it was, had transmitted to her. She had simply rushed the poor guy off to find Garand.

  The alarm hadn't been sounded, which meant the group hadn't reached the first scouts yet.

  The two teens would be within sight in a couple of seconds, but Sri knew exactly where they were headed and, breaking into a fast trot, made straight for their destination.

  It appeared his friend's wait was over.

  Relief.

  Garand had never realized what a pure emotion it was. Just pure untainted relief. It flooded him entirely, and he could have sworn he could feel it filling his lungs with every breath, as a man who had unknowingly been trapped in an oxygen-deprived environment would.

  He felt it in varying degrees. As he hugged his son and his brother, tears in his eyes, when he caught sight of Resnan alive and well, waving his makeshift crutch around as if to prove he didn't really need it, and in a dizzying rush when he looked down into Leiren's ageless gray eyes. Meeting them at the village gate where they were escorted by the perimeter guards seemed surreal.

  So much to take in.

  Ren was already as tall as him! From the look of things he'd soon be looking up to the boy. He seemed serious and a bit awkward in his manner, but that was probably normal after two years.

  Benton, however, looked just the same. Garand felt a bolt of pride as he remembered the troubled teenager who had been by his side in the midst of the worst post-conflagration years. The k
id had come through that hell just fine, so he must have done something right. Like all of them, he looked travel-weary, they had only stopped once to camp in the last three days, apparently, but he seemed to be in high spirits.

  The hardest part, of course, was facing Dinain and Yeshra. Happy as he was to find out Dinain had made it back alive, he didn't know what their reaction to him sending their son on alone was, even if it had turned out all-right. God knew he had doubted his own decision from the very moment he had lost sight of Resnan's back.

  Not a word of reproach passed their lips, however, and when he tried to broach the subject Yeshra had taken his hand smilingly, and said, ¨Not another word, Garand. You looked after our son when we'd all given up on both of you, so who are we to second guess your decisions? I can only be grateful for this moment, and please believe me when I tell you we're both in your debt.¨ Dinain nodded his grey head, a tell-tale shimmer in his eyes.

  After all that time of being parted from friends and family, of agonizing self-doubt and reproach, no wonder he felt like he was dreaming.

  The tall blond man watched her from afar, as he had observed everyone else in the party from Garand's settlement, wanting to have some idea of who these people were, to glean some advantage before making himself and his talent known.

  People tended to mask their thoughts with more or less success after they knew about him.

  He noticed the strong assurance of her dark features, the brisk way she moved her trim figure, her braids snapping this way and that, as if to punctuate her motions. And, of course, the concise caliber of her thoughts.

  Sri didn't think he had ever met anyone with such an unwavering grasp of long term goals. That in itself was staggering.

  This, from Garand's description, must be Leiren.

  He could well understand why Garand had wanted her help when faced with the ¨jump-start¨ virus. Just as he could relate to the relief the man had felt on seeing her, as if a big part of his burden had already eased off his shoulders through her mere presence. And he got it, he totally got it. She was that impressive.

  And then, suddenly, those light grey eyes were looking in his direction, through him. And... a shutter slammed down on her thoughts.

  He stared across at her disbelievingly, his cobalt blue eyes locked on to her grey ones for what seemed like an age, before she turned her head, sending those thin black braids whipping back as if they had a life of their own, and stalked off after the tall dark man talking to Garand.

  Never, ever, had he been cut off in that manner. What kind of woman was this, how had she done that?

  She caught up with Benton and Garand easily, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder. She knew he would still be standing there, searing blue eyes fixed on her back. Leiren could still feel him trying to batter down the wall she had so quickly and instinctively put up.

  Nothing remotely like this had ever happened to her before. She'd come across telepaths in the past, of course, and had learnt to shut them out. This level of mind-reading, however, akin to having someone physically walking around in her head, was unknown to her. She had thought she had come prepared for things like these, but…Coupled with Lillith and Ren, it added up to a disturbing couple of days.

  What was she walking into?

  She caught sight of him again when they gathered in Garand's house to organize where they would sleep, trade information and discuss the situation at the village. It was a fair-sized three-bedroom house with a pretty large living-room, which was lucky because it seemed the whole village had come to welcome them and check them out, and if she hadn't been on the look-out she might have missed him in the crowded room. Watching him from the corner of her eye she noticed that, though he still stayed in the background and mingled with the rest of the villagers, he seemed completely at ease, pouring himself some water and sitting down in a far corner from where he could watch the gathering in peace. It was interesting to note that this was a move she herself had often done: placed herself in a strategic position from where she could collect the most information unobserved.

  Tapping Garand lightly on the forearm she gestured slightly toward the blond man and whispered tensely, ¨Who's that?¨

  A slow smile spread over his strong weathered features as he looked in the direction she had indicated and stood up heavily, favoring his right leg.

  ¨About time you showed your face. I was beginning to fear you had drowned in the lake,¨ he exclaimed. ¨This, my friends, is Sri, to whom this house actually belongs.¨

  ¨There was no-one here when I arrived, Garand, but I don't know if that's enough to claim ownership...¨ Leiren froze at the sound of his voice. It was deep, but gentle somehow. She noticed his eyes were fixed on hers, again.

  ¨Whatever,¨ said the older man dismissively, ¨He allowed me to join him here, and has since become my best friend in this place. I guess you could say he's the closest thing to Leiren we have in this village. The man is a proper doctor, like the ones in the pre-war days.¨

  There was a murmur of assent among the local people there who, of course, knew the blond man. Now the center of attention, Sri stood up and walked to the edge of their group laughing huskily and shaking his head.

  ¨I'm just a doctor, when it comes to academics, barely that.... nothing like your healer here. Which is why Garand felt the need to ask her to come.¨

  Holding out his hand, he addressed Leiren directly for the first time. ¨I'm extremely glad you're here. We've been dealing with some rather bizarre situations lately, and since Garand has spoken wonders of you, we couldn't wait for you to arrive.¨

  Shaking herself mentally she took his large hand in her own dark slim one, noting the strength in the long sensitive looking fingers, and replied in a low voice, ¨Well, this is a much nicer way of introducing yourself, young man.¨

  And he was young, she thought, probably still in his early thirties.

  Her cryptic remark made those within earshot look at her in some confusion, but the blond man in front of her smiled, a wide delightful smile, and said, ¨I apologize. It is not an excuse, but no-one has been aware before…¨

  She huffed and noted that he did have the decency to blush.

  Looking him up and down with some curiosity she took in the strong wiry frame, tanned golden skin and long blond dreadlocks, and chuckled to herself. The irony wasn't lost on her - what looked like the most influential man in this community and she were almost exact opposites, as far as looks and demeanor went, at least. Light and dark, sharp and gentle, yin and yang.

  A chair had been pulled out for Sri to join them, and she watched him as he sat down stretching his long limbs out with lanky grace.

  ¨So,¨ he asked, ¨Maybe we should explain to everyone here exactly why we needed their help? And what a mess they've stumbled into, too.¨

  Garand gaped at him for a minute. Then, as he looked around at the eager, expectant faces, what the doctor had already read in their minds hit him: they had no idea what was really going on in the village. Leiren had chosen to keep that information to herself, and they had followed the Healer in blind faith.

  He thought back to when he had handed Resnan the letter for her, telling him to make sure he delivered it personally into her hands. They were right in the middle of the shit storm at that time, and he had probably sounded deadly serious. It wasn't secrecy that he had meant to make sure of, though, just her help, but either the boy had interpreted it that way or Leiren had. Still, to drag all these people all this way without a coherent explanation...he felt a bit awed by the strength of character he guessed was needed to do that. Rubbing the back of his neck he wondered if even the Council had really been informed of what had happened here.

  Those sharp grey eyes were now looking daggers at Sri.

  Garand almost felt sorry for the man. Leiren had obviously planned to break the news to her group in her own time, and to suit her own purposes, whatever those could be. He'd forgotten what the wise-woman was like, and right now the blond man was ob
viously the fly in her ointment.

  ¨We have no secrets here,¨ the older man said softly, hoping to defuse the situation. ¨We can't, really.¨ he paused, looking at the newcomers' puzzled faces. ¨Sri here can read our minds.¨

  Ignoring the gasps and mutters as the ramifications sank in he looked straight at the wise-woman who, of course, looked as calm and collected as ever. ¨And thank goodness for that, because in the face of what we went through, if it hadn't been for his mind-reading abilities a lot of the people in this village wouldn't have survived the ´jump-start´.¨

  ¨The what?¨ The tall red haired girl on the far end of the circle spoke up, the one who people had said had been well on her way to being Leiren's most advanced pupil when their ill-fated expedition left the settlement. She sounded mystified, her voice but reflecting the baffled faces around them.

  A skinny man with an unprepossessing grey-hound-like countenance, part of a small group of four or five individuals who seemed to hold themselves slightly apart from the rest of the villagers, spoke up then,

  ¨The appearance of the freaks, is what he means, sweetheart.¨

  A silence fell over the gathering, broken only by titters from the men surrounding him. The red-head looked a bit surprised by his condescending tone, but waited for Garand's explanation.

  ¨´Jump-start´ virus, that's what we called it,¨ Garand's voice had a sharp edge to it, and he turned to face the skinny man with barely repressed disgust. ¨Every family in the village had at least one member affected, even yours, Quentin. Enough to make it a Community matter, and definitely deserving of respect. So cut it out, man. If you and your friends have issues, now is not the time to bring them up.¨

  ¨We need to clean this mess up, is all I'm saying.¨ The gaunt-looking man barked out, his eyes shiftily peering around him in search of support, and the men around him muttered in agreement. ¨At least my bloody sister had the decency to go and die before becoming some sort of monster. We got that dirty half-wit savage in our back yard, ready to slit our throats while we sleep. Never wanted the likes of him in our community, anyways, and we were right, weren't we?¨