Aftermath

by Meiling Colorado

  Sri sighed and Garand's nose wrinkled in distaste, and even the group of sullen-looking men surrounding Quentin shuffled their feet, apparently embarrassed by his words.

  It seemed he had crossed some sort of line. The space between his small group and the rest of the villagers widened physically as some people stepped back away from them. The shifty-eyed man pushed on with his tirade, seemingly oblivious to his loss of support. ¨Not to mention the rest of those kids and their freakish behavior...who's gonna control them, then?¨

  Sri's calm voice broke in on the tense moment and probably saved the very red-faced Garand from a ruptured blood vessel.

  ¨Quentin, you and your guys know we had already arranged to discuss this in an assembly tomorrow. Luckily it looks like we'll have a lot more extra input and support from our visitors from Garand's settlement. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with a viable solution between all of us. But for now, we need to fill them in on what happened, wouldn't you agree?¨

  The slight man drew his spare frame up cockily and stared belligerently at the blond doctor lounging on his chair for a full moment before conceding defeat and retiring sullenly to a corner of the room, surrounded by his followers.

  Looking totally unperturbed Sri sat up straighter and poured himself some water from the pitcher at his elbow. Winking at Garand he nodded at him to continue. The older man looked around to make sure he had his listeners' full attention.

  ¨Anyway, when Resnan and I arrived here, on the way back to our settlement, the virus was already underway, but we weren't aware of the scope it had until six people showed up with really high temperatures at the same time. That was just the start. And then it got really weird.¨

  A sharp intake of breath drew his attention and he caught his son looking at Leiren, visibly rattled. She shook her head sharply, and the boy swiftly looked down again. He had no idea what that was about, but pressing on he made a mental note to talk to Ren later in private. He had been away far too long, and though he was sure Benton had done his best, his brother wasn't the kid's dad and this was a complicated age. The kid probably had some issues he could use his help with.

  He sat back down stiffly and launched into recounting the tale of the village under siege from the strange illness that had struck it.

  CHAPTER 10

  REVEALED

  Serbell heaved a sigh of relief as she dropped her knitted cloth bag on the living-room floor of the tiny cottage close to the lake assigned to her.

  Everybody in the expedition had been found a place to stay, since there was apparently no shortage of empty houses. The wise-woman was sharing a small house with Lorenna. Dinain and his family had been set up in a fairly large place next to what must have been the village green at one time. Ren would stay with his dad and the blond doctor with the dread-locks. The rest of the men were scattered in small cottages similar to her own.

  Looking around she realized this was perfect for her needs, small, with just one bedroom, a bathroom and the kitchen joined to the living-room. She very badly needed her space now. Not to have to watch her every move, her every expression in front of others, especially when Benton was around.

  Her mood swings didn't help, either…she went from being ecstatic when she caught his eye, self-conscious when he wouldn't stop looking at her, to dejected when he seemed to ignore her. Whether he did the last purposefully or not.... she frowned. Damned if the infuriating man wasn't blowing hot and cold on her.

  That warm intimacy she had felt when they had stopped to camp was gone, anyway. Their interactions since then had become stilted and forced, and she didn't know whose fault, if anybody's, it was. Or how to fix it.

  Right now she was simply exhausted, both from the endless hours on the road trip and her see-sawing emotions.

  They had a really big meal after being caught up to speed on what had been happening here. It was mainly composed of fresh vegetables from the community garden and fish from the lake. Apparently there was pretty good hunting, and she was sure the forest to the west afforded some good foraging, too. The community was pretty small, decimated as it had been by that strange sickness, and they had seemed welcoming enough. It was early days though...

  She didn't really know what to think about the doctor. Strange man. He appeared to be nice enough, but he rather spooked her a bit. On the outside, he had this beach-boy, surfer image. Mind-reading, though...of all the weird things they were told about today she wasn't sure that she was comfortable with that particular talent.

  As for that small group of contentious and truculent men, she guessed some had to be found in every community. The ones in theirs had been rooted out by the Council and Benton's no-nonsense attitude, but encounters with men like that before finding the relative safety of the settlement had been one of the reasons she had made sure she had dead aim with a throwing knife.

  They were an ugly lot, anyway, specially that sharp-faced one that did the talking. It seemed that one of their main bones of contention was that the only surviving adult in the ´jump-start´ group was unbalanced, and therefore could, according to them, pose a danger to the community.

  The truth behind this though, as a furious, shame-faced Garand had confided in her later, was that the man was rabidly racist, and the lone adult survivor was a Native American, as had been his wife.

  To say Serbell had been taken aback would have been an understatement.

  In this post conflagration world she had seen many awful things, but thankfully racism was rarely one of them. Most people nowadays didn't stop to consider the race or ethnic origin of those around them. Survival was the most important thing, and to survive as a community you needed to stick together. Many times, strength lay in diversity.

  Both Garand and Sri assured her the man was alone in his hatred, but the trouble-makers in their community had gravitated to his side, of course. In Sri's opinion, it was to be expected and would sort itself out, since when it came down to what mattered the man had no real support.

  This, naturally, drew some pretty barbed comments from Leiren. There was no way the Healer would have allowed such a situation to continue in the settlement and to tell the truth, in this instance Serbell had to agree with her.

  She wasn't a bit hungry, anyway, and would have enjoyed a shower, except they didn't have such luxuries here. She had been told the lake was her best bet, and sticky and hot as she felt it was tempting. She could see it, blue waters glittering, beckoning from the bedroom window. Serbell didn't have much in the way of underwear, and no swimsuit, either; those things were bygones of another age, but maybe some shorts and a top would be acceptable. She didn't want to offend the locals by skinny-dipping in their lake on the very first day.

  Deciding to postpone the much-needed nap until she was clean, she got ready for her swim.

  Ren was finding it difficult to meet his father's eyes. Everyone had left except for Leiren, Sri, Garand and himself. And he so wished he was elsewhere.... which of course made him feel guilty.

  In stark contrast to the excited young man who had started the trip he now felt he had nothing to say to his father. They were worlds apart. So much had happened he didn't understand in the last forty-eight hours that he didn't know who or what he was, let alone being able to answer the questions he knew were coming.

  For the time being, he was safe – Leiren's barrage of questions had started as soon as the others had left and she was keeping the other two men on their toes.

  She wanted all the details, not the bare bones account told everybody else. What had the symptoms been? How many had died? How many recovered and what powers did they reveal? And on and on and on.

  Even the cool guy with the blond dread-locks, the doctor, was beginning to look frazzled.

  ¨I almost wish you were the mind reader at this moment,¨ he said jokingly. His piercing blue eyes were fixed on the Healer's in a way no-one in their own settlement would have dared, not even his uncle. ¨It would save us so much time.¨

  Ren looked
over nervously at the Healer, who wasn't exactly known for her humorous disposition. Sure enough, she was shooting Sri a freezing look in return.

  ¨I do have to know what we're up against.¨ was all she said. She then glanced quickly at him and back at the blond man. As compassion lit up his blue eyes it suddenly dawned on Ren that Sri knew everything. What he had done, what had happened on the trip, even the dream....and he was suddenly aware of how naked his mind had been to the doctor's talent.

  He blushed. The man had probably read the few private things he had been able to keep from Leiren.

  Great.

  Well, that just left his father in the dark. Garand's perplexed expression just made him feel worse.

  ¨My friend,¨ as he addressed Garand, Sri's voice was gentler, mellower. ¨I think you need to know something which I myself wasn't aware of until a couple of moments ago.¨

  Garand looked up expectantly.

  ¨We thought what had happened here was a...an isolated incident, limited only to our village,¨ Sri continued. ¨It isn't the case. Leiren is familiar with similar cases.¨

  ¨You've encountered this outside this village, Leiren?¨ the weathered man cried incredulously. ¨Where? How?¨

  ¨Maybe you should…?¨ Sri started softly, but Leiren interrupted briskly. ¨Cut out the bed-side manner, doctor. It's unnecessary.¨

  Sri shot her a pained look, but stood back and let her speak.

  ¨Garand, what this boy,¨ Sri arched an amused eyebrow at being referred to in such a way, which the wise-woman pointedly ignored. ¨is trying to tell you in his roundabout style is that we've had cases in the settlement, too. As you know for various reasons we have had no children for a while.¨

  Garand nodded impatiently...Resnan, Ren and Lillith had been the last kids the settlement had seen, and they hadn't been born there. Everyone understood that it wasn't easy to survive out there, especially with a small child, and the people who had trickled in the last few years had brought none with them. The couples already settled were hesitant to start a family, and Leiren received plenty of visits on the subject of birth-control. They didn't have enough information on the situation outside the settlement to venture a guess on what the future could bring, and who could wish that on one's unborn child? This had been one of the many reasons which had pushed them to organize the first ill-fated expedition.

  ¨Well, we do have one now, but she arrived after the winter was over. So,¨ continued Leiren, ¨All of those affected were adults, except for one teenager.¨

  ¨You've seen this before,¨ whispered Garand in a hoarse voice, blinking blearily up at her. And then as if he could hardly credit it, ¨This has happened at the settlement?¨ Sri handed him a pitcher of water which he waved off irritably.

  ¨All of humanity could be going through it, for all I know.¨ She said impatiently.¨ What's left of us, anyway. That's not the point, however. All of them were adults, Garand. From what you and Sri have told us I now understand that made a difference.¨

  A wave of emotion washed over her usually impassive features. Ren had never seen the Healer look so vulnerable. ¨It was a horrible winter.¨ Incredibly, her voice faltered. ¨I knew it wasn't a common virus, but I had nothing to fight it with. I had to sit by and watch them all die.¨

  ¨That's not true,¨ broke in Ren. “Over thirty people were sick that winter…only ten died. The rest survived, thanks to you.¨ He stopped, surprised at his own outburst. It was the closest he'd ever felt to this stern, inflexible woman, the closest he'd ever been to thanking her.

  ¨Thank you, Ren.¨ Her voice actually seemed to soften for a second, then it hardened again. ¨But I don't deserve the credit. Everyone else had common ailments; some were very sick, I agree, but I knew what I was dealing with so I did my job. Those ten, I failed.¨

  ¨They were adults, as you yourself said,¨ Sri interrupted gently, his own pain evident in his voice. ¨They just couldn't... all mine died, too, except for two. One of them committed suicide, and the other...¨ his broad shoulders slumped, ¨Well, as you saw, we still have to decide what to do about Michael.¨

  ¨You can't keep beating yourself up over that.¨ Garand interrupted harshly. The exasperated look he cast the doctor showed this was an oft-repeated argument.

  Leiren's smile held a tinge of bitterness. ¨In truth, doctor, the irony of the situation is that though you called me over to help, you yourself did much better.¨

  ¨Wait,¨ cried Ren, ¨What about me, Leiren? I survived.¨

  ¨What!¨ His father's gasp was almost inaudible, but the dawning understanding in his expression was unmistakable. ¨The teenager?...Ren?¨

  ¨Yes.¨ Leiren's features regained their characteristic inscrutability. ¨He was the only one to recover. I just confirmed on this trip there were, hmm...let's say ¨side effects¨ to the sickness he suffered. I had long suspected this, but he did a great job of keeping it from me.¨

  Sri chuckled under his breath. ¨With rather spectacular results, it would seem.¨

  Then, upon seeing Ren's quick scowl, he rapidly said, ¨I apologize. That was indiscreet and, even if your talent is surprising, I shouldn't have trespassed on your thoughts.¨

  Rounding up on his friend Garand spat out, ¨Will someone please explain and stop talking in riddles?¨

  He then looked at his son sternly. ¨Well, boy?¨

  And what could Ren say? Hey dad, it turns out that while other guys have wet dreams when they like a girl I set things on fire? And yes, I mean literally.

  Thankfully, whether aided by his insight or just moved by common empathy Sri saw his predicament and stepped into the breach.

  ¨He's a fire-starter, Garand.¨ he said with uncharacteristic bluntness.

  Well, there probably was no better way to describe what he had done, and Leiren gave the blond man a short, approving nod.

  It sounded so simple. Fire-starter…if you didn't know better it even seemed exciting, a cool thing to be.

  ¨Aw, hell.¨ The big man plopped down on the closest chair. Sri and Ren looked down at him with some concern and even the Healer had some sympathy in her eyes. She laid a hand on Ren's shoulder.

  ¨Yep, that about sums it up.¨ She grimaced. ¨You should have seen the freak show he treated us to on the way here.¨ Feeling his involuntary shudder, she added, ¨Don't worry, boy. Now we know, you'll learn to control it.¨

  Easy for her to say, thought Ren, as Leiren recounted what had happened to a bemused-looking Garand. Not that he had much of a choice. About as much as a rock in a landslide.

  He found himself in a bit of a quandary, actually. As much as he tried to cling to his dislike of the woman, he had to admit she might be the only one able to help him. And though it went against the grain, deep inside he felt he could trust her.

  A part of him wanted nothing better than to lay his load at her feet and let her lead.

  The mental image made him chuckle to himself. Knowing her she would probably make him pick up the load again and whip him as he ran with it. Comforting, she was not.

  As the days went by Benton was happy to realize he didn't feel guilty, not one little bit. He was of course aware of Serbell's see-sawing emotions, and planned to stand his ground. In order to do that he would be obliged to keep his distance for a while. Mainly, he admitted ruefully to himself, because he was damned if he could keep his hands off her if he were to see her now. His self-control wasn't that good.

  And she had to come to him, on his terms, or their relationship would never work.

  He felt like he was coaxing a wild animal out of its hiding-place, slowly earning its trust. As much as he wanted to make their relationship public, Serbell had to stop fighting her feelings first, or it would end before it started. She needed to be in control, and in order to do that she had to make this decision with no help from him.

  The problem was, he thought listlessly, that now Ren's problems were in more capable hands he had too much time to ponder and second-guess himself about Serbell. His need for her had become an almost physical a
che, and the small taste of her he had been allowed had done nothing but make it worse. He was haunted by the memory of how she felt, how she smelt...and it was driving him wild.

  He sighed. Nothing was ever simple, was it?

  Garand was still shell-shocked with the news of his son's abilities, claiming he felt like he was living in some sort of pre-conflagration comic about mutants and superheroes.

  He couldn't say the man was wrong. The whole thing was pretty bizarre, and the only ones who seemed to be fairly okay with it were Leiren and Sri. But then, what could you expect from them? It was not like they had been exactly normal to start with.

  The whole village had voted in assembly, and decided to give Sri more time to try and fix the problem with the unbalanced ´jump-start´ survivor before taking any drastic measures. He himself had been keeping an eye on that shady customer, Quentin, and his group but, though obviously disgruntled with the outcome, so far they had made no ripples. It seemed the doctor was correct and, at least on this matter, the man was on his own. Still, he had asked Sam and Terence to make sure to tell him if he tried to start any trouble.

  The kids themselves seemed to be adapting, some even thriving with Leiren's draconian methods. There had been a couple of rough patches, but that was to be expected. They had probably needed direction...and the wise-woman was definitely good at telling people what to do, if nothing else.

  It did take some getting used to, though...all those kids walking around doing weird stuff. Benton shivered...some of the things they could do...He had to admit that as far as security went, he was a fair bit out of his depth with this bunch.