She had just found her daughter which seemed to give her purpose again, I could only dream of being reunited with my children. We all rejoiced in the news that Morgan had cured the virus. Now she just needed to create copies of it so that we could give it to the remaining people. It would mean travelling the country in search of survivor's, that would be a hell of a mission but it had to be done. It was fortunate that Finn and Faye had been aiding her in the research, they were both really smart kids and could help her in making more of the cure.
'So, what's the plan now?' Jade asked everyone.
'The food here won't last long with all of us,' Frankie said.
'There's still food left at the Summer house,' Faye told us.
Morgan and Finn turned to look at her with shocked looks on their faces.
'Why didn't you say anything?' Finn asked.
'Because I didn't want you going off on your own, we had enough for just us,' she replied smiling.
'How much food is left at the summer house?' Frankie asked her kindly.
'Enough for a few weeks at least,' she told us.
'What do you think, should we head out now or wait for Morgan to make more of the vaccine?' Jade asked us. As we talked about it, the group was a little divided. I hadn't been with them long, so I didn't offer my opinion. Delilah, Frankie and Jensen wanted to go now, whereas Jade, Tessa and Brooke wanted to wait. They all turned to me, I guess I would be the deciding vote. I sat and thought about it for a minute, who knew how long it was going to take Morgan to make more of the vaccine. We should be ready to go when she finished.
'I think we should go now,' I told them.
'Alright then, let's head out first thing tomorrow,' Jade replied. We hashed out a plan and what route we would take, I was glad that Morgan had a few spare maps so that we could mark the route on all of them. We marked an alternative route just in case we got separated and needed another way, I had to admit that this group was very well organized .
Despite my first thoughts on them, they had proved me wrong.
I had never felt like I wanted to be a part of any group before and maybe it was partly down to Jade, watching her take charge and look after everyone made me care for her even more.
The rest of evening passed in a blur of making plans and eating, before I knew it it was time to settle down for the evening. Another night of sleeping in a actual bed, I could have gotten used to this. I knew it wouldn't last long though, once we left to save the world who knew where we'd end up.
I woke the next morning to find that only Jade was awake, she was sat in the main room at the desk going over the map. I accidentally startled her as I tapped her on the shoulder.
'Sorry, didn't mean to make you jump,' I said apologetically.
'It's alright, I'm just going over the plan to make sure there's no holes in it,' she sounded tired and I wondered how long she had been up.
'If it's your plan I doubt it will have any holes in,' I surprised myself by saying.
'Thanks,' she replied a little shyly.
We chatted while we waited for the others to wake up, I took this as an opportunity to get to know her better.
'How did you come to meet the kids?' I asked not wanting to ask her anything too personal.
'I met Jensen three years ago, he and his sister were holed up in house a few minutes away from my house. Poor kids hadn't eaten in over a week,' she replied sounding both thoughtful and a little sad.
'You alright?' I said hoping I hadn't overstepped my bounds.
'Yeah I'm fine, we lost Jensen's sister Maggie and my other daughter Tamara a few months ago. It wasn't the normal kind of loss either, Jensen still finds it hard to talk about her.'
'Don't worry I won't mention anything.' I smiled trying to reassure her. 'Thanks, as for how I met the others, Frankie came to my house a little over a year ago to tell me that my husband had died. I wasn't very welcoming at first but it wasn't long before she became part of our family, she's one of the most reliable, strong and kind people I've ever met,' she smiled brightly at me.
While their lives were complicated and beyond difficult, there had been some pleasant parts. Like how Jensen wanted to get Frankie something special for Christmas, so Jade, Jensen and Tamara had gone into a new age shop in one of the towns nearby. Jensen picked out a beautiful rose quartz on silver chain, he engraved the stone himself.
While Frankie had scolded him for putting himself in danger, she had loved the necklace and continued to wear it round her neck ever since. She laughed beautifully as she told me the stories, like how Jensen had proposed to Frankie and how Finn was both brave and childish at the same time.
'What's so funny?' I asked happily as I noticed her smiling.
'Just thinking about some of the more pleasant memories of the kids, one thing I learned in this world is to always enjoy the little things,' Jade replied happily.
'That's very true, I can imagine that the kids are a great laugh.'
'Ha ha, they are indeed. I wouldn't change them for anything.' The others came in looking a little sleepy, I smiled thinking how Frankie wasn't a morning person.
'Is everyone ready to go?' Frankie asked yawning.
'Yes,' we all replied in unison.
To Morgan's dismay Finn would be joining us.
'Don't worry I'll look after him,' Jade smiled.
'I've been meaning to thank you,' Morgan said looking at Jade.
'For what?' Jade wondered.
Morgan got up out of her chair and stood in front of Jade, she took Jade's hands in hers and looked into her face smiling.
'You took care of my kids when I couldn't, thank you for keeping them safe,' she told Jade.
Jade smiled back, looking almost tearful.
'You don't need to thank me, you've got two amazing kids here,' Jade replied.
The women hugged for a moment, we all stood silently, smiling, watching what was a rare human moment between two mothers.
'Come on mum, let's get going,' Rowena said happily.
The women pulled apart, we gathered our things and set off for the summer house. Less than half an hour later we were on our way to their old base near Holmfirth, the sun was shining and it was strangely warm for this time of year. We walked in small groups, spread slightly apart, me and Jade were at the front keeping a look out for walkers.
'It feels weird being back here,' Finn said from behind us.
'I know the feeling, so much has changed,' Frankie replied thoughtfully.
'Actually that reminds me, Jade there's somewhere I need to take you when we're done,' Jensen told her solemnly.
Jade nodded, saying nothing. We encountered a few stray biters on the way but nothing we couldn't handle, Faye had stayed behind with her mother but she had told us how to get into the secret room. From what she had told us it was full of supplies, food and weapons which was just what we needed.
'You've really done a great job of taking care of everyone you know,' I couldn't help but say. Her cheeks blushed slightly and she coughed turning her face away from me. 'Thank you, though sometimes I think they take care of me.' she smiled at me looking like she was deep in thought.
'I think that you all take care of each other, I've never met a group like yours. Despite everything you've all been through, you stand strong and lookout for one another.'
I wanted to confess my feelings at that moment but I held back, I knew that things wouldn't ever be perfect, but something was on her mind and now was not the time. When we reached the summer house, I was surprised to find that the rooms had been left in a reasonable state. We split up, Jensen, Frankie, Delilah, Tessa and Finn took the lower floor, while Jade, Rowena, Brooke and I took the upper floor. We agreed to meet back up at the front door in half and hour.
We looked in each room we found no signs of walkers or people. Clearly no one had been living here, which I was glad off the last thing we needed was to fight with any one.
'Looks like it's all clear up here,' Rowena said relieved.<
br />
'Let's find the others,' Brooke replied quietly.
We went downstairs to find the others but they weren't at the meeting point, Jade looked worried and I could see the fear in her eyes.
'Frankie, Jensen,' she shouted walking towards the side of the house that they had looked in. We walked into a room to find the others talking to a young woman who was sat curled up in the corner nursing a very deep wound on her neck. She held a thick cloth up to her wound which was bleeding fiercely, what I didn't see until I got closer was the small child curled up in her lap. Oh God, that poor child, I wondered if she even knew what was happening.
'Jade, sorry I didn't hear you shouting,' Frankie said startled as I stood beside her.
'Let me take a look at your wound,' I told the woman.
'There's no point, I've been bit,' she replied tiredly as she stroked the child's head.
'We have a lab not too far from here, our doctor has a cure,' Brooke piped up.
The woman looked at us as if we'd all gone mad, it was a hard thing to adjust to I suppose.
After much discussion it was decided that Brooke, Tessa and I would take the woman back to Morgan's lab while the others stayed here to collect the supplies. Tessa and I had to carry the woman back to the lab while Brooke held the little girl. It took us longer to get back than we had anticipated, finally we entered the lab and placed her on the stretcher. We learned that her name was Lisa and her little girl was called Violet, the poor kid was only six years old.
Lisa had found the old base a while ago and had been hiding in it for weeks when she went out on a run and got herself bit, she begged us to take care of her daughter if she didn't make it. I promised her that we would, but truthfully I didn't know what the rest of the group would think. I thought that given the type of people they were that it wouldn't be an issue, but you never knew with people nowadays.
'Where's Finn?' Morgan asked fearfully.
'He's fine don't worry, he just stayed behind to gather up the supplies,' I told Morgan.
She nodded then retuned to dealing with Lisa. Morgan strapped her down while Faye tried to explain what was happening to Violet, poor kid just sat in the corner crying. Morgan injected Lisa with the vaccine but I feared it was too late, realistically the vaccine was a prevention not a cure.
It was meant to be applied before you were bitten not after, so the chances of this working were very slim. I knelt down next to Violet, but I knew that any comfort I offered wouldn't be enough to calm her. She didn't understand what was happening, I had no idea how to help her. Sadly it had been many years since I had been around kids, I looked at her innocent face and just wanted to take her pain away.
As the blue liquid was injected into Lisa's veins I could see it travelling through her arm, it didn't take long to see that it hadn't worked. Lisa began to spasm and the others for just stood in shock, I was the first to act and stab her in the head. Violet ran up to the table clutching her mum screaming for her to wake up, Faye knelt next to her and did her best to comfort Violet but the little girl just screamed and cried for her mum. We couldn't save her, I knew it in my bones that we would fail but still secretly hoped we could have saved her.
'I'm sorry sweetheart, we did our best,' I said to Violet as I knelt beside her.
'Why did you kill my mummy?' She asked innocently through the tears.
Clearly her mum had never told her about the dead heads, I braced myself for a tough conversation as I told her all about them. By the end Violet just sat on the floor looking into space, this was a hell of a lot for a small child to comprehend. I had no idea what would happen to her now that her mum was gone, I asked her if she had any other family and while I wished that she had I already knew what her answer would be.
'I never knew my daddy, my mum said he died just after I was born. It's been just me and my mum,' she replied quietly. It was then that I vowed to take care of her, I couldn't explain it but I felt a connection with her. A small voice in the back of my head told me that maybe with Violet I could somehow make up for not being there for my own children.
More than that she needed a father and I just knew that not only did I want to be there for her, I wanted to be a dad for her. I looked at Violet, her long, matted mousy brown hair clung to her dirty, tanned skin. Her hazel eyes stared ahead, looking distraught and lost.
While we waited for the others to come back I took Lisa's body outside to bury her, just as I was about to walk out the door Violet appeared beside me asking to come with me. 'I want to say goodbye,' she said in her child-like voice.
'Alright you can come, but you must stay close to me at all times; understand,' I told her more harshly than I intended to. She nodded and followed me out, I found a small field not far from the lab I was glad that there was a garden shop nearby so that I could get a shovel. I knocked on the door and listened for biters, no sound came from inside so I walked in with Violet by my side. I walked to the back of the store to find a lone dead one trapped beneath some collapsed shelves, I stabbed it in the head without hesitation while Violet whimpered beside me.
I knelt down to explain to her what I had done, she seemed to understand though I could see the sorrow in her face. I collected the shovel that I needed so we could bury her mum, as I placed her lifeless body in the ground and piled the dirt on top of her Violet knelt on the floor crying silently. I found some daisies nearby and placed them on Lisa's grave, I sat with Violet for a while before we headed back to the lab.
'Will I end up like my mum?' She asked innocently.
'No sweetheart, that won't happen to you. We are going to take care of you, we'll teach you how to defend yourself so that you will be able to survive in this world,' I replied softly.
'Thank you,' she said quietly. Her little face was so full of sadness, she may not be my blood but I would treat her as such. I would ensure that she would outlive me, I'd make sure that she had a life worth living. I just wished that somehow her mother knew that I was going to be there for her.
When we got back, I gave her some food before putting her in a bed for the night, as I went to leave the room she called out to me.
'Can you stay with me?' She asked so innocently that I couldn't refuse.
I lay down on the floor next to her, I had not meant to fall asleep but my eyes were heavy and I felt so tired.
Chapter 9
Brooke
Despite the news that we'd found a cure for the virus, my heart still grieved for all that we'd lost because of this plight. I looked at the home made calender on Morgan's wall, Thursday 31st March 2016. Almost six years, we'd lived in this hell. I'd lost more in my life than the others knew, I never talked about it though, I could never find the words. For so many years, it had been just Steven and I. As I sat listening to the others talk about the plans to go into the cities, to scavenge supplies, I kept thinking about my old life.
My life was so normal it was just me and my husband Steven, while we lived in Thurso for fifteen years before the outbreak, we were originally from Sheffield. We had decided to move after the death of our son, he died of lung failure when he was just six days old. He had been born three months premature and the doctors had told us that there wasn't much hope for his survival, we named him Ryan and had him buried next to my parents. I can still remember looking into his big blue eyes and feeling an overwhelming love for him, I never left his bedside, though I only held him once before he died.
He was so fragile and small, I sat next to his incubator stroking his head while praying to God to save my son, but God had let us down. In my darkest hour when I begged for God's help he was nowhere to be found. I had not prayed since Ryan died, and I never would again. I had on occasion quoted Pagan guidelines, but I had not fully committed myself to believing in anything again.
When the doctors knew his time was near they let us hold him, he was so small that it was like holding a kitten. I would never forget how he smelled, it was that beautiful new baby smell. We held him in our arms as he to
ok his last breath, we kissed him as his chest stopped moving. The doctors took a picture of us as a family so that we would have something to remember him by, I still had that picture of us in my jacket pocket, even after all these years I would not part with it. Neither of us could bear to live in that house after Ryan died, so we went as far away from Sheffield as we could. We never dared try for another child for fear that we would lose a baby again, yet sadly the universe had other ideas.
After Ryan died I had the contraceptive implant fitted, and for over three years it worked. As time went on we moved on with our lives and started a new, as we became so busy we didn't heed the doctors warning to get the implant replaced after three years. Fear rose through my body as I saw the two pink lines on the pregnancy test, I wanted so badly to believe that it was meant to be. That we could have the family we long since dreamed off, we held off telling people until we were sure.
By the time we stopped fretting and listened to the doctor's telling us that everything was fine, it was too late. At twelve weeks I miscarried, while the physical pain did not come close to what I had experienced with Ryan. My heart had once again been broken in half, it was then that I knew having family just wasn't possible for me. I was thankful that no one else knew, it was our grief to live through. It took some time to move on from our loss but we found a way to make our lives meaningful, Steven worked with stray animals and even became part owner in the animal shelter he had worked in.
I on the other hand chose to devote myself to helping other women who'd been through the same thing, I would hold fund raisers to help raise money that went towards aiding the research into preventing stillbirths and infant deaths.
It had been so long since I had thought about Ryan or my angel baby, yet strangely enough thinking about them now did not make me cry or fill me with sadness. I felt at peace for being able to cherish their memory and know that their loss had helped me in being able to help others through the same grief. How strange that until this moment I had never thought of it that way, I had gone into that type of counselling in order to keep Ryan alive in my mind, but I had never thought about what an impact I'd had on others. I still would not tell the others though, they were my secret to keep.
Dead World Rising (Book 3): The Cure Page 9