Dead World Rising (Book 3): The Cure

by Petrova, Katerina

  Chapter 16

  Jensen

  How could she be so irresponsible? It didn't matter that she wouldn't turn, but she was still putting herself in unnecessary danger. I wanted to scream and shout, but I couldn't, not in front of the others. Jade and Frankie had made me stay behind when they went to talk to Ester, I felt even more angry at the fact that they'd left me out of the discussion. I knew they'd need proof, there was no way they'd believe such a thing from complete strangers. I paced my room angrily as I waited for them to come back, Delilah sat with me looking at me like I'd gone nuts.

  'What's up with you? Why are you so nervous?' She asked worryingly.

  Finn knew about Frankie being pregnant, but I hadn't told anyone else. I didn't want to, just in case I was wrong.

  'I just wish she'd talk to me about these things, before going off and making rash decisions,' I huffed.

  'What's gotten into you? That girl is more than capable of looking after herself, she doesn't need a baby sitter,' Delilah told me sternly.

  'Not you as well, I've had enough crap of Frankie about this,' I snapped.

  'Well then, stop being a dick and you won't get snapped at,' she bit back.

  Rowena walked in a few minutes later, to find Delilah and I arguing. It was a full blown, shouting match. I hated arguing, but she was really pissing me off.

  'Get lost already, you've no right to get involved!' I shouted angrily.

  'She's my friend, I'm just looking out for her,' she yelled.

  'Yeah right, I bet you just want to get in her pants!' I said bitterly. I wasn't expecting it, Delilah stormed over to me and cracked me one straight in the jaw. I went flying into the wall, I sat in shock wanting nothing more than to whack her back, but I didn't believe in hitting women unless I absolutely had to. I'd done it when we were in the midst of battling an enemy, but I'd never hurt my family, no matter what.

  'Get. Out!' I screamed.

  'Fine by me, you little shit,' she muttered furiously.

  Rowena just stood there in shock, she came over to me and helped me up.

  'You alright?' She asked concernedly. 'I'll be fine, that bitch has a nasty right hook,' I replied. 'Hey, don't call her that. I've no idea what's going on but yours and Frankie's problems are starting to affect the group, you need to do something,' she told me softly.

  I sighed, she was right. Things couldn't carry on like this, the last thing I wanted to do was push everyone away.

  'You're right, I'll talk to Frankie when she gets back,' I said.

  She made me stand still while she looked at my face, it hurt like hell but I was sure Delilah hadn't broken anything.

  'You'll be fine, though your going to have one hell of a bruise,' she replied plainly.

  'I know, look can you keep this quiet? I don't want everyone to know about this,' I asked her calmly.

  'Sure, I'll go and talk to Delilah. You try not to get into any more trouble,' she laughed.

  'Ha, I'll try,' I laughed back. I sat in my room waiting for Frankie to come back, I felt like I'd been waiting for hours. How long could it take to convince them? I kept pacing, trying to stay calm. I just wanted to tell her that I knew, I needed it to be out in the open. If she was pregnant, we needed to go back to the lab, we needed to prepare for our child. There was so much to be done, I didn't know the first thing about babies but I needed to get ready if we were having one.

  I would make sure I was ready, I'd do whatever needed to be done, I'd go out on runs, get all the baby stuff. I'd read the parenting books, I could ask Jade for advice, or even Morgan. We'd be safe in the lab, or even if we stayed here, I'm sure these people would help us.

  After a while, there was a knock at my door. It was Finn, he didn't look happy. Oh god, what had happened now?

  'Hey, I just thought I'd tell you. Frankie's in quarantine, she's already been bitten,' he said nervously.

  'Oh fucking hell, where is she?' I demanded.

  'I'll take you to her, but I warn you she's not happy with you,' he told me.

  'Let me guess, Delilah told her about our fight.'

  'Yup, she did,' he replied. Oh great, I knew she was going to go mad at me. All this stress wasn't good for the baby. Finn took me to the isolation room where Frankie was being kept, Ester, Jade and a few of the others were there.

  'I'd like to sit with her,' I told Ester. 'That's fine, but if you want to leave just shout. I've posted a guard just down the hall, he'll let Frankie out after twenty-four hours, once we can be sure she's not going to turn,' she replied seriously.

  'Okay.'

  She opened the door for me to go in, Frankie looked at me with a scolding, furious look on her face. Even furious, she was still beautiful. Her hair had grown back, it was now just passed her shoulders, her sapphire eyes showed all the anger she was feeling, but I saw something else in her eyes. A deep sadness, it was then that I knew it, I'd royally fucked things up.

  She sat on the edge of the bed fiddling with the engagement ring I'd given her last year at Sanctuary, oh no, I thought knowing what was coming next. I looked back at the clear, glass doors, everyone had gone.

  'I can't do this any more,' she said sadly.

  'I'm sorry, please forgive me,' I told her, kneeling in front of her and holding her hands. She pulled away from me, I could see the tears in her eyes. I stood up, took her hands once more, I needed her to understand. I loved her, more than anything, she was my life, my world. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her.

  'No, stop. I don't understand, why have you turned into this- this person? I never thought you of all people would become this paranoid, possessive, angry person,' she told me crying.

  'I'm so sorry, I wanted to talk to you, but I thought you'd tell me in your own time,' I replied tearfully.

  'Tell you what?' She asked.

  'Please don't, you don't have to hide it any more. I won't be angry, we'll get though this together, you know I'll always be here for you,' I clutched her hands.

  She seemed annoyed now.

  'I honestly don't know what you're on about,' she told me fiercely.

  'I know okay, I know.'

  'Know about what?' She asked angrily.

  'The baby, I know we're having a baby,' I said gently.

  She sat there, gob smacked. How could she not know? Surely it was obvious. After a minute, she just laughed. Frankie wiped away her tears, and just pulled me in, hugging me.

  'You are a fucking idiot,' she said laughing.

  'What? Why?' I wondered.

  She looked me straight in the eyes, she smiled, kissing me. 'I'm not pregnant,' she told me. 'B-but, you're always tired and hungry, you've erm put on weight and you haven't bled in months,' I stammered.

  'Oh dear Goddess, you are such dip shit . It's the pill, I got a shit load more when we first went to Halifax. I take them constantly so that I won't bleed, the other symptoms are because of the pill. You fucking twat,' she cried happily.

  Then it dawned on me, she'd not told me about the pill. We used condoms but we had a few that had broken, all this worrying, panicking was me being a complete idiot.

  'Oh fuck, I'm so sorry,' I kept apologising.

  She pulled me on the bed and looked into my eyes, her tears of sadness were now replaced with laughter. I kissed her, feeling all the stress and worry of the last few months disappear.

  'You need to apologise to Delilah, you were cruel,' she told me gently.

  'I know and I will, but for now I just want to be with you,' I told her.

  'Come here,' she said seductively.

  She pushed me down on the bed, I felt myself grow hard at her touch. It had been some time, since we'd been close, let alone done anything else.

  'Hold on a minute,' she said as she got up. Frankie went to close the curtain's on the door, as she turned back around, she took off her boots and jeans. Not that I ever thought about it before, but she looked even sexier with the little bit of added weight. Her boobs had gotten a little bigger as well, I smiled as s
he stood in front of me in just her black underwear.

  'You look beautiful,' I told her. She smiled, then came back to bed. She gripped my hair, which had gotten a little long for my liking, and kissed me with such passion, such urgency that I felt the world around me melt away. I loved this woman, so much so that it hurt me. I reached behind her as she kissed me, and undid her bra without her noticing.

  'You're getting good at that,' she smiled lustfully. I just laughed. I pulled her to me and moved so that I was on top of her, prior to our arguing, I'd gotten a little more confident in this department. I pushed her hands up above her head and held them there, I kissed down her neck, I felt her body quake as I took her nipple in my mouth. I wanted her, I needed her.

  'Ah,' she moaned. I stopped for a moment, to take off my clothes. My body was nothing special to look at, but I wasn't really self-conscious about it. She lay there, looking at me with those lusting eyes as I stood in all my glory.

  'I want you,' she said.

  I smiled as I jumped back on to the bed, I kissed her stomach and then her thighs as I removed her underwear. I pinned her down, and pushed myself inside her. I couldn't really explain how it felt, only that it was damn good. She wrapped her arms around me, as we found our rhythm. I could almost feel our hearts beating as one, I could never imagine being with anyone else but Frankie, I knew I wanted to spent the rest of my life with this amazing woman. One day, one very far away day when we'd saved the world, we would have a family of our own.

  'I love you,' she said in the throes of passion.

  'I love you too.' I bent my head down to kiss her, she pulled me closer as I thrust inside her. We moaned through the kisses, clinging to each other, never wanting to let go. I didn't think about anything outside of us, the mission, our family, everything just faded away.

  I woke in the morning to find Frankie still fast asleep, I gently brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her on the forehead. Right, now it was time to make things right with Delilah. I was not looking forward to this, but I knew it was my fault and I was out of order. Despite Delilah's feelings towards Frankie, I knew she'd never come between us. I nervously knocked on her door, not knowing how she was going to react.

  'Come in,' she said not looking at the door to see who it was.

  'Hey, listen I wanted to apologise,' I replied softly.

  'And so you should,' she muttered bitterly. 'Look I really am sorry, but I need to explain why I've been such a cunt.' I sat down on the bed next to Delilah. 'For the last few months, I thought that Frankie was pregnant. That's why I've been so overprotective, but I couldn't tell anyone,' I explained.

  'Wait, Frankie's pregnant!' She exclaimed. 'No, as it turns out, it was just me being stupid. Instead of talking to her, I jumped to conclusions and took it out on everyone. I'm so very sorry for what I said yesterday, I know you'd never come between us and despite everything, you are one us. You're our family,' I told her smiling.

  'You're a fucking twat, you know that,' she laughed.

  'Yeah, I know.' 'I understand, I get it. If you'd have told me, I think I'd have been the same. And yes I am in love with Frankie, I mean how could you not be. But like you said I'd never do anything to hurt her, or you. I'm glad your happy together and I hope you stay together,' she said a little shyly.

  'Thank you, and I mean it you know. You are one of us.' 'I'm happy to be one of you. Now shall we go and get Frankie some breakfast, I'll bet she's hungry,' she smiled.

  I nodded and we went down to the cafeteria, all of the hospital people gave us funny looks as we entered the room.

  'I feel like I'm in the spotlight,' I whispered.

  'Tell me about it, but once we prove the vaccine works, they'll be grateful,' she replied in a hushed voice.

  We lined up to get our food, the girl who was dishing it out smiled at us.

  'Mind if I get my missus some breakfast too, she's in quarantine?' I asked politely.

  'Sure thing, here take a little extra, I'll bet she's really hungry,' the girl replied smiling.

  'How come your not joining your people in looking at us like we're aliens?' Delilah asked her jokingly.

  'Because I believe your telling the truth,' she said happily.

  'I'm glad one of you does,' Delilah told her.

  'Don't worry about these lot, once the twenty-four hours is up, they'll see your alright.' We took the food graciously and headed back to Frankie, she was still asleep when we got inside. I put my fingers to my lips and gestured for Delilah to be quiet as I placed the food down on the table. I walked over to Frankie and kissed her softly on the lips, she murmured and her eyes fluttered.

  'Ugh, what time is it?' She asked groggily.

  'About noon, I think,' I replied smiling.

  'Ugh, you're too cheerful in the morning,' she moaned.

  'Ha, well here, we brought you breakfast,' I told her.

  Delilah gave Frankie her breakfast, she sat up in bed making sure her bare chest was covered with the quilt.

  'Are these, eggs?' She exclaimed excitedly.

  'They sure are, I know we had food at the lab but this is just awesome,' Delilah giggled. We sat and ate breakfast together, Frankie was happy that Delilah and I had sorted things out. She even apologised, though we both told her she didn't need to. After an hour, Delilah left us alone and Dom and Violet stopped by.

  'I got these for you,' Violet said happily as she handed Frankie some Bluebells. 'Their lovely, thank you,' she replied smiling.

  'We just thought we'd come and check on you. How you feeling?' Dom asked.

  'I'm alright, Ester's just making sure she protects her people,' Frankie told him.

  'I know, it is a big thing, to ask some one to accept this news,' he replied.

  It seemed that everyone wanted to stop by that day, a short while after Dom and Violet left, Finn and Rowena stopped by.

  'Hey, I take it you two are better now?' Finn asked kindly.

  'Yeah, we're fine. Turns out I'm an idiot,' I told him smiling.

  'Well, we always knew that,' Rowena joked.

  'I thought I'd come and tell you, Ester said if you survive this, she'll let us use their TV room. It has a DVD player,' Finn said excitedly.

  'Awesome, we'll be sure to watch a few episodes before we leave,' Frankie smiled.

  'Oh, dinner's in an hour. Do you want me to bring you guys some?' Rowena asked kindly.

  'Please, if you don't mind,' I replied happily. They nodded and went off to get their food, I laid down on the bed with Frankie in my arms. I stroked her hair as I felt her fall asleep, the others would wake us up for dinner. I could feel my own eyelids getting heavy, these last few days had been rough. I hadn't even realised how tired I was from all the emotional upheaval.

  I was just glad everything was back to normal, next time I was worried about something I'd be sure to talk to Frankie first.

  I woke up hours later to Finn and Jade nudging us, I smiled as Frankie and I sat up.

  'We brought you dinner,' Jade smiled.

  'Thanks,' Frankie and I said at the same time.

  'How much longer have I got to stay in here?' Frankie asked as she took a bite of her food.

  'Another hour or so,' Jade replied.

  We sat and ate our dinner, Jade and Finn were still with us when Ester and some of her people arrived.

  'You really are a very close group, aren't you,' she laughed. 'We're family,' I told her. I could see Ester's expression lighten, she smiled brightly at us. She told us that she just wanted her doctor to give Frankie the once over, Frankie happily agreed. After another hour of gruelling blood tests, the doctor was astounded that Frankie wasn't going to turn.

  'I think it's time to tell my people, I'm very sorry for making you go through all of this,' Ester said apologetically.

  'It's fine, I understand,' Frankie told her happily.

  'You're a good bunch of people,' the doctor replied. We walked down to the cafeteria, to find that all eyes turned to us. The look on their sho
cked faces as Frankie walked into the room, they could see she had no black veins nor was she dazed or confused. I smiled as I took her hand in mine and walked over to the table that Ester gestured at us to sit at. The whole group was here, even Violet and Dom. This was the start of sustainability, of making the world a better place.

  I did feel a pang of sadness though, I wished my sister could have lived to see our family happy.

  Chapter 17

  Jade

  Everyone lined up to see Frankie, she was somewhat of a miracle to these people. She took to being a star pretty well, everyone wanted to shake her hand, she just laughed it off. There were sixty people in the hospital, we gave them enough of the vaccine for everyone to take plus another forty doses so that if any other people came along, they could help. Now came the dreaded question I had been dreading.

  'So what do you want in return for this?' Eli asked. Eli was an older man in his mid-sixties, he was a large, round man but was just as capable at fighting as any of the younger people. His thin, white hair was scruffy and falling out. Those pale sky blue eyes stared at us intensely, looking for any signs that we might be bad people.

  'Nothing, this is our mission. We just want to save the world,' I told them kindly.

  'But you must want something in return,' a middle aged woman called Trudy said in disbelief. I'd met Trudy a few times, she was among those who were still very sceptical. She was in her midthirties, she was a tall, thin woman with short white blond hair and chocolate eyes. Trudy seemed a little shy, but appeared to be nice enough.

  'We promise you, we want nothing. I will say, if you should offer us any aid we will not refuse it,' I smiled politely.

  'What do you think Trudy, should we join them?' Audrey asked happily. Audrey had seemed confident about this from the start, I knew she had not long turned thirty and she was originally from Stalybridge. She was a small, well built woman with shoulder length auburn hair and azure eyes.

  'I think we should,' Trudy replied smiling.