Dead World Rising (Book 3): The Cure

by Petrova, Katerina

  'Where?' Jade asked softly.

  'My house, my parents are buried there,' I replied quietly. 'I think in this world we are unable to visits our loved ones, the fact that you can is a blessing,' Eli surprised me by saying.

  Jade looked at the others and they all nodded, I felt relieved though apart of me dreaded going home. So much had changed since I was last here, I wasn't that same girl my parents knew. I couldn't help but wonder, would they be proud of me?

  I lead the way in silence, Jensen took my hand and squeezed it gently. I smiled at him feeling my heart pound in my chest. It didn't take us too long to get there, fifteen minutes at most. As I walked up the familiar street that led to my house, I found that my hands began to shake. It had been so long since I'd been here, even after I left I still came back every couple of months to visit them, but I'd not been here since before I met Jade and everyone.

  I came to my front garden and I just stood for a moment, I was able to forget about all the horror and pain of these last few months and just think about how happy my family was. I kept an eye out as I opened my front door, to my surprise it was just as I'd left it. My mums owl ornaments sat on the shelf above the fire place, the old fashioned rug was untouched still in the same place in the middle of the living room. My dads old DVDs were still on the bookcase, but it wasn't those things that brought a tear to my eye.

  I looked up to see that our family pictures still hung on the walls, there was one of me, my parents and my brother. My mum looked like a dwarf next to all of us, her short blond hair already going a little grey in the picture. My dads round face and bald head, he smiled from ear to ear. My brother, taller than all of us with his arms round me. I was about eight in the picture, though I was still skinny, blond and pale. I smiled in that giddy way kids did.

  'Who's that?' Jade asked softly.

  'That was my brother, he died in 2009. He was in the second Gulf war,' I replied smiling a little.

  'How long has it been, since you saw him?' Jensen wondered.

  'He left when I was ten, he was eight years older than me. Growing up he was my rock, my best friend,' I told them tearfully.

  Jensen took my hand again and squeezed, 'You don't have to tell us if it's too hard,' he said.

  'No it's alright, it's just that before I met all of you I always came back here every couple of months. But this is the first time I've been back in a year and a half,' I replied.

  'You all look alike,' Delilah smiled.

  'Ha ha, thanks. You know before my brother left for the army, he got a tattoo of our names on his neck. So that we'd always be with him,' I smiled.

  'He sounds like a good man,' Dom chimed in.

  'He was the best. I'm going out back for a minute,' I answered. The others all nodded as I walked through my kitchen and out the back door, I looked but saw no corpses as I walked down the thin stone path. Just near the end of my garden were their graves, I buried them myself, I made the crosses out of wood and carved their names. I felt the tears welling up inside me, I wasn't sure what to say as I'd never been one for visiting graves in the old world. I thought that when a person died their soul departed, their body still remained but their essence, the thing that made them who they were, was gone.

  Since the world ended I often came here, it was a reminder of the old days, a remembrance of who I was. I took a deep breath as I picked a few daisies that were growing and put them on the graves.

  'Hi mum, hi dad,' I said sadly.

  It was a cliché I knew, but as I said the words the wind gently blew my way. I smiled feeling like they were still with me.

  'The last time I was here I was on a mission for a friend, I promised him I would find his wife. But I found so much more than that, I found a family,' I told them as I felt the tears rolling down my face.

  'No one could ever replace you, but I found hope with these people. I even found love again, I just know that if you were here you'd like him. He's a good man, he's strong and brave and so very kind.' I wiped my tears as the wind blew a little more, I even let out a laugh as I imagined what it would be like for Jensen to meet my family. He'd be nervous as hell, my mum would fuss over him while my dad would no doubt have him laughing.

  'I found Nikkita again, but then she died. I'll always love her, and I know she missed you. But now, we're on another mission. We've found a cure to the virus, we're travelling the country and helping people,' I smiled thinking that they would be proud.

  Then as I thought that I was hit with a wave of sadness, what about all the other things I'd done? I'd killed so many people, what would they make of that?

  'It hasn't always been easy though, we've had to make hard choices and sometimes I've had to hurt people in order to keep my family safe,' I confessed. I closed my eyes for a moment as I let the tears fall, when I opened them I could've sworn that I saw them, my parents. They were standing in front of me holding each other, smiling. I smiled back and as I reached out to touch them they disappeared, leaving me to wonder if I'd really seen them at all. I wiped my eyes and got up, it was then that I realised I didn't need to keep coming here. My parents were with me everywhere I went, I had no malice in my heart and my parents knew that. So whatever awful choices I'd made or would have to make in the future I could make them with a clear conscience.

  'Goodbye mum and dad, I'll see you again,' I said as I turned away.

  As I walked back into the house, Jade and the others looked up and smiled at me. They knew, they knew I needed to come here, to clear whatever feelings of unrest were left inside me.

  'Let's head out,' I told them happily. Jensen wrapped his arms around me as we exited my childhood home. One day, when we'd saved the world, when the dead had been eradicated I would return and reclaim my home. I smiled knowing that for the first time since all this began, that there was real hope for us to one day return to normalcy.

  As we walked through the burned down town of Audenshaw we kept an eye out for dead heads, to our joyful surprise there was none to be found. We searched what little houses still stood and found no sign of people or any supplies, though Ester had given us plenty to last us it never hurt to look for more. The sight that lay before us as we reached the end of Audenshaw was one we had seen before, though no matter how many times you were subjected to it, it never got any easier.

  The poor people here had not managed to get away in time, as six years had passed since the bombings the only thing that remained were charred skeletons, we could still see where mothers held their children.

  Though there was no rancid smell as it had happened so long ago, we walked trying not stare at the horrific sights. I clutched Jensen's hand as we walked through it, I could only imagine the terror these people must have felt, I was thankful that no one I knew had shared this fate. Though in a way being killed by a corpse or turning into one might just be worse, we all thought about death a lot in this life it was kind of hard not to. All I knew was then when my time came, I just hoped it was quick.

  We came to the very large reservoir and decided to stop and collect some more water, our bags were heavy with all the supplies but as we had fifteen of us we could handle carrying more. Even little Violet had a bag to carry, though Dom had insisted that she only carried a little.

  'I think we should make camp here tonight, it'll be dark in an hour and we don't want to be stuck in the middle of a town in the night,' Jade said in a commanding voice. We all murmured in agreement while getting the camping equipment out of our bags, I was so thankful that Ester had so much stuff. They weren't going to need the camping stuff any time soon, and she thought we needed it more. I helped Jensen set up our tent, it was only small but it would do for just the two of us. Most of us were in pairs though Jade, Dom and Violet shared their tent. I had often wondered if Dom was attracted to Jade, he certainly seemed to look out for her more than the rest of us.

  Once we set up our tents we made a small camp fire, just big enough to keep us warm but not too big so that it could be seen.

/>   Everyone seemed to break off into small groups and talk amongst themselves, I sat next to Jensen while talking to Rowena. I had not talked to her as much as I would have wanted to.

  'Is it still strange?' I asked her inquisitively.

  'Is what strange?' She replied looking puzzled.

  'Being back with your mum after so long apart?'

  She laughed a little and smiled at me. 'Sometimes yeah, I mean she's my mum and I love her but for so long it was just me and Daniel. I think she forgets that I'm an adult, she still looks at me and sees a little girl,' she smiled happily while looking over at her mum.

  'At least she's happy though.' I looked at Jade and saw her playing with Violet while talking to Dom. 'Its weird seeing her with a little kid, I mean she loved us but when we grew up she said she never wanted to take care of kids again. I think me and my brother and sister drove my parents round the bend,' she laughed harder as if remembering something funny.

  'I can imagine you and your siblings being trouble, you know I remember the first time she told me about you she put on a brave face but I'm sure she lost hope of seeing you again. I'm so glad you made it back to her,' I smiled her hoping that she knew how much I thought of her mum.

  'I know and believe me I'll never do anything to put myself in great danger, but I'm glad she has you to look after her,' she reached over and hugged me, though our conversation was short I felt like we had reached a new level of closeness.

  Dom stood up and readjusted his jacket.

  'Right if any of you men need to relieve yourself now would be the time do it. I'll keep watch,' he said looking round at the guys. Marcel, Lex, Finn and Kyle got up and walked towards the trees while Dom stood watch. Jade said the same thing to the girls, Violet, Rowena, Trudy and me all went once the lads had finished. One of the few things I missed from the old days was a toilet, I hated having to go outside but we had no choice. One thing though I was so thankful for was that we had some toilet paper, Ester's group had a very large supply of them and had been kind enough give us some.

  It might have only been crappy hospital toilet paper but after many months of not having any it was like wiping my backside with silk. We all settled in our tents for the night, I didn't take my clothes off, just my boots and jacket, I got in the sleeping bag and cuddled up to Jensen. The cool summer night's breeze made falling to sleep easy, we had already chosen who would take shifts on watch tonight.

  I woke up in the morning to the smell of something burning, I jumped out of my tent with one foot in my shoe and my knife in hand. The others sat there laughing at me.

  'What's burning?' I asked alarmed.

  'Breakfast,' laughed Jade.

  'We're having hot food?' I asked in disbelief. 'Yeah, Ester gave me these eggs. You lot were clearly too busy doing other things yesterday morning. Ester showed me the chickens they keep and she let me have some of the eggs. I thought I'd surprise you all, clearly surprising you is a bad idea,' Jade said in a slightly teasing tone.

  'Good Goddess its been forever since I had eggs, what kind are we having?' I asked excitedly.

  'Let's ask the cooks,' she replied gesturing to Kyle and Marcel. 'You tell me, what do you fancy love?' Kyle asked nicely. I still had not forgotten the other night, but I chose to put it behind me and give him the benefit of the doubt.

  'Scrambled please, same for Jensen,' I knew he'd want the same.

  I woke Jensen up with the eggs on the paper plate in my hand, the smell itself was enough to make him sit up.

  'Did you cook this?' He asked mockingly.

  'No of course not, Kyle and Marcel did. Now eat up,' I told him playfully.

  We sat down together as a group and ate the delicious eggs, Jade had wanted to do some reconnaissance before going into the city.

  'We don't know how dangerous the city is going to be so it makes sense for us to scout a head a little before going right into the city,' Jade told us all.

  'That seems like the logical idea.' Eli said in agreement. We all agreed with her, now we just needed to decide who was going and who was staying. We had no idea what lay ahead for us and we didn't want to put the whole group in danger, especially as we got closer to the city. The group would split in half and while some of us would go and scout ahead the others would search the leftover houses for anything that we could use. Though in truth I didn't feel that there would be much left around here as most of the houses had been burned to the ground, but it never hurt to look.

  'Who's for the scouting mission?' Asked Jade.

  'I'll go,' I offered.

  'Me too,' Jensen said.

  'Count me in,' Rowena added.

  I could see the annoyance in Jade's face though she didn't say anything, I gave her a look as if to say that she shouldn't worry. So in the end it was Finn, Jensen, Rowena, Lex, Kyle, Dom, Tessa and me would go on ahead while the rest stayed. We gathered our weapons and made sure that we took a few medical supplies with us just in case, we said goodbye to the others and set off. Jade had come up with a plan just in case we didn't come back, we had two days and if we weren't back then they would come looking for us.

  I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't get rid off, something very bad was going to happen though I didn't know what. I had learned in the last six years to listen to my gut or intuition as Jade called it, I just knew that we weren't all going to make it back. I had noticed Kyle staring at me and Rowena all through breakfast and while I wanted to try and get to know him, I just couldn't shake the feeling that he was bad news.

  I still hadn't told Jensen about the other night, but if it happened again I wouldn't keep it a secret. He stared at me with those piercing blue eyes and I could swear that I'd seen them somewhere before, I had wanted to ask him if he'd ever been near sanctuary or if we'd met before but I hadn't had the chance. Not only that I didn't want him thinking I was some weirdo or that I was flirting with him, I laughed to myself at the thought.

  While there were no laws any more, he was still only fourteen and it would be seriously weird. I shook my head, I must be going crazy. Maybe the last six months were finally catching up to me, I thought trying to get my head together. I walked next to Jensen and held his hand as I tried to banish the bizarre thoughts from my mind, I had to focus, we had a mission to complete.

  Chapter 19

  Rowena

  My mum hated it when I went on runs without her, she couldn't accept that I was a grown woman and had survived five years without her. I think she felt guilty for what happened to Amber and Daniel, she wanted to keep me close to her so that she could protect me. I understood but I wasn't about to let her coddle me, she had not been happy when I volunteered for the latest mission but I had told her not to worry. I had to admit that it still felt strange to have my mum worry about me, for so long Daniel and I had fended for ourselves. We looked out for each other, protected each other from the living as well as the dead. I missed my brother, more than I could say I still felt his loss even now. He would have loved to have seen mum again, to see how strong and inspiring she had become.

  We walked along the empty streets keeping an eye out for biters, we took care of a few lone ones but it was nothing we couldn't handle. I looked at the people around me, I had become quite fond of Frankie, she was strong and kind and had looked after my mum in my absence. We'd had a good talk last night and I felt closer to her, Jensen was her boyfriend and while I thought he was a bit weird at times he too had looked after my mum.

  I trusted them, as well as Finn and Dom, I honestly thought Dom had a thing for my mum. I knew she liked him but I wasn't sure in which context, they had often sat together and he made her laugh which in this world was a rarity. Honestly if he made her happy then I would support them, Finn was like a little brother though he was one of the most mature boys of his age I had known.

  The others I wasn't sure about, we hadn't known them long and to be truthful Kyle kind of gave me the creeps. He kind of sat there watching everyone, though when he wa
nted to say something he wasn't quiet about it. I had tried to talk to him, and get to know him but he was very secretive about his life before and wouldn't talk about his family.

  The sun was blazing and I felt really hot, I took off my coat and wrapped it round my waist. I hated the heat and much preferred the cold of winter, I took out my water bottle from my bag and took a giant swig. It made me feel a bit better, as I was last in line I didn't notice that the others had stopped dead. I bumped into Kyle, he looked at me angrily while I muttered an apology.

  I looked to see what they were all looking at, there was a building that was used as a massage parlour in the old days. Now there was barbed wire surrounding the whole place, and the pub next door. We decided to walk around the back and check it out, as we turned the corner we were confronted by a small group of dead ones. There was twelve of them, I readied my knife and lurched forward to stab one but Kyle got in my way. He knocked me out the way while he took care of the biter, bloody bastard he could have hurt me.

  'You're welcome,' Kyle said in a smug voice as he offered me his hand.

  I refused it and got up without his help.

  'You idiot, you could have hurt me,' I hissed at him. 'Don't get your knickers in a twist princess, I was saving your ass,' he turned and walked away. I was really starting to dislike him, he was going to be more trouble than he was worth I thought angrily. I had wondered if Ester had wanted us to take him because he was a royal pain in the arse.

  I ran towards Jensen to help him take care the biter he was fighting, I was glad that we hadn't seen any of the strong ones in a while. The others could hold their own and didn't need any help so I just stood there waiting for them finish killing the dead ones. With our added numbers it didn't take long to finish them off, we all checked to make sure that everyone was alright.

  'That was a piece of piss,' said Kyle in a smarmy voice.

  'Speak for yourself,' I replied angrily.

  'Oh come on princess you were never in any danger,' he smirked at me.