by Aline Riva
He drew in a breath, eyes fixed on the basket as he heard that sound again, and knew no human child could have survived all this time, not after being raided by the undead, not without food and in these cold temperatures...
“Oh shit...” he whispered under his breath, “I can't do it... I can't kill a baby, even if you are a corpse...”
In his pocket, the phone vibrated. He guessed he ought to call Lois soon, but now was not the time... Rick stepped closer, looking down into the moses basket.
The child kicked under a thick yellow blanket, then raised a chubby arm as the sleeve of the white baby grow decorated with the sun and the moon slipped back, revealing a healed snake bite.
The grey baby with the black eyes smiled up and gurgled and cooed as Rick looked down at him, and Rick breathed a sigh of relief as he smiled down at the mutant baby.
“Hello there!” he said in a soft, fatherly tone, his metal hand catching the light as he reached down into the basket and lifted out the child, carefully wrapping him in a fresh, thick blanket that he took from a nearby dresser.
Then he stood there for a moment, cradling the mutant baby boy tenderly as he gently rocked him, soothing him as the child looked into his eyes and he felt an instant bond of love between them, as if these grey children had a way of finding their choice of parent, he felt it instantly, as if the word father was now set in the child's mind as their eyes connected.
“I have a little girl like you,” he said softly, “Her name is Flossie. She's special like you...and you're coming with me...let's go, you don't belong here all on your own, but it's okay now, I've got you, you're safe and sound...”
Then he carefully made his way out of the nursery, went back down the stairway and through the abandoned shop, cradling the child with great care as he then crossed the square, carrying the mutant boy to the safety of the secured area to join with the rest of the group.
Chapter 5: The Making of an Enemy
As Rick entered the apartment over the supermarket warmth hit him, a welcome feeling after so long out in the bitter cold. An old fashioned oil stove was burning in the kitchen, the heat was spreading through the rooms and some battery lights found in the store were now on the walls and glowing, making the place look welcoming as the others, all sat on the soft carpet and on the sofas, looked up in surprise at the bundle in his arms.
David was the first to get up, shooting him a warning glance.
“If that child is undead, you know what has to be done – corpses need gas or a bullet, no exception -”
“He's not a corpse, he's grey, he's B Virus like Flossie!” Rick exclaimed, folding back the blanket and showing the snake bite on the mutant childs arm, “I don't know how long he has been up there but mutant kids are hardy, they can survive the cold, they can go a long time without food...this little fella must be starving! Oh...I just realised, he's starving! I'd better sort that out!”
As he thrust the baby into David's arms, he looked down at the mutant child who growled in protest at being handed to another, then looked up at David, gave a squeal and then a giggle.
“At least he's a happy little soul!” David said in surprise.
But Rick was already out the door and heading down the stairs, ready to face the cold yet again, knowing that child was starving – and remembering mutant children only feasted on dead flesh, he knew what had to be done...
It was a cold night to wander about the village in the dark, it was a bad time any time of the day or night to be pulling an axe from the head of a felled corpse and then using it to open up rotted flesh and scrape out congealed blood into a baby bottle, but the corpse had not been killed by gas and although the gas was apparently safe for B Virus children, he wasn't taking any chances when it came to feeding a young mutant infant.
Leaving the stink of death behind him, Rick went back to the supermarket, found a camping stove and lit up just outside the open door at the back of the place, then he placed the bottle in a saucepan of water and waited as the water heated and the blood began to warm and thin out. It took a while, then as the bottle bobbed in the hot liquid, it tipped on its side and the water in the saucepan swirled dark and bloody as the blood in the bottle thinned out some more.
“That should do it,” he said, turning off the stove.
After taking the bottle out of the water and setting it down on the frosty ground, Rick waited for the blood within to cool slightly, then he lifted the bottle from the ground where beneath it had melted a circular patch of frost, and then he returned to the apartment above the supermarket, thankful to be back in the warmth once more.
He returned to a sight that surprised him: The baby was now bathed and changed into a blue baby grow found downstairs in the baby aisle of the supermarket, his dark hair was fluffy and damp and his bright black eyes shone as his chubby face lit up with a smile on seeing Rick enter the room.
“It's like he knows you already!”David said in surprise as Marie handed the baby back.
“He's all yours,” she said.
“And when she says that,” David added, “She means what we all agree on – yes this child needs to be cared for – but he's your responsibility, Rick. If it gets rough out there we have to focus on wiping out the threat first and foremost, or none of us will make it out of here. We don't know how many of those creatures are still on the loose.”
Rick was cradling the child in his arms as he took a seat on the sofa, smiling as he watched the child grab at the bottle then drink deeply of the blood within it.
“Maybe he can have the antidote too,” Marie suggested, “Apparently it's supposed to stop the craving for corpse meat...”
At the mention of the antidote, Rick thought of Lois and that conversation they needed to have about Flossie. But the phone was in his pocket, he was yet to take his coat off and the baby had drained the bottle fast and was growing sleepy in his arms.
“Not yet,” said Rick, turning the baby to face his shoulder then laying him against it as he gently rubbed his back, then the baby burped, spluttered and as a sticky mess of corpse blood came back up and ran down his coat, he gave a sigh.
“I forgot how much that would stink!”
He wiped the child's mouth with a baby wipe taken from a packet on the table, then he looked to a soft blanket in the corner of the room.
“I think you'll sleep through the night,” he said, taking the child over to the blanket and laying him down. He watched as the mutant baby closed his black eyes, then a smile settled on the child's face as he drifted off to sleep.
“You're so good with kids!” Marie exclaimed.
Rick smiled as he turned from the sleeping child.
“Lois says that too, she says I'm a great dad to Flossie.”
“And your coat stinks,” she reminded him, then she laughed as Rick took his coat off quickly and left the room to clean off the stinking corpse blood.
Marie turned from the sleeping child to see David had joined her.
“It's cold out there,” she remarked, turning to the window and pushing aside the curtain, where in the distance they saw the locked gates of the churchyard and Jason still unconscious on the pathway.
“And?” David asked.
“And nothing,” she replied, “I guess he deserves everything he gets...”
“He does,” David reminded her, “The guy is a pervert and a liability. And if it had been up to me, I wouldn't have thought twice about putting a bullet in him. Jason is on his own now.”
“I'm just glad he's away from us,” she admitted, then she turned away from the window, letting the curtain fall back in place as she embraced David, needing a tight hug as they stood there in the warmth of their temporary safe house, knowing tomorrow could be as hard as the day that was drawing to a close, until this mission was over, nowhere felt truly safe to be...
After Rick had cleaned his coat he returned to the front room, saw the child was still sleeping peacefully and then grabbed the softest sofa, stretching out on it a
s he looked at his phone, noticed the battery was doing well and then saw he had nine unread messages. He gave a sigh and started to read through them, deciding the call to Lois would have to wait unless she called him first, because it was late, it had been a hard day and he was tired. But then his eyes grew heavy and before he could reply with a brief text, he fell asleep.
Marie was by now asleep in an arm chair across the other side of the room as David sat on the other sofa, gas gun beside him as he took first watch, his eyes on the locked door that led out of the apartment, ready for the undead or even a vengeful Jason if he burst through that door – he was ready for anything as the night fell still and silent...
While the others were sleeping and David kept watch, Captain Tina Swan opened up the bedroom door and paused to place a battery powered light on the wall. She activated it and then Vince followed her in and she closed the door behind them.
“I thought I might have this room,” she told him, glancing around the bedroom with floral walls and green curtains and old wooden furniture. Vince glanced at the comfortable looking bed with soft pillows and a quilt, this room looked as if it had not been disturbed since the owners had fled – there were certainly no signs of bloodshed in this place at all.
“Okay,” he replied, “And my room is next door?”
She took off her coat and her thick jumper, then turned back to Vince.
“I already checked it out- it's okay in there, undamaged...I don't think the others will want a bedroom, Rick wants to be with the baby and David and Marie are taking turns on night watch.”
“They can have the spare room if they want it.”
Tina blinked, looking to Vince in surprise as he smiled. By the soft light that filled this room, the tiny lines around her eyes didn't look harsh at all and the warmth he saw in her gaze matched his own. As she stood there in a vest top that emphasised curves that were usually hidden beneath her combat clothing, Vince let his gaze roam over her body, to be sure she understood.
“My only fear is you might not want to see this,” he said honestly, casting his coat aside, then stripping off his woollen jumper and stepping closer to her, now in a sleeveless vest that exposed his prosthetic arm.
“Sometimes I'm okay with it... other times I wonder if it might put you off,” he admitted.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“I stayed with you through everything, after the explosion, after the antidote.. how could you think that? I thought you wasn't interested in me!”
Her reply surprised him, so did the realisation that his insecurity had just slipped away as he got closer, looking into her eyes as love reflected there, then he reached up with his artificial hand and stroked her face.
“I love you, Tina Swan,” he said softly.
His words went straight to her heart as she knew in that moment she had been wrong – nothing was holding her back from being closer to Vince, nothing at all... She reached for him, running her fingers through his hair as they kissed deeply, that kiss was everything Vince had hoped it would be, and certainly for both of them this night was a dream come true they had both silently longed for, but until now, had not thought possible...
It was freezing cold, his hands were numb and the sharp morning air made him catch his breath. Jason opened his eyes to look up at stark white sky that made his eyes ache as the bruise to his cheek throbbed. He recalled a metal fist slamming into his face, then the girl in the clothing store, that mindless nympho...
He rolled on to his side and gave a groan. Then as he heard a distant shriek that was unmistakeably the sound of the undead he sat up sharply, then scrambled to his feet, shivering and struggling to get his circulation going enough to feel his feet inside his boots, because two creatures were running across the graveyard at speed – they had sighted him...
Jason turned and ran, slamming painfully into the gates as he clutched at the railings in horror, realising he had been locked in...the gates were chained and padlocked...
Rick had done this?
Knocked him out and left him here to die?
He drew in a painful breath of icy morning air as he found his voice once more.
“I'll fucking kill you!” he yelled, rattling at the gates in vain.
But the dead were halfway across the graveyard now, giving Jason no choice but to run away from the locked gates, taking the path that led around the other side of the churchyard. As he lost sight of the corpses he ran on, down a path that rose and fell with graves subsiding with age and shifting soil, then he cut across a patch of land where the ground was bumpy and stank of decay.
As the ground below his feet gave way, his yell of alarm was stifled as he fell below ground, through the hole in the cracked earth, landing with a thud inside a darkened crypt, where he lay on his back, once again knocked out cold, oblivious to the soil that trickled in and ran off his face as above, the two creatures paused to squabble over a severed human arm, before taking chunks out of it and casting the limb down into the pit, where it landed beside the unconscious man, who was yet to realise his situation had just become so much worse...
Marie had thought for one moment perhaps she had nodded off to sleep on watch as she heard a sound cut through the air that sounded like shouting – like Jason shouting, to be specific – but when she looked out the window she saw no one over by the church and assumed he had woken up and was now heading off to find his own way back. His gas gun had been cast aside in the store, but she really didn't want to waste time worrying about the fate of a scumbag. Instead she went over to the armchair where she had swapped places on night watch with David, smiled down at him, then brushed a stray lock of hair off his face, whispered softly to him and kissed his cheek. He opened his eyes, looked up at her and warmth filled his gaze.
“It's morning,” she told him, “And there's nothing to report – apart from the fact that Jason has gone.”
“He'll have to find his own way out,” David said, blinking sleep from his eyes as he sat up and gave a yawn. He looked over to the sofa and saw it was empty, then as Rick came through the open doorway ready to leave with a very alert and smiling baby in his arms, David and Marie looked in surprise at the child, who now wore a thick fleece baby grow on top of the thinner blue one, also a knitted hat and mittens that he had taken from the store downstairs.
“I thought I'd get this little one ready...” he gave the baby a bounce in his arms, and as he looked to the boy, the child studied his expression, still smiling.
“We can't have you going out there in the cold without being snuggled up, can we?” Rick said in fatherly tone, “Got to look after you and keep you warm...I can't wait for Lois to meet you!”
“Just make sure while you've got the baby in one arm you have the gas gun in the other,” David warned him, “If we come up against hostility -”
“I can handle this, I'm fine!” Rick insisted, “I'll hold Junior with my metallic side and keep my trigger hand free for the gas gun, I can keep that on the strap on my shoulder, that way I've got a tight hold of the baby and the gun.”
“You're holding who on your metallic side?” asked David as amusement crept into his voice.
“Junior,” he replied, “Rick Junior...”
David chuckled.
“Looks like you're determined to raise this kid!”
“I wouldn't have it any other way,” Rick replied, “Me and Lois love Flossie, this little guy is the same as her – she needs a sibling of the same kind, it could be good for both of them. Besides, I've had plenty of women and marriages - but no kids. With Lois and Flossie I get to have a family. This little boy is also a part of that family now.”
Marie smiled fondly as she looked at Rick as he stood there holding the B Virus baby in his arms.
“It takes a special person to bring up an adopted child,” she said, “Even more so to take on children like Flossie and this little one.”
“But I think that baby knows you're right for him,” David added, “Its almost li
ke these grey kids choose their parents.”
“I thought that too,” Rick replied as he looked at the baby in his arms who was drifting off to sleep, “As soon as I saw him I felt like he chose me.”
“Well I guess they are a new breed of human,” added the Captain as she entered the room followed by Vince. She paused to take a look at the sleeping child as she smiled warmly, “He's lovely, such a sweetie!”
“Thanks,” Rick said proudly, and Marie and David exchanged a glance and laughed.
“What's so funny?” Rick asked.
“You!” David exclaimed, “Talking like Lois just gave birth to him!”
The mention of Lois jogged his memory and he took the phone off the coffee table, still holding the baby as he scanned through the messages:
Rick its me, are you okay...Rick please answer your phone...Why do you never answer messages? You're out there in danger, do you mind that I worry? Just want to know you're alive! p.s. I love you!
He smiled as he looked through the messages, then gave a quick reply: All okay here. Home in less than 24 hours. Love you too. Will call when I can X.
As soon as the text was sent, Rick quickly diverted all incoming calls to voicemail, then put the phone in his pocket.
“I'm ready to leave now,” he said, looking to the window as dawns harsh, cold light reflected white and glaring on the icy clouds that hid all trace of winter sun. By now Marie was ready to leave and after visiting the bathroom and putting on his coat and hat and grabbing his gas gun, David was the last to be ready, then they left the safe house that had been a source of warmth and comfort, once more venturing out into the cold, ghostly village, where the team once again set off towards the final road that led away from this place, heading for another forest area where beyond lie another village where they hoped to meet with the two units sweeping close by, meaning transport to return to base would then follow by nightfall.