by Aline Riva
Chapter 10 : London, Peacetime, Four Years Later:
The ribbon she had plucked from the hair of the girl in front of her was yet to be missed. She had chewed on it, mashing it into a gooey ball in her mouth and then after a look of disapproval from Lois, had leant over low and spat it to the floor, then kicked it under the chair of its owner. As they sat there in the the grand hall among many others honoured in wartime, Lois looked horrified as the girl in front leant over, picked up her ribbon, then first looked puzzled and finally, disgusted as the ball unravelled into a sticky mess of chewed up silk.
The girl looked over her shoulder at the culprit. The grey girl sitting behind her was around fifteen, with chestnut hair that fell to her shoulders, she was wearing lip gloss and dark eyeliner flicked into dainty wings, making her black eyes look big. She looked at the girl in front, then the girl looked away.
“Flossie!” Lois whispered, “Stop eating things!”
“Sorry...” Flossie replied, glancing down at the silver metal stick she jiggled between her fingers, it was her habit since the antidote had stopped the craving for corpse meat when she was younger.
Many grey children had emerged after the war was won, all victims of snake bites. But the older children were growing up and while new victims still emerged and always would until every mutant snake had been found and killed, the grey kind were becoming a new race, with ways of their own, a unique speech pattern and were certainly welcome in society – that had been an instant welcome, as it was public knowledge that a grey child had helped in the Battle of the Arctic, a tale that had seen every person involved hailed a hero...
Since the antidote, Flossie had been able to eat regular human food, ordinary food – but the craving for odd things had not stopped, it seemed to be a grey trait, as was her liking for insects, which it seemed all antidote treated children seemed to share. It was recognised that live and dried insects of all kinds were a food source that was adored by this new breed of human, and as the first generation of grey children approached adulthood, new businesses were springing up to cater for them : Grey food snacks, grey tone make up for grey girls, even a clothing chain for grey kids and teenagers since it had been noticed that greys had a strong linking for bright colours and sparkles.
Flossie had made a great effort on attending this memorial to mark the fourth anniversary of the end of the war. It was also the year the world had declared itself recovered from all damage and fully rebuilt after the outbreak, making this occasion a very special one. While Lois wore a simple, long black gown, Flossie wore black jeans with silver glitter worked into the fabric, a yellow top with turquoise flowers and her shoes sparkled like fairy dust in purple and blue.
As she heard her name spoken by the last speaker on the stage, who stepped back as applause sounded all round and seemed to make the roof shake, Flossie looked to Lois, standing up and tucking her silver chopstick into a loop on her belt.
“You know what to say?” Lois asked anxiously, catching her hand as Flossie's bright blue nail polish shone under the lights.
Flossie gave a sigh.
“We talk about...” she paused, pulling her words together in broken speech typical of grey people, so common it was recognised simply as grey speak.
“We talk about end of the war -”
“Do you remember everything you need to say?” Lois fussed anxiously.
“Flossie know!” she said quickly, then tugged her hand away from her mother and turned away, heading for the steps that led to the stage as Lois turned to the young boy beside her. Rick Junior was four years old, and if not for his grey complexion, with his dark hair and charming smile, could easily have passed as her own son, as Rick's son, too...
She thought of Rick and looked to the empty seat beside her. Then Lois blinked away tears as she recalled what Flossie was about to say as the events of the final mission came back to her like it had happened yesterday...
Then Rick Junior – RJ, as they now called him, looked at her and her eyes widened.
“No!” she whispered, taking the end of the shoelace that was sticking out of his mouth and gently pulling on it as the lace became longer and longer and she looked around hoping the TV cameras were on Flossie, who was about to speak, and not the audience.
“Let go!” she said, and he obeyed and the shoe lace came free from his mouth.
“Now stop it!” Lois told him quietly, “Laces belong in shoes...”
He smiled as he swung his legs as they dangled from the chair.
“No shoe, no shoe!” he said happily.
She looked down to see he was wearing nothing but socks.
He giggled.
“Where ARE your shoes?” Lois said in alarm as she looked at him anxiously and he chuckled, then a tap-tap-tap sounded and she looked to the stage. Flossie held the silver stick in her hand, tapping it thoughtfully as she stood before the audience, preparing to make her speech.
Flossie waited for a moment, tapped the stick again and started to speak into the microphone.
“It four years since the war ended. I....” she paused, thinking about the flow of her speech that just didn't keep in step with non B Virus people, and then she shook her head, deciding to speak the way she knew best instead:
“Me – Flossie, fought in Arctic. My Dad fight many times and look after my Mum. They find Flossie in fairground, keep Flossie....” she smiled, looking to Lois, who smiled back at her, “Last day of war. The Last Day... Day Zero, they call it... when fighting ended and creatures all gone. Day Zero my Dad with team from Arctic. Shut in.....” she paused again, then waved her hands briefly, dismissing words that muddled in her head, “No...Trapped in house...enemy all around. Dad call my mum and me. Saying goodbye to Mum and to Flossie. With baby puppy – no...brother... Dad have RJ with him, he find RJ and help, want to keep like Flossie but then Dad trapped in house... Mum tell me Dad not coming home again...Flossie cry...Mum cry...”
She looked to her mother in the audience. Lois wiped her eyes, then whispered something to RJ again, it sounded like a question about shoes as RJ laughed and bounced on the seat beside her.
Flossie paused, smiling.
“My brother grey like Flossie. We laugh at the same things...”
Then she got back to her speech as her smile faded.
“Me – Flossie, and Mum...we missed Dad. Waited for news...And then...”
She looked up, down the aisle past the seating as the door opened and he walked in, looking sleek and well groomed in his expensive suit, hurrying past other guests, leaving a trail of designer cologne in his wake as he headed for the seat next to Lois. His elegant metal hand caught the light as he sat down. Lois turned to her husband and smiled as he kissed her cheek, then Rick looked in horror at RJ.
“Where's his shoes?” he whispered, “What's he done with them now?”
Flossie smiled at her Dad, and then as she recalled the events that had followed, love shone in her dark eyes.
“I waited with Mum. We think Dad not coming back, no one coming back again. Then door opens, Dad standing there. He comes over and gives RJ to Mum and then he gives me big, big bundle of candyfloss sticks!”
In the audience, as Rick recalled the memory, he blinked, not wanting to cry as the emotion of the moment caught up with him and he recalled arriving back at the base, stinking of petrol and fire and covered in dust and dirt and blood as he handed the baby to Lois and then embraced the family he had feared he would never see again.
Flossie smiled as she spoke her final words.
“It work out okay for us all. We get through. Lots of people got through the war. Now we have no corpses hunting us. Instead we have humans and grey humans and mutant animals, together. We make nice world. It ours, it is our new start. And my Dad famous now. We have house in London, house in countryside and house in LA! Flossie thinks this world is good. It should stay good.”
She stopped speaking and the audience applauded.
Then Flossie looked to the
host of the show, who reminded her what to say next. She turned back to the microphone.
“My Dad is talking next. Here is Rick Lester, my Dad...”
As she left the stage to thunderous applause, more applause sounded as Rick took her place, oozing charm and confidence after the interviews and the autobiography and the movie about his life... Rick had done exactly what he planned to do after the war, now he was a celebrity, known as the handsome war hero with the remarkable tale of not only the Arctic battle that made history, but the man who cut off his own hand to survive a zombie attack and also killed his mortal enemy to avenge the death of many others... Rick took the microphone and walked closer to the audience, smiling as he greeted them.
“I think that's the best intro I've ever had...” he said warmly, “Sorry I'm a bit late folks, I was supposed to speak an hour ago but I've only just got back from LA this morning and I had a lot to do... My life is very different to the one I used to have. I'd like to think we all did well after surviving the nightmare..I think that's the best thing to call it. We've all lost people, we've all suffered - this was a global catastrophe. But we got through it. This world is very different now – we have mutant animals out on the streets and in our parks and on our rooftops...by the way, there's a gorgeous mutant tiger on the roof of this place – take a look on the way out tonight, he's just sitting up there bathing in the moonlight! I think the reason we need to have these gatherings, these memorial events, is to remember not only those we lost but the fact that we are still here, we have all survived to tell the tale...”
He paused, looked to his children and warmth flowed into his voice as he spoke again, “ We also have a new breed of human sharing our world. I know I never shut up about grey children because I have two of my own, but it's so important to get the message out there that it's impossible to locate and destroy every mutant snake. They live and breed and there will always be more and with every bite we have more grey people – obviously we must persist in the effort to destroy the snakes, but at the same time, we welcome these grey children. They have a different speech pattern to us and different diets to an extent too but they are very intelligent, and there is little that sets us apart. Flossie wants to be a teacher when she's a bit older, she wants to work with other grey children. I think she's going to do an amazing job. I also think the message I want to convey tonight is, we've moved on. We shouldn't forget those we lost, but we need to remember where we are right now and embrace that fully because life is good again and we should never stop appreciating that fact.”
As he was applauded again, for a brief moment he thought of the others, of those who had not made it and those who had survived, then he pushed that thought aside because he was the Rick Lester and he wasn't about to fall apart weeping in public. He thanked the audience, left the stage and returned to his seat, then looked to RJ and then turned to Lois in alarm.
“What's he done with his shoes this time, can't you find them?” he whispered.
Flossie was giggling softly. She looked to her parents and spoke quietly, something that took effort as another speaker was talking and she still wanted to laugh.
“He put them in lady's coat!” she said, then laughed again.
Lois looked to the seating in front of her son, her eyes wide as she realised his shoes had been placed firmly in the back of a woman's hooded coat.
Rick leant forward, grabbed the shoes quickly and handed them to Lois.
“Put them on!” she said to her son as he shook his head and kicked his legs and giggled.
“Put them back on, son!” Rick said, using much more authority in his voice than Lois could ever muster.
RJ finally sat still as Lois gave a relieved sigh and slipped her son's shoes back on his feet. Flossie looked away, stifling another giggle, then she glanced to her Dad once more.
“Glad you're back, Dad,” she said, “We've missed you. Flossie missed you.”
Rick smiled.
“Dad missed all of you,” he promised her, then as he exchanged a glance with Lois, his metal hand slipped gently into her grip as they sat together and listened to another speaker saying a piece on the new world they all shared.
After the event was over, after posing with his family for pictures for the press, Rick got into a waiting limousine and Lois and the children followed, with Flossie laughing again as RJ took off his shoes, threw them and they landed in the mini bar, one in the drinks cabinet the other in the ice bucket.
“That's enough!” Rick said sharply, handing the shoes to Lois.
“Put them back on,” she said, “Please, RJ...”
“Just give to Flossie,” his sister said, holding out her manicured grey hand and laughing as Lois gave up and handed her the shoes.
As Rick poured out two glasses of champagne, Flossie waved the shoes to RJ.
“Where go now?”
He pointed to the window.
“Out, out!” he said happily, and she laughed again.
“No!”exclaimed Lois.
“Pack it in, you two!” Rick said to the kids, using his sternest tone.
Both RJ and Flossie quietened down at once as Rick handed a glass of champagne to Lois as he held his own glass carefully by the stem, clutched in his metal hand, and as he turned away from the children he smiled at their antics – a look he would never let them see when he was the only one able to control them when the silly mood took over.
“From what I saw, Flossie was great tonight.”
“So were you,” Lois replied, “The great Rick Lester, celebrity war hero...I love you.”
“I love you too, Mrs Lester,” he replied and then he kissed her, pulling away as he felt her go weak, then he smiled at the look he caught in her eyes.
“Later,” he promised, giving her a wink.
Then he sipped champagne as the darkened world outside sped by and he looked out of the tinted window, watching the brightly lit streets go past, seeing shops closed for the night, their store fronts lit up. For the briefest moment he recalled the days of the apocalypse, when it seemed the dead would rule the world forever, when normal life was gone and towns were deserted and shops were smashed up... Then he sipped some more champagne, watched the bubbles dance in the glass and smiled as he thought about how his life had turned out: It had turned out well, and he was thankful for that... Then his smile faded as he felt sadness wash over him. Lois had caught his expression and knew that look too well.
“You're doing it again,” she reminded him.
He turned his head, meeting her gaze as still that look shaded his eyes.
“I was just thinking about the others...especially David. Sometimes I miss him so much, especially occasions like this one.”
Lois pushed aside memories of the dark days of war as she smiled.
“Here's to the hottest hero of the Battle of the Arctic, Richard Alexander Lester, the man on the radio,” she said, and her glass touched his, chiming as the champagne danced in his glass.
A short while later, when they returned to their smart west London home, Flossie put RJ to bed then said goodnight to her parents, and finally Rick and Lois closed the door of their bedroom and crossed the deep, soft carpet and Lois went over to the dressing table, pausing to take off her diamond earrings and necklace. She glanced in the mirror, feeling surprised to see Rick was pouring another drink.
“I thought you wanted to go to bed?”
“I need some air,” he replied, taking the drink over to the doors that led to the balcony that overlooked their garden.
Lois followed him out, joining him as he sipped another glass of champagne but hardly seemed in the mood to celebrate as the look in his eyes stayed fixed beyond the lights of the city.
“These remembrance gatherings always make you think too much,” she said, leaning on the balcony as she glanced at him.
“It gets me thinking about how things might have turned out,” Rick told her, meeting her gaze with a haunted look in his eyes, “We saw so much death ba
ck then. I don't think that ever leaves a person, it can't. I don't regret killing Mortiz, I never will but when I think about those corpses I know they were the enemy but they used to be people like us before the virus got them or the bite got them - and I often wonder who they used to be. Then I think of the mall and all those who died in my absence -”
“Stop it!” she said firmly, “It's in the past!”
Rick managed a smile as her words brought him firmly back to the present.
“If you can sort me out with that tone of voice, why doesn't it work when you use it on the kids?” he said, and they both laughed together. Then as Rick's smile faded, he said what was on his mind:
“It's David. I miss him, Lois. I think I always will....”
Understanding reflected in her eyes as she put her arms around him, then they stood together on the balcony, embracing by moonlight as the peaceful world slept on through the night, now safe from the nightmares of the past.
Chapter 11: The Gathering
The war was far behind him, yet it seemed to linger everywhere he went. As Vince strolled along the street heading for the train station he looked about, for a moment seeing the shoppers on this sunny summer morning vanish, replaced by undead corpses that lurked around corners and inside the smashed shop fronts. He heard screams, saw people dragged into the middle of the road and torn apart.
Then he blinked, and the memory faded.
“Stop...” he muttered to himself.
The world seemed so ordinary once more it was hard to put this one together with the hell on earth it used to be, and even harder to marry that one to the peaceful, normal world that used to exist, where zombies had only ever existed in horror movies. There wasn't even a name for it, this haunted memory everyone suffered, it wasn't even considered a medical condition – it was just the new reality and everyone on earth shared it. They could never forget the dark times, it would always see them play it over in their minds, but that was part of surviving. Either that or the governments now back in power couldn't find the funding to offer counselling and medication to every human being on the planet who had made it through – they just had to live with the memories, the haunted moments when the restored new peacetime disappeared in the blink of an eye, replaced by flashbacks to the dead roaming the earth and tearing apart the living, it was just the price for surviving, this new haunted reality that some suffered with more than others, but many would not admit to.