The Infected

by Gemma Ritchie

  The door swings inwards to reveal the dark-haired woman in her maroon dress. I plaster a smile to my face that she doesn’t return, her lips puckered with disdain as she analyses us through shrewd grey eyes.

  “Is Jared here? I need to talk to him.” I keep my voice light but firm, oozing a confidence I don’t feel. Natalie stands tall and assertive to my right, fixing the woman with a glare that could set her dry broken hair alight. To my left, Rebecca stares at her feet, wringing her hands nervously.

  “He’s a little busy at the moment” she responds in a nasally voice, raising her chin in defiance. I can’t believe it but she’s jealous. She envies the attention Jared gives me which to me, is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. I’m tempted to tell her she’s welcome to him but it would blow my cover.

  “He won’t mind” I smile, stepping around her and striding into the study, ignoring her objections as I pause in the doorway. Jared lifts his head from his desk, face lighting up when he sees me. “Good afternoon Jared.”

  “Louisa.” He’s delighted, rising immediately from his chair and sweeping towards me. I don’t resist when he lifts my knuckles to his lips, placing a wet kiss against them that makes me want to vomit. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  Plan B it is then.

  “I wanted to see you…to discuss a few conditions of my permanent residence here.” Whatever delusional alternate universe he lives in convinces him that I’m telling the truth and with a jovial grin he leads me to one of the armchairs, never letting go of my hand as he takes the other. Natalie and Rebecca hover in the doorway. I can see them scanning the room out of the corner of my eye as I force myself to look at Jared.

  “Please tell what you want. Your every wish is my command.” This man is delusional if he’s buying this but I’m not complaining. I never considered acting as a potential career. I realise now my talent was wasted.

  “Firstly, I would like my own house. If I’m going to live here on a permanent basis I would like my own space.” He frowns, considering my request.

  “But once we are married you would live here, with me.” I knew that was coming. I imagine Drew saying a big fat I told you so and suppress a smile.

  “Now Jared,” I cover our clasped hands with my other. “If you want us to marry I do not wish to share with your other wives. I have grown to care for you very deeply but I’m afraid sharing has never been my strong suit.” I glance over at the girls, my brow furrowing. “Natalie are you okay?”

  She’s slumping against the door, gripping her stomach tightly with her hands, face twisted in agony. Rebecca lingers beside her, hands floating awkwardly just above Natalie’s curved spine.

  “Are you okay my dear?” Jared stands, dropping my hands and turning to face them. I scan the room quickly, wondering where he would keep the keys. My head snaps back when he glances at me and I rearrange my face into a suitably concerned look.

  “My stomach hurts.” Natalie gripes. I see her mouth twitch and I suck in a deep breath in an attempt to control my smile. Thankfully he doesn’t notice, crossing the room for closer inspection. I glance at Rebecca and her eyes flick to the desk, wide and insistent. When Jared turns to look at her she drops her gaze to her feet in a totally Rebecca like fashion.

  “Rebecca, take Natalie to the bathroom. I fear the rich food may have given her digestive issues.” They scurry from the room, Natalie making exaggerated howling noises that make my chest rumble with suppressed laughter. “It can do that when you’ve lived on nothing but processed food for a while.”

  “I see” I smile. He retakes his seat, gripping my hands once more in his.

  “Now, where were we…” his face is so full of hope that I very small part of me almost feels sorry for him. A very small part. The rest of me wants to kick him the crotch.

  “We were discussing my living here. With you. As your wife.” He’s kissing me before I realise what’s happened and I swear, a part of me withers and dies as I fight the overwhelming urge to pull away. To slap him so hard that all seven of his wives will feel it. A trail of saliva drips down his chin when he pulls away and masking my revulsion is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Seriously, I would take dysentery over him doing that ever again.

  “I’m so glad you feel the same. At first, I wasn’t sure but now, now I know you see things as I do. That your heart beats for me as mine beats for you. You captivated me from the second I laid eyes on you and you have done nothing but enchant me ever since.” Jesus, this shit worked on seven women? I can’t listen to much more of this if I don’t want to be wearing my breakfast in the next thirty seconds and thankfully I don’t have to. Right on cue, a loud crash followed by a blood-curdling scream rips through the house.

  Jared jumps to his feet, as do I, but he rests a hand on my shoulder, concern widening his eyes. “Please, stay here while I investigate.”

  “If you’re sure” I pull out my most concerned expression, lowering myself back into the chair until he’s left the room. I leap into action, hurrying to his desk and tugging the handle of the drawer. It doesn’t budge. Locked. Dammit. I search the desk, taking care not to move anything as I search for the key, glancing over my shoulder to make sure he’s not coming back.

  A small box catches my eye and I flip the lid, see shiny metal protruding from beneath a bunch of old buttons and redundant coins. I fish it out, setting the box back where I found it and crouch in front of the drawer, pushing the key into the lock. I don’t know how many gods are up there but I pray to all of them as I turn the key. The drawer pops open and I send my thanks, shoving the key aside as I pull it open.

  There are tons of keys in here. I brush them aside with my fingertips, searching for the wooden love heart keyring Rebecca said would be attached. Voices reach my ears, Natalie’s the loudest of them all and I frantically push the keys around the drawer, my fingers wrapping around the wooden key fob. I ease the drawer shut, feeling the lock click into place and run for my chair, dropping back into it as they walk around the corner.

  “And you’re sure you’re okay?” Jared asks, helping a limping Natalie to the chair opposite mine. She shoots me a questioning look to which I respond with a subtle nod, the key jammed between my breasts. For once, this stupid gown has actually come in handy. If my tiny boobs weren’t being forced together by this stupid corset I would have nowhere to hide it. No matter how much Jared would like to, the only person who would find it nestled there is Sam. The thought colours my cheeks.

  “Natalie what happened?” I ask, willing the flush to leave my cheeks and hoping it comes across as concern for my injured friend.

  “I fell over a discarded shoe when I was coming down the stairs. Apparently, Justine, the lady in the maroon dress, is responsible for keeping the house tidy. Jared assures me she will be punished for being so careless.” Natalie wiggles her brows, grinning. I flash her a look and turn to Jared.

  “Well, I believe we both have a lot to think about. I would like to take Natalie home now and tend to her injured ankle.” We stand, me and Rebecca supporting an ‘unsteady’ Natalie as we head for the door. We’re almost home free when Jared calls my name. Inwardly cursing I pause, plaster a curious smile on my face and turn to look at him over Natalie’s shoulder.

  “Until we meet again my love.” He winks, looking for all the world like a lovesick puppy. Natalie mimes a gag and I bite back a laugh, inclining my head slightly before pulling open the door and escaping outside.

  We continue our act of helping Natalie until we’re far enough away from the house that he can’t see us and then I slip my arm from her waist. Rebecca steps aside, gaze wide and curious as Natalie shudders, her entire body vibrating as she mimes another gag.

  “Please tell me you got it. I had to let him put his hands on me to lift me off the damn floor.” I roll my eyes, digging between my breasts and producing the key with a flourish.

  “Ta-dah…you think you got problems? I had to let him kiss me to get this.” It’s my tur
n to shudder and Natalie pats my shoulder with mock sympathy. I shoot her a smile of self-pity, handing the key to Rebecca who turns it over and over in her palms. “That’s the right one, isn’t it? If it’s not then we’re staying because I am not doing that again.”

  We stare at her with gazes full of hope and she lifts her eyes to ours as if she forgot we were there. “Sorry, yes this is the right one.” She turns it over again, swallowing hard. “I haven’t been back in my house for two years…I can’t believe I’m going home.”

  Natalie and I exchange a smile and pull Rebecca into a group hug she wasn’t prepared for. She giggles, wrapping her arms around our waists and my heart lifts. Rebecca is so young. Just a baby really and for me to have known her for almost a week and this be the first time I’ve heard her laugh makes my chest ache. I squeeze her until she’s sputtering for breath and then step back, grabbing her hand in mine as we turn to the village.

  “So, Becky… which one’s yours?” Her eyes widen a fraction at the nickname.

  “My mum used to call me Becky.” A reminiscent smile tugs at her lips, her eyes wistful and then she blinks and it’s gone, replaced with a look of grim determination. “Let’s go.”

  Rebecca’s house, it turns out, is a small thatched cottage on the edge of the village. The garden is overgrown, every weed imaginable having strangled what I imagine were once beautiful flowers and flourishing shrubs. Ivy has consumed the silver stone, stretching like long fingers until it holds the house in its crushing grip. Rebecca walks up the cobbled pathway, ripping at the vines that encase the front door. Natalie and I wait to one side, allowing the young girl her moment as she slides the key into the lock.

  Her shoulders rise and fall as she takes a steadying breath and pushes open the door. She swallows audibly, stepping over the threshold with slow, controlled steps. Exchanging a look, we follow, Natalie closing the door behind us. Rebecca stands in the hallway, eyes wide as she takes in the home she was banished from all those years ago. Stopping beside her I wait for her to make a move, knowing that this moment is sacred even though time is short. I chew the inside of my cheek as I take in my surroundings. The walls are a muted ivory, the paper peeling away at the corners, photographs of a once happy family hung at intervals along the hall. Rebecca takes a step forward, lifting a photo from a wooden sideboard, wiping away the years of grime from the glass with her sleeve. I watch with a heavy heart as a tear slips down her cheek, fingers brushing an image of a handsome couple cradling a young girl to their chests. They look so happy.

  The injustice that has occurred here turns my blood to lava, boiling me from the inside out until I think I might explode. This girl had a family once. A happy family and that bastard destroyed it. Just because they didn’t agree with his ways or questioned his beliefs. Jared isn’t a man, he’s a monster.

  Rebecca sets the picture back down and moves through the house towards the kitchen. We follow quietly, watching as Rebecca relives memory after memory, fingers brushing against the island as she stares at the refrigerator. Stepping further into the room I turn, my heart squeezing when I see the little magnetic chalkboard.

  Love you Becky, is written in white chalk with little hearts and kisses drawn all around it. I pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms around her fragile frame as she cries into my shoulder, repeating the words ‘I hate him’ over and over until it’s nothing but broken sobs. Tears fill my own eyes as I look at Natalie over Rebecca’s heaving shoulders, see the pain for the young girl in her eyes too.

  “We’re gonna make him pay Becky. I promise.” I stroke her hair, feel her grief as it washes across my skin. This isn’t just about escaping anymore. It’s about so much more than that. I want him to suffer. To suffer as this broken girl has suffered. I want him dead.

  Pulling herself together she swipes the tears angrily from her cheeks and storms from the room. Hurrying after her we find her yanking open a cupboard door, digging beneath mounds of rubbish until she pulls out a set of long metal poles, each with a triangular shaped handle on the top. The terror that has consumed her for so long is gone, replaced with an anger that makes her look wild. Feral.

  “Here” she thrusts the keys at me and slams the door. I don’t say anything. Knowing she needs this. To express the anger that has been building every day since her parents died. Since Jared claimed her and did things I don’t even want to imagine. This is what true grief looks like. Grief for her parents, grief for her life that was taken from her, grief for herself. We watch as she smashes everything, screaming and howling with fury as she smashes every picture, every ornament, every reminder of the life she’s lost. When she’s all raged out she drops to her knees, dress pooling around her as she drops her head to the floor and sobs. Its heart wrenching to watch and eventually I can’t stand it any longer. I drop beside her and pull her to me, needing to comfort her, to be there for her. We’re all she has now and I’ll be damned if she ever feels alone again.

  Once the tears have dried she climbs shakily to her feet, surveying the devastation she has wrought on her once family home. Her eyes are puffy and red, tear streaked face turning to me as she tries to speak through the croak in her voice.

  “I would like to grab a few things if that’s okay? Do we have time?” I pat her shoulder, smiling softly.

  “Take all the time you need.” She nods, shooting me a grateful smile and heads upstairs. Blowing a sigh, I drop onto the bottom step, face in my hands as Natalie sits beside me and rests her head on my shoulder. “That poor girl.”

  “Yeah…” Natalie lifts her head and I drop my hands to look at her. “I’ve never had a family and if that’s what it looks like to lose them then I’m glad my parents dumped me before I knew them.” It’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard and I’m about to say so when she stops me. “Don’t pity me. When the world ended, I already had nothing to lose. I think I fared much better than some.”

  She’s got a point. I never thought of it that way but other than Jenna, I didn’t have much to lose either. In fact, since the virus I’ve done nothing but gain people I care about. Natalie and Drew, Kyle and Rebecca…Sam. I wonder what he’ll say when we tell him what we’ve done. Scold me more than likely. Tell me how unbelievably stupid I am and he’s probably right but if this is what it takes to get us away from this place then I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. I just pray that it works.

  “I’m ready.” We turn to Rebecca as she descends the stairs with bag in hand. We climb to our feet, compelling smiles to our lips that neither of us feels.

  Natalie turns to me with a grin, rubbing her palms together with a look that would have once terrified me.

  “Let’s do this shit.”

  Seventeen

  - Scared Little Girl -

  “A manhole cover?” Drew raises a brow, his face filthy from whatever Jared has had them doing to keep them busy. Kyle is already asleep, head resting against Natalie’s shoulder, mouth open as soft snores rattle through his lips. I pull out a chair beside Sam, feel a little thrill as his legs brushes mine beneath the table.

  “Rebecca’s dad used to be in charge of the sewers. She’s pretty sure that Jared doesn’t even know it’s there.” I lean towards Drew, nose crinkling at the sweaty odour that seeps from his skin. “Speaking of sewers, you smell like one.”

  He sighs. “I know. Jared’s had us working in the ‘farm’ for days. I think at this point the pigs smell better than I do. Kyle’s enjoyed it though. That kid has got a real thing for animals.” We all turn to look at his snoring form, smiling as he twitches gently in his sleep.

  “Maybe one day you could teach him to be a vet” Sam suggests, leaning his elbows against the table as he plays footsie with me beneath it. I mask my silly grin with a cough, pulling my foot away as I try to clear the lusty fog that’s building in my head.

  “Anyway, back to the plan. The manhole cover is just at the edge of the village. Rebecca took me and Natalie there this afternoon. We’ve stashed the keys in the hedgerow.
Its gonna take two of you to lift it but once that’s done we’re home free.” I sit back in my chair, thoroughly pleased with myself. To be honest, I’ve never felt so useful.

  “When are we going?” Kyle asks, lifting his head and wiping drool from the corners of his mouth, shooting Natalie an apologetic grin as he wipes residue from her shoulder. Shoving his arm, she rubs at the saliva stain, rolling her eyes when she only makes it worse.

  “Tomorrow night. There’s something I’ve got to do first.” Sam aims a questioning look my way but I avoid it. I need to do this alone and the fewer that know about it the better. Especially Sam; he’ll only try to stop me.

  “Well, if our little pow-wow is over, I’m going to take a well-earned shower in icy cold water and hit the sack.” Drew snatches me into a hug before I can stop him. I squeal in protest, shoving him away as he laughs, ruffling my hair before slipping outside.

  “I think we’ll go too. Come on little brother.” Sam pushes away from the table, a frown marring his brow. I know I’ve hurt him by not telling him but it’s for the best. Kyle throws me a drowsy wave as he follows his brother out the door. Natalie waits all of thirty seconds before pouncing, switching seats so she can grab my hand, preventing any escape.

  “So, what’s this task that’s so urgent it keeps us here another night?” she asks. I try to avoid her gaze but I’d have a better chance of describing the taste of water. “Louisa?”

  I sigh, snatching my hand from her grip and begin pacing the room. I feel like a caged animal, especially trussed up in this ridiculous dress. Natalie leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting patiently for me to start talking. Chewing the inside of my cheek I stop pacing and face her, knowing I’m not getting away until I do.