by V. L. Dreyer
"It confuses me when you use big words like that," I replied, teasing her back. "Who are you and what did you do with my semi-literate baby sister?"
"Doc made me his pet project," she answered, her expression turning thoughtful. "He's got me up to reading classic novels. I'm reading one right now called Pride and Prejudice, by an old-timey author named Jane Austen."
"Oh?" I asked, looking at her in surprise. "That doesn't strike me as your type of book. Are you enjoying it?"
"I…" She hesitated to think over her answer, then she shrugged. "Yeah, actually. I am. A lot of it I don't really understand, but it's fascinating to learn about how people lived back then. And it makes me think Erica's right: we really should try and preserve as many books as possible, so that we don't forget these people. I don't know how to express it, but it feels… important, somehow."
The elevator dinged open. Our conversation halted for a second while we climbed in, then we picked up where we'd left off.
"I agree," I said. "The way Sergeant Bryce phrased it really struck me. She said, 'someone made those books, and that's important.'"
"It's not just that, though," she said, absently hugging herself against a chill that most likely came from within. "Every person is important, even the ones who didn't write a book or make a movie or an album, because those people made us. I want to… do something to remember them. I just don't know what yet."
I reached out and touched her shoulder gently. "Whatever you decide to do, you know I'll support you. Just say the word."
The elevator chimed again, and the doors opened to let us out onto the second level. I was just about to step out of the elevator, when I was very nearly bowled right off my feet again. Tala threw her arms around me and hugged me fiercely, then jerked back and planted a succession of kisses on my cheeks. I just froze and took it, not sure how to deal with so much gratitude in one place. Beside me, Aaron and Skylar both burst out laughing, and I could hear a few other people laughing as well.
The elevator doors started to close again, but a hand caught them and held them open. Then Anahera stepped through and grabbed Tala by the shoulders.
"Come here, little mama," she said gently, prying the tiny woman away from me. "Let Sandy breathe."
I gave her a grateful look and a smile over Tala's head. Tala was nearly hysterical and I couldn't make sense of a word she was saying, since most of it was in her native language. We guided her out of the elevator and into the dining room, where we found Melody happily babysitting her two young children. Anahera sat Tala down beside them, then a few seconds later Elly appeared out of the kitchen carrying a steaming hot mug of tea. Anahera took it and placed it in Tala's hands.
"Here we go, dear," she said, her voice soft and maternal. She sat down beside Tala, resting one hand comfortingly on her upper back. "You just sip that, and breathe. Deep breaths. Can you do that?"
Tala nodded and did as she was told. She drew a deep breath and held it for a second, then let it out slowly and took a sip of her tea. It seemed to calm her down enough for her to at least switch to English.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly, looking up at me. "I just… I thought he was dead. I never expected that you would go and find him for me." She gulped down another anxious breath, tears gathering in her eyes. "It seems… it seems like a miracle. Or a dream."
"Well, it isn't a dream, that much I know for sure," I said. "But moments like this are the fruition of my dream for Tumanako. This is what we – ordinary people – can achieve if we work together and share a common goal. This is why we're all here, every single one of us. Humanity is capable of creating so many miracles, if we just try hard enough."
"Speaking of which," Anahera said, suddenly fixing me with an intense look. "You and I need to have a talk."
"Oh?" I replied, raising an eyebrow. "That sounds somewhat ominous. Should I be afraid?"
"Possibly," she said. She rubbed Tala's back one last time, then rose to her feet and looked at me. "Best if we do this now, if you wouldn't mind. Elly can take care of Tala."
"Sure, okay," I agreed, shrugging. "Lead the way."
She nodded and did just that. After a few seconds, I realised that Skye was following along as well, but neither of them said anything. They just led me out the door and down the hall to the storage rooms. Skye unlocked the door, then locked it again once the three of us were inside.
"Whoa, I'm being cornered," I pointed out dryly, looking back and forth between the two of them. "What's going on, ladies?"
Anahera heaved a deep sigh and reached out to lay her hand on my arm. "You're not going to like what we have to say, but I think it's important that you hear us out before you react."
"She's right," Skye said. "There's a chair over here; I think you might want to sit down."
"Just say whatever you're going to say and get on with it," I replied. "I'm a big girl. I can take it."
Anahera and Skye exchanged a look.
"If you insist," Anahera said. "Sandrine, we've noticed a few things that make us think that we might know something that you don't."
"Don't beat around the bush, Ana," Skye scolded. Suddenly, she reached out and poked me right in the tit. "You've gained a good five kilograms, and your boobs are bulging out of your bra. We think you might be pregnant."
Anahera shot her a filthy look. "There's honesty and then there's kindness, Skylar. We discussed this."
"Okay, fine!" Skye threw her hands up in annoyance. "Ana says that you've been 'glowing' and throwing up. Same conclusion: we think that you're pregnant."
I recovered from my shock just in time to muffle an inelegant snort of laughter with my hand. Both their expressions changed to confusion.
"Damn, I was hoping to keep it secret a little while longer," I admitted. "Yeah, I'm pregnant."
Anahera's brows shot up, and Skye's mouth fell open.
"You already knew?" Skye gasped. "And you didn't tell us? You didn't tell me?"
"Sorry, sis," I said. "You're not good at keeping secrets, and I didn't want Michael to find out until I was ready to tell him. You know, in case anything happens to the baby. He’d be devastated if anything happened to it."
"Ohh…" she breathed, understanding dawning on her face. "Yeah, that would be pretty rough on him. But—wait, what do you mean I'm not good at keeping secrets?"
I laughed and shook my head. "You're a gossip fiend, Skye. Face it. And the whole point of gossip is sharing juicy secrets. Right now, the only people who know are Doctor Cross, Maddy, and Gavin. Maddy knows because she's the one who told me, Doc knows because, well, I needed his help to make sure I get through this okay, and Gavin knows because I asked him to keep an eye on Michael in case he figures out something's going on." I paused and gave the two of them the hairy eyeball. "I guess I should have asked him to keep an eye on you two, as well."
"I don't think Michael suspects anything at this stage," Anahera said, her expression shifting from surprised to thoughtful. "But you won't be able to hide it from him for much longer. It's still early enough that a stranger wouldn't notice any changes, but we both know you intimately – as does he. His knowledge of female biology is somewhat lacking so he probably assumes the weight gain and missed periods are just because you were so malnourished when you met, but eventually he’s going to start to wonder."
"Yeah, especially if you start lactating blood!" Skye said with a salacious gesture.
I shot her a horrified look. "You lactated blood? That's not normal!"
"It is fairly normal, actually," Anahera said, a smile dancing across her lips. "Not pleasant, but normal. Don't worry about it too much."
"And this is the other reason I didn't tell you, Skye," I said, fighting a sudden wave of irrational annoyance. "You know how nervous I am about this. The last thing I need is to be told horror stories about bleeding nipples!"
"Hey!" She scowled at me, planting her hands on her hips. "It's not my fault that happened! Don't make me pull the 'pity me, I lost my baby' card agai
n."
"Girls, stop," Anahera said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. "Skylar, your sister is very anxious about this, and with good reason. Don't forget, she had to watch you lose your baby. That's almost as traumatizing as what you had to go through. You both need to calm down and try to see things from one another's perspectives. You're sisters, after all. What do sisters do?"
"They stand together, no matter what," Skye said grudgingly. She heaved a sigh, then looked at me. "Sorry. I didn't think."
I nodded and gave her a weak smile. "I know. My problem is that I think too much, and work myself into anxious knots. After what happened to you, and then hearing about what happened to Elly's baby… I've been trying not to think about it too much."
"What happened to Elly's baby?" Skye asked.
"Javed told me that Ommie originally had a twin sister," I explained, "but she was born infected. Doc says that isn't possible, but… I don't know, I still worry."
"Elly and I have spoken about it," Anahera said, touching my arm reassuringly. "The female twin was definitely not born infected. There was a complication with the birth, and only Ommie survived. The other baby lived for a few minutes, but there was something wrong with her lungs and she couldn't breathe. Neither Elly nor Zain had the tools or knowledge to save her."
"Oh, God," I whispered, an oddly mismatched flood of relief and distress pouring through me. "That's why she didn't cry? It was Javed's comment about her not crying that made me worry most. But if she didn’t cry because she couldn't, because of her lungs... that's different. Poor Elly."
"The good doctor and I have discussed the topic at length," Anahera said, her expression turning thoughtful again. "I was worried, too. Tumanako cannot grow if we don't have children, after all. He's reassured me that the child is not at risk while she’s being breastfed, only once she starts to wean."
I heaved a deep sigh and nodded. "At least that gives us a bit of leeway, but it makes finding that vaccine even more important. Most of the kids are old enough to be past the danger point, but we still have Evie and Tala's baby to worry about. Evie's got to be pushing six months old now. She's going to start weaning eventually, and after that it's up to us to protect her." I stood up straight and looked each of them in the eye in turn. "Tomorrow morning, we're going to go find the vaccine. One way or another."
Chapter Fourteen
Going after the vaccine felt like a big decision, but I still slept soundly after making it. That might have had something to do with the electric blanket that we'd found two days earlier, though. I'd forgotten the sheer bliss of climbing into a warm bed at the end of a long day, and sliding my legs between sheets that were almost – but not quite – hot enough to burn. It was wonderful, and it put me into such a coma that I slept late again.
Michael eventually woke up and started nibbling on my neck, and there was no way I could sleep through that. Not that I minded in the least; there were far worse ways to be woken up than by a handsome man in a playful mood. I rolled around in the circle of his arms, and swiftly discovered that his mood wasn't exactly playful, per se. It was something else entirely – and that something matched my mood exactly.
We made love languidly in the early morning gloom, enjoying the closeness shared only by two. When we were both satisfied, we lay back and stretched, talking quietly about nothing in particular until it was time to get up.
Michael was on the team I planned to take with me, of course. We'd been together for more than half a year now, and in that time he'd become absolutely integral to my world. He wasn't just my husband, but my best friend, my partner, my protector, my confidant, and my soul-mate. I don't know how I knew it, but I just did. Michael was the one that made me understand what the phrase 'The One' meant.
I glanced up in the middle of getting dressed and watched him opening the curtains we'd installed to keep our bedroom warm and private. Despite how I felt about him, I was still lying to him by omission about the one thing that had the potential to bring us closer together: our baby. I may have had a good reason in the beginning, but I was running out of excuses to avoid confronting the inevitable. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then looked back down at my gear. There was too much to be done to worry about it today. Once we had the vaccine, then I'd tell him.
"That was a big sigh," he pointed out. I felt his arms creep around my waist from behind, and his breath warm across the side of my neck. "What's the matter, sour-puss?"
"Nothing," I said, turning within the circle of his arms to give him a smile. "Everything's just perfect. That was a happy sigh."
"Really?" he said dryly, raising one eyebrow.
I just laughed and gave him a light shove. "Yes, really. Put your clothes on, nudist; we've got work to do."
"God, you're always complaining when I'm naked," he replied, throwing his hands up in mock despair. "Anyone would think you didn't like it. You don't see me complaining when you're naked, do you?"
"You're usually too busy to complain," I replied. I pulled away and gave him a slap on the bum. "Just for the record, I only complain about it when we're going out. Can't have you traumatising the children, now can we?"
"All right, all right, I'm getting dressed," he replied, grinning. He went over to the stack of clean clothing on the floor and fished out his gear, then plopped down on the edge of the bed. "I found a wardrobe in one of the houses that I want to lug up here. It'd be nice to get our stuff up off the floor."
"Sounds good," I said, sitting down beside him to pull on my socks and shoes. "I was thinking that it might be nice to drag a few of those big industrial-grade washing machines and dryers into the tower now that we've got power. I don't know about you, but I'm so sick of everything being damp."
"Oh yeah, it's making me crazy," he replied. "Add it to the to-do list, right?"
"You're starting to sound like me," I said. "Careful, or you'll turn into a sour-puss, too."
"You're not actually a sour-puss," he said, his tone and expression softening. "I was just teasing."
"I know, and I'm teasing back," I replied with a laugh and a nudge. "I thought you would have figured out my deadpan sense of humour by now."
"I don't think I'll ever figure out your deadpan sense of humour, honey," he replied, leaning down to plant a kiss on the top of my head. I grinned and hugged him, then we both turned our attention towards getting ready to leave.
***
Within the hour, our chosen team was fed, ready, and sitting around a table in the dining room, talking quietly about what we had to do.
"It was up around here," Simon said, touching a point on the map spread out in front of us. "I'm not a hundred percent sure of the exact location on the map, but I can find it again once we're in the area. There's an unmarked building, surrounded by chain-link fences and barbed wire. I can't be sure, but it had the feel of a government facility about it."
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
"It was big," he replied. "Really big. Like, it went all the way back into the hills. But there were no signposts, no branding, no logos. If it had been a corporate facility, they would’ve had signs posted, right? But like I said, I didn't go inside so I don’t know for sure. The flash drive was taped to the door in a plastic bag, with a piece of paper that had a short message written on it. It said 'Don't give up hope.' I picked the bag up and was looking at it when I spotted movement inside. I think it was just an infected, but… I was alone and pretty freaked out by that stage. I shoved the bag in my pocket and ran my ass back home as fast as I could."
"Well, now I'm not creeped out at all," I said dryly. "Thanks, Simon."
"You're so very welcome," he replied, grinning. "In retrospect, I think I made the right choice."
"You did."
The voice came from behind us, and by this stage of our journey I almost expected to hear it. Madeline came up to the table with a very serious look on her face, and climbed into my lap without being invited.
"What do you mean, Ma
ddy?" I asked. I'd learned not to question the accuracy of her instincts, even if she wasn't always clear about her meaning.
"Mister Simon made the right choice by waiting," she replied, snuggling comfortably up against me. "He couldn't open the door. Not without me. That's why I'm here."
"You've lost me, kiddo," I admitted, putting my arms around her and giving her a hug. "Talk us through it from the beginning."
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Sometimes the things I see don't always make sense. But I know that I have to be there or you won't be able to find the vaccine. You need to take me with you."
I shot a startled look at the others over top of her head. "Uh… have you told your granddaddy that you want to go yet? He's not going to like that."
"He doesn't have a choice," she replied, in a voice that sounded entirely too old to be coming out of such a small child. "We need that vaccine, and you need me to get it." She glanced up, and gave me an endearing smile. "Don't worry, Miss Sandy. I'll be fine. I'd know if something bad was going to happen to me."
"That's true," I agreed grudgingly. "Okay. Go tell your granddad. He's the one you need to convince, not me."
"Okay!" she agreed cheerfully. She gave me a quick hug, then wriggled out of my lap and ran off, leaving the rest of us staring after her with an assortment of different looks on our faces. Aaron was the first one to voice his concerns.
"That wee lass can't be more than six," he said. "Are we really going to take her with us?"
"She's almost eight, she's just a bit small for her age," I corrected him. "And… if she says that she needs to go with us, then we're better off just taking her with us than arguing about it. Maddy has a gift, and she hasn't been wrong yet."
"I've heard the stories, but I don't know what to believe," he admitted, absently rubbing his chin. "I just… I don't know. She's so young."
"When it comes to Madeline Cross, age is just a number," Michael said. "That little girl has saved us numerous times. If she says that she needs to come, then we're just wasting our time if we go without her. We'll end up having to come back and get her later on."