The Abandoned Trilogy (Book 1): Twice Dead (Contagion)

by Suchitra Chatterjee

  “We call them the Twice Dead,” Seb said and then explained why.

  “How did you survive the contagion?” Gabe asked, “I mean we were underground, but this place is above ground, well above ground.”

  “What do you intend to do?” I asked them ignoring the question for the moment.

  “What can we do?” Gabe said helplessly, “If the cities are overrun with these Twice Dead as you call them, well I guess we will have to stay here, but what if they come back?” He shuddered and I suspected he was remembering the old woman being torn apart for food.

  “They could come back, to the town perhaps,” I said carefully, “But I don’t think they will come here.”

  Gabe frowned, “Are you sure of that?”

  “The army,” I said slowly, “And their Epsilon Command, they don’t think like us, we’re just a bunch of useless eaters, cripples, retards, not worth saving, and apparently you get honourary status among us rejects, the abandoned, so to speak.”

  “Homophobic bastards,” Gabe said, his lips pressing into a thin line.

  “Even when the world has been over taken by the Twice Dead,” Seb said in a reflective voice, “Prejudice still rules.”

  “We don’t owe this Epsilon Command anything,” I said.

  “You know something they don’t know,” Percy said suddenly, he looked at me keenly, “Something important.”

  “It could be important,” I was still being cagey, “We have to stay here, for us this is our one and only stand, but you are able bodied, you can strike out if you want, take your chances outside of Thorncroft, or you can stay with us, it’s up to you.”

  “Maybe you could trade your information to this Epsilon Command,” Percy said eagerly “To get them to help us.”

  “I suppose we could,” I said slowly, “But I don’t think that is a good idea at all.”

  “I’m not willing to take a chance in trusting them,” Mitch piped up.

  “Me neither,” Seb shook his head.

  Adag nodded her head, showing she agreed with us.

  “Also,” I had to break the new findings to them, now was good a time as any, “There’s something else you all need to be aware of, it might make you realise why we need to keep our mouths shut,” I took a deep breath. “It appears that the contagion release wasn’t actually an accident.”

  My words weren’t understood at first. Everyone looked at me blankly.

  “It was not an accident,” I repeated, “It was done on purpose, no one was supposed to get back up, no one.”

  Of course, no one wanted to believe me. For five minutes, there were heated conversations, denials, arguments, swearing and even some accusations of me being a drama queen but finally there was silence because the facts spoke for themselves, with or without me.

  I watched all their faces, seeing a myriad of emotions rush through them, expressed in words and hand gestures. There were tears, confusion, grief, bewilderment and finally outrage that would eventually turn in to anger. An anger based on the sheer futility of what any of us could do. Which was nothing.

  “And that’s not just the worst of it,” I said when the clamour finally died down.

  “There’s worse?” Gabe said incredulously.

  “Does the Colonel know any of this?” Mitch asked.

  “No,” I shook my head, “We might not like the military, but they actually know less than we do, as far as they are concerned this was all a training exercise that went tits up. The contagion sure as heck didn’t come from “a new specialist stratospheric satellite system, “and guess what? Not every country in Europe is part of these so called Command Centres, the same for the other continents, poor or conflict ridden countries were completely excluded.”

  This caused another mini verbal riot, thank God Adag’s flat is at the back of the building where there are no soldiers milling about and the soundproofing is pretty good.

  “Global cleansing,” Adag exhaled slowly.

  “Yes,” I didn't deny it, “And there’s more.”

  “Jesus!” Seb exploded, “Can't you give us some good fucking news for once Lady of Shadows!”

  “The other survivors that were found, they are now all dead.”

  “Shit!” Mitch’s expletive was heartfelt.

  “What happened?” Percy asked faintly.

  “Seems they came down with the contagion when they were being transported to so called safety,” I couldn't put it nicely, best to say it as it was, “They had to be put down.”

  “So leaving where they were found killed them just like all the others,” Mitch said in a horrified voice.

  “No,” I shook my head, “The soldiers who rescued them weren’t infected, just the survivors and remember you and I went into town as did the Colonel and his men and we are all still OK.”

  “And we were living in town,” Gabe piped up, “You came to us and we came to you.”

  “They offered to take us with them,” Adag said shaking her head as she remembered the offer given to Wolf to pass on to her and Mitch.

  “How do you know all of this?” Seb asked me.

  “It’s amazing,” I gave a short laugh that lacked any mirth, “How bureaucracy can live on, even in a time like this: all of the other survivors received an injection from an army medic before they were taken away, apparently to protect them from further contamination. The army keep records of everything that they do, in triplicate apparently, and then the info is forwarded via email to the Command centres.”

  “It doesn't make any sense,” Adag was bewildered.

  “Oh it makes a lot of sense when you look at it in-depth,” I assured the older woman, “If the contagion was an accident like we are being told, how could they combat it so quickly with an injection? Finding any kind of protection from the Twice Dead contagion would take a lot longer than they have had. The military units going out on supposed search and rescue missions are being used as kill squads, their senior Officers know it, from what Phoenix has managed to glean from COBRA, certain Generals and above, but not anyone below that rank,” I shook my head, “They are just doing what they have been ordered to do, most soldiers don’t question orders, not even the officers.”

  “Why haven’t they ordered Wolf to do the same to us?” Adag asked.

  “That could still happen,” I said.

  “Oh dear God,” Gabe exhaled and shook his head, he turned to his husband and said, “I don’t know whether to be thankful we survived or not.”

  From the expression on Percy’s face, it was obvious he was thinking the same.

  “Wolf and his people,” Mitch suddenly had a thought, “Thy are as expendable as we are, only they don’t know it…yet.”

  “What a shame,” Seb said sarcastically, “I am devastated for them.”

  “Wolf isn’t such a bad person,” I was doing it again, sticking up for a man who was a pain in my backside, “But he is under orders, so we need to play by his rules until they leave, we just have to hope he is not given the order to give us any injections before they leave, because we will be well and truly fucked if he does.”

  “Wolf is a decent sort,” Adag surprisingly agreed with me, we had both changed our opinion of the man even though neither of us liked him much. Both Seb and Mitch gave loud and derisive snorts and even Gabe and Percy looked skeptical, “No, he is, so if he is given that order I will ask if I can give out the injections, I have a feeling he will agree, he feels bad about having to leave us behind, but orders are orders, thank God.”

  “Then what?” Gabe asked.

  “We stay here, and try to work out what to do next,” was my reply.

  “They have seriously underestimated us,” Seb gripped the arms of his wheelchair aggressively.

  “Yes, they have, for once being disabled has worked to our advantage,” I nodded my head, “And they need to keep on underestimating us, they can’t suspect for one minute that we know what they have done and that we just might know how to keep the Twice Dead at bay.”
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br />   “You’d think they would make the connection between all the places they found survivors and what they had in common,” Mitch took out his cigarettes from his shirt pocket and pulled one out, he put it behind his ear and fumbled about for his lighter.

  “Phoenix used local websites to do the searches,” I said shortly, “A lot of the information he used isn’t on any military website, there is no need for it to be, why would these brilliant minds of the ‘chosen elite’ be interested in the basics of nature? Even though it’s nature that has probably fucked us all over.

  The majority of the soldiers under Wolf’s command were pretty much indifferent to us, they just got on with their jobs of patrolling the perimeter and the grounds of the home along with checking their equipment and doing drills under the command of Captain Lacks-Renton.

  Most, with a couple of exceptions, didn’t even bother speaking to us, that didn’t bother me, but it puzzled Cassidy, Stevie and the girls when they were ignored but I told them that the soldiers were busy and then did something to distract them. I was getting good at interacting with my fellow residents and it wasn’t actually that unpleasant.

  I noticed early on that Cassidy and Stevie were often doing weight lifting near were the soldiers sat, talked and smoked when they were off duty. Moreover, Eden liked to sit at one of the outside tables with her adult colouring book and pencils.

  An idea formed slowly in my mind, aided and abetted by Phoenix’s conspiracy theories which he had many of, but these theories were based on the information he had at hand, his analytical mind and ability to think in a totally linear fashion.

  Phoenix had state that it would be totally illogical for Epsilon Command not to include people in the ranks that spied for them, who knew the true reality of the situation.

  I had at first scoffed at this theory, but when I mulled over it in bed that night I realised it had considerable merit. From what Phoenix said, most military units who had been training and had survived the contagion were international specialist units with specialist skills.

  Wolf’s people were ground combat ready soldiers, every soldier from Grunt to Officer had a specific skill, like Nat who was the Company’s medic, but was also a qualified Doctor, trained in battle trauma and wounds.

  Even young Salter had a specialist skill, he was apparently their digital ace, his degree had been funded by the army he told me when he came into the kitchen for coffee the day after we had returned from town. He had no family, other than an Aunt and Uncle who he presumed were now Twice Dead and the only way he could afford to go to college at 18 was by getting a full scholarship and the army offered him just that. Payback was a bitch though, ten years in the army.

  In order to defeat your enemy, you had to know what they were doing and though we could access COBRA, it wasn’t enough. We needed more information.

  I immediately excluded Jasmine from my idea because she had been physically involved with one of the soldiers, also she couldn't keep a secret even if you taped her mouth shut. So whilst she was with Adag helping in the kitchen I took Stevie and Cassidy aside and told them that I had a very important job for them to do, not only important, but it was a secret too.

  Cassidy’s eyes went big and they both listened intently.

  “When you are exercising outside,” I said, “I want you to listen to what the soldiers are saying, even if you don’t understand what they are saying, try to remember, all that you can, but don’t let them know you are listening to them.”

  “OK,” Cassidy said. He liked to do things for me. I gave him half of the bar of the army ration chocolate leftover from the picnic. He was delighted and happily sat down to eat it.

  “Thank you Lucy,” he said through a mouthful of chocolate.

  Stevie was quiet for a moment as he mulled over what I had requested of him and then he said, “Why?”

  “Cass,” I said, “Could you please get me a glass of water? I need to take my tablets.”

  Cassidy got up and ambled off to the kitchen still munching on his chocolate. I contemplated lying to Stevie, but made the decision once again not to lie,” You remember what happened to Gregory? How he was made bad?”

  Stevie nodded his head, “Well,” I said, “What made him bad was done by very bad people far away from here, and some of them might be here.”

  “The soldiers?” Stevie asked.

  “Some of them perhaps, I don’t know, but we need to know, it’s a lot to ask you to do, listen to what people are saying and perhaps not understanding all of it, but I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t very important.”

  Stevie looked at me quizzically, taking in what I said and then slowly he nodded his head, “OK.”

  Cassidy came back with my water and I thanked him. I then went and found Eden. She was watching a re-run of EastEnders and lamenting that she was missing the new episodes. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the only EastEnders actors she would ever get to see from now on would be of the Twice Dead variety, unless they were among the chosen elite, somehow I really doubted that.

  I asked her to come to my room for a chat. She looked surprised, then worried, but I said softly to her, “I need your help.”

  She was stunned by my words, then excited. She stood up and we made our way to my room. I sat on my bed; she sat on the chair by my desk. I had purposely taken two cans of Coca-Cola from the staff fridge and I handed her one and opened mine.

  Delighted she opened hers and took a deep drink of the cold black fizzy liquid. I am not really a cola fan, but I know that Eden loves it.

  “Your room is really nice,” Eden said and I saw her looking at my pink bedding, the books on my shelves and a collage of my many sketches, done over the years, reflecting I realised, as I looked at them, my life, from hospitals, to care homes, to foster family, back to hospitals.

  “Thanks,” I said and I put my cola on my bedside table,” Eden, do you know the names of all the soldiers that are here?”

  She blushed and I smiled. I thought as much. Eden liked to know things. She had a way of ingratiating herself with people, all people, the soldiers I had noticed, even the ones who had made comments about Stevie and Cassidy, had not said a bad word against her, there were a few lewd comments about Jasmine, but mostly the girls were more accepted by the soldiers.

  True Eden had been in the doghouse over the stealing, but her tearful apologies had been accepted by everyone and now that she and I had an amicable relationship, everything in the home, on the surface, was fine.

  I would never be as fond of her as I was of Cassidy and Stevie, but my instincts told me she would be a far more valuable information gatherer than either Stevie and Cassidy though I suspected they would hear bits and bobs of value.

  “Remember I told you that you were smart?” I said to her and she nodded her head.

  “Well I really meant it.”

  She looked stunned then she beamed at me and I added, “I’d like you to listen to what the soldiers talk about, when you are near them, don’t let them know you are listening to them, just listen, and if you hear words like Epsilon Command, contagion, pathogen, can you tell me which of the soldiers said it?”

  She rolled the words on her tongue, I repeated them for her, and she concentrated hard, wanting to please me. I felt a surge of guilt. I was using her, but I needed to use her and if it protected her and the others then it was all right. Moreover, I didn’t dislike her anymore. She was smart, and Mitch was right, she hadn’t had it easy.

  “Alright,” she said. She sipped her coke, “What do the words mean?”

  I decided that I didn’t want to lie to her either, but I didn’t want to scare her either so I replied, “Well Epsilon Command is a place far away from here, I want to know if it is a good place or a bad place, if it’s a bad place I’d like to know, because it’s always good to keep away from bad things, don’t you agree?”

  Asking her, her opinion, made Eden swell up with pride, “Yes,” she said nodding her head eagerly.

>   I then explained to her in simple words what contagion and pathogen meant. I tried not to make it too scary. Pathogen became a nasty bug that medicine could hopefully cure and contagion meant that some people got the bug and needed help. Not entirely accurate, but she accepted my explanation.

  “Don’t tell anyone what you are doing,” I said, “Not even Jasmine.”

  Eden’s eyes widened and I added, “I really like Jasmine, but you know she can’t keep secrets very well, I mean she told Mark what he was getting for his birthday present from his parents!” I made a face as I spoke.

  Eden giggled and I laughed with her. We both knew that Jasmine was simply not good at keeping secrets, but Eden was, and that made her invaluable. In the time of the Apocalypse the rise of the disabled was just beginning. This was our time. Our day of days were at hand. This was the new beginning of a world in which we made all the rules. And broke them.

  The Colonel was as good as his word. The next day he sent two trucks with army personnel in them to collect what they could from the shops in the High Street and also to the supermarket not far from town. Mitch went along, driving the Home’s coach and Percy and Gabe accompanied him, their dogs in the happy care of Stevie and Cassidy.

  Paul had taken on a new lease of life since our game of chess, he began to eat more, not just drink the high protein milk that Adag forced on him; oh, he wasn’t cured, he was still dying, but for now, he had a purpose and it made him strong.

  Phoenix had pretty much been forgotten by the soldiers, as he never put in an appearance outside of his room, this was fine by me. He was our eyes and ears with regard to COBRA. We still had internet access, for how long we didn’t know, but Phoenix, however told me not to worry about that, he was piggy backing off COBRA’s own internet via a piece of software he had invented. Even if our internet was shut off, as long as there was some kind of electricity, he could still get onto the web.

  The march of the Twice Dead at first was slow, but relentless, Phoenix showed me real time Drone Footage. They were converging on the big cities, a heaving mass of walking corpses, but corpses who weren’t all they seemed.