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

by Suchitra Chatterjee

  I went back into the shop, I went behind the counter and lifted the framed photo of Ganesh off the wall. I was going to learn all I could about my parents, even my mother, because she was part of me, it wasn’t her fault she was a Bowes-Lyon.

  I wrapped it up in some bubble wrap that was under the counter and took it out of the shop and put it into the people carrier.

  “Lucia!” Jasmine shouted my name and I went to see what she wanted. Afterwards I had to deal with Cassidy who of course said he was hungry.

  He was getting upset, he looked exhausted, so I made him sit down in one of the back seats of the people carrier and sent Eden to get me a bag from the supermarket which had some chocolate and several boxes of Diazepam in it.

  I pressed 20mg of the drug into the chocolate, I had seen Adag give him this amount in his nighttime drink.

  Stevie stood anxiously by his friend and I sent him to get some bottled water which Cassidy drank thirstily after devouring the chocolate.

  “You can stay in here for the drive home,” I said to him.

  “Can Stevie come with me?” he asked anxiously.

  Private Curtis was going to drive the People Carrier with Jasmine and the children, I took him to one side and asked him if both Cassidy and Stevie could travel with them.

  “He’s done really well,” I said looking at Cassidy who was drinking more water. He was holding Stevie’s hand and his friend was patting him on the shoulder in a comforting way, “He won’t cause any problems, he will be a sleep soon.”

  Peters nodded his head and I then moved onto my next task. Speaking to Wolf about living arrangements once we got back to Thorncroft.

  “You, me and Elise, will deal with that once we get there,” he said as we walked across the petrol’s forecourt together, hand in hand, he took my hand, I didn’t, I was a bit embarrassed but I knew why he had done it, he was making it clear to everyone that I was with him, not only as an unwilling co-opted officer but his chosen partner; he barked out orders, and God help anyone, who didn’t jump to it quickly enough, “Sargent Lyndon, start loading everyone up into the coach, Private Bryson, do a head count, Private Topaz, that is your third cigarette, can it, Phoenix get the Bee-in-the-SKY to do recognisance, we are not stopping until we get to Thorncroft, so make sure you don’t need the toilet, because if you do, you can piss your pants! Private Salter, get your damn arm back in that sling, whoa soldier, did you just roll your eyes at me? You didn’t? I beg to differ, you and I will be having words when we get home! Private Declan, you are not Twice Dead yet, so don’t use that as a damn excuse not to help get this show on the road, move it! Corporal Williamson, you are on duty right now, snogging is not permitted until you are off duty, even with one’s own husband!”

  Out of chaos came order. Very soon we were loaded up and ready to go, a convoy of three vehicles now. Seb was the last person to be loaded up.

  He and Elise came out of the shop together, he rolled over to Mitch, apologizing for being late but the loo at the back of the shop wasn’t disabled, accessible he explained and he had almost fallen off the pan three times.

  Elise looked a bit flushed.

  “You OK?” I asked her.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” she said. She was aware of Wolf looking at her, his expression unfriendly but professional.

  “You and Seb OK with each other now?” She nodded her head and I smiled.

  “Good,” I said.

  She hesitated and Wolf said calmly, “Yes, Captain?”

  “Would it be alright Sir, if I..” she bit her lower lip, “If I sat with Seb in the back of the coach?”

  She waited for him to refuse. Wolf stared at her.

  “We will make a legacy,” I said to Wolf and he turned to look at me, puzzled, “Us, the Thorncroft survivors, Captain Lacks-Renton has found her partner, the Vanilla bastard as she calls him, this is just the start, we will be hybrids, soldier, civilian, and disability and Wolf, there will be children, eventually.”

  “Vanilla Bastard?” Wolf repeated the words, slowly and precisely.

  “With all due respect Sir,” Elise said but this time she said the words quite meekly, “He is White…really White…”

  “Keep the soldiers in order at the back Captain,” Wolf said to his subordinate and she snapped to attention, saluted him and to my surprise, saluted me too.

  She started to walk toward the coach, everyone was in a vehicle bar us three, the engines were purring and Mitch locked the coach’s wheelchair doors, gave them a hard rattle to make sure they were secure, then gave a very loose army salute to Wolf and Elise because he didn’t want to be bollocked out again before climbing onto the coach. Jasper was driving the rest of the way to Thorncroft.

  “Captain,” Wolf called out to Elise as she started to mount the steps of the coach and she turned at his voice.

  “Sir?”

  “I suggest that the next time you go to the bathroom; you make sure your shirt isn’t inside out when you leave.”

  Elise’s combat jacket was on the right way but Wolf was right, her combat shirt, dirty as it was, was inside out.

  “Yes Sir,” she said, “Sorry Sir.”

  I choked back a laugh and Elise’s eyes narrowed, “Just remember Ma’am, I’m in the charge of the Pack Runs and that includes all ranks, even those with disabilities…” and then she was inside the coach and making her way down the back to sit with Seb.

  I was almost wetting myself with hysterical mirth. How Wolf wasn’t laughing was beyond me but I just couldn’t stop laughing but I did it as quietly as I could, squeezing Wolf’s hand so tightly I think I stopped his blood circulation.

  “I don’t know how you do it,?” Wolf said and then he began to laugh as well. We both laughed until we were crying.

  “Do what?” I said as we wiped our eyes and he pulled me to his side, kissed my forehead, we took one last look at the petrol forecourt and then we both headed for the coach and the last leg of our journey back to the sanctuary that was Thorncroft.

  I started this story at the end.

  The end of our world as we all knew it.

  The Twice Dead are evolving, they are learning, whatever created them has a purpose, they aren’t the mindless meat eating machines the New World Succession still think they are. At the moment their inhuman eyes are not on us hidden away in a Dead Zone on the periphery of an ancient forest in the South of England, but that could change at any moment.

  The New World Succession isn’t the Utopia its deluded orchestrators anticipated it to be. The perfect plan to create a perfect new world with a chosen elite is a lot like the contagion itself. Flawed, unstable, and extremely dangerous. What I said to Duke whilst I was his captive I realised I actually meant.

  This motley group of people, made up of the unwanted, the abandoned, a mad scientist, his broken family, a possibly brain damaged traitor and a bunch of now AWOL Yank soldiers would take on not only the Twice Dead but they would eventually bring down the New Age Succession, one way or another.

  Together as I had just said to Wolf, we would create a legacy that would go on to OUR next generation. What my aristocratic mother’s brother had helped create, I vowed to destroy. He had started it; I would end it. Along with my fellow survivors.

  Adag had somehow foreseen the future, a fragment of what could possibly be. My restricted file. Of course! Not just restricted because of what happened with Jack and Theresa but because more than likely my mother’s family had ensured I remained hidden from the world. Locked away just like the Queen’s hidden disabled cousins.

  That was why Adag told me I should think about having children. What better way than to have your revenge on people who so value a supposed pure bloodline. Bring a child in the world who represented everything they hated. The faith of an Indian Grandfather, mixed blood and the brilliance of Bowes-Lyon’s mind.

  But this was my battle, I would not have children, the Bowes-Lyon in me would die when I died but not before those whose tainted blood ran deep in my ve
ins paid their dues. A monster to kill a monster. That was how it always should be. It was fitting.

  No, this will not be our end, this will and is our beginning…

  End of Part One of the Abandoned Trilogy

  Quotes by the Abandoned

  “The world has been turned on its head, society as we know it is gone, for the disabled survivors of this apocalypse perhaps that is not such a bad thing…” Quote by the late Adag Clarke, former residential Assistant Manager for Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “Well, we know one thing for certain about the Twice Dead, they don’t eat Paisley slippers and NHS dentures,” Quote by Lucia Lal, resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “I thought it was Vampires who hated garlic, we got that fucking totally wrong, didn’t we?” Quote by Mitch Lyndon, Coach Driver & Handy Man for the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “In a Twice Dead Apocalypse I have come to realise, insane things can and will happen, and they are usually orchestrated by Lucia Valerie Lal,” Quote by Colonel Mason Wolf, American Army Officer

  “Private Bubba Declan’s arse is a dangerous weapon, it could be used as a weapon of mass destruction is all I can say!” Quote by Percy Williamson, part owner of the Tea & Herb Cafe in the Village of Thorncroft and married to Gabe Williamson

  “She is their leader, not surprising considering who her maternal Uncle is,” Quote by Private Benjamin Duke, Epsilon Command spy for the New World Succession

  “Who wants any special needs soup? Extra garlic can be added,” Quote by Eden Manders, resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “I always said I’d stay single, but what do I go and do when the end of the world happens? I find myself a man, not only that but he is in a Goddamn wheelchair…and he’s white!” Quote by Captain Elise Lacks-Renton, American Army Officer

  “It’s not good if you get bitten by a Twice Dead,” Quote by Cassidy Richards, resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “I have been given the chance to leave the way I want to leave, my final frontier is waiting for me, Buzz Lightyear was right, to infinity and beyond…” Quote by the late Paul Dexter, resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “You know, Lucia’s right, it did take the end of the world to make me happy,” Quote by Seb Garrow, resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “I have a boyfriend, he’s an American soldier, he’s called Curtis and he loves me,” Quote by Jasmine Alder, Learning Disabled resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “Since I got bitten by a Twice Dead, and survived, I have found that I am changing, I understand things I didn’t understand before, I’m stronger, faster and I like my meat raw. I still hate Zombies though, the bastards did this to me, whoever heard of an intelligent Redneck? Fuck!” Quote by Private Bubba Declan, American soldier

  “If you told me that a girl with a bum leg living in a home for disabled people would one day lead a battle against the Twice Dead in a forest, I would tell you that you were nuts. But it happened. And now she is taking on not only the New World Succession but the Twice Dead too…” Quote by Private Kai Salter, American soldier

  “Let’s put it this way, the Gay Scene will never be the same again, but at least we are alive, my only consolation is my ex is now probably a Twice Dead, or if I am really lucky, he got eaten by a Twice Dead along with the prick he dumped me for…” Gabe Williamson, part owner of the Tea and Herb Cafe and married to Percy Williamson

  “I fucking hate Zombies more than Private Declan, and Percy is right, Bubba’s arse should be used as a weapon of Twice Dead Mass destruction!” Quote by Private Alejandro Rodriguez, American soldier

  “I don’t think Hitler was hated as much I am right now. I have destroyed the known human world…” Quote by Professor Aaron Zimmerman, Biochemist for the New World Succession, formerly based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  “I have a new mummy and daddy now,” Quote by Dov Rose, 4 -year-old Grandson of Rachel Bach and Great-Nephew of Aaron Zimmerman

  “Lucy said to me I am a million times the man than Private Duke who called me a Mong is, but I still wish I had been with my family when the ‘poclypse happened, at least I would have been with them all…” Quote by Stevie August, Downs Syndrome resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “Lucia says I have to learn to use a sword, she say’s Dov is too little, but I am old enough!” Quote by Seth Rose, 6 -year-old Grandson of Rachel Bach and Great-Nephew of Professor Aaron Zimmerman

  “A recall to duty clause! He activated a recall to duty clause! The bastard!” Percy Williamson, (Corporal) part owner of the Tea and Herb Cafe and married to Gabe Williamson

  “I don’t know who are worse, the Twice Dead or the people running the New World Succession, at least the Twice Dead have the excuse of being Twice Dead, the New World Succession doesn’t’t!” Quote by Lieutenant Nat Barnes, Officer & Medic in the American Army

  “We need to be very afraid of the Twice Dead, they are evolving as a species, but we are not…” Quote by Phoenix Nolan, Autistic resident of the Thorncroft Home for the Physically & Mentally Impaired

  “My brother has played his part in the destruction of the human race, he did it out of love, a terrible love, wanting to save me and my family, may G-d forgive him…” Rachel Bach, younger sister of Professor Aaron Zimmerman, retired Quantum Physicist

  Glossary of Terms

  Kabuki syndrome - is a rare, multi-system disorder characterized by multiple abnormalities including distinctive facial features, growth delays, varying degrees of intellectual disability, skeletal abnormalities, and short stature.

  Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) - is a rare genetic condition that causes a wide range of problems. These may include being constantly hungry, learning difficulties, behavioral problems such as temper tantrums, aggression and stubbornness.

  Spinal cord injury (SCI) - is damage to the spinal cord that causes changes in its function, either temporary or permanent. These changes can include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in parts of the body served by the spinal cord below the level of the injury.

  Down’s syndrome (also known as Down syndrome) – is a genetic condition that typically causes some level of learning disability and characteristic physical features. Babies born with this condition after birth are likely to have some reduced muscle tone leading to floppiness, eyes that slant upwards and outwards, a small mouth with a protruding tongue, a flat back of the head below-average weight and length at birth and learning difficulties from moderate to severe.

  Hypoxia (Brain damage) - Lack of oxygen at birth can cause long-term disabilities and developmental delays. No two brained damaged persons are the same.

  Asperger’s syndrome also known as Asperger's & High functioning autism (HFA) – are developmental disorders characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, often nonverbal communication along with restricted patterns of behavior and interests. HFA is often applied to people who are deemed to be cognitively ‘higher functioning’ with an IQ of greater than 70, than other people with autism. The amount of overlapping HFA and Asperger’s syndrome is often disputed by medical professionals.

  Paralympics – a major international multi-sport-event involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities. The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games and take place every four years.

  Inspiration porn – this phrase was coined in 2012 by disability rights activist Stella Young in an editorial in Australian Broadcasting Corporation's webzine Ramp Up. The term describes when people with disabilities are called inspirational solely or in part on the basis of their disability.

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Based in Atlanta, Georgia, in the USA, the CDC works with partners at
the local, state and national level to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks (including bioterrorism), implement disease prevention strategies, and maintain national health statistics.

  References

  Wikipedia – Amazing resource that was well used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

  Disney – Referenced by the characters Cassidy and Paul (Disney World and Buzz Lightyear)

  www.disney.com

  Megan Trainor – Song “All About That Base,” – lyrics “all the right junk in all the right places.”

  www.meghan-trainor.com

  Octavia Butler, (1947-2006) Parable of the Sower, published by Warner books in 2001, Quote from Lauren, a character with an unusual disability, she is able to feel the pain and sensations of others, “All that you touch you change, all that you change changes you, the only lasting truth is change.”

  JRR Tolkien, (1892-1973) Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, published by Harper Collins, 2012, Quote from King Theoden as he gets ready to go into battle, “Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountains, like wind in the meadows, the days have down in the West behind the hills into shadow, how did it come this?”

  www.tolkein.com

  Eugene Byrne, Things Unborn, published by Earthlight in 2001, sadly now out of print but a brilliant book.