“Poor Olly.”
“He loves you so much. He was in such a state to lose you like that. I tell you he’s old beyond his years. Anyway, I hug him, and I feel him calm down, then he suddenly screams ‘that way’. We get in the car and start driving, but there are so many crossroads, I have no idea which way to go, and Olly is lost in his own misery at losing you, and he is so tired, he had drained himself. I promise him that we will find you. I tell him that we will find a way. We had no choice but to go back to the cottage. I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK, I understand, they were driving on for miles. I didn’t have a clue how far we went or which direction we went, and I was in the car staring out the window watching the roads. ”
“I’m so sorry this happened to you Izzy, I would have done anything to find you back then.”
“I know. It’s not your fault.”
We sit in silence again. I try and understand what he must have felt like, having no idea where I was or what was happening to me. Was it worse than what I suffered? Perhaps.
“It must have been horrible for you,” I say.
“It was, and I had Olly, he was freaking out. He kept saying stuff that didn’t make any sense, like he was talking in tongues, that’s the only way I can describe it, although it wasn’t like that at all, more like some kind of old language. Something the world, the plants, can understand. I can’t describe it. When he spoke like that, I noticed how plants and animals would turn to face him. It was weird. It’s like he was talking to them. Like he was asking them where you were. I think there was a part of me that understood, an ancient part, like my body knew but my mind did not. I think he is connected to everything at all times. I don’t know. But I finally got him to sleep that first night in my bed. I hugged him the whole night to make him feel safe. He said he had a dream of you and that he spoke to you. He said it was real. Somehow he made me feel it was real too. He said you were OK. It made things easier, it gave me hope.”
“You know at first I wasn’t sure that we were connected, but I saw him so often. He saved my sanity in that cell.”
“Thank God. Anyway, after that first night, we began working on his abilities. I used the stuff I learnt in the army to educate him and grow them. It was hard for him to concentrate for long enough to find you. It took ages.”
“Thank you for saving me,” I say.
“Thank you for being so strong.”
We both stare into the fire.
Over the next few days, I get used to life outside the cage. It is harder than I thought; it took three days until I could go outside in the day without sunglasses. But I am getting better and stronger again. Sometimes when I lay in bed at night in the darkness, I am still in the cage. Then I fear that it is only in my mind that I have walked from it. But, then I wonder if any of that matters, what the mind creates is real to the individual. I am with Olly, and he is with me, and I know that I am free once more. Together we are surviving.
I discovered this morning that I am pregnant. I found some pregnancy testers in a pharmacy we raided. I don’t know how far along I am. I don’t remember when my last period was. Now I understand the sickness and the cramps. I haven’t told Stephen or Olly. But I think Olly knows. The baby will be just as powerful if not more powerful than him. Now I understand why Archie chose me. He wanted the experiment to continue. The child will have one genetically modified parent, me, and the other parent, Archie, had the sixth batch of injections in him. I am not scared. I am filled with love for my child. This has never been done before, but I know I am having the baby and that it is healthy. I know it is the right thing to do. I will tell Stephen and Olly when I have to. The next humans to walk the Earth will be better in every way.
I walk down to the river with Olly, we sit on the edge and dip our feet into the water. Olly looks up at me. The green in his eyes is shining. He is in some kind of trance. He places his hand on my stomach.
“He’s not dead…” he says. “He’s coming for her.”
Tears of Blood Page 21