'Why not?' He wondered.
'I knew it when we got her back, the girl we knew was gone. I just didn't want to admit it, but a darkness had been awoken in her and she struggled being around normal people,' I told him straight.
'I don't understand,' he looked confused. I sighed, I really didn't want to explain this, I wasn't sure how to make him understand.
'She enjoyed the things she did at the compound, she had fun inflicting pain on people,' I had to be honest.
'But Maggie wouldn't hurt a fly,' he argued. 'The girl we knew wouldn't have, but she changed when Nathaniel took her. I think she actually loved him and in his own twisted way, he loved her as well. Yes she tried to protect us by asking to go back, but I could tell that she wanted to go back to him,' I replied honestly.
'Why didn't you say anything?' He asked sorrowfully.
'Because I thought after a time at Sanctuary, she would get better.'
'Despite everything, she was still my sister, I loved her,' he said almost choking on his words.
'I know you did, so did I,' I said comfortingly.
'I'm glad I'm not the only one,' he replied. The others got up and Delilah and Frankie came back, Delilah looked a little stunned but she winked at me to show that she wouldn't say anything to the others. I waited until they all sat down and ate their breakfast before speaking.
'We've got a problem,' I told them calmly.
'What is it?' Troy asked. I told them about how Finn had radioed saying he needed help, I'd told them before about the army who had killed Gail and Cammi and had been coming up north to look for Finn. I could see the anger on their faces as I told them the army were hunting the kids again, I was often surprised at their compassion. It made me more glad that it was they, who were travelling with us.
'We've got to help him!' Tessa explained.
'Darn tootin' we will,' Troy chimed in.
'We can't let anything happen to those kids,' Brooke piped up angrily.
'We've got to leave now, the longer we wait the more chance of something awful happening, Delilah said sternly. It was agreed, we packed up our things and set off. I looked on the map, it would take us four days of walking eleven and a half hours each day to get there. Unless we found a car of course, our first stop would be a place called Kiln Pit Hill just over eleven hours away. We decided not to stop until we got there, unless we absolutely had to. I was glad it wasn't snowing any more, nor was it raining thankfully. It was still deathly cold though, but we were all wrapped up warm. Troy and Tessa walked in front, Brooke was just behind them and I walked at the back with Delilah at my side. She looked lost in thought, I wondered whether she actually believed my vision or if she just trusted Frankie's word.
'How you doing?' She asked suddenly.
'I'm just worried,' I replied.
'About your dream?' She whispered.
'You believe me?' I asked shocked.
She laughed and smiled. 'My dad, he was a big believer in that stuff. He told us about a group of Romany gypsies who once stayed at the farm, it was before any of us kids were ever born. For the longest time they thought my mum was barren, don't ask me why she couldn't get pregnant but she just didn't. When the gypsies arrived, the old woman took my mothers hand and just smiled. I can still remember what my father told me she'd said,' she smiled happily.
'What did she say?' I wondered curiously.
'She said, '' it's your destiny to have a family, and one day you'll have your hands full,'' four months later my brother Clayton was conceived.'
'Did they ever figure out why it took her so long to conceive?' I asked.
'Nope, it was just one of those things,' she replied.
'I'm glad you believe me, it's hard trusting people with my gifts,' I told her.
'I know what you mean, in this world people are far more likely to think you're nuts,' she laughed.
'I've had these gifts for many years, since my mother died,' I told her.
'You've always used them to help people, haven't you?' She asked smiling.
'How did you know?'
'Ha, I can tell you're a good soul. I've known you a while now, and you're always helping others and I get the sense that visions aren't your only gift.'
'You're right on that one, I'm empathic I can feel what others feel,' I said.
'Really?' She looked intrigued.
I nodded and smiled.
'Can you read me?' I laughed, most people often asked this. I stood for a moment, focusing. I had shut off my empathic abilities, so I didn't intrude on people's feelings. I opened myself back up, only focusing on Delilah's emotions. I could see the pain in her heart, her anguish over losing her friends. I felt her jealousy about seeing Frankie with Jensen, but she was also happy for Frankie. I could sense her sadness over leaving her sisters graves.
There was something else, hidden beneath the surface. It was her self doubt, she didn't think she'd survive, she felt like a burden on us. I took her hand and smiled.
'You're not a burden on us, you do more to help out than some,' I was talking about Brooke and she knew it.
She stared at me shocked, but then she smiled.
'Thank you,' she said graciously. We carried on walking, I reined in my abilities but not before picking up on the others feelings. Troy felt angry with himself, he thought he'd let his daughter down. Beneath all that hardness, was an old softy. Not that he'd let any of us see that side of him, he was a hard man to tolerate sometimes. Tessa felt lost, and she was worried about her dad. She knew her dad was getting old, and feared whether he would survive all this living outside. Brooke's emotions were all over the place, she was barely holding it together. She felt a range of things, anger that we couldn't protect her husband, adrift without Steven by her side, empty without her home. Most of all she felt weak, not just physically but mentally. I felt quite sad, she wasn't a bad person she just wasn't accustomed to living this way. Jensen was the most shocking, there were dark feelings of pure hatred coming from that boy. He wanted to hunt down the cannibal's and kill them, but his feelings went far beyond normal levels of anger. I already knew he was grief stricken about Maggie, but there was also a level of understanding about what Maggie had become. I wished I could take away his pain, but no words would heal his broken heart. Frankie was the most normal of them, she felt the usual levels of sadness and anger at the slavers and cannibal's. Unlike everyone else, she was fierce, strong and felt confident that we would succeed.
I smiled, Frankie always was the strong one. That girl could handle anything, I thought happily.
'How long till we get to our stop?' Frankie asked cheerfully.
I smiled at her and almost laughed, she gave me that look that told me she knew I'd felt her feelings.
'Another couple of hours,' I told her.
'Can we take a break?' Tessa asked.
'Sure, here's as good a place as any,' I replied.
We sat down on the grass, laying out our sleeping bags to sit on. I took out some food from my bags and gave them all some food, we were seriously running out.
'I think when we get to our stop, we should look for some food,' Troy said tiredly.
'Why don't we split up when we get there, some of us can look for a place to sleep the rest of us can find food,' Frankie suggested.
'Sounds like a plan, Dad, Brooke, you can come with me. We'll find a place to sleep,' Tessa told them.
'Okey dokey,' Troy replied in an oddly cheerful tone. 'I'm good with that,' Delilah piped up.
'Sounds good to me,' Frankie said smiling. The sun was still up, but barely. I wanted to hurry up and get us there, but with Brooke looking a little weak I wasn't sure if we'd get there in time. In the weeks since we'd lost our home, her health had deteriorated. She was always slender, but now the weight was falling off, I was getting worried. She didn't complain or mention it though, so I didn't see the point of saying anything. The wind howled fiercely, it was chilly but not freezing. I longed to be somewhere indoors, safe, warm, hopef
ully with an actual bed.
By the time we reached Kiln Pit Hill, it was pitch black. We had a few torches, but I didn't want to use them in case it alerted any corpses to our presence. We were stood on the outskirts of the village, there were old Victorian style houses that stood a little distance apart. It was quaint, beautiful little place that oozed charm. We could see a tiny shop that was also used as post office, we agreed to meet back here in an hour.
Frankie, Jensen, Delilah and I looked for food while the others went to find somewhere to stay. I told them all to keep an eye out, you never knew what was lurking in the dark.
'I hope there's still food here,' Delilah said as her stomach growled.
'So do I, we're running so low,' Frankie replied sadly.
'Don't worry girls, we'll be alright. We always are,' Jensen smiled.
I smiled, Jensen was ever the optimist.
'Look over there, it looks like a small supermarket,' Frankie pointed.
'It's Esco,' Jensen smiled.
'Oh that brings back memories,' Frankie laughed.
I raised my eyebrows, this was a story I hadn't heard before.
'It's where we had our first kiss,' Jensen blushed.
'You remember Tom pissing about with us, he was covered in red glitter,' Frankie giggled.
'Tom, covered in glitter?' I said shocked.
'Oh yeah, he had us running round that the shop like kids,' Jensen smiled.
'Oh bless him,' I replied happily.
Jensen and Frankie looked at each other, with mischievous grins on their faces.
'Don't even think about it,' I warned jokingly.
'Aww,' they said in unison. 'Oh, come on you two we've got work to do,' Delilah joked. We ventured into Esco, knocking on the glass windows and doors before we entered. We heard nothing, Jensen and Frankie took one half while Delilah and I searched the other half. I crept slowly and quietly round the aisles, just in case any corpses were hiding. I found one trapped beneath a fallen shelf, I quickly stabbed it before it could make any noise. As we walked passed it, I felt something grab me by the ankle. Before I knew it I was on the floor, kicking at the walker that grabbed me. For some reason I couldn't kick it off me, of fuck I thought, it must be one of the strong ones.
'Shit, Delilah help,' I said panicked.
She took out her knife and went to stab it, but her bloody knife broke on impact.
'Oh fuck,' she cried. She scrambled about looking for a stronger weapon, my knife would do no good. I kept furiously kicking at it, it was barely doing anything. I made sure to keep my arms away from it, my jacket wasn't that thick and it could easily scratch through the material. I felt more panicked about this walker than I had about any other in a long time, I was used to be able to deal with them. It seemed that these strong ones showed up at the most inconvenient time. Delilah came back holding a hammer, I just hoped it did the job. I tried to move my foot out the way but couldn't, she rained the hammer down on its head half a dozen times before it was killed. I let out a yelp as she caught my ankle with the hammer.
'Oh crap, I'm sorry Jade. I didn't mean to,' she said apologetically.
I needed help getting up, I limped as I walked. Damn it hurt like hell.
'It's alright, it was an accident,' I replied wincing in pain.
'Here, lean on me,' she offered. She helped me to walk, the pain was pretty bad. I was just lucky she hadn't broken my ankle, the steel boots I was wearing softened the blow. We searched the rest of the aisles to find them empty, I grabbed a trolley and we began putting the food in. Holding on to it, helped me walked but didn't ease the pain.
'Here, these will help,' she said putting some painkillers in the trolley.
'Cheers, and don't worry I'm not pissed off at you, it really was an accident. Well, unless you secretly want me dead,' I joked.
'Definitely not,' she laughed.
We found Frankie and Jensen, they were stood in the baby aisle making out like a couple of hormonal teenagers. I smiled, you had to enjoy the little things.
'Oi you two, quit snogging each other,' Delilah teased.
They turned red faced, and apologised. 'Sorry,' Jensen said embarrassed.
'It's fine, you'll have plenty of time for that when we get to where we're sleeping,' Delilah winked.
Frankie laughed, 'come on, lets get going.' We gathered some more things before leaving, I noticed Frankie and Jensen grab a load of condoms. I shook my head wanting to laugh, at least they're being careful I thought. We'd got everything we needed to last for a while, I guess people hadn't thought of checking the tiny villages. Which was a good thing for us. We reached the meeting point to find the others stood, with bright, beaming smiled on their faces.
'What are you guys so happy about?' Frankie asked.
'Come see our home for tonight,' Tessa squealed excitedly. We followed them a short way down the road and through an iron gate, it was out of the way, isolated, and alone. I couldn't see it at first with the darkness and trees, but there at the back was a larger than life house, well it wasn't exactly a house. It was three stories high, with wings that spread either side. It looked like a U shape, I could see some kind of outhouse. There was even a large people carrier in the driveway, I wondered if we were lucky enough that it would have some petrol in.
'Is it safe?' I asked in awe.
'Yup, we've cleared it. There wasn't many dead ones inside though,' Troy replied happily.
'Awesome, well as you can see we've got plenty of food,' I said cheerfully.
'Hell yes, things are finally looking up!' Tessa exclaimed.
We took the stuff inside, putting it all in the large, fancy kitchen. Whoever lived here, sure had a hell of a lot of money. It was filled with stunning paintings, plush, thick carpets and beautiful walls.
'There's ten bedrooms, and to make things even better, there's fresh water,' Brooke giggled.
Frankie and Jensen looked excitedly at each other, 'we can shower,' they said giddily before rushing off upstairs.
'Ha, even with all they've been through, their still kids at heart,' I stood smiling brightly.
'It makes me happy to see smiles on their faces,' Troy told me.
'Same here.' We went our separate ways to find our own rooms, I felt tired but happy. Today had been a good day. I found it hard to walk up the stairs with my injured ankle, I wasn't sure if I could walk on it for long. I hated to halt our progress, but I needed to rest it. I knelt by my bed for the night and prayed, I prayed to the Goddess to keep my kids safe, to let us get to the lab in one piece. It was all I could do, not to worry. I just hoped that we'd left soon enough to avoid the horde, I couldn't bear the thought of losing my kids.
Chapter 26
Delilah
The mansion was gorgeous, we all had our own rooms and there was actual fucking water! It had been too long since we'd all showered, we were all, dirty, smelly and grubby. I took my clothes off and got in the shower, I let the warm water run over me, watching as the dirt was washed away. I kept thinking about my sister, leaving their graves had been hard. I still felt their loss everyday, I never could forgive myself for letting them die.
We left the farm, leaving our family behind. They were dead, but my youngest sister couldn't accept it.
'We can't leave them, they need us,' she cried.
'I'm sorry Amy, but their dead,' I told her sadly.
'No, they can't be. We have to save them.' Becca and Claire understood, they sat silently holding each other as I drove. I drove east thinking that the woods would be the best place to go, we needed food though. I stopped just outside Gilsland, there didn't seem to be any walkers around. I looked at my sisters, it was my job to keep them safe. I knew Claire and Becca could take care of themselves, but Amy was just a baby. Well she was eleven, but she was my baby sister.
'Stay here, I'm going to find us some food,' I told them.
'Your leaving us?' Amy asked scared.
'I'm looking for food, we don't have any. We also need some
covers and blankets. Don't open the door for anyone but me, kneel down on the floor and keep out of sight,' I replied sternly.
'Okay,' Claire nodded. I was worried about leaving them, but I didn't have a choice. I took out my knife as I wandered into the dark town, I killed any corpse I saw, not knowing if that was the one that would get my sisters. It didn't take me long to find a little shop, I looked in the windows and couldn't see anything. I crept inside, making sure I was quiet. I found a legless corpse trying to drag itself to me, I stamped on its head without a moments thought, I felt its brains squelch beneath my boots. I quickly grabbed what I could and ran back to the truck, I hadn't found any blankets but at least I'd got food.
I couldn't have been gone more than half an hour, but when I got back Amy was gone.
'Where the fuck is Amy?' I demanded, trying not to shout.
'She went back home,' Becca cried.
'Why didn't you stop her,' I scolded them. 'We tried, but she wouldn't stay,' Claire told me.
'When did she go?' I asked.
'About ten minutes ago,' Becca said crying.
'Here's some food, keep low and I'll be back soon,' I replied.
'Okay,' Claire nodded. I closed the door and quickly scanned the area, making sure there wasn't any corpses around. I ran back the way we'd driven, practically flying. God damn it, she couldn't have gotten far. It was my job to keep them safe and Amy wasn't making it easy. It was lucky that I was used to running, so I didn't get tired easily. I looked in the trees as I ran by, killing a lone walker as I went. Somehow I kept the tears from falling, I had to keep it together. If by some chance I couldn't find her, or if anything had happened, I had to be strong for the other two.
'Amy, where are you?' I called in a panicked voice.
I kept running, I got another mile down the road before I saw her, sitting at a bus stop tears streaming down her eyes.
'Jesus Christ Amy, what were you thinking?' I scolded her.
'I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if they were alright,' she cried.
I knelt down in front of her, I wiped the tears off her face and told her what I saw.
Dead World Rising Page 26