by V. L. Dreyer
"But I don't wanna sleep," I protested without really meaning it. "You're so mean. Hate you, Doc."
"No, you don't." He chuckled softly as he turned away, and walked back towards the door. "If you hated me, then you would have left me to die in that inferno instead of risking your life to rescue me."
I had nothing to say to that.
***
I slept for another few hours, until my head finally started to feel right again. Although my body ached from the tumble I'd taken, I had been through worse and was more than capable of dealing with a little bit of pain.
When I woke again, the room was murky with the shadows of twilight. There were no windows in my little bedroom, but I had come to know it well over the time I'd lived there. Darkness was falling, but it hadn't fallen yet.
I sat up slowly, careful not to set my head spinning again, but the rest had done its job. I felt much better. Even when I switched on the light, my body didn't protest too much. Thinking about my own condition made me worry about my friends, though; I glanced back at Anahera, and heaved a deep sigh.
"Get better, mate. I need you," I told her. She didn't reply, of course. Still, she was alive. That was more than I could say for a lot of my other friends – and hers, too. I blew out a soft breath, and murmured thoughtfully, "There are going to be a lot of people grieving tonight. I should get out there."
I turned away from her, and eased myself out of bed. I'd been stripped down to my underwear, but my filthy clothing and shoes weren't far away. A few months before, I would have freaked out over that, but now I didn't even bat an eyelash. I grabbed a clean t-shirt and a pair of jeans out of my dresser and pulled them on, then made my way out into the living room.
The sight that greeted me was unexpectedly heart-warming. The five children in our group – Maddy, Priya, and the three younger Yousefi boys – sat in a circle on the living room floor with Tigger, the kitten that had adopted me earlier that summer.
"Mama!" Priya squealed in delight when she saw me. A second later, she was latched around my waist, hugging me fiercely.
"Mama?" I peered down at her, curious. "When did that happen?"
"I decided," she answered firmly, and gave me one of her radiant smiles. "My old mama is gone, so you're my new mama now." Suddenly, a look of anxiety crossed her face. "Is okay, yes? You mama, Michael baba?"
That look melted any protests I might have had about my new status. I just smiled, and hugged her back.
"Sure, Priya. I'll be your mama," I agreed, then looked up at the other children. "What are you guys doing?"
"Babysitting!" Priya said proudly, pointing at the little group. "The pretty lady said I'm old enough to look after the little ones."
"Well, you seem to be doing a good job of it," I praised her gently, and looked up at the circle of little faces again. The three boys were shy and wary, but it was Madeline's expression that took me by surprise. She looked sullen, her attention intensely focused on the kitten. "Maddy? Are you okay?"
The little girl just shrugged and said nothing. She didn't even look at me. I looked at Priya for answers instead, since she seemed to be the only one interested in talking to me.
"Maddy is sad-sads, because of the fire," Priya explained in a dramatic stage whisper. "I think she be okay, but is sads now and does not want to talk."
"Ah. A bit of shock, then." I nodded thoughtfully, and looked back at the little girl. "Maddy, I wanted to thank you for telling us about your dreams. I don't know how you did it, but you may have saved everyone's lives. You're a good girl, and you've done well."
A flicker of something that I couldn't identify passed through her eyes. She nodded and gave me a faint smile. "Thank you for believing me, Miss Sandy."
"I always believe you, Maddy," I said softly, prying myself out of Priyanka's grip so that I could go over and kneel down beside her. "You're special, Maddy. I don't know how it happened, or what kind of special you are, but you're definitely special. I remember how you helped me when I first met your family, and now this? You're one of the most special people I've ever met."
"I—" She hesitated, staring up at me with huge brown eyes. Suddenly, they filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Miss Sandy. I didn't mean to make the fire happen."
"What?" I blinked, startled. "You didn't start the fire, honey. Zain did, by accident. You weren't even there."
"But I started it by dreaming about it," she said. Suddenly, she burst into tears. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. Please don't be angry with me."
"Whoa!" Flabbergasted by the sudden outburst, I grabbed the little girl and pulled her into a hug. "Shh, honey, it's okay. You didn't make the fire happen. It's not your fault. I promise."
"B-but I dreamed it before it happened," the little girl blubbered, clinging to me as though her life depended on it. "If I hadn't dreamed it then it wouldn't have happened."
"Okay, I'm no expert on these things, but I know that it's not your fault." I gently held her back away from me, and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Sweetie, you did not cause the fire. The fire was going to happen anyway. You just… sensed that the fire was going to happen, and you warned us. You saved lives by giving us the advanced warning to prepare. You did not cause the fire."
"I didn't?" She sniffled loudly and looked up at me, her little face stained with tears.
"No, you didn't," I told her firmly, and gave her a smile. "You saw what was going to happen and told us about it. The fire was caused by a gas stove falling over. You weren't even in the room when that happened, so it couldn't be your fault. Could it?"
"Well… no, I guess not," she agreed, then took a deep breath and rubbed her hands across her cheeks to wipe the tears away. "I was so scared, Miss Sandy. I thought Granddaddy was doing to die."
"Nobody's going to die on my watch," I reassured her, and gave her another quick hug. "Everyone's okay because of you, Maddy. You saved them. Look, even Tigger knows that you're a hero."
Maddy looked down at the purring bundle of fluff in her lap, and shot a dubious look at me.
"No, really," I said, grinning at her. "She won't even let me pat her, but she's letting you hold her. That's special right there, isn't it?"
Maddy looked down at the kitten, then picked her up and gave her a cuddle. Tigger barely even stirred, but the sight made me smile. It might take some time to get over the shock, but I decided that she was going to be fine.
"Okay, kids," I announced, easing myself back to my feet. "I need to go see what the others are up to. You be good for Priya and stay inside where it's safe."
"Okies!" Priya agreed cheerfully. I waved and headed out of the apartment. As I made my way down the stairs, I heard voices speaking on the other side of the door. I tried the handle and found the inner door locked, so I knocked instead.
The voices on the other side stopped for a moment, then I heard my sister. "Priya, is that you again? I told you to stay upstairs."
"It's me, sis," I called back. "Let me out."
"Oh, hey! Just a second." I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and the door opened. Skye yanked me into a quick hug, then pulled me into the office where she and Elly had been speaking. "Man, am I ever glad to see you up and about again. I've been so worried."
"Sorry about that," I answered sheepishly. "I'm feeling a bit better now. How's your head doing?"
"Better. Doc says that it wasn't too bad, all things considered." Skye chuckled and shook her head. "Look at us. We're like concussion twins or something."
"I'm pretty sure that's not actually a thing, but I know what you mean." I grinned at her, then looked back and forth between the two women. "So, how are we situated? It's about to get dark, and those things could get here any moment if they decide to come back this way."
"There's no sign of them at the moment, but we've got Michael and his boys on guard duty anyway," Skye explained, then she grabbed my hand and led me out of the office. When she opened the door, I was surprised to see that the lower level of the old store had
been cleaned up, and all the old trash removed. In its place, supplies had been stored in neat piles.
"Wow, you guys have been hard at work," I commented, impressed. "This has to be just about everything we had in the motel. Good job."
"Almost," she agreed, nodding. "We still have a bit more to retrieve, but we should be finished tomorrow morning. We've also sent Zain and Ropata out in the Hilux to look for cars and trailers that we can salvage. If we're going to be leaving, then we'll need transport."
"Do they know what they're looking for?" I asked curiously, shooting a glance at Elly. To my surprise, she laughed.
"I would hope so," she said dryly. "I do not know about the other man, but my husband was an automotive engineer for twelve years before the plague, if you include his apprenticeship. We were only travelling on foot because we ran out of petrol, and couldn't find any more. Skylar says that you have fuel, so there is no problem."
"You mean we actually have someone who knows what they're doing now?" I stared at them wide-eyed for a second, then let out a whoop of delight. "Finally! I don't know how to tell you guys this, but I've just been faking it the whole time."
"Faking it, huh?" Skylar gave me a long, sideways look, followed up by a wicked smile. "That's the only thing you've been faking though, right?"
"Eh?" I stared at her, my joviality replaced by confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, you're not faking it for Michael, are you?" she answered in a gleeful, sing-song voice, then danced over and threaded her arm through mine. "So, when were you planning to tell me, huh? I'm your sister; it's not nice to keep secrets from your sister."
"Whoa, suddenly this conversation has gone into uncomfortable places!" I exclaimed, holding up my free hand in self-defence. "What the hell are you talking about, Skye? You already know about me and Michael."
"Yeah, but you didn't tell me about… this!" She snatched the chain that held my engagement ring out from beneath my shirt before I could hope to stop her. "We had to undress you while you were unconscious. Did you think you could keep that hidden forever?"
"Oh, that." Embarrassed, I tugged the ring back out of her grip and shoved it back under my shirt. "I was going to tell you eventually, but we've been a little busy, you know? It only happened a week ago, while we were away, and it's not a full-on engagement. Just sort of a… promise. Michael gave it to me so I'd have something to show for our relationship if anything ever happened to him."
"Awww, how sweet," Skye crooned. Behind her, Elly giggled girlishly, a sound that seemed far too young to be coming from a face that looked twice my age. The years had not been kind to her, but her eyes were alert and intelligent despite her weather-worn skin. I gave her a faint smile, and pointedly changed the subject.
"So, you guys already figured out that we're going to be leaving," I said, glancing back and forth between them. "That's good. It's going to be dangerous, but it'll be safer if we stick together."
"I don't think we have much of a choice, to be honest," Skye answered, her demeanour changing from playful to serious. "Those things have already killed six people, and from Michael's stoic silence I gather that they almost got a seventh today. You've mentioned gangs in the south, but we can deal with those. These things are just… monsters."
"I'm concerned that the mutated virus may be spreading," I admitted, shooting a glance back over my shoulder towards the heavily-barricaded front door. "There were so many of them out there. At least nine, by my count."
"Yeah," Skye agreed, nodding thoughtfully. "I doubt you're the only one thinking that, either. Speaking of which, we better get everyone inside. It's starting to get dark. Elly, can you grab the bullhorn?"
"Bullhorn? We have a bullhorn?" I asked curiously, but Skye just gave me a grin and said nothing.
Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out one of our walkie-talkies, and spoke into it. "Home-time, guys. Everyone start heading back to base."
A chorus of agreement came back to her from the holders of the other radios. When Elly returned with the bullhorn, she stuck her head out the door and repeated the message loudly enough for anyone without a radio to hear. Within a few minutes, the other survivors began to return.
The first to return were the men who had been involved in the salvage operation at the old motel, covered in soot and looking exhausted. I was a little surprised to see Anahera's men among them at first glance, but after a moment of thought I realised that it made perfect sense. One of the many things that had changed since the fall of the human empire was the average person's attitude towards group effort.
Back when we could rely on a steady food source and a roof over our heads, it was okay to be fully focused on your individual wants and needs, or those of your direct family. Now, it had become second nature to do your part for everyone in the group, regardless of how you were feeling. Helping the group was helping yourself. If you didn't work, you didn't eat. They'd been through a lot of trauma and were grieving for their lost friends, but they were still willing to work for their supper. I understood that, and I respected it.
As they filtered through the door, I took a moment to greet them. I could see the deep sadness in their eyes, but also relief and gratitude. All of them had a smile for me, even if it was a little weak. One by one, we sent them upstairs to the loft.
"It's going to get pretty crowded up there tonight," I commented. Just at that moment, Doc arrived with a huge armful of sooty blankets and pillows. The three of us rushed over to help him.
"Yeah," Skye agreed as we unfolded the blankets, and shook them out the door to get the worst of the soot off them. "We've retrieved as much bedding as we can, but it's still going to be a bit uncomfortable for everyone. Better safe than sorry, though."
"Well, we're going to need to have some people on night watch, anyway," I answered, glancing around the little building for inspiration. "I'm thinking two watching upstairs, two downstairs. We don't want those things sneaking up on us while we're sleeping."
"Now, that is an awful thought," Elly commented quietly; I glanced at her just in time to see her shudder. "It frightens me to think how close they came to taking my children from me."
"I won't let them," I said firmly. "I'll protect your kids to the death, if I have to. I'll protect all of the kids, one way or another."
"Well, aren't you Little Miss Determined now?" Skye teased impishly, and gave me a nudge in the side. I stuck my tongue out at her and gave her a shove back.
"Someone's got to be." I folded the blanket I'd been shaking over my arm, and turned to look her in the eye. "We may be all that's left of humanity in this country right now. Even if we aren't, we have a duty to try to protect ourselves, and to grow this group so that the next generation can have a decent chance. We owe them that much, don't we?"
"True." Skye sighed heavily, the humour draining out of her face. "I barely remember what it was like before the plague came. I just remember everything being… so clean. And smiling people everywhere. It would be nice to have that again." Suddenly, she glanced up and gave me a cheeky wink. "I also miss chocolate. Chocolate was awesome."
All of us laughed at that.
Chapter Five
By the time full darkness fell, everyone had returned safely from whatever mission they'd been about. The last people to return were Michael and his crew, who had taken responsibility for keeping the rest of us safe. Not really a huge surprise.
I won't lie and pretend that I was all dignified or coy about seeing him again. The second he came through the door, I threw myself into his arms and smothered him in kisses, much to the amusement of everyone around us. And you know what? I didn't care. I didn't care at all. After the kind of day that we'd had, we had both earned a moment of weakness.
Once we had finished reuniting, we closed, locked, and barricaded the front door with the heaviest things we could find, then we filtered upstairs into the crowded loft.
"Elly and I will take care of dinner," Skye volunteered, heading
off to the kitchen. That left the rest of us standing awkwardly in a small living room, crammed with way more people than it was ever meant to hold.
"You know, I really hope the floor doesn't collapse or something," I joked lightly, nudging Michael in the side.
He smiled faintly in response to my joke, but his expression stayed serious. "We should probably do something about getting people bathed, though. It smells like a frat house in here."
"Good point." I nodded and cleared my throat loudly, putting an end to the quiet conversations taking place around the room. One by one, they all turned and looked at me expectantly. "All right, everyone. Michael says you stink. Bathroom's through that door there, on the left. I'd like the kids to go first, since they have to go to bed earlier than the rest of us – Doc, Zain, can you please take care that?" I glanced at them. They both nodded, and stood to round up their respective progeny. "Thanks, guys. As for the rest of us… well, there isn't going to be enough hot water for everyone to have a warm shower. Sorry. No fist-fights, okay?"
There were some groans from the younger men, but there was really nothing that any of us could do to alleviate the situation so there were few real complaints. A cold shower was better than no shower, and most of us were used to going without modern conveniences when we had to. The conversations resumed, but with so many people crammed into a single room it was hard to follow any of them. Michael was clearly in one of his dark moods, and that always bothered me.
Ever since the death of his niece, there were times when he went into a strange, black place that was so out of keeping with his personality that it made me worry. I hated to watch him brood, so I gently reached out and touched his arm. When he looked at me quizzically, I tilted my head towards the door, silently telling him I wanted to talk to him without alerting the others that anything was amiss.