by Dan Glover
Winding her way back out of town to the north she tried Karen cell phone again. This time she answered it.
"Karen, where are you?"
"You know I'm in Scotland, Marilyn."
"So am I. I'm here in Aberdeen looking for you."
There was a long silence. Marilyn thought the connection had been lost until her friend spoke again.
"Oh Marilyn, you shouldn’t have come here. You're in danger."
"I had to see you, Karen. Please tell me where you are. I'll be there in minutes."
"I'm on Newsmill Road just three kilometers south of town. I'll wait for you, but hurry... and watch out for looters... they're everywhere."
Marilyn punched the name of the road into her sat-nav, changed directions, and headed back through town. Fires had broken out at several petrol stations. Angry clouds of black smoke billowed into the dimming sky. A nearby explosion startled her.
Turning on Newsmill Road she floored the accelerator to outrun a crowd of people closing in on the car. They were waving their hands and shouting for help.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
She knew better than to stop yet when she saw the looks on their faces, especially the women with children beside them, tears formed in her eyes. Wiping them away she glanced at the odometer making note of the kilometer reading so as to locate Karen.
As she neared the three kilometer mark she noticed a car pulled off the highway in the shade of an abandoned petrol station. The tires were all flat. Wheeling off the road she approached it cautiously, searching the area for a sign from Karen.
Her lover appeared from behind a large white petroleum tank with rust streaking its welded edges. Marilyn drove over to her with a surging sense of happiness blossoming in her stomach.
"God, it's good to see you again, Karen! I've been so worried about you. The whole world has gone to shit."
"We have to get to Lily. They tried to stop me from going through Aberdeen, Marilyn. They threw roofing nails into the road. They must think I'm a carrier of Lake Baikal fever. They don’t realize it's too late. They're already infected."
"I have a sat-nav. Show me where Lily is at. Perhaps we can take the back roads."
Jumping back into her car Marilyn started the engine as Karen climbed into the passenger side to peer at the map on the sat-nav. Punching in the location of Orchardton Hall she ordered Marilyn to drive south.
"We'll have to go through Kurgan but otherwise it's a clear shot to the castle from here. We can be there in just a little while. We'll be safe there, Marilyn, if Lily allows us to stay, that is."
"What will we tell her, Karen? She's bound to be suspicious of us. We did keep her prisoner, after all."
She could almost feel Karen's doubt hovering heavy in the air... the sense of culpability that the woman must have on her conscience over kidnapping Lily, imprisoning her, and refusing all her entreaties for help.
Why would she take them in now? She wouldn’t. They would be lucky if she didn’t shoot them on sight. Lily must know that all the resources of the Centers for Disease Control had been mobilized to get her back.
"We'll say that we can help. We're doctors. Look out, Marilyn!"
Marilyn swerved to miss a pair of girls who were sitting in the middle of the road. It looked as if they had fallen there and could go no farther. Her first instinct was to keep going but Karen insisted they go back.
"We can't leave them here to die, Marilyn."
"Yes we can."
Karen glared at her until she relented, did a u-turn, and went back for the girls. By the time they made it to Orchardton Hall they had picked up two boys on the outskirts of Kurgan too. Marilyn wondered if it was a premeditated plot of Karen's, a misguided attempt at saving humanity.
She was sick too... she could feel the illness manifesting when she had left England. At first she thought she had eaten something bad, or perhaps she was coming down with the flu. As she was driving she thought about what she had eaten for breakfast or who she had come into contact with recently.
Now though, Marilyn realized the plague decimating all the surrounding villages must have infiltrated even the headquarters of the CDC... the people who she had left behind were probably all sick too and soon to be dead.
She didn’t want to die... not like that. She had watched two men succumb to the Lake sickness. If need be, Marilyn would rather take her own life than suffering the way she had witnessed Corrigan and Thomas do as their life ebbed away amid fits of convulsions and vomiting.
When they arrived at their destination a woman stood outside Orchardton Hall. Even from a distance Marilyn recognized she had the same features as Lily... webbed fingers and large flat feet. She seemed angry at their arrival, as if they were trespassing.
"I knew Lily wouldn’t be happy to see us, Karen. But who is that? I thought you said Lily was the last of her kind?"
"That's what she told me... but maybe she lied."
"Or perhaps she didn’t realize there were others, Karen. What do we do now?"
"I have to talk to her... I have to find out where Lily is at. Unless we can find her, we're all as good as dead."
"I'm actually starting to feel better already, Karen."
"Yes, so am I... but unless I can talk to Lily, I'm afraid we won't be for long. Well, here's to nothing."
Chapter 64—On the Ocean
Nate noticed how the salt water dried Lily's skin unlike the pure Lake waters.
He was not averse to jumping into the ocean yet he too favored Lake Baikal and its crystal blue waters to the ever-moving waves of the sea and undulating currents deep beneath.
Maon flourished in the ocean, however, as did Sileas. Both being strong swimmers Nate watched as they dove far under the surface cavorting and playing with wild fishes and other sea creatures that seemed tame in their presence as if their bodies were sending off secret signals.
Nate spent the better part of a year learning to sail the Nautilus, the refurbished yacht they discovered half-built inside one of the rotting warehouses by the east shore. It was the culmination of fifteen years of work: repairing the warehouse so it was once again weather-tight, learning the craft of shipbuilding from scratch, gathering timbers to complete the boat, and finally rolling it into the sea.
He learned by trial and error that he too possessed immunity to Lake Syndrome like the Ladies of the Lake. When he first started work on the vessel Lily accompanied him. In time, however, she tired of the incessant work. Nate implored her to let him go to the shipyards alone. He returned home each night for fear he would grow ill.
"How long does it take for Lake Syndrome to manifest once I am apart from you, my darling Lily?"
"You will begin feeling ill in just a few hours, lovely Nate. Why do you wish to be apart from me, my sweet one?"
"I know you do not enjoy these trips, beautiful Lily."
"I have never complained."
"Yes and I love you for that. Please allow me to perform an experiment, dearest Lily. I wish to go alone to the shipyards. Should I begin feeling ill I will return immediately."
"The illness progresses very rapidly, wonderful Nate. What if you are unable to make it home in time?"
"I won't allow that to happen. Once I feel sick I will come home immediately. It is only a short drive."
He named the three-masted schooner after an old story he read about a submarine that plied the ocean depths. Though powered by twin three hundred horsepower Yanmar diesel engines he also outfitted the boat with sails to save on fuel by taking advantage of the wind. It was learning to unfurl and properly position the sail that it proved most difficult to master and though the diesel engines made navigating the mono-hull craft much easier Nate soon found he preferred the quiet afforded by using the wind.
Maon was a quick study picking up on sailing the Nautilus in just a few weeks with his father as a teacher. Their first trip was around the British Isles; soon they were making waves to more distant ports in old Europe and down the coast of
Africa.
"There is never anybody else around."
Maon seemed prone to suffering the same disappointment Nate once felt many years ago. Now, however, a world devoid of human life beckoned to him. Nature encroached upon the old cities but there were still treasures to be recovered and brought home to Orchardton Hall.
They sailed up the Seine from the English Channel to Rouen disembarking in Paris. Going to the Musée de Louvre they found the entrances were still locked and standing guard over its treasures protecting the priceless works of art from wild creatures roaming the crumbling streets. The stainless steel doors rotten with age surrendered after a single kick. Inside they gathered up priceless artworks to bring home to Orchardton Hall knowing they would only waste away as the centuries go by.
"This is the Mona Lisa, dad. I've seen pictures of it in books. I can't believe we'll have it hanging above our mantel."
"The world is full of such treasures, Maon, just waiting for us to take home. This is only the beginning. One of these years we might attempt to sail to America. We'll have to plan the trip carefully and stay along the southern routes to make the best time."
"New York is right on the coast, and old Boston, and the whole eastern seaboard. And who knows? Perhaps there are People still living there."
"I recall as a boy telling your mother how I wished to travel the world, to discover if there were others still alive. The years have taught me better. But perhaps you are right, Maon. It will be good to find out either way."
"We should arm ourselves."
"We carry shotguns in the hold, Maon."
"I mean we should take automatic weapons with us. You know, in case the natives are restless."
"Are you planning on starting a war, my son?"
Now they were sailing to the Mediterranean to celebrate Maon's marriage to Sileas. The weather was spectacular; the wind was up and they hadn’t used the engines in days. While going through the Straits of Gibraltar Nate had a sudden inspiration.
"Let's anchor over there, son. There is a castle on top of the Rock... see it?"
A granite pathway led to the summit. Lily seemed fascinated by the enormous sandstone structure and while Maon and Sileas drifted off to do some exploring of their own Nate took her hand to guide her over the more treacherous trails.
"How long has this castle been standing here, my darling Nate?"
"If I remember rightly, it was built around fifteen hundred years ago by the Moors. They came across the Strait from Africa to invade Spain. Before that, the Spaniards were fair-skinned with blonde hair and green eyes, like you, my love. Afterwards they became dark-skinned with black hair and eyes."
"Theirs was a mixture of the races, like our family."
"Yes, much like us, my lovely Lily. Did you see how well Maon and Sileas take to the ocean? That is perhaps a result of our mixture."
"I cannot swim in such waters... the salt irritates my gills and parches my skin."
"I have a feeling our grandchildren may be drawn to the sea rather than to Lake Baikal, sweet Lily."
"I have the same premonition, my lovely Nate. Come... let us take advantage of this time alone together."
Chapter 65—World on Fire
She loved the isolation.
Orchardton Hall hunkered close by the sea high over its own little harbor with a sandstone breakwater running along the shore to keep the raging ocean at bay at times of storms... the estate was so vast that it took a day just to walk around its boundaries.
The only road to the castle was little more than a cow path with a bit of gravel thrown down to make it passable in the rainy season, which lasted the whole year. Lily couldn’t have chosen a better place to hide from the world... but she sensed she would eventually be discovered anyway.
They weren’t going to give up... the doctors. The man did not trouble her as much as the woman... Karen knew too much... Lily shouldn’t have shared so many secrets with her. She had fooled her into thinking she was a friend but when Lily asked her for help, she was rebuffed multiple times.
If not for Natalia, she would hate the presence of all human beings. They carried an odor with them reminiscent of the dung hills that dotted the shores of Lake Baikal in centuries past... refuge piled there by the monkeys who chattered so violently among themselves that Lily often thought they would all murder each other.
Many times they did. It was not an uncommon sight to come across bludgeoned bodies washed into the clear Lake waters where they attracted myriad feeder fish eager for an easy meal.
"Where are the nearest neighbors, darling Lauren?"
"There is a hamlet a few kilometers away called Kurgan, my sweet Lily... that's where I order food and other necessities from. As far as neighbors, I don't think there are any within sight of the castle."
"So they wouldn’t hear gunshots..."
"No... and if they did, they would put it off to a car backfiring... why do you ask that, sweet Lily? Are you planning to shoot someone?"
"We may not have a choice, precious Lauren... if they come for me, they will be armed. Do we have any weapons here?"
"I have the pistol I took from that man in Moscow, my lovely Lily... and I am not afraid to use it. Let them come for you."
"Oh, my dearest Natalia... you are so fierce when aroused! I love that about you, among so many other things. Still, one pistol might not be enough... there may be more than just the two doctors this time."
"I have a small arsenal locked away in a closet, darling Lily. It belonged to Roddy, my husband. He loved the hunt. Have no fear... if they come for you, we will be prepared."
"Were you ever lonely out here all by yourself, my wondrous Lauren?"
"I was lonely for you, my sweet Lily."
The smoke rising in numerous locations on the horizon drew Lily's attention as she gazed out of the north window in the kitchen while they breakfasted on fresh fruit, coffee, and chocolate pudding.
"Are we to be worried about forest fires here in Scotland, sweet Lauren?"
"Oh, I have heard that they do break out at times in the north forests but not so much here in the south, my love... why do you ask?"
"I see something burning in the direction of the village. Come outside and let us all take a look, please."
A hazy odor of smoke permeated the air. From their vantage point Lily could see a least a half dozen different fires burning, some farther away than others. Walking up to a promontory point on the coast it was clear that at least three of the fires were situated in the nearby village.
"Why is no one putting them out, lovely Lauren?"
"I am not sure, my precious Natalia. Perhaps it is some sort of festival, a celebration."
"Is today a holiday, darling Lauren?"
"Not to the best of my knowledge, sweet Natalia, but I am not sure what today is either. Is it a week day or a week end?"
Lily looked at Natalia who stared back at her shaking her head. Lily decided none of them knew for sure what day it was nor did it matter. She had an uneasy feeling that circumstances were somehow spiraling out of control although she had lived long enough to know that no one ever had the power over life and death that they believed they did.
"We should stay here, my Ladies Lily and Natalia. It is not safe to venture outside the boundaries of the estate."
Lauren had read Lily's mind. She was about to make the same suggestion when a fast-moving vehicle drew her attention away from the smoke. The car was on the gravel road leading to Orchardton Hall leaving a cloud of dust behind it.
"Someone approaches... it is who I fear... they have come for me, my lovelies."
"Take our lovely Natalia and go inside, darling Lily. I'll see who it is and what they want... and have no worries... here is the key to the gun closet. Arm yourselves with shotguns... they are the best weapons for a close fight."
"Come inside with us, luscious Lauren. We'll act like no one is home."
"They'll just come back... or batter down the door Trust me, sweet Lily
. I'll be good. Maybe whoever it is will just drive on past us."
Lily knew that would not happen. They had finally come for her. She didn’t wish to leave Lauren alone to face the enemy yet she knew there was strength in secrecy.
"Come on, darling Natalia... let's go inside and get ready."
"Oh my... our darling Lauren does have an arsenal here, sweet Lily!"
The girl handed her a shotgun that was both familiar and yet foreign to her... Lily remembered handling similar weapons when she lived on the banks of Lake Baikal but this gun wasn’t the same as those. Natalia must have seen the look of confusion in her eyes.
"These are called riot guns, my sweet Lily. They hold a dozen shotgun shells and can fire as fast as you pump a new one into the chamber. See?"
For the first time in years, Lily was no longer afraid of the doctors bent upon taking everything from her, even her life. Though she had never taken the life of a human, she felt no compunction against it at that moment.
The car pulled to a halt just a few meters from Lauren. Two women emerged; from her vantage point in the castle Lily recognized one as Karen, her erstwhile captor. She was arm in arm with the other woman, a plump woman with dirty blonde hair who seemed lost. She too looked familiar. It was Marilyn. There was movement inside the car as if the back seat was loaded with people too: small people, kids.
"Who are you and what do you want here?"
Lauren spoke loudly enough that Lily could hear her words perfectly. She had a burning desire to rush to Lauren's side with shotgun blazing but Natalia held her back with a light touch on her right shoulder.
"I'm an old friend of Lily's. I think you know her. My name is Karen and this is Marilyn. We've just come from the village where everyone there is dead or dying. These children need somewhere safe to stay."
Karen's voice was trembling with what Lily from her hiding place sensed as fear. She instinctively knew why the women had come here. One by one, children emerged from the vehicle, their faces streaked with dust and tears. They stood as silent witnesses to the end of humanity in a semi circle surrounding the women.