Winter Smith (Book 2): The Secrets of France

by Strange, J. S.

  “She’s going to be okay,” Cedric said. “We need to move her from here, but she’s going to be okay.”

  Winter heard him. She was going to be okay. But the world started to black out around her as the infection took hold, and as Winter lay down, ready to pass out, she knew one thing: she wasn’t going to be okay.

  * * *

  A white room. Noises. People running. People talking. People whispering. Silence. A lone body, fuzzy on her vision. Then nothing. Silence once more. Petrifying, cold silence. She was alone. Was this death? Was this what death felt like? There was only a white light. There was no God. There was no family waiting for her. Her mother, her father…she had left them behind.

  * * *

  She was awake, but her eyes would not open. They were heavy. Something was stuck in her arm, but she didn’t know what it was. Her mind was foggy, unable to comprehend what had happened. The room was chilly, and her skin tingled, but it was numb. Her feet ached. Her body ached.

  “She’s awake,” a voice said.

  Her heart beat heavily, pounding in her chest. She wasn’t alone. Who was with her? She tried to move, but she realised she was restricted, tied down by her wrists and her legs. She let out a pitiful cry, like a wounded animal.

  “Winter, don’t fight against it, you’re okay. You’re safe.” Violet. Softly spoke and worried. Violet was here.

  “Is she human?” Another voice said. It sounded like Missy.

  A hand touched her wrist. It felt unnatural. Skin touching another sort of material. She tried to move but couldn’t. “Pulse is steady and normal.”

  William. Did that mean she was in a doctor’s surgery?

  Her eyes flickered open. A bright, white light was above her. It hurt her eyes.

  “Turn the light down,” Violet ordered.

  Through closed eyes, Winter could tell that the room had gotten darker. She opened her eyes again, letting them flicker open and adjust. For a few moments, things were hazy. The room spun ever so slightly. Then she was steady.

  She was in a square room, glass walls around them. It was almost as if they were in a box. She was the only person on a bed, in the middle of the room. Morphine pumped into her blood stream, and a heart monitor sat behind her. Metal tables lined the glass walls, piled high with tablets and boxes.

  “Where are we?” Winter choked.

  “She’s fine,” Violet gasped in disbelief. “The bitch is fine!”

  Winter felt a pull on her shoulder. Then she remembered everything that had happened. She had been bitten. But she was alive. How was that possible?

  “Winter,” Cedric’s voice. He came into her vision. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

  “You took your time,” Missy said. “Always the diva.”

  “Where’s Zach?” Winter managed. “Heidi?”

  “They’re back at the house,” Violet said. “Calm down. We’re okay. You’re okay.”

  Winter tried to sit up again, but the restraints cut into her skin. “Why am I tied? Why can’t I move?”

  “A precaution,” Cedric said. “We weren’t sure if you were going to turn.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Too long,” Violet said, looking pale. “It’s the middle of October.”

  Winter gasped. She had missed over a month. “What’s happened?”

  “Your parents are still alive.” Cedric got straight to the point as he began to remove the restraints on Winter’s arms. “But they’re still being held captive. Connor is also still alive, but still being experimented on.”

  “Why?”

  Cedric glanced at Violet. She nodded, allowing him to say. “Connor’s immune, too.”

  “What?”

  Cedric released one strap around her leg and started on the second. “We found out whilst investigating. V found out he was immune and wants to learn why. Apparently, she can’t believe people are immune from the virus she created. That wasn’t something she anticipated.”

  Winter felt the restraint lift off her and sat up slowly. Her head swayed and the room spun, but she steadied herself. She looked at her knees and counted to five, breathing slowly. “Why am I immune?”

  “We don’t know yet.”

  “Is it blood type?”

  “We’re not sure.”

  “My age?”

  “Winter, they don’t know yet.” Violet snapped. “The main thing is that you’re immune and you’re alive, and you’re safe.”

  “Where am I?”

  “Maria secured a hospital ward.” Cedric answered. “Well, one half of this building is an old asylum. Abandoned. V doesn’t know or care about it, so we’re pretty safe here.”

  Winter peered at the glass walls. “Looks modern to be an old asylum.”

  “I think they were renovating it before shit happened.” Missy commented. “Are you hungry?”

  “I can’t eat.” Winter shook her head.

  “We’ll sort you out with some food tomorrow,” William said. “Right now, I need you to rest.”

  “I can’t rest.” Winter snapped. She looked at William in his blue overalls apologetically. “Not yet, Will. I need answers.”

  “We don’t have enough for you,” Cedric said. “Things are getting worse out there. More people are dying, and people are disappearing. The bodies along the river seine are multiplying.”

  “I visit the river Seine every day.” Violet spoke.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s sick.” Violet shook her head. “V displays all of her notable victims along the river. They’re hung on sticks, where they taunt the dead and rot away. That’s how we definitely know your parents are alive, and Connor. They’re not displayed.”

  Winter shook. She felt faint. “What are we doing to help Connor?”

  “Everything we can, but right now, Winter, you’re the priority,” Cedric said. “Listen, I had a feeling you were immune. It was why you were so important. This has confirmed it. That bite would have wiped the rest of us out. Look at you now. You’re still standing.”

  “Am I at least half zombie?” Winter asked.

  “No.”

  “Shame.”

  Missy laughed. “You wouldn’t want to be half zombie. I hear they put on weight quickly.”

  William placed a thermometer in Winter’s mouth and wrote down her temperature. “You’re still a bit too hot for my liking. I’m not letting you go anywhere until you’re better.”

  “I need to get back home,” Winter said. “I need to see Zach. I need to ask Heidi what that girl was to her.”

  “What girl?” Violet asked.

  “She was shooting a girl dead when I was bitten. Something told me it wasn’t just a sick patient. Heidi took her time. She was set on making sure this girl would not rise again.”

  “Well, that can wait,” William snapped. “I need to keep you under observation.”

  Winter looked around. She couldn’t see any other doctors. Outside the glass walls was nothing but dust and building site. It was a pretty desolate place to be. “You’re the only one keeping me watch?”

  William nodded. “The only nurse, at least. Heidi comes in every now and then, and someone else is always here. You’ll see Zach eventually.”

  “Especially when I tell him you’re awake,” Violet said.

  Winter spotted cards on one of the metal tables. “Are those for me?”

  Missy nodded. “One’s from Caroline. She’s been very worried.”

  It struck Winter as odd that a girl she hardly knew cared about her health so much. “Why?”

  “Who knows?” Violet said, with no conviction. “Winter Smith. The immune wonder. You must be thrilled.”

  Winter didn’t feel thrilled. In fact, she felt groggy. She felt like she had been hit over the head with a bag of bricks. “So, if I get bitten by the dead again, I won’t turn?”

  “No. One bite isn’t going to hurt you. Multiple bites won’t turn you into the dead. But you’re human, Winter. Get enough
bites, lose enough blood, and you’ll die,” Cedric said. “Just because you’re immune, doesn’t mean you can go out and walk through the streets and sway past the dead as if they will ignore you.”

  “I wasn’t going to do that anyway,” Winter said. She had been immune this whole time, and the dead had very much been intent on sinking their teeth into her.

  “But what it does mean, is that we’re one step closer to finding a cure.” Cedric smiled. “Which is why we need to save Connor. The immune need protecting. If V finds out you’re immune, you’ll be number one on her list.”

  Winter suddenly remembered the newspaper article. “What happened with David?”

  Cedric looked worried. “It’s published. The Union are being called to be found and wiped out. David named all of us, but you headlined it. You’re not exactly in V’s good books anyway, even with the possibility of her finding out you’re immune.”

  “Then we’ve got to make sure she doesn’t find out.”

  Cedric nodded. “It won’t leave our group, of course.”

  Winter nodded. She trusted her friends. She even trusted Cedric. He had made sure she was alive during these past few weeks, and that was enough to gain her faith. Winter knew she was in capable hands. She thought she had lost it all when she had been bitten. Her survival, her escape, could have been lost by one bite. She vowed to herself to start thinking somewhat selfishly. She couldn’t afford to find herself in a situation that could end her life again.

  Winter lay back down on the table and stared up at the flickering white light. The room fell silent as they respected her fatigue. As Winter began to lose consciousness again, she realised just how fortunate she had been.

  If she could help to find a cure, then that would be her purpose.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Winter?”

  Zach. He was there. Her eyes shot open, and she registered already how much better she was feeling. She knew she wasn’t quite out of the woods yet, but she felt more like herself. William stood at his table, writing something down. Zach sat on a stool next to Winter’s bed, wearing a coat Winter hadn’t seen before.

  “You went shopping?”

  Zach looked bemused. “Maria bought us new things, because it’s getting colder. Missy told me I would look good in it.”

  “You do.”

  Zach blushed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better.” Winter nodded. “I’m feeling okay.”

  “I was so worried.”

  Winter pulled Zach into a friendly hug. He wrapped his arms around her and held her. “I’m okay.”

  Zach pulled away. “I couldn’t rest. I panicked every day thinking you wouldn’t pull through. I thought you would be immune after the first night, when you still hadn’t changed, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. They only told us when Violet kicked off one night because she was so fed up of things being kept from us and nothing going on.”

  “She kicked off?”

  Zach nodded, his eyes wide behind his glasses. “She may act like she doesn’t like you sometimes, Winter, but I think she finds you to be her main strength. She sees you as her rock.”

  Winter felt overwhelmed. “Wow.”

  “Violet won’t say that, of course. But she was very worried, too. I knew she was lying awake next to me when I was, but neither of us said a word this whole time. We worried too much. We couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. I think after what Violet said, Cedric and Maria woke up a bit and kind of started to realise that we were part of The Union now. We’ve all found ourselves key members. Mainly because David named us all in his write up, and V wants us all dead.”

  “He’s a dickhead,” Winter said. “Did Maria know he would do that?”

  “Apparently she approved it. She said it was about time the line-up was revealed. She’s very confident that we won’t be found. Though we are being given curfews now. As soon as it starts to get dark we have to be in.”

  “How are you getting here undetected?”

  “Cedric has contacts,” Zach said. “I must admit, it’s very nice being driven here in a Rolls Royce.”

  “You get bored of them when you travel in one every day.” Winter smirked.

  “I’m sure you do.” Zach chuckled.

  Winter looked at William, who was still writing in a notepad. “Can I get a water?”

  William nodded. “Of course.” He stood up, stretched, and left the room.

  “I feel bad for him. He’s the only one looking after me. He must be shattered.”

  “He’s very good at the job,” Zach said. “He’s picking things up quickly. Of course, it isn’t to nursing standards, but that’s out of the window right now.”

  “I’m just thankful he knew how to keep me going whilst I was out.”

  “Me, too, Winter.”

  Winter watched William walk out of view. The building they were in was stone, and reminded her of something gothic and Victorian. It was sad to see such a modern nursing ward here.

  Zach sighed. “Cedric’s house got broken into.”

  “They broke into his house?”

  “Apparently, Cedric refused to move out of the house. He had security, but when Maria secured our living accommodation she insisted Cedric move there, too. He wouldn’t allow it. Said he had worked hard for his home, and he would not let V take it away from him. But they broke in. He’s still living there.”

  “He’s a fool.”

  “He’s been surviving so far.”

  “Only just, by the sounds of it.” Winter shook her head. She saw William walking back, carrying a glass of water. “Any thoughts on who broke in?”

  “None.” Zach shook his head. “We’ve been accessing CCTV footage, but it is just generic Blitzers. We’re beginning to think V has another country on lock down where the main experiments and the dead are being created.”

  “And where’s that?”

  “The Netherlands, Amsterdam.”

  Winter blinked. “Amsterdam?” She vaguely remembered Missy saying something when they had found her. “I thought Papua New Guinea was being used?”

  William walked into the room and handed Winter the water. “You’re telling her about Amsterdam?”

  Zach nodded as Winter drank. “David is doing some research, and is due to fly out there soon.” Zach explained. “They believe it’s a little less dysfunctional than France is, and could actually be a place where people are living alongside V and have no idea about it. It seems Amsterdam might be on course to becoming the first place to secure its living standards again.” Zach helped Winter hold her water. “As for Papua, we’re not sure what it’s being used for, though it hasn’t been ruled out as a place where V could be.”

  “How do you know all of this?”

  “Cedric is telling us everything he knows, now,” Zach said. “We have Violet to thank for that. I’ve even started attending meetings.”

  “Wow, Zach.” Winter looked impressed. “Looks like you’ve found your role.”

  “I’ve learnt enough combat to know it’s not something I will ever teach.” Zach shrugged. “I know enough to defend myself.”

  “I need to learn.”

  “You don’t need to defend yourself, now that you’re immune.” William joked.

  Winter looked at him. He had black bags under his eyes, and his skin had broken out in small, red spots. “You need some rest.”

  William nodded. “I know. Heidi and Missy are coming in tonight. Heidi will keep watch of you whilst I sleep.”

  “So, she’s living with us now?”

  Zach nodded. “She’s very quiet. She’s sleeping in with Lara, and keeping very quiet about where she came from and how she got here.”

  “Can we trust her?”

  “Yes, of course.” William nodded. “But I think she may be a little shy.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Nineteen,” Zach said. “We’ve got that much out of her.”

  Winter placed her water down on a small o
perating table. She thought of Amsterdam, of the possibilities the place held. Would they find themselves there in the future? And what could V be doing there that was so top secret it possibly left the survivors of Amsterdam oblivious?

  “I need the bathroom.”

  William stood so quickly; it was as if he had been stung. “I’ll take you there.”

  Winter threw her legs over the side of the bed. “It’s okay. I can walk.”

  “Winter…”

  Winter stepped on her feet and swayed. She tried to step forwards, but her legs wouldn’t go. She crumbled, managing to steady herself on her bed.

  “Why can’t I walk?”

  “You’re on too much medication to be unsupervised right now,” William said. He gripped her arm and steadied her. “You can walk, but I need to be with you.”

  After taking a few steps held by William, Winter began to feel more confident. She swayed less and walked more gracefully. She walked over the workman’s floor, past tools that had stopped being used a long time ago. A nice layer of dust had settled on chainsaws and sawdust scattered the ground like hay.

  “It really is a weird place to have a hospital.”

  “Works for us,” William said, opening the women’s toilet door. Winter could only tell it was the women’s because the silhouette of a lady in a dress was outlined on the door. It seemed the builders hadn’t got round to putting up the actual plaque.

  William told her to be careful and gave her the decency of privacy. She heard the door shut behind her and gripped onto the sink with both hands. Her knees shook, but she refused to let them buckle. She took a few breaths and slowly walked to the toilet, sitting down.

  Her head ached, and her body groaned, and she felt like she was older than seventeen. She couldn’t help but feel as though her life would be cut considerably shorter because of everything that was going on around this country.

  She flushed the chain and stumbled over tiles. Her feet quickly went numb from the cold that pinched her skin. She ran the hot water and let it heat up, the pipes bumping as they were spurred into action. She thrust her hand under the hot water, letting it sting her skin, just so she could feel something other than numbness and fatigue.