Dejah sobered for a moment, pulling away from him. She hugged herself and turned. He walked next to her as they crossed the courtyard toward a gazebo. “About the resurrection thing…I don’t really know what to tell you. I don’t understand it myself. Obviously, it wasn’t a talent, or power I knew I had until after I’d been eaten and killed that first time,” she paused. “I mean, I try to think way back into my childhood and connect it to something I can use to reason it out. Some broken leg that healed quickly, maybe a gash that closed up, but the fact of the matter was, I was never really seriously injured when I was young.”
“Not a lot of room for serious injury in the world of Barbie.” David quipped with a barely suppressed grin.
“Ha. Watch yourself, pal. I’ve beheaded Ken dolls with my bare hands.” She slipped her arm in his. “Seriously though, I guess I’ve always healed pretty fast from cuts and scrapes or whatnot, but never really gauged it against other kids or people. My mom always said I had a good immune system.”
“So you had no idea?”
“None at all. It’s unnerving. It’s great, obviously — I don’t want to be dead — but strange. Why? Why me? I just keep thinking there must be a reason for this to happen. I guess I’m immune to the virus, just like you and Shaun. I assume I can die of natural causes, old age — maybe I just can’t be killed by anything. This ability or whatever the hell I call it, there has to be a reason for it. It can’t just be a random evolutionary accident. Can it?”
David shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“There’s more. I keep turning this over in my head, but I can’t help but wonder if what happens to me is tied in with Selah. With something that happened when she was younger.”
“What happened to Selah?”
“Well, nothing happened to her. But, since she was a baby, she’s been able to, well, I guess the best way to describe it is just to say it: she heals people with her touch,” Dejah said, knowing she probably sounded crazy.
“Like sick people?”
“And the dying. It can’t be explained. It just happens. Even when she was newborn and I brought her home from the hospital, every time I touched her, I felt renewed. I already healed fast because of my own…whatever we’re calling it – ability, I guess. But, touching her was a refreshing feeling, even when dog-tired from being up with her at night.”
David thought for a moment. “I’m no expert on any of this, of course, but I’d say the two conditions, or gifts, whatever you want to call them, might be related. Genetic maybe. Supernatural possibly. Or maybe it all comes from her. Maybe your ability wasn’t even present in you until you carried her in your womb, shared blood and life with her…perhaps she’s the origin of it all.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking recently. Though the why part is still haunting me.”
“Did Selah ever touch a person who was…?” David’s stopped himself before he finished, but Dejah was right there with him, thinking along his same lines.
“Dead? No.” Dejah paused, thinking. “Oh my god, David, what if—”
“I’m just wondering if she could heal people sick with the infection. Or even if people who’ve died from the infection could be brought back to life? It could be….” David shuddered. “God, I’m sorry, Dejah. I’m some romantic. This is horrible shit we’re dealing with here. You’ve got enough on your mind without my doomsaying.”
“No, no, David, it’s okay. You’re not thinking anything I can’t follow to my own conclusions. But she’s a smart kid. She wouldn’t do that. I think somehow she’d know in her gut that doing something like that would be wrong. At least, trying to bring people back from the dead.”
David shook his head. “Unless she did it against her own will.”
“Oh, God. I have to get to her, David. I just have to.”
“We will.”
David led her by hand up the steps of the gazebo. They looked up at the stars and he pulled her close again. She felt a charge from his fingertips, a thrilling heat that made her flushed.
She sighed. “Well, all this crap aside, I’m glad you’re here with me.”
David studied her face. “Are you? What about—?”
“That’s over. Been over for far too long. I only stayed because of Selah. Now, I know that isn’t a reason to merely exist. My happiness matters too. And, if I, we, get out of this alive, I intend to be happy again.”
She searched his eyes and she could see that David didn’t know what else to say. Not about her, about Selah, about any of the crazy shit happening to them and the rest of the world. He slipped a finger beneath her chin, lifting her mouth to his lips. He kissed her, long and deep. Dejah felt all the tension melt away from her taut muscles. Up until that moment she hadn’t realized just how wound-up she’d been, like a caged jaguar meant to run. She let the release surge through her body and returned his kiss with passion. When they came apart it was too soon. His eyes shone down at her, looking for some sign that this was okay, that it was the right time for this. For them.
“You think Shaun will be gone long?” she murmured.
“Probably.”
“There’s a lock on the door to my room,” she said in an exhalation of breath. Dejah’s heart quaked in her chest. What am I doing? she thought, but it felt right. It felt good. After everything she’d been through, this was a choice she was making. Something she had power over. Something she wanted.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” David’s voice was hesitant.
“Positive.” Dejah pulled him by the hand toward the door leading inside. Quickly and silently she pulled him along through the corridors, leading him to her room.
Opening the door, she flipped on the light. David closed the door. Dejah twisted the silver lock on the metal knob, and pulled the door to verify it was secure.
In a whirlwind of emotions, they found themselves in each other’s arms. Dejah probed David’s mouth with her tongue, her hands fumbling with the buttons on his flannel shirt. Shirts, pants, shoes, socks, all fell in a castaway heap around their feet. David swept her into his arms, lifting her onto the thin mattress of the cot. They made love in a barely controlled frenzy, not sure when Shaun would return, not willing to share this time with anyone else. They had to feel that release, but they wanted to enjoy the feel of each other. Of being close to someone. Dejah found herself grasping onto him, her breasts pressed against his powerful chest. The rippling of his back muscles excited her as she ran her hands down the length of his torso, felt the forceful deep thrusts of him surging into her. His hands roamed her back and gripped her legs, cupped her curves as he moved fervently against her in a wave-like flow of ecstasy.
Gasping with pleasure, she blinked away a field of stars that exploded behind her eyes as they reached a feverish climax of desire. She heard David groan as he held her tighter, felt him pulse within her.
A knock rapped the door.
“Shit,” David hissed.
Dejah sprung from the cot, threw on her shirt and yanked on her jeans. Opening the door, she stuck her face out to see who was knocking. It was Stewart.
“Dejah? Sorry … did I wake you?” he asked.
“Just taking a nap. It’s okay.”
Stew craned his neck, looking around the door. He caught sight of David and his eyebrows arched, surprised. “Well, I, uh, I came to tell you I spoke with the head of emergency services at the hospital, Dr. Matthew Robbins. He’s an old friend; anyway, he’s coming here this evening. You might be able to get a ride with him into town when he’s finished out here.”
“Wow, thank you so much, Stewart!”
“Call me Stew, everyone else does.”
“Okay, then, thank you, Stew! I didn’t expect something so fast.” Dejah smiled.
“Lucky break.”
“I’d say. Thank you again, so much.”
“If you want to wait in the break room where we had coffee earlier, he should be here within the hour. I’ll introduce you,” Stew said.
“That’ll be great,” Dejah said. “I really appreciate this. More than you know.”
“Glad I could help. I want you to find your little girl. Too much nastiness going on lately for there not to be some hope.” Stew awkwardly looked at his feet. “Okay then, I’ll see you there.”
“Bye — and thanks!” Dejah closed the door.
David smiled. “I think he likes you.”
“Don’t be crazy. He’s old enough to be my dad.”
“He’s not dead, and you’re a gorgeous woman. What’s not to like?” David put on his pants.
“Are you jealous?” Dejah kissed him.
“After what I just experienced, I’m pretty confident I don’t have to worry.”
“Got that right.” Dejah slipped on her boots. “I’m going to sneak down for a shower, and freshen up. Then we should go wait for this doctor to arrive. Find out when he’s returning to the hospital.”
“Sounds like we’ve got a little bit of time. And I’m getting hungry.” He looked at his watch. “Almost time for supper.”
“I hope this doctor can help us. At least tell me if Selah is a patient at the hospital.” Dejah could barely keep her bottom lip from trembling as she added, “Or if she’s lying in their morgue.”
CHAPTER 36
Dr. Robbins crouched on the floorboard of the Jeep as they pulled up to the locked gates in front of H-Systems’ main entrance. Soldiers lined stations along the barbed wire topped fence. They raked the ground on each side of the Jeep with machine guns as the gates were opened and roaming infected ran for them, mouths wide, hands out in front of them clawing the air. Two infected men and one seething woman were impacted by bullets, reeling backwards like jerking dances played in reverse. As soon as the Jeep made it through, the gate was closed in a hurry. The vehicle came to a slow stop, and the soldier on Robbins’s right leapt out, extending a hand to the doctor in order to help him to the ground.
“I’m never going to get used to the guns and the infected people trying to rip us to shreds,” he said, with a nervous laugh.
The soldier shrugged. “Took some getting used to at first, but now I just take them out. It’s them or us, doctor.”
Robbins nodded grim agreement, silently wondering how many more people would have to die before he could start administering a successful antidote to those who were infected. He needed to get out to the camp. Dr. Gutierrez would have plenty of infected patients on whom he could test the new serum. The tests at the hospital had gone well, but he needed more subjects to ensure the mixture would work on the majority of infected, not just on the few he was still treating at the hospital.
Stew came rushing through a pair of double doors. “Matty!”
“Hi, Stew.”
“I’ve been chewing my nails worrying about you since your driver radioed to say your convoy was leaving the hospital,” Stew said. “Took a little longer than usual for you to get here.”
“We ran into some problems. Heavy pocket of infected on Wesley Street. We managed to outrun them.” Robbins unzipped his coat, removing it. He pointed to a conference room to the left of the corridor. “Is this where we’re still meeting?”
“Yeah, but, Matty, before we begin — I’ve got some bad news.”
Robbins froze. He knew in his gut what the bad news was. “Is it about Weir?”
Stewart looked shocked that Robbins knew. “Who told you?”
“No one has told me anything. I’m assuming he’s no longer with us,” Robbins cleared his throat in an attempt to mask the sorrowful crack in his voice.
“He killed himself yesterday morning. Pistol.”
The doctor sighed, shoulders slumping with sadness. “I was expecting it. When you’ve known someone as long as I knew Grant, you know them.” Robbins closed his eyes. “Damn.”
“Came as quite a shock around here,” Stew said, frowning.
“They already have a service for him?”
“Quick and simple,” Stewart said.
“Hmm. I wish I could have been here, but…well that’s something, at least,” Robbins removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. The expression on his face changed from sorrow to business. “All right, so this meeting? Do I have to jump through hoops, or are the higher-ups giving me an escort to the quarantine camp? I haven’t had any contact with anyone at the camp for over 48-hours. To say I’m more than a little concerned at this point would be a grand fucking understatement and I want to get out there as soon as possible.”
Dejah, David and Shaun approached Stew and Dr. Robbins in the corridor. Stew smiled and waved them over. “Matty, I want you to meet our newest visitors. This is Dejah Corliss, David Murphy, and Shaun Huntington. Dejah is looking for her nine-year-old daughter, Selah Corliss. I told her you might be able to help.”
Dr. Robbins shook hands. “Come on in here out of the hallway so we don’t have the whole goddamn place listening in on your personal business.” He ushered them into the conference room. Stew closed the door.
They filed in and sat in the padded chairs Robbins indicated they should sit in.
“How do you think I can help you?” Robbins asked.
“Well, like Stew said, I’m looking for my daughter. I haven’t heard from her or my husband,” Dejah glanced awkwardly at David, “since the Monday after the initial lockdown. I’m hoping you can tell me if you’ve treated her at the hospital — or if she’s dead.”
Robbins watched Dejah visibly flinch when she finished the sentence. “Have you been told about the quarantine camp?”
Dejah shook her head no.
“Shortly after the infection began, it became clear that we weren’t going to be able to contain the amount of infected patients we were seeing coming into the ER. With the college nearby, we treat local residents and most of the students in Commerce. Sick patients were coming in by the droves. The military set up a quarantine camp on land loaned by a hospital board director, and we started sending all infected people to the camp.”
“Only it’s not just infected out there,” Stewart interjected. “Family members refused to leave their sick relatives, so there’s another section of the camp for non-infected people.”
“Right,” Robbins said. He opened his briefcase and removed a fat file with a big rubber band stretched around the center. “I’ve got a patient manifest here. If your daughter is at the camp, we’ll know if she’s sick or well and to which tent she’s been assigned.”
Dejah exhaled in relief.
“Now, I’m not saying she’s there. I’m just telling you we’ll know if she is or isn’t. What’s her name?” Robbins snapped the rubber band from the folder.
“Selah Corliss.”
Robbins flipped through the documents. “Daughter of Thomas Corliss?”
“Yes! That’s her! Is she sick?”
“No. She and Thomas came in with a Lily Corliss — his mother. She’s sick,” Robbins said.
“Oh no, not Lily! Anything about Vince?”
Robbins shook his head. “No Vince mentioned.” His eyes met Dejah’s with an unstated assumption.
“He would never have left Lily’s side.”
“I can only tell you the information I have in this file. I’m sorry.” Robbins closed the file and replaced the rubber band. “I’m going to the camp. It’s on the shores of Lake Tawakoni, on a cattle ranch. The three of you are welcome to come with me today — at your own risk.”
“Why the risk doctor? Don’t you guys have the place secure?” David asked.
“We haven’t had contact with the camp for forty-eight hours. I don’t know what we’re going to find when we get there.”
“I’m going,” Dejah said.
Dr. Robbins looked between Dejah, David, and Shaun. After sizing them up, he looked at Stew. “Do you think this can be arranged?”
Stew shrugged. “I’ll finagle you another Jeep. They’re only going to give you two men though, so you’ll have to use them as drivers. Can any of you handle a rifle?”
/> They all nodded.
“Good. Well, okay then, Matty. Tell you what. I’ll wait until after you’ve left before I mention this to anyone. They’re not going to go after you once you’re there.” Stew smiled.
Robbins scowled. “Anything you know about the camp that I should hear?”
“We haven’t heard from them in two days. Do the math, buddy. You’ve been in the thick of this long enough to know that when something goes wrong with this mess, it goes really wrong.”
CHAPTER 37
“Touch him!” Bal Shem ordered, anger flooding his voice. Selah cowered between the filing cabinets and the desk. Tears rolled over her cheeks as her whole body trembled.
Spread on the floor of the trailer was the mangled, mostly devoured, twitching body of a man. Stringy bits of meat clung to his joints. His ribs were broken, but his abdomen was intact. All skin and muscle tissue on his limbs were gone. Bal Shem let the infected eat everything that wasn’t vital to the person being healed and useful again.
Selah sobbed, her hands and arms caked with dried blood. Her clothes were filthy. Flies buzzed around her unwashed hair, and the trailer smelled foul. “Please. I’m so tired. I can’t.”
“You can and you will. Touch this man, now!”
Selah stretched her hands to the gruesome remainder of a man. She closed her eyes tight and blindly groped what should be a corpse. Shudders of exhaustion shook her small body, and her knees buckled. The generals of Bal Shem fought to be the first to catch her. To touch her. Snarling, they shoved each other in the struggle.
“Enough!” Bal Shem shouted. They stopped quarreling. He held Selah by the waist, supporting her body. “Finish it!”
Selah grasped the man’s leg bone. Her shoulders slumped. Her head lulled to the side.
“She needs to sleep,” the only woman in the room said. “Too tired.”
The others nodded in agreement. Bal Shem was furious. “She can sleep when she’s finished with this one.”
“It’s happening.”
They gathered around the man’s body and watched as it regenerated. It was a miracle of supernatural reconstruction. Veins straightened and reconnected, striated muscles uncurled and enmeshed. Blood seemed to flow beneath a transparent layer until skin reformed like a crawling sheet of wet rubber, then solidified and formed unbroken layers over the wounds. And then, the man sat up and screamed. As if he knew he’d been resurrected again to serve as a perpetual feast for Bal Shem’s infected masses and was crying out not so much from the pain of his death, but the pain of his existence. Over and over again, they consumed the bodies of the healthy, and then forced Selah to heal the all but dead heaps of bone and organs.
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