Lia's files 2_Heading down south

by Kathrin Kilambya

  “Yes, and, sorry for before, but I was a bit overwhelmed by you and everything.”

  “Don’t you worry.” He murmured while kissing me again. “Paul has been teasing me all day long. Winter told him to skip it and that he was just being jealous; this effectively shut him up. They’ll grant us time for ourselves, you’ll see, unless …,” and with this he turned his head to look at Alice, “this young lady should object.”

  She giggled at that. “I like you, Josh. Will you and Lia kiss and hug now like Nin and Yuki always do?” Her voice implied heavy disapproval at this very thought and I teasingly punched her in the side. “Really Alice!”

  “No, no.” Josh replied. “It’s a sensible question, after all, isn’t it? And yes, miss, I intend to kiss and hug Lia a lot, granted, of course, I have your permission.”

  With that he lifted her down in front of him, kneeling down to face her. “I know that this isn’t easy for you, Alice. You have been with Lia, Nin and Yuki for so long now. Just the four of you. And now, suddenly four more people show up, and total strangers at that. I love Lia.” Looking up at me he added. “I truly do! But this doesn’t mean that I will take her away from you, you know.”

  Eh, why would he say that? Alice never thought this. She had meant something else entirely.

  But I needn’t worry, she was about to set the record straight herself.

  “You are being silly, Josh.” She scolded and he raised an eyebrow in surprise at that. “I know that you will not take Lia away from me. After all, really, how could you think that! And …” She sighed in an exasperated fashion eons older than she was.

  “I guess I will get used to your kissing and hugging, Lia. But I still think it’s disgusting. And, no matter what you say, Lia, I don’t think that I will do this myself when I am older.” With this, she turned around and stalked forward, away from us.

  Josh looked at me, totally at a loss what this was all about, while I burst out laughing.

  “Really, Alice, you are such a goose.”

  She giggled, but kept on walking.

  Josh still looked surprised, so I explained. “She heavily disapproves of passionate kissing and hugging and the like and was hoping we would refrain from it. It’s all really rather funny and she certainly means no offence.”

  Seeing the laughter in his eyes, I took his hand and pulled him along. “But, I must say, I intend to passionately kiss and hug you as much as I can, Josh! So she will. Do you hear me Alice? Just have to put up with it!”

  I turned to embrace Josh. “It’s just so good to finally have you here, Josh. I feel like I am whole again. I have been so afraid for your safety these last few days. It was getting almost unbearable.”

  He kissed me fiercely, whispering. “I adore you, Lia.”

  Oh. How could one be so blissfully happy? Butterflies took off inside and I was breathless with joy, love. Not shy at all any more.

  Once, back at Kamene’s, last autumn, his splendid physique had intimidated me. He had the figure of an athlete; he was tall and his body was muscular, yet slender, and his face, his eyes mostly; they were so beautiful, dark, intelligent, full of wisdom and humour and a gentleness of heart and soul that was truly overwhelming.

  But now, I felt okay. He was here. He was mine. He loved me and I loved him. That was that and that was enough. Extraordinary and wonderful! I embraced him and sighed happily.

  And Josh seemed to like this new romantic Lia, for he held me so tight it almost hurt and kept whispering “I love you Lia!” into my hair.

  But this magical moment couldn’t last. We had to catch up with Yuki and Alice. So, with a mutual sigh and a last lingering kiss, we ran after Alice, holding hands like some silly teenagers, which maybe we were.

  Alice was waiting for us near the fallen trees by the side of our destroyed house.

  When Josh saw the bombed out remains of our house, his expression changed and he wanted to know what had happened. I let Alice do the talking.

  We showed him the silly message Steve had written and before I could stop her, Alice blurted out. “You know Josh, when Lia read this sign, she really freaked out. She thought these Nemesis people had captured you and your friends. Silly of her not to see the truth! Don’t you agree?”

  Josh just turned to me and tenderly asked. “Really?”

  “Yes, it did. Freak me out, I mean.” I hesitated a bit, but when I saw the expression in his face, I suddenly felt bold. “The thought that something might have happened to you was, and is, unbearable. T’s as simple as that.”

  “Ditto!” He answered, enfolding me in his arms again. He pressed me very tight for a moment before holding me at arm’s length and saying. “You don’t know how difficult it was for me these last weeks, especially the last few days. After that confounded telephone broke down. Half of the time I was in agony about what might be happening to you. Then again, I was nerving everybody with talk about how much I loved you. I guess, it can’t have been easy for Paul and Robert, Paul especially. But now, I am just blissfully happy to be here, with you, to see you, feel you, and, kiss you.”

  Which he did again; it felt wonderful and I gladly obliged him.

  “Uuh, you two are even worse than Nin and Yuki!” Alice scolded. “Let’s go to the others.”

  One last kiss and glance at this wonderful, handsome person who seemed to love me just as much as I did. How utterly amazing and wonderful!

  Then we took Alice in our middle and quickly walked over to the grove where the others were waiting for us, talking animatedly.

  Paul was impressed with the barn and the convenient shelter it provided for the cars. They had brought all their gear with them. It wasn’t much, just four backpacks, four smaller bags and some guns.

  “You know, Josh, the best thing about it is not just the proximity to the underground shelter but that a tarmac road leads up to it. So no car tracks that might give away the fact that a car passed along this road. It’s really convenient. And now I am really curious to see your underground shelter, shall we? Now that the lovers have finally made it here, too, that is.”

  Josh just smiled at him indulgently while holding on to Alice’s hand. “You just tease, Paul. One day we’ll make fun of you, too. I am the happiest man alive right now, and I won’t let you grudge me this. So, just you shut up and be happy with me.”

  Paul punched him in the side, but laughed. Glancing at me, he added. “No offence, Lia, none at all. Just making a bit of harmless fun of Josh.”

  “None taken!” I replied and grinned at him, too. I liked his bold, frank ways.

  Meanwhile, Nin had been rolling his eyes and was urging us to follow him into the tunnel.

  Robert, Josh and Paul wanted to examine the tunnel entrance and locking mechanism at length, but we ladies proceeded up the tunnel. Yuki led the way and unlocked the door. Winter stepped inside, closely followed by Alice and me.

  “Wow! It’s like a little flat!” She exclaimed as she walked through the fitness room and entered the main room. She took off her shoes and jacket and walked around, having a good look at everything. Alice happily showed her around, while Yuki and I cleared some space on the sofas so that everyone would be able to sit down.

  “Where will everyone sleep?” Yuki whispered.

  “Don’t yet know. We have enough beds; it’ll just be a matter of deciding who wants to sleep where. Let’s see what the others will say, okay?” I whispered back, and she nodded.

  By now Nin, Josh and Robert had entered the main room.

  “Where’s Paul?” Winter wanted to know.

  “Inspecting the technical material in the fitness room.” Robert replied. He strode over to her and they quickly brushed their hands together. A small gesture, yet it spoke of a very strong affection and bond. “Do you like this new home of ours, love?”

  She smiled sweetly at him. “It’s perfect. They even have a washing machine and a tumbler, both functioning, so we will finally be able to wash our dirty things.”

&nbs
p; “I can show you all around.” Alice eagerly exclaimed. Robert and Josh obliged her while Yuki and I headed for the kitchen to prepare something to eat and drink. Before we could wonder what the newcomers might want to eat, Winter followed us. She suggested that we just prepare some tea and sandwiches.

  “No proper food?” Yuki asked a bit incredulously. “You all must be very hungry, you have been travelling far and long, after all.”

  “Yes, but for now this will do just fine. Mostly we just want to talk now. We can have a proper warm meal later, in the evening.”

  Josh and Alice trooped into the kitchen just as we were loading the trays with everything, and they helped carrying things out to the sofas. Paul had by now also come in from the fitness room and was busy exploring the other rooms with Alice’s help. He was impressed, as were the others.

  “Hey, to think you were living here so cosily while we roughed it on the way from England seems almost unfair. Just joking, little one.” He added when Alice looked at him a bit hurt.

  She indignantly told him that it hadn’t been easy for us, that we had witnessed people being killed, that it had been very dangerous here! Very! Malinda and Piglet had been very scared! Indeed!

  At this Josh sharply looked up and shot me an inquiring look.

  “That’s for later.” I told him, my heart skipping a beat at the concern and worry I saw in his eyes.

  We all settled on the sofa; tea mugs were filled, sandwiches distributed and then we happily munched our first common lunch.

  Josh had insisted that I sit next to him and I happily obliged. I wasn’t hungry. Too happy! But I held a mug of hot tea in my hands while leaning in on Josh. He wrapped his arm around me, and every now and then he pressed me tight or planted a kiss on my hair.

  Alice sat on his other side. She was very excited and talked a lot. And everyone indulged her, because she was so cute. Suddenly she remembered that she had forgotten to introduce Piglet and Malinda and dashed off to get them.

  “She’ll calm down after a while.” Yuki explained.

  “Oh, I sincerely do hope not. It’s just too wonderful to have this boisterous little girl around. Especially after the gruesome journey of late.” Paul replied and the others nodded.

  Then Alice was back and explained Paul all about Piglet and Malinda; them being brother and sister and all. “But you know.” She said in a severe voice. “Malinda has been travelling far; she knows a lot more than Piglet and me about the world. And if she’s around, we aren’t afraid, Piglet and me, you know. She actually spent a night outside, just some days ago.” She turned to me, “or was it more, Lia?” Without waiting for an answer, she went on. “And she wasn’t disturbed by it, not at all. She is really a very brave rabbit girl, you see.” And with this she cuddled Malinda close and kissed her on her nose.

  I would have stopped her. Because, as far as I saw it, she was overdoing it, and not by halves. But when I saw the expression of tenderness and sympathy on Pauls face and the laughter in Rob’s and the soft glow in Winter’s eyes I refrained from commenting. They would get to know Alice and her whimsies soon enough. I didn’t love her any less for the little drama she enacted sometimes, on the contrary, and it didn’t hurt the others. After all, it was enchanting to hear her spin out her stories.

  “She seems a bit overwrought. Or is she always this transparently projecting her fears and anxieties onto her little animal friends?” Josh whispered in my ears.

  Wow! He’d read her right, spot on.

  “It’s just because she’s a bit nervous of you all and uncertain how to behave.” I whispered back. “But yes, the feelings and actions she attributes to her animals usually kind of mirror her own sentiments, fears or wishes.”

  He chortled. A wonderful deep, vibrant sound! I was in acute danger of losing it here. To have Josh here so unexpectedly after all the worrying for his safety! And the way he looked at me, kept pressing me to him. Like right now. It was all almost too good to be true. I was happy beyond anything but also much shaken and strangely uncertain of what to do.

  By now, Alice had seen Josh whispering something to me. She scrambled over to me and climbed onto my lap. She looked flushed and excited.

  “What are you whispering with Josh?” She demanded to know. “Are you talking about me?”

  “Tiger, it’s enough, okay?” I answered, while embracing her. “Sit down here with us and let Paul, Winter, Robert and Josh tell us their story. We are all anxious to know how their journey was, what they experienced, how they left Professor Papadopoulos and his family and friends. Everything!”

  Alice started to pull a face at this, and I kissed her on her front. “You can tell Paul more about Piglet and Malinda later, okay? That is, if he feels like.” I glanced over to him and he promptly obliged me. “But of course! Alice, how about you come over here and sit with me while I tell our story?” He invitingly patted the sofa to his right. “At least I will begin with it; the others will have their say, too.”

  She gladly complied and hopped over to him.

  He put an arm around her, cleared his voice and began.

  “It took us exactly sixteen days to make the journey. We left Prof Papadopoulos and his group on 2nd of May. After trying for the last time to persuade him and the fifteen people who remained with him to join us. But he wouldn’t budge; neither did his wife and family. Their argument was that not only did they know this area best and would therefore stand a more than fair chance to survive but also, and more importantly, they wanted to build up a defence against the Nemesis from Cambridge. Get in touch with other survivors, organize the fight, if you will.

  “We tried everything, but they were adamant that their mission was to remain in England. And so we left them. It was one of the toughest choices I ever had to take,” he glanced at Robert, Winter and Josh. “It was for all of us. Except, of course, for Josh,” he added in a gently mocking voice. “After all, he had a lot to look forward to, didn’t you?”

  “Just shut up and continue with the story, mate, will you,” was Josh’s cool answer.

  “Okay, Okay. So where was I? The starting of our journey, right. Or, maybe more appropriately, the parting from our friends. It was, as I said, not easy. We knew that we would most probably never see them again. No matter who of us would survive. That was that. They would try to live and organize a community there while we were off to the other end of the world.”

  “You know Paul,” Rob interrupted him. “If you can’t tell the story straight, I’ll take over. Don’t try to gloss things over. Be honest and tell them how it was.”

  For a split second, I was afraid they would start a quarrel, but Josh squeezed my hand and I noticed that Winter, too, was just smiling indulgently at them both. Apparently they were used to this kind of bantering going on and neither Rob nor Paul seemed to take it too serious.

  “Easy, Rob,” Paul shrugged his shoulders. “Let me tell it in my style. You can take over once I am done telling them about the departure.”

  He grinned at me and continued.

  “Anyway, Lia, to continue my narrative, we said our good-byes to our friends, knowing full well that we would never see them again. And at the very last moment Kate and Tony decided to stay with Papadopoulos. In case you were wondering where we had left the nurse, that is,” he interjected jokingly.

  I was getting used to his flippant, cool style. It was kind of fun but also a bit unnerving.

  “Kate told us,” he went on, “that she saw it as her duty to remain with Papadopoulos’s group. After all, her being a nurse and trained health professional they might need her more than we would over in Kenya. Tony was happy with her decision. Since we all knew that Kamene is a very competent nurse herself with years and years of experience, we didn’t push things. Also, as Kate sternly instructed us, if we would travel to Kenya quickly, there wouldn’t be any danger with Yuki’s pregnancy. And once in Kenya, Kamene could take over in good time,” he beckoned over to Yuki who just smiled back at him affectionate
ly.

  “We chose the 2nd of May for our departure because it had been raining heavily for several days and we counted on getting clear off Papadopoulos’s without anyone seeing us. There is, or was, quite a heavy presence of Nemesis people in our area, you know. But by mid-April they had shifted their headquarters further away and two weeks later we deemed it safe to start our journey.

  “We had decided that we wouldn’t head straight South but would take a detour westward. Robert and Josh were for trying to drive all the way by car, but Winter and I opted for air travel; at least for crossing over to the continent. And so we headed westward all the way toward Cardiff airport. I had convinced them that we might try for a plane there.

  “In case you are wondering why we went there of all places,” he paused and looked around at all of us. “I don’t know why, but it kind of struck me as a very unlikely place to choose for an escape to the continent. And therefore a place where we most likely wouldn’t encounter Nemesis people. When we discussed it with Papadopoulos, his brother was all for it and so we decided to head there.

  “It took us ten days to reach Cardiff because we drove very carefully and slowly. As we had no knowledge where the Nemesis collective might be or not, it took us two days alone to get away from Cambridge. And even afterwards we never drove very far each day. We had our theories about where Nemesis people might be, of course, but nothing definite or decisive to go on.

  “In the end, our choice proofed to be a good one. We never encountered any Nemesis people all the way to Cardiff. But we saw the devastation they had wreaked and it was horrible. Sometimes we stopped to have a closer look. It was horrific, the many dead. And we never, in all the time, saw or met anyone.”

  “Hey, that’s not true,” Robert interjected. “Don’t forget the incident near Newport.”

  “Right, of course!” Paul added. “In hindsight it was a really comical situation, but at first we were simply freaked out by it. But let me explain. As we were approaching Newport we happened onto some people! What a rush! I tell you. After days of careful driving and trying to avoid anything even remotely dangerous, suddenly to come face to face with strangers sure hiked up our collective heart beat quite a bit. We encountered them at a round-about. They were driving in a car coming our way just as we drove into the round-about from the opposite direction. They were as shocked as we and just pressed the gas, as did we. So, it was kind of funny the way we sped passed each-other, wasn’t it?” he chortled and the others were smiling too.