I raised an eyebrow inquiringly and he shook his head, laughing. “No, I won’t say anything. I promised the little minx that she could show you herself. Here, let me help you with that bowl.” And with that he beat a quick retreat to the main room. Josh and I followed carrying the reminder of the dishes and food.
We all settled on the sofas and Yuki and Winter began serving, while Nin distributed the water.
Of course Alice couldn’t wait to show me what they had done in the sleeping room. She insisted that we take a quick look.
“See, we pushed our bed next to Josh’s and Paul’s bed. Now we will be like four in one bed, isn’t that funny! How do you like it?”
It was so cute of her. I nodded my agreement and lifted her up in my arms to give her a peck on her nose. “Thanks a lot, little tiger, I like it. Was that your idea?”
“Yes, it was I who thought of that, not Paul. But he liked the idea, too, and helped me with the beds.” She moved her head closer to mine and whispered into my ear. “I like him! He is very funny. And he says Malinda and Piglet must absolutely travel with us to Kenya. He helped me pack a little for them, too. He’s nice!”
With that she wriggled down and ran back over to the main room to settle next to Paul.
Fine by me. Actually more than that. I had been somewhat concerned how she might cope with so many more people around. If she had found a new friend in Paul already, so much the better.
And he didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary. He was entirely different with her than he was with adults. He beamed down at her affectionately and let her ramble on about things, listening with honest interest at what she was telling him. There was no mocking or cynical gleam in his eyes, not like when he spoke with Rob or Josh. He seemed genuinely fond of Alice. Devoted was the right word.
Good.
As if he’d read my mind, he shot me a quick glance, a strange mixture of defiance and humour showing up.
I silently voiced a ‘thanks heaps!’ his direction and beamed at him. It was reassuring to know that he was around.
“At your service!” He grinned at me.
“You can sit next to Josh. I will sit with Paul.” Alice’s rather resolute instructions to me prompted a laugh from everyone. I squeezed passed her and sat down next to Josh.
“So nice of you, tiger.”
“You are real handful, aren’t you?” Winter teased Alice.
But Alice wasn’t lost for words, she put a hand on Paul’s leg and declared. “You are all two of you. Nin and Yuki, you and Rob, Lia and Josh. Just Paul and I are single. That’s why we have to stick together. He is my special friend now, you know.”
Everyone had to laugh at this. But before I would react, Nin reminded her to behave. She stuck her tongue out at him and snuggled up to Paul. Nin looked like he might get up and give her a real scold. But Yuki soothingly patted his arm and I finally managed to get his attention and silently shook my head. No need to make a scene now. Yes! Of course, Alice was overdoing it once more. But she would soon calm down. It was all the excitement of this first day.
Rob and Josh had meanwhile served everybody and we finally started our dinner.
“Mmmh! It’s delicious!” Winter exclaimed. “You don’t know how good it feels to eat a real, hot meal. After all this travelling and eating basically junk food. It is simply wonderful! Thanks a lot, Yuki and Lia!”
The others agreed with her and the four travellers all asked for a second helping. I didn’t really feel hungry and just nibbled at the food in my plate.
When we were done, Josh, Rob and Paul insisted that they would do the tidying up and dish-washing. Nin went to check that the tunnel entrance was safely closed and Yuki and I showed Winter how our washing machine worked because she was anxious to start washing their cloths.
About half an hour later everybody was back in the central room and we settled down on the sofas with tea and coffee. This time Alice snuggled up to me. She was clearly very tired by now, yet didn’t want to miss a thing.
“Tell me Nin, what’s this airplane that you found on your local airport? Anything that may take us all the way across the Mediterranean?” Paul wanted to know.
“It’s a Challenger plane. The Swiss Air-Rescue organisation had a base down at the airport. And they used this plane because of its capacity for long distance flights. It’s a medium sized Challenger, carrying capacity about 25 tons of cargo and up to 12 people. Its maximum range is a bit more than 7’000 km. So, yes, it should bring us across the Mediterranean. In fact, one full tank should bring us all the way down to Nairobi. I hope you’ll be able to fly it, though, coz I can’t. I have never flown anything this big.”
Paul had sat up eagerly and was now simply beaming. “Wow! That’s really good news! Just the kind of plane I was hoping for! This plane will really get us far on our southward journey. Always granted, of course, that we’ll remain undetected. I, too, have never flown a Challenger; but plenty of other, similar planes. So this shouldn’t pose a problem. Can we go and have a look at it tomorrow?”
“Certainly!” Nin agreed. “I guess we will all head down there and have a look. When do you propose to leave, though? For Kenya, I mean?”
He directed this question at the four newcomers.
“Actually,” Rob answered Nin’s question. “We thought it wise to head out as soon as possible. We have our gear packed and ready here. We would like to do a bit of laundry, of course, and tidy ourselves up. But basically we are ready to travel. You will, I reckon, need some time to pack up your things, won’t you? But, to be frank, the sooner we leave, the safer and better. So, it would be good, if we could leave within the next three days.”
“Why the hurry?” Yuki asked in a small voice; she looked suddenly frightened. I also felt a jolt of excitement at the thought of leaving our shelter so soon.
This time, it was Paul who answered her.
“From all we know and heard, the Nemesis collective is really strong in Europe, North America and Central Asia. As we told you, when we approached Berne we saw signs of a big base recently abandoned. And your area certainly looks worse than many cities and villages we’ve passed on our way from England. I think it is a fair guess that the Nemesis are really strong here. They may be temporarily gone, but I doubt that they have left for good. They are bound to return any time. And once they’ll be back it will be ever so difficult for us to stay undetected. We are eight of us now, after all. And we would probably have to forage for food in ever increasing circles around our shelter. We would therefore sooner rather than later become a really easy target. The sooner we move the better. Don’t you agree, Josh? Besides, we think that the African continent was largely spared the carnage that has gone on here. So, we would be kind of safe over there, at least a lot safer than here.”
“I agree.” Josh said. “We learnt from Papadopoulos’s brother that there aren’t many Nemesis bases on the African continent, just a few. They certainly released the pathogen there, too. But, we hope that it wreaked much less damage there.”
“Is this just wishful thinking or based on evidence?” Nin inquired.
I had to suppress a grin. Typically Nin to put it like that. But I was glad that he had asked, I was also wondering where they might have this kind of information from.
“A bit of both, to be honest.” Rob replied with a sheepish grin. “And, honestly, it’s been a point of frequent disagreement between the four of us and among Papadopoulos’s group, too. I, for one, think it is fair to say, that we don’t know anything for certain, but just hope for the best. We had a few bits and strands of information that pointed to the possibility that the death toll in Africa may have been smaller than elsewhere. But these are only conjectures, nothing we know for certain.”
Josh and Paul looked decidedly unhappy at this, but refrained from any comment. Apparently they had argued about this before and hadn’t reached a conclusion.
I glanced over at Yuki and Nin, who had also watched the others attentively.
“Not yet, at least not in detail.” Paul replied. “First, I really need to see that plane, the settings of the airport, all this.”
“By the way.” Josh interjected. “How do we get to this airport? Can we go there by car?”
“Ah, unfortunately not, no.” Nin shook his head. “We can cross over the bridge down below our house, but only on foot or with bikes. Later, for transporting all our gear, we may take the cars. But we’ll have to drive quite a detour. We’ll have to drive south for about 10 km, then cross over the river and head back in kind of semicircle toward the airport. Tomorrow, I suggest, that we go on foot. It’s shorter and safer.”
“But don’t you think, we could carry all the luggage down and over the little bridge below on foot?” Yuki asked. “After all, we won’t take that much with us, will we?”
“I think, we will have to take a look at both options, don’t you think, Josh?” Rob looked over at Josh.
“Probably.” Josh looked unsure.
“I don’t think that we could carry everything on foot. I mean, of course we could, but it wouldn’t be feasible. Think of all the many trips we’d have to make. And how this would make us visible and therefore detectable. I am all for one brave stint with the cars.” Winter’s option seemed to me the most obvious solution to our problem. But the others were discussing that issue back and forth, endlessly.
I kind of tuned out and just sat there, looking at Alice who had by now fallen asleep next to me. As I absentmindedly caressed her hair, I began mentally sorting and packing the things we would need. Just as I was wondering how much luggage, weight wise, we might pack, Yuki asked that very question to Paul.
“I don’t know. I guess, we’ll have to decide…,” he wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Why don’t we wait and have a look at this plane first.” Josh nodded over to Yuki and Nin. “I imagine that you will want to take along as much of your private possessions as possible. Things that are near and dear to you but may not actually be necessary for the journey or for our survival in Kenya. And that’s fair enough. After all, we too took along quite some things. Let’s see and decide tomorrow, shall we?”
He yawned, “Honestly, I am quite knackered. Don’t you feel like calling it a day? Look at little Alice. She’s fallen asleep long time ago.”
His yawn was infectious, I suddenly felt really exhausted. Yuki got up first with Nin in tow. As they went to prepare for bed, I lifted up Alice, but Josh took her from my arms and carried her over to the sleeping room and gently put her in her bed. I packed Malinda and Piglet on either side of her and gave Josh a quick kiss. He pulled me close and kissed me longingly. Butterflies started dancing in my stomach and I leaned in on him, responding to his urge.
“This won’t be easy, you know.” His voice was hoarse with emotion. “I don’t want to ever let you go and yet I have… Damn, I wish we could be alone for a while.”
I had to giggle at this. “Our time will come. If I may quote you. So, let’s behave and embarrass nobody. Okay?”
He reluctantly let go of me after one last longing kiss.
“Ah, I guess I can’t have everything; too bad!” He sighed with a charming twinkle in his eyes.
“Are you two lovebirds done?” Paul’s mocking voice came from the door.
I punched him in the side as I walked passed him out of the room and he grinned appreciatively. While I waited for Winter and Rob to get out of the bathroom, I quickly checked in the kitchen to see whether everything had been turned off. Then it was my turn to wash and get ready. About fifteen minutes later we were all in our beds and Rob put the light off in the central room.
I lay down on the outer side of our bed, with Alice tucked in between me and Josh. Our hands touched above her head, I pulled his hand close, inhaled the delicious smell of his skin and gently kissed the tips of his fingers. He sighed happily, which prompted a punch from Paul.
“Sleep well, too, Paul.” I mocked and they all laughed.
“Good night everybody.” Winter called from their bed. “And, Lia, Nin and Yuki, thanks again for everything. It’s great to be here with you. I am really glad we made it here, and so soon.”
“Ditto!” Josh replied.
“You’re all very welcome. Very welcome indeed. We, too, are so happy and relieved that you came. Now that you are here, everything will be so much easier.” Nin answered.
I said nothing, but I couldn’t have agreed with Nin more. Life was so very different tonight. Yesterday, we had still been anxious and I hadn’t dared think about Josh. And now here we were all together. Josh was here! Paul would be able to fly “our” plane. Within three days we might be gone and on our way to Kenya, to Mum and Nate, the twins, Uncle Phil, Kamene …
Holding Josh’s hand, our fingers intertwined and with my mind busy thinking about him as well as about what we’d do tomorrow, it didn’t take me long to drift off to sleep. And never once did I wake up that night. I slept deep and sound. For the first time for so many nights.
Chapter 2 – take off
19th May 2072
When I woke up the next day I was utterly confused for a second. Instead of Alice’s little body there was someone else at my side, someone big and warm. And that person was on the outer side of the bed, there where I should have been.
Then it came back to me in a rush. Josh, and Paul, Winter and Rob had arrived! Josh was here! With me! He was lying here at my side! I smiled and snuggled up to him. He shifted a little and put his arm around me. It felt wonderful.
But where was Alice? Groping around, I found finally found her, on the other bed. Not far away, curled up in a ball.
But, we had fallen asleep on one bed, with Josh and Paul on the other. What had happened? Confused, I opened my eyes. Josh and Paul where sleeping on the outer sides of the two beds, basically flanking Alice and me.
“It’s alright, love.” Josh whispered in my ear, kissing me softly. “Alice wasn’t sleeping well. She was twisting and turning every now and then, disturbing you. So, I lifted her over to our side.”
I could feel him grinning in my hair. It sent shivers of delight through me.
“Besides, I didn’t feel like being separated from you.” He admitted sheepishly. “After all, I didn’t come all the way, facing all the dangers we did, to find I had to sleep without you once more. That was sort of more than I was prepared to take.”
He grinned again. “And Alice sure didn’t mind the change. Just look at her, she is quite happy over there with Paul.”
Was he apologizing to me? Whatever for? It was absolutely okay with me, this new sleeping arrangement. And I hastened to show him before he could ruin the moment with more explanations and excuses.
When we came up for air what seemed like five minutes later, Paul was grinning appreciatively at us. I felt myself blush but stayed put where I was, comfortably in Josh’s arms. They might as well get used to this sight. Us kissing, bodies intertwined.
Josh, however, was seriously annoyed now.
“Really, mate, can’t you give us a bit of breathing space here! You’re starting to get on my nerves, you know. Move off, go prepare breakfast or something. Go and have a look at the surroundings, the weather, whatever! Just give us some privacy, will you?”
Paul just raised his hands as if to apologize, and with an evil grin and a wink at me he got up and walked into the outer room.
“You needn’t be so rude to him! Not on my behalf!” I felt sorry, the sudden tension between them made me uneasy.
“That wasn’t on your behalf, but on mine. And he knows full well!” Josh pulled me closer. “Besides, just forget him, will you. It’s you, Lia, I want to be with, just a few more minutes. Then we can face the others. So, please try and concentrate on me…”
He proceeded to help me focus, tenderly ki
ssing my lips then moving on along my jaw to my throat. I gladly obliged. It was only now that he was here, with me, so close, that I finally realized how much I needed him.
I tried to explain it to Josh. That I had had to focus on our survival, hadn’t dared allow myself the luxury to think of him. And that now that he was here, finally, it was all so very wonderful. I could relax and put this huge anxiety behind me.
And he understood. He said softly, his voice full of emotion at the thought of it. “You’ll never know what it cost me, those days, when you were gone. And all I could do was wait. Call Nin and Yuki every now and then. And wait. At times I felt like crying, because what were your chances of success against those vicious Nemesis? It took all the mental strength I had to remain sane, to carry on yet another day. My heart was bleeding and every time I thought of you it felt like a hot knife being mercilessly driven yet deeper into it. I tried not to show my despair, but of course Rob and Paul saw. They know me very well, after all. And they tried to keep me busy with all sort of tasks. It helped, at least for a while, during the day. But at night, often, most of the times actually, I couldn’t sleep. I was picturing you, out there, alone, imagining the worst, while forcing myself to believe that you were okay, doing fine. It was utter torture and despair.”
He pressed me tight and held me close for a moment before going on. “And all the while I blamed myself for not having spoken out to you, about my love. The thought that it might now be too late. It was incredible, unbearable, like a searing hot iron in my heart.”
“But I had no idea. I would have said something, had I known …” I felt overwhelmed by the intensity of the pain I had caused. I didn’t quite know what to say. After all, at the time I hadn’t known anything about Josh’s feelings for me; he had just been a dream I hadn’t dare dreaming.
“I know. I knew then.” Josh pressed a kiss in my hair. “That was part of the agony. That you might never know. That I might never know whether you loved me, too.”
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