by SD Tanner
Malcolm said, ‘We’re not like Ip. Most of us have retained a lot of our memories and we can still do a lot of the things we could do before we were infected.’
The improved designer virus did have a lot less impact on the host and according to Lydia, the Infected were not the same as they used to be, but they were not as deeply damaged as Ip, Isaac, Tessa and Jen had been.
Nodding, he said, ‘I understand that, Malcolm, but Lydia is right. We know the designer virus evolves in alignment with the hunter virus, which is why your counter virus adapts to remain fatal to the hunters. We don’t know how you will be impacted as the designer virus evolves.’
In her usual rational way, Lydia added, ‘Also, you may have deeper changes that you’re not aware of yet. We need to keep testing you to track your evolution and also to measure more subtle changes. It’s possible you may be more susceptible to various cancers and blood disorders. If you leave, you won’t have any medical support at all.’
Margaret, who was a woman in her fifties, said soothingly, ‘We appreciate your concern, Lydia. You’ve taken wonderful care of us and we are grateful, but you need to understand we’re the people who were willing to put our lives and our sanity at risk to be infected in the first place. We’re not worried about any ongoing damage. We already took the biggest risk. Anything else is a secondary risk. We are alive and we survived.’
He watched as Lydia rubbed her eyes and he thought she looked tired. With twelve people infected in the past month, Lydia worked tirelessly to care for each person individually. He knew she took no time off, was available to them 24 hours a day and lived in the dingy underground storage room so she could be there any time they needed her. He loved the way Lydia genuinely cared for these people.
Seeing Lydia so tired and worried upset him and he said, ‘Thank you for recognizing how much Lydia cares for you, Margaret. You should listen to her.’
Turning to Lydia, Georgia said honestly, ‘You have been wonderful, Lydia, but we don’t fit here anymore. We need to be together.’
‘No one is trying to split you up,’ he said.
Before he could continue, he was interrupted as Gears strode into the room with Pax. Catching Gears eye, he gave him a look to warn him to tread lightly. Gears didn’t miss his unspoken message and he pulled up a chair and sat down with the group. Pax remained standing and looking relaxed, leaned up against the wall by the door.
Calmly, Gears asked, ‘What’s happenin’ here?’
Anxiously, Georgia said, ‘We want to leave.’
Gears nodded and said steadily, ‘Ya can leave any time ya want. Ya ain’t prisoners. But there was a reason we needed people to be infected so, if you’re gonna leave, I wanna understand why ‘cos I won’t lie to ya. It’s gonna cause us a problem. We lost forty-nine shooters tryin’ to secure an island for the survivors. We need what you can do.’
Touching Gears arm sympathetically, Margaret said, ‘We’re sorry you lost people, but you need to understand that we’re changed now. We’re the same, but not the same.’
Georgia nodded and said, ‘It’s true. I don’t live alone in my own head anymore.’ Georgia looked at the Infected and said, ‘They all live with me in my head. And not just them. There’s more like us out there. We need to be together. We need to learn how to live like this. Where we fit in the world isn’t the same now either. Before I was infected, the world was dangerous. The hunters were terrifying, but now the hunters aren’t a problem.’
Another of the Infected nodded in agreement and he said, ‘That’s exactly right. We need to be together. We need somewhere we can call our home.’
The other Infected agreed with the comment and one woman said, ‘I want to go home too. This is not home anymore.’
Gears nodded and said, ‘I’ve been a soldier all my life and I know how important home is. What do ya plan to do? Where do ya wanna go?’
Georgia said plainly, ‘We’re going home.’
Looking confused, Gears asked, ‘Where’s home? Ya’ll come from different places.’
Smiling, Georgia said, ‘We’re making a new home. Somewhere we can all go. Not just this group, but also all the people we live with in our minds. This is our future.’
People in the room agreed and nodded at her answer. It was obvious to him they had a plan and they intended to follow it.
Curious, he asked, ‘Where is this new home?’
Malcolm shrugged and said, ‘We don’t know. Georgia will guide us there.’
Now puzzled, he asked, ‘Georgia, how can you guide them somewhere you don’t know?’
Georgia sighed and said, ‘You don’t get that we’re all telepathic to some degree. We don’t need maps or phones or the internet.’
Margaret nodded and said, ‘We don’t all have telepathy to the same extent, but even with a little the world looks very different to us. Without telepathy, you live in your own mind, but with it, you’re never alone. It’s a very different way of being.’
He knew that was true. Even though they barely spent any time together, Ip and Isaac made an instant connection and had always shared a close bond. He supposed, if you could share even a little of your mind with someone, you would form a very different relationship with a person. In a strange way, he admired their closeness and it reminded him of the bond he shared with his brothers.
‘I hear what you’re sayin’,’ Gears said steadily. ‘I always knew Ip lived in a different world to us, but she found a way to live with us. Can ya do that too?’
Georgia shook her head vehemently and said, ‘I don’t know. We need time to adjust. To you, being infected means we can kill hunters, but once you’re infected you learn it means so much more. Our reality is very different to yours. We’re a new species and we need to know what we are before we can know what we want to do and how we’ll live.’
Again the group nodded in agreement and it was obvious, whatever they planned and whatever need was driving them, it was not going to be changed by their needs.
Still persisting, Gears shook his head and asked, ‘Help me understand here. Ya all had your reasons for gettin’ infected. Did none of ya do it to help your fellow survivors?’
Calmly, Margaret replied, ‘Before we did it we didn’t know what it meant, Gears. I know I understood what having the counter virus would do. How powerful that could be. But I didn’t understand how my mind would change. What it meant to be always connected to my own kind. How less human I would become. It’s changed everything.’
Gears regarded Margaret intently and said, ‘Ip seemed to be fine livin’ with us. She seemed to be able to bridge the gap between what she was and what we are. I believe she thought of herself as human.’
Shaking her head Georgia said, ‘You don’t know that. Maybe if she could have found more of her own kind she would have felt differently. Maybe she didn’t have any other option.’
Suddenly looking tired, Gears rubbed the scar on his face and said, ‘Maybe. She was unique. She could read my mind, but I couldn’t read hers. Through Isaac, she did say she was happy so somethin’ worked for her.’
Georgia shrugged and said, ‘Things are different now.’
Seeming to disappear into his own thoughts, Gears looked down at the ground and he thought his brother looked worn and unhappy. Gears had bootstrapped himself back into action after Ip died, but he thought Gears had lost his equilibrium and was doing as he promised, not what he wanted. Both he and Pax were keeping a close eye on Gears and if he didn’t find his footing again soon, they needed to seriously reconsider what they were doing. Gears couldn’t be asked to lead a mission he no longer wanted or believed in.
Looking back at the group, Gears said, ‘Okay. Ya made your point. I would rather ya stayed, but I gotta respect your rights. Ya may think of yourselves as different and changed and all, but to me, you’re still people I’m responsible for takin’ care of. If ya head out then we’ll help ya. Give ya transport, supplies and anythin’ else ya need.’
Gear
s paused, nodded his head to the group and added, ‘But you’re welcome to come back anytime, even if it’s just to say hello. You will always be part of our group even if ya choose to be out on your own. I never did see Ip as anythin’ other than a person with unique abilities, so to me you’re the same people ya were before with some unique skills. Ya gotta go do what ya need to do and I will respect that.’
Margaret smiled at Gears and said, ‘Thank you. This is uncharted waters for all of us, so we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Right now, I think we need to do what we’re doing.’
Nodding, Gears turned to Lydia and asked, ‘Lydia, can ya give ‘em whatever they need to help ‘em travel safe?’
‘Of course,’ Lydia replied.
Gears got up and left the room whilst he stayed with the group and agreed to organize several vehicles to be sent over from the base, plus supplies for their trip. Once done, he left to find Gears and Pax and found his brothers sitting outside the CDC at a picnic table.
He walked over and sat down with them and looking at his brothers, he asked, ‘It’s a problem, isn’t it?’
Without any genuine concern in his voice, Gears said, ‘Hell, yeah.’
Surprised at Gears lack of emotion, he said, ‘You don’t sound like you care.’
Shrugging, Gears said, ‘It is what it is.’
He said, ‘True, but you’re usually pissier when your plans get screwed.’
Gears grunted and said, ‘All my plans get screwed these days.’
Nodding, Pax asked, ‘That’s true, but that turns ya into angry, angry gorilla, so what’s up?’
Running his large calloused hand down his face and sounding tired, Gears said, ‘Nothin’s up. I guess I’m gettin’ punch drunk. It’s jus’ one thing after another goin’ wrong. I feel like I’m losin’ the plot. I ain’t gotta a handle on this no more. We’ve been adaptin’ and then we adapt the adaptin’, until I can’t remember what we were doin’ in the first place.’
He knew exactly what Gears meant. They patched and patched their plans so many times it was unclear what the plan was anymore. It wasn’t the first time they’d gotten to this point of utter frustration at trying to solve a seemingly never-ending puzzle.
Pax said, ‘We never woulda started this without Ip’s abilities. We thought we could replicate her abilities and we kinda can, but now it turns out we can’t use ‘em for a reason we couldn’t have predicted. It’s fuckin’ stupid.’ Warming to his subject, Pax continued, ‘What the hell happens now? How are we gonna deal with the hunters and super hunters without the army of the weird. Our goddamn army just quit on us.’
Shaking his head, Gears said, ‘I dunno, Pax, but we can only make happen what we believe can be done. If we don’t believe it, then we won’t see a way forward and if we don’t see a way forward, then we dunno what to do.’
In other words, they were lost with no plan and sighing, he asked, ‘So, what do we do now?’
Gears replied, ‘Whenever I dunno what to do, I keep doin’ what I know how to do. I know people need to be somewhere safe and I know how to build safe bases. So, we do that until we work out what we should be doin’.’
He thought Gears was avoiding the issue of the army of the weird leaving and said, ‘We need a serious talk about what we’re doing now. If the army of the weird don’t want to be the army of the weird, then we don’t have the skills we anticipated and without those skills, I’m not sure this is doable anymore.’
Gears looked at him grimly and said, ‘That’s true, but it’s not something we need to resolve today. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing until the path becomes clear.’
Looking unhappy, Pax asked, ‘And if it never becomes clear?’
Gears replied firmly, ‘Ya can’t always change the dynamic. Sometimes ya gotta wait for it to change on its own and, while ya wait for it to change, ya operate from a basis of faith ‘cos that’s all you’ve got left.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Visions of the dead (Gears)
‘It’s another Navy base, but for submarines,’ TL explained. ‘It’s up in Camden County in South East Georgia. It’s only eighty miles from here.’
‘It has a spit of land like our Naval base, so we can secure it the same way with the containers,’ Captain Ted added.
He nodded and said, ‘Sounds good. Who wants to go on a road trip?’
Immediately Pax and Captain Ted started hooting and shouting, ‘Road trip!!!’
He couldn’t be bothered telling them to shut up and he and TL walked out to find a truck. The Marine supply base was now home to people from Philip’s flotilla and across the car parks were a disorganized collection of tents and he could hear people speaking in different languages. Philip’s flotilla included people from UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. In addition to different languages, they also brought their soccer grudges and a group of people were kicking a soccer ball around the car park.
‘Place has really changed,’ TL observed.
He nodded and said, ‘Yeah, it has a good energy about it.’
They headed up Interstate 95 towards the Navy Submarine base and he had to admit, it felt good to be away from the weight of his responsibilities, even if only for the day. His commitment to the mission was unwavering, but lately it felt more like a chore. He didn’t really want to carry the load anymore and since Ip had died, he thought it was more of a pain in the ass than kickass. He wondered if this was how Pax felt after BD died. He remembered his brother wasn’t himself for quite a while and he suspected he was now behaving much the same way Pax had.
Captain Ted was driving the four-wheel drive and he glanced across at him and asked, ‘Where you at, Gears?’
‘Nowhere good, Ted,’ he answered honestly.
Captain Ted nodded and said, ‘I lost my Dad when I was eighteen. It’s not easy and I still miss him.’
Feeling genuine sympathy, he asked, ‘What happened?’
‘Cancer,’ Captain Ted replied. ‘It was weird not having him around and I found it hard to let him go. I kept wanting to talk to him.’
From behind him, Pax said, ‘Death’s a bitch.’
Captain Ted snorted and declared, ‘Death’s a fuckin’ whore with the clap.’
‘And crabs,’ Pax added.
Rolling his eyes at them, TL asked, ‘Did you both fail your sensitivity training?’
‘Hell no,’ Captain Ted said happily. ‘Parts of me remain extremely sensitive.’
‘I doan wanna hear about that, Ted,’ Pax complained loudly. ‘Gears make him shut the fuck up.’
He chuckled and said, ‘Yeah, Ted, save that kinda talk for Lydia.’
Pax guffawed loudly and said, ‘If ya gonna stir shit, Gears, we’re gonna need a safe word. Both these assholes got guns.’
Now looking sulky, Captain Ted said resentfully, ‘She dumped my ass.’
‘Better man won,’ TL said with a grin.
Looking appalled, Pax asked, ‘What happened to Izzie?’
‘I dumped her,’ TL replied bluntly.
Cheering up, Pax asked happily, ‘Ooh, does that mean I can hit on her?’
‘She’s all yours, but I should warn you, she’s looking for a husband….and kids,’ TL said with a smirk.
That thought shut them up and they drove on in silence. They were about twenty miles from the Navy Submarine base when they saw movement on the road ahead of them.
‘What is that?’ He asked, as he pulled his M4A1 into his lap.
Squinting into the distance, Captain Ted said, ‘Looks like a motorcycle.’
As the motorcycle drew closer they could see it was a jet black Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. The rider was wearing a matching jet-black helmet and as he drew near their four-wheel drive, he slowed down. Captain Ted also slowed down and the two vehicles drew even closer to one another. Now able to see the motorcycle and rider clearly, he was surprised when he saw a woman with blonde hair peeking out from behind the rider. She was wearing a bandanna across her face and d
ark sunglasses and for a brief moment, he could have sworn it was Ip. The rider didn’t stop, but slowly rode past them giving him a good view of the woman clinging to the rider. As the two people on the motorcycle rode past them, the woman unhooked one arm from the around the rider’s waist and she waved. He thought if he could have seen her face, she would have been smiling at him.
‘Do ya think they’re headin’ to the Marine base?’ Pax asked.
‘Probably,’ he replied. ‘Why?’
Grinning, Pax replied, ‘Girl looked cute.’
In disbelief, Captain Ted asked, ‘How would you know? You couldn’t see her face.’
Pax shrugged and said, ‘I’m more of an ass man and she had a nice ass.’
The Navy Submarine base looked somewhat bare. There were about ten or twelve buildings, but otherwise it was a useless area largely made up marshlands and was too isolated to be of any value to anyone other than the Navy. Driving down the long road towards the spit of land, they saw there were office buildings, some warehouses and an empty dock. On their right, it looked like there was an abandoned airstrip of sorts and to their left were platforms used to maintain and refuel submarines. The area was not crowded and off the spit of land, was another area to dock submarines or ships.
Once they climbed out of the truck and were standing on the spit of land, he asked, ‘Whatdaya think?’
‘It’s pretty isolated,’ TL observed.
He nodded and looking across the land, he asked, ‘Do ya think hunters could get across them marshes?’
‘I wouldna thought they could do that easily, Gears,’ Pax observed. ‘Probably get stuck and it’d be easy to kill ‘em if they did.’
Looking around the area, Captain Ted said, ‘We’ll have to bring everything in.’
Surveying the quiet and mostly empty site, he asked, ‘Have we got more living containers?’
Pax nodded and said, ‘Yeah, Fagan has been searchin’ all over for ‘em and we know how to get ‘em.’
‘We could put up temporary housing here as well,’ TL said. ‘There’s plenty of space.’