Wilders

by Cass Kim

  Finally, they could make out the glow of the lab tents within the camps. They pushed harder, Renna wheezing out a shout for help, then gulping in air and heaving out her voice in an inarticulate cry. Ahead of them there were shouts and rustling as people peeked out of the tents, and then started edging toward them, not entirely sure what was happening.

  Alyssa lost her footing mere feet from the edge of the camp. She fell forward, the litter tipping after her. Renna, exhausted and unable to compensate, fell forward with it. Crashing hard into the ground, trying to avoid falling completely on Emerson’s prone form, Renna felt a pulling tear in her hand.

  Moments later they were surrounded by flashlights and glow sticks, people shouting for aid and running back and forth for supplies. Renna saw Emerson’s parents start over at a run as word spread. She noted Syd running over, taking in the scene and saying something to her. Renna didn’t respond. Syd darted off again. Alyssa was crying softly somewhere in front of her.

  Renna sat frozen, in the midst of the chaos, staring at her left hand. The layers of latex gloves there had torn straight through when she fell, her first knuckle raw and seeping blood slowly.

  She gazed mutely at her entire arm, up past her wrist, and across the pale skin of her knuckles, smeared with Emerson’s blood.

  As Renna sat silently, holding her hand in front of her face, Syd sprinted back over, and swiped an opened alcohol wiped across the meat of her bicep, then pinched and inserted a needle, depressing the plunger and shoving the needle and empty syringe into a plastic box within moments.

  “It’s going to be okay, Renna. You gotta come with me.” Syd hauled her up to standing. Numbly, Renna limped after her.

  Chapter 15

  Renna was burning up. Her skin crawled making her want to tear it off, just to get some air. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Her vision was blurry and her hair was soaked through with sweat. She tossed and turned, trying to break away from the sensation that her bones were now too big for her body.

  Each time she woke, the prick of a needle sent her quickly back under, to live in fever dreams.

  The next time she woke she was spasming, arching against the bed. Her wrists and legs were restrained. He body shook, straining and curling, pushing and pulling against itself.

  A cool hand on her forehead.

  The cold prick of a needle.

  Sleep again.

  It was the whimpering that woke her next. Low, and throaty, grating at her ears. Her nerves were burning, fires racing up and down her spine, out into her limbs where her fingers and toes were full and heavy with coals. Her head was pounding, the blistering heat scorching the back of her eyes, the flames licking through her sinuses. It was only when the cool hand placed a wet cloth on her forehead and urged her head up to sip from a straw that she realized the whimpering was coming from her own ragged throat. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop the keening leaking through her lips between sips. The water was blissfully cold, soothing and sweet.

  “Renna, I’m going to give you something for the pain. But I want you to only sleep a natural sleep now. No more sedatives.” The voice was reassuring in tone, familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Renna tried to force her eyes open, dragging at the tiny muscles in her eyelids. She peered out through the slit, peeking through her lashes. The person was indistinct, shadowy in the dark tent. She thought she saw the tiniest glimmer of copper before the pain medication began working it’s magic and sleep dragged her back down.

  Chapter 16

  “Look, she’s my best friend and you’ve kept her hidden in this tent, screaming and crying and moaning for days! I need to see her. If you don’t let me see her, I will cut a fucking hole in the side of the tent and go in that way.” Alyssa’s voice rose with her threat.

  “Mom, please. Just let us see her. We won’t even wake her up if she’s sleeping. Just let us peek in on her.” Emerson’s voice was low and reasonable in contrast.

  Renna heard a soft sigh, and then Soo’s gentle voice, “Yes. You will not wake her. Just for a short visit, Emerson. If she’s awake, she will be tired. You remember.” The sound of zippers and velcro preceded their soft footed entrance into the tent.

  This time when Renna opened her eyes, she could see more clearly. She was pleasantly surprised to find that her hands and feet were no longer restrained as she reached over to rub at her puffy eyelids.

  “Rennoodle!” Alyssa’s voice was soft, but unmistakably delighted to see her awake. She moved a little stiffly and her arm was in a sling, but her face was bright and clear. Behind, moving much more slowly and stiffly, limped Emerson, face tight with pain.

  Renna peeled her chapped lips back in an attempt to smile reassuringly. Based on Alyssa’s faltering smile, she did a poor job.

  “Let’s give her a little water. I felt like I’d lived in a desert for days with no water when I woke up.” Emerson unscrewed the cap of a plastic water bottle, shuffling to the other side of her bed.

  Alyssa sat gingerly on the bed next to Renna, smoothing her hair back. “Yeah, but you took weeks to transform, from what I heard. My girl Renna here has made it through in just days.”

  “She had a totally different virus mutation!” Emerson protested as he brought the water bottle to Renna’s lips.

  “All I hear is more proof that she’s tougher than you are, mister ‘waahh I got a stick shoved through my abdomen to save you.’” Alyssa mocked him, helping to hold Renna’s head up with her good hand.

  Gulping down a few sips of water, Renna cleared her throat. Yeah, a few weeks in a desert felt about right to her throat too.

  “Hey,” she croaked, voice barely above a whisper.

  “Shhh!” Emerson reached across Renna and whacked Alyssa’s shoulder to shush her as she started to speak.

  “Hey, guys,” Renna tried again, feeling the tug of a small smile at the corners of her mouth.

  “Hey, Renn,” Emerson’s voice was tentative. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Not great.” The understatement of the year.

  Emerson nodded, and Alyssa reached down to grab her hand. Their eyes met across Renna’s bed and then Alyssa cleared her throat.

  “Okay, Rennoodle. Here’s the thing. You’re supposed to be resting, but you know. You’re awake and shit, so-“

  “Do you have to cuss like a sailor?” Emerson cut in.

  “You’re cutting back,” Renna reminded her friend, the words whistling out.

  Alyssa snorted, “That’s the first thing you have to say? To scold me for cursing?” She squeezed her hand, grinning down at her, tears brimming in her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Rennoodeldoodlebgoodle. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Ditto,” Renna choked the word out, needing to reassure her friend.

  Emerson offered Renna the water bottle again. Renna was still so tired. She tried to keep her eyes open, to hear what they had to say. There was so much she must have missed out on.

  “Let’s let her rest,” Emerson told Alyssa. “We’ll come back a little later,” he assured Renna before making his way slowly toward the tent entrance.

  “I’m just going to sit with her for a while, while she sleeps. You go rest.” Alyssa whispered, her weight staying reassuringly firm next to Renna on the bed.

  When she woke next, Alyssa was gone but, Emerson was in a chair next to the bed, slouched and reading one of Syd’s books. His mother was feeling Renna’s forehead, her hand soothing and slightly cool. The thought bothered Renna. Soo was changed, she should be radiating heat. Did that mean…? Trying not to panic, Renna looked around the tent again, noting that there was no lamp or glow stick illuminating the interior. It was gloomy, and dim. But she could see. She didn’t think she could see well enough to read like Emerson was, but she could make out Soo’s facial expression as she counted Renna’s pulse.

  “You are awake.” Soo smiled softly down at her. “Would you like to try to sit up now?” Renna saw Emerson start and fold a corner over
in the book. She was pretty sure he’d hear about that later from Syd.

  “Um, yeah. Yes please.” Renna’s voice was slightly stronger now. Soo helped her pull the sheet back and Renna was relieved to see she had on her soft cotton sleep shorts and a tee shirt.

  Carefully, and with help from Soo, Renna rolled, then slid her legs to the side of the bed, tipping up to sitting position in a slow arc. She felt dizzy for a moment. Her head cleared as she stayed still. Everything ached, but her lower back and right hip had an especially deep ache.

  As if reading her mind, Soo offered, “Your hip will be sore for a few days yet. We harvested your bone marrow, as previously discussed, two days ago.” The older woman smiled slow and wide.

  Emerson stood, gingerly straightening his shoulders. Her gaze sought for his wound, and she could see the bulky outline of a bandage under his shirt. That long trek through the woods came back to her slowly. The fall at the end. That must be what had happened to Alyssa’s arm.

  She remembered, then, the rip in her glove, and Emerson’s blood coating her scraped hand. Her eyes flashed up to his, watching her with concern, and also something else. Something that looked a lot like hope.

  Soo patted her hand, still smiling. “Your antibodies are special, Renna. They’re very promising. The serum we’re creating is already showing results in the treatment of your brother and several others that have been brought in.”

  Two weeks later Renna limped into the mess hall, leaning heavily on Alyssa. Her hip and lower back were still sore from where they’d harvested another batch of bone marrow. Alyssa still had her arm in a sling. She’d broken her collar bone when she fell that night. Tim Tam followed behind them, still more friendly with Alyssa than Renna since her change. Syd was at her usual table already, holding up a book and lecturing Emerson on the importance of treating the pages with respect.

  Emerson got up as the girls neared and pulled out Renna’s chair. She didn’t need his sunglasses to be off to know that his smile was genuine. They’d spent a lot of time together as they both healed.

  “It’s about time they let the hero of the half-pocalypse out of isolation!” Syd greeted her, setting the book back on the table.

  Renna shifted her gaze to her new friend. “From what I hear, you’re actually the hero.” Syd hadn’t visited her once in isolation, so Renna hadn’t had a chance to thank her for her quick actions.

  “Ppshhh. I knew if I didn’t save you, this one,” she jerked her thumb toward Emerson, “would never forgive himself for you dying.” Syd downplayed the moment.

  “No,” Renna gazed seriously across the table, pulling off her sunglasses to meet Syd’s eyes through a squint. “If you hadn’t given me the serum with Emerson’s T-cells, and the vaccine we wouldn’t be where we are today. And my brother wouldn’t still be alive.”

  Syd nodded, meeting her gaze seriously, “It was a risk, I’m glad I took it. I hope it works all the way, Renn.”

  When Syd had seen Renna infected with Emerson’s blood that night, she’d run back to the main lab tent and grabbed one of the older vials of serum from when they’d been testing the Kim family antibodies. Then she’d dosed Renna with that and with the remaining vaccine. It was a miracle that Renna hadn’t died. Rather than dying, Renna’s body had produced antibodies that could fight both the older virus, and the mutating virus. It wasn’t perfect yet, but it was a start on a cure. The four settled into companionable silence over their food. After she’d finished, Sydney left to get back to the lab. She spent most of her days and nights there now.

  “Oh, man, Renoodle, we have got to work on Tim Tam. When I went to visit Jammin, he was hissing and growling like mad.” Alyssa went daily to sit outside the more secure tent Benjamin was in. She’d sit for hours, talking to him through the reinforced tenting. Mostly, she said she was telling him stories about their shared childhood, to bring him back. Renna didn’t know if it would help, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.

  “Timmy Tammy will get better. He stopped hissing at me and Emerson after a few days of being here.” She gave the cat a small piece of her chicken under the table, her thoughts shifting to her brother. “How’s he been?” Renna wasn’t strong enough yet to go and visit him where he was being monitored on the far edges of the camp.

  Alyssa was hesitant, then plowed on in her honest way, “He’s still...not Jammin. But, he doesn’t run at the tent side anymore. I think he’s listening.” She stirred her food around, not eating. In a small voice, she continued, “I wish Diamond was here. I think if we could just play him some music, it would really help.”

  “I wish she was too.” Renna swallowed hard, thinking of what the world must look like back home right now.

  She knew that eventually they’d have to explain everything to their mom. She wasn’t going to take on that challenge without her brother by her side. Some of the non-infected scientists had left that morning to start sharing their research with the government. Renna hoped that they had enough evidence to convince the officials that they were safe to be left out here, in their own little society. As with so many things, only time would tell.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you SO much for reading this book! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please review - it’s my debut work, and it won’t get read without reviews. If you’d like to connect with me, I can be found on twitter: @CassKim_writes. The writers community on twitter is such a great place!

  There are a lot of people to thank (as usually there are), but the number one person I owe a big bucket of appreciation to is my editor: Megan Holeva. She made the editing process fun, and her work saved you all from reading a bunch of extra commas and weird spaces! She also helped smooth out the clunky parts I just couldn’t get right, no matter how many times I tried. Anything that didn’t read smoothly was a result of my own impatience to publish. Some of the best imagery came from her word choice suggestions and encouragement. If you need a badass editor, she can be reached at: megan@meganlorraine.com for inquiries.

  Of course I need to thank my friends and family, especially those that read chunks and pieces of this as I shovelled them at them. So, many thanks to: Eve (who has been reading my work since circa 1990 aka Mom), Holly, Britt, Toni, and Hannah. And I owe Liza, Maria, Coral, Steph, and Lari a big thanks for their encouragement. Lastly, big thanks to my husband, dad, and brother for being the kind of good guys that make me feel supported and listen to my crazy ideas, (and have for years).

  Thanks for reading and “follow” for future releases!

  About The Author

  Cass is a cat loving, dog walking, race running adult. She’s kind of short, and a lot sassy.

  In the words of Forrest Gump: “And that’s all I have to say about that.”