by M. L. Giles
“Hmm? Oh, yes! One moment.” Hugo walked over to his bed, gathering a bunch of papers that were scattered about. His movements were stiff and laboured. It was hard not to feel sorry for the old timer. “The Solus Virus! That’s what you wanted to know about.”
“That’s what it’s called?” Colton asked.
“Yes! Well, no. I named it that myself. The word ‘Solus’ means ‘alone’, which I thought quite clever, considering it left so many people alone. Don’t you agree?” Hugo walked up to the table cluttered with medical supplies and pushed them to one side, making room to lay his papers out on it.
“Sure. Whatever you say, doc. What did you learn from ‘em?” Colton asked. We both stepped up to the table to examine the papers, not that it made any difference given how poorly written they were.
“The viral strain is similar to the Lyssavirus genus, in that—ˮ
“In English, doc.”
Hugo looked at Colton scornfully, like a teacher looking down on a disobedient student who interrupted the lesson. “…It’s a virus that mimics rabies.”
“Rabies?” I muttered quietly.
“Who are you?!” Hugo shot a glance at me. It was as if he hadn’t noticed my presence until I had spoken out. “You have a young face. Young, like that wretch, Aiden.”
Colton clicked his fingers a few times, grabbing the attention of Hugo away from me. “This is a friend, doc. Relax. Tell me more ‘bout this virus.”
Hugo narrowed his eyes at me, giving me a look of warning before returning to his papers. “Yes, anyway… Solus acts very similarly to rabies, in that it infects the brain causing hydrophobia and fits of rage. It scrambles messages from the brain, later shutting down the vital organs.”
“Wasn’t rabies cured a long time ago?” I asked, unsure of the answer myself.
Hugo’s head shot up to look at me once again. For such a rigid man, he sure could move his head quickly. “…There is a vaccine for rabies but no cure. Solus is different, however. It’s either new and undiscovered, or possibly manmade in a lab somewhere. Bio-weapon, maybe?” he took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Many possibilities. Perhaps—ˮ
“Doc…” Colton spoke with a stern tone to grab Hugo’s attention again. “Why weren’t we affected?”
“Hmm… By what?” he asked.
Colton’s fist clenched. “Solus!”
“Oh. That. Blood group. We all share the same blood group – AB positive and negative, to be precise.” Hugo slid a piece of paper out from under the pile on the table, studying it carefully. “In the United Kingdom, only four to five percent of the population is AB. The other ninety-five percent were not immune. Fascinating, really.”
All three of us stood silent. Colton and I were taking in everything that was being said. Hugo kept looking at his papers.
“Wait, how the hell did this virus spread so fast? Was it worldwide?” I asked, putting an end to the silence.
“Worldwide? You mean you don’t know? Most countries were affected after us. Our country was one of the first, if not the first. However, I do not know how it was spread.” Hugo’s eyes started to wander, as if lost in thought. “If this were manmade, perhaps infection was done on purpose by a large pharmaceutical company, with intent to sell a cure for profit? Maybe the virus was spread by someone on purpose as an act of bio-terrorism? My money is on this being military related. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time they performed tests on the public, only this one got out of hand. Did you know that—ˮ
“Doc, doc! Is there anythin’ else you got? Any other hard facts?” Colton grumbled.
Hugo went silent for a while. He shuffled around with his papers, wearing the expression of a lost child. “Jenny?”
“Jenny?” I asked.
“You know my wife? She’s an excellent cook.” Hugo gave me a weary smile. “Would you like to stay for tea? You can try her cooking.”
“No… No thanks, doc.” Colton’s posture seemed to slump in defeat. “We have stuff to do. Right, Gray?”
I nodded.
“Pity. Come back anytime you want. Feels like I rarely get visitors these days.”
Doctor Hugo’s information didn’t do much to lift our spirits. We had most of the answers, sure, but that didn’t seem to matter.
In order to clear our heads, as well as talk more about what to do next, Colton suggested going up to the roof of the hotel.
I agreed.
Upon arriving outside on the roof, we were greeted by five people all dressed in black. Each person had been sitting spaced out around the edges of the hotel.
“Guards?” I asked Colton.
“Yeah,” he answered. “Lookouts. Just in case.”
Colton and I sat on the floor, with our backs against a large metal vent that stuck out of the ground. Each watchman returned to their positions, out of earshot of us.
“Y’know, I really thought those papers would have all the answers we were lookin’ for.” Colton let the back of his head hit against the metal vent behind us, making an echoing thud on contact. “Guess what we got will have to do.”
There was a burning question on my mind, one that I hoped Colton wouldn’t be offended by. “Okay. I’m just going to ask this: given the doctor wasn’t mentally sound, how can we trust anything he just told us?”
“Known Hugo for a long time now. The guy was a real good doctor. All his notes an’ research was done before his mind started to sour.”
“Then why didn’t he tell you right away?”
“Aiden.” Colton said that name with such contempt. “When we ran from Aiden, the doc left his notes behind. Worse still, the doc got separated from our group. Managed to find him a couple of months ago, but it was round the same time his memory was goin’ funny. See, we came up with the idea to get the notes in hopes they would jog the doc’s memory. Worked, I guess.”
“In that case, we have the answers we wanted,” I said, trying to put a happy spin on this. “Most people just want to know what happened to their loved ones, right? We now know that much. I’d call that a win.”
Colton didn’t look so reassured. “We only got part of the puzzle, though. Where did it all start? Who did it? Was it manmade or somethin’ else?”
I was so tired of this. After putting my life on the line to find these answers, and feeling a crushing layer of guilt weigh me down from seeing the sleeping guard burnt alive, I just didn’t care anymore… In struggling to find the answers to the past, I almost lost my future. That’s not how Grayson Ryder used to live. It sure as hell wasn’t going to be how he lives now.
“Fuck it,” I whispered.
Colton tilted his head to look at me. “What’s up?”
“Why is this an issue?” I spoke louder this time. “We know we survived because of our blood type, and we know about the virus itself, who cares about the rest? Screw the past. Let’s just get on with the future. It’s not like we have a magic watch that can take us back in time, so why obsess over it?”
He smiled at me, although it was probably the weakest yet most sincere smile I had seen from him. “Thanks.”
“For?”
“Sayin’ what I wish everyone else would say.”
“You’re welcome, big guy.”
I slid down to a lying position on the ground, looking up at sun in the relatively cloudless sky. Somehow accepting the answers for what they were, rather than dwelling on the ones still missing, made me feel content; it solidified a desire in me to move on with my life.
“Can I ask you somethin’, Gray?” I nodded from on the ground, with my arms resting behind my head. “Should I tell everyone what we know already? Or wait an’ send folk out to look for more answers?”
“Tell them. But wait a couple of days first, just in case Hugo comes up with anything else,” I answered. “There’s no point hiding stuff from your own group.”
“Yeah. Guess you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” I joked.
Colton copied me by shuffl
ing down onto his back, using his arms as a pillow for the back of his head too. We were both in the same position, looking up at the sky. There was a soft breeze in the air, making a gentle whispering noise that we both happily listened to for a while.
“Ninety-five percent…” I spoke quietly. “I’m surprised so many people are still around, considering most of the country died off.”
“Last I heard, there was ‘bout sixty-five million people in the UK. Ninety-five percent of that is… Uhh…”
“It would mean over three million people survived.” When I spoke out loud that number, I laughed a bit. “Three million people! It sounds like such a large amount, doesn’t it?”
Colton let out a light laugh as well. “When you say it like that, I guess it does.”
We both laughed a bit more, although it was kind of a bitter laughter. When we stopped, Colton asked me a question, one that I didn’t want to be asked right then.
“Are you— Can we talk ‘bout the other night?”
The question annoyed me, probably more than it should have. “Really, Colton? Is this really the right time? Yesterday I saw a man burnt alive, and now we just learned how everyone died. Seems inappropriate.”
“All right… Sorry, Gray,” he said with a sadness so deep I could’ve drowned in it.
The truth behind my bluntness was simple: I actually cared about the big, butt-chinned lug. That fact frightened me because of what Aiden had told me about Colton being a cold-blooded murderer. It seemed so ridiculous to believe anything Aiden had said after witnessing him kill one of his own people, but that truthful look in his eyes when he spoke about Colton made me question it.
As an expert on the art of deception, it’s easy for me to spot a liar – usually.
There was only one way to get over this stupid mind game Aiden was probably playing: ask Colton for the truth myself.
“Back at the hospital, Aiden told me something,” I said. “He told me you killed your previous group’s leader to take control for yourself. Is that true?”
“Somethin’ like that, yeah.”
I shot up into a sitting position. That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear. Somewhere inside of me I wanted that to be a lie; for it be Aiden trying to forcefully place doubt in my mind so I would join him.
But it was the truth.
“What the hell?! Aiden was telling the truth?” I snapped. “I slept beside a murderer! I did… stuff… with a murderer!”
Colton heaved himself up, sitting beside me. He looked worried. “Wait a sec! It ain’t that simple, Gray. We—ˮ
“Save it! You’re no better than Aiden. Killing for power… You’re both bloody murderers.”
I went to get up and walk away in disgust, but Colton launched himself on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He looked down at me with an anger I had never seen before in anyone.
An anger that truly frightened me.
“DON’T YOU EVER COMPARE ME TO HIM!” Colton bellowed down at me. A blue vein throbbed on the side of his enraged face. “I did what I had to do, for the sake of everyone!”
By now, most of the watchmen were looking at us. One of them called out to Colton, asking if he was okay. Colton ignored them all.
“You killed someone just to take control for yourself!” I countered. “How is that for the sake of everyone?”
“It was all Aiden’s idea!”
“I don’t believe you!” I spoke that without even considering if I believed his words or not.
“Fine.” Colton climbed off me. He looked down at me, still angry at what I’d said to him. “Don’t believe me? Go ask Pearl.”
I stood and brushed myself down. “The good-time girl who threw herself at me? Why her?”
“She was Aiden’s girlfriend.” Colton turned on his heel and stormed off, heading for the door we had both entered the roof from. “Pearl was there when Aiden came up with the plan in the first place.”
My world felt upside down.
Aiden, the crazy man I’d seen burning someone to death, had been speaking the truth. Whereas Colton, the man I’d trusted and even slept with, had killed just to get a step up the ladder.
I felt sick with confusion. If they were both killers, I didn’t know who to trust anymore.
It’s true that I knew this world had changed to the point people felt they could get away with murder, but I never dreamed of associating myself with anyone who thought that way. For the past year, I had done so much to avoid these kinds of people, protecting myself, Wendy, and Thomas from such evils. Now, that same evil was so close to me – it may have even shared a bed with me.
There was this part of me that was screaming to run! Leave all these cults, crazies, and killers behind! Find a nice place to live the rest of my life out in safety.
Yet there was another part of me that was screaming much louder. It was telling me that I shouldn’t go anywhere; that I should stay with these people… and that I shouldn’t distrust a man I cared about.
It was heart-wrenching to admit that to myself, that I cared about someone who admitted to killing for power, but there it was. The words repeated themselves over and over again in my mind.
“I care about Colton,” it kept saying.
Going against my survival instincts to flee, I made my way back downstairs, looking for Pearl.
I hoped she could dispel these negative thoughts about Colton, allowing me to see him in a better light again.
If not, I’d have to leave.
Chapter 11
Mistakes.
A Dark History.
When I came downstairs from the roof, I found the bar and lobby of the hotel to be busy. People hung around in groups; eating, drinking, talking.
I wanted to speak with Pearl about Colton’s admission to killing their previous leader. Colton had claimed there was a good reason for it. I always believed there was never a good reason for ending a life, especially if it’s just to take over their seat of power. The only exception I could’ve made was if it was done while fighting in a war before the outbreak, yet even that thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Finding Pearl was proving harder than expected. I didn’t feel comfortable asking anyone her location, since I hadn’t bothered to get to know most of these people.
Plus, I didn’t want anyone around here thinking I needed her… “services”.
While searching around the bar, I spotted Wendy and Thomas sitting with another couple at a table.
I went over to see if she knew where Pearl was.
“Dee? Got a second?” I asked as I approached the table. She got up from her chair, walked over to me, and gave me a hard slap across my face. “OW! Fuck! What was that for?”
“That’s for being so stupid! Going alone to such a dangerous place… You idiot!” She then took one step forward to give me a tight hug. “This is for coming back safely. I really hope whatever you found will tell me what happened to my daughter.”
It wasn’t my place to tell her anything yet, so I moved the subject on. “I’m looking for a woman called Pearl. Know her?”
Wendy stepped back, raising an eyebrow at me with a cheeky smirk on her face. “You mean the girl who trades sexual favours for stuff? Ooh la la. Are you batting with all the other men now? Do we ladies have to start worrying about the great Grayson Ryder now?”
“That’s more wishful thinking on your part! No, I need to ask her something.”
“Did you try her room? Sixteen, I think.”
I sighed at how obvious a suggestion that was. “Wow! It never occurred to me to check her room. You’re so smart, Dee.”
“That should’ve been your first place to check, really.”
“Jesus Christ! I’d expect Thomas not to get my sarcasm, but you?! Of course I tried her room first. No one answered.”
Wendy turned around to speak with the table she had been sitting at. “Anyone know where Pearl is?”
The couple sitting with Thomas muttered to each other before speaking t
o me.
“Try room four,” was their suggestion.
At the advice of the couple, I knocked on the door to room four, which turned out to be the one next to Colton’s room.
I hoped he wasn’t in.
“What?! Who’s there?” a deep booming voice yelled out to me. It was too muffled to tell who it belonged to.
“It’s Grayson,” I yelled back. “I’m looking for Pearl. Is she here?”
“Go the fuck away!” the deep voice yelled back.
I wasn’t going anywhere. This meant too much to me. “It’s important! I need to speak with her.”
A few seconds later, Colton’s father, Evan, opened the door. He was pitching a rather large tent with his boxer shorts and wearing one Christmas themed sock with Rudolf on. Yeah… I focused really hard on that sock.
At the back of the room, I caught a glimpse of the lower half of a naked lady, lying spread-eagled on the bed. It was safe to assume that was Pearl.
“She’s with me right now,” Evan said with a large smirk across his wet face. “I thought my son was more your type anyway?”
I tried to focus on that one sock but found it easier to avert my gaze to the lovely white and gold wallpaper of the hallway. “I don’t need her like that! I just need to ask her something.” I lowered my voice. “It’s about Aiden.”
“Hmm… Right.” Evan looked over at Pearl, then back to me. I could still feel his wet lips grinning at me, despite extensively focusing on the walls. The lovely, beautifully decorated walls. “Give us fifteen minutes. She’ll meet you at the bar.”
I’d returned to the bar, taking a seat on a stool in the corner of the room to keep an eye on the entrance without being in the way of anyone. Occasionally, people would come up to me, asking questions about my adventure at the hospital.
Their questions brought memories of the guard Aiden had set on fire bubbling to the surface – I was still working so hard to supress that one.