Conceived in Blood, A Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Novel (30 page)

What was this?

Lee closed his eyes, counted to three then opened them again. On a flat white wall, framed in black, animals darted through lush grasses and green trees. The image changed to a large body of blue water and a huge black and white fish jumping out of it.

"Although the first two waves of death were caused by different microbes, we commonly call both of them by one name: Redaction. The term gained popularity on the internet and referred to the great numbers of people erased from the human family. The first pandemic was an accident; the second an act of war."

Bracing his hands on the soft mattress, Lee sat up. Bile surged into his mouth, souring it, and the room danced. A sharp sting overrode the background throbbing in his battered body. He raised his hand. A needle near his elbow led to a tube, then up to a bag. Medicine. He remembered Doc Julia saying.

Doc Julia! Sammy!

He had to find his granddaughter.

"With so many people sick, dead and dying, the third plague was unleashed. Fuel rods that had once powered nations spilled a horrible poison around the globe. Just like the Redaction, this radiation couldn't be seen as it marked its victims for death. We are still living with the effects today."

Lee ripped off his blankets and swung his feet over the side of the bed. Fuck! He stared at his bare legs. White bandages striped his wrists and ankles, where the manacles had rubbed him raw. Bruises formed blotches around angry, red skin. While a dull burn stretched across his back, a tube snaked from the hole in his penis.

What the hell were they putting in there?

"The cancers many of you are experiencing are a result of this last exposure. Thankfully, we at Dark Hope were able to save the knowledge of these dreaded diseases from before the Redaction and have built upon it."

His shaking hand hovered over the tube. Should he remove it?

"Now, we are able to cure ninety percent of all cancers. And with our treatments, many never return."

He glanced up in time to see a woman with Corpse Belly. Her skeletal frame made the nodes under her arm and near her privates obscenely large. The image shifted. In a series of pictures, the woman's stomach receded, the nodes dwindled. She gained weight and color returned to her corpse-gray skin.

"Even the most advanced stages of leukemia respond well to our stem-cell treatments. And many will only have small scars from the surgery."

Lee touched the wet warmth on his cheeks. Sammy could be cured. His grandbaby would live.

Provided she didn't tell them she was a Neville.

He had to find her, warn her. Otherwise... He swallowed hard. Otherwise, they might refuse to treat her. He hadn't come this close to fail now. He tracked the tube from his penis to under the bed. Leaning over, he tugged. Yellow liquid sloshed inside.

That couldn't be what he thought it was, could it? More liquid streamed from him into the bag. Hell, it was piss!

"We hope you enjoy your new gift of health, compliments of the citizens of Dark Hope." More sick faces morphed into healthy visages.

He winced at some of the cauliflower growths and rot distorting the bodies. His Sammy would be one of the healthy after pictures. Wrapping his hand around the tube, Lee tugged. His body nearly jackknifed from the burn. Tears burned his eyes. Holy shit! Was it turning his dick inside out?

"I wouldn't remove that if I were you."

Gulping air, Lee stilled his hand and glanced up.

Doc Julia stood in the door, thumping the black book device against her thigh. "Most urine is sterile, but you're riddled with several parasites and a stubborn urinary tract infection. Unless you want your genitals swelling to the size of cantaloupes, you'll want to leave the catheter in."

Lee released the tube. He didn't know what a cantaloupe was, but he did know about swelling. "Where's Sammy?"

An image of a very large town materialized on the wall and the narrator spoke. "Now enjoy this brief presentation about Dark Hope's founding."

Doc Julia touched a button on the side of his bed and the screen turned off. "You can watch that when I'm not here. I practically have it memorized from the bit about brave Mavis and David Dawson saving everyone to the evildoers Jardin and Benedict being executed while their stooge, Neville, was banished to the wastelands."

Stooge? His ancestor wasn't a stooge. Lee's great grandfather had been a dramatic actor not a comedic one. And who were Jardin and Benedict? Had his grandfather played Larry, Moe or Curly on stage in Sanctuary?

"Just press this button here and it'll start again."

The screen froze on the village. God, some of those buildings were six and seven stories tall. Stone bridges arched gracefully across ribbons of blue. Greenery surrounded every building. How had they managed to keep so much?

"In answer to your previous question, Sammy’s in pediatrics with the other children." Doc Julia stared above his head.

Lee leaned back and followed her line of sight. Numbers flashed across the dark screen hanging there.

Doc Julia scrawled her signature across the book. "Vitals are good, and your infections are responding to treatment. How is the pain?"

His body took that as its cue to let his brain know of every lash and cut. Closing his eyes, he swayed on the bed. "Good."

"Obviously."

When Lee opened his eyes, the doctor was squatting between his thighs, examining his injury. His body stirred. Guess the electric torture hadn’t damaged him too bad.

Doc Julia rolled her eyes. "Looks like you’re on your way to a full recovery." She tapped on her book then checked the bandages around his ankles. "Your burns will benefit from your immodesty, but I'll give you a gown for when you need to be up and about."

He was getting up already. It had been a long time since he'd had a woman between his legs.

Crossing the room to a cabinet under the sink, she waved a tube over the book.

"If you need the release, rub this over yourself and the other burn areas before you masturbate and after you clean up." Next, she pulled out a dark green shirt before joining him by the bed. She set the clothing and tube by his side. "You can slip this on after I check your back."

She walked around the bed. He felt a small tug. In the glass's reflection, he watched her peel back the tape and bandages.

Nodding, he picked up the tube and spun off the cap. Squirting a little onto his finger, he smelled the cream. Kinda musty, yet tangy. He touched the goo to his raw skin. A cool balm spread over his balls.

"Looks like you haven't reopened any stitches, but I don't want you using your arms to bear your weight." She smoothed her hand along the tape, sealing his wounds back up. "You'll need help rising for the next couple of days." Her tapered fingers hovered over a raised bump with a smiley face on it. "So push this button when you want to see Sammy, and someone will come."

Finished with the cream, Lee recapped it and stuffed his arms through the sleeves. His ass could hang out for all he cared, he didn't want anything touching his back. "But I can see Sammy now, right?"

Doc Julia smiled. "They're bringing up a wheelchair now. In the meantime, since your name isn't John Doe, perhaps you can tell me your given name."

"Brantlee." Shit! He was supposed to give her an alias. He raised his hand. "Two words. Brant Lee."

He'd have to tell Sammy their new last name.

Sitting on the pink chair, Doc Julia balanced the book on her knees and tapped on the letters that popped up on the black surface. "Is that L-E-E or L-E-I-G-H?"

"L-E-E." He wiped his sweaty palms on his gown. "That's what folks call me, Lee, not Brant. That was my daddy."

At least that bit was true. Easier to remember the truth than the lies.

She glanced at the wall behind him and frowned. "Is Sammy your granddaughter through her mother or father?"

"Father." Lee clenched his fists. "Both deceased." Too bad he couldn't have killed his bitch daughter-in-law in real life.

A sound beeped above his head.

The doctor pushed a green light on her book and the alarm died. "Cancer?"

"No." His hands shook and he would never tell her about his son's weakness. "Farming accident."

Doc Julia's eyebrows arched. Setting the book to the side, she rose and walked to the wall behind his bed. "I can see that this  distresses you, but it is necessary to get yours and Sammy's health background."

She set her fingerprint on the gray panel, lights flared to life. More numbers.

Maybe the numbers and symbols were a language of their own, one he didn't know. The knowledge settled uneasily on his shoulders.

"I've upped your dose of painkillers; it'll bring your blood pressure under control." After she touched a red square, the panel faded to gray. She used a rag from her pocket and wiped the surface. "It will make you drowsy, but you'll still get to see Sammy Lee."

The skin around the needle burned a little. It had felt like that too when she'd stuck him with medicine on the train. Nice to know he wasn't completely at their mercy. His mouth felt dry and he licked his lips. "It's Samantha Lee. We just call her Sammy."

Doc Julia returned to the sink, took a blue cup from the shelf above and held it under the faucet. When she twisted the tap, clear water poured forth.

Damn, these people had all the comforts.

"The drugs will make you feel like someone unrolled a carpet in your mouth." She pressed the cup into his hand.

He raised it to his lips, felt it slide over his parched tongue and drain down his throat. Tilting his head back, he drained the cup. The water actually tasted good.

The door opened and a man in a white shirt and pants pushed the chair on wheels through. Blue stitching over his left breast identified him as James. He stopped the chair next to Lee's left leg. "Express train to pediatrics, now boarding."

"Help him into the seat, James. I don't want him opening his back up again." Doc Julia plucked the cup from his hand, then grabbed the water bag draining into his arm.

"Okay, big guy." James rubbed his hands together. "I will put my arms around you. When I say three, I want you to push, but only with your legs, got it?"

"Got it." He wasn't an imbecile.

Draping Lee's arm around his shoulder, James brushed against the bandages on the small of Lee's back. "One. Two. Three."

Lee pushed. Pain ricocheted inside his skull. His legs gave out as his brain tried to process everything.

"I got you." Hands tracked up his chest then he was slowly lowered. Cold fabric hit his backside. Something warm cradled his back.

He swam against a tide of darkness, finally managing to surface. Sleep could wait, he had to warn Sammy.

Doc Julia’s features tightened in concern. Her attention slipped to James and she nodded once. “We have Sammy sedated, her body needs sleep to heal. Because of the state of her immune system, she’s been isolated. You can see her, but won’t be able to touch.”

James stood behind Lee’s chair then turned in smoothly in an arc and pushed him toward the door.

“I can still talk to my granddaughter, right?”

Julia shrugged and opened the door. “You can, but she may not follow the conversation or remember what you say. She’s a very sick little girl.”

He knew that. That was why they were here. As for her not remembering, he’d have to think of an excuse if she gave her real name. “But she’ll make it.”

“I haven’t lost a patient yet.” Julia smiled as he rolled by.

Good. “When will she wake up?”

“We’ll wean her off the drugs a couple days after the surgery. Most patients her age will sleep for another few days on their own, then be back to their normal after about a week.” Doc Julia walked by his chair as James pushed him down the hallway.

Open doors poked holes in the bright white walls. Happy voices drifted outside. Folks in green and white bustled in and out of the rooms, clustered around a huge desk marked “Nurse’s station.”

Doc Julia waved to two women sitting at the round desk. “Of course, you’ll be able to talk to her long before that. She seemed to like to talk.”

Lee’s grip tightened on the arm rests. He’d have to put a stop to that.

Chapter 35

Sera yawned and stretched. Warmth cradled her right side; cold chilled her left. She opened her eyes and the world swirled in a kaleidoscope of colors. What the hell?

Warm muscle stretched out over her. Straw pricked her back. She blinked at the dark clouds visible through the canyon walls.

"Wrap your arms around me." Harlan’s breath stirred her loose hair.

Tucking her face into the crook of his neck, she massaged his shoulder blades. Damn the man was tense. "What’s wrong?"

"I think I made a big mistake trusting the Aces and Eights." His hand crept under her shirt. Callused fingers glided along her ribcage before tugging her stun-gun from her waist band. "Neither of us told Wayne where to go, yet here we are in the canyon leading to Sanctuary."

Sanctuary?

Sera muffled her squeak by pressing her mouth against his skin. The 'Viders were in the village. They'd seen them invade on the satellite feed. She massaged her way down his back, over his behind and reached forward. Dipping her fingers in his pants' pocket, she encountered a hard ridge. "You don't think he's planning on riding right in, and confronting them, do you?"

"I think we didn't tell him about the damn 'Viders being in town." He rolled his weight a little off her. "I count four tracking us on the ridge for the better part of the half hour."

She pulled out his weapon. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"Because I fell asleep, alright." Harlan raised up on his elbows. His face was in shadows when he stared down at her. "You can shoot me, if we survive this."

"Whoo-wee." Wayne chortled, a hand thumped the side of the wagon. "Looks like we're gonna get some entertainment, boys."

With one hand, she pulled Harlan’s head back into the shadow of the wagon. "We have to swap weapons. Each has been individually locked to our fingerprints. If you try to fire mine, you'll get a hefty charge."