The Abandoned Trilogy (Book 1): Twice Dead (Contagion) (19 page)

Before I was allowed out of my bed I got the fifth degree from Adag about the tablets I had taken. I got the impression she thought I had tried to take an overdose.

              I explained to her about the pain and that I just wanted to sleep so I had taken a bigger dose of medication than usual and no, I would not do it again. One stomach pumping in a lifetime was more than enough for me. She was glad to hear that.

I wasn’t allowed to put my leg brace on for a further couple of days; because of the steroid treatment, instead, I was made to sit in one of Seb’s bloody awful manual wheelchairs.

              “Lend me Lewis,” I said to Seb when I saw him in the dining room on my first day out of my room and he snorted.

              “Not a fucking chance, Lewis has been customised, you’d take off like a rocket.”

              “Better than being in this pile of crap,” I replied grumpily.

              “You’re getting a taste of my world Lady of Shadows,” he said.

              “It sucks,” I made a face and that made him laugh even more.

              Cassidy was hovering nearby, watching me anxiously. He lumbered over to me when I motioned him to come and sit on the sofa next to my chair.

              “Stevie and I have been helping look after you,” he boasted.

              “That’s good of you both,” I said gently. He looked at me intently.

              “Can I make a smoothie?”

“Ask Adag, but I am sure she will say yes. “He got up and ambled off. Mitch joined me on the sofa and I asked him how everyone was as I had been unconscious for three days. He told me that Paul was really unwell, but holding up, Phoenix apparently only came out of his room when there were no soldiers about.

              Stevie and Cassidy were spending a lot of time together and oddly enough; Stevie’s calmness had rubbed off a bit on Cassidy.

              Jasmine had fallen out with Eden, and they hadn’t made up yet, that took me by surprise. My eyes widened and Mitch grinned wryly, “Adag checked Eden’s room, she found a lot of stuff in there that didn’t belong to her.”

              I was surprised. Seb had obviously spoken to Adag.

              “She’s been nicking things since she moved in here,” Mitch said and he laughed “And none of us realised!”

              I said nothing and he glanced at me, “But you realised,” he said.

              I shrugged my shoulders, “I noticed that when things missing she was always in the vicinity at the time, I wasn’t sure until I saw her with Shannon’s coat and then Shannon said she had lost her purse in town, I knew then that Eden had taken it.”

              “Why didn’t you say anything then?”

              “Same reason as Seb,” I said, “I couldn’t be asked, it was different then.”

              “Adag gave her a real tongue lashing, reduced her to a pile of snot and tears, real this time I think,” Mitch took out his cigarettes, looked at the packet and sighed, “Last packet, going to have to go cold turkey soon.”

              “We’ll be giving a lot up soon enough,” I reflected and then I added, “I never thought Jasmine had it in her to hold a grudge.”

              “The only person talking to Eden other than myself and Adag is Cassidy; Stevie won’t talk to her, ironic isn’t it? The only person who will give her the time of the day is the person she used to bully.”

              “Cassidy lives in the moment,” I said.

              “Not all the time,” Mitch said as he lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply, “We make assumptions don’t we? About what we think we know.”

              “We are all guilty of that,” I said. To my surprise, he held out his cigarette to me. I found myself reaching for it.

              “Don’t even think about it,” Wolf’s voice made me start in my chair; he had come in through the open dining room doors behind us. He leaned over and took the cigarette from Mitch’s offered fingers and took a long drag then handed it back to him, “Causing more problems again Ms. Lal?”

              “Only if they involve you,” I quipped.

He smiled, “I thought as much,” he said.

“Did you find out what that smoke was in town?” I asked him. He didn’t answer at first. He and Mitch looked at each other and I exhaled.

“What is it?”

“We think there might be some survivors in the town.”

The revelation stunned me, “How the hell is that possible?”

“There’s no Twice Dead that can be seen,” Wolf said, “The Drone went all through the town, where the smoke is coming out is from a chimney in a shop.”

“What shop?” I asked.

“The Herb and Tea Café,” Mitch said. I knew the Herb and Tea Cafe, because Shannon always took me there the times when we went out. I really liked it. It was quirky. Eden though didn’t like it, she said it smelt funny and she was right. There were herbs hanging from the rafters, dried garlic lining the windows. Lavender around the door.

It had been opened by a couple from out of town, selling herb teas and food made from wild grown produce, such as windfall apples, acorns, mint, nettles, wild blackberries and of course my favourite, fresh wild garlic.

              “How the hell did they survive?” I asked.

              “We’re not sure if they have done, we just think they might have survived.”

              “They lived in the basement of the shop,” I said suddenly, “The couple who ran it, I remember talking to them, they turned the cellar into their living quarters, they said they smelt like the shop as they kept a lot of the food and herbs down there too…they…” my voice trailed off. There was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on that was bothering me.

              When it came to me, I sucked in my breath, no one noticed because I was still unwell and a bit wheezy in the chest. I opened my mouth to speak, to tell both Mitch and the Colonel my theory, but the words died in my throat. I chewed on my lower lip.

              “They could have been sealed off from the contagion,” Wolf nodded his head, “And if they saw the warning on the computer, they would have stayed were they were.”

              “Are you going to check?” I asked.

              Wolf looked uncomfortable and Mitch gave a tight smile, “Seems his Epsilon Command have said no, they think it highly unlikely that anyone survived in the town and it’s just an old fire dying down, when the quarantine is over here, they have to move out, it’s not just us being abandoned.”

              It was a gentle jibe, not as cruelly said as before, more with sadness and I saw Wolf’s hands clench slightly.

              “You can leave with the army if you want Mitch,” I said and he gave me a filthy look.

              “No fucking chance,” he snorted.

              Wolf got up and looked at me steadily, “Don’t be causing any more problems Ms. Lal.”

              “I never cause any problems,” I said primly, “And for Christ’s sake, call me Lucia not Ms. Lal, I’m not a 90-year-old spinster! “He laughed as he walked away, heading for the office.

              “What do you think?” I said to Mitch, he knew what I was referring too.

              “It’s possible,” he conceded, “Survivors seem to be as random as hell, us here, and if the couple from the café have survived, that is even more random…”

              “Maybe it’s not,” I said softly and I leaned over and touched his leg, and he looked at me with a quizzical eye.

              “The Colonel said a few other survivors had been found in remote places, he didn’t say where, just remote.”

              “Well the café in town isn’t remote,” Mitch, said frowning.

              “No,” I agreed with him, “But it is an unusual café and what’s its specialty?”

              “Everyone knows that.” Mitch said with a laugh “Wild garlic and apple soup like you made for lunch the other day…” his voice trailed off as what I was saying began to take root in his mind.

              “Thorncroft is surrounded by wild garlic, wild garlic and trees, lots of trees, we’re smack bang in the middle of an ancient forest, even when you leave the drive way you have trees on either side of you, but I think it’s the fields of wild garlic that have protected us and what’s the bet all the other places where survivors have been found have wild garlic growing near or around them, and probably with a lot of trees too.”

              “But the café...” Mitch began.

              “The owners live downstairs,” I interrupted him, “Quite well sealed, but their stock is downstairs with them, a lot of Wild garlic, dried, to make it stronger.”

              “But Gregory,” Mitch was confused, “He became one of them here.”

              “Yes, he became ONE of them whilst he was HERE, but he wasn’t one when he arrived here, he was still human, I suspect if he had gone outside and tried to leave, he would have avoided the wild garlic, what if the contagion is nature based and you fight nature with nature, don’t you?”

              Mitch was struggling to take everything in that I was presenting to him, “Eden said the dining room smelt of stinky fruit when Gregory’s body was on the floor and even when everything had been cleaned up she could still smell it.”

              “I couldn’t smell anything,” Mitch said.

              “No, but remember Eden’s has a heightened sense of smell.”

              “We can’t exactly prove it can we?” Mitch said slowly.

              “No, we can’t,” I agreed, “But it will go a long way explain as to why the Twice Dead didn’t come this way to snack on us, wouldn’t it, instinct, move away from the source of what bothers you?”

              “You’re not going to tell Wolf this are you?” Mitch said.

              I shook my head, “It’s just a theory, but even if we knew it was correct, we don’t really owe them anything, do we?”

              “They saved your life.”

“I’m grateful to them for that.” I conceded Mitch’s point, “But I had to blow the Gorilla’s head off his shoulders, so I think we are pretty much even on that score.”

That made Mitch smile.

“If we are right,” I then said to Mitch softly, “It means that something in wild garlic could protect us.”

“I always thought that it was garlic that kept Vampires at bay,” Mitch mused as he stood up, “That theory has well and truly been fucked over,” he looked at me, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Mother Nature makes the rules,” I said, “Not us, and not the supernatural, and yes please, three sugars, oh and a piece of wild garlic on the side.”

Roaring with laugher Mitch headed into the kitchen.

Stevie wheeled me outside so I could sit on the patio. He then went to find Cassidy as he was teaching him how to weight lift. Paul was in his wheelchair on the patio as I was parked up, pale, wrapped up warmly in his favourite blanket, but enjoying the sun. He glanced at me, nodded his head and then closed his eyes.

              I saw Jasmine, she was picking cherry blossoms, helped by Corporal Peters, and she took them over to where Gregory was buried and laid them on top of the mound. She patted them carefully around the grave then stood up.

              She saw me and waved. I waved back. Then she turned and grabbed hold of Corporal Peters arm and pointed to where the summerhouse was, beyond the old well and just before the pathway into the wooded area.

              He followed her, obviously Wolf had told his people to keep an eye us and not let us wander off. I felt sorry for Corporal Peters, stuck with Jasmine who would probably drive him mad with her inane chatter.

              Mitch bought my tea out along with some coffee for Paul in a plastic spouted beaker. Adag was behind him, carrying a tray with food on it for Paul. She smiled at me and said, “How are you feeling.”

              “Like shit,” I said grumpily.

              “You look like shit,” Paul said as Adag put the tray on a small table that was by his chair.

              “We’re twins then,” he chuckled, then coughed. Adag handed him a napkin and he wiped his mouth, we both pretended not to see the flecks of blood on his lips and in the napkin.

              “Is Phoenix ok?” I asked Mitch and he nodded his head. I sipped my tea, it wasn’t too hot and it was sweet. I drank deeply.

              “He even did a shift in your room.”

              “Shift? My room?” I frowned.

              “You had to have someone with you at all times, to make sure you weren’t sick again, everyone took a turn, Cassidy, Stevie, Phoenix, even Eden.”

              “I would have thought she would have pulled my tubes out,” I said wryly.

              “You’re very hard on her,” Mitch said.

              “Even though she has been pinching everyone’s things?” I said with a snort.

              “You excuse Cassidy’s behaviour and stick up for him,” Mitch said quietly, “Nothing is cut and dried for anyone living here, you know that better than anyone.”