After the Cure, Deirdre Gould [the beach read TXT] 📗

the Immunes had. She only killed when she thought she had to. But Nella wasn't in denial any longer about what she'd done. She knew better now. She knew, and she felt the weight of each bullet that she'd shot. But she'd kept the guns. How could she have kept them? Why was she thinking about the need to use them again? This time, though, it wouldn't be to escape. And it wouldn't be against sick people. A doubt about whether she could handle using the guns again flitted through her mind for an instant and then was gone. She was sure. She pulled the box out of the closet. She walked out to the kitchen and set it silently on the table. Sevita looked at her and then opened the box.

“I can't Nella,” Frank said quietly. She looked at him and was startled to see how sad his face became.

Sevita just looked at her. “It's okay,” said Nella, “I can. If I have to. If you can't, then don't take one with you. It will just make things worse. I hope it's unnecessary. But we both know what's at stake. Sevita, you'll just have to trust me when I say it's better to be prepared.”

Sevita picked up one of the guns without comment. She zipped it carefully into her camera bag and then added a small box of ammunition. Nella quietly did the same, putting both in the oversized pockets of her spring jacket. Then she closed the box and placed it carefully back in the closet. Frank went back to making lunch without any further observations, but Nella could see the sweat spring out on his head like tiny glass beads.

They finalized their plans as they ate, but Sevita tried her best to lighten the mood and Frank played along, though Nella could see they were both as nervous as she felt. In the end, it was almost dusk by the time they were ready to go. Sevita had decided she needed another camera and to see Christine. Frank said he would drive her so that he could grab some less conspicuous clothing. All Nella could do was wait. At first she tried to use the time to untangle whatever it was she had forgotten at the prison. She soon concluded that whatever it was, wasn't coming back just yet. She ended up trying to memorize Sevita's crude diagram of the house and pacing the apartment floor. Sevita and Christine startled her when they came in.

“Chris, what are you doing here? And where is Frank?”

Sevita and Christine shared a look. “Told you,” Sevita said.

“I came so you don't have to walk,” said Christine, “Or were you going to park out front? Besides, there's no way I'm letting Sevita go somewhere that requires a gun, Nella, without knowing where she is and having medical supplies nearby. Besides, your friend thought it was a good idea.”

Nella blushed. “You're right, I'm sorry. I'm glad someone else is thinking of these details.”

Christine hugged her. “Nella, I don't know what you have got yourself into, but maybe you should wait and call the police. You don't have to do this, whatever this is.”

The panic she'd been struggling with for the past two days threatened to burst out of her and infect the room in sharp, yellow shards. Nella fought it. “I wish that were true Chris, I really do. But I can't. The police will only make things worse.”

Sevita smiled as she set her camera bag on the floor. “And Frank is on the way. We just beat him here is all. He seems very nice by the way.”

Nella was confused. “Yes he's very pleasant,” she replied at last.

“And I won't even ask why he didn't ask for directions here in the car.”

“Oh! We just wanted a drink and I-”

“I said I wouldn't ask,” Sevita winked. Nella felt her throat dry up in embarrassment.

Christine grabbed Nella's hand and scowled at Sevita. “What happened to your hand?”

She was still busily disinfecting Nella's wound when Frank knocked on the door.

Nella tried to calm down as they drove toward Dr. Carton's house. Sevita put a sympathetic hand on her arm as they sat together in the back seat. “I've never seen you this scared,” she whispered, “It's going to be okay you know.”

Nella shut her eyes to keep herself from crying. “You don't understand, Sevita, I'm not worried about getting caught.”

“Obviously. I'm not naïve Nel. I've known you long enough to know you don't just commit felonies for the heck of it.”

“I don't think there's such a thing as felonies anymore.”

Sevita grinned. “You know what I mean. Look, you don't have to tell me or even confirm my suspicions, but I figure this has something to do with the trial, otherwise why would Frank Courtlen be involved? And if it has to do with the trial, it has to do with the Plague. And the only thing I can think that would make you this upset would be if you knew something very, very bad about it. Like maybe it's not over.”

Nella rubbed her eyes dry. Sevita hugged her awkwardly. “It's going to be okay Nella. The world's going to go on spinning, the trees will go on growing, and the rain will keep on falling.”

“What if we're not here to see it?” whispered Nella.

Sevita sighed. “I'm not entirely sure that would be such a bad thing. Look how badly we screwed up. And we still treat each other like crap. Even with only a few of us left. Some days it feels like we'll never learn anything.”

The car rolled to a stop. The gun was so heavy that Nella's hip felt bruised. Her chest ached as if she'd been holding her breath for too long. She opened the door and slid out into the chilly evening air. They were on a side street a little way past the mansion. The streetlamps were still off and the sun was just setting, giving the sky an illusion of warmth that Nella could not feel. She rounded the front of the car with her hands in her pockets, her good hand touching the warm metal of the gun. She stood near Frank as Sevita kissed Christine goodbye and grabbed the camera bag.

“What if she isn't in there?” Frank asked.

“At least someone may know where she's gone. Remember, as far as we know, she escaped in order to destroy the bacteria. She may already have done so. We just have to find out for sure.”

He looked at her, his face serious. “Why bring the gun then?”

Nella was grim, but she didn't apologize. “There is a reason no one has seen Dr. Carton, even though he's humanity's savior. There is also a reason no one has seen Dr. Schneider since her escape. Maybe Dr. Carton is just shy and retiring. And maybe Dr. Schneider just wants to have a little love nest with the guy. Or maybe she is desperate to avoid prosecution for her role in the Plague. Or maybe they are still delusional, thinking they can perfect their bacteria so that it doesn't have these terrible side effects. Maybe they are already infected. The gun is for the maybes.”

Sevita walked up to them. Christine was still wiping tears away and smiling encouragingly. “Ready?” Sevita asked in a low voice.

The three of them slipped into the empty overgrown lot across the street.

 

Meat

The mansion sat in an empty section of the City. It, like almost every other existing building, was left over from Before. Nella seemed to remember it as a large bank in its former life. It was one of very few large buildings still maintained and in use. The military government was beginning to demolish empty buildings that were in danger of collapse, but for now, most of them sat slumped and shuddering in the wind. They smelled green and rotting and the pavement in front of most of them had been eaten away by rain. Wild silver grass grew long and tangled in the cracks. The clamor of birds coming home to roost in the crooked roofs and rusting cars made Nella feel even lonelier than normal. At least they would be unnoticed in this part of town. Sevita led the way and the three of them reached the hedge in a few short minutes. It shocked the eye, a wall of bright, almost supernatural green against the wild golds and silvers of the dead trees and grass around them. Something thriving in the winter land where everything else just survived until spring.

They were silent now, not knowing if someone patrolled inside the hedge. The sun had set and left a haze of pale blue in the evening sky. Sevita found the gap by feel and ducked into it, holding Nella's hand. Nella reached out for Frank and pulled him through the thick, scratching branches. They stood on the lawn in an odd twilight as the natural sun faded and the floodlights of the house tried in vain to take over. “Look,” hissed Sevita, “There aren't any lights inside.”

“Maybe the curtains are closed,” whispered Frank. They didn't waste time arguing. Leaving the shadow of the hedge they sprinted across the small backyard to the side door. No one stopped them. Sevita fumbled with a small pouch from her camera bag. It was a tiny toolbox. Frank shook his head and held up his hand. Sevita froze as Frank tried to slowly turn the doorknob. The latch clicked and the door opened a crack. The air hit them as if they had just opened a tomb. It was rancid and smelled like raw excrement. Frank quickly closed the door and held the other hand over his mouth, trying not to retch.

“Someone is dead in there Nella,” whispered Sevita.

Frank shook his head. “No,” he whispered, his face pale and shining with sweat, “that's not death. Someone's been eating meat.”

“What?”

“That's someone that's been eating a lot of meat. You just aren't used to it because no one can afford it anymore. Trust me, I'd know that smell anywhere. I never wanted to smell it again.” He had to stop again trying not to retch.

“Well,” said Sevita, “I guess if anyone ought to be able to afford the last few tins of canned meat it ought to be him.”

Nella shook her head. “He'd have to be eating a lot of meat to make the whole house smell like that. I don't think even he could afford that many cans.”

“You think he's got a cow in there?” said Sevita.

“I don't know. I don't want to think about it,” whispered Nella. She put her hand over Frank's on the knob. “I'll do it,” she said. She took a deep breath of clean air, then pushed the door open halfway. The smell hit them again and Nella could taste rotted egg on the back of her