Adam
Adam’s mouth felt like sandpaper. He was vaguely aware of female voices talking in the next room. Not wanting to have to deal with that and feeling as if he needed at least another 24 hours sleep, he reached for a spare pillow and covered his head with it.
He lay there for another few minutes before he realised that this pillow didn’t feel like the one’s he usually had. The female voices were now laughing and he began to realise that this was odd. Why were there female voices in his flat? He peered out of a corner of the pillow and realised that he wasn’t in his room. Instead, he was looking at beige walls with paintings of cherubs and scantily clad women frolicking in meadows.
Shit. He thought. Where the hell am I? He emerged further from his little place of hiding and saw that the door to the living room was ajar. He spotted the stance and flicking of hair of a woman that he unfortunately was all too familiar with, he appeared to be in Robin’s bedroom.
“Shit!” He said out loud to himself.
He quickly checked under the covers and saw that he was shirtless but still had on his jeans. He threw a quick prayer up, hoping above anything that that meant nothing had happened. He sat up quickly and began searching for his missing shirt, ignoring his thumping head and the fact that there was a large chunk of the night missing from his memory. He would deal with that later. Right now, he needed to get out of there.
He spotted his shirt hanging over a nearby chair and bolted out of bed, throwing it on. As he was buttoning the shirt, he heard Robin say goodbye to the mystery woman she had been talking to and close the front door.
This wasn’t good. He had been hoping to make his quick getaway whilst she had company so as to avoid any form of awkward conversation. Robin entered her bedroom and gave him a surprised look.
“And he finally awakes.” She said, her tone light and teasing.
“Yeah,” Adam replied. “Sorry about that. Alcohol makes me comatose for ages.”
He stood there awkwardly as she ran her eyes up and down his body, appraising him with a small smile on her face. When the situation got too much for him, he cleared his throat and took a step forward.
“Well, I better… you know, head off.”
“So soon?” Robin asked. “Don’t you want some breakfast?”
“I’ve got loads of food in my place, don’t want it all going to waste.”
“Oh I’m sure it will keep,” Robin said, waving his suggestion away and making her way to the kitchen. “Anyway, I’ve already began to cook.”
Adam sighed. It looked as if he wasn’t going to get away as quick as he had hoped. Reluctantly he followed her to the kitchen and tried one more attempt to get away.
“I really should be going,” he said. “I’ve got a load of things to do before my shift starts.”
“Stop stressing yourself,” Robin said. “You’ve got plenty of time.” She pulled out a stool from her island. “Sit.”
Adam did as he was told and was immediately met with a continental style spread of croissants, jam, ham and cheese. It was like the whole thing had appeared out of nowhere.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to cook a breakfast for someone,” Robin said. “I mean I cook occasionally for Amara but she’s such a tiny thing, she barely eats any of it. At least with you I get to serve a proper man’s breakfast.”
She dashed to her oven and started up her grill.
“Eggs, bacon and sausage okay?” She asked.
Adam opened his mouth to protest but she interrupted before he could get a word out.
“I tell you what, I’ll just make a whole bunch of stuff and you can pick and choose what you want.”
Adam realised that to try to stop this from happening was futile, so he grabbed a croissant and decided that he might as well eat. By the time he had finished off his second croissant, Robin had replaced his plate with a full English breakfast, complete with beans, hash browns and mushrooms. He tried to remember Robin even making half of this stuff but came up blank. She handed him a knife and fork and he started to eat. Robin then grabbed her mug of coffee and took a seat opposite him, watching him eat.
“Aren’t you having anything?” Adam asked.
“Already eaten,” she said. “Some of us prefer to have our breakfast at the start of the day as opposed to midday.”
Adam shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, “So, you’re just going to watch me eat?”
She laughed at that. “I’m just waiting for you to ask me the question.”
Adam stopped what he was eating, mid-bite.
“What question?”
“The ‘what happened last night?’ question.”
“Oh. That question.”
“So?” She asked.
Adam put down his fork and cleared his throat again.
“I was pretty wasted.” He said, eventually.
“We both were,” she added. “But yes, you were particularly bad.”
“So… did we?”
She smiled widely.
“You can rest easy, Adam Gammon.” She said. “I believe the exact words you gave me last night were, ‘if you weren’t on the rag, I would totally hit that.’”
Adam cringed at Robin’s report and threw her an apologetic look.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m not exactly my most tactful in that state.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Depressingly enough, that isn’t the worst way someone has propositioned me.”
Adam had officially lost his appetite. He felt so embarrassed and wanted nothing more than to get out of this flat as soon as he could. He was impressed about how cool she was being about this however, he had not expected Robin to be the type to take a drunken fumbling lightly, whatever it was that had happened.
“Perhaps when I’m not ‘on the rag,’ we might be able to try it again?” She asked.
And suddenly it was worse. All hope that she might dismiss this night under the ‘never happened’ category seemed to disappear and all was left was this awkward silence as she waited for Adam’s response. The longer he left it, hoping that she would give him an out by taking a hint from the lack of response, the more he realised that his previous impression of how she was, was probably correct. She raised her eyebrow at him, clearly not allowing him to let that suggestion go.
“Er,” he said eventually, “sure, why not?”
“Awesome,” she said. “Then I guess I’ll see you in about four to five days’ time.”
“Well, I’d better be off.” He said quickly.
“Sure,” she said. “No doubt you’re eager to pop in on that little friend of yours.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You know, the genius kid who you were talking to on our first night here. The one that mysteriously disappeared shortly afterwards.”
“Daniela?” He asked.
She nodded.
“She didn’t mysteriously disappear, she went to the research lab on the other side of the building. You know that.”
“Well regardless of where she was, she’s back now.”
“How do you know that?”
“Amy told me.” Robin said, tidying up Adam’s plate. “And apparently she’s in a pretty bad shape. Amy said that when she saw her in the clinic, she looked really thin and was coming across all crazy.”
“When did Amy see her?”
“She was having her vaccine this morning and there Daniela was, all pale and crying with a bunch of people around her. And apparently as she left, that therapist woman you’re so fond of came in and demanded everyone to leave. Looks like she’s completely lost it, poor thing.”
“I’d better go,” Adam repeated. “Oh and Robin, is there any chance that you and Amy could keep this to yourself?”
Robin looked offended by the request. “But of course!” She said. “I would never spread any gossip about something as clearly serious as that!”
“You told me.” Adam reasoned.
“Well, only because I thought you would have already known. Given that she was your friend.”
“And you’ve based that on what? One night, ten months ago, where you spotted me talking to her for a while?”
“Well excuse me for trying to be helpful.” Robin said.
“Just don’t say anything to anyone else.” Adam said. “And ask Amy to do the same.”
Robin didn’t answer but gave Adam a clearly upset look. Crossing her arms, she looked at him levelly.
“I’m going to take that as a yes.” Adam said.
And with that, he dashed out the door, heading towards the clinic.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Chapter fifty six
Christiana
“Chris! Get up.” Kelly’s voice entered into Christiana’s deep sleeping state.
“Hmmmm.” Christiana responded, burying herself deeper into Connor’s arms.
Connor wrapped his arms tighter around Christiana making his own grunts in response.
“Chris, we need you. Please wake up.”
“Kel, if I wake up and this turns out to be Saturday, I’m going to be mega pissed at you.”
“It’s a Thursday. Not that that means anything.” Kelly replied.
“What time is it?” Connor asked.
“7am.” Kelly said. “And Daniela’s awake. We need Chris to come and see her.”
Suddenly a rush of memories flooded into Christiana’s mind and her temporary suspended belief that she was back at her flat disappeared with it. She groaned even more loudly and nuzzled closer to Connor, pushing the bad memories away. She really had to learn to wake up without this sodding amnesia. She was tired of learning the world had ended all over again every morning.
“Seriously Chris, Daniela spent the first twenty minutes screaming and since then has been silent. Duncan said that you had a good talk with her before. We’re worried about her and we need your help.”
Christiana reluctantly pushed herself away from the warmth of Connor’s chest and blinked into the light to find Kelly standing at the foot of her bed.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” She asked.
“I tried that. No one answered.”
“So your answer was just to barge in?” Christiana asked.
“We’re desperate Chris. Please, just forget that you hate me for a second. She seems really messed up.”
“I’m not surprised, given what you did to her.” Christiana muttered, but grabbed her dressing gown from the chair beside her bed and got up. “When did she wake up?”
“About ten hours ago.” Kelly answered. “I tried to leave you two alone for as long as I could. But we’re all beginning to worry about her now.”
“She’s probably in shock.” Christiana said. “It’s a lot for her to take in, being back in full use of her body again for the first time in so long and dealing with the fallout of everything that she’s been through as well.”
“Will you come and see her?”
“Give me ten minutes to get ready.” Christiana answered.
“Thank you Chris. She’s in the clinic, when you’re ready.”
Kelly left Connor and Christiana to it. Ten minutes later, they both made their way down to the clinic. When they arrived, there were a large amount of people, all crowding a bed in the far corner.
“Well, first things first.” Christiana said. “Everyone who isn’t a doctor and in charge of her health needs to get out.”
Everyone turned in response to Christiana’s words and seemed to stand there, speechless.
“You heard her,” Kelly said. “Everyone out.”
All of a sudden, people started to move, shuffling to the other side of the room, although no one seemed to want to leave altogether. Christiana rolled her eyes at this. It would have to do. All who were left was Daniela, Kelly, Duncan and Katie. Daniela was crouched in a ball on the bed, hugging her knees and staring into space, by her side in an armchair, lay Duncan, his front half sprawled over the bed protectively as he held onto one of Daniela’s hands. He was completely passed out however. Daniela appeared to shoot gazes at him every so often as if silently asking him what she should do next. She seemed terrified and helpless all at once. Katie was standing by the head of the bed, a look of stubborn resistance to Christiana’s order. Her gaze told Christiana that she was not going to leave any time soon.
“Katie.” Christiana said. “I know you want to be here for your friend, and I get that, but I need a few minutes alone with her. All these people around her really won’t be helping her nerves.”
Katie looked as if she was going to argue this, but Christiana threw her a look she reserved for her patient’s back on her ward, which stated that she was not going to take any crap from anyone. As such, Katie let out a frustrated groan and stormed off to the next bed over, sat down with her arms crossed and glared over in Christiana’s direction.
Daniela had gone back to a look of spaced out indifference, although Christiana noticed that she seemed to tighten her grip on Duncan’s hand. She decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to move him from where he was. She went and sat on Daniela’s other side.
“Kelly,” Christiana said, without looking over at her. “Move.”
Kelly knew better than to argue with her and walked to the other side of the room with Connor in tow. Christiana smiled gently at Daniela who was now looking at her, her face expressionless.
“Hey,” she said. “Remember me?”
Daniela didn’t respond but turned her head away from Christiana, choosing a spot on her bed to focus on.
“Not talking, huh?” Christiana said. “Yeah, I heard about that. I’m not surprised.”
Daniela continued to stare.
“So, here’s what I’m going to do right now.” Christiana continued. “I’m going to ask you some practical questions, all of which you can simply nod or shake your head to. I don’t expect you to talk if you don’t want to, I just want to make sure I know what’s going on in order to ensure that you’re treated the best way possible. Are you okay with that?”
Daniela turned her gaze back to Christiana again. She didn’t answer but she kept her gaze on her, which Christiana took to be a good sign.
“Okay,” Christiana said. “Physically, how are you feeling? Any increased breathing?”
Daniela shook her head.
“Any tremors or spasms?”
Again Daniela shook her head.
“Any pain in your chest at all?”
Daniela didn’t answer at first, and then tears were at her eyes. She nodded slowly and touched her free hand to her chest, her bottom lip trembling. A tear fell down her cheek and she immediately rubbed it away, looking off into the distance again.
“Is it a physical pain?” Christiana asked.
Daniela shook her head.
“An emotional one?”
She nodded.
“We’re going to do all we can to help with that Daniela, I promise.”
Daniela sniffed and seemed to disappear in her gaze once more. Further tears began to fall down her face but this time she did nothing to stop them.
“Can I ask you a few further questions?” Christiana asked.
Daniela turned back to face Christiana again and eventually nodded her response.
“Are you afraid to talk?” Christiana asked.
Daniela paused for a moment and then eventually nodded her head.
“Are you able to tell me what you’re scared of?”
Daniela appeared to look panicked at this question.
“Perhaps if you wrote it down?” Christiana offered.
Daniela looked to Duncan then and, following her gaze, Christiana noticed that he had woken up and was now looking at them both curiously.
“Hey Duncan,” Christiana said. “Any chance you can locate a pen and paper for us?”
Duncan looked to Daniela for confirmation that she wanted this and she nodded once again.
“I’ll be right back.” He said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Duncan got up and headed off towards the rest of the crowd on the other side of the room.
“You’ve really got him hooked, you know.” Christiana commented. “I never thought that was ever going to happen with him.”
Daniela didn’t respond to this but seemed to be thinking it over. She kept her eyes on him from the other side of the room.
“I guess the feelings mutual, hmmm?” Christiana added.
Daniela looked at her then and sighed, shaking her head as if to contest this.
“You don’t feel the same way?”
She shook her head again, throwing her attention down to her now free hands as she fidgeted with them.
“You do?”
She sighed again and tutted, appearing to get frustrated at the questions.
“It’s okay, we don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
She gazed back up at Christiana and once more placed her hand over her chest, tapping it gently as if to tell her something.
“Is it the pain?”
She shook her head and tutted again. Glancing back for a moment at Duncan who now appeared to be deep in conversation with Kelly, she returned her gaze back to Christiana and in the smallest whisper possible, she spoke.
“I don’t deserve him.”
Immediately after speaking she shut her mouth tightly and her bottom lip began to tremble once again. She squeezed her eyes shut and held onto her chest, keeling over slightly as she seemed to try and contain a pain that had hit her.
“It’s okay.” Christiana said. “You don’t need to talk. Just take it at your own pace.”
She nodded but kept her eyes shut, tears falling freely once more.
“Is it okay if I comment on what you said?” Christiana asked.
Daniela looked at her, waiting on her response.
“When bad things happen, especially when we feel responsible for these bad things, we tend to think that we don’t deserve any good things as a result. However, sometimes it’s the good things that happen to us that help us deal with the bad.”
Daniela continued to stare at her, the look on her face seemed to suggest that she didn’t agree with this.
“But you don’t want to feel better?” Christiana asked.
Once more, she received a nod to confirm she was on the right tracks.
“Again, that makes sense. Grief and guilt have to be the worst things possible for us to deal with. But they can also be the best things as well. It shows a mark of how good you are that you are able to feel guilt. If you didn’t then this would be a completely different conversation. Guilt, we can work with. It’s all about moderation and learning to use what you’re feeling to move forward and make up for the bad things that you feel you have done.”
Suddenly Duncan’s raised voice carried over to them.
“I don’t care what you say, Kelly. I’m not going!”
Christiana looked over to them in time to see Kelly’s face contort into one of pure rage. Crap. She thought. Kelly very rarely showed this face and it wasn’t pretty when she did. All of a sudden, Kelly grabbed the back of Duncan’s head and smashed it down on a nearby table. Duncan almost seemed to bounce back up again and staggered back from the blow. Kelly jabbed her finger hard against his chest.
“I don’t give a shit what you think, Jennings. You’re going.” Kelly said. “I’ve been more than tolerant over your little rants and complete lack of respect for me over the past couple of months, but let me be clear. I’m done giving you special treatment. I outrank you and I am telling you that you are going. Do you understand?”
Duncan didn’t respond. He stood, head bleeding, glaring at Kelly. She stepped even closer.
“Don’t make me wait for your response, Jennings.” She said. “You defy me once more and I will not make life pleasant for you at all.”
Duncan seemed to actually growl and Christiana was sure that he was going to argue back. However, after a moment he spoke through gritted teeth. “Fine.”
“Good.” Kelly said, apparently satisfied, she went to leave and then turned back round to address him once more. “Oh and if you ever lay a finger on me again, I will permanently damage that pretty little face of yours.”
Christiana was suddenly aware of Daniela’s increased breathing, she was beginning to look panicked. Immediately Christiana felt her protectiveness over her patient take over.
“That’s it!” She yelled, storming over to where everyone else stood. “Out! All of you! This is a hospital area and I will not have you upsetting my patient.”
Kelly looked as if she would argue with Christiana.
“Not another word.” Christiana said. “Everyone out of this room now!”
“But…” Duncan started.
“No! Sort out your shit outside and when you’re done beating each other up and learn how to show some form of control, you can come back.”
Everyone reluctantly started to move out through the doors to the main clinic, until all who were left were Daniela, Christiana and Gary. Christiana turned back to Daniela.
“I’m so sorry about that,” she said. “Now, where were we?”
“Chris! Get up.” Kelly’s voice entered into Christiana’s deep sleeping state.
“Hmmmm.” Christiana responded, burying herself deeper into Connor’s arms.
Connor wrapped his arms tighter around Christiana making his own grunts in response.
“Chris, we need you. Please wake up.”
“Kel, if I wake up and this turns out to be Saturday, I’m going to be mega pissed at you.”
“It’s a Thursday. Not that that means anything.” Kelly replied.
“What time is it?” Connor asked.
“7am.” Kelly said. “And Daniela’s awake. We need Chris to come and see her.”
Suddenly a rush of memories flooded into Christiana’s mind and her temporary suspended belief that she was back at her flat disappeared with it. She groaned even more loudly and nuzzled closer to Connor, pushing the bad memories away. She really had to learn to wake up without this sodding amnesia. She was tired of learning the world had ended all over again every morning.
“Seriously Chris, Daniela spent the first twenty minutes screaming and since then has been silent. Duncan said that you had a good talk with her before. We’re worried about her and we need your help.”
Christiana reluctantly pushed herself away from the warmth of Connor’s chest and blinked into the light to find Kelly standing at the foot of her bed.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” She asked.
“I tried that. No one answered.”
“So your answer was just to barge in?” Christiana asked.
“We’re desperate Chris. Please, just forget that you hate me for a second. She seems really messed up.”
“I’m not surprised, given what you did to her.” Christiana muttered, but grabbed her dressing gown from the chair beside her bed and got up. “When did she wake up?”
“About ten hours ago.” Kelly answered. “I tried to leave you two alone for as long as I could. But we’re all beginning to worry about her now.”
“She’s probably in shock.” Christiana said. “It’s a lot for her to take in, being back in full use of her body again for the first time in so long and dealing with the fallout of everything that she’s been through as well.”
“Will you come and see her?”
“Give me ten minutes to get ready.” Christiana answered.
“Thank you Chris. She’s in the clinic, when you’re ready.”
Kelly left Connor and Christiana to it. Ten minutes later, they both made their way down to the clinic. When they arrived, there were a large amount of people, all crowding a bed in the far corner.
“Well, first things first.” Christiana said. “Everyone who isn’t a doctor and in charge of her health needs to get out.”
Everyone turned in response to Christiana’s words and seemed to stand there, speechless.
“You heard her,” Kelly said. “Everyone out.”
All of a sudden, people started to move, shuffling to the other side of the room, although no one seemed to want to leave altogether. Christiana rolled her eyes at this. It would have to do. All who were left was Daniela, Kelly, Duncan and Katie. Daniela was crouched in a ball on the bed, hugging her knees and staring into space, by her side in an armchair, lay Duncan, his front half sprawled over the bed protectively as he held onto one of Daniela’s hands. He was completely passed out however. Daniela appeared to shoot gazes at him every so often as if silently asking him what she should do next. She seemed terrified and helpless all at once. Katie was standing by the head of the bed, a look of stubborn resistance to Christiana’s order. Her gaze told Christiana that she was not going to leave any time soon.
“Katie.” Christiana said. “I know you want to be here for your friend, and I get that, but I need a few minutes alone with her. All these people around her really won’t be helping her nerves.”
Katie looked as if she was going to argue this, but Christiana threw her a look she reserved for her patient’s back on her ward, which stated that she was not going to take any crap from anyone. As such, Katie let out a frustrated groan and stormed off to the next bed over, sat down with her arms crossed and glared over in Christiana’s direction.
Daniela had gone back to a look of spaced out indifference, although Christiana noticed that she seemed to tighten her grip on Duncan’s hand. She decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to move him from where he was. She went and sat on Daniela’s other side.
“Kelly,” Christiana said, without looking over at her. “Move.”
Kelly knew better than to argue with her and walked to the other side of the room with Connor in tow. Christiana smiled gently at Daniela who was now looking at her, her face expressionless.
“Hey,” she said. “Remember me?”
Daniela didn’t respond but turned her head away from Christiana, choosing a spot on her bed to focus on.
“Not talking, huh?” Christiana said. “Yeah, I heard about that. I’m not surprised.”
Daniela continued to stare.
“So, here’s what I’m going to do right now.” Christiana continued. “I’m going to ask you some practical questions, all of which you can simply nod or shake your head to. I don’t expect you to talk if you don’t want to, I just want to make sure I know what’s going on in order to ensure that you’re treated the best way possible. Are you okay with that?”
Daniela turned her gaze back to Christiana again. She didn’t answer but she kept her gaze on her, which Christiana took to be a good sign.
“Okay,” Christiana said. “Physically, how are you feeling? Any increased breathing?”
Daniela shook her head.
“Any tremors or spasms?”
Again Daniela shook her head.
“Any pain in your chest at all?”
Daniela didn’t answer at first, and then tears were at her eyes. She nodded slowly and touched her free hand to her chest, her bottom lip trembling. A tear fell down her cheek and she immediately rubbed it away, looking off into the distance again.
“Is it a physical pain?” Christiana asked.
Daniela shook her head.
“An emotional one?”
She nodded.
“We’re going to do all we can to help with that Daniela, I promise.”
Daniela sniffed and seemed to disappear in her gaze once more. Further tears began to fall down her face but this time she did nothing to stop them.
“Can I ask you a few further questions?” Christiana asked.
Daniela turned back to face Christiana again and eventually nodded her response.
“Are you afraid to talk?” Christiana asked.
Daniela paused for a moment and then eventually nodded her head.
“Are you able to tell me what you’re scared of?”
Daniela appeared to look panicked at this question.
“Perhaps if you wrote it down?” Christiana offered.
Daniela looked to Duncan then and, following her gaze, Christiana noticed that he had woken up and was now looking at them both curiously.
“Hey Duncan,” Christiana said. “Any chance you can locate a pen and paper for us?”
Duncan looked to Daniela for confirmation that she wanted this and she nodded once again.
“I’ll be right back.” He said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Duncan got up and headed off towards the rest of the crowd on the other side of the room.
“You’ve really got him hooked, you know.” Christiana commented. “I never thought that was ever going to happen with him.”
Daniela didn’t respond to this but seemed to be thinking it over. She kept her eyes on him from the other side of the room.
“I guess the feelings mutual, hmmm?” Christiana added.
Daniela looked at her then and sighed, shaking her head as if to contest this.
“You don’t feel the same way?”
She shook her head again, throwing her attention down to her now free hands as she fidgeted with them.
“You do?”
She sighed again and tutted, appearing to get frustrated at the questions.
“It’s okay, we don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
She gazed back up at Christiana and once more placed her hand over her chest, tapping it gently as if to tell her something.
“Is it the pain?”
She shook her head and tutted again. Glancing back for a moment at Duncan who now appeared to be deep in conversation with Kelly, she returned her gaze back to Christiana and in the smallest whisper possible, she spoke.
“I don’t deserve him.”
Immediately after speaking she shut her mouth tightly and her bottom lip began to tremble once again. She squeezed her eyes shut and held onto her chest, keeling over slightly as she seemed to try and contain a pain that had hit her.
“It’s okay.” Christiana said. “You don’t need to talk. Just take it at your own pace.”
She nodded but kept her eyes shut, tears falling freely once more.
“Is it okay if I comment on what you said?” Christiana asked.
Daniela looked at her, waiting on her response.
“When bad things happen, especially when we feel responsible for these bad things, we tend to think that we don’t deserve any good things as a result. However, sometimes it’s the good things that happen to us that help us deal with the bad.”
Daniela continued to stare at her, the look on her face seemed to suggest that she didn’t agree with this.
“But you don’t want to feel better?” Christiana asked.
Once more, she received a nod to confirm she was on the right tracks.
“Again, that makes sense. Grief and guilt have to be the worst things possible for us to deal with. But they can also be the best things as well. It shows a mark of how good you are that you are able to feel guilt. If you didn’t then this would be a completely different conversation. Guilt, we can work with. It’s all about moderation and learning to use what you’re feeling to move forward and make up for the bad things that you feel you have done.”
Suddenly Duncan’s raised voice carried over to them.
“I don’t care what you say, Kelly. I’m not going!”
Christiana looked over to them in time to see Kelly’s face contort into one of pure rage. Crap. She thought. Kelly very rarely showed this face and it wasn’t pretty when she did. All of a sudden, Kelly grabbed the back of Duncan’s head and smashed it down on a nearby table. Duncan almost seemed to bounce back up again and staggered back from the blow. Kelly jabbed her finger hard against his chest.
“I don’t give a shit what you think, Jennings. You’re going.” Kelly said. “I’ve been more than tolerant over your little rants and complete lack of respect for me over the past couple of months, but let me be clear. I’m done giving you special treatment. I outrank you and I am telling you that you are going. Do you understand?”
Duncan didn’t respond. He stood, head bleeding, glaring at Kelly. She stepped even closer.
“Don’t make me wait for your response, Jennings.” She said. “You defy me once more and I will not make life pleasant for you at all.”
Duncan seemed to actually growl and Christiana was sure that he was going to argue back. However, after a moment he spoke through gritted teeth. “Fine.”
“Good.” Kelly said, apparently satisfied, she went to leave and then turned back round to address him once more. “Oh and if you ever lay a finger on me again, I will permanently damage that pretty little face of yours.”
Christiana was suddenly aware of Daniela’s increased breathing, she was beginning to look panicked. Immediately Christiana felt her protectiveness over her patient take over.
“That’s it!” She yelled, storming over to where everyone else stood. “Out! All of you! This is a hospital area and I will not have you upsetting my patient.”
Kelly looked as if she would argue with Christiana.
“Not another word.” Christiana said. “Everyone out of this room now!”
“But…” Duncan started.
“No! Sort out your shit outside and when you’re done beating each other up and learn how to show some form of control, you can come back.”
Everyone reluctantly started to move out through the doors to the main clinic, until all who were left were Daniela, Christiana and Gary. Christiana turned back to Daniela.
“I’m so sorry about that,” she said. “Now, where were we?”
Chapter fifty five
Daniela
“What has monthly vaccines go to do with repopulating the Earth?” Duncan asked.
“You know, for such a pretty face, it’s a shame you don’t have brains to go with it.” Leah said.
“It’s not a vaccine.” Daniela said. “It’s something else.”
A thought came to Daniela then, and she ran to her laptop, bringing up the results she was looking for from previous subjects. When she found it, a light seemed to go on in her head.
“This treatment we’ve been getting. Have you all had it too?”
“One injection a month for a year.” Charlotte said. “But I was told it was a vaccine as well.”
“Of course you were told that.” Kirsty said, and then added in a stage whisper. “No need to involve the civilians.”
"What is it?” Duncan asked.
“But I don’t understand.” Daniela said. “What was the point of giving you the injection as well?”
“The results had to be accurate.” Leah said. “There couldn’t be any variables in us that differed from you. If a cure was to be found, we had to essentially be the same. Given that it was always the plan for you to have these injections, voila. We all had them too.”
“Would someone please explain what’s going on?” Duncan asked.
“They were all 100% healthy when I started working on them.” Daniela explained. “Every single one of them scored perfectly on all their pre-exposure tests. I always found that weird. Most people will have something wrong with them; an odd lump, a slightly raised cholesterol or heart rate. But all of them were completely normal. It didn’t last after the exposure, their bodies all went haywire in reaction to it, but before? It was completely abnormal just how normal they were.”
“And that’s down to the same injections that we’ve been getting as well?” Duncan asked.
“So it would seem.” Daniela answered.
“So what? These injections are some kind of vitamin to make our bodies healthy?”
"I’m not sure.” Daniela said. “Leah?”
“Oooh, look at them try to work it out.” Kirsty said. “And suddenly our lives have meaning again. We die and the secret dies with us.”
“Stop being such a bitch, Kirsty.” Charlotte said. “And besides, we die and they can just go and ask the doctor in the other room. No loss there.”
“But the doctor’s under strict orders.” Kirsty said. “He won’t tell them until he’s instructed to. And here we are, able to tell them straight away what it is that they have been putting into their bodies for almost a year.”
“So we wait a few months.” Duncan said. “I think we can handle it.”
“And continue allowing them to inject you with the unknown substance?” Kirsty asked. “That would be foolish. Especially as the only people you know who have had this injection previously are all either dead or dying.”
“That relation is irrelevant.” Daniela said. “It was the exposure that killed you, not the injection.”
“But how can you be sure?” Kirsty asked.
“Because it would be pretty stupid of them to save only 1000 people just to inject us with something that will then kill us off entirely.” Duncan said.
“Oh look, Leah.” Kirsty said. “The man does have a brain cell in there.”
Daniela didn’t know what made her do it, she was already on edge with everything that was going on and the emotions in her body were constantly at odds with each other, but at Kirsty’s words a flash of anger unlike anything she had felt before soared through her and the next thing she knew, she had Kirsty off the bed and pinned up against the wall by her neck.
“Daniela!” Gary’s voice was suddenly reverberating around the room. “You’re going to kill the woman, put her down!”
Red mist surrounding Daniela’s eyesight, seemed to evaporate and suddenly she was aware of how purple Kirsty appeared to be getting. She was spluttering and pulling on Daniela’s hand which still held on tight to her neck. Daniela felt a slight panic and suddenly didn’t know what to do. She felt frozen in place, holding onto Kirsty’s neck. She willed her hand to move but it wouldn’t comply. Kirsty’s face turned a deeper purple and the panic in her eyes started to match a panic flurrying at the very base of Daniela’s stomach.
Then two hands touched Daniela’s shoulders and a current of electricity soared through her, soothing her panic and allowing her to find the movement she needed to let go of her grip on Kirsty’s throat. She backed away, finding herself cowering into the open arms of Duncan and welcoming in the familiar high from being in contact with another Danel. Kirsty fell to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. Duncan led Daniela away to the other side of the room, soothing her panic with soft whispers of comfort that only she could hear.
“Well, it’s not like they didn’t warn us.” Charlotte said. “Rule No. 1 about being a Volunteer. Don’t piss off a Walker, they tend to be a little stronger than us. Or did you forget?”
Kirsty threw Charlotte a dirty look but didn’t respond as she kept all her attention on catching her breath once more.
“I’m sorry.” Daniela said, peering out from her small safe haven in Duncan’s arms. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m just not as well balanced as I have been.”
“Don’t apologise.” Leah said. “She knows better than to piss you off. She’s just venting. The whole dying thing brings out the inner bitch in Kirsty, it seems.”
“I’m ready to die now.” Kirsty whispered from her corner of the cell. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to wait around talking to you guys. I want it done with.”
Daniela froze, unable to move her body once more.
“Sssh, it’s okay,” Duncan soothed. He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “What do I need?”
“I’ve set up the doses on the table over there.” Daniela said. “A lethal dose is in a small vial and set up in an injection. There should be three.”
“Straight into the drip in their hands?” Duncan asked.
Daniela nodded and untangled herself from Duncan, moving to the farthest edge of the wall and turning her face away from what was about to happen.
“What about you two?” Duncan asked. “Do you want to wait it out, or are you ready?”
There was a silence as Charlotte and Leah seemed to weigh up their options.
“There really is no way I’m getting out of this alive, is there?” Charlotte asked, her voice small and lifeless.
Daniela turned to her then, Charlotte deserved her attention, she had been so good to her.
“I’m sorry,” Daniela said. “I really tried, but I couldn’t find the cure. I’m so sorry.”
Tears pricked in Charlotte’s eyes but she quickly blinked them away and pasted and weak smile onto her face, nodding her head in acceptance of Daniela’s words.
“Okay, no worries.” She said. “It was always the most likely answer to me being here. It’s fine.” She turned to Duncan, her weak smile fading slightly. “I’m ready to go too.”
“Leah?” Duncan asked.
“Is there anything that you can learn from us staying alive for as long as possible?” Leah asked Daniela.
“Only confirmation that the drug works to the very last moment,” Daniela said. “But I’m already 98% certain of that. There’s nothing else that I can start on with such a small amount of volunteers.”
“Then inject me up, sexy silver man.” Leah said, putting on the bravest show of strength Daniela had seen in a long time.
Daniela turned away from the women. Panic was creeping into every crevice of her being and she began to feel her breathing increase.
“Daniela,” Charlotte said. “How about you wait down the hall? You don’t need to be here for this.”
“No.” She said, forcing her eyes back to them and pushing hard against the increasing panic inside. “I started this, I’ll see it to the end.”
Duncan nodded slightly at her words and took the first injection from Daniela’s work station, turning to Kirsty who was first in line.
"What will it feel like?” Kirsty asked.
“You’ll feel a slight pinch and then you’ll suddenly feel really tired and lethargic.” Daniela said. “Go with the feeling, don’t fight it and it will happen a lot quicker.”
“Will it hurt?” Kirsty asked.
“No.” Daniela said. “You’ll just go to sleep.”
Kirsty nodded and offered her arm to Duncan. Duncan inserted the injection into her drip and administered the dose immediately, choosing not to drag the process out any longer than it had been already. Kirsty looked at Duncan, confusion on her face suddenly. She stayed that way until her eyes started to flicker and eventually closed. Her chest slowed it's steady breathing rhythm, the rises and falls becoming more laboured and longer drawn out. Eventually her chest stopped moving altogether and a loud sob came out of Charlotte’s mouth.
Daniela turned to Charlotte and saw her eyes fixed on Kirsty’s unmoving body, her hand clamped over her mouth as she stifled any further sobs from escaping her. Her tears were falling steadily and freely and she was visibly shaking.
Duncan walked over to her and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.
“If you don’t want to do this…” He started.
She shook her head. “No, do it now.” She said. “Please. Before I change my mind. I can’t sit around hoping any longer.”
Duncan nodded in understanding and helped Charlotte down onto the bed. She continued to shake, her sobs getting louder and increasing in the audible pain that she was going through. Daniela couldn’t take it anymore and rushed to her side, taking her free hand opposite Duncan.
"Ssshh,” She said. “It’s going to be okay. Think of everyone you know who will be waiting for you. Your family, your friends, you get to see them all really soon.”
Charlotte turned her panicked look to Daniela.
“I’ve never believed in that before,” she said. “Do you think that it’s possible?”
“I think it has to be.” Daniela said. “Wherever it is that you go, the place has to be better than the one here. You’ll be at peace at last. No longer worrying about the end of the world and what it will do to you. Regardless of religion or anything, that place will be a lot more peaceful than being here.”
Charlotte pursed her lips and nodded her head in agreement. She squeezed tight onto Daniela’s hand and Daniela raised Charlotte’s fingers to her lips, kissing them lightly. With Charlotte’s eyes still on Daniela, Duncan administered the drug and Daniela watched as her eyes began to shut, tears still falling free from them. It was when the tears stopped that Daniela knew she was gone. A peaceful sleeping body lay where Charlotte’s panicked wakened state had been. If Daniela knew how to cry as a Walker she would have broke down then. Instead she just watched her patiently.
Duncan disappeared from her sight and somewhere in the distance Daniela could hear him offering words of comfort and advice to Leah. Soon Leah’s voice too disappeared and Daniela knew that the deed had been done. All three women were now dead which took the amount of people she had killed to 100. She stayed where she was, gazing at Charlotte’s still form, resting her cheek against her limp hand, held tightly inside both of her own.
“Daniela.” Duncan said. “Come on. There’s nothing else to do here now. It’s time.”
Daniela took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. She kissed Charlotte’s hand once more and placed it gently by her side.
“What will happen to their bodies?” She asked.
“We’ll send someone in to cremate them later.” Duncan said.
He took Daniela’s hand and led her gently away from the three seemingly sleeping women.
“Gary?” He asked.
“Daniela needs to give me access and then I’m ready.”
“Already done.” Daniela said.
Without another word, Daniela saw the white walls of the room that had become so familiar to her, disappear around her and with a deep breath she opened her eyes to see a darker and murkier room instead. A much more human version of Duncan was looking over her, his face a picture of concern. She acknowledged it and then she felt it; an almighty pain unlike anything she had ever before experienced entered into her chest and she let out a massive scream, desperately searching for some form of relief.
“What has monthly vaccines go to do with repopulating the Earth?” Duncan asked.
“You know, for such a pretty face, it’s a shame you don’t have brains to go with it.” Leah said.
“It’s not a vaccine.” Daniela said. “It’s something else.”
A thought came to Daniela then, and she ran to her laptop, bringing up the results she was looking for from previous subjects. When she found it, a light seemed to go on in her head.
“This treatment we’ve been getting. Have you all had it too?”
“One injection a month for a year.” Charlotte said. “But I was told it was a vaccine as well.”
“Of course you were told that.” Kirsty said, and then added in a stage whisper. “No need to involve the civilians.”
"What is it?” Duncan asked.
“But I don’t understand.” Daniela said. “What was the point of giving you the injection as well?”
“The results had to be accurate.” Leah said. “There couldn’t be any variables in us that differed from you. If a cure was to be found, we had to essentially be the same. Given that it was always the plan for you to have these injections, voila. We all had them too.”
“Would someone please explain what’s going on?” Duncan asked.
“They were all 100% healthy when I started working on them.” Daniela explained. “Every single one of them scored perfectly on all their pre-exposure tests. I always found that weird. Most people will have something wrong with them; an odd lump, a slightly raised cholesterol or heart rate. But all of them were completely normal. It didn’t last after the exposure, their bodies all went haywire in reaction to it, but before? It was completely abnormal just how normal they were.”
“And that’s down to the same injections that we’ve been getting as well?” Duncan asked.
“So it would seem.” Daniela answered.
“So what? These injections are some kind of vitamin to make our bodies healthy?”
"I’m not sure.” Daniela said. “Leah?”
“Oooh, look at them try to work it out.” Kirsty said. “And suddenly our lives have meaning again. We die and the secret dies with us.”
“Stop being such a bitch, Kirsty.” Charlotte said. “And besides, we die and they can just go and ask the doctor in the other room. No loss there.”
“But the doctor’s under strict orders.” Kirsty said. “He won’t tell them until he’s instructed to. And here we are, able to tell them straight away what it is that they have been putting into their bodies for almost a year.”
“So we wait a few months.” Duncan said. “I think we can handle it.”
“And continue allowing them to inject you with the unknown substance?” Kirsty asked. “That would be foolish. Especially as the only people you know who have had this injection previously are all either dead or dying.”
“That relation is irrelevant.” Daniela said. “It was the exposure that killed you, not the injection.”
“But how can you be sure?” Kirsty asked.
“Because it would be pretty stupid of them to save only 1000 people just to inject us with something that will then kill us off entirely.” Duncan said.
“Oh look, Leah.” Kirsty said. “The man does have a brain cell in there.”
Daniela didn’t know what made her do it, she was already on edge with everything that was going on and the emotions in her body were constantly at odds with each other, but at Kirsty’s words a flash of anger unlike anything she had felt before soared through her and the next thing she knew, she had Kirsty off the bed and pinned up against the wall by her neck.
“Daniela!” Gary’s voice was suddenly reverberating around the room. “You’re going to kill the woman, put her down!”
Red mist surrounding Daniela’s eyesight, seemed to evaporate and suddenly she was aware of how purple Kirsty appeared to be getting. She was spluttering and pulling on Daniela’s hand which still held on tight to her neck. Daniela felt a slight panic and suddenly didn’t know what to do. She felt frozen in place, holding onto Kirsty’s neck. She willed her hand to move but it wouldn’t comply. Kirsty’s face turned a deeper purple and the panic in her eyes started to match a panic flurrying at the very base of Daniela’s stomach.
Then two hands touched Daniela’s shoulders and a current of electricity soared through her, soothing her panic and allowing her to find the movement she needed to let go of her grip on Kirsty’s throat. She backed away, finding herself cowering into the open arms of Duncan and welcoming in the familiar high from being in contact with another Danel. Kirsty fell to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. Duncan led Daniela away to the other side of the room, soothing her panic with soft whispers of comfort that only she could hear.
“Well, it’s not like they didn’t warn us.” Charlotte said. “Rule No. 1 about being a Volunteer. Don’t piss off a Walker, they tend to be a little stronger than us. Or did you forget?”
Kirsty threw Charlotte a dirty look but didn’t respond as she kept all her attention on catching her breath once more.
“I’m sorry.” Daniela said, peering out from her small safe haven in Duncan’s arms. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m just not as well balanced as I have been.”
“Don’t apologise.” Leah said. “She knows better than to piss you off. She’s just venting. The whole dying thing brings out the inner bitch in Kirsty, it seems.”
“I’m ready to die now.” Kirsty whispered from her corner of the cell. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to wait around talking to you guys. I want it done with.”
Daniela froze, unable to move her body once more.
“Sssh, it’s okay,” Duncan soothed. He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “What do I need?”
“I’ve set up the doses on the table over there.” Daniela said. “A lethal dose is in a small vial and set up in an injection. There should be three.”
“Straight into the drip in their hands?” Duncan asked.
Daniela nodded and untangled herself from Duncan, moving to the farthest edge of the wall and turning her face away from what was about to happen.
“What about you two?” Duncan asked. “Do you want to wait it out, or are you ready?”
There was a silence as Charlotte and Leah seemed to weigh up their options.
“There really is no way I’m getting out of this alive, is there?” Charlotte asked, her voice small and lifeless.
Daniela turned to her then, Charlotte deserved her attention, she had been so good to her.
“I’m sorry,” Daniela said. “I really tried, but I couldn’t find the cure. I’m so sorry.”
Tears pricked in Charlotte’s eyes but she quickly blinked them away and pasted and weak smile onto her face, nodding her head in acceptance of Daniela’s words.
“Okay, no worries.” She said. “It was always the most likely answer to me being here. It’s fine.” She turned to Duncan, her weak smile fading slightly. “I’m ready to go too.”
“Leah?” Duncan asked.
“Is there anything that you can learn from us staying alive for as long as possible?” Leah asked Daniela.
“Only confirmation that the drug works to the very last moment,” Daniela said. “But I’m already 98% certain of that. There’s nothing else that I can start on with such a small amount of volunteers.”
“Then inject me up, sexy silver man.” Leah said, putting on the bravest show of strength Daniela had seen in a long time.
Daniela turned away from the women. Panic was creeping into every crevice of her being and she began to feel her breathing increase.
“Daniela,” Charlotte said. “How about you wait down the hall? You don’t need to be here for this.”
“No.” She said, forcing her eyes back to them and pushing hard against the increasing panic inside. “I started this, I’ll see it to the end.”
Duncan nodded slightly at her words and took the first injection from Daniela’s work station, turning to Kirsty who was first in line.
"What will it feel like?” Kirsty asked.
“You’ll feel a slight pinch and then you’ll suddenly feel really tired and lethargic.” Daniela said. “Go with the feeling, don’t fight it and it will happen a lot quicker.”
“Will it hurt?” Kirsty asked.
“No.” Daniela said. “You’ll just go to sleep.”
Kirsty nodded and offered her arm to Duncan. Duncan inserted the injection into her drip and administered the dose immediately, choosing not to drag the process out any longer than it had been already. Kirsty looked at Duncan, confusion on her face suddenly. She stayed that way until her eyes started to flicker and eventually closed. Her chest slowed it's steady breathing rhythm, the rises and falls becoming more laboured and longer drawn out. Eventually her chest stopped moving altogether and a loud sob came out of Charlotte’s mouth.
Daniela turned to Charlotte and saw her eyes fixed on Kirsty’s unmoving body, her hand clamped over her mouth as she stifled any further sobs from escaping her. Her tears were falling steadily and freely and she was visibly shaking.
Duncan walked over to her and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.
“If you don’t want to do this…” He started.
She shook her head. “No, do it now.” She said. “Please. Before I change my mind. I can’t sit around hoping any longer.”
Duncan nodded in understanding and helped Charlotte down onto the bed. She continued to shake, her sobs getting louder and increasing in the audible pain that she was going through. Daniela couldn’t take it anymore and rushed to her side, taking her free hand opposite Duncan.
"Ssshh,” She said. “It’s going to be okay. Think of everyone you know who will be waiting for you. Your family, your friends, you get to see them all really soon.”
Charlotte turned her panicked look to Daniela.
“I’ve never believed in that before,” she said. “Do you think that it’s possible?”
“I think it has to be.” Daniela said. “Wherever it is that you go, the place has to be better than the one here. You’ll be at peace at last. No longer worrying about the end of the world and what it will do to you. Regardless of religion or anything, that place will be a lot more peaceful than being here.”
Charlotte pursed her lips and nodded her head in agreement. She squeezed tight onto Daniela’s hand and Daniela raised Charlotte’s fingers to her lips, kissing them lightly. With Charlotte’s eyes still on Daniela, Duncan administered the drug and Daniela watched as her eyes began to shut, tears still falling free from them. It was when the tears stopped that Daniela knew she was gone. A peaceful sleeping body lay where Charlotte’s panicked wakened state had been. If Daniela knew how to cry as a Walker she would have broke down then. Instead she just watched her patiently.
Duncan disappeared from her sight and somewhere in the distance Daniela could hear him offering words of comfort and advice to Leah. Soon Leah’s voice too disappeared and Daniela knew that the deed had been done. All three women were now dead which took the amount of people she had killed to 100. She stayed where she was, gazing at Charlotte’s still form, resting her cheek against her limp hand, held tightly inside both of her own.
“Daniela.” Duncan said. “Come on. There’s nothing else to do here now. It’s time.”
Daniela took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. She kissed Charlotte’s hand once more and placed it gently by her side.
“What will happen to their bodies?” She asked.
“We’ll send someone in to cremate them later.” Duncan said.
He took Daniela’s hand and led her gently away from the three seemingly sleeping women.
“Gary?” He asked.
“Daniela needs to give me access and then I’m ready.”
“Already done.” Daniela said.
Without another word, Daniela saw the white walls of the room that had become so familiar to her, disappear around her and with a deep breath she opened her eyes to see a darker and murkier room instead. A much more human version of Duncan was looking over her, his face a picture of concern. She acknowledged it and then she felt it; an almighty pain unlike anything she had ever before experienced entered into her chest and she let out a massive scream, desperately searching for some form of relief.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Chapter fifty four
Christiana
Christiana couldn’t help but touch absolutely everything she came into contact with. She wandered the barren wasteland, bending down to touch the ground and letting her fingers trail and path to the remains of a building, caressing the charred brick and soaking in the tingling feeling it was sending throughout her body.
“Oh, I totally get why Daniela wanted to be stuck like this.” Christiana said. “This is so cool.”
“It gets old quick. Trust me.” Connor said.
“Stop ruining my buzz.” Christiana said and wrapped her hand around the top of a broken down wall, sending vibrations soaring through her body. “Oh wait, never mind. You can’t.”
Connor chuckled and he jogged to catch up with Christiana who had ran ahead to another building, climbing onto the rocks. She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the sun. The bright light felt as if it should burn but she felt nothing other than the faintest sense of warmth and a light, floating feeling flying round her head.
“This is awesome!” Christiana shouted into the sky and set off into a run again. The energy she felt didn’t seem to dissipate and the more she ran, the more free she felt. She kept on going, vaguely aware of Connor’s feet behind her.
“Christie, wait.” Connor called out.
Before Christiana could acknowledge his call however she ran straight into what felt like a brick wall and suddenly she was flying backwards, landing heavily on her back. She didn’t hurt, although her hand instinctively went to her back, expecting a pain to be there. When she had finally confirmed that she was okay and that she didn’t feel any pain at all, she peered forward to see what she had hit. There was nothing there. Just an open wasteland.
“What just happened?” She asked Connor who was now knelt by her side.
“You reached the limit.” Connor said.
“What?”
“Stylo1 only has a certain range that it can keep hold of a Walker for. You’re lucky, if you had been going any faster you’d have dissolved completely and woken up back in The Bubble. A transfer that quick can feel a little weird.”
“How much is a little?”
“Katie did it once and spent the next 48 hours in bed with vertigo.”
“Nice.” Christiana said. “You could have warned me.”
“I did.” Connor replied. “I said wait.”
Christiana rolled her eyes and held out her hand to be helped up. Connor stood still, staring down at her hand suspiciously.
“What?” She asked. “I don’t bite.” She threw Connor a mischievous smile. “Unless you ask nicely.”
Connor flashed Christiana a welcoming smile. “Don’t tempt me.”
“So? Are you going to help your girlfriend off the floor or what?” Christiana asked.
“I would, it’s just…” Connor seemed to falter. “We haven’t touched yet. And for one Danel to touch another? Well let’s just say, it’s an experience unlike anything else. If I’m honest, it’s one of the main reasons why I invited you out here in the first place. But the first time it happens, it would probably be a good idea for you to be firmly standing and balanced on two feet.”
Christiana peered up at Connor curiously, but accepted his bizarre explanation and pushed herself up off the ground. Once she was up and standing she gazed seductively into Connor’s eyes.
“So, what was that you were saying about us touching?”
Connor gave a small inviting smile and took a step closer to her, keeping his hands hovering inches from hers.
“Stay still.” He whispered.
Christiana did as she was told and waited with bated breath for Connor’s move. Agonizingly slowly, he lifted one of his hands and brought it close to her face. With the tips of his fingers, he slowly closed the gap and gently stroked her cheek.
Immediately Christiana felt an electric current so tantalisingly strong that it sent her body shooting backwards into a broken wall behind her. She clutched onto the brick and tried to catch her breath. Her entire body felt like it had just come alive and was now vibrating at such a pace she had to close her eyes to try and regain some control.
“Holy crap.” Connor called out from far away. Christiana kept her eyes shut, her head still spinning uncontrollably. Suddenly Connor’s voice was by her side. “Are you okay?” He asked. “I didn’t know it was going to be that strong. It came out of nowhere.”
“Just give me a minute.” Christiana said. Her eyes still firmly shut although her head beginning to spin less than it had been before.
“Guys?” Liam’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere. “Is everything okay? The monitors here are going a little weird. Where are you guys anyway?”
“Near the border.” Connor answered. “And we’re fine, I think. Just a little shocked that’s all.”
“What happened?” Liam asked.
“We touched for the first time,” Connor said. “It took the wind out of us, Christie looks a little shocked.”
“That happened from touching?” Liam asked, there was a pause and then he was back. “You guys aren’t trying anything freaky out there, are you?”
“Liam!” Christiana said. “Get your head out of the gutter. We’re fine.” She turned to Connor. “I’m fine, the world was just taking a little spin. But it’s stopped now.”
“Okay, well. I’ll leave you guys to it, I guess.” Liam said. “Just, try not to blow up the machinery. Kelly may be close to you both and all, but I’m pretty sure that she’ll kill us all if we break this thing.”
“We’ll be careful.” Christiana said, her gaze was still locked with Connor’s and suddenly all she could feel was a craving to touch him again. “Do you feel that?” She asked
“The need to touch you?” Connor asked. “Yeah, but that’s a feeling I’ve pretty much grown used to.”
“I take it, that doesn’t usually happen?” Christiana asked.
“The first time is always a little more intense than the others, but no, I’ve never thrown five feet into the air after touching another Walker before.”
“Why do you think it happened to us?”
“My main theory probably has to do with the fact that the Danel has our emotions heightened.”
“But I thought it was hard to hold onto your emotions when you’re like this?” Christiana asked.
“It’s the main side effect, yes. But I’ve trained to hold onto my emotions and you’re feeding off me at the moment. Once you learn how to access that side, it’s pretty hard to turn off or control.”
“Which led to the flying?”
“That’s what I reckon.”
“Is it weird that I want to try it again?”
“Very. But you’ll get no arguments from me.”
Christiana smiled at that and stood up straight.
“My turn.” She said. “Stay still.”
Connor kept her gaze and did as he was told, his body taking the form of a statue as he waited patiently for her move. Christiana mimicked his previous actions and raised one hand towards his face, this time reaching for his forehead. She let her fingertips hover for a moment a mere couple of centimetres from his silver skin as a moment of doubt and fear flashed through her. As soon as it was there however, a longing to feel him again took over and her fingers shot forward and touched his head.
Immediately the pulses started again through her body, but she gritted her teeth and stood her ground this time, rooting herself to where she stood so that she wouldn’t fly off again. Soon the feeling seemed to grow and without realising it, she had placed both hands around his neck, her body pressing into his. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and both of them did all they could to ensure that every part of their bodies available was in contact with each other.
The vibrations increased and decreased in velocity the longer they held on. After a while, Christiana realised that she wasn’t only experiencing the reaction of his touch, but experiencing him. She felt elated; love pouring into every part of her. She felt happiness and peace and excitement and adoration. She felt it intermingle with her own emotions which seemed to become unlocked the moment she felt his. She held on tighter and buried her face in the chest of the man she loved, all of a sudden completely overwhelmed by sensation and joy.
And then she felt something else. Something that was so alien to everything else that she was experiencing. A dark chasm of deep unending sorrow that grew in intensity until it started to take over all the other feelings she was experiencing. Soon, it became too much and she let out a cry and pushed Connor away from her, breaking the link.
Connor let go and staggered back from her push, his face a question mark as he tried to search for her reason for letting go.
“What is that?” She asked, her voice soft and cracked in pain for Connor.
“What’s what?”
“Why are you so sad?”
“What? I’m not…”
“Connor, it’s deafening. That pain that’s there, it’s horrible.”
Connor continued to look confused for a fraction longer before he shook his head sadly.
“There’s a lot to be sad about.” He said simply.
Christiana felt her heart break at his words. She closed the gap once more.
“Oh, baby,” she said and took hold of his face in her hands, welcoming in the pain once more. She reached onto her tip toes and kissed him gently on the forehead. “Don’t carry that alone. Please. You can always talk to me.”
Connor pulled away to give Christiana a dubious look.
“I think you counselling me would definitely constitute as a conflict of interest.”
“I meant talk to me as your girlfriend, not your therapist.”
Connor gave a sad smile. “I know. There’s a lot there, that’s all.” He widened his smile. “I’m a lot better when I’m with you though. So don’t worry.”
“Connor, telling me not to worry is like… I don’t know, something that’s really ridiculous.”
Connor laughed at that and Christiana felt some of the pain ebb away for a second before it seemed to bounce right back with a vengeance and Connor stepped away from Christiana’s hold.
“What is it?” Christiana asked.
“There is something that I need to talk to you about.” Connor said.
“I’m listening.”
“Not here.” He said and offered his hand. “Let’s walk back and we’ll talk when we’re inside.”
Christiana looked at him curiously, unsure as to whether this was just a ploy to shut her up.
“Unless you’re not finished looking around out here?” Connor asked, misreading her apprehension.
“I’m good.” Christiana said, and slipped her hand into his, a tirade of vibrations all a little subtler than previously immediately entering her body at his touch.
Both lost in their own thoughts and the comfortableness that came when they were together, they walked the half hour back in silence, their fingers interlocked with each other.
Christiana couldn’t help but touch absolutely everything she came into contact with. She wandered the barren wasteland, bending down to touch the ground and letting her fingers trail and path to the remains of a building, caressing the charred brick and soaking in the tingling feeling it was sending throughout her body.
“Oh, I totally get why Daniela wanted to be stuck like this.” Christiana said. “This is so cool.”
“It gets old quick. Trust me.” Connor said.
“Stop ruining my buzz.” Christiana said and wrapped her hand around the top of a broken down wall, sending vibrations soaring through her body. “Oh wait, never mind. You can’t.”
Connor chuckled and he jogged to catch up with Christiana who had ran ahead to another building, climbing onto the rocks. She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the sun. The bright light felt as if it should burn but she felt nothing other than the faintest sense of warmth and a light, floating feeling flying round her head.
“This is awesome!” Christiana shouted into the sky and set off into a run again. The energy she felt didn’t seem to dissipate and the more she ran, the more free she felt. She kept on going, vaguely aware of Connor’s feet behind her.
“Christie, wait.” Connor called out.
Before Christiana could acknowledge his call however she ran straight into what felt like a brick wall and suddenly she was flying backwards, landing heavily on her back. She didn’t hurt, although her hand instinctively went to her back, expecting a pain to be there. When she had finally confirmed that she was okay and that she didn’t feel any pain at all, she peered forward to see what she had hit. There was nothing there. Just an open wasteland.
“What just happened?” She asked Connor who was now knelt by her side.
“You reached the limit.” Connor said.
“What?”
“Stylo1 only has a certain range that it can keep hold of a Walker for. You’re lucky, if you had been going any faster you’d have dissolved completely and woken up back in The Bubble. A transfer that quick can feel a little weird.”
“How much is a little?”
“Katie did it once and spent the next 48 hours in bed with vertigo.”
“Nice.” Christiana said. “You could have warned me.”
“I did.” Connor replied. “I said wait.”
Christiana rolled her eyes and held out her hand to be helped up. Connor stood still, staring down at her hand suspiciously.
“What?” She asked. “I don’t bite.” She threw Connor a mischievous smile. “Unless you ask nicely.”
Connor flashed Christiana a welcoming smile. “Don’t tempt me.”
“So? Are you going to help your girlfriend off the floor or what?” Christiana asked.
“I would, it’s just…” Connor seemed to falter. “We haven’t touched yet. And for one Danel to touch another? Well let’s just say, it’s an experience unlike anything else. If I’m honest, it’s one of the main reasons why I invited you out here in the first place. But the first time it happens, it would probably be a good idea for you to be firmly standing and balanced on two feet.”
Christiana peered up at Connor curiously, but accepted his bizarre explanation and pushed herself up off the ground. Once she was up and standing she gazed seductively into Connor’s eyes.
“So, what was that you were saying about us touching?”
Connor gave a small inviting smile and took a step closer to her, keeping his hands hovering inches from hers.
“Stay still.” He whispered.
Christiana did as she was told and waited with bated breath for Connor’s move. Agonizingly slowly, he lifted one of his hands and brought it close to her face. With the tips of his fingers, he slowly closed the gap and gently stroked her cheek.
Immediately Christiana felt an electric current so tantalisingly strong that it sent her body shooting backwards into a broken wall behind her. She clutched onto the brick and tried to catch her breath. Her entire body felt like it had just come alive and was now vibrating at such a pace she had to close her eyes to try and regain some control.
“Holy crap.” Connor called out from far away. Christiana kept her eyes shut, her head still spinning uncontrollably. Suddenly Connor’s voice was by her side. “Are you okay?” He asked. “I didn’t know it was going to be that strong. It came out of nowhere.”
“Just give me a minute.” Christiana said. Her eyes still firmly shut although her head beginning to spin less than it had been before.
“Guys?” Liam’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere. “Is everything okay? The monitors here are going a little weird. Where are you guys anyway?”
“Near the border.” Connor answered. “And we’re fine, I think. Just a little shocked that’s all.”
“What happened?” Liam asked.
“We touched for the first time,” Connor said. “It took the wind out of us, Christie looks a little shocked.”
“That happened from touching?” Liam asked, there was a pause and then he was back. “You guys aren’t trying anything freaky out there, are you?”
“Liam!” Christiana said. “Get your head out of the gutter. We’re fine.” She turned to Connor. “I’m fine, the world was just taking a little spin. But it’s stopped now.”
“Okay, well. I’ll leave you guys to it, I guess.” Liam said. “Just, try not to blow up the machinery. Kelly may be close to you both and all, but I’m pretty sure that she’ll kill us all if we break this thing.”
“We’ll be careful.” Christiana said, her gaze was still locked with Connor’s and suddenly all she could feel was a craving to touch him again. “Do you feel that?” She asked
“The need to touch you?” Connor asked. “Yeah, but that’s a feeling I’ve pretty much grown used to.”
“I take it, that doesn’t usually happen?” Christiana asked.
“The first time is always a little more intense than the others, but no, I’ve never thrown five feet into the air after touching another Walker before.”
“Why do you think it happened to us?”
“My main theory probably has to do with the fact that the Danel has our emotions heightened.”
“But I thought it was hard to hold onto your emotions when you’re like this?” Christiana asked.
“It’s the main side effect, yes. But I’ve trained to hold onto my emotions and you’re feeding off me at the moment. Once you learn how to access that side, it’s pretty hard to turn off or control.”
“Which led to the flying?”
“That’s what I reckon.”
“Is it weird that I want to try it again?”
“Very. But you’ll get no arguments from me.”
Christiana smiled at that and stood up straight.
“My turn.” She said. “Stay still.”
Connor kept her gaze and did as he was told, his body taking the form of a statue as he waited patiently for her move. Christiana mimicked his previous actions and raised one hand towards his face, this time reaching for his forehead. She let her fingertips hover for a moment a mere couple of centimetres from his silver skin as a moment of doubt and fear flashed through her. As soon as it was there however, a longing to feel him again took over and her fingers shot forward and touched his head.
Immediately the pulses started again through her body, but she gritted her teeth and stood her ground this time, rooting herself to where she stood so that she wouldn’t fly off again. Soon the feeling seemed to grow and without realising it, she had placed both hands around his neck, her body pressing into his. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and both of them did all they could to ensure that every part of their bodies available was in contact with each other.
The vibrations increased and decreased in velocity the longer they held on. After a while, Christiana realised that she wasn’t only experiencing the reaction of his touch, but experiencing him. She felt elated; love pouring into every part of her. She felt happiness and peace and excitement and adoration. She felt it intermingle with her own emotions which seemed to become unlocked the moment she felt his. She held on tighter and buried her face in the chest of the man she loved, all of a sudden completely overwhelmed by sensation and joy.
And then she felt something else. Something that was so alien to everything else that she was experiencing. A dark chasm of deep unending sorrow that grew in intensity until it started to take over all the other feelings she was experiencing. Soon, it became too much and she let out a cry and pushed Connor away from her, breaking the link.
Connor let go and staggered back from her push, his face a question mark as he tried to search for her reason for letting go.
“What is that?” She asked, her voice soft and cracked in pain for Connor.
“What’s what?”
“Why are you so sad?”
“What? I’m not…”
“Connor, it’s deafening. That pain that’s there, it’s horrible.”
Connor continued to look confused for a fraction longer before he shook his head sadly.
“There’s a lot to be sad about.” He said simply.
Christiana felt her heart break at his words. She closed the gap once more.
“Oh, baby,” she said and took hold of his face in her hands, welcoming in the pain once more. She reached onto her tip toes and kissed him gently on the forehead. “Don’t carry that alone. Please. You can always talk to me.”
Connor pulled away to give Christiana a dubious look.
“I think you counselling me would definitely constitute as a conflict of interest.”
“I meant talk to me as your girlfriend, not your therapist.”
Connor gave a sad smile. “I know. There’s a lot there, that’s all.” He widened his smile. “I’m a lot better when I’m with you though. So don’t worry.”
“Connor, telling me not to worry is like… I don’t know, something that’s really ridiculous.”
Connor laughed at that and Christiana felt some of the pain ebb away for a second before it seemed to bounce right back with a vengeance and Connor stepped away from Christiana’s hold.
“What is it?” Christiana asked.
“There is something that I need to talk to you about.” Connor said.
“I’m listening.”
“Not here.” He said and offered his hand. “Let’s walk back and we’ll talk when we’re inside.”
Christiana looked at him curiously, unsure as to whether this was just a ploy to shut her up.
“Unless you’re not finished looking around out here?” Connor asked, misreading her apprehension.
“I’m good.” Christiana said, and slipped her hand into his, a tirade of vibrations all a little subtler than previously immediately entering her body at his touch.
Both lost in their own thoughts and the comfortableness that came when they were together, they walked the half hour back in silence, their fingers interlocked with each other.
Monday, 21 January 2013
Chapter fifty three
Daniela
Duncan was still staring at her and whilst she held his gaze, she found herself unable to move. She was completely stunned by him. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was the lack of seeing anyone that she didn’t then kill, maybe it was the fact that she had heard his voice nonstop for 10 months with only a dimming memory of what he looked like to associate with it, whatever it was, she was completely overwhelmed by him in this moment. She wanted nothing else than to stand there forever, taking in who he was, this man who had not left her side, even when she pushed hard to make him go. He had stayed, and he was still here.
She didn’t know how she felt about him. She knew that she felt admiration and respect and gratification for his loyalty to her, but outside of that she was unsure where her feelings fell. All she knew was that the affection she felt from him was so beautiful that she welcomed it completely. After ten months of people who at worst hated her and at best had a mutual understanding of her, this was completely new and so, so needed. She hadn’t realised how much so, but feeling it now made her want to collapse into a heap and start to cry, if her Walker body knew how to express such an emotion.
Duncan must have felt something in her reaction because suddenly he was by her side, his electric touch at her elbow and sending shivers all across her body.
“What do you need?”
“Do you take requests?”
The voice was coming from Kirsty, who was now sitting on the edge of her bed, her hair had been fashioned to fall over her shoulder and she chose this moment to push it behind one ear and flutter her eyelashes towards Duncan. Duncan gave her a bemused look.
“You’ll have to excuse Kirsty,” Charlotte said. “She tends to hit on any man that moves… Although, I kind of get it. You’re like a sexy silver surfer.”
“Okay,” Daniela interrupted, making her way to Charlotte’s drip. “Let’s look at the dose of your drug shall we?” She gave Duncan an apologetic look. “It takes some modifying. Sexual inhibition comes with the toxins bizarrely enough. Most people just don’t notice it because their too crippled with the pain. Subject 94 went through a period of grabbing my arse any time I came near. That was one of the signs I took to mean my pain medicine was beginning to work.”
Duncan grinned at that and suddenly Kirsty was at his side.
“So, I don’t know if you heard, but I happen to be dying.” She said.
“I think I heard something about that.” Duncan said.
“Well, I was just thinking.” She continued, leaning in close to Duncan. “As you are here, and I’m here, and there’s a bed just over there…”
“Kirsty!” Daniela said, interrupting her before she could go any further. “Why don’t we work on your drip now?”
Once Daniela had adjusted all three of the women’s drugs and they began to show some signs of self-control around Duncan, she turned back to him. Duncan met her gaze and an intensity seemed to sizzle in between them. Once again, Duncan’s trademark grin was nowhere to be found, he only showed concern for her.
“Daniela.” He said.
Daniela broke eye contact and started busying herself at the work station, setting up the next lot of drugs, this time adding enough of the medication to send each of them into a deep sleep from which they would never wake.
“I’m grateful for you for doing this.” She said, her voice business like. “I was a little concerned about having to do it myself.”
“It’s no problem. Of course, if they want to go this way, I’ll happily help them.”
Daniela stopped what she was doing then, her hands resting on the table and her head dipped low.
“I administer them with the deadly toxin and you let them go without any pain. That sounds about right.”
“If you would prefer…”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Daniela said. A pang of pain shot through her chest and she shut her eyes tight, desperately willing it away. “I couldn’t do it if I wanted to. I’d have a better chance of administering the drug on myself.”
“You know that’s not an option, right?”
Daniela turned to look at him then.
“Why are you here?” She asked. “I’m a cold blooded killer. You should be finding ways to kill me. Every action I’ve done since coming into this room leads to me being the bad guy.”
“But you’re not a bad guy.” Duncan said. “You’re just coming out of a really crappy patch.”
“Is that what we’re going to call the murder of 100 innocent lives? A crappy patch?”
“One of these days, you are really going to have to stop feeling sorry for yourself.” Daniela turned to see Leah looking at her from her bed.
“Like Charlotte said earlier, you get to live. And if you dare live it in a pool of self-pity, I will come back to Earth and kill you myself.”
“Pffh.” Kirsty said. “Good luck on that. We’re almost up to a year of being in Utopia. You’re going to have quite a fight on your hands.”
“I don’t know,” Leah said. “She’s been in here for all of it.”
“Her Walker has. Not her. You think Gary stopped injecting her just because she was lying in a pod?”
Daniela looked at them quizzically.
“What the hell are you talking about?” She asked.
“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Duncan added.
Suddenly Gary’s voice came over the sound system.
“They don’t know anything about that yet, guys. How about a change of subject?”
“Don’t know anything about what?” Duncan asked.
“You mean, you guys have been taking it without knowing why?” Kirsty asked.
"Kirsty…” Gary said, his voice a low warning.
“The protocol was to tell everyone it was vaccines.” Leah said. “I never thought that people would buy that for this long though. I was sure that the moment people showed no signs of the toxins, they would start to question.”
“Not to mention when accidents happen. Surely you guys must have noticed the sheer lack of cuts and bruises on all of you.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Duncan said. “There isn’t any lack of cuts and bruises. People are hurting themselves just like normal.”
Kirsty looked up at the camera, addressing Gary. “Does this mean that it’s not working?”
There was a brief pause before Gary’s voice came over the speakers. “Everything’s right on schedule.”
“On schedule for what?” Daniela asked.
Kirsty smiled at them both. “For repopulation of the Earth.”
Duncan was still staring at her and whilst she held his gaze, she found herself unable to move. She was completely stunned by him. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was the lack of seeing anyone that she didn’t then kill, maybe it was the fact that she had heard his voice nonstop for 10 months with only a dimming memory of what he looked like to associate with it, whatever it was, she was completely overwhelmed by him in this moment. She wanted nothing else than to stand there forever, taking in who he was, this man who had not left her side, even when she pushed hard to make him go. He had stayed, and he was still here.
She didn’t know how she felt about him. She knew that she felt admiration and respect and gratification for his loyalty to her, but outside of that she was unsure where her feelings fell. All she knew was that the affection she felt from him was so beautiful that she welcomed it completely. After ten months of people who at worst hated her and at best had a mutual understanding of her, this was completely new and so, so needed. She hadn’t realised how much so, but feeling it now made her want to collapse into a heap and start to cry, if her Walker body knew how to express such an emotion.
Duncan must have felt something in her reaction because suddenly he was by her side, his electric touch at her elbow and sending shivers all across her body.
“What do you need?”
“Do you take requests?”
The voice was coming from Kirsty, who was now sitting on the edge of her bed, her hair had been fashioned to fall over her shoulder and she chose this moment to push it behind one ear and flutter her eyelashes towards Duncan. Duncan gave her a bemused look.
“You’ll have to excuse Kirsty,” Charlotte said. “She tends to hit on any man that moves… Although, I kind of get it. You’re like a sexy silver surfer.”
“Okay,” Daniela interrupted, making her way to Charlotte’s drip. “Let’s look at the dose of your drug shall we?” She gave Duncan an apologetic look. “It takes some modifying. Sexual inhibition comes with the toxins bizarrely enough. Most people just don’t notice it because their too crippled with the pain. Subject 94 went through a period of grabbing my arse any time I came near. That was one of the signs I took to mean my pain medicine was beginning to work.”
Duncan grinned at that and suddenly Kirsty was at his side.
“So, I don’t know if you heard, but I happen to be dying.” She said.
“I think I heard something about that.” Duncan said.
“Well, I was just thinking.” She continued, leaning in close to Duncan. “As you are here, and I’m here, and there’s a bed just over there…”
“Kirsty!” Daniela said, interrupting her before she could go any further. “Why don’t we work on your drip now?”
Once Daniela had adjusted all three of the women’s drugs and they began to show some signs of self-control around Duncan, she turned back to him. Duncan met her gaze and an intensity seemed to sizzle in between them. Once again, Duncan’s trademark grin was nowhere to be found, he only showed concern for her.
“Daniela.” He said.
Daniela broke eye contact and started busying herself at the work station, setting up the next lot of drugs, this time adding enough of the medication to send each of them into a deep sleep from which they would never wake.
“I’m grateful for you for doing this.” She said, her voice business like. “I was a little concerned about having to do it myself.”
“It’s no problem. Of course, if they want to go this way, I’ll happily help them.”
Daniela stopped what she was doing then, her hands resting on the table and her head dipped low.
“I administer them with the deadly toxin and you let them go without any pain. That sounds about right.”
“If you would prefer…”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Daniela said. A pang of pain shot through her chest and she shut her eyes tight, desperately willing it away. “I couldn’t do it if I wanted to. I’d have a better chance of administering the drug on myself.”
“You know that’s not an option, right?”
Daniela turned to look at him then.
“Why are you here?” She asked. “I’m a cold blooded killer. You should be finding ways to kill me. Every action I’ve done since coming into this room leads to me being the bad guy.”
“But you’re not a bad guy.” Duncan said. “You’re just coming out of a really crappy patch.”
“Is that what we’re going to call the murder of 100 innocent lives? A crappy patch?”
“One of these days, you are really going to have to stop feeling sorry for yourself.” Daniela turned to see Leah looking at her from her bed.
“Like Charlotte said earlier, you get to live. And if you dare live it in a pool of self-pity, I will come back to Earth and kill you myself.”
“Pffh.” Kirsty said. “Good luck on that. We’re almost up to a year of being in Utopia. You’re going to have quite a fight on your hands.”
“I don’t know,” Leah said. “She’s been in here for all of it.”
“Her Walker has. Not her. You think Gary stopped injecting her just because she was lying in a pod?”
Daniela looked at them quizzically.
“What the hell are you talking about?” She asked.
“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Duncan added.
Suddenly Gary’s voice came over the sound system.
“They don’t know anything about that yet, guys. How about a change of subject?”
“Don’t know anything about what?” Duncan asked.
“You mean, you guys have been taking it without knowing why?” Kirsty asked.
"Kirsty…” Gary said, his voice a low warning.
“The protocol was to tell everyone it was vaccines.” Leah said. “I never thought that people would buy that for this long though. I was sure that the moment people showed no signs of the toxins, they would start to question.”
“Not to mention when accidents happen. Surely you guys must have noticed the sheer lack of cuts and bruises on all of you.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Duncan said. “There isn’t any lack of cuts and bruises. People are hurting themselves just like normal.”
Kirsty looked up at the camera, addressing Gary. “Does this mean that it’s not working?”
There was a brief pause before Gary’s voice came over the speakers. “Everything’s right on schedule.”
“On schedule for what?” Daniela asked.
Kirsty smiled at them both. “For repopulation of the Earth.”
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Chapter fifty two
Christiana
“I sincerely hope
that this isn’t you trying to be romantic,” Christiana said as Connor led her
into the familiar room of The Bubble. “Because, if so, I hate to break it to
you, looking out at a wasteland of a dead Earth really isn’t doing it for me.”
“Damn.” Connor said.
“And I’d spent all that extra time removing all the decaying stuff so that it
had more of a romantic feel…”
Christiana grinned
and rolled her eyes.
“You grin at that,
but you’d be surprised what he’s been up to while he’s been waiting for you,”
said one of Connor’s friend’s, Liam, jumping down from an open pod and making
his way to the circular mainframe that was Stylo1.
“So… what’s this
about?” Christiana asked, darting a look between Liam and Connor.
Connor took
Christiana’s other hand and turned her so that she was standing opposite him.
“I’ve had a lot of
time to think of how I was going to make it up to you for the crappy way I left
things before I left. You didn’t deserve that, I should have consulted you and
I didn’t, that made me a crap boyfriend and for that, I am deeply sorry.”
“Yeah well, I should probably
be doing a bit of apologising myself.” Christiana said, throwing him a guilty
look. “I haven’t exactly been the nicest about you these past couple of
months.”
“Downright bitchy is
what I heard.” Liam chipped in.
Christiana had a
flashback of mouthing off to Liam’s girlfriend, Autumn a few weeks’ back. No
doubt she had mentioned something to him since he had been back. She mentally
chastised herself for her stupid drunken mouth.
“Anyway,” she said.
“I would say that we both haven’t been good spouses.”
Connor grinned.
“Spouses?” He asked. He thought for a moment. “I like that.”
“What was it that
you were saying?” Christiana asked, her cheeks flushing.
“Right.” Connor
said, a flash of excitement in his eyes. “So, I had all this time to think about
how to make my time back with you the best it could be, and I’ve come up with a
whole bunch of stuff that, by the way, you are going to love and it will cause
you to forget all about my little mishap of forgetting to involve you in my
decision making earlier in the year.”
“Sounds good,”
Christiana said. “I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
“I’d like to start
tonight, if that’s okay.” Connor asked.
Christiana pretended
to think about it for a moment. “I think I have a bit of time to spare.” She said.
Connor grinned once
more. “Good.”
He pulled Christiana
to the middle of the room.
“So, I thought about
all the ways that I could show you how much I love you and prove to you that I do think you are awesome and a massive
part in my future, even if my past actions might not have shown that. The best
way I could figure to do this was to share with you all of my experiences.
Everything. Minus giving you a gun and making you sleep outside in the rain of
course.”
“Yeah, I’m okay with
not knowing that part. You’re fine. Continue.”
“Well, one large
part of what I know is this.” Connor said, excitement interlaced in every word.
He placed his hand on one of the two open pods.
Christiana looked at
it dumbly. Surely he didn’t mean what she thought he meant?
“I was wondering,
Christie, if you would like to take a trip outside.”
Christiana let out a
bark of laughter.
“Are you insane?”
She asked.
Connor nodded his
head. “You’ll be completely safe. Your body will stay in here, no damage
anywhere near you and absolute zero risk of exposure.”
“But what about what
happened to Daniela?”
“Trust me when I say
that there is a one in a million likelihood of happening. And even then, you
have to be the creator of the Walker and have an IQ to match hers. I think
we’re both safe there.”
Christiana gave
Connor a dubious look and took a closer look at the pod.
“I’ll be in here the
entire time,” Liam said. “Monitoring you and making sure that nothing bad
happens.” Connor gave him a look and he quickly added. “Not that anything bad would happen, of course.”
“And it’s completely
safe?” Christiana asked Connor.
“I wouldn’t take you
out if I didn’t think so.”
Christiana grinned.
“I’ve got to admit, I’ve always wondered…”
“Well, now you don’t
have to. You can find out all for yourself!” Connor said.
“Okay, I’m in.”
Christiana said.
Connor grinned and
pulled Christiana close, his lips found hers and he kissed her passionately.
Christiana lapped it up, once again soaking in the beauty that was her love for
this man, as well as feeling confident in the knowledge of his love for her.
Liam cleared his throat to remind them both that he was still in the room and
Christiana broke off, flashing Liam a guilty grin.
“Sorry about that.”
Connor picked
Christiana up and carried her to the nearest pod, placing her gently down
inside.
“Any time that it
feels too much, just say.” Connor said, his eyes suddenly full of concern. “The
feeling of being a Walker for the first time can feel a little overwhelming.
I’m going to be there to walk you through it and ensure you experience all the
best bits, but if you’ve had enough, let me know.”
Christiana nodded
and let Liam connect her up to all the different sections of the pod. She
recognised the process from watching Daniela in her spaced out state in the
lab.
“When you’re ready,
Liam will transfer your mind from where you are to out there. This may take a
few minutes but it will seem instantaneous to you. When you get outside, I will
already be there. Don’t move. Don’t try to walk and don’t touch anything. All
of these things will feel incredibly weird to you at first and it’s better if I
walk you through it. Just look for me, I’ll be there, most probably standing
right in front of you. I’ll tell you what to do. Are you ready to take orders
from me?”
“As long as you ask
me nicely each time.” Christiana said.
Connor grinned. “I
wouldn’t dream of otherwise,” he said, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
Once she was
strapped in and connected to the pod, she felt very constricted. She had very
limited movement and it scared her for a moment. Connor saw the panic on her
face and stroked her cheek.
“Hey,” he said.
“Remember, if it gets too much at any point…”
“I’ll say.”
Christiana finished, giving him a soft smile.
“I love you,
Christiana Edwards.”
“I love you, too.”
He flashed her
another of his smiles and stroked her cheek. “See you in a second.”
He hit a button and
Christiana immediately felt her conscious slip away from her. The next thing
she knew, she was peering into a bright light. It was really bright. She held out her hand to shield her eyes from the
light and noticed the silver where her blue sleeve had been a moment before.
She was staring at the Danel, no, she was
the Danel. Only it didn’t look like the Danel that she had known all this time
prior. This Danel seemed to glisten and sparkle in the light. She glanced down
at her hands, stretching them out in front of her and turning them over,
examining how they sparkled in the light. She caught a glimpse of the ground
below her. She could see that it was blackened and cracked, just as it had been
when she had seen it from inside The Bubble, only this time, the grounds colour
no longer seemed dull and dead, but rather full of different shades of black
and grey. It too seemed to sparkle and even vibrate in front of her eyes. It
was a very bizarre feeling to look at.
“Holy crap, I’m a
vampire.” Christiana said.
Immediately she
could hear Connor’s laughter and she looked up in search of the sound. There he
was, right in front of her. He must have been there the whole time but she
hadn’t noticed him. Was that weird? No, she didn’t think so, the sun was really
bright and there were so many things that seemed to be fighting for her
attention to look at. She peered at Connor. She had seen him in this form only
once before and that had been such a long time ago now. However, she still
remembered every moment of that day, each second imprinted and engraved
permanently into her brain forever more. All that being said, Connor didn’t
look at all like he had on that day. In fact, right now, although he was
clearly in Danel form, he looked just like he did when he wasn’t, when he was just normal Connor. Christiana
remembered taking a while to recognise Connor when she had seen him like this
10 months ago. Now though, she couldn’t figure out why she had found it so
hard. She could pick up every little detail of his form, from the way he styled his hair to the clothes that he was wearing. Perhaps her eyes were more attuned to things in this form.
“How are you
feeling?” Connor asked.
“I feel weird.”
Christiana said. “But not in a bad way. It feels good, I think… It’s a little
confusing.”
“Yeah, it’ll be that
way for a little while,” Connor said. “But it does get easier.”
Christiana tore her
eyes away from Connor and explored the rest of the area around him, mindful
that he had asked her not to move from her space until he told her too. Keeping
her feet firmly in one place and restricting her movement to her head only, she
took in her surroundings. The world laid out in front of her in the same barren
wasteland that it had been for months now, nothing moving, except for random
objects being picked up by the breeze. The sun was really bright and Christiana
couldn’t figure out how to react to not feeling the effects of it as it clearly
beamed it’s deadly rays down on her silver skin. At least within The Bubble,
there had been a protective screen over the glass which dumbed the sun’s
brightness down to a vaguely normal level. Out here though, and through the
eyes she was currently looking through, it seemed like it was close to
exploding. She briefly wondered if it actually was, but decided against
exploring such an idea as she was certain it would unveil nothing but
depressing answers.
The rest of the
world around her though didn’t nearly seem as destitute as it had when she had
looked at it from inside her little glass home. Out here, there seemed to be
something about it that looked as if it was clutching hold of life. Christiana
couldn’t figure out what it was, but something about outside at that moment
almost seemed as if it were breathing.
“Connor, this is
epic.” Christiana said, her voice a breath of exclamation.
“I thought you’d
like it.” Connor said. “Are you ready to try moving?”
Christiana turned
her attention back to Connor.
“How do you mean?”
“I was thinking
maybe you could try taking a step?”
“Will it be hard?”
Christiana asked.
“Not exactly… just
weird. Your feet are currently still in the Danel. When you lift your
legs, they’ll merge into proper feet and contact with the ground is going to
feel a little bizarre.”
“Like how?”
“Like you’re
touching something but instead of feeling how you’re used to feeling when you
do, it’s going to feel different.”
“Well, thanks for
that.” Christiana said, giving Connor a look. “That really cleared everything
up.”
Connor chuckled.
“Just be aware that what you’re about to feel isn’t what you’re used to
feeling. When you’ve got your mindset fixed on that, try taking a step forward.
But slowly! It will be weird at
first.”
“Okay.” Christiana
said and focused her mind on her left leg, keeping an open mind to what she
might experience. She slowly lifted her leg and moved it forward towards Connor
who had taken a step back to give her room.
“Am I doing this
right?” Christiana asked, her leg suspended in mid-air and her eyes watching
Connor’s face for some form of confirmation.
“Usually when people
walk they put their foot back down again, but you’re halfway there.”
Christiana rolled
her eyes. “Oh so we’re being sarcastic now? Well, if that’s the case… you just
wait. At some point, I’ll think of something really sarcastic to say back to
you.”
“That’s great. But
for now, trying clearing your mind and actually concentrating, hmmm?”
“Okay, okay.”
Christiana said and looked down at the ground below her.
Slowly she put her
foot down on the ground again and a spark of energy seemed to shoot up her leg.
The only thing that she could compare it to was the feeling of pins and needles
only it was a lot more prominent and a lot less painful.
“Woah.” She said.
“Are you okay?”
Connor asked, a look of concern on his face. He closed the gap between them and
hovered around her, getting as close as he could without touching.
Christiana looked up
at him and grinned.
“That was awesome.”
She said. “I’m serious about what I said before. Remind me to speak to Daniela
about marketing this to every female
teenager ever. I’m pretty sure that girls would pay everything they have to
feel like they’ve just become a vampire.”
“Are you serious?”
Connor said, giving her a look of dismay. “You’re walking around, mentally
connected to a substance that hadn’t existed 5 years ago in a world that has
seized to exist and that is what
you’re thinking about?”
“I’m a complex
woman, Connor.” Christiana said. “I can’t be confined to normal thinking. I
need to roam free.”
Connor rolled his
eyes. “Fine, how about you try a bit of roaming now?” He said and turned to the
wasteland behind him, offering up a gesture with his hand. “Where do you want
to go first?”
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