Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter Forty Five - The Roses Reflect His Feelings

The warm weather had already begun to fade; the sun was not so dominant in the sky during the day, sharing more often than not with thickened clouds. But at the same time, the winds still had a modicum of warmth, the bitter air from the north was not being swept in their direction. So it was only after she had dug out a cashmere cardigan from a large walk-in wardrobe from a room that had been left alone as it belonged to the house's previous occupants, did Brooke emerge from the house intending on getting a little fresh air.

She'd been sick all morning, the contents of her breakfast flushed down a toilet and although she had brushed her teeth, there was still the bitterness of the experience on her tongue. Feeling restless afterwards, she'd wanted to get a little fresh air to clear her head and the remnant nausea. Ugh, this was so not what she had expected once she had clung onto the thick thigh of Jonah!

Still, she thought as she rubbed the expensive and soft material of the cardigan between her fingers, there were still a few perks to be had.

The front of the large mansion remained the home to an array of flowers, many of which roses, a flower that Brooke felt was old fashioned. One of her previous boyfriends had sent her a dozen red ones once, which would have been okay had the thorns all been removed. The scar on her finger tip remained noticeable if one looked hard enough and since then, she had not been too fond of the flower. The buds here were a peachy colour, some in full bloom, others still budding and the perfume was heady, yet actually settling her nausea, so naturally she bent to inhale the aroma a little more.

Only, when she touched the silken petals of one, it began to sag visibly upon her fingers. Glancing around, she noticed that all of the roses were drooping and they were not the only ones. "What's going on?" She wondered aloud.

"Ah," came a heavy sigh and she spun around to see the muscular body of Dexter approaching the place where she stood. He wasn't really a handsome man, his brown hair was choppy and dry, his skin clearly weathered to the point he'd developed lines about his eyes despite still looking like he hadn't yet left his twenties. He squinted in bright light making his eyes seem small and his jaw was a bit too prominent for his features. Still, he was obviously a strong man, not only physically, but having developed an ability as well and he was a fair bit younger than Jonah. In his hand he held a bucket, suggesting that he'd been taking a mix of vegetable scraps, grass and bits of left over grain to feed the sheep before he heard her complaint. "I'm guessing this has something to do with Nathan."

"The gardening boy?" Brooke questioned, glancing over Dexter's figure as he lazily moved. That boy was about the same age as she and her cousin and was good looking, in a cute, but innocent way. He would have been the sort she bullied in high school, the boys would cry in the toilets after she'd said a few mean words. Her memories of that time were hazy; not because she was trying to forget some shameful past or anything, just that she didn't bother to remember it. School was school. All teenagers were brats in high school! "But surely he's up to his knees in dirt in the back garden?!"

Dexter looked down on her in question, his thick brows raised. "Ordinarily, I might agree with you. But he's not been out of the cottage since the others left." Since Ren left, he thought to himself. "Autumn has been harvesting the vegetables for the past couple of days. The rest of us can't tell a ripe courgette from a rotten one. Even your cousin told me that she's a bit unsure, too used to picking up stuff from the supermarket shelves. Still, at least she can tell if it's edible."

The girl tempered down the irritability building in her stomach. "Okay, but what's that got to do with wilting flowers?"

"You are aware that Nathan has plant abilities as well as water abilities?" Dexter asked her and she couldn't help cross her arms about her chest. Of course she was aware! Wasn't mentioning rubbing salt in her wounds? She'd been so proud to develop her ability that helped lead the squad to sources of clean water, proving her usefulness and worth! But now that there were two men who could produce water from thin air, what use was she? That and that stupid Ren refused to teach her how to do that herself. Some excuse about not having the right 'root'! He was clearly just some weirdo chauvinist!