Kade rises from the bed and walks toward the monitors. He touches the face of a black robed follower, "Look at this guy's face, he's terrified." He looks back at us on the bed, "Tan, Troy – get over here," he says.
We join him as The Surgeon continues to talk to the mourning, angry crowd. Kade takes my hand, "Don't listen to her, zone her out and study the faces," he says.
Troy joins us, "What are we looking for in their faces?" He asks. Kade takes my hand and guides me along, "The fear. Look at it in her eyes," he says, pointing to the face of a girl, who looks no more than sixteen. Her eyes are stretched wide and her lips are trembling. He points to another guy, he's got an angry look on his face; but it's forced, in his eyes is real terror.
Troy stares at a guy who is about his age, "Yes, I recognize his fear. It was the only emotion I experienced whilst I lived here." He puts his arm around Kade and pulls him in close, "Meeting you people showed me that there were other emotions us humans can feel." He walks back to Kelly, "Love and trust being the most important," he says, giving me a disappointed glance as he passes by.
......
Kade and I continue to look at the crowd and a question pops into my head, "Do you think they're real?" Kade doesn't hesitate, "Oh, they're as real as you and I. And therein lies our strength in this situation."
"What do you mean?"
"We know what we're dealing with now. We can dismiss all the supernatural hokum." He points to one petrified looking guy, "But he can't, he believes in it all. He's been brainwashed, indoctrinated." He stands back and throws out his arms, "just like all the rest of them. They're being controlled by the fear of the unknown. We know the truth, we can fight our fear and beat them – destroy whoever has this oppressive power over them." He grabs me in his embrace: strong and protective, "I'm gonna give you our happy ending, Tan – I promise." His whispered words are finished with a tender nibble on my ear that floods me with warmth and love.
But a sudden smell upsets me: citrusy, spicy, a strong perfume like fragrance that doesn't belong on him. I gently prize him a way, "You smell different," I say. He just stares silently at me – I think I can see hurt in his eyes.
......
As soon as the monitors fade, Kade gets back to business, "Right Tan, you can hold onto me from the front as we fly back." Troy is already picking up Kelly and instructing her, "That's right, wrap your legs around me, put your arms around my neck and hold on tight. I'm going to get you home where you'll be safe and sound," he says, carrying Kelly around the room in a practice run for the flight back.
Kelly is very weak and Troy has to half carry her towards the elevator. We're under no illusions that this trip back is going to be easy. But we're armed with a couple of pistols and we have plenty of Disabling Devices, thanks to Troy.
......
When we re-enter the bedroom we're hit by the whiff of the early stages of human decay, "Yuck – she's beginning to smell as rotten as her soul," says Kade, stepping over her corpse. "We really should lay her out and cover her with a sheet," he says, standing over her. "Yes I agree, let's get her on the bed," says Troy, seating Kelly, safely in an armchair.
The smell makes me think of Kristene decaying in the bathtub – if her decomposition wasn't a curse, what was it? And are home is filled with a group of people who are due to suffer the same fate! I still have many questions that need answers.
"Woah, rigormortis is gonna make this difficult," says Kade, grasping her legs. "Rigor...what?" Asks Troy, grabbing her shoulders. A cute little chuckle escapes from Kade, "It's when the body goes stiff after death. We need to stretch her out, to lift her on the bed." He looks up at Troy, "You need to yank her shoulders, while I yank her legs back. Ready – 1,2,3 – pull!"
Her corpse creaks and cracks as Kade and Troy use considerable force to straighten out her body. "Phew, you ready to lift her?" Asks Kade, the exertion showing in his face. "1,2,3 – lift!"
Kade hoists her legs up, but Troy's feet slip in the putrid bodily fluids that have seeped from her and he falls with a force; his face landing between her legs with his crotch landing squarely on her disfigured face!
"Oh how fabulous, you are committing a sex act on my sister's corpse. You people really are as depraved as we are," says Twin:2, her voice slurred and groggy from the wearing-off sedative.
She's still lying on the floor, with her head raised slightly, watching the unfortunate scene in front of her. A surge of anger shoots through me, "Shut up! You know the reality of this situation; sex doesn't come close to it. Kade and Troy are trying to respect your sister's corpse!" I shout at her.
Pulling herself into a sitting position, she addresses me, "Tanya darling," she turns her sleepy head toward Kelly, "and you, my sick little sweetheart. Stay with us, we can share Kade and Troy and have the pick of our hottest followers – we'll have so much fun – girl power!" She cackles.
She turns her attention toward Kade, who is busy engaging a Disabling Device, "Dearest darling boy, please don't do that again. Those powerful sedatives could harm our baby," she says, looking at me to gauge my reaction. I don't satisfy her; instead I just throw her an emotionless, blank stare. Which is no easy feat when inside I'm crying so hard.
She's about to speak, but instead she flinches as a second needle lands in her thigh. Her mouth opens, but swiftly flops closed as the drug knock her out.
Kade does seem to have an urgent need to silence her; he shoots me a kinda cold eye, then looks down at Troy, who is lifting himself off, of the corpse.
Troy brushes himself down, "Right Kade, let's give this another go, shall we," he says, whilst using a pillow to wipe the slippery fluids from the floor.
......
With Twin:2 and her sister's corpse lying neatly on the bed, we set about discussing are return home.
As Kade and Troy discuss logistics I find myself zoning out and reflecting back. I have such a fondness for Little Kelvin, baby Belinda and Mom; we are a family. But given what I now know, I wonder if it will still feel like a home.
Kade and I will be different when we return. I guess I'll just have to accept it and adapt.
"Tan, you weren't listening to a word I just said, were you?" Asks Kade, throwing me his knowing look.
I jolt, "Erm sorry, I was just a little distracted," I mutter.
He looks concerned, "What is it, Tan – what's on your mind?" He asks, with a familiar concern.
"Nothing – just a lot to take in, that's all," I lie.
"Maybe it's guilt, Tanya," says Troy, under his breath.
Kade's head swivels between Troy and I, a potent mix of shock and disappointment in his face, "Woah – I freaking heard that Troy! But right now I'm not giving any headspace to what you might be implying..."
...The walls around us switching to giant monitors interrupt his angry words and The Surgeon's voice, equally angry invades the space. "Dearest disciples, I am incandescent with rage. These people have not only murdered your most loyal leader, but they have desecrated her corpse."
A close up image of Troy, his face buried in Twin:1s crotch is flashed on the screen, accompanied by horrified gasps from the black robed followers who surround us.
"Dearest disciples, take in this abominal sexual desecration before you and allow it to fuel your desire for vengeance..."
..."Come on – we need to get away from here very quickly, these people want our blood," says Troy. He turns to Kade, "We can talk when we are in a safer environment." He says.
But I can't let Troy's implication go that easily, "It's not what you think, Kade!" I assert.
Kade doesn't reply, instead he stares at me, his eyes burning with something. He breaks my stare and says says, "Let's go!"
......
Kelly is draped around Troy, ready and braced to return to the cold that has rendered her weak.
I don't know how we'll escape this frozen man made hell, but I guess we have to go there to find a way out.
I punch in 666 then stand in front of Kade. He puts his hands on my backside and gently hauls me into him. I wrap my legs tight around his waist, embrace his shoulders and nestle my head into his neck.
When I hear the panel slide open, I'm surprised not to be hit by an icy blast. All I feel is the breeze of the rotors as we rise into the still, soft light of a dusky evening.
......
The turmoil I feel inside is at odds with the serenity of the calm evening. The only sound is the soft drone of the rotors as we cruise through a slowly darkening sky.
The strength with which Kade's arms grasp me makes me feel safe but sad.
Careful not to lift my head too close to the rotors, I nudge my mouth towards his ear and as we fly over the Forever Garden, I confess. "Troy wasn't implying anything romantic or physical between us – the fact is I betrayed him in the most hideous way..."
I tell him everything.
It's cathartic getting all my guilt out and my words only begin to slow as we begin our descent into the welcoming lights of The Cryogenic Centre.
... ...
I unravel my legs and slowly slide down Kade to find my feet on solid ground. When I look up, I note it's clear that he's been crying and I see that familiar flash of hurt in his eyes – again.
My immediate response is a rationale reassurance, "Kade, We can talk this through and hopefully put it behind us. I know she forced you to have sex with her," I say, wanting to relieve his guilt and get us back home.
He drops his head and his shoulders begin to gently heave up and down. "Please don't cry, self pity's a negative, destructive emotion – we can move on," I reiterate. He slowly lifts his head and I'm hit with a smack of anger as I see he's not crying, he's – laughing!
He immediately sees my pissed face and grabs my shoulders, "I didn't have sex with either of those witches. I wouldn't do that to you, Tan – never – ever!" He asserts.
"But why was she saying all those things? And she saw your dots!" I say, a glimmer of happy hope tickling my tummy.
His giggles subside, "She was taunting you. And of course they saw my dots, they saw every single piece of me – they're examination was thoroughly humiliating."
Then his face darkens a little, "The truth is, I guess I betrayed Troy as well."
He looks around as Troy And Kelly land some meters away from us, "I was given a choice in order to set us both free: to have sex with both of them, or to fight with Troy till the death of one of us, while you watched on." He breaks a soft smile, "It was a no-brainer – I chose to fight."
He looks suddenly ashamed, "I was hoping to figure a way out of it – but I guess Troy figured it out for both of us.
As Troy walks toward us, carefully supporting a limping Kelly, Kade says what I'm thinking, "We've both got a lot of making up to do with him – he's a real good guy."
......
Little Kelvin, carrying baby Belinda over his shoulder rushes to greet us. He's full of excited exuberance, "Thank goodness you've arrived home safely. Now you must come quickly, your mother needs your help in taking the corpse from the cryogenic pod. We need to discover which is the imposter, the corpse or this person that is with Troy," he says, looking back with suspicion.
Kade puts his arm around me, "Hey dad," he says, looking down at the kid.
Kelvin, gently rubbing baby Belinda's back, looks up, "Yes son, what is it?"
"Tell mom we need some chill out time. She's seen everything we've been through and she knows that we have a crowd of brainwashed disciples out to get us." He says.
.......
Kelvin continues yelling his angry dad routine at us as we walk towards the entrance of our home. But we ignore him.
...
I feel a warm happiness begin to envelop me as I express a niggling concern, "I hope that is Kelly with Troy," I say, as the door to home shoots open. Kade stops me and puts a gentle finger on my mouth – "Don't think about that now."
He gives me his biggest, brightest smile, "We've been to hell and back. And right now, all we think about is: you, me, the shower and some serious loving..."