Copyright - All Rights Reserved
*****
Chapter 27
It seemed like forever for Ridec before he heard Jessell’s voice in his mind again telling him to open the back door to the school, she was coming in ‘hot’.
“Jessell’s coming back,” Ridec said racing out of the room and along the corridor with everyone chasing behind him.
“How the hell would you know something like that?” Kent demanded.
“And more particularly where are you going? The front door is in the other direction,” Rea pointed out.
“She’s coming in through the back and we have to be ready for her, she could have some of those creatures on her tail,” Ridec explained.
“I’m starting to wonder if it is worth it to open the door to let her in,” Linda grunted.
Ridec didn’t respond, aggression didn’t come naturally to him but he knew that if any of them tried to leave Jessell out there he would be using his weapon on them instead of those creatures. The violence of his own thoughts made him wince; how was it that in just a few short days this place was turning him into an insensitive murderer?
“I’ll pull the door you lot get ready to fight off anything that tries to enter,” Kyle instructed gripping the handle of the back door as the others lined themselves along the corridor with sticks and knives in hand to defend themselves.
“Don’t do anything yet,” Ridec instructed. “She’s still about five minutes away and she’s trying to lose as many of those things as she can before she gets back here.”
“You have some kind of a communication device?” Mary questioned.
“Maybe because they’re in love they can hear each other’s thoughts,” Pete suggested and Linda grunted.
“I sincerely doubt that,” Rea said firmly.
“Maybe she told him before…” Kent started to say but Ridec cut him off.
“Now! Open the door now!”
Immediately on his instruction Kyle swung the door wide open and they all stared out as Jessell came hurrying forward slowed down by the fact that she was dragging three zombies tied together by some kind of vine behind her.
“She needs help,” Kent muttered already pushing past the group and going out towards Jessell.
“I would have gone,” Ridec grumbled.
“She’s got about five of those things coming close behind her,” Mary pointed out.
“If we go out there we might be able to help her take them down,” Kyle said.
“I hear that,” Ridec was out the door before anyone could make another comment. He pressed the gadget on his hand and watched the boomerang fly forward encircling a zombies neck, he held his hand firm as the metal instrument came zipping through the air once more to lock into place, the zombie dropped to the ground its head rolling in another direction.
“That’s four left,” Ridec said as he watched Kent battling with another one of the creatures. That one seemed stronger and more agile. He would help but he dared not risk using the weapon with Kent in such close proximity to the creature.
“Jessell,” Ridec reached Jessell’s side. “What are you doing?”
“I’m bringing in your specimens; unfortunately I managed to attract a few more specimens than I was hoping for.”
“You’ve taken off their arms,” Ridec pointed out needlessly.
“And teeth, the last thing I need is for my specimens to attack me.”
“A little help here!” Kent yelled tumbling to the ground as the large zombie continued to battle against him. The others seemed to sense that he was weakening and turned away from Jessell and headed towards Kent.
“Take these three inside and I’ll help Kent,” Jessell ordered putting the end of the vine in Ridec’s hand and not waiting for his response.
“I got this,” it was Linda racing past them a knife wielding as she hurried to her friend’s assistance.
“I can help,” Ridec said.
“Not this again Ridec,” Jessell grumbled as her dagger sliced the neck of one zombie which continued to walk towards her with its arms outstretched and its saw like teeth exposed.
“The back of the head!” Linda screamed as she stabbed the knife she was holding through the front of another zombie’s neck and it penetrated to the other side, the creature dropped to the ground lifeless.
“I know that, but sometimes you have to take the hit you can get,” Jessell grunted gripping the zombie’s arm with her hand, flipping over its back and jabbing her dagger in the base of the skull before rolling onto the other side. The zombie dropped to the ground with a thump.
“Some help!” Kent yelled again still struggling with the zombie that was pressing down on top of him. Kent’s arm was pressed against the creature’s throat trying to keep its gashing teeth away from his face.
“I got this!” Jessell yelled flipping past Linda who was busy struggling with another zombie.
“Great,” Linda muttered as Jessell landed on the back of the large zombie and sank her dagger deep into the base of its skull. It gasped for a moment and then fell limp against Kent.
Jessell jumped to her feet allowing Kent the opportunity to toss the monster off of him and scramble to his feet.
“Thanks.”
“No prob.”
“I think we better get inside before more of those things turn up, they’re never very far away,” Linda said wiping the blade against her pants as she disposed of the zombie she had been fighting with.
“And these are perfect samples,” Ridec said holding tightly to the end of the vine and nervously stepping out of the way of the zombies as they tried to attack him.
“They can’t hurt you, they have no teeth or hands,” Linda pointed out.
“Yeah but still…” Ridec muttered. “Just feels…I don’t know.”
“Come on,” Jessell gripped the vine from Ridec’s hand. “Let’s get inside, the sooner you can start working on these creatures the sooner you can get out of your head the idea of sticking around this hell hole much longer.”
***
“So how is it coming?” Jessell questioned strolling into the lab at the top of the stairs her daggers spinning carelessly in her hand.
“Not too badly,” Ridec muttered glancing disparagingly at the three creatures that were tugging against the rope in an effort to get at him. “I’ve taken some samples and I’m just starting to do some tests on them.”
“So we can dispose of this lot?”
“I guess.”
Ridec shrugged, it was unfortunate that he wouldn’t be able to cure these three that he had taken the samples from but with their arms and teeth missing they would probably die anyway.
“You can’t save all,” Jessel said slipping her dagger up the back of the first ones skull and watching it slump to the ground lifelessly.
“You don’t have to take so much pleasure in doing that,” Ridec muttered.
“You think I take pleasure in this?” She jabbed the knife in the second ones skull and stepped onto the third. “I don’t, I just know what needs to be done and I do it.”
“Mmmmm….” Ridec didn’t bother to respond, it was pointless arguing with Jessell, he couldn’t win anyway.
“This one actually has blood in it,” Jessel remarked. “At least what looks like blood.”
“My preliminary tests indicate that one was the closest to human still.”
“There was a real chance of saving that one?” Jessel questioned.
“Yeah,” Ridec paused from the samples in the jars in front of him and turned to look at Jessel. “If I could find the cure on time.”
“That’s a big ‘if’,” Jessel pointed out.
“I know I can…”
“Well, if anyone can it’s you.”
“Thanks,” Ridec grinned turning to stare at Jessell appreciatively, that was probably the closest thing to a compliment Jessel had offered him.
“By the way,” Jessel wiped the daggers off in the pants of one of the zombies lying on the floor and then stuck them back into their cases. “That was madness Rea was spouting out there, right?”
“What…um…what madness?” Ridec turned to stare down at the samples in front of him again. “I wish I had more chemicals here so I could see how the samples respond to various mixtures.”
“I’ll search through some drawers and cabinets and see if I find anything,” Jessell suggested turning about and starting to pull open drawers and cabinet doors even as she spoke.
“Based on what I’m seeing here I’d really like to find…”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Jessell cut in.
“Oh? What question was that?”
Ridec could feel his heart fluttering nervously. He knew what Jessell was talking about and he just wasn’t ready to deal with the subject. Why had Rea told Jessell they had kissed?
“What Rea said when we were out there, was all lies, right?”
“I don’t know if one can say that a person tells all lies,” Ridec countered hoping to buy himself some extra time. “People tend to speak a combination of truth and lies, I guess that is what makes the lies so much more difficult to decipher.”
Ridec slipped the knife from the table and dissected the portion of flesh he had taken from the zombie, it was the first of the three and there was no sign of blood whatsoever in it. From the tests he had done earlier he was sure the creature couldn’t have been turned more than a year before but yet every drop of blood in its body was already gone.
“I’m talking about the lie she told when she tried to suggest that you kissed her,” Jessell chuckled at the very thought of it. “If she only knew just how completely ridiculous that attempt to irritate me was.”
Ridec didn’t respond.
“I’m thinking that we probably have a very narrow window for this cure, from my initial testings it would seem to be less than one year after making the change,” Ridec said trying to sound as if the only thought on his mind was of the cure.
“Ridec,” Jessell was walking towards him with a few bottles of liquid in her hand. “I don’t know if these will be of any assistance to you.”
“Let me see what you have,” Ridec reached out his hand quickly to take the seven vials and peruse the labels on them. “This only scratches the surface.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Jessell said. “And once you’ve done all you can with what you have then we start to head for home. Back in that town I saw evidence of salt on some items; it means we may be nearer to the sea than we think.”
Ridec nodded.
“So once you’ve done your good turn here we can start looking for the next window to the sea. Hey, maybe somewhere in this school building there’s a map that will show the various coasts and how to get to them,” Jessell said.
“That’s probably true,” Ridec was glad that Jessell seemed to have drifted away from the topic of Rea. He had made a mistake allowing Rea to kiss him and it was a mistake he didn’t intend to repeat but it would be better to wait until he and Jessell were headed back to their own watery home before telling her about what had happened. Maybe if only two of them were about Jessell would find it more in her heart to forgive him.
“You coming down to grab something to eat?”
“No,” Ridec shook his head, getting Jessell alone and apologizing was priority but he couldn’t do that until he had finished what he had promised the others. “I think I’m going to work right through until tomorrow.” Ridec hesitated for a moment. “The sooner I finish here the sooner we can head back to our own home.”
Jessell grinned brightly and Ridec found himself falling in love all over again. There was no other girl for him but Jessell, so why had he done something as stupid as allow Rea to kiss him? He should have fought her off tooth and nail if necessary.
“Fantastic, I’m glad to see you’re finally coming around to my way of thinking,” Jessell said and then strolled out of the door with the confident swagger of a woman who in spite of everything going on around her was on top of the world.
***
“I think I’ve made a pretty good break-through,” Ridec said as he collapsed on the ground beside Jessell. It was late now or rather he should say it was early morning because he had spent all day and night upstairs in the lab.
“Fantastic,” Kent put in hurrying over to where Ridec was sitting. “So you can cure me from this disease?”
Ridec shook his head slowly.
“I’ve made a break-through but I can’t cure anyone from the disease yet,” Ridec explained. “Right now all I can do is determine if the disease is in your blood stream and what stage it is at.”
“That’s no help to no one,” Kent said angrily.
“It’s a first step,” Ridec said. “If we can diagnose the disease cells even before it manifests itself that’s a first step in being able to quarantine those cells and maybe even terminate them.”
“So you can find the cells in me and terminate them?” Mary questioned.
“I’m not saying that, I’m saying I have enough information to make that possible. All I need is to take a sample of blood from you guys and that will help me to see why the cells don’t multiply as quickly in some people. Once I get all this to a proper lab I can really work on coming up with a cure,” Ridec explained.
“There’s a proper lab at headquarters,” Linda put in.
“We’re not going to your headquarters,” Jessell said. “We’re going home.”
“We can come with you,” Kyle suggested.
“No,” Jessell said bluntly.
“But I’ll come back with the cure,” Ridec promised.
“We’ll send the cure back,” Jessell corrected.
“We could all be dead by then,” Kent muttered. “And how will you know where to find us?”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Jessell countered.
Ridec was silent.
“Don’t let her do this Ridec,” Rea said vehemently gripping Ridec’s arm. “You have to stay and help us.”
Jessel tossed her arm away from Ridec.
“From all accounts you don’t even have the disease, you’re really beginning to get on my last nerve kid. This is my man and I’d appreciate if you’d refrain from handling him.”
“Your man?” Rea screamed gripping Ridec’s arm.
“I…” Ridec started to say but Jessell didn’t give him an opportunity to finish.
“Yes my man, so back the hell off!”
“Ridec doesn’t love you, he’s only afraid of you,” Rea countered.
“Ha,” Jessell said dryly.
“He loves me, or why else would he kiss me?” Rea demanded.
“I didn’t kiss…” Ridec started to say.
“Liar, see, he didn’t kiss you!” Jessell snapped angrily.
Rea turned sad puppy dog eyes towards Ridec.
“Why are you lying? We kissed, you know we did,” she said sadly.
“I never said we didn’t kiss I …” Ridec didn’t get to finish his sentence because one very strong hand lanced across his face with so much power he immediately felt blood spring on the edge of his lip.
“You kissed her?” Jessell asked furiously.
“I didn’t…” Ridec started to say.
“I asked you a simple yes or no question. Did you kiss her?” Jessell demanded.
“Yes but…”
Another slap rang out in the room.
“Stop that!” Rea screamed slipping into the space between Jessell and Ridec but that was definitely not a smart move with Jessell in the frame of mind she was in. The next move was a fist to the side of Rea’s face, the girl slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“What…” Ridec started to say bending his body to try to gather Rea into his arms.
“Touch her and you’re a dead man,” Jessell threatened.
“You’re going to kill me?” Ridec demanded.
“I should,” Jessell shot back.
“Okay, let’s cool it down a little here kids,” Kyle put in hurrying forward and rescuing Rea from Ridec’s arms.
“If I told anyone back home what you’ve done to me you’d be disgraced for life,” Jessell pointed out.
“I’m not defending what I did, I don’t…” Ridec started to say but Jessell had already turned on her heals and was hurrying out of the room.
“Where the hell is home? You keep talking about home,” Kent put in but his question was completely lost on Jessell and Ridec.
“Oh man,” Ridec groaned in misery. How had he been so stupid, Jessell would never speak to him again far less think to make him her husband.
“She looks really hurt,” Pete whispered kneeling beside Rea who was still unconscious. Pete was staring up into Ridec’s face; Ridec was still squatting on the ground beside Rea. “And I don’t mean Rea.”
“I know,” Ridec muttered burying his face in his hand. “She’s never going to forgive me.”
“I hope she hasn’t gone through that door and let any of those creatures in,” Linda put in.
“No,” Kent said confidently. “She didn’t turn in that direction. I think she’s probably heading upstairs to the lab.”
“You think she’s going to destroy the work you did so you can’t find a cure for us?” Mary asked anxiously.
“You don’t know Jessell, she wouldn’t do anything like that,” Ridec muttered.
“I think she’s coming to,” Kyle muttered gently patting the side of Rea’s face for the third time.
“Wow, you’re girlfriend really packs a wallop,” Linda said with almost a smile in her voice.
“I have to go,” Ridec whispered trying to pull his courage together to face Jessell, he really wasn’t sure what he was going to tell her but he knew he would do anything she asked, anything, to get her to forgive him.
“You sure you’re ready to face that?” Kyle asked. “She looked pretty angry.”
“I love Jessell, I’ve never loved another woman in my life except Jessell.” Ridec got to his feet brushing off his pants nervously.
“Ridec,” Rea whispered softly her voice still sounding a little slurred.
“Please Rea, please just leave me alone.”
Ridec hurried away from the small group of people that had somehow become an integral part of his life and found himself wishing that he had never met any of them, that he had never known of the terrible curse that had overtaken the earth.