Humanity: After It Happened Book 2 (21 page)

IT'S ALWAYS WHEN THE DOG DIES

Mark survived.  He was in medical for a fortnight and needed fluids and a significant donation of blood.  The injuries weren't too severe on the whole, but the infections rampaged through his body leaving him skeletal and weak.  His eyes were sunken and his skin took on an unhealthy tinge but he lived, albeit horribly scarred.

Sera's knowledge was as important as Kate's when it came to his treatment.  Knowledge of the diseases that feral dogs would carry probably saved his life as she suggested the best ways to counteract the illnesses he suffered.

He didn't blame anyone, despite Dan blaming himself as was his manner.  Mark never even knew the dogs were there until he was pulled to the ground.  Most of what followed seemed like a bad dream to him now.

Leah's mood evaporated quickly.  The first thing she did was to go straight in the shower as she stood, washing the blood from her clothes and equipment as well as scrubbing it from her skin.  She dressed in clean clothes and sorted her gear out before finding Marie and crying her heart out.

People were fine.  People were the enemy; bad people anyway.  She wasn't at all prepared for the primeval fear of being hunted for food, and that had scared her badly.

What had upset her more was that she had killed so many dogs.

"They were pets, or at least they used to be" she had said after the tears had stopped.

She joked that Dan had said in films, the bit that always made people cry was when he dog died.  Not the people; that was part of life.

She reasoned that it could've been much worse, reeling through a long list of 'what ifs' before she stopped.

"It happened though" she said as much to herself as to Marie "we could have all died, Ash too, but we didn't and it was down to me"

She hugged Marie and left to find caffeine.  Marie sat in silence; the girl had been there for almost an hour and had done all of the talking.  She had come in tears, but left as strong as ever.  Probably more so.  Marie was amazed at how quickly the girl could sort and compartmentalise events.  She was strong.

Leah walked into Ops wearing clean combats and a black t-shirt with a gun at her side.  Dan was sat at the table looking over a map with Jack as she entered, her emotional outburst forgotten it seemed.

Dan nodded to Jack, who subtly took his leave. 

"You ok, kid?" Dan asked the girl as she poured herself a coffee.

"Fine now" she said, a little embarrassed about earlier.

She sat down opposite him, waiting to be told she couldn't go out again.  Quite why she was expecting it she didn't know, but in truth she wouldn't feel fear like that again if she was forced to stay put.

"We'd have come off a lot worse without you today" he said, surprising her with praise instead of grounding her.

"Mark would likely have died, and I doubt we would've got out without being attacked again if you weren't there.  You did well, thank you"

She put her drink down and regarded him for a few seconds.  She was happy with his praise and had already dealt with the incident in her own mind - that she would have nightmares about dogs was as yet unknown to her - but to hear Dan saying that she had saved his life in a roundabout way was pleasing.

She shot him a crooked smile.

"Like I said" she told him "next time, if the dog sounds off we walk away"

"Agreed" said Dan, meaning it.

LIFE IN BLOOM

It wasn’t long before Ana announced that she was pregnant.  The news caused excitement amongst the group, and when the subject was raised in the council meeting, Cara gave her own admission with a red face.

Both Chris and Matty were to be proud fathers.  Kate gave a groan at finding her team responsible for midwifery, although she expected it at some point.

“Has anyone delivered a baby before” she asked.

“Loads” said Chris “More than I can count” he admitted, prompting silence from the gathered heads of department who could not believe he had kept such skills from their knowledge.

“I never said they were human babies” he trailed off lamely, receiving jeering comments at his poor humour.

EPILOGUE

Kyle was dragged out of his kennel and walked into the building where they beat him; initially for information then afterwards for entertainment.

The leader told him to sit, and stay.

"Good dog. Do you know what we're doing tomorrow?" He asked in a voice oozing with threat.

Kyle shook his head, looking at the floor.

"Tomorrow, we're going to go and meet your old friends"

Kyle tried not to cry. If he cried they would hit him again. He thought of the others there; Lexi, Penny, the kids. He tried not to think about what they would do to them

He cried in silence, despite his fears.

The story concludes in AFTER IT HAPPENED BOOK THREE:  SOCIETY