Mass Extinction Event: The Complete Third Series (Days 46 to 53) (22 page)

Part Seven

Day 52

Elizabeth

“
Okay,” I whisper to myself, sitting on the arm of the sofa with the crutches in my hands. “You can do this. Toad's wrong. You're not some weak-assed cripple who's gonna sit around for the next week being waited on.”

I take a deep breath.

It's time.

Another deep breath.

Damn it, why am I delaying this?

Looking down at my stump, I can see a faint patch of blood showing through the bandage, but no other colors. Toad has repeatedly warned me that although red is okay, anything else might indicate another infection. I didn't sleep last night, instead spending all my time staring up at the ceiling and thinking about everything that's happened over the past few weeks. The pain in my leg was keeping me awake, although Toad gave me some painkillers that helped to make it at least slightly bearable. I've only got enough pills for another day or so, though, which makes me worried about what'll happen when they run out.

Still.

I'm not a cripple. There is no way that I, Elizabeth Marter, am going to let the small matter of an amputated right leg bring me down. I've spent more than enough time wallowing in self-pity. Now's the time to get back up.

I'm fine, and it's time to prove it.

Adjusting my grip on the crutches, I take another pause and try to summon as much strength as possible, before finally hauling myself up. Using my left foot to keep myself more or less balanced, I have little trouble getting upright, and although I feel a little wobbly, I'm finally able to arrange myself more or less comfortably. Once I'm sure I can stay up, I use the crutches to take a faltering step forward, disturbing more dust in this dark, wretched little room. To be honest, this is turning out to be much easier than I'd expected. Toad acted like I wouldn't be able to get about at all, but I guess he underestimated me. Not for the first time.

“What do you think of me now, huh?” I whisper. Damn it, I wish he was here to see this, instead of sleeping upstairs.

Making my way across to the window, I look out at the dull gray morning. Dan Hodge's farmhouse is surrounded by a forest of tall, thin pine trees, resulting in a subtly creepy atmosphere. I can't shake the fear that more of those creatures are going to come marching out of the gloom, at any moment, but so far everything seems fairly peaceful. For a moment, I'm almost able to forget about the fact that I've only got one leg, but the dull, relentless pain soon comes back to bite me. The worst part is, I swear I can feel my right foot resting against the floor, even though my
actual
right foot was left in the clearing before we came down here.

Turning, I carefully make my way back across the room. As I reach the door, I notice a bundle of boxes and wires on a nearby table, and closer inspection reveals what appears to be a radio system. Reaching down, I pick up one of the boxes and find that it's some kind of battery, although I don't really know how any of this stuff works. Still, it's tempting to think that maybe we could get this thing up and running, and then we could try to make contact with the outside world. I don't know what Toad's thinking, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe we might be able to survive after all.

Hell, that's a pretty big change. This time yesterday I wanted him to leave me behind. That was when I thought I was crippled, though. Now I'm starting to think that I can not only get about, but maybe I can even be useful.

Heading through to the hallway, I eventually come to the foot of a flight of stairs. My initial instinct is to turn back, but finally I force myself to start making my way up to the next floor. It's a slow journey, made slower by the fact that I'm determined to do it right, but after a few minutes I'm halfway up. I stop to get my breath back, feeling a little annoyed by the fact that I'm so slow, and then I resume the climb until finally I get to the top. Only one of the doors is open, so I make my way through and find a small, dark room. For a few seconds, I'm vaguely aware of movement nearby, and as my eyes adjust to the gloom I'm finally able to make out a figure on an old mattress. I hobble over to take a closer look, and with a faint smile I watch as Toad turns over and stares up at me.

“Hey,” I say, fully aware that he's probably surprised to see me.

“
What are you doing up here?” he asks, sitting up with a dazed, barely-awake look on his face.

“
Surprising you.”

He looks down at my right leg, and it's clear that I've succeeded in giving him a shock. He seems unable to believe that this is really happening, but I guess it's just another example of his tendency to underestimate me.

“It's really not that hard,” I continue. “Turns out I've already got some pretty good upper-arm strength. I'm a bit slow right now, but I figure I'll get that sorted soon enough, and...” I pause, unable to stifle a self-satisfied smile. “Yeah, so here I am. Not bad, huh? It didn't even take too long, either. I kinda just kept it slow, made sure not to take any risks, and got on with it. I know you wanted me to sit around on the sofa for a week, but there's no way I could have done that.”

Looking down at his bare chest, I spot the scar from his recent injury. It's larger than I remember, and it's hard to believe that only a month or so has passed since those days. Despite having only known Toad for a short while, and despite the fact that I told him I hated him yesterday, I'm starting to think that I like the guy more than I realized. At the back of my mind, there's even a hint that maybe I'm becoming attached to him in ways that I don't want to admit.

“Do you want to sit down?” he asks, keeping the sheets covering his lower body as he shifts out of the way.

“
Nah,” I reply. “Once I'm up, I'm up. I'm hungry, though. What kind of food do we have around this place? Please tell me the guy who lived here before had something for us. Even moldy bread would be good right now.”

“
I found some canned food in the kitchen,” he replies. “None of it looks very appetizing, but beggars can't be choosers. Wait a few minutes and I'll -”

“
I'll do it,” I say, turning and making my way back to the door. “If you can get Rachel up, I'll try to sort out some kind of breakfast. Oh, and I think I found an old radio. We should probably get it working and see if there's anyone out there. You never know, there might be some kind of emergency broadcast that's got information we can use. Either that, or we can get in contact with someone who can help us out.”

“
Maybe we can -”

“
Oh, and I think the weather's going to turn. There are some pretty dark clouds coming this way. That's all the news for now, but I'll keep you posted if there are any more developments.”

Without waiting for him to reply, I head out of the room and start the slow process of getting down the stairs. I can't help but feel a little pleased with myself, though, since I've managed to surprise Toad and show him that I'm sure as hell not going to sit around being helpless. The days of feeling sorry for myself are over, and I want to make Toad realize that we might be able to make a go of things here at the farm. More than anything, I feel as if I'm finally done with searching for a new home. With a lot of work, we might be able to make this place habitable.

The first stage of this nightmare might actually be over.

Thomas

“
I don't know what to say,” I mutter, standing by the side of the grave. “I didn't really know her very well.”

I dug the grave this morning, using just an old shovel that Mark found for me and working through the scorching heat, and now Kaylee's body is down at the bottom, wrapped in a white sheet. Given the nature of her injury, I didn't much feel like seeing her face again, so I just let some of the others prepare her body, and they did a pretty good job. The sheet is covering most of her, except her bare feet which are sticking out at the bottom. There's no blood on the sheet, though, which is good; that's what I was most worried about.

And now...

And now I have no idea what to say.

“There's no right or wrong way to do this,” Mark whispers, standing next to me. “I just thought you'd like to say a few words so that the others might get a better idea of who she was.”

“
But I don't
know
who she was,” I reply, glancing over at the handful of people who have come to attend this makeshift funeral, and who are waiting patiently for me to give some kind of speech.

“
You knew her better than anyone else here,” he replies.

“
Yeah, but that's not saying much.” I turn to him. “We're wasting time. We should be out there, tracking Quinn down and bringing her back so she can pay for what she did.”

“
There'll be time for that soon enough,” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “She's not going to get far, not without food or water. Just take a moment to mourn your friend.”

“
I don't even know if she
was
my friend,” I tell him.

“
I saw the way she looked at you,” he continues. “Whatever you thought of her,
she
considered
you
to be a friend. I only knew her for a day, but I noticed that she always seemed happier when you were around. I'm sure that has to mean something.”

As he takes a step back, I'm left alone by the side of the grave. Part of me is annoyed that everyone seems to want me to somehow take charge of this event, but another part of me feels that there might be some way I can make myself feel a little better. There's been so much death and misery over the past month, first with that Lydia woman, then my parents and Joe, but for some reason Kaylee's death has hit me the hardest. She seemed so sweet and kind, and she seemed to genuinely like me, and then she was cut down not by one of the creatures but by a fellow human being. I can feel a kernel of anger in my soul, and I know there's only one way to deal with it.

First, though, I have to try to say something nice.

“
I didn't know her,” I say finally, staring at the body but aware that everyone's watching me. “The first time I met her was only, I don't know, less than a week ago. Then she came with us when we left Chicago, and I sorta got talking to her a bit more, which was pretty good. She seemed friendly, but she was in shock 'cause of what had happened to her parents. When we arrived here, though, something changed in her. She was more talkative, and she seemed to want to get to work. I guess we were the same like that.”

I pause, wondering if I've said enough. Damn it, I'm not good at this sort of thing.

“I'm gonna kill Quinn,” I add finally.

I stand in complete silence for a moment. I know that was probably the wrong thing to say, but it's the truth, and it's the only thought in my head right now.

“I mean it,” I say, turning to the others. There are tears in my eyes, but I refuse to cry. “There's no reason why anyone could have ever wanted to hurt Kaylee. She was so kind and so good, and she never did anything bad to anyone, and I figure that when someone kills someone who's so innocent, there's only one way to deal with them. I know people talk about mercy and justice, but sometimes you just have to say that something isn't right, and you have to -”

“
Maybe this isn't the time,” Mark says quietly, stepping toward me.

“
Hell, it's absolutely the time,” I reply, refusing to let him shut me up. “I'm angry. Kaylee shouldn't be down there in that hole. She should be up here with us, helping out and getting to work. I know a lot of stuff has happened lately, but good people should still have a place in the world, and if monsters like Quinn are around, we have to get rid of them, right?” I turn to Mark, and then back to the others. “If we're gonna survive, we have to get rid of people who do things like this. I'm not just talking about Quinn, either. There might be other people here who saw what happened, and who are gonna get the idea that somehow it's acceptable. We need to catch Quinn and kill her so that everyone else can see that we've got some kind of justice around this place. We're not savages!”

“
You're right,” Mark says, “but this isn't the time for -”

“
It's always the time,” I reply, interrupting him as I hurry past him. Grabbing a shovel, I start pushing soil back into the grave. Glancing down into the hole, I watch as Kaylee's body is completely covered, and then I keep going, shoveling more and more soil down there until, after a few minutes, the grave has been filled. Breathless now, I take a step back and drop the shovel, and that's when I realize that the small crowd has been watching me this whole time. I guess maybe they think I've gone a little crazy, but I don't care about their opinions. Right now, all I can think about is Quinn, and the fact that she's out there somewhere, probably thinking she got away with this.

“
One of the others is going to make a small marker for the grave,” Mark says after a moment. “It'll just be something simple, probably a small stone with a few details carved into the face, but it'll withstand the elements. First, he'll need you to provide some information about her. Her date of birth -”

“
I don't know it,” I reply, wiping sweat from my brow.

“
Then at least her last name.”

“
I don't know that either.”

He pauses, clearly a little surprised.

“I don't have time to stand around talking, either,” I continue. “I know there's a lot of work to do, but I need to take one day off so I can go and find Quinn. Just one day, that's all it'll take.”

“
We need to go and collect the wood we chopped yesterday,” Mark replies calmly.

“
Someone else can do that.”

“
We can't let this incident affect the work of the entire community,” he continues. “We don't have enough resources to allow a group to head off on some kind of revenge mission.”

“
I don't need a group,” I tell him. “I'm not asking for anyone else to come with me. I'll go find her, and I don't even need to bother bringing her back. I'll just go out there, track her down, finish her off and come back. It won't even take me 'til sundown. No-one else has to worry about it. This is my job and mine alone.”

As the small crowd starts to dissipate, Mark remains on the other side of the grave, watching me. I can tell that he doesn't approve of my plans, but right now I don't care. The only way I can deal with this knot of anger in my chest is to track Quinn down and make sure she pays for what she did.

“You think it's wrong, don't you?” I ask eventually. “You think I should be all Christian and stuff like that, and forgive and forget. I know that's what a good person would do, and maybe I oughta find it in my heart, but I can't. All the other people who've died, I can kinda see why it happened, but not Kaylee. I'm angry and there's only one thing that's ever gonna set me right. The thought of her getting away with this... I can't handle it.”

“
No,” he replies. “I don't think you should forgive and forget. Actually, I think you're right. That little speech you gave, Thomas, was awfully close to being the speech a leader gives to his people. It was an impressive moment, and I think you've got great potential to really take a powerful role here within the community.” He pauses, and it's clear that I've genuinely shocked him. “I was going to say that we should let Quinn go,” he continues, “but you've changed my mind. I think you're right, and we have to make sure that not only is justice done, but it's
seen
to be done. And that means bringing Quinn back here for a proper trial.”

“
I'll bring her,” I tell him. “I can't promise she'll be alive, though.”

“
I'm going to come with you,” he replies. “This can't be seen to be the work of one person. We need to establish a system. I'll get someone else to take my place on the work duty this morning, and I'll join you to hunt Quinn down. Two of us have a better chance of capturing her than one. We'll leave immediately.”

“
Good,” I reply, even though there's a part of me that would have preferred to have done the job myself. “Just don't think you can hold me back,” I add, before turning and walking around the grave. “I want her dead. You can have a little trial first if you want, but one way or another, Quinn has to die for what she did here, and there's one other thing.” I pause for a moment. “I want to be the one who does it. Whether it's out there in a field or back here after a trial, I want to kill her myself.”