Toxic (18 page)

“I want to help you.”

The young boy let himself be carried by air. He wouldn’t have been able to get back to his camp with his injury. Jave landed just outside the circle of vehicles, before a gathering distraught by the unexpected arrival. Nervous individuals pointed weapons with long tubes and a grip. However, they didn’t dare open fire. Jave left the child on the humid grass. A female cried and put her hands to her face. She wanted to run, but her companions held her back. When Jave took off again, she ran towards the boy, who she hugged and rocked in her arms.

Satisfied, the Lynian went back to the T-J. He had learned two important pieces of information on his outing. Even in agony, humans refused to give in. Groups were forming, trying to find their footing once again in a reality which was beyond them. The situation was quite possibly better than he had imagined it.

Naakrit analyzed the situation in a completely different way.

Thanks to a surveillance drone, he had spied on the emissary’s peregrinations without understanding exactly what he was looking for. He had followed in the survivor’s tracks and then discovered an isolated infected creature. Though it was surprising, the information didn’t reveal anything in particular or decisive. Next, he had helped that young male. He had observed each second of the chase, intrigued by Jave’s hesitant conduct, waiting until the last instant to intervene.

Was this an experiment?

Even if he had preserved a healthy individual, he had gone beyond his rights. Telling the Combinate about this would seem like admitting a weakness. The merchant princes would point out his lack of authority and bringing up Lynian nature wouldn’t speak in favor of his cause. He had to manage him in the same way as his own troops.

Several ships were scouring the region searching for the survivor. The Lynian had even extended the perimeter to the maritime zone. Basing himself on his initial position, this boulevard infested with spoiled products, he had estimated a radius inside which he was bound to be. That was intelligent, the Primark recognized.

He was still unaware of where this was going to lead them.

The information landscape displayed shining points on a map of central Africa, a sector which the humans called “the Great Lakes.” The emissary’s intuition had revealed itself to be correct. The Arthrosian showed his surprise by making a rasping noise with his wings, which were covered by his armor.

Of course he was right
, Naakrit thought. Lynians were rarely wrong. The complicated part was guessing the intentions behind their sometimes worrying attitude.

“D
o you believe that a medicine capable of eradicating this problem exists?”

Elaine and the colonel were sharing their second sunrise, leaning on the boat’s railing. For the first time in a long time, she felt rested. The comfort of the cabin which she shared with Alison and Dew was definitely not foreign to her.

“She wouldn’t have stayed with her father if she didn’t have hope that he would go back to what he was. He would have told her to get as far away as possible,” she argued.

“I guess.”

The line of the horizon shimmered on the edge of the breaking dawn. To the south, a wall of black clouds was advancing on an increasingly turbulent sea. The wind tousled her short hair. She had cut it in the minutes following the entrance exam results for nursing school, to the great displeasure of the patriarch who had then realized that his daughter was from then on a woman with responsibilities and a career. Parents never really recover from their child’s loss of innocence.

“It’d be a good idea to find a spot to take shelter. The weather is getting worse,” Masters worried. “Hector has to make a decision. I think that he can forget about returning to his country right away.”

Inside, they found the Colombian leaning over the map. He caressed his chin and its brown beard, his eyes concentrated.

“The wind is starting to pick up,” Masters reported.

“
Sí
.”

Elaine reckoned that the colonel saw things correctly: the trafficker could have gone back home a long time ago. This probably wasn’t the time to ask insidious questions.

Hector pointed to an island. “The closest land to us right now.”

Masters approved the choice.

“The Bahamas?” Elaine enquired.

“
Sí
. We can reach Freeport before the end of the morning.”

The nurse’s scowl didn’t go unnoticed. Master’s reacted. “Is there a problem?”

“We can’t just dive and wait?”

“We would have to dive deep to protect ourselves from the effects and the swells of the rough seas. The hull isn’t designed to go deeper than ten meters,” Hector informed her. “That’s not enough.”

Anxiety started to grow in her stomach.

“Every time that we put our feet on solid ground, we graze catastrophe.”

The Colombian sighed. “The yacht from the other night. It was coming from there, right?”

“From Bimini,” Elaine specified. “We thought we were safe on that island. That lasted until refugees arrived from the continent. Without knowing it, they were transporting infected people and the nightmare began. And then drones and aliens flew over us. We left, leaving everything behind us.”

“I promise you that we’ll take the necessary precautions,” the colonel assured her.

Their boat entered Hawks Bill Creek a little before noon. They left the rough sea covered with a blanket of clouds. The dark clouds were moving closer, ready to engulf them. Lightning shot through the background at regular intervals. They navigated between two deserted islands and then took a channel which they followed for a kilometer. On the bank, the houses all had private entrances. Hector moved the stern in front of a dock. One of the docking spots was taken up by a sailboat, of which only the mast stuck out of the waves. From the deck, they couldn’t make out the villa, which was blocked by luscious vegetation. According to the Colombian, they would be safe there during the storm.

“A good place to anchor,” he affirmed.

Masters exchanged a complicit look with Elaine.

The marine got the group together on the rear deck. In an authoritative voice, he gave orders with the confidence of a professional accustomed to being in charge.

“Bruce and me are going to check out the property.”

The young biologist kept his mouth shut. Being first in line wasn’t his idea of fun, and Elaine understood that perfectly.

“Elaine and Alva, you’ll help Hector tie the boat up tight. If there are strong winds, we don’t want it to sink or to break free. Our friend has to get back home, right?”

The sarcastic remark made an impact on Hector, who narrowed his eyes. In a provocative and forcibly clever way, Masters was telling him that he wasn’t stupid. The possibility of confrontation between the two men was not out of the picture. For the moment, Elaine preferred to stay out of harm’s way. She grabbed the girl’s shoulders. At their side, Dew was looking at the bank, his gaze lost.

Alison talked very little, traumatized by the ordeals that she had been through. Dew scribbled rare words on his notebook, and as she understood, he feared Hector. Without her, their fate was sealed.

The docking went by without hitches or unpleasant surprises. Bruce and the colonel jumped out of the boat and arrived quickly at the end of the wooden pier. Masters gave them a hand signal as reassurance. Hector handed Elaine a mooring rope.

“Here. I’m going to show you how to tie it.”

The nurse smiled at him. Before his surprised eyes, she made a round turn around the cleat and continued to make a figure eight. She finished with a reverse half-hitch.

“
¡Perfecto!
Where did you learn that?”

“
Con mi papá
.”

Without saying another word, Elaine rejoined Alva to help her tie the rope. She felt Hector’s interested stare while the down-trodden artist was busying herself at the cleat.

“I don’t usually do this.”

“You’re doing really well,” Elaine encouraged her.

“It looks like you’ve done this your whole life.”

“I had a few years of practice with my family. My dad was in the navy.”

“Oh… I see. My boating experience is limited to parties on luxury yachts in the Port of Miami. That time seems so distant from right now, as if it hadn’t existed except as a dream. Do you get me?”

“Yeah.”

What remained of their previous lives?
Elaine asked herself, while listening to Alva’s sad voice. The aliens had erased the images and stories that billions of individuals had guarded thanks to their electronic devices. Hopes, pain and the love stories of each man and woman on the planet had disappeared, vaporized in a fraction of a second. There only remained foggy memories and fragments locked away in their biological brains which were much weaker than their supporting technology.

She saw Masters and Bruce come back from their inspection bringing good news. There were no infected in the vicinity and the uninhabited residence belonged to a nabob, according to the colonel.

Masters hadn’t exaggerated.

The nurse put her bag down on the fine wood deck covered by an extended roof. For sure, the place lacked maintenance. The jacuzzi’s stagnant water and its unappetizing yellow-green color made it so that it was no longer an inviting form of relaxation. The worn tables and armchairs had lost their previous shine. The vegetation was growing out of its plots and the walled garden spaces no longer contained it. Now free, it grew in the cracks. The roots made their way through the broken panels.

The rain started as droplets. A few moments later, it was pouring. The haze blocked their view of the horizon and they hid inside the villa. It its time of splendor, the room had certainly been the gem of this palace, to judge by the statue collection, the ostentatious marble, the signed furniture and the leather couches. A lot of housework was required to bring the room back to its prestige. A stone stairway led to the second floor. Alva walked up it, astounded.

“This place is perfect,” she decreed.

Hector’s lips pursed once again, like they had previously on the dock. Elaine got an uneasy feeling without being to explain it. Did the Colombian imagine himself with the artist? Physically attractive, she had likely sucked the blood out of swarms of men. In the end, she realized that the behavior of the past still remained. Was this something to celebrate or to worry about?

Bruce fell into an armchair.

“The comfort level is perfect.”

He started to cough and then scratched his face.

“Well, it’ll need a good sweeping, right ladies?”

Elaine’s deadly look shut him up instantly.

“I was joking,” he added.

The two other men hid their amused reactions. Masters crossed his arms against his chest and pursed his lips. Hector pretended to pay attention to a sculpture.

The nurse took Alison’s hand. “Come with me. We’re going to find a quiet corner to go to bed for the night.”

The child pulled on her sleeve. “And Dew, will he be sleeping with us?”

He had accompanied them to the patio. Afterwards, she didn’t remember seeing him come inside. Elaine hurried towards the windows. It was pouring out and she could barely see more than twenty meters. She had a hard time imaging the Asian alone under this deluge. Very quickly, they organized themselves to search in each room of the villa. After two unsuccessful searches, she gave in to the evidence: Dew was outside.

What Elaine saw next seemed as clear to her as the rain which ran along the windows. Nobody wanted to get wet to find Dew.

“I’m going to go look for him.”

Immediately, Masters brought her into the entrance hall. Before he could express his disapproval, she reminded him of yesterday’s events.

“Do you know what he represents? You were there.”

The colonel tried to reason with her anyways.

“We should at least wait for the end of the storm.”

“Out of the question. And if he’s in the middle of a crisis? I don’t want to lose him.”

She had made it a point of no further discussion.

They announced their decision to the group. Deaf to the eventual comments, Elaine crouched down beside Alison.

“We won’t be gone for long. You stay with Alva, OK?”

The girl nodded her head in agreement.

One of the giant entrance closets contained parkas. They also found umbrellas there. Thus equipped, Masters and Elaine faced the showers which swept the area. The main doorway, slightly open, was the first proof. The marine shouted to her that it had been closed at the time of the inspection. She didn’t know why her companion had felt the need to leave the house. A crisis would explain this behavior. Bruce and Alva had lost him in similar circumstances at Cocoa Beach.

Elaine shivered. The storm had nothing tropical about it except its name. The spray froze her body. Masters came to her side under the porch.

“How do we know where he went?”

“I’ve no clue.”

Right or left: one out of the two is correct
, she told herself. They had never understood the unpredictable and at times absurd internal motivations of the autistic boy.