Blood Soaked and Contagious (21 page)

She did. It felt like being poked, not being rammed with a red-hot iron rod.

“Life has now, officially, become more complex. I’m going to shower now, before I start to get worried enough that my brain shuts down. Still feel like guarding me, Charlie?”

“Yeah. I’m happy to.” That’s what she said, but there was almost no inflection in her voice.

I showered, dried off behind her back, and took over guard duty. She undressed behind my back, hopped in the shower, hopped back out, dried off, and threw her “greens” back on. I did not peek, or even consider it. There was too much on my mind.

Charlotte Marie Cooper, my new friend, babysitter, and sister of my favorite mechanical genius, probably had a few things on her mind as well.

We made speedy work out of slipping into new clothes and appropriate tactical rigging. It was easy to stand outside my accommodations while she changed, not a single word passed between us after we left the storage room I’d turned into my bathing chamber of delights. There was tension, but I had no way of knowing what the source of her backing away was, other than the possibility that the guy she spent the night with might be carrying an interesting viral package.

There had been enough touching to ensure that if it passed skin-to-skin, she’d be infected by now as well. It would have been easier to tell her I’d just given her a raging case of syphilis or the clap. How do you tell someone you’re sorry for passing along an infection that might turn her into some kind of undead monster?

Worse, how could I cope with the fact that I seemed to be in possession of a life-changing microbe? I sure as Hell couldn’t ignore it; I also couldn’t figure out where I’d gotten it and why I’d never had a fever or my own personal Hunted by Zombies experience.

It didn’t make sense.

“Frank.” Charlie broke the silence, and that surprised me. “We need to find Jaya first and get her take on this. Then we figure out what the next steps need to be.”

“I agree.” Mission defined and decided upon, we went forth.

It was a nice day out, people were milling around. Gina and her husband were walking very carefully, carrying a green plastic trashcan between them. That was probably the replacement for the one Mister Yan set off.

“Frank!” Gina waved to us with her free hand.

Mark, holding the other side of the trashcan carefully, gritted his teeth, furrowed his brow, and said, “Sweetie, we really shouldn’t jostle the can like this. REALLY.”

“Mark, it’s solid, electrically activated, and is not going to go ‘FOOM’ because I waved at someone. Relax before you give yourself kidney stones.”

I imagine that in a normal world, we would have looked like two couples talking shop about recycling or making your own compost. The trashcan would not have been explosive, of that I’m sure.

“So! It’s good to see you up and moving around, Mister Pull the Hand Grenade Pin!” Gina was one of those freakishly positive people. I often thought that R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People” song was written because Michael Stipe had met her at some point or another. “I’d hug you, but I bet your back hurts a lot!” She turned to Charlie, “So! You’re Charlotte, Shawn’s baby sister! That’s so great! Nice to see you! I’d give you a big hug but... ”

“You’d have to put the can down, and it would make Mark twitch,” Charlie finished off with a smile.

“That’s right! Wow! You’re just as sharp as your brother!” The perky. It burns.

“Frank,” her husband said, looking at me.

“Mark.”

“Somebody stepped on one of the pressure plates.”

“Yes. The explosion woke me up.”

Mark nodded. “They already hosed down the wall.”

“Good.”

“Talk to you guys soon.”

“Thanks, Mark. Gina, have a good day, and thanks for your excellent work!” I actually allowed a little perky to slip out.

“Aw! Thanks! Remind me to give you a big hug when you’re all better!”

I nodded, and we quickly started walking toward Jayashri’s house. Mark and Gina went the other way, slowly and carefully. Odd thoughts were vying for time inside my head. On one hand, I felt like Charlie and I should be walking arm in arm, shades of that moment of Alternate Universe from the night before. On the other hand, I was very wrapped up in being afraid I’d managed to get myself stuffed with a mutant, life-altering thingamajig.

“Is Gina always that perky?”

We stopped in the middle of Jaya and Baj’s neighbor’s lawn, and I thought about the question for a moment or two. “No. Not all the time.”

“That’s a relief! I don’t know if I could stand it for more than a few minutes without hunting for booze or a hypodermic full of Thorazine.”

“Whatever you do, don’t give her alcohol,” I cautioned Charlie.

“What happens then?”

“The perkiness doesn’t go away. It just gets faster, more intense, and she starts trying to make out with everyone. The making-out part usually happens after she’s taken off all her clothes.”

“God! That little gal is a self-contained party, isn’t she?” Charlie had a look of astonishment on her face, and I could see the sort of stuff that was going on between her ears. It looked like it was probably a little lewd, and I made a mental note to ask her about it if any of us survived the coming week. More than that, I wondered if I was in there anywhere.

Jayashri must have heard us coming or seen us walking up the street, because she had already opened the front door by the time we got to the steps.

“Good morning, you two. Did you get some rest?” She ushered us into the house, and gave Charlie a little push to keep her moving toward the kitchen. “No, breakfast is served in the dining room. There will be time to lounge after our meal.”

“Jaya, you don’t have to keep feeding us like this!”

“Charlie, speak for yourself!” I added, with a smile on my face. “If Jaya is cooking, you do not ask questions. You sit down, eat it, fall head over heels in love with her, and never want to leave.”

“Francis, did you not hear me tell your new friend that you are a silly boy?” Jaya cuffed me on the shoulder. Her eyes narrowed when I didn’t flinch. “Speaking of you, silly boy. You appear to be moving more easily today than yesterday. Was your night that refreshing?”

“Ah. Busted before coffee. This always happens.” I sat down at the table because I didn’t want to get into the whole thing while standing up, in case my knees gave way in sheer terror. “Charlie knows what’s going on, so we don’t need to be cloak-and-dagger about it.”

Jayashri did not stop moving; she simply came over to the chair I was in, pushed me over onto the tabletop, and pulled my shirt up in the back. I don’t know what she said, but it was long, impassioned, and featured “Ganesh” in there somewhere.

“Please tell me you did not lie to me about the fever or chills.”

“Jaya, God as my witness, I told you the truth.”

“Oh, for your sake I do hope so. If you have passed that virus to this lovely woman in the action of your physical pleasure, I will... Oh! Your karma will never recover!”

“Hey! Wait a minute here. Did you just dance around assuming we had sex last night?” Charlie’s voice was a strange combination of icy and amused.

“You did not?” The look on her face was pure incredulity.

“No, we didn’t.”

My dearest doctor stood there, looking back and forth at us as though we were having some kind of telepathic ping-pong game only she could see.

“Are you telling me, Charlotte, that as a woman, you did not see how he looked at you?”

“He’s a guy. They all see the boobs and they stop.”

Jaya said something containing “Shri Krishna” and shook her head. Then it was my turn.

“You are going to tell me you did not see her batting her eyes and moving in such a manner as to accentuate her physical charms?”

“Should I have noticed?”

“My goodness!” She put her hands on her hips and glared at both of us, one at a time.

“If the two of you were the last fertile people alive on the planet, the human race would die out. I tell you, if Americans understood the power of flirtation... Gracious! You children frustrate me so!”

She walked over to the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room and motioned for Charlie to come with her.

“The least I can do, before we give the barbarian his morning coffee, is teach you a little bit about the secret heart of men. That one,” she pointed at me, “might be hopeless at his age, but you are not! Come on.”

Everything was going right over my head. I had expected a little less sedate of a reaction to my apparent biological changes, and I really didn’t think I’d start the day, instead, by having my mating rituals critiqued by my dearest female friend. It seemed to me life was continuing to bend further sideways while I was trying to walk along in a fairly straight line.

A short while later, they emerged from the kitchen bearing coffee mugs, cream, and a tray of yogurt and granola-filled bowls. Charlie was biting her lower lip, I guessed as a way to keep from laughing. Jaya simply looked perplexed.

“Now, we will eat and have your barbarian coffee, and afterward we will discuss these new developments.” Jaya’s tone of voice was very much not to be trifled with. “Discussions fraught with intense subjects and decisions should never be approached on an empty stomach.”

I asked, “Is that part of the Vedic tradition?”

“No. That is from the tradition of Jayashri and Bajali’s home. The Vedas would suggest I use the yogurt and give you a high colonic. Would you prefer that with or without the granola?”

“The barbarian will now shut up and drink his foul steaming beverage.”

“See?” She tugged on Charlie’s sleeve. “There may yet be hope for him.”

Breakfast passed quietly, the humor and lightheartedness slowly gave way to the heavier concerns we were facing. We had not even spoken to Jaya about the morning visitor and his report on what we should expect in three or four days. For my own part, I couldn’t decide which news was more life threatening or dire. One way or another, I knew I would stand beside these people and do my best to defend them, even if I had to leave to prevent spreading my version of the virus in the community.

It was bad enough that I could have passed it to Charlie already. Probably
had
passed it, if I was actually hosting some mutant strain of the zombie-maker. That led me straight down the path of wondering who else I might have given it to, over time.

“The silence is very pregnant at this table. Don’t you think so?” I said as I looked up to find both of the women looking at me with various levels of intensity.

“Yeah, I’d agree with that,” Charlie piped in.

“I’m not sure where to start,” so I took another sip of coffee and a spoonful of yogurt.

“I will start. I had an interesting morning, much like the two of you did, I expect.”

Charlie and I fixed our attention on her with the speed of a switch being flipped.

“There was a knock on the front door a little before sunrise,” Jayashri continued, “and I expected it would be one of you or some sort of emergency with someone in the community. I can see you know who my visitor was.” She smiled. “Bajali is well and being treated with respect, although he is under guard at all times. Mister Yan also explained that we would be attacked in a few days, and that he was specifically told to visit you as well. From the looks on your faces, I see that he did.”

“Yes. He told us the same things he told you, and I think he deliberately found one of the IEDs on the way out.” I really hated to say that, but it was probably true. Mister Yan was too honest and good a person to be swayed by the temptation of a second life at the expense of consuming the innocent.

“He asked me for advice on how to end his life after he shared all of the information he was sent to give us.” Jayashri looked like I felt: hollow. “I gave him the location of the smallest IED between the store and the road. He wanted to limit the amount of damage he caused but also assure there would be no way for his spirit to return to the body.”

Charlie just shook her head. “That poor man.”

“No, I do not see him as someone to be pitied. He was strong, full of love, loyal, and could not bear the burden of life at the cost of other human lives. His choice was both the act of a noble man and a dear friend. When the end of this life comes to me, I pray I will make such a good end.”

Jayashri’s words seemed to echo in my head. I knew they touched me, because I felt the swell of emotions that rose up within me. No one had ever spoken, out loud, something I believed in so deeply and held so tightly in my heart.

That sort of love and nobility was something I had been searching for my entire life. I never saw it in my parents or siblings. I tried to travel the world to find it, as if it would be lurking in a flea market in Beijing, stuffed behind the red plastic dragons and counterfeit shoes. Sitting in the dining room, over coffee and breakfast, my friend showed me the most moving truth I have ever known.

The thing I sought all my life was already within me. All I had to do was act in accordance with what I hold dear.

I may have been looking at her through a veil of my own almost-shed tears, but Jayashri glowed as she sat there with an expression of ageless resolve and peace on her face.