Frequency (The Frenzy Series Book 3) (20 page)

“Want to know what I think?” Roman grunted as he walked down the sidewalk stiffly.

Tage rolled his eyes. “No, but I bet you’re going to tell us anyway.”

“You know me so well. I think…” He paused dramatically. “You talked yourself
into
Saul—into the idea of him, anyway. I heard you talking to him the morning you volunteered. You were given a choice: either enter the rotation or find a husband. Your mother was being your mother. For some reason he offered to marry you, just like that. And when you made it into the rotation, you put the brakes on. But I think that you made yourself fall in love with the idea of him; someone who would rescue you from the hell you were living in. The idea of someone who wanted you was more than you could resist.”

I swallowed. Honestly, I’d thought the same things a few times. Why would he say he would marry me? Why wouldn’t I just say yes? Giving it time was prudent. Yes, I grew to respect him, and yes, my hormones were a crazy mess. But did I really love him? I think I did, but maybe Roman was right. Maybe I just loved the idea of him. Or maybe I loved the idea of leaving home with him.

Tage muttered something under his breath before saying, “Look, if you’ve got him, I’ll go get Mercedes. Meet us at the pavilion.”

“We’re good,” I replied. Roman walked like a sixty-year old man, but in reality he was older than that. So we walked slowly while Tage sped away. The plan was for him to get my family and gather the colonists in the pavilion square. They needed to see Mercedes and Roman. With their own eyes, they needed to see that there was a cure, that it worked fast, and that they were safe. They also needed to know about the Elders and the role they played in the experimentation, if they didn’t already know. Some did. Some had experienced their depravity first-hand.

Roman was sweating and smiling, no trace of a fang in his far-too-handsome face. He leaned against the tiered fountain. I moved to a bench, unable to stand the stench of rotten leaves in the water, of dead bugs and algae that were trapped in its basins until they flooded out. No one had bothered to clean it in years. Maybe they never had. It was nauseating.

I ate the hare Tage brought me. Eating smaller, more frequent meals seemed to agree with my stomach. Even small amounts of blood were tolerable and gave me the energy that raw meat couldn’t. I was part of both curses and had to feed each one’s craving.

Roman brushed a piece of dark hair out of his eyes and I took him in; his dark jeans, white t-shirt, and leather jacket. The slight smile he couldn’t wipe off his face entirely. “What are you going to do about Pierce?” I asked suddenly.

He gripped the edge of the fountain with his palms. “I don’t know. There isn’t an easy answer to that. I truly think he’s lost his mind. The venom may cure him, but would it bring my brother back?”

“You have to try.”

“No one will be happy about it. Where will he live?”

I smoothed the creases from my skirts. Maggie had finished stitching the dress I started and I wanted to wear it today, to show the colonists that in some small way, I was still part of them.

“The dress might not help, you know,” Roman said softly, intuitively.

“I know.”

“I hope it does.”

I did too.

Roman ticked his head toward the human section of Blackwater. The pavilion had long since divided the night-walkers from the colonists, but now that divide was about to be erased. “Not everyone will want to change. Have you thought of that?”

“Yes,” I answered simply. “Did you
want
to be human?”

He blew out a breath and stood up straight. “If you’d have asked me that a few days ago, I would have said no.”

“But...”

“But I’m relieved. I’m happy. It feels good to feel normal.”

It looked good on him, too. He smirked. “It’s okay to check me out. You’ve been eyeing the goods since you first saw me standing in Town Hall.”

“You’re so full of it, Roman.”

“Full of truth. Speaking of which, here they come.”

Men, women, and children walked together in tight family groups. The girls’ dresses swished as loudly as the gray woolen pants the men and boys wore. Everyone’s clothing matched. Everyone’s facial expressions did, too. They were curious and afraid. Concern hung on the faces of the adults, and wonder on the faces of the children circling their legs.

In the distance, Tage walked toward us with Father, Ford, and Mercedes. The four of them kept perfect stride, by-passing any group moving too slowly. Whispers and murmurs accompanied the crowd. Word spread quickly throughout the village, even to the trio of Elders, who approached from the direction of Town Hall.

“What is the meaning of this?” Yankee blubbered as he stalked angrily toward us.

I ignored him. So did Roman.

Standing up, I climbed onto the bench so everyone could see and hear me. “Thank you all for coming today. I know you’re working hard right now and every minute of daylight counts, but the light of day is good for more than just gardens and planting. Revelations can be brought to light.”

Elder Brown stepped forward, but I stopped him with a gesture.

“A cure for the Infection has been found.” The crowd of people began to talk loudly, questioning the statement I’d made. “And a cure for vampirism has also been found.”

I motioned for Mercedes to step forward and helped her up onto the bench. Her dress was freshly pressed and she smelled of bread and butter. Her hair was combed and tucked into a knot at the base of her neck. She looked healthier than she did before the fall. “Mercedes is fine…and so is Roman.”

The colonists turned their attention from Mercedes to Roman and he smiled brightly, waving and basking in the attention.

“He has no fangs!” someone shouted. They all knew Roman. He was the face of the night-walkers in our community, the leader; the one they feared for so long.

“She isn’t rotting!” came another yell. They also knew that my sister fell in the forest, that she had become a monster.

“We are going to spread the news far and wide, but there is another matter that as citizens you need to address.”

Father stepped up to me. “May I tell them?”

I nodded and accepted his hand as he helped me down. “The Elders should be banished from Blackwater,” he began with no preamble. A collective gasp came from the colonists, who quieted immediately.

“Now you wait just a minute!” Beckett shouted, waving his hand in front of Father’s face.

Tage grabbed the old man’s wrist, instructing, “Let him speak.”

“Some of you know about the experiments, and some don’t. The Elders told you about the treaty with the night-walkers, but what they didn’t tell you was that it was more than just protection in exchange for time in the forest. What they didn’t tell you was that they also had a treaty with the Infected in our area. And in this treaty, they promised to cooperate with each cursed creature to find a cure. In this treaty, they vowed to use any means at their disposal to heal the Infected. They used some of us as guinea pigs. They used my wife and child.”

“And my husband,” came the raised voice of a widow.

Father nodded at Widow Tanner.

“They used my son,” cried a man from the back of the crowd. He broke down into sobs, comforted by those around him, and by the blessed relief of the crushing weight of such a secret lifting from his shoulders.

“The night-walkers performed the tests at the instruction of the Infected,” Father continued. “My wife hated them for it. I can’t say for sure that what they did to her—what they did to our unborn child—affected her mind, but I can’t say that it didn’t,” he said, his voice cracking.

Roman walked across the pavilion pavers, parting the crowd like the sea. “Some of the Infected may be too far gone to save. My brother is their leader. I would understand if you didn’t want to invite them back into Blackwater. I couldn’t blame you one bit. However, I would ask that you consider the situation. If you stood in their shoes, you may have been as desperate for a cure as they were.” He cleared his throat, shoving his fists in his pockets. “Thank you.”

“What was in it for the Elders?” someone shouted. “Did you work with them for our protection?”

Yankee began spouting lies first. “The Colony had no choice, you see. We were stuck between the night-walkers who threatened to eat us, and the Infected who threatened to either eat or contaminate us. We. Had. No. Choice.”

Roman laughed, holding up a piece of paper that was yellowed and curling at all ends. “And the clause that says you get to take credit for finding the cure meant nothing to you?”

Brown threw his hands up and began to walk away, but Yankee and Beckett walked toward Roman, trying to snatch the original treaty from his hands. Tage and I positioned ourselves between them, fangs exposed.

“They
should
be banished,” a man shouted.

Murmurs of agreement came from every direction, male and female alike.

Yankee was outraged. “We didn’t
make
the treaty! We weren’t Elders when it was drawn up.”

“You enforced it!” Roman yelled back at him. “You encouraged my brother!”

“And
you
did his bidding, Roman.” To the crowd, Beckett shouted, “You can’t do this! You have no right!” Wisps of his white hair flapped gently in the soft breeze. The sun made the spots on his head darker and his scowl deeper.

“They just did,” I growled. “Gather your things. We’ll help you across the river or over the wall. Your choice.”

Father called for a group of men to accompany each Elder while they packed what belongings they could carry. The citizens of Blackwater slowly dispersed, each taking in Mercedes and Roman again and again before they went back to their chores.

I settled on a bench, spent from the emotions of the morning, and Tage flopped down next to me. “That went better than I expected,” I commented dryly. “After they have a few minutes to gather their things, I’ll take them wherever they choose to go. Then I guess we need to go see who we can save in the city.”

Tage’s brows scrunched together. “I can help you with the Elders.”

“No, I need to do it,” I answered decisively. “There are still a lot of emotions running high and this needs to be done quietly. I’ll see them across the river or the wall. We can meet here afterward.”

Roman chuckled. “Have fun with that. I’ll hang with Tage until you get back. And then when you leave, I’ll make myself busy humaning at my house.”

“You mean sleeping,” Tage teased.

“Guy’s gotta get his beauty sleep. Don’t be jealous, Tage. Green isn’t your color.”

The Elders were indignant, huffing and puffing as we escorted them from Blackwater. They chose the forest. The carpenters, led by Brian Yankee, son of Elder Yankee, had gotten busy after the meeting, making a long, wide bridge of sorts for the old men to walk easily across. The rungs were close together and made of strong, fresh wood. I positioned it, escorted them slowly across one by one, and then pulled the entire wooden platform back up and over into the Colony. Brian thanked me for allowing them to use the walkway. “Of course. Wish we’d have had this for the rotation,” I teased.

Brian watched his father walk across the boards, his thin frame hunched in shame and his salt and pepper hair flapping in the spring wind. The water swirled beneath us, having receded in the last couple of days. It was clear. The mud that clouded it had settled. Colonists gathered a family at a time to watch the men who had led them for so long leave the village.

I understood Brian Yankee. His father was misguided. He had done bad things. Those things weren’t his own sins, but he still felt them. Deep in his marrow they resided, scarring him from the inside. Yet he still wanted his father to have a safe trip across the water. Not on a slippery log that even the most fit of men and women struggled with, and not through the cold water or over the algae-ribboned rocks. He loved his father.

As I loved my mother.

As sick as it seemed, I missed her.

The entire scene was solemn. No one clapped or cheered or shamed the men. Everyone watched as the once-mighty quietly fell from power and grace.

To Brian, I whispered, “There are homes. It’s a far walk through the forest, but there are homes to the north.” I’d seen the clearing, the rooftops glistening with snow. It would take a lot of work to get them cleaned up, but it was shelter.