Kamiyo examined the three patients for a moment while he considered. “Someone may have caught it before all this started, during a trip abroad most likely. They could have been asymptomatic and passed the bacteria on accidentally. It’s probably the water though, so no more drinking from the lake. Anyone with a fever or a cough needs to be isolated right away. They can stay together, but not around healthy people. What have you done with… James, was it?”
“We buried him this morning at the edge of the forest.”
“Good. You should quarantine anyone who handled his body.”
“Right, yes, okay.” Jackie turned toward the doorway, heels clicking on the wooden floorboards. “I’ll go, um, spread the word.”
“I need to get Bray outside,” said Philip. “I need someone to help me lift him.”
Kamiyo placed a hand on the father’s back. “I’ll help. Let’s lift the cot.”
The cot bed was a canvas spread across a small trellis, so it wasn’t difficult to lift between them. Kamiyo held the head end while Philip took his son’s legs, and together they sidled out of the first aid room and into the larger reception area. Night was only minutes away, and the cabin was cast in a featureless grey. Shadows danced near the entrance, aroused by the glow of a fire outside. Kamiyo hadn’t acknowledged it when he arrived, but there was a large pit in front of the cabin, piled high with logs and branches. An adult was lighting the whole thing with a bundle of flaming twigs. Did the group sing Kumbaya every night while roasting marshmallows? It was astounding, and Kamiyo couldn’t help but stare as he shimmied past.
“There’s a spot over here,” said Philip once they’d trekked down to the lake. “It’s a nice shady area.”
“Okay,” said Kamiyo, wheeling around with the sick teenager. “You sure it’s wise building such a big fire like that? What if the demons see the smoke?”
Philip huffed.
“Did I say something funny?”
“Demons. I saw them on the news, but I’m still not sure I believe it. We haven’t seen a single one. Whole thing could be a hoax for all I know.”
“I take it you were one of the ones who wanted to leave early on?”
Philip nodded, a bead of sweat appearing on his brow as he heaved his son. “Yes. I’m not prepared to spend the rest of my days hiding in the forest. We have no idea what’s going on in the rest of the world.”
Kamiyo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I do! There’s nothing left out there, I assure you. The demons have won. If it wasn’t for this place, you would all be…” He sighed. “You’ve been very lucky, trust me.”
Philip grunted. “You’re still alive. You can’t be the only one.”
“I’m not. There are others, but very few. Soon, there might not be anyone. You all need to stay here.”
To Philip’s credit, he seemed to think about it. “Perhaps,” he muttered, looking down at his son and seeming to put a pin in the matter. “Here, set Bray down beneath these trees.”
Kamiyo looked up at the trailing canopy of a willow tree and agreed it was a nice cool patch. He bent his knees and eased the boy onto the ground. “We need to set up ground cover and a tarp overhead. Can’t risk bird faeces landing on the patients.”
“I’ll see what I can find. Thank you, doctor. I appreciate this.”
Kamiyo smiled, then looked out over the moonlit lake. Several ducks and a bevy of swans idled on the water. Their presence worried him. In fact, the entire lake shimmered with movement. “Someone needs to watch over the sick at all times. There’s too much wildlife here. Once we have Carol and Michael situated, I’ll take the first shift.”
Philip nodded. “I understand. I’ll keep watch on my boy until then.”
Kamiyo glanced back at the shimmering lake, unsettled by it. It seemed alive, almost apprehensive, like Mother Nature herself was trying to call out a warning. Then Kamiyo turned to watch the growing campfire outside the log cabin. Plumes of black smoke and glowing embers rose into the sky.
Could this place really remain hidden?
10
TED
“I think we’re okay.” Hannah scanned the trees with her rifle. As chatty as she was, she’d been utterly silent for the last hour. In fact, her unwavering focus unnerved Ted. She straightened up from a crouch and looked at him. Her hair was still wound tight as steel. “They were sticking to the road when we last saw them. Hopefully, that’s where they’ll stay.”
“They’ll start checking out places like this eventually,” said Ted, sweeping aside a thorny bush with his hammer. “They’ve already moved out from the towns and cities, spreading out like a net, and we’re the fish.”
Hannah turned a circle, studying the ground and then peering up at the canopy. “They’ll have a hard time finding us in this forest. I didn’t know places like this still existed.”
“You didn’t think forests existed?”
She chuckled. “Well, yeah, I knew they existed. I just thought they were elsewhere, in places like Norway and… Narnia. I thought England got paved over long ago.”
“Don’t swallow everything the media feeds you, luv. There’s plenty of land left, but they drip-feed it to keep the house prices and rents high.”
Hannah frowned. “Why would anybody do that?”
“Because half the MPs in Westminster own digs. Landlords and developers, the lot of ‘em. Every law that passes through Parliament benefits some Tory muppet or another.”
“Wow, are you one of those conspiracy nuts?”
He shot her a dirty look. Why were the young so blind to what was piled in front of them?
