“Hey, Rosa. What’s up?”
“I want to see him,” Rosa replied, her expression serious.
“Um... You’re not going to hurt him, are you?” Emily asked hesitantly.
Rosa looked at the door, then back at Emily. “I don’t think so.” Then, seeing Emily’s concerned look, she added, “In any case, I am not armed.”
Emily considered for a moment. “All right.” She knocked. “Ben, mate. Can you step back from the door?”
“I’m as far away as can be,” he said.
With a final nervous look at Rosa, Emily opened the door and looked inside. Satisfied, she turned back to Rosa.
“I’m going to be watching from the doorway,” she warned before stepping aside.
Rosa couldn’t be sure if Emily feared for her safety or Ben’s. She smiled reassuringly and walked through the doorway.
The lights were out in the room, and it took a couple of seconds before she spotted Ben. He was standing at the window. Rosa hesitated at the doorway. Ben looked over his shoulder and saw her, then looked out again.
Rosa slowly approached. He turned around when she got within ten feet. His face was impassive. Ready to be scolded, berated, and blamed.
“Patrick—” She hesitated. “Patrick was my husband. Do you remember him?”
Ben blinked. He did not speak.
Tears welled up in Rosa’s eyes. “He died.” She blurted out. “He was infected. He attacked me.” She took a breath to calm herself. “He caused this.” She held up her hand, showing the splinted fingers and the missing tip of her pinky. “And this.” She gestured to her bruised and bandaged face. The bandage started at her neck and ran under her shirt.
“Sorry,” Ben said.
They were silent for a long moment, staring at each other.
Finally, Rosa broke the connection and looked down. “Don’t be sorry. Some men were monsters long before they died and came back.”
Ben nodded, as if he had known all this time. “I’m still sorry.”
Rosa took a deep breath. “Why did you come here?”
His gaze dropped. After a moment he said, never looking up, “I think I came here to die. To pay for my sins.”
Rosa was silent. She studied her so-called enemy. After another long moment, he looked up and met her eyes. For the first time, Rosa saw uncertainty and weakness in the otherwise stoic man.
“I feel ... lost.” The need for understanding was plain upon his face. “It’s like I don’t know what my purpose is.” He bit his bottom lip. “I used to know.” Ben shook his head ruefully. “Or at least I thought I did. It was all so clear to me.”
He turned away then and looked out through the window. He shook his head even as he spoke.
“We were doing the right thing. We were so sure of it. ‘Mankind has become a plague upon the earth,’ Brenin said. And we believed it. But what we have done to this world... It’s not right.”
He took a deep breath, in and out through the nose. Rosa waited for him to continue.
“The rich. The corporations. They were the masters. And all others were slaves.” He slowly turned around to face Rosa once more. “That probably sounds pretty crazy. But we believed it. I believed it. We all knew that our leaders were working on something. Something that might set things right. But we — I — also knew that this would involve something drastic.”
Ben was silent then.
Rosa’s voice broke the silence. “The virus. The Syndrome.”
She was about to speak again when Ben continued.
“It became real.” He was still looking at her, but his eyes were distant. “People started dying. Lots of people. Innocent people.” His eyes now flashed with disbelief. “And then they came back!”
The disbelief was replaced by a rueful look. “I thought I was doing the right thing. Then I wasn’t so sure anymore. And now I know that it was wrong.”
Again, a long silence stretched between the two. Emily stirred in the doorway, clearly uncomfortable. Rosa knew that she had heard every word of their conversation.
“I believe you,” Rosa said simply. And with that statement, her mind was made up.
Ben looked at her, confused.
She took two steps closer. She was almost close enough to touch if he reached out. She saw Ben hesitate suddenly, as he felt the solid surface of the window against his back. It felt to Rosa as if he feared the conviction in her eyes.
“You can still do the right thing,” she said.
“What is the right thing?” he asked, his voice barely raised above a whisper.
“Help us. Protect us.”
He exhaled through his nose and shrugged. “And, what? Just forget I was part of the group that made this happen?”
“It’s not too late, Ben. There are people here who need you.”
Ben shook his head. Rosa kept talking, though.
“Listen, Ben. We have a group of survivors here, but none of us are warriors. Not like you are. You can make so much difference for us.”
Ben considered Rosa. “You’re serious.” He was stunned. He had not expected this.
Rosa nodded.
Ben dropped his shoulders and his head, shaking it as he spoke. “No. I don’t deserve it.”
“Maybe.” Her tone of voice told Ben that she did not necessarily disagree. “Maybe you have to earn it.”
Emily had forgotten about her role as guard and walked up. She stood beside Rosa, facing the soldier. “I think you’re a good bloke, Ben. You can redeem yourself, yeah?” she said.
Ben looked from Rosa to Emily. “Redeem myself.” He said the words, tasting them. He scratched his beard. “Two days ago, I was going to infiltrate this school and take you out. Or, failing that, I was going to lock you all in and blow this place. Or burn it.”
The words shocked the two women, but Ben went on with his story.
“I holed up in a house only about a stone’s throw from here that night. I broke into the place, intending to scout out the school one last time from up close. But then I ran into the kid.” Ben frowned. “He was dead,” He shrugged ever so
