The Cure

The Cure-by M.Lyn Bennett

“Let the kid sleep,” growled Ghost.

“Sleep won’t keep us safe,” Red complained.

“Lack of sleep sure as Hell ain’t gonna keep us safe either,” countered Ghost. “Look at her, Red, she’s out of fuel. A couple hours won’t kill us.”

“It might,” Kansas piped in bitterly.

The men nodded in agreement.

“She’s been through so much already,” Ghost sighed.

“We’ve all been through too much,” whispered Rabbit in a hollow voice.

It was true. They had seen enough horror to last them an eternity. To survive every one of them had done and seen more than they would ever forget or be forgiven for.

“The sooner we take her to the old dude the sooner we are safe,” said Red gently. He and Ghost were friends even before The Event. He knew what Ghost had lost, what they all had lost, and what they’d had to do to survive but his friend was being unreasonable.

They were right. The man in the grey suit had offered money to anyone who could bring the girl to him. Enough money to buy themselves into one of the Eden communities and offer them safety but his gut told him the man was not being honest with them. Women were valuable and rare. In their small group alone Ghost had defended the girl from others who sought to use her for their own purposes. He refused to give her to anyone untrustworthy.

It had been 22 years since The Event started.

It all began with a “cure”.

When the illness hit the world panicked. People watched the death toll rise from every news source while huddled in their homes in fear. The panic swelled with each new outbreak report until the day the news broke that a “cure” was available.

Mobs lined up to receive this “cure”. There was fighting in the streets while people clamored to get to dosing clinics. Those who could not afford the shot or who were not high enough in the food chain had to wait until last to get theirs while a select few chose not to take the “cure” at all.

Those who did receive it were celebrated but soon something went wrong.

By the time stories of the mutations spread most of the world’s population had already accepted the shot.

Deaths from the “cure” began to outnumber those from the illness. Those who survived were overwhelmingly comprised of people who had not gotten the “cure”.

The mutation was most devastating to women and unborn children. Their numbers crashed, the babies born still and the women falling ill and dying. It was estimated less than 1% of women survived. Only those women who remained “uncured” were still able to bear children.

The wealthy were able to rally together and make secure communities. Walled and well stocked the rich communities were dubbed “Edens. Only the elite were permitted within Eden walls while those not blessed were left to fend for themselves in a wasteland outside the communities.

Ghost and his companions were among the wasteland scavengers.

They’d found refuge in an abandoned theater dubbed The Nest.

While searching for food Ghost and Red chanced upon a friendly clan of survivors with an interesting tale.

“There’s a man outside the Northern Eden handing bread out to scavengers.”

“What’s the catch? Nobody gives nothin’ away for free,” Red observed.

“He’s offering money, lots of it, to anyone who can find his granddaughter. He would pay enough to buy entry into an Eden,” they answered.

The story was intriguing. Red and Ghost traveled to the Northern Eden to hear the tale for themselves and found the man in the grey suit exactly where they were told he would be. All they had to do was find a nine year old girl with red hair and a heart shaped locket and bring her to him. For her return he promised safety within the Eden walls.

It sounded to Ghost like a wild goose chase. A young girl left alone in this world was likely already dead or sold off to a breeder.

Against all odds it was Ghost who found her huddled under a bridge for warmth clutching a ragged white kitten in her hands.

He’d spent hours talking to her while she sat silently staring up at him with crystal blue eyes. Her hair was tangled, clothing tattered, but the locket around her neck gleamed even in the darkness under the bridge. Just before nightfall she offered her hand to Ghost and followed him back to The Nest.

That was eight days ago and the others were starting to get impatient.

Night after night Ghost sat telling her bedtime stories or about life before The Event. He’d told her about his daughter, Emily, who was barely older than the girl when she’d passed away. He’d even named the kitten Oona after a fairy from one of Emily’s favorite movies. The girl never spoke.

They were in The Nest, lights extinguished and stomachs growling, when the subject came up again.

By Ghost’s best guess none of them, save the girl and Oona, had eaten in two days and if they were careful they had enough clean water to drink for another day or two before they would need to send a team for supplies.

“How long are we going to wait, Ghost? The girl is worth twice her weight in resources,” Kansas said.

“I don’t trust him,” Ghost responded.

“I don’t care what he wants with the little muffin,” Rabbit hissed, “he’s willing to pay us in safety and food.”

“And if he wants to breed her?”

A murmur passed through the group. Ghost had a point. It was a disgusting thought but not unheard of.

“At least she’d be taken care of,” Kansas stated.

Even half starved Ghost was fast on his feet. He closed the gap between them in one step. Kansas’ eyes ballooned when the bigger guy grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into a wall as if he were weightless.

“She goes nowhere,” snarled Ghost.

“We are all on the same team here,” Red reminded them. “Maybe we should sleep on this tonight. Make a decision in the morning.”

“Nowhere,” Ghost repeated letting go of Kansas.

Without another word Ghost turned to find the girl staring wide eyed at the commotion.

“It’s okay, Princess,” he cooed softly, “just a little misunderstanding. Try to sleep some more.”

He stroked Oona lightly settling down beside the girl’s makeshift bed.

“Did I ever tell you about the time Emily adopted a baby squirrel?”

“It has to be tonight,” Kansas whispered.

Rabbit nodded, “Tonight.”

They waited for nightfall.

The girl was their ticket to safety. The only barrier was the big man snoring softly beside her.

The others were already awake.

“Sorry, my old friend,” Red whispered bringing the hammer down on Ghost’s head. “Nothing personal.”

Ghost fell waking the girl and making Oona hiss viscously.

He awoke to something gently patting his face. His head pounded and his stomach lurched. Had there been anything in his belly he would have vomited.

Panic swelled in him. The girl?

Another gentle pat.

He looked around to find Oona tapping his cheek with her paw.

He knew where they’d gone. They were taking the girl to the man in the grey suit and there was no way for him to know how much of a head start they had.

He scooped up Oona placing her gently onto his wide shoulders and half ran-half stumbled for the door.

The Northern Eden was two hours away at a casual walk. Ghost ran.

The man in the grey suit was not at the gate when Ghost arrived. Nobody was. He walked in like he owned the place but there was not a living soul around.

Oona jumped from his shoulder darting down an alley off to their left. He didn’t hesitate. He ran after her.

She stopped in front of a small church with a bright red door. There was no time for politeness. His gut told him the girl was inside. He pushed the door open and stepped into the chapel.

The girl stood before the man in the grey suit while Rabbit, Kansas, Red, and the other scavengers watched.

“You have returned, my dear,” crooned the man in the grey suit. “Have you found what you sought?”

“Touch her and I will kill you, old man.”

The girl turned her eyes towards him but the man put his hand on her shoulder.

Ghost ran towards the altar.

“Stop,” yelled Red but Ghost was almost to her.

The girl’s hand went to her locket.

Ghost was close enough he could reach out and touch her. He could save her.

Kansas saw his home in Eden evaporate. Ghost was going to cost them their safety. For what? For a child?

The knife was in his hand before he could think. He drove it deep into Ghost’s chest feeling blood gush over his hand.

The girl screamed.

“No,” shouted the man in the grey suit.

Oona howled.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Ghost fell to his knees, hands still reaching for the girl, but he was gone before he hit the ground.

The child kneeled beside him, a tear tracing down her dirty cheek.

The man in the grey suit stared at Kansas with a mixture of ire and pity. “What have you done?”

Kansas’ answer was stolen from his lips when he saw the girl stand up.

Her tears were gone, her eyes radiating a blue light so brilliant it nearly blinded him but he was not able to look away from her. Behind her a set of massive wings had bloomed.

The man in the grey suit fell to his knees averting his eyes.

Kansas could not look away. He could not move. He could not breathe.

When she spoke the sound that escaped was like sunlight, the chorus of a million singing voices, the melody of the first day of spring after a bitter winter.

“You have doomed them all,” she sighed. “He was of good heart and gallant soul. He was a protector of virtue. You have murdered the one pure thing left on this Earth. When I was alone it was he who found me. I knew not your language but he taught me with his stories. He was kindness in a dark and cruel world and you have destroyed him. I was sent here to see if this world was worth saving and I found Him. He, alone, was worth salvation and now he is gone.”

“I don’t understand,” Kansas whispered.

“And you won’t,” she responded.

Oona curled onto Ghost’s back purring softly.

The girl’s hand closed over the gleaming heart shaped locket.

“I was sent to end this plague,” the girl whispered, “and so I shall.”

She opened the locket.

Light burst from inside it.

The light burned everything it touched. Kansas screamed as he burned echoing the cries of the other scavengers as one by one they fell where they stood.

And then the light dimmed to darkness leaving the girl, the man in the grey suit, Oona, and Ghost’s body alone in the church.

She knelt beside Ghost once again, wings enveloping him, and smiled.

“Come now,” she whispered softly in her sunlit voice, “someone awaits you.”

When he opened his eyes the first thing Ghost saw was the warm light that seemed to radiate from everywhere and everything.

The next thing he saw was Emily.

The world had ended in a burning wash of light and a wave of darkness but not for him. Not for Emily. Not for the girl with the heart shaped locket and her ragged kitten. For them a new world awaited.

“Come, my child,” the man in the grey suit said taking the girl’s hand gently into his, “you have done well but we still have much left to do.”