The Fourth Phase

FIFTEEN

Dee scanned left and right, letting off short bursts at any Variant she saw. With the arrival of the Maori warriors, they had focused their efforts on the Variants crowding on the campsite. With Ben directing them, they had concentrated their fire into groups of the knotted beasts, breaking through after some ferocious fighting. Dee shook her head, amazed at the ferocity with which the Maori fought. They didn’t have any guns either. Just traditional weapons.

The Renegades and the Maori warriors entered the tree line and started to climb up into the surrounding mountains, screams and howls following them. Skirmishes broke out on all sides. Dee caught a glimpse of Jack running ahead, following one of the Maori. He was pointing farther up the mountain, beckoning them to follow.

Dee pushed Katherine’s back, urging her forward. Katherine was struggling. First, they had run through the lab, then flown across the zip-lines, and here they were running again. Shrieks and howls echoed around them. Even amongst the scents of mud and gunpowder, she could smell the rotten fruit smell the beasts expunged.

Katherine stumbled. Dee reached down and hauled her to her feet. “C’mon, don’t stop.”

Katherine mumbled something.

On they ran, the lactic acid building in her legs. The exhaustion of the last few days was beginning to take hold. If it wasn’t for the imminent threat of being torn apart, she would stop right here and sleep, nestled against a rock.

Dee hurried on up the winding path, ducking between slabs of limestone and jumping over gnarled roots. Several of the Maori jogged alongside her, weapons grasped in their hands. The distinct tang of blood hung in the air, adding to the gruesome cocktail of body odor and cordite. Sweat was pouring off her forehead, stinging her eyes. Dee turned, looking for Ben’s comforting figure. He was bringing up the rear with a knot of Maori warriors, taking down the pursuing Variants. He caught Dee watching and waved her on. She turned and hauled herself up a steep rock shelf, straining at the effort.

Dee looked up to find Jack holding out his hand. She grasped it, enjoying his touch. For a fleeting moment, she let her mind enjoy the familiarity.

“Hey, you.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Hey.”

A chorus of howls sounded out as a blur of movement on both sides rushed from the trees. Dee pulled away from Jack and raised her rifle back up. The fleeing humans had run straight into an ambush. Variants poured out from the bushes on both sides. There were dozens. Intense fighting broke out. Jack moved to Katherine’s other side, raising his rifle. Movement buzzed all around her, making it difficult to use her carbine without hitting someone friendly.

Dee slung her rifle and pulled out her Glock. She unloaded her magazine, dropping several monsters. Jack standing beside her had adopted the same idea. She heard Katherine, crouched down between them, scream.

Three Variants broke through and barreled into them. Dee twisted to one side, firing as she tumbled to the ground. Her bullet sailed true, smashing through the beast’s throat before exploding out the back. The Variant slumped to the ground. Dee risked a peek at Jack; he had rolled out of the way and shot a Variant in the head.

A terrified scream reached her. The third Variant had straddled Katherine. It slashed at her torso with its claws, cutting deep and exposing her intestines. Dee screamed and ran forward, reaching back to pull out her Katana. She brought the blade down in a slashing arc, relieving the beast of its head. She watched, satisfied, as the head bounced along the forest floor. One of the struggling warriors kicked it, and it ricocheted off a rock and dropped out of sight.

Yelling for Jack to cover them, Dee bent down and clasped Katherine’s hand. “Lie still. I’ll bandage you up.”

Katherine looked into her eyes and squeezed her hand back. “Dee, it’s bad. I can feel how bad it is.”

“Regardless, I’m not leaving you behind.”

Katherine shook her head at Dee. All around them, the battle went on. Gunshots and war cries. The whacks of Mere hitting skulls. Grunts of effort as the Renegades and their saviours fought for their lives. Jack reached down and grabbed her Katana, standing guard as she pulled out her first aid kit and field dressed the wound. Blood immediately soaked the bandage, coating her hands. She quickly tied it off and signalled to Jack to help her. They lifted Katherine up, who grimaced in agony.

She handed Jack the metal case she’d carried all the way from the lab, often hugging it close. “Get this to Colonel Mahana.”

Jack nodded. “You’re going to make it, Doc. You have to.”

“Just take it. Please.” She looked at Dee. “Everything is in there, all my research. I hope… I hope I’ve done enough to save everyone.”

“Okay, whatever you say. Let’s just concentrate on getting out of here first.”

Dee wrapped her arm around Katherine and held her up. She looked over at the warriors; they were dispatching the last of the Variants. Several were coated in blood and black gore. Dee couldn’t tell if it was theirs or the beasts’.

Ben jogged up clicking a fresh magazine into his rifle. He looked Katherine up and down. “Bad?”

Dee looked into his brown eyes and gave him a slight shake of her head. “Not too bad.”

“Okay. Let’s keep moving. That attack was just a taster.” He turned to the hulking tattooed warrior next to him. “How close are we to your Pa?”

The warrior pointed with his Taiaha. “Top of the mountain. If we hurry, about ten minutes.”

Ben nodded. “Let’s go. I want this bloody day to be over.”

Dee pushed on, holding Katherine up as they struggled up the mountain. One of the Maori dropped back and held Katherine on the other side. Dee nodded and smiled at him.

As they climbed higher, Dee caught whiffs of decay. The morning sun broke through the clouds, illuminating the mist swirling around the trees and rocks. The muscles in her arm and shoulder were straining under Katherine’s weight. Not only was she straining with the physical task, but she was also struggling to grasp the fact that Katherine knew her mother. And that her mother was apparently alive.

The stench of decay became stronger as the steep path plateaued out. Dee glanced to her left, seeking the source of the putrid smell. The swirling mist dissipated, revealing several Variant corpses tied to trees, all in different stages of putrefaction. The nearest one’s insides were spilling out, liquified, dripping to the ground in a black, oozy mess.

Dee turned to her helper and indicated with her head the corpses. “Why do you do that?”

He grinned at her, showing his teeth. “The Rewera don’t like their own dead. It keeps them away.”

Dee scrunched her eyebrows together. “Rewera?”

“Ummm… Demon. What do you white fellas call them?”

Dee paused and looked down at her feet, watching where she put them as she stepped over some gnarled roots. She looked back at her helper. “We call them Variants, sometimes beasts.”

“Variants? Who came up with that?”

Dee shook her head. “Some American, I think. That’s what we’ve been calling them since near the beginning. I’m Dee, by the way.”

He nodded at her. “Tama.”

Dee held his gaze, smiling.

Katherine whimpered something inaudible. Dee and Tama stopped and shifted their grips.

Tama glanced at Dee. “Not far now.”

Dee hooked her hand into the belt loop on Katherine’s waist, gave Tama a nod, and they carried on.

Dee gazed in awe at the intricate carvings surrounding the gateway to the Pa as the exhausted and bloodied Renegades passed under it. She could see the figures called Tekoteko and other shapes she couldn’t recall the names of. She made a mental note to ask Tama.

Several women and men stood on either side, letting them pass. Two older women ran forward and lifted Katherine away. They carefully helped the injured scientist towards a building to their right.

With Katherine’s weight gone, Dee took in her surroundings. Immediately in front of her stood a large wooden building, the meeting house. Surrounding the whole facade were more of the intricate carvings. Their names escaped her tired mind for now. To either side were four smaller buildings, with a large rectangular building directly behind the carved meeting house. Looking to her left, Dee could see gardens, with a raised kumara store perched on a pole above them. She glanced back, happy to see the other Renegades enter.

The gates slammed shut with a thud, and several of the inhabitants pushed thick, heavy logs into place. Jack handed back her Katana and she slid it back into its saya, savouring the swoosh as it slid home.

She pulled him into a hug. “That was too close.”

Jack nuzzled her ear. “So much for a simple pick up.” He pulled away slightly, grinning.

Dee rubbed her hands over his back. “I can’t believe they sent us. I don’t think I’m ready for this, Jack. I mean, we’re not soldiers.”

“I know, right? I guess we were all they had. I would’ve rather gone to Mayor and checked on the boys. Now we’re stuck here, and Katherine is injured.”

Dee shook her head at the craziness. “I guess so. I suppose I should go and check on her.” Dee paused, before adding, “I wonder if what she said about my mother is true.” Saying the word “mother” felt hollow to Dee. She was so used to not having a mother. But saying the word didn’t change anything.

Jack reached up and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. “Do you really think she is?”

Dee grimaced. “I don’t know why she would lie. She’d gain nothing from it.”

“True.”

“Yeah. I don’t recognise her, but then I was young when Mum died. Well, when I thought she had.”

Mother. A person she had long thought dead. Question after question flashed through her mind as she glanced around the Pa. Why had her mother abandoned her? Why had her father lied? A gnawing feeling ate away at her stomach as she tried to grasp the reasons. Since her father was no longer here, she vowed to ask Katherine what she knew.

Dee shook her head. She turned at footsteps and saw Ben approaching, the big warrior striding beside him.

“Jack, Dee, this is Hone.”

Jack reached out his hand to shake Hone’s. Hone pulled him closer and gave him a hongi◦— the Maori way of greeting, when the people greeting touch noses.

A fleeting memory of a school class flitted to the front of her mind. She recalled it was so you could feel the breath of life. Dee watched, smiling to herself, knowing Jack would struggle with that. She reached out her hand to Hone in turn. Grasping it, she went in for the hongi, but Hone moved his head and kissed her cheek.

“A real kiss for the lady,” he said, grinning.

Dee couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks for saving us back there.”

Hone grasped her shoulder. “You’re welcome. Couldn’t leave you to the Rewera. Even you white fellas. You guys certainly made a lot of noise. If we hadn’t been on a supply run, we’d never have found you. It’s always nice to save the pretty ones.”

He was grinning at her, his eyes glinting in the morning sun.

Blushing, Dee replied, “Well, thank you.”

Jack waved his hand out, indicating the Pa complex. “What is this place?”

Hone laughed and grasped Ben’s arm. “Always with the questions, you white fellas. First we eat, then we talk.” He pointed to the rectangular structure behind the building with the carvings. “Kai is in there.”

Dee felt Jack’s hand tighten in hers. She tugged on him, nodding her head slightly. “Thank you, we’ll meet you there. I want to check on Katherine first.”

Ben turned to Hone. “Thank you, Hone. We’ll attend to our injured and be right there.”

Hone strode away. Dee couldn’t help but admire his muscles and tattoos. Jack nudged her side. She squeezed his hand, smirking at him.

The Renegades moved into the shade provided by one of the buildings. Dee shivered despite the sun; the autumn mornings were chilly.

She knelt beside Tony. He was shaking violently, obviously in shock.

Ben placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll take care of him. You go be with the Doc.”

Dee pursed her lips together. “Okay. Look after this smart-arse for me.”

She rose back up, grasped Jack’s hand, and headed for the small wooden building the elderly women had taken the scientist into.

With each step she took, her trepidation grew. The questions that had nagged her on their flight up the mountain bubbled back to the surface.

Jack seemed to pick up on her feelings and wrapped an arm around her, drawing her in close. “I love you, Dee.”

She pushed her body in closer, not minding that he stank of sweat, blood, and gore. “I know.”

Dee paused at the door, not sure whether to knock or just enter. She was clueless about Maori etiquette.

The door swung open, saving her. An elderly woman stood inside. Pulling the door open wider, she waved them inside. “She’s asking for you, hun.”

Dee rushed inside. The room held six single beds lined up in two rows. Katherine was lying on the middle one in the far row, her head propped up on several pillows.

Dee strode over to her, Jack following close behind. The other elderly woman sat next to her, holding her hand and wiping her brow. Dee caught the pungent stench of herbs as she moved alongside Katherine and sat in the empty chair.

The women had redressed her quick field dressing. She could see a dark green poultice oozing out the sides; that must be the source of the strong scent of herbs. The bandage was beginning to soak through with blood, though.

Dee grasped Katherine’s hand and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled up at her. “Dee.”

Dee shifted closer on the chair. “Hey.”

She tightened her grip on Dee’s hand. “She was sorry, Diana. Sorry for leaving you.”

Dee searched Katherine’s face, looking for any signs of deceit. “Why are you telling me this?”

“She would want me to.”

“Before all this madness started, where was she?”

“She was working in a lab down near Christchurch. But listen, I need to tell you this. All the labs are listed on a memory stick in that case.”

Dee held her tongue. She wanted to hear what Katherine had to say.

“Your mother got obsessed with her work. She became so caught up in her pursuit of scientific greatness, she ignored her motherly instincts. Ignored the fact that she had a daughter. She talked about you often over the years, trying to think of a way to repair the damage. Reconcile, if you will. But the longer she left it, the harder it became. She loved you, Diana, and I know she is sorry for abandoning you and your father. It was easier for her to work than to bring you up. Seeing you now, I can see she missed it all. Missed watching you grow into a wonderful woman.” She squeezed Dee’s hand and lifted her free hand out towards Jack. Jack moved forward and tentatively grasped it.

Katherine looked between them. “Don’t waste what time you have left. Enjoy each moment with each other. Another’s love, and your love for others, is what is important. Not silly things like Bovine genetics.” She coughed. Bubbles of saliva and blood escaped her mouth, dribbling down her chin.

Dee glanced up at Jack, pain and sorrow washing through her. She knew Jack would be processing everything Katherine had said too, mulling it over.

Jack tilted his head towards the door and looked back to Katherine, waiting for her to finish coughing. “I’ll let you have some private time with Dee so you can tell her more. Can I ask you a question, though?”

Katherine opened her eyes, looking at Jack. “Sure, sure. Go ahead.”

“What do you know about this Hemorrhage Virus? For some reason, the Army won’t tell us much.”

Katherine wiped her mouth and looked between Jack and Dee. “I’ll tell you what little I know. I got this information from my ex, an American scientist. They asked those of us left in the science community to help figure out a way to fix this. Early on, I was working with a facility in the Blue Mountains before it went dark.” She took a breath. “It started life during the Vietnam War as a drug called VX-99. Scientists at USAMRIID created a bioweapon by combining it with the Zaire strain of Ebola. They called the result X9H9, or Hemorrhage Virus.”

Katherine coughed again, a racking, wet cough. Dee’s mind reeled. Katherine had confirmed all she had suspected and knew already. Hearing it from a scientist left a hollow feeling in her stomach. All this death, all this horror and loss. Man-made. Dee rubbed a hand through her dirty, sweaty hair. She glanced up at the man she loved, finding some comfort in his blue eyes. He looked just as shocked and mad as she felt.

“So why was your lab built under the mountain?” Jack questioned further.

“We were doing some cutting-edge procedures. Some might call them questionable. Best to keep out of sight. I’m surprised we lasted so long. So many of my contemporaries went dark.”

Dee’s mind swam with this new information as she watched Katherine struggling, coughing up blood. The gnawing she felt in the pit of the stomach returned. “Hang in there. We’re going to call in the chopper and get you to Mayor Island. Get you stitched up. We have a good doctor and excellent nurses to help.”

Katherine shook her head. “It’s too late for me, Dee. I’m bleeding internally. I don’t have long to live. A few minutes at best.”

Dee glanced down at the bandaged wound. It continued to seep blood, confirming Katherine’s diagnosis. “I’ll stay with you. I’m not going to abandon you like my mother did me.”

Katherine chuckled. “She deserves that. Thank you. I was there at your beginning, it’s poetic that you are here at my end.”

Dee had no response to that, so she rested her hand on the dying scientist’s. Katherine squeezed her hand weakly, her breathing becoming shallow and laboured.

Jack and Dee sat with Katherine as the sun crept higher, casting its beams through the window. The sun had just reached Katherine’s face when she gasped a couple of times and then let out a whistling breath. Her eyes opened, fluttered, and then closed.

Dee leant forward, pushing her head against Katherine’s chest. She waited, listening for her heart. Hearing nothing, she rose up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked at the elderly women, and then to Jack. He reached out and hugged her close.

“She’s gone.”

Jack didn’t reply. He just held her close.

One of the elderly women covered Katherine with the sheet and said something in Te Reo. Then she turned to Dee. “She’s with the spirits now.”

Dee nodded her thanks, and let Jack take her from the room, leading her outside. The exhaustion of the last few days was eating away at her. Add in the emotion of the last few hours, and she had never felt so utterly spent. Jack stayed silent, walking beside her. He gently led her towards the central building with the carvings, and guided her to sit on the steps.

“You okay?”

“I just feel numb, and confused.”

“Just something else for us to work through.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey! Are you hungry?” Jack nudged her ribs.

“Starving.”

Dee yanked Jack to his feet, and they followed the smell of food to a smaller building beside the carved meeting house. Piles of shoes were cast to either side. Dee bent over and untied her boots. Once she’d removed her aching feet, she rubbed them, but pulled away from the stench. She followed Jack into the building, the cooking smells making her stomach rumble. Dee realised that she hadn’t eaten anything wholesome for several days, and the thought of food cast aside her emotions. She breathed in, enjoying the smell of bread and the telltale whiff of frying bacon.