AFTER (Book #3)

Chapter Seven

The words replayed in Max's head like an old, glitched movie reel. It wasn't possible. Infected. It just didn't make any sense. After all they had been through together, this was how it was destined to end?

He cursed himself immediately for it, but Max couldn't help but think that it would have been easier to have never found Dawson again. For her to have perished peacefully and painlessly in that big, metal refrigerator. This way, it was like having all your dreams come true, only for them to burn one by one before your eyes. It was selfish, but he couldn't help it. He could only imagine how much more miserable a crumbling descent to madness was going to be for Dawson, if that was the path she was going to take.

Infected. Infected. Infected.

"Infected?" Max finally bumbled, his mind barely able to repeat the phrase back to Dawson, yet alone comprehend it.

Dawson rolled up her trouser leg and tugged the sleeve of her shirt past the wrist without hesitation, as if a weight had been lifted by simply saying the words.

"I'm sorry, Max... I just wasn't fast enough this time," she smiled forcibly.

Rodney stepped out from the huddle of onlookers, his face pale and his eyes bulging, "Was this...?"

Dawson nodded.

"I'm so sorry," Rodney sniffed. "If I'd have stayed, maybe we could have-"

"No," Dawson insisted. "No," she said again, shaking her head gently. "I didn't do that for you Rodney, it wasn't about us, you know that."

Dawson glanced towards George, who was wrapped up in Lizzie's arms, unsure of the recent developments, but well aware of the tone they had created. At age four, he knew the feeling of death hanging in the air.

Rodney continued his advance, unwilling to let Dawson linger on the outskirts of Novus alone any longer, as if she had already been lost to the disease. As Rodney pulled her in tightly, Max began to move to join them, when he noticed the change in the guards' demeanour.

Their guns were now raised, not ready to fire, but halfway there. The friendly chit-chat had been replaced by a cold silence, as they stood across the threshold of the gate, manned and ready to propel any kind of charge.

"What the f**k are you doing?" Max growled. "She isn't a threat, you can see she isn't a f*****g threat!"

"We're just following protocol, sir," one of the guards replied, a phrase straight out of the training manual.

Max stepped up into the man's face, placing his nose just centimetres from the guard's, "Well you can shove your protocol up your arse. She's not a criminal, and she doesn't have f*****g leprosy! Treat her like a human."

The guard didn't respond, but he didn't flinch either. He simply waited for Max to move away, before reaching for his radio.

"Ma'am, you're needed at the gate, ASAP."

"You can call Mummy all you like," Max grumbled under his breath and he walked over to join his friends, who were now all exchanging hugs with the tearful Dawson. "Come here," Max beckoned.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, resting her head delicately into the pit between his neck and shoulder. He didn't have the words yet, he had no idea what the words could even be to make something like this better, but if they existed, he didn't have them.

"We're going to fight this," was the best that he could do.

Dawson chuckled between tears, "I don't think this is one we can hack and shoot our way out of, Max."

"Now you're talking crazy," he grinned, planting a soft and gentle kiss on her forehead.

Despite having his back to the Novus gate, Max could instantly sense the tone change as Val arrived on the scene. The guards sucked in a heavy breath and stood that little bit taller, the heels of their boots clicking together as they shot up.

"What the hell is going on down here?" Val barked, glaring from guard to guard, until one begrudgingly accepted the responsibility of answering her question.

"GiGi and his companions have arrived back," he announced sheepishly.

"Well let me fetch my cake," Val exclaimed sarcastically. "Why the bloody hell do you have your guns raised then?"

"It's the redhead," another guard chimed. "One of the ones they brought back with them...she's infected boss."

Val's expression slipped promptly from annoyance to sadness and pity, partly for Dawson's loss, or loss to come, and partly for the duties Val now had to see through.

"Ah, I'm so sorry to hear this," she spoke softly. "You have my deepest and most sincere condolences."

"Thank you," Dawson replied with a nod.

"Can we just get her inside already?" Max urged. "She's not standing out here all day like some kind of outcast!"

Max started towards the open gates, before Val placed a palm against his chest. It was gentle in touch but spoke extremely powerfully.

"I'm sorry, Max. You know our rules here..." she reminded in hushed tones.

Max glanced down in sheer disbelief, "Val...Val come on! She can come in to at least talk through her options, surely? Surely you can let her stay for now... she isn't even exhibiting any symptoms yet!"

Val looked Max directly in the eyes, unwilling to bend to his pleas or demands as she simply dismissed them with a subtle shake of the head.

"I'm happy to talk through..." Val began, ushering towards Dawson to fill in the blank.

"Dawson. My name is Dawson."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Valerie. As I was saying, I'm happy to talk through your options my dear, but I'm afraid that it's a chat we must have outside the Novus walls. We have a strict policy of no infected past this point, and that must be upheld above all else."

Dawson blinked away a tear, the instant isolation immediately bringing home the severity of her situation, "I understand."

"Would you like to speak in private, my love?" Val offered.

"Private? No, no, anything you can say to me, you can say to my friends," Dawson assured.

"Very well," Val said, turning away briefly to the Novus guards. "Please return to your posts behind the walls, I will knock when I am ready to return."

The guards did as they were told to a chorus of yes ma'am's.

"And you are still here why?" Val enquired in GiGi's direction.

"I would like to say my piece, if that's okay with both you beautiful ladies," GiGi asked, before continuing without permission. "I know that I barely know these people, but I can tell you that I know enough. In the hours that I have enjoyed their company, I have seen their passion, their compassion, their love, and their fight, and I can't help but feel that they are owed at least a little of the same in return."

"Owed?" Val queried.

"Good invites good, and Valerie, my dear, these are good people. From the little I have heard, it sounds like the world owes them a little good back in return. Not to mention the fact that the lovely Dawson here didn't hesitate to save my life earlier today, before we had even uttered a single word to each other. These are good people."

"And good should invite as to bend the rules that have kept us safe all this time? Kept our families safe, our children safe?" Val challenged.

"Listen to my words. That is not what I am saying. But I argue that they deserve something, some compassion from our side," GiGi insisted.

Val mulled over his words for a few seconds before switching the conversation to Dawson herself, "You know your blood type?"

"No, ma'am," Dawson replied.

Val smiled warmly, "Val will do."

"Sorry, old army habits kicking in... Val."

"How do you know that you're infected then, dear, if you aren't sure of your immunity?"

"I know," Dawson asserted. "You just know. I can feel the anger welling up inside me at the tiniest things, like a stub of the toe could send me into a murderous rage. I'm just full of rage and hunger, and rage again all-day long."

"But you seem like your normal self," Max said, hoping that he could convince the illness out of her body.

"I don't think that will last much longer," said Dawson, her head dipping a tad lower.

"Like I said before, we can't just accept you into our community, I'm sorry, we just can't. Everything we have built have has always been about keeping the sickness out, if we start letting the infected in, and it spread... we'd have no hope left at all," Val explained.

"So, what can you offer her?" Max grumbled.

"First of all, we can offer all your friends a safe place to stay, to live. We can keep them safe for you," Val promised.

Dawson grinned, "Saves me a job."

"We will happily provide you with food and water to keep you going... if you wish to leave us. As an eternal thank you for saving Giovanni's life, we will give you everything you need to live out the rest of your days as comfortably as possible."

"If  she chooses to leave? What do you mean if?  You're not giving her a bloody choice!" Max disputed.

Val shifted slightly uncomfortably before her next words, "There is always an option of... not leaving us. This must come from you, my dear, it is entirely a personal decision with no judgement. But if you decide that you... don't want to continue any further, we are prepared to assist you in that respect too."

"Oh, great! So, you won't give her a place to sleep, but you'll happily put a bullet in her brain?" Max protested.

"Max, please!" Dawson cried, her eyes darting to the young George, still cradled in Lizzie's arms. "But that won't be necessary, thank you, I'm more of a go down fighting kind of girl."

Val smiled, "I thought as much. Which brings me onto my final offering, although I'm expecting a similar response. While we simply cannot accept infected residents into Novus, I could perhaps argue a case for you to inhabit one of our lab rooms, much like the one Max and Lizzie here stayed in when they first arrived. It isn't much more than a cell, but at least then I could argue that we were doing tests, trying to find out more about the disease..."

Dawson shook her head once more, "Thank you, but I already know what I'm going to do."

"If you're leaving, we can come with you!" Lizzie blurted, her eyes still streaming and a cry constantly brewing on the tip of her tongue.

"I need you to look after this little one though, Lizzie!" Dawson smiled, ruffling George's hair. "And anyway, if I do find what I'm looking for, I'll need you guys here."

Max cottoned on to what she was saying and couldn't help but smile. It was the most 'Dawson' thing to do in a time of crisis, instantly look around for someone who she could save.

"You think you can find him?" Max asked.

"I think I'll go mad a lot sooner if I don't at least try," she replied.