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.