Volucris_Emmergence

  VOLUCRIS

  Emergence

  Book One

  © 2017 Nina Burman Author. Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1988. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  For Darren, Kai, Ché & Torben

  My beautiful family who inspire me every day.

  Prologue

  The car sped down the single carriage highway, it was late and there were no other vehicles on the road, all that was visible were two headlamps in an otherwise black landscape; the desert was quiet and cold at this time of night. On the horizon, a large glow; the city was in sight.

  “We must hurry!” Rebecca drove the 4x4 as quickly as she could, her concern for Iliana was evident but she could not risk being stopped. “Where is it?” The panic in his voice was rising making it difficult for Rebecca to concentrate on what she was doing.

  “Left I think, yes I’ll keep going for another mile until I see the health centre sign.” Rebecca was scared looking at Iliana in the rear-view mirror, she looked weak and pale and struggling for breath, all three of them were exhausted. The drive had been long and very fraught with worrying questions.

  “But what if we are seen, it’s too risky?” Iliana asked to no- one especially.

  “Iliana, we have no choice. Llook at you, there is too much blood and there is no-one to help back at the commune, we have to chance it., Rebecca will go in first explain the situation then call when it’s safe to enter.” Lordes explained for what seemed like the hundredth time finding it difficult to keep the tone of his voice sympathetic.

  “Alright! I’m just scared!”

  “I know, I know” he sighed. “I am too but there is nothing else we can do Iliana, we cannot risk losing you or the baby”.

  The couple were strained by the situation, panic was in her eyes. ; Hhe held her hand and then cupped her face. He looked deeply into her dark brown beautiful eyes and she began to calm, his steady warm hand holding her, protecting her.

  “I am so scared.”.

  “I know, you just need some help.”

  “But what if they call the authorities, what will they think when they see, monsters?”

  “Try to stay calm, do not think of that now. I will protect you both and so will Rebecca, you must concentrate on the baby and yourself.”

  “She has aged.” Iliana looked at Rebecca but knew she could not hear, concentrating hard on where she was heading.

  “I know it will be different this time, with me.” Lordes tried so hard to comfort the woman he loved so desperately, wanted and needed to protect.

  She looked down tears piercing her eyes, but she felt warmth from him, safety. Rebecca made a final turn and stopped the car.

  “We are here.” The relief in her voice clear but then the panic rising again as now what faced her.

  Lordes looked straight into her eyes resting his hand on her shoulder.

  “You know what you must do, what is at stake, you can do this Rebecca, you can find someone who will help us I know you can, I trust you.”

  She looked at him searching his piercing blue eyes; this was the longest conversation she thought they had ever had. He put up with her for Iliana, she knew. She was shocked and somehow proud that he now looked to her for help, it did what he intended, gave her strength.

  “I will do my best.”

  Iliana looked at her and gave her a reassuring nod through the pain she was clearly feeling.

  “Go, hurry!” Lordes pleaded. She had never seen him this panicked, things out of his control. She got out of the car, the place was deserted so she ran to the centre and rang the buzzer.

  It seemed like time stood still for Lordes in the lonely car park, nothing was happening, no-one to help. He needed to do something to gain some control. He pounded on the side of the door. Iliana only raised her head a little, clearly running out of time and energy.

  Suddenly the door to the centre opened and Rebecca was there running back to the car her arms full of blankets.

  “Ok I have found someone, I have tried to explain, but it is not easy. , I can show you to a room then show him in, the coast is clear no-one will see you. , I have these blankets in case to throw over you both, I know it’s not much but it’s the best I could come up with, come quickly.”

  The trio swiftly entered the small hospital, Iliana being held up in between Lordes and Rebecca, her feet barely touching the ground. Lordes had to duck significantly to get into the building and into the small room which was dwarfed by them. They settled Iliana the best they could on the tiny hospital bed, another gush of blood coming from her already racked body as they laid her down., Lordes removed the blanket that was barely hiding his secret. Rebecca looked on them trying to hide the worry from her face. She went out to the young doctor’s room.

  “We are ready, remember what I told you, you must have an open mind, they are nothing you have seen before. But she is in dire need of help and so is the baby, please you must remember this.”

  The doctor looked at this middle-aged woman with concern. What was happening, who are these night callers? He promised to look only at the situation and followed the lady into the small delivery room. He stopped dead in his tracks, his breath knocked from his body, his mind reeling. What was he seeing?

  “Doctor, Doctor!”

  “I....I...” Unable to speak Rebecca tried to bring him round.

  “Please sir I know it’s a shock, what you see is real, but please, there is no time to explain you must help her, everything else is as it should be.”

  The Doctor could not look away, it was too shocking too unbelievable, how? Rebecca touched his arm and looked straight into his eyes pleading with him. The spell broke, he looked at her gathered himself and nodded at Iliana.

  “Ok, first I must examine you.”

  Chapter One

  Moria sat on a bed surrounded by books and the early evening sun streamed in through the half-drawn curtains, Lizzie, her best friend, sat in the only other chair in the room also surrounded by an avalanche of paper and books. Moria was not a fan of her unusual old name and preferred to be called Mo. She was not the most popular girl in school but also not the least. A place she liked to be, she did not feel jealous of the pretty girls and all the attention they received. Not that she wasn’t pretty,; she just wasn’t the usual blond, hippy, big busted cheerleader. She had long brown hair with a slim build and dark but very beautiful brown eyes. She had recently turned 16 and although all her friends were more interested in boys than anything else she did not think they were the most important thing. Lizzie in contrast was more interested in boys but because of her parents she made sure she made the grades at school., Lizzie was a bit gangly at the moment but you could tell in a couple more years she would turn into a very tall slender beauty with lovely red hair.

  The girls were studying hard using their books and making note,snotes but mainly focusing on their 3d holographic computer. Mo was spinning what seemed like a DNA strand and Lizzie was trying to identify the enzyme.

  ‘Is it just me or is this a lot harder when we are trying to teach ourselves?’ Lizzie complained.

  ‘Of course, it’s harder but I don’t think they are going tounna re-open the school any time soon.’

  ‘Then what’s the point even learning this stuff? Wwe will probably never be let out again, not to school, not to the cinema, not to the shops and not to work so what’s the point?’

  ‘Things won’t get that bad, will they? They will find a cure.’ Mo was not sure if she was making a statement or asking a question.

  She was referring to the worldwide flu epidemic that had started to take hold. It
had been 18 months since the first cases in Asia appeared and just over a year ago, people started to stop being able to fight the disease. The first time it appeared it was given a name as all the past flu epidemics had, ‘Whale Flu’. Iit was thought originally it had come from the last remaining whales that had been eaten by the Chinese, but as it transpired this was just animal rights groups stirring up a rumour in an attempt to punish the Chinese over their indiscriminate extermination of so many species.

  It turned out the source had come from the ice in Antarctica; since the glaciers had melted scientists had been digging even deeper., Tthe virus had been frozen in the glacier for centuries and now it was free. The scientists caught the disease and all went home because they were sick;, big mistake. Iit made the spread a lot quicker; no-one had even considered much of it until scores of people started to die in Asia.

  Of course, it wasn’t just the flu that had caused such huge population decimation, it was a perfect storm of situations as news readers were calling it. About 30 years ago, the world had started to run out of food. , Aat first people believed this would affect the underdeveloped countries first, but it was the west that suffered the most. In less developed places they were used to surviving, living off the land and what they could find, less so in the west. The west was so reliant on meat and all of the land it took to grow food to feed the animals that once the ground started to dry up the crops failed and you could not feed the animals anymore; no more meat., Mmost coped with this for a time but when the cereals started failing that was the beginning of the end. Richer people tended to survive but the poor and middle classes suffered. Tthe old started to die younger of malnutrition not cancer, and infant mortality went up. People started to have fewer children as the west struggled to feed itself. All countries were affected and there were large scale famines in most places. The human race seemed to survive this problem with rationing, finding new ways to grow food, encouraging people to grow their own. Bbut just as there had been some light at the end of the tunnel the virus hit, it was indiscriminate but if you were already starving you, really did not stand a chance. It was just called the virus. Nno-one could be blamed for it really, it was just bad luck. , Mmany had predicted its arrival and there had been scares before but now if you caught the virus your chances were pretty much zero. Anti-biotics no-longer worked and there was no vaccine.

  It had spread quickly and systematically over the planet. The authorities had not acted fast enough., Iin their arrogance they assumed that they would be able to control and survive this new threat but they were wrong. They had failed to spot the signs and contain the disease by shutting the airports and controlling borders. It seemed that very few could survive this deadly illness., Tthere had been thousands of deaths, if not millions, all over the world and countries were now scrambling to try and halt its progress. Any place of assembly was banned, so no schools, shops, cinemas, sports events and people were discouraged from staying outside or mixing with too many people. This was why the two girls were studying at Lizzie’s house.

  ‘Come on Mo wake up, of course it will get that bad the world is doomed!’

  Mo could see the glint in Lizzie’s eye; she was teasing her but unfortunately a shiver still ran down Mo’s spine, there was a certain worrying truth in Lizzie’s words. Mo was worried not so much for herself but more for her grandmother.

  Mo had been left with her grandmother as a baby; her mother had been very young when she had her and had left her. , Mo did not know who her father was and she suspected that her grandmother did not either;, she did not like to pry as it upset her. Her grandmother had always made it clear that the reason her mother had left was nothing to do with her it was just circumstance. Over the years, Mo had asked for more details time and time again, but her grandmother would not give her more information., Sshe asked about her mother and if she had been in touch only to be told her mother had been a free spirit and would return when the time was right. For some time, Mo persisted with her questions but it clearly pained her grandmother and Mo hated seeing her upset - the one person in her life she truly loved and admired. It had always been just the two of them and from an early age Mo knew she must help and respect her grandmother because it was so hard for her all on her own working as a seamstress to support them.

  Work was still good for Mo’s Grandmother; she got orders online and she could courier out all of her goods so there was no need to leave the house. There was now no need for anyone to leave the house., Aa whole new delivery industry had been created so everything from your groceries to a new kitchen tap could be delivered. People could of course not go out to work which meant some industries had suffered, mainly restaurants or retail shops. But the majority of people could work at home with their ‘Holo projectors’. This was a holographic computer projection that had everything you needed to communicate and work with the outside world. It had been around for decades but now had really come into its own. Before the virus people could have stayed in if they wanted but as human nature dictated, they preferred to go out. Now there was no choice; going out was risky not only because of the virus but also gangs had sprung up taking advantage of the quiet streets and sparse police force, to pick off the few people that were brave enough to venture out. The police, as usual, patrolled mainly the more affluent areas so Mo and Lizzie still felt safe to go to each other’s houses. Although even their presence was getting less as the virus had hit the local police station and many officers had been infected and lost.

  The girls studied for a further hour before Mo thought it best she should be going. There was an evening curfew in place to try and stop the local gangs and protect the law abiding. The curfew started at 8pm and it was now nearing 7.

  “I’ll be off, thanks for the study time,” Mo started to scratch the middle of her back but was struggling to reach the itch.

  “Here let me help” Lizzie offered.

  “Thanks, it keeps itching I don’t know why?” Lizzie pulled back suddenly.

  “Oh, Mo you don’t think you have caught something?”

  “No Lizzie, the virus does not start with itching. , I did check though, it’s been like this for over a week and I seem to have two red patches on my back. I looked online and could only find a reference to an odd condition where two lumps are removed from your back and usually always appears in teenagers.”

  “Weird, you sure it’s not the virus though?”

  “No no, don’t worry, I’ll be here to bug you for a bit longer.”

  “I wasn’t worried about you” Lizzie winked.

  “Ever the sympathetic one.”

  Mo collected her books and micro holo projector and put everything into her bag. She went downstairs and said goodbye to Lizzie’s parents. They were nice people, typical American husband and wife., Tthey drove Lizzie mad but Mo loved them, they reminded her of what she didn’t have and she enjoyed their constant banter with their daughter. Although this had got less and you could see the worry creep into the corners of their eyes every time the news was on.

  “I’m off now Mr and Mrs Spencer.”

  “Ok Lizzie, Kyle will give you a lift.” Lizzie’s mother replied, not hiding the worry in her voice.

  “It’s no problem, I’m only around the corner; I like to use my freedom while I still have it” She smiled.

  “I’m not sure; I am worried about the new gang reports let alone the virus.”

  “Masie let the girl go if she wants. Sshe is right, it won’t be long and even that short walk will be stopped,.” hHer husband replied.

  “I’m just looking out for her Kyle; you wouldn’t let Lizzie go out on her own!” Maisie snapped back at her husband.

  “Yes, I would for goodness sake, their freedom is already completely eroded and this is a good area, she will be fine, now stop fussing her., Mo you go, just text Lizzie when you get in.”

  “Ok Mr Spencer, err see you Mrs Spencer, Lizzie.”

  But they did not respond. Tthe fraught arguments were becoming
more frequent and the Spencer family knew why., Tthey were scared like everyone was, and the stress of being scared all the time was taking its toll.

  Mo was glad to leave., Iit was such a shame that this virus was causing all kinds of problems way beyond what you would expect. She put on her mini mask and left. She tried to scratch her back again but failed, she walked up to one of the many trees that lined the quiet perfectly kept street, and as usual no-one was around so she used the tree as a back scratcher., Tthat felt good, the relief on her face evident as she revelled in the brief reprieve. Suddenly there was a screech of tyres and she looked up to see an RV move towards her, where had that come from? Mo’s senses were heightened, she knew being out alone on the streets may not be the best idea and she knew the dangers of gangs picking up young girls. She quickly ducked in between the gardens of two houses; she only lived 2 blocks behind Lizzie’s house and there was a shortcut she had used for years. She hurried along jogging, hoping no-one was following her, her heartbeat was racing as she came around the front of her house. At the end of the street she saw the RV again and she quickly ran to her front door. Putting her hand out so the finger print lock would recognise her, the door flew open just as she heard the RV going past, she shut the door behind her,. rRelief flowing through her at the familiar scent of home. The house was not large, only 2 bedrooms but it was equipped with all the latest equipment to keep them safe. Mo’s Grandma never skimped on her granddaughters’ safety. The house was wood panelled which gave it its beautiful smell of bees wax polish. . Mo could hear her Grandma stepping behind her.

  “You ok love, you almost slammed that door off its hinges?”

  Rebecca Swift was a tall woman, she had a slight stoop but it was clear that in her youth she would have been tall and elegant. She had long grey hair and surprisingly dark beautiful brown eyes. She had just passed her 60th birthday but was still very sprightly for her age. , Sshe had always worked, wanting to give Mo the best of everything. She loved her Granddaughter intensely and her face always lit up when they were together. Mo sometimes caught her when she was alone and she could see the grief etched on her face and the sadness that enveloped her life.