Chapter Five.
"So who used to own this house? Where are they now?" Jim asked as the Major walked them back down to the lobby.
They had seen the upper floors of the house; the door of an attic that was firmly off limits, the third floor wing of bedrooms to which the doors stayed firmly closed, the second floor bedrooms which were also firmly closed and they had seen the formal sitting room, the small sitting room they'd started in, the formal dining room and were now being led down towards the kitchen.
The Major had been a gracious, informative host and allowed them free reign to touch, look and explore...but it had been difficult to do so when every door was firmly shut. Not that they particularly wanted to snoop in the soldier's bedrooms but the attic? What was there. And surely not every single room on the second and third floors were bedrooms?
"There are a few historical books in the library, undoubtedly purchased by the previous owner as they feature the manor. It's a Georgian manor, heavily updated during the Victorian period. I'm sure you've noticed the Gothic theme, the opulence of some rooms? It was recently renovated again, it seems, because there's a pool on the grounds" the Major told them, walking at a comfortable pace.
He seemed very at home in the Manor.
"But who owned it?"
The Major glanced at Jim, "I'm afraid I don't know"
"So it was empty?"
The Major nodded.
"That's lucky"
"Indeed. And here is our kitchen, probably one of the more important rooms in the house" the kitchen was in the lower level of the house. It was cold and a little dark, despite the long and narrow windows.
Elizabeth smiled as she looked at the stone walls, butlers sink and stacked firewood. It was like something from a movie or museum.
"I guess the old owners ate out a lot" she said, looking at the old stove and oven. It was sturdy but neglected, looking like something from the 50s or 60s. The kitchen was covered in clutter, cans and tins and bottles. Some glass candles had burned down to their base and were left discarded in a small cluster.
She looked at a bright, full tray of apples on the table.
The apples Frank had taken from the supermarket.
Glancing at Jim, she saw him smile sadly.
She felt some of the enjoyment slip away from her at the painful reminder of their fallen friend.
"You see under the wood?" the Major asked, directing their attention away from each other, away from their painful memories. Both Jim and Elizabeth looked; in an alcove in the wall were rows and rows of firewood, chopped neatly and uniformly. Beneath them were three deep holes, looking a little dusty and dirty. One had a thick iron pot resting inside, "they're ovens. We want to utilize them. Private Clifton - I believe you have met him, Jim? - has experience with wood ovens. His family owned a bakery and he's been working to get the stoves up and running. I believe we'll be able to utilize them tonight, he's worked very hard. They'd been left for who knows how long. He's also fixing up a new boiler system"
The Major watched as Elizabeth ran her fingers along the wood, glancing into the ovens as he spoke.
"You don't have a generator?" Jim asked, looking around the room as Elizabeth moved to fiddle with a rocking chair near a storage cupboard. The old stove and oven looked untouched, hadn't the soldiers been using it? They must have used it, they'd had bread last night.
The Major slowly moved to face Jim, "We do. That's why you were able to take a warm shower, enjoy your stew. We use it at night to heat the shower and once a day for cooking but it's not ideal"
"Why?" he inquired.
The Major cocked his head, "'Why'?"
Elizabeth paused, holding open a heavy, stained hardback cookery book.
"The world we know has finished, Jim" Elizabeth slowly put the book down, feeling uncomfortably drawn in to the Majors quiet words, "law, order, healthcare, energy and power. The old ways are gone. We have ourselves and that's it. If our generator breaks, if our solar panels are damaged, we will be left without the amenities we're so used to. The amenities we need. We need to prepare for that."
Elizabeth snuggled into her hoody, feeling like an outsider in their conversation.
"By using fire?" Jim sounded unconvinced by the grandeur of the Major's words.
"Exactly. If we have heat, we can enjoy warm showers, hot food, we can sterilize tools. Clean water and fire..." he glanced at Elizabeth before smiling, "essentials to human life. So. Shall we move on? I imagine Jones will be coming soon to prepare for dinner. I hear he's got something quite spectacular planned"
Jim nodded, feeling disquieted though he couldn't quite pin down why.
"Do either of you like to read?" the Major asked, leading them back along the old, tired corridor and up into the main lobby.
They both nodded in the affirmative.
"Then you must feel free to use the library, we all have work here but of course free time, too"
Elizabeth couldn't imagine Mitchell sitting down with a book and she smiled a little, unable to help herself. As if reading her thoughts, the Major continued, "the days of video games are well behind us, though we have a lot of board games here. Chess, checkers, cards and I believe, if I'm not mistaken, we have a shogi board"
"What's that?" Elizabeth asked as Jim stepped into the library.
"Japanese chess" he shrugged elegantly, "I can't play it myself but the points is, there's enough here to keep us amused"
Elizabeth nodded as she stepped into the library. Jim whistled as he twirled, looking at the towering bookcases. They were tall, reaching the ceiling easily, cluttered with books; thick, thin, paperback and hardback. It looked old and expensive, like a movie set rather than a real room.
Near an empty fireplace was a soft looking, wide chaise lounge and there were three velvet, hard backed chairs scattered around the room. Someone had draped a thick throw over the chaise lounge. Elizabeth couldn't help but grin when she saw it. On a cold winter day with the fire roaring, that would make the most perfect nest.
"I have an office through here" the Major told them, pointing towards two dark, wooden doors while making no move to actually show them "and when I'm not patrolling that's usually where you can find me"
He glanced down at his watch as Jim flipped open a book casually without real interest, "It will be time for dinner soon. There is someone I'd like you to meet and then perhaps you can freshen up before we eat?"
They both nodded their consent, following the Major out of the library. Elizabeth didn't need to freshen up, she hadn't been awake for very long, but she felt it wise to agree all the same.
Walking in silence, the walked back down towards the kitchen once more.
"You're sure if's safe here? The Manor, I mean" Jim asked, feeling a little claustrophobic in the dark and narrow corridor.
"Certainly, Jim. We control everything, you needn't worry"
Elizabeth and Jim glanced at each other briefly. Control everything? That was impossible. The infected couldn't be controlled, what was stopping them from charging the manor?
The Sergeant had told her about the technicalities that kept them safe but safety and total control were very different things.
"Forgive me but...how can you control everything? I mean..the infected,they can't be controlled-" Elizabeth queried, shaking her head a little.
The Major watched her, amusement dancing over his face.
"-that's in their nature. They're violent and unpredictable and fast. How do you control that?" Jim finished with a frown.
"Quite easily" the Major replied, speaking to Jim, the amusement gone from his face, "of course they're 'violent and fast' but on the contrary, that makes them very much predictable"
Jim shook his head, Elizabeth folded her arms uncomfortably, unconvinced.
"Here" the Major opened a heavy door, working through two padlocks with practiced ease.
They were just off from the kitchen.
The Major nodded his head towards the now open door, a small, encouraging smile on his face. Dutifully, Jim and Elizabeth stepped out and into a bright, enclosed courtyard. It was very much like the area she had waited in after her medical check, high walls, bare floor. It was just bigger, colder and covered in low hanging white sheets.
She frowned as Jim reached out towards a sheet.
Was it bloody?
The clanging and dragging of chains seemed to explode suddenly, ominously announcing the presence of another.
With a guttural roar, an infected slashed its arms wildly, lunging through the sheets.
Elizabeth screamed in shock, in pure fear. They were safe here, how could there be an infected? How could the Major bring them here? She flung herself backwards, jerking in horrible surprise when her back met the Major's firm chest. He was still, unmovable. Before she could turn, try to push through him, to run back into the bowels of the house, his strong hands found her upper arms, stilling her quite effectively.
Breathing heavily, her eyes welled.
"It's quite alright" the Major assured her, and, as she pressed herself away from the reaching, raging infected, further into the Major's body, she briefly felt his thumb rub her arm in a fleeting, comforting - and entirely useless - gesture.
"What the fuck?!" Jim exploded, pressed against the wall. His eyes were wide, his breathing jagged. He looked pale, sweaty, panicked.
"Jim. Elizabeth. Meet Mailer"
The infected man, Mailer, lunged once more before the wind fluttered the white sheets. With a jerk of its head, the infected began to jerk like a trapped dog, the thick chain dragging with its movements.
"What the...you're fucking keep that thing here!?" Jim almost hissed, slowly straightening himself as he saw they weren't in danger. He rubbed at his chest.
The infected couldn't reach them.
With a roar and twitching body, Mailer projectile vomited a steady stream of what looked like bloody water and Elizabeth whimpered. There was no way that could be safe. Frank got infected by dead blood and here...here was an infected channeling The Exorcist all over the courtyard?
"Why?" Elizabeth all but whispered, eyes welling, wishing the Major would step back, let them retreat into the house once more.
"He became infected almost a week ago, now. We overpowered him" the Major loosened his grip on Elizabeth's arms "Mitchell knocked him out cold and we brought him here. Got chains around his neck and feet.."
"You're keeping him alive?" Elizabeth breathed.
"Why would you do that?" Jim asked, righting himself fully.
"The idea was for us to learn, for it to teach us"
The infected shuffled further into the confines of its cage, dragging its limp leg and chain as it went.
Jim shook his head. The infected was still wearing its camouflage uniform, clearly it was a fellow solider. How could the Major refer to one of his men as "it" so easily?
"And? Has he?"
The Major stepped back easily and Elizabeth darted back into the safety of the dark, tight corridor, slinking to the ground, trying to calm her breathing.
"In a sense...yes. He's taught me, Jim, that he will never bake bread. He will never farm crops. He will never raise livestock. He has taught me that he is utterly future less"
The Major entered the corridor fully, glancing down at Elizabeth before looking at Jim once more, "he is teaching me his weaknesses and, in time, he will teach me how long it will take for him to starve"
"Come" he reached a strong arm down to Elizabeth and she took it tentatively, "you should both freshen up before dinner"