AN: I'm going to assume y'all have read chapters 1 and 2 already, so I HOPE I no longer have to put up the copyright this/that shtick that can get someone way up turd creek w/o a paddle. Also, I'm taking a few liberties with the geography of the town, so St. Helens readers, expect some fallacies here and there. So, let's see if our sleepy little Witch is awake yet, shall we?
AN2: Bob's lips have been chewed off, so he can't pronounce certain words correctly. What's typed is the closest consonant to the one he needs("d" replaces "b", "h" replaces "f", "n" replaces "m", "r" replaces "v", and "t" will replace "p". Upon occassion, "s" will replace "f" in words like off. "lihe"=life, dite=bite, lits=lips, os=off, etc.)
Two hours later...
Jess woke up slowly, coming out of a wonderful dream reluctantly. Slowly opening her eyes, she gazed into the slowly dying fire across the room from her. Hearing slightly muffled movement below her, Jess slowly got out of her bed and looked around the room. It was sparsely furnished, with a dresser, mirror, the bed she had just gotten up from and a small stool in the corner. She looked outside and saw a river running nearby. Rummaging through the dresser, she found a pair of jeans, a faded t-shirt, a pair of men's underwear, two pair socks and a belt. She managed to get her old top off and put the shirt on before she had to ask for help. She opened the door and stuck her head out, looking left and right for someone to help her get dressed.
I swear, Ted just doesn't tire. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but still... Rhea, as dressed as she could get, was walking down the stairs when she noticed a girl with ash blond hair sticking her head out into the hallway. Rhea approached her, trying not to shake herself up as she came down the stairs. What most people don't realize about Spitters is that they're like soda... shake them up enough, and everyone gets sprayed. And, in her case, it can be lethal.
"Can I help you, dear?"
"Um... Yes. You see, my hands aren't working right... Could you help me dress, please?"
"Of course, dear. Let's get you dressed and ready. Frank usually has started cooking dinner right about now, so we'd better hurry."
Rhea walked in to the room, and immediately groaned at the clothes available to the pale girl. Faded jeans, old socks, and a belt that had seen better days.
"My dear, we have to go shopping some time. These just will not do. But, I guess they'll have to do for now. Oh, silly me. What's your name, deary? I'm Rhea."
"Oh. Um... My name's Jess. It's nice to meet you, Rhea. Um... where are we?" She sat down on the bed so that Rhea could help her dress more easily.
"We, my dear, are in Saint Helens, Oregon. The building we currently occupy sits near the banks of the Columbia River, a natural divider between Oregon and Washington. If I may prod so, who brought you here? And where did he find you?"
"Um... I think he said his name was Carl. He found me in an old abandoned fire station. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason. Just curiosity." Has that boy ever touched a girl, even if all he did was shake her hand? I'll worry later. Besides, dinner'll be ready soon, and I'm a little hungry for something other than my man.
After putting the pants on, it was clear to both of them that the belt was unnecessary, due to the pants being three sizes smaller than the label said they were. Feeling less exposed, Jess and Rhea walked out, chatting lightly all the way down the stairs.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen...
"Ugh, I hate canned hoods, Hrank. You know this."
"Well, you have one of-*burp* 'Scuse me. One of two options: Starve or bring us a corpse to cook and eat. Or you could eat yourself. It's not like you're gonna use that part anytime soon, Bob. Now hop on my back, I need you to pin this up above the door frame." He then handed Bob a sheet and some thumbtacks.
"Why do I have to do this? Couldn't you get Ted to helt you? And didn't Carl scarenge a dunch of tools hron the adandoned Wal-Nart down Old Tortland Road?"
"Ted would be helping me, but he's upstairs, so I had to get you to help. Besides, you're the lightest of us, excluding Carl, and you have the second-best jump. And yes, he did scavenge a bunch of tools and a mess of other things, but I have no idea where he put them."
"What are we doing this hor, anyway? The nearest dirthday is Carl's, and that night as well de Christnas Day."
"Carl brought home a girlfriend. Not a body... a girlfriend. Least that's what Ted said. We're putting this up for her so she'll feel welcome."
"Well ain't that a kick in the teeth," said Chuck, who had just walked in, Theo following close behind. "When we gonna meet her? It's about damn time we saw a female face that wasn't Rhea's. She's cool and all, but she's a regular now, and I, for one, can't wait to meet the new girl."
Upstairs, in his own room...
For some reason, the memories just wouldn't stop. All the things he'd done as a mindless animal in the first few weeks of the infection came back to him in his mind's eye. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about doing what he was doing now in front of his friends. And what he was doing now would be easily recognized by most survivors, if there were any left to see this. He was on his knees, hood over his face, head in his hands, sobbing quietly, like he had done every day since the animal within had weakened enough for him to regain control. Now that he was master again, the beast showed him what damage it had done while in control. And all he could do was weep and curse the beast for it's actions, curse himself for losing control in the first place. What materials he had scavenged from his previous life were here, in his room, just waiting to be fed their electrical diet, waiting to be used again. But, until then, all he had to entertain him was a book of drawing paper and some drawing utensils, which he used when he could. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked at the only working piece of machinery in the room: his watch.
Realizing that, at this moment, Jess would most likely be awake and that Frank would be busy on the first floor, Carl licked up what fluids had missed his sleeve, shivering as his blood and tears were reintroduced to his body. Grabbing a chocolate bar from the stack near his door, he exited his room and, while descending, ate it. After he had finished it, he put the wrapper in his pocket and fell downward, stopping every floor to prevent too much acceleration. Once he had reached the first floor, he walked over to the dining room.
Where is Carl? He should be here by now. I wonder what the banner above the door is for?
No sooner had Theo finished this train of thought, than Carl walked into his periferal vision. Knowing that Carl had had one of his fits recently, Theo waited until he had passed out of Carl's line of sight, then picked him up and placed him on his massive shoulders. He lumbered over to the door frame and signalled for a brush and some paint. Chuck, knowing what he wanted, went to the closet down the hall and grabbed what Theo had asked for. Passing the brush up to Carl, Chuck shook the can of paint as vigorously as he could, then carefully pried the lid off and passed the can up to his friend.
Standing on Theo's shoulders, Carl set to work immediately, painting the words "Welcome, Jess" as neatly as he could.
"So... her name's Jess, huh? I know she ain't one of the Commons, so what is she?" Ted arrived from the living room, dressed only in his pants with a cigarette in hand. He stared questioningly at the back of Carl's head, patiently waiting for a response.
"I don't know Ted. All I know is that she's beautiful, kind, and can cook a damn tasty steak."
Jess had walked in right as Carl began to talk, and if she could've blushed, her face would've turned a nice cherry red at his words. Instead she hung her head and smiled bashfully behind her small curtain of hair, softly giggling to herself.
"And I see that she's awake. Everyone, please turn around and say hi to Jess. Jess, these are my friends. Please, make yourself at home. I think Frank was just about to start making dinner. Would you like to help him? Besides you, he's the only one with any cooking experience."
"Dinner? I'd love to help! Where's the kitchen, and what do we have?"
"Over here, Jess. I was just-*burp* 'Scuse me. Just about to throw something together for dinner." And with that, Jess followed Frank into the kitchen, and Carl beamed with delight.
Several minutes later...
They were all seated around the table, enjoying the delicious food that Jess had helped make, and conversing lightly between bites.
"Mmm, delicious. Jess, you absolutely MUST-*buurp* 'Scuse me. Must teach me how you did this. I usually have to bend over backwards to get anywhere near half this amount of flavor."
"I'll do my best, Frank. So, who are all of you? I didn't get a chance to hear your names earlier, and my curiosity is peaking."
"Well," said Chuck, "My name's Chuck. During the first month that the infection was active, any Immunes that saw me labeled me as a "Charger", due to me charging at them. This muscular mass to my left is Theo. Before the infection, he was an English teacher at the local highschool. When the infection first hit the town, he was one of the first to turn. During class, one of the students had pushed his patience a little too far, and was subsequently punched in the face. Normally, this would just hurt, and Theo'd get sued. But, the infection had managed to get a firm grip in his body, and when he lost his temper, the virus took over. In the few short seconds before the punch was thrown, his muscles started to grow and become more powerful. By the time the punch connected, his arm was half the size it is now. So, naturally, when the punch connected, the poor kid died, due to his face being punched so hard that the back of his face touched the spinal column. After that, Theo used the last of his control to force himself into the woods, where he stayed for the first three days of hysteria. Any Immunes that saw him after those three days labeled him as a "Tank", due to his size and strength."
Jess looked closely at Theo, then asked, "What happened to his jaw? Did it fall off?"
"No. His neck muscles enveloped it. If one were to look closely, you'd probably see bits of his teeth in a semicircle."
Jess looked at Theo with worry. "How do you eat?"
Theo looked up at her, held up a finger, took a piece of food off his plate and tilted his head up. Everyone looked over, curious as to how their friend ate. Where his tongue started was basically a pair of beaks. The outer pair cut and minced his food, while the inner pair ground it up. He closed both of them and swallowed his food, then looked down and did his best to smile at his friends.
"Adsolutely hascinating, Theo. And here I thought you just slallowed your hood whole. Anyway, ny nane's Dod, and the Innunes called ne a Jockey. Dehore all this, I was dasically Stehen Hawking, ninus the drains. I was confined to a heelchair for nost of ny lihe. The inhection restored ny leg nuscles, and I could alk again. This was a short-lived joy, decause the dann Green Hlu gave ne nania, and nade ne dite ny lits os."
"Which means that before the shit hit the fan, he was a cripple. The infection restored his legs and made him chew through his lips, giving him a nasty case of perma-grin and a speech impediment, kinda like Scooby Doo, only creepier. He was called a Jockey because he had a habit of jumping onto someone's back and riding them like a horse, usually into danger or away from help," said Frank
"I'm sorry to hear that, Bob. If you don't mind me asking, how did you become a cripple in the first place?"
"I landed a little too hard at a skating rink one day and couldn't stand again around three years ago."
"I'm sorry that happened, Bob. So what about you... um..."
"Name's Ted. The Immunes called me a "Smoker", due to these little sacs on my face and arm. Every time I got knocked out, one of them would pop, releasing this huge cloud of thick, green smoke. That, and the fact that I have a three-pack-a-day cough. During the first few weeks, my "job" was to grab the Immunes with my tongue and drag them away, kinda like this." With that, he shot his tongue out and wrapped it around an old wooden bar that he used for target practice and pulled it towards him. When it was within arm's reach, he released it and threw it back into it's little corner. "Bad thing is, I'm easily stunned and incapacitated, and my tongue is easily cut. Good news is, my tongue regenerates rather quickly, and I'm able to use my tongue to get to places I'd normally have trouble accessing. The only other one who's easily incapacitated is Frank, and for good reason."
"Why's that?"
"I'm basically a walking bomb, Jess. The infection- *burp* 'Scuse me. The infection made me mass-produce huge amounts of bile and pheromones. As a result, my body couldn't hold itself together in some places, so almost all of my internal organs were scrapped and made into a sort of balloon. Every now and then I have to pass gas, burp, or puke to relieve the internal pressure. The reason I'm easily incapa- *buurp* 'Scuse me. Incapacitated is because the majority of my body literally is a very fleshy balloon. Shoot a single bullet into me, and I pop, spraying everything nearby with bile and knocking things off their feet for a few short seconds. Thankfully, I'm able to regenerate back into this walking balloon in a few short moments. Be glad you aren't me. I've heard rumors that there are females just like me. Being a fat GUY is hell enough, being a fat GIRL... I don't want to think about it."
"What's the bile do?"
"It calls all nearby Commons to an area. We don't know what's in it, but it makes them go mad, and that's all we need to know."
"Okay. What's a Common?"
"If you take a look out the window, deary, you'll see at least one Common. The Immunes called them Commons, and that's pretty much what they are. They're normal people turned into a mindless hive. Every morning, however, they sing."
"They can sing?"
"If you can call what they do singing," said Carl. "Every morning, without fail, they welcome the rising sun in what we have come to call Hell's Chorus. Have you ever read the Lestat series by Anne Rice?" Jess pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Basically, what they do is similar to Hell's Bells, telling us that morning has come, and that it's time to wake from what sleep we can get. For us, it's a mind screw that we can't avoid. Their voice, both one and many, resounds, damn near driving us out of control and almost giving the beast within command, until we stand up and reject them. I guess you could say it's a roll call, of sorts."
They finished eating in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Afterwards, Carl pulled Theo and Chuck aside and said, "I'm going to need your help tomorrow. Can you meet me down here after the Chorus?" When they both said yes, Carl smiled and jumped up to his room, grabbed a favorite book, and went back down to the third floor.
Jess heard a knock at the door, just as she had shimmied out of her "new" shirt. Hoping it was Rhea, she opened the door just enough to poke her head out, and was greeted with the sight of... a hardcover book? She reached out with her left hand, wrapping her right across her chest.
"I hope you like it. Please try not to damage it... I've had it for quite a while, and would like to keep it in readable condition for as long as possible."
"Thanks, Carl." She looked at the title and almost squealed with joy. "Eyes of the Dragon? I have no idea how you knew, but this is my favorite book! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She gently put the book down and pulled Carl into a one-armed hug. Letting go, she smiled at him, said goodnight, and went over to her bed, book in hand. Soon, she fell asleep, with the book laying closed upon the dresser, a bookmark sitting about one fourth of the way through.
AN: And here we leave our little witch to rest. Everyone else went to bed, as well, and don't even THINK about asking what Ted and Rhea are doing right now, it's just too wrong. And yes, I have read the Lestat series(Anne Rice) and Eyes of the Dragon(Stephen King). Now I hope you'll remember the Chorus, 'cause it MIGHT have a part to play in the next chapter. The suspense is thick and your patience... maybe not as thick. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this very long(compared to the first two) chapter, and I hope you'll stick around for the rest! Ch. 4 coming soon, so grab your popcorn, soda ,and candy, and enjoy the story. Oh, and Immunes=Survivors, btw.