CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - RE-ENCOUNTER
Brian’s feet were heavy as they trudged through the thick sludge that stuck to his battered trainers like treacle. Already the mud had squelched through the thin soles and soaked his feet so that they had turned sore and cold. The previous day’s rainfall had soaked into the landscape and turned everything into mud. In this part of the country especially there seemed to be a lot of burnt countryside and there was nothing to give relief from the slowly trudging through mud.
He panted slightly as the Gerai marched him up another slope. He had noticed before that the land was unusually hilly because of the explosions that had shook it over the last eighteen years and now his aching muscles were viciously complaining.
He could not help the slight knot of fear that had wriggled into his chest. He had no idea where he was being taken and the Gerai captain’s threat had shaken him slightly. They couldn’t kill him no, but they could torture him. His heart rate was beginning to accelerate despite his attempts to calm it. He had to remain in control. He was being taken to the base where B and Sammy were and maybe this could be an opportunity to help them somehow…
He slipped and his feet were suddenly sliding unstoppably in the wet mud. Brian gave a cry as he hit the ground face first, unable to stop himself with his hands harnessed together by handcuffs. He groaned slightly, his face aching and feeling like a single, throbbing bruise.
“Quit stalling,” a gruff voice snapped. A hand was seizing his collar and hauling him back to his feet.
Brian bit back a tart remark and forced his eyes to glare in the opposite direction in case it earned him another punch or assault. When they had first left the base the Gerai captain had been delighted to deal Brian a random punch of kick just to let him know that he was captured. Brian still could not understand why the Gerai feared him so much. He was no hero and no fighter. Most of the times he had met with the Gerai he had been terrified and had only persevered through luck and the determination that nobody was going to lay a finger on B or Sammy.
Sammy… B… He closed his eyes as he remembered what the Gerai captain had said about his youngest. They had given him the virus. Brian had suspected that he’d had it in his own time, but Nick had waved that suspicion aside by telling him that the Gerai did not have the virus at the time. Now though it was a different matter. B could be deadly sick, even if he did have the cure in his bloodstream. He would still suffer the full range of symptoms.
What if they infected Sammy as well? Unlike his brother he would not have any protection against the biological threat.
The sodden ground however had soon changed the captain’s mood as he was forced to watch where he was treading. That and he had been infuriated by Brian’s lack of reaction. Once he knew that he would have cried out when he was hit or groaned in pain, but he had been through several beatings now and grimly he realised that he was becoming more used to them and the fear of being hurt.
Carefully Brian used the backs of his handcuffed hands to wipe some of the grime from his face and then a shove in his back signalled for him to get moving again.
There were five Gerai in total, but Brian knew from eavesdropping on a radio conversation that there was two other small groups of Gerai who had been attacking the base. The captain’s group however had decided not to wait for the others as they were keen to get their prize prisoner back to the base.
Brian’s heart seemed to leap into his mouth for a moment. He prayed that they would let him see B and Sammy. All he needed was to see them so that he could cry in relief at seeing them alive and safe. After that he would find a way to save them somehow… He would save all of them and his cousin as well.
He groaned slightly under his breath as they reached the top of the hill. He could see for several miles and to his despair, the hilly land continued. He had known that the base was a considerable distance away, but this was agonisingly. His hands were tied so tightly and the metal was cutting into his arms.
He caught his breath for a moment as the faint sunlight weakly glinted off a metal dome to the south. That was the ruins of the Gerai base the resistance had destroyed last year…
The captain noticed what Brian was staring at and his eyes narrowed. Without warning he suddenly smacked Brian hard about the face. Brian winced slightly as he felt a tooth rattle inside of his mouth and tasted blood. His eyes flickered closed for a brief moment as flames seemed to erupt in a hard tooth as it wailed in protest at the blow.
“I don’t like you gloating like that Littrell,” he snapped. “You may have had us last time, but this time will be different. We have our computer chip back!”
“We’ll see about that!” Brian snapped, his eyes flashing slightly. They wouldn’t keep B for long…
Suddenly his legs were kicked out from beneath him by the captain and he yelped in shock as a rock bruised his leg and he hit the mud again. The captain leant down and grabbed his collar, almost cutting off Brian’s air supply. He caught the stale stench of the man’s breath as he dragged Brian closer to him and Brian’s heart lurched as he remembered the captain’s threat to him.
“You’re not getting your little boy back ever,” he whispered. “He belongs to us now.”
Brian’s heart was pummelling his chest and he lashed out and brought his handcuffed hands up to smack the captain’s face. “No he does not!” he snapped.
The older man gave a startled cry but he suppressed it and his knuckles crashed into Brian’s stomach. Bitter pain crumpled inside of him and he bit hard on his tongue to prevent himself from moaning. The look of pain however was evident on his face and the captain snickered down at him. “That’s better,” he snarled. His lips curved into a sickly smile. “You’re so easy to irritate you know. I know your weak spot now, your own family.”
Brian weakly stared up at him, his eyes wide as he remembered what had happened last time he had encountered the Gerai. They had figured out that to hurt Brian most of all they had to hurt B. The boy had almost been tortured to death. Slowly he lowered his eyes away from the captain’s face and meekly stared into the mud. The captain laughed slightly as he patted Brian’s shoulder patronisingly.
“You see, we learn to understand one another,” he whispered into Brian’s ear.
‘Bastard,’ Brian thought inwardly. They could use B and Sammy to blackmail him all they liked and unfortunately it could work. From what little the captain had already said about B, Brian was awfully aware that something bad was already happening to him.
“I wonder if the little one will even recognise you anymore…”
What had the captain meant by that remark? And then there had been the pointed comment about him being ill. Bri had been right, they probably had infected him with the virus. He had known that it was no ordinary illness that had assaulted the boy in his own time. There was hope though because there was a cure in B’s bloodstream according to Nick.
It didn’t stop Brian from wanting to see him as soon as possible though.
“Captain!” one of the other Gerai called. He was surveying the landscape through a pair of binoculars. “Another group has left the resistance base. It’s one of ours. The battle is well and truly over.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed slightly before his radio bleeped slightly. He pulled it from his belt and held it to his mouth. “Captain Morgan here,” he said.
Brian glanced up from where he was kneeling on the soggy ground, his heart thudding so hard that it shook his entire body as it heaved in anxiety. ‘Please God, don’t let them have taken the base!’ The battle was over, but who were the victors?
“Captain, this is lieutenant Karks. It’s over. The resistance had the place locked down and they outnumbered us easily. We’re falling back. The other entrances are completely blocked.”
Brian’s eyes flickered closed and he smiled as he thought back to Darren’s nervousness. He knew that the older man and his group would prevail. Darren would never let the place fall to the Gerai.
There was a sudden growl above him and as Brian’s eyes snapped open the butt of gun was brought down hard on his face. He clamped his teeth down on his tongue and winced as he drew blood, but it stopped him from screaming at the sudden blow that had split open a gash on his forehead.
“This is your fault!” the captain screeched as his boot was crunching into Brian’s abdomen.
Brian couldn’t help it as he cried out in pain. His stomach seemed to have shrivelled up as it clenched in on itself with waves of rippling pain. He wrapped his arms about his chest, trying to somehow muffle the agony as it burned inside. He squirmed on the ground and pulled himself into an embryo position, bracing himself for another painful assault.
Tears were forming in his eyes as he thought of dying. If the captain let his rage gain control then he would be beaten to death, but it wasn’t just him who would suffer. B would never exist and Sammy would be left alone with no one to take care of him.
“Captain!” one of the men cried hurriedly as he seized his captain’s arms. “No, you might seriously injure him and we can’t risk that! Don’t let him irritate you!”
“Your counterpart is dead,” the captain snarled. “We know he’ll come to our base and when he does, he’s dead. I’m going to rip his heart from his chest and watch him bleed to death!”
His eyes were blazing with fury and he seemed to be almost wanting to channel his loathing into beams that could split open Brian’s soul. He found himself backing away slightly as he realised what would happen. The captain and the other Gerai were going to set a trap for Bri. They knew he would come for B and Sammy.
“Forget it!” the Gerai holding him said. “We’re still going to win! We have his oldest son working for us now!”
Brian’s head snapped up at the words. ‘Sammy?’ He opened his mouth slightly but it was suddenly hard to breathe.
The captain shrugged away the arms of his companion and chuckled slightly as he rubbed his hands together. “It’s amazing what someone will do for you when you blackmail them.”
Sammy. Brian gulped slightly. Sammy would do anything in the world and more for B and the Gerai were using that against him. Brian knew that Sammy knew everything about Darren’s base… His head throbbed slightly. Time was running out to get them both out of there…
He was being dragged to his feet again, but he found himself wincing as his stomach was straightened out again. It burned and writhed like something alive as he tried to stand. He groaned and found himself sliding back down to his knees, his arms wrapping about his stomach. He was growing cold as well, the thick mud caked his clothes and his skin had turned clammy and damp as he shivered.
The captain stared down at him and there was a hint of fear in his eyes. “You’re not badly hurt,” he grunted. “Get up.”
Brian took a deep breath as he staggered to his feet again and he noticed the way in which the captain’s eyes stared at him. He was worried that he had hurt Brian too much. Slowly Brian cast his eyes about the hill they were upon. Walking up it, he had noticed several rocks clustered about the place and a thin grouping of trees behind a little ditch near the bottom.
He allowed himself to slump back down again and gave a moan, even though the pain was fading to a dull ache.
“Damn it!” the captain hissed. He grabbed hold of Brian’s shoulders and tried to drag him up again.
Brian forced his lips to give a faint cry and he kept his eyes dull and unfocused before leaning against the captain. “Uh…” he moaned.
“How bad is he hurt?” one Gerai asked.
“I don’t know!” the captain snapped as he carefully placed Brian back on the ground, unwilling to merely throw him down any longer in case he caused anymore damage to him.
Brian fought the urge to smile slightly. He was a precious object to them now. They could not kill him and that meant that they could not risk killing him either. There may have been so many things worse than death, but how many of those could they perform without a risk? Brian had a feeling that they would not be willing to risk losing B or altering the timeline in case it made things worse. Most likely there would be just be another poor kid in B’s place though.
Brian allowed himself to lie weakly on the ground with his back to the Gerai. He cast his eyes over the hill. He was just a few metres away from the slope that led back down… The question was that would they try shooting him?
‘Of course they would. They have stun settings on their weapons.’
He had to try something though. If he stayed here there was no guarantee what they would do to him. The only positive point was that he would be able to get into the base where B, Sammy and Kevin were but could he help them alone?
Then there was Bri… a part of Brian probably wanted to see him hurt physically more than anything seeing as there was the strange violent urges towards his twin. He had actually dreamed of fighting with him again the other night and dreamt that he won and had enjoyed it…
But they were connected and they were the same. Brian couldn’t fight that. He had to warn him about what was coming.
He cast a look over his shoulder at the Gerai who were now talking about how far they would go before resting and worrying about how far Brian could go because no one wanted to carry him.
To his left was a rock and he carefully slid his handcuffed hands either side of it and hooked the chain on top before pulling. The weak couplings gave part slightly, but not enough. He bit his lip slightly and pulled again before swearing slightly. He wasn’t strong enough to pull the chain couplings apart enough to escape the restraining handcuffs.
He would have to make a run for it with them somehow. He turned his head again and noticed that one man was watching him very carefully. Brian quickly ducked his head and pretended to be rubbing his sore wrists before massaging his stomach again.
His head was beginning to hurt as well. Blood had trickled down the side of his face and there was a soreness streaking across his face. Tentatively he pressed a hand against it and hissed in pain as his fingers probed the wound.
He glanced to see if he was still being watched and to his annoyance he found he was. Someone did not trust him.
The captain was still speaking with two of the others and had now pulled out his radio to speak with the other teams who were behind them, but Brian wasn’t particularly listening anymore. They were distracted and that could give him the opportunity to escape.
Carefully he picked himself up off the floor, moaning and making a show to inform the Gerai that he was still hurt. It wasn’t difficult with his stomach muscles still tense making it hard to breathe. Weakly he stared at the Gerai and shivered. He was getting cold and being covered in mud while a chilly wind blew had not helped matters at all.
He needed a diversion or something so that he could slip away down the slope and get into those trees. If he had enough of a head start he could probably outrun them and then hide before trying to get back to the base. Maybe he could…
There was a sudden squeal and Brian ducked just in time to avoid the jet of laser light that had spat over his head. He gasped slightly and placed a hand to his head, checking to make sure that it was intact. He had felt the air move above him as it whizzed over.
“Are you okay?” the captain called urgently as he seized hold of Brian making sure that there was no hole in his face. Brian nodded numbly and then the captain pushed him aside roughly as he pulled a gun from his shoulder and began firing back. “We’re under attack men!” he gritted his teeth slightly. “And as much as we would all like to see Mr. Littrell dead, we have to protect him. Don’t let him get hit!”
Brian buried his face in the soaking grass as more shots were fired. He inched forward on his belly and tried to peer over the hill to see where they were coming from. Darren must have sent people after him!
But then why had they almost shot him in the head? It had been a narrow miss and the hairs on Brian’s neck were still standing up.
He glanced about furtively at the Gerai and saw that they had all taken up positions around the front of the slope and were shooting back. Bright sparks of green laser fire spurted from their weapons and screeched as they headed into the open air.
No one was watching Brian.
He bit his lip and then ran.
He slid down the other side of the hill, away from the laser fire, as fast as he could which wasn’t hard when there was so much sludge to aid in his descent. He cried out as his ankle hit something and then he lost his balance and tumbled headfirst down the hill until he smacked into a cluster of rocks. He moaned, dizzy and blind with the dirt that now clogged his eyes. He struggled to feel with his handcuffed hands and crawled around the rock, using his muddy fingers to feel.
He sat with his back to it and gasped as he wiped his face on his hands and sleeves to try and clear away the dirt. His eyes stung and itched with dirt and irritating mud and looking down at his clothes he saw that he was caked in the substance.
He wiped his face once more and tilted his head. From the other side of the slope he could hear the whine and splatter of deadly laser energy but he could not see the enemy fire from where he was sitting. It had to be coming from Darren’s people though.
Brian peeped out from his hiding rock and quickly drew back as he saw a Gerai frantically staring about him at the top of the hill. He closed his eyes as if he could somehow will the man not to see him and counted under his breath. He always used to do that as a child when playing hide and seek, close your eyes and count to ten while holding your breath in a vain hope that they would never find you.
This game however was a lot more deadly.
He counted to twenty and then opened his eyes again but he did not dare glance behind him again. Instead he stared at the landscape about him. There was a ditch several metres ahead of him and beyond that another slope that led downwards. At least it would lead him away from the Gerai.
He took a deep breath and then scuttled half to his feet before half crouching and half running, struggling to keep balance with his hands still bound. He gasped and grunted as he stepped over rocks and then leapt into the ditch, half expecting the sickening pain of a laser beam as it ripped open his back.
There was nothing though and he breathed for a moment and ran a trembling hand through his wet and matted hair. He peered over the top of the ditch and saw that a Gerai was still staring about the hillside but now he had his back to Brian. He must have just missed seeing him as he stumbled down the hill. He gasped and ducked as he saw the laser beam strike the man and he found himself curling up into a ball. He had seen half the man’s body explode…
Brian shivered and rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself up. His limbs were becoming stiff and heavy and his head still ached and bled over his face. Carefully he began to crawl along the grubby ditch, heading towards where the other laser fire was emanating from. He just hoped that they wouldn’t mistake him for a Gerai and try and shoot him again.
The ditch was only narrow and to his despair Brian saw that it became more and more shallow as he went along until eh had to wriggle along on his bruised stomach to avoid showing his head above the sides. He ran a hand through his hair for a moment and then glanced down at his muddy fingers.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” he whispered. No one back home would ever believe that he would be doing this. What the hell would the fans think if the rich pop star was crawling around covered in mud in a battlefield?
He scooped up a pile of mud into his hand and then ran it through his hair, desperate to conceal the light locks from view of the Gerai or anybody else that might happen to see him. He groaned as he felt the slime sticking to his already damp scalp and then he set off crawling again, trying not to shudder at the screech of laser or wince as the flashes blazed overhead.
He wriggled along and smelt the pungent stench of rotting leaves and Gods knows what else until he glimpsed a few trees rearing to his left. He smiled slightly as he realised that these were the trees he had been contemplating running to before. Unfortunately he was very close to both sets of laser fire now and could be seen if he tried to run.
He looked down at his body and saw that he was almost completely camouflaged by mud now and even several leaves had plastered themselves to his skin and ripped clothes. He grimaced in disgust but there was little time to worry about his bedraggled appearance when he was stuck in the middle of a battle completely unrecognisable. His own side probably would not even know him if he fell on top of them.
He raised his head to the sky and felt a light splatter of rainfall onto his face. Things were becoming worse every day he spent here… B was being tortured and infected with a deadly virus, Sammy was being blackmailed to help the Gerai and Brian had no idea what was happening to his cousin. On top of that he was lost in the middle of nowhere with everybody shooting at him.
Suddenly he felt something splitting in his right arm and he gasped and crumpled slightly in pain. He stared down at it but there was nothing beneath the mud. He shook his head and tried to ignore the ache that was developing there. He must have banged it or something when escaping…
He waited for a moment and winced as the sound of the lasers seemed to creep closer and he tried to cover his ears until he remembered that they were still clenched in the handcuffs. He pressed himself as close to the bottom of the ditch as he could, his heartbeat throbbing above all other sounds.
‘This is not good.’
He was no hero, no solider, he wasn’t even a super pop star that everyone believed in back in his own time, he was just an ordinary person. He wasn’t used to these kind of situations.
Suddenly he realised that the laser fire had stopped. He froze for a second and held his breath in his mouth and counted.
‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…’
The numbers were silent but fats in his mind but there was no other sound. Tentatively Brian risked peeping above the sides of the ditch and glanced swiftly at the hill. There was no sign of the Gerai, but something told him that they were around still. They would be looking for him and would not want to leave him out alone where he could die. Without him there would be no B.
He turned to stare behind him and saw a cluster of rocks beside a much deeper ditch. The other laser fire had seemed to come from over there somewhere so that’s where Brian should be heading. If they left before he could catch them then he would be in trouble. He vaguely knew the direction of Darren’s base but still he was not used to surviving alone and there were more Gerai about the place.
‘I’ve got to find help!’
He pressed a hand to his heart for a moment as if to clam it and then he was leaping out of the ditch and staggering towards the trees gasping in fear in case something hit him. He threw himself behind the nearest trunk and waited.
Silence.
He peered from behind the tree but the slope before him was deserted. He breathed a sigh of relief and then carefully began to thread deeper into the trees. There wasn’t many, but he would feel better when there was a few of them between himself and the Gerai for protection. He stumbled through the thick brambles sighing as they tore at his legs. He dreaded to think what he actually looked like by now.
He cursed and swore as more twigs tried to rip at his filthy hair and clothes and pressed deeper into the trees, trying to head in the direction where the laser fire had come from but there was no sign of anyone. There wasn’t even any noise.
‘Darren, where are you?’
Suddenly he was slipping again and he had a little time to cry out before he tumbled down another muddy slope, only this time he tripped on a rock on the way down and began to fall and roll all at the same time. He could feel brambles and decaying branches bruising and scratching him and thorns pricked into his arms to form vicious splinters. His head ached and spun and his stomach wheezed with nausea. He tried to stretch his handcuffed hands out above his head to try and slow his descent, but only succeeded in gaining more splinters in his hands and catching them on stones.
He groaned and cried out before he reached the bottom of the slope and stumbled into something soft which cried out as he struck it. Brian’s sense may have been dazed and fuzzy but he knew a person when he rolled into them. He tried to look about him but mud had coated his eyes and blinded him to nothing but a brown smear. He heard the click as someone loaded a laser and immediately he was screaming in retaliation and the determination not to be killed. He rolled his bound hands into fists and lashed out, hearing a muffled groan as he struck the person he had landed upon he spun his arms out again and again he made contact.
Something inside of his mind poked at his heart and he found himself shuddering all over but there was no time to dwell on strange sensations.
He spun around, everything still spinning after his fall and tried to determine where everybody was. He couldn’t see anything but shadows and speckles of mud. He flung his arms out to his right clumsily and then someone grabbed them from behind and twisted them above his head so that he could not hit them again.
“Hey, hey it’s me!” a voice protested.
His arms were released and he turned around wildly, trying to wipe the mud out of his eyes with his handcuffed hands. Brian couldn’t see anything. His vision was blinded by sticky mud that had coated his eyelashes and now offered Brian and obscured vision of the world. He choked slightly and spat mud onto the ground.
A hand pressed against his face and slowly wiped away the mud. Brian blinked a few times before groaning. “Uh, you,” he said weakly as some of the grime was cleared from his eyes.
He couldn’t help smiling slightly in relief though and his heart had slowed almost instantly despite the strange shudders that still coursed through him at the presence of his identical self. He trusted Bri though on some deep level inside of him.
Bri stared at him in concern as he wiped the mud from Brian’s face and eyes, taking considerable care over the gash on his head. He frowned slightly and then brushed some of the leaves off of him.
“What the hell happened to you?” he gasped. “You’re a mess!”
“Uh, I know,” Brian groaned. He slumped down to the ground and tried to rub his sore legs but it was almost impossible with his hands still chained together. Instead he concentrated on trying to clean his face.
“Brian?” another voice asked. “Geez, you gave us a scare!”
Apart from knowing the voice, Brian recognised the blonde hair that belonged to his friend Nick and smiled weakly. “Thank God I found someone. I thought I would have to get back to the base alone.”
“What happened?” Bri asked bluntly as he knelt down beside Brian and continued his job of cleaning him up. “Was the base attacked?”
Brian stared at him for a moment, surprised by the concern he saw in Bri’s eyes and it wasn’t just about the base, it was about him as well. He gulped for a moment to try and clear the taste of mud from his mouth and then replied, “Yes, but Darren and the others fought them off. I got captured when - ”
Bri suddenly pulled away from him. “Why?” he snapped.
“Why what?” Brian asked blankly.
“Why did you get captured?”
“I didn’t mean to!”
Bri sighed and then grabbed Brian’s face again more roughly and began to rub at the mud on the wound with a piece of grubby cloth. “You are such a damn risk taker!” he snapped, scrubbing at him in the same way an angry parent wipes the face of a dirty child.
“Ow!” Brian protested as he pulled away when Bri rubbed the gash on his head. “That hurts!”
“You’re hurt and it’s gotta be cleaned up before you get an infection,” Bri replied flatly.
Brian cast a desperate look at Nick but the blonde was smiling slightly and shrugged. “Darren’s okay then?”
“I think so,” Brian replied. “I warned him about an attack on one of the entrances and he locked the entire area down.” He winced as Bri’s cloth scarped his wound again. “I got taken by the Gerai but I heard them ay they’d lost. I’m sure Darren’s fine.” He tried to peer around Nick and frowned slightly. Where were the other members of their team? “Where are the others?”
Nick suddenly exchanged a look with Bri and Brian suddenly realised that like him they were covered in mud and scratches and… blood. Nick’s arm seemed to be broken and was in a make shift sling and Bri had a gash on his right arm. Brian gasped suddenly as he remembered the strange pain that had struck him while lying in the ditch and his eyes stared into the wound. Bri met his gaze for a moment before looking away.
“What happened?” he asked.
“We were attacked,” Bri replied. “Only a few hours after we left the base. Kelly and Dennis are dead. Nick and I were the only survivors and we were resting here when we caught sight of the Gerai on the hilltop.” He pointed to the hill where Brian had been with the Gerai. “Thought it a good idea to shoot them to get rid of them.”
“So it was you guys who nearly shot me,” Brian mumbled.
Bri stared at him in shock. “You were with them?”
“You almost shot me in the head!”
Bri’s eyes widened slightly and his face seemed to drain of colour. “Uh… sorry.”
Brian rolled his eyes and then winced again as Bri finished his cleaning. He stepped back for a moment and nodded. “Better. Do we have the med kit Nick?”
The blonde nodded and tossed a bag to Brian. “What are we gonna do now?” he asked. “We should take Brian back.”
“No,” Brian replied immediately. He shuddered as he remembered the Gerai’s words. “We have to get to the Gerai base, there’s no time to take me back. Sammy and B are in big trouble and we have to get them as soon as we can.”
Nick sighed. “I know but- ”
“But nothing. Nick, Sammy is being blackmailed to help the Gerai destroy Darren’s base. I don’t know what they’re doing, but they’re using him. As for B…” he gulped and stared up at Brian. “He has the virus and he’s sick and something terrible is happening to him.” He remembered the look that had passed over the captain’s face.
“I wonder if the little one will even recognise you anymore…”
“He said that B might not recognise me… you, us anymore,” he said, stumbling over which words to use.
Bri looked as if he were about to faint. He gulped slightly and pressed a hand to his mouth as a cry escaped his lips. His eyes flickered closed and he stared across at Nick. “We have to get him,” he whispered. “We have to get B if he has the virus…” his voice trembled slightly.
“What’s wrong?” Brian whispered, his own stomach beginning to clench with cold fear at the look upon Bri’s face.
“Memory loss,” Bri replied softly. “One of the late symptoms of the virus is that it represses memories.” He glanced up at Brian. “Even with the cure, if we don’t get to him in time then he won’t even remember us. He’ll forget everything.”