Part 24 (1/2)

They strolled through the hall, bathed in florescent light, until they reached a gla.s.s wall surrounding the employee courtyard and went outside. The area was deserted.

”It's cold,” Dejah said, teeth chattering. ”I didn't bring a jacket.”

”Do you want to go back?”

”No. No, actually, it's waking me up a bit. Just a little jarring at first.”

David slipped his arms around her, pulling her to him. He held her in an embrace.

”That feels better,” she said.

”Yes, it does.” She put her head on his chest.

”You know what today is?” he asked.

”No, what?” She snuggled closer, her own heart racing, her flesh breaking into gooseb.u.mps, not from the cold, but from desire. She felt herself flush.

”Halloween.”

”Really?” she said. ”Well, I think we got tricked, but definitely no treat.” She laughed. ”It's only been a few weeks, but it seems like a million years since this virus. .h.i.t. It's almost like my old life is just distant memories now. Except for Selah, it could all have been a bad dream.”

”You might say this is a bad dream.”

”Not all of it.” She looked up at him, admired the lines on his face. He stared thoughtfully up at the night sky, and then looked down at her.

Dejah gazed into David's face. ”What do you think is going to happen?”

David shook his head. ”I don't know.”

They stood in their snug embrace for a few silent seconds. Then David said: ”I've been meaning to ask you about...your...well, the whole coming back to life thing. I've been debating about it myself, worried about bringing it up. I mean, I almost feel like it's something we shouldn't talk about. We've had the past couple days here together, but I didn't know how to ask you without seeming...well, I don't know. I guess I was afraid of someone overhearing us and....”

Dejah laughed. ”And someone thinking you're crazy? We're crazy? Or that I'm one of the infected and just remarkably well preserved, if I might say so myself.”

”Heh, well, yes, I'd agree with you there.”

”You mean you couldn't find a good time between me being eaten and resurrected, becoming the bride of some whack-job televangelist, or trying not to get devoured in the middle of an airport zombie infestation?” She gave him a look of mock scorn.

”You're right, I guess I should have said something sooner.” He grinned.

Dejah sobered for a moment, pulling away from him. She hugged herself and turned. He walked next to her as they crossed the courtyard toward a gazebo. ”About the resurrection thing...I don't really know what to tell you. I don't understand it myself. Obviously, it wasn't a talent, or power I knew I had until after I'd been eaten and killed that first time,” she paused. ”I mean, I try to think way back into my childhood and connect it to something I can use to reason it out. Some broken leg that healed quickly, maybe a gash that closed up, but the fact of the matter was, I was never really seriously injured when I was young.”

”Not a lot of room for serious injury in the world of Barbie.” David quipped with a barely suppressed grin.

”Ha. Watch yourself, pal. I've beheaded Ken dolls with my bare hands.” She slipped her arm in his. ”Seriously though, I guess I've always healed pretty fast from cuts and sc.r.a.pes or whatnot, but never really gauged it against other kids or people. My mom always said I had a good immune system.”

”So you had no idea?”

”None at all. It's unnerving. It's great, obviously - I don't want to be dead - but strange. Why? Why me? I just keep thinking there must be a reason for this to happen. I guess I'm immune to the virus, just like you and Shaun. I a.s.sume I can die of natural causes, old age - maybe I just can't be killed by anything. This ability or whatever the h.e.l.l I call it, there has to be a reason for it. It can't just be a random evolutionary accident. Can it?”

David shook his head. ”I have no idea.”

”There's more. I keep turning this over in my head, but I can't help but wonder if what happens to me is tied in with Selah. With something that happened when she was younger.”

”What happened to Selah?”

”Well, nothing happened to her. But, since she was a baby, she's been able to, well, I guess the best way to describe it is just to say it: she heals people with her touch,” Dejah said, knowing she probably sounded crazy.

”Like sick people?”

”And the dying. It can't be explained. It just happens. Even when she was newborn and I brought her home from the hospital, every time I touched her, I felt renewed. I already healed fast because of my own...whatever we're calling it ability, I guess. But, touching her was a refres.h.i.+ng feeling, even when dog-tired from being up with her at night.”

David thought for a moment. ”I'm no expert on any of this, of course, but I'd say the two conditions, or gifts, whatever you want to call them, might be related. Genetic maybe. Supernatural possibly. Or maybe it all comes from her. Maybe your ability wasn't even present in you until you carried her in your womb, shared blood and life with her...perhaps she's the origin of it all.”

”That's what I've been thinking recently. Though the why part is still haunting me.”

”Did Selah ever touch a person who was...?” David's stopped himself before he finished, but Dejah was right there with him, thinking along his same lines.

”Dead? No.” Dejah paused, thinking. ”Oh my G.o.d, David, what if-”

”I'm just wondering if she could heal people sick with the infection. Or even if people who've died from the infection could be brought back to life? It could be....” David shuddered. ”G.o.d, I'm sorry, Dejah. I'm some romantic. This is horrible s.h.i.+t we're dealing with here. You've got enough on your mind without my doomsaying.”

”No, no, David, it's okay. You're not thinking anything I can't follow to my own conclusions. But she's a smart kid. She wouldn't do that. I think somehow she'd know in her gut that doing something like that would be wrong. At least, trying to bring people back from the dead.”

David shook his head. ”Unless she did it against her own will.”

”Oh, G.o.d. I have to get to her, David. I just have to.”

”We will.”

David led her by hand up the steps of the gazebo. They looked up at the stars and he pulled her close again. She felt a charge from his fingertips, a thrilling heat that made her flushed.

She sighed. ”Well, all this c.r.a.p aside, I'm glad you're here with me.”

David studied her face. ”Are you? What about-?”

”That's over. Been over for far too long. I only stayed because of Selah. Now, I know that isn't a reason to merely exist. My happiness matters too. And, if I, we, get out of this alive, I intend to be happy again.”

She searched his eyes and she could see that David didn't know what else to say. Not about her, about Selah, about any of the crazy s.h.i.+t happening to them and the rest of the world. He slipped a finger beneath her chin, lifting her mouth to his lips. He kissed her, long and deep. Dejah felt all the tension melt away from her taut muscles. Up until that moment she hadn't realized just how wound-up she'd been, like a caged jaguar meant to run. She let the release surge through her body and returned his kiss with pa.s.sion. When they came apart it was too soon. His eyes shone down at her, looking for some sign that this was okay, that it was the right time for this. For them.

”You think Shaun will be gone long?” she murmured.

”Probably.”

”There's a lock on the door to my room,” she said in an exhalation of breath. Dejah's heart quaked in her chest. What am I doing? she thought, but it felt right. It felt good. After everything she'd been through, this was a choice she was making. Something she had power over. Something she wanted.

”Are you sure this is what you want?” David's voice was hesitant.