A pleasant fresh breeze softly
stroke Wendy's fur. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking because of the brightness
that was around her. Was all just a bad dream?

She tried to sit up, concentrating
on the world around her. She put her hand on her stomach and whispered: ‘It
wasn't just a bad dream, was it Joshua.'

She found herself lying in a much
more comfortable bed than the ones she saw in the infirmary. The room itself
was nicely decorated. It kind of looked like her old room back in the Rosebush.
She sat up more successfully this time, wondering how long she had been lying
there. Suddenly the door to the room started to open slightly.

 

Jenner didn't want to wake her by
opening the door too rough. Even though the kid was Justin's, it was his
daughter's, too. He had to make sure that she didn't panic too much.

As he looked around the corner he
saw that she was up, looking straight in his direction.

‘Well, good morning.' He said as
he opened the door completely.

Wendy didn't say a word, still
seeing what he did to Justin right before her eyes.

‘I know you must think I'm some
sort of brute, but I still am your father.'

Still Wendy didn't answer. Instead
she ignored him by looking in front of her. She crossed her arms over her
stomach.

‘Wendy, I think we have to get to
know each other a bit better. Besides, you'll be staying here for the rest of
your life.'

‘Over my dead body.' Wendy
suddenly said, still ignoring the large black male.

‘In that case I guess I won't be
telling you about your husband's condition. Try to sleep a little more. There's
a washing facility to your right. Make yourself at home.'

‘Wait! You've got news about
Justin?' Wendy yelled before Jenner was able to leave the room.

‘Yes, he's alive.' And he closed
the door.

Wendy was relieved and sad at the
same time. Her husband was alive but badly hurt as well. She needed to see him,
she wanted to touch him and tell him that everything was going to be alright.
She had to sit by his bed and hold his hand.

‘Jenner! Jenner
wait!' She said and she jumped off the bed. She pulled the door open and
started running down the hallway. But Jenner was already gone. Instead, the
place was crowded with barn-rats. When they saw Wendy, they all stopped their
activities immediately. They all stared at her with strange looks on their
eyes. They were the most ugly rats she had ever seen in her entire life! Their
fur wasn't as shiny as the rats in her own colony. Their eyes were hollow as if
there wasn't any sign of life in them. Wendy abruptly stopped, feeling very
uneasy by the staring of the ugly rats.

‘Wendy? My room is over here.'
Jenner said from behind her.

She turned around and rushed over
to the room next to her, suddenly overwhelmed by a mixture of relief, disgust
and recognition.

‘I'd rather not see you down that
hallway. The barn-rats are....'

‘Zombies?' Wendy finished Jenner's
sentence.

He started to laugh. ‘Something
like that.'

‘Are you sure Justin is ok?'

‘I don't know if he's ok, but I do
know that he's alive. That's all the information I have right now.' He picked
up a bottle with a red fluid in it and poured it into two glasses.

‘What is that?' Wendy wondered,
slightly scared about the answer. To her the liquid looked more like blood than
anything else.

‘It's cranberry juice. Full of
Vitamin C. You need that in your condition.'

Wendy Elisabeth accepted the juice
for she was extremely thirsty.

‘Please, sit down.' Jenner said,
as he pointed towards a comfortable looking sofa. He took a wooden chair for
himself.

‘Where did you get all this stuff?
Wendy wondered.

‘Don't you recognize it? The
barn-rats took everything out of the Rosebush. Well, everything except for the
books. They are far to stupid for those.'

‘You're not exactly friendly
towards your new colony, are you?'

Jenner started to laugh again.
‘I'm not supposed to. They hate me, too.'

‘But Sullivan said that you were
elected by them, so....'

‘Sullivan is a fool!' Jenner
grabbed the two arms of his chair so tightly that Wendy could here the wood
splinter.

‘Jenner, please! You're scaring
me.'

Jenner got up from the chair and
started to walk towards something which could be called a window.

Wendy got up as well.

‘Why all the killing?' She softly
asked, realizing that her timing wasn't really well. She was afraid that he
might take it out on her now.

‘The killing... let's put it this
way... things have gotten out of hand.'

He turned and faced his daughter.
He owed her the truth, the truth that he wasn't able to control the barn-rats,
but he just couldn't tell her the truth. Then she would know that this place
wasn't safe at all. Things had gotten out of control when he first hit Gloria.
The barn-rats started acting strange towards him after that. One night he woke
up and found a barn rat standing next to his bed. He was staring at him with
that hollow look in his eyes. Holding a small knife in his hand. Jenner now
locked the door behind him every time he went to sleep. He sometimes even
locked the door during daytime. He was scared if his own people.

Wendy softly nodded although she
didn't understand what her father was saying.

 

‘Dad... Can I see Justin, please?'

Jenner turned around. He saw tears
in his daughter's eyes.

‘No.' He said and he walked to his
door again. ‘You should rest now.' And he opened the door to let his daughter
out.

As tears filled her eyes, she
obeyed to her father and went into her own room again. When she was inside, she
heard that Jenner turned the key to her door. She was trapped.

She took her bag and pulled out
Justin's brown uniform. She cuddled it firmly, as if it was Justin himself. She
stepped into her bed, still holding on to Justin's shirt, crying herself to
sleep.

 

In the meantime, Justin was having
a nightmare. He was dreaming that his child was an exact copy of Jenner. He
woke up panting for breath and sweating like crazy.

‘Justin! Come on, lay down. Would
you like some water?'

Nanny pushed the young male back
into his pillows. Justin nodded, so she went to get him the water. She looked
at him over her shoulder . He looked so young and fragile since Jenner took his
wife. She felt even more sorry when he leaned over to the bucket standing next
to his bed. He had been vomiting ever since Brutus brought him to the
infirmary. His shoulder and arm were all wrapped up in bandages. He had lost a
huge amount of blood. Gabriel and Mr. Ages weren't so sure that he would make
it, but he's strong, stronger than they thought.

Nanny's main concern was the
vomiting now. He HAD to keep the food down, otherwise he was bound to die after
all. He always had been thin. Had no reserves at all.

 

‘Oh my poor boy. Here's the water.
Do you feel a bit better now?'

Justin shook his head and pulled
his blanket more up because he was feeling cold. Nanny felt his head and pulse.
His heart was beating fast and he was running a fever.

‘I'll ask Gabriel if he has
something for the vomiting and the fever.' She said, as she placed the bowl
with water in Justin's hand.

‘All I need is Wendy.' Justin
softly moaned.

‘I know my boy, I know....'

 

Wendy heard footsteps outside her
door. They were fast footsteps, nervous ones.

‘Get out! I told you not to bother
her you jealous, worthless creature! Get out!'

That was Jenner's voice, probably
shouting at Gloria. Wendy turned over onto her back. She never met creatures
like the barn-rats. She knew Justin always liked to tease them when they were
still living in the Rosebush. He and Philip... Philip... What happened to everyone?
It's like they've been bewitched. They used to be such great friends.

Justin always told her that the
barn-rats were retarded. She kind of figured why he used to call them that. She
hadn't heard one spoken word from their mouths. Gloria only communicated while
touching things, like Wendy's stomach. She was probably interested in the baby.
‘I shouldn't have yelled at her that way. I'll make it up to her.' She softly
whispered to herself and she turned around again, as she hugged Justin's
uniform.

 

But Gloria had a little plan of
her own. She had a miscarriage the day Jenner let Wendy inside their home. And Wendy
was pregnant. For now....