Page 79 of What Blooms in Barren Lands

“We lost Carlos, Ian, Pierre, and younger Jean,” Einar said laconically, but his voice expressed his despondency clearer than any words could have.

There were gasps and sobs, people covering their mouths in shock and horror. Ian’s tall, thin girlfriend collapsed to the ground, wailing. I saw Monika, crying silently, her hand placed protectively on her blooming belly. I looked away quickly.

“They fought bravely until the end.” Einar paused to take a heavy breath. “The bad news doesn’t stop there, I’m afraid.” He looked back up. “Finlay got bitten. Time will show whether we’ll lose him as well.”

Next came the cry of Finlay’s girlfriend, Laura. Helga stood beside her and put her arms around her, saying something I couldn’t hear over the wind’s laments.

“Did you get the supplies at least?” Amit asked somewhere in the crowd, hidden from view by taller people.

“We got plenty of food.” Einar nodded. “And some medicines, including the much-needed Levothyroxine. Nothingin terms of surgical supplies, though. We couldn’t get to them, no matter how hard we tried.”

His eyes were virtually motionless, and he was breathing hard through his nose, his broad shoulders tense, as if he physically carried a heavy burden. I was fairly certain that in seeing Einar’s steadfast resilience showing cracks, I wasn’t alone in feeling as if the world had destabilised and swayed on its axis. Only then did I realise how much I had come to depend on it, how much we had all perhaps depended on it. Shrugging off setbacks as if they were nothing but minor inconveniences in his glorious path used to seem second nature to him, a form of reckless arrogance. But possibly it took more of his strength than we had all imagined, to instil confidence in others by not letting himself be deterred by whatever obstacles came in our way, by never allowing himself to despair, to do anything but soldier on.

“We will talk about this more.” Einar straightened back up. “I know you all have questions, and I promise that they will be answered. But for now, please, let us take care of our injuries. Tonight, I will come to speak to each and every one of you who has lost someone close to them. And for the rest of you, tomorrow at dinner I will recount what happened, and there will be as much time for discussion as we’ll all need.”

Nobody argued with him. People disappeared in a flurry of activity, carrying crates of food away and retreating back into their lodgings to escape the merciless elements until only Einar and his advisers remained, alongside me and the quietly sobbing Laura. She was tall and slender, like a young tree, with a plait of fine blond hair and downturned lips that made her look sad even when she wasn’t.

“Where i-is he? I-is he still in the car?” she asked.

“Yeah, ’bout that ...” Russ rubbed his copper beard. “We sorta had to ... tie ’im up.”

“What?!” In her shock, Laura stopped crying, colour draining from her face. “Is ... has he already?”

Einar grabbed her around the shoulder, supporting her, just as she started to sway on her feet.

“He hasn’t turned yet, darling,” he told her gently. “He is still himself. And he might stay that way.”

“Then why tie him up?” Laura looked up at Einar, her eyes red and swollen.

The wind tugged on her plait with a high-pitched wail, tossing it there and back against her shoulders.

“He gave us some trouble, love. First, he lied, saying the fury didn’t actually bite him when we all saw she did. Then he tried to steal one of the cars and drive away. Threatened to bite others if they approached him. He actually gave me a few of these.” Einar pointed to some of the gashes showing through his ripped T-shirt. “But perhaps he’ll be in a better headspace now, let’s see.”

Without further ado, Einar yanked the back door of the white sedan open. Finlay sat there in a heap, his green eyes huge and accusing as he looked in our direction. A rope coiled tightly around his torso, arms, and legs. A rag was stuffed in his mouth.

“Oh, I didn’t know about that,” Einar said apologetically to Laura, whose eyes bulged almost as much as Finlay’s.

“He wouldna stop yelling,” Russ explained with a guilty frown. “I couldna drive like that fer ’ours ...”

Einar removed Finlay’s gag.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Laura moved as if she wanted to fling herself at Finlay.

Einar and Russ both readied themselves to prevent her from doing so. But she stopped of her own accord before they got to her, jerking away mid-motion as if she had seen a viper on her path. The realisation plain on her face.

“Hey, baby.” Finlay smiled at her tremulously, and the look in his eyes alone could have melted butter.

I bit my lower lip until I tasted blood. My fingers were burning with cold, but I wilfully left them exposed to the air instead of benefitting from the warmth of my pockets.

Finlay turned to look at Einar.

“Let me go, man. Ye dinna know if I’ll turn. It’ll be days ’fore I’m dangerous.”

“Fin, you know I can’t do that.” Einar looked at him with firm compassion. “You may not turn. But if you do, eventually, then that means you’re already infected now. You’ll have to do what I did and?—”

“No! I dinna want to be chaint! I willna be chaint!” Finlay’s kindly face erupted with protests, spittle flying from his mouth.

All of us but Einar took a step back instinctively.