He Was Almost Absorbed By The System - Part Two

Chapter One Hundred And Eighty One - Magic At Their Fingertips

Having claimed Lucian's home as a temporary base, Aston's squad did not remain idle; as soon as the sun rose enough to shed its light upon the city, the three man squad were ready to raid properties as yet untouched by the Murphy couple. Upon that first morning, they quickly became aware that the reunited lovers would not be joining them anytime soon. This fact caused Mabel to interestingly become stained red, while her husband paled to white. Aston and Quentin teased them mercilessly, at least until Marie reminded them of their own 'interesting' reactions upon discovering that the General and Spanner were long term lovers. She did not elaborate and say what those reactions were.

The small children were left in the care of the butler, while Hilton and Lucian were left to linger in bed. The squad and the Murphy couple moved out to eliminate zombies and find whatever supplies they could. Fortunately certain things did not perish swiftly and as they were raiding properties of those who once were wealthy, there was more likely an abundance in certain things than others. Such as wine.

The squad became rather inebriated that evening and did not go leave the property the next morning.

Lucian and Hilton lingered together in the kitchen with the former nestling as close as he could while his man was finely chopping potato and onion to make potato cakes for their evening meal. There had also been a selection of eggs found and after testing in bowls of water, they found that only a few were rotten, the rest would supply some missing nutrients. Small Virgil decided to squeeze into their pink bubble, grabbing Lucian's clothes nervously as he complained;

"Lucian, my tummy feels weird."

Although the squad had assured them that there had not been another bout of the zombifying sickness within their base, it did not mean that they should not take the child's woes with a relaxed attitude. Lucian immediately fell to his knees and tested the temperature of the boy with his hand. It felt normal and his skin was not clammy to the touch, but to be assured, he took Virgil to his study in order to test his saliva.

"Well?" Aidan asked when Warren.. Kyan returned to him. He was getting used to the name, but understood that this person was still the man he had fallen in love with in his lifetime.

"It's not that," his brow was furrowed. "And it doesn't appear to be due to another sickness nor malnutrition." Admittedly, their diets were not the best, but they could not afford to be fussy. Still, the adults had tried to ensure the children got the better portions.

Aidan wiped his floured hands upon his apron... which was actually a spare sheet ripped to form a layer about his waist. After placing the potato cakes to one side, he had filled a bowl with flour, oats and honey, thinking of making some crude biscuits while he waited for his lover to return. The little circles were just about ready to go into the oven.

He knelt before Virgil and asked him to describe how he was feeling. He was not a doctor, nor skilled with medicine, but sometimes these things required a fresh perspective.

"My tummy feels warm and sort of tingly," he said honestly.

"Does anywhere else feel strange or just your tummy?" Elyas suddenly claimed the body to ask.

Virgil looked thoughtful before adding; "my fingertips sort of feel numb sometimes then like prickly. Mabel said it was called pins and needles?"

Elyas smiled warmly and gently lifted the boy's hand until his palm was vertical and flat against his own. "Feel that?" He asked. The boy's eyes widened and he swiftly pulled his hand away and looked at it.

"That tickled!" He whispered, hoping Elyas wasn't mad at him. Elyas chortled and rubbed his hand through the boy's hair reassuringly.

"What's going on?" Kyan asked, curious to what was happening.