by Crist, J. D.
"That's not going to work," Emily agreed.
"How many do we have that everyone agrees safe to invite in?" Shawn asked.
"Twenty-two," Emily replied without hesitation.
"Those we believe we can trust, we will find volunteers to house them and get them out of quarantine. The others will remain there to give us more time," Emily explained. "I can't decide that someone deserves to die after just one day."
"Alright," Sam said, sliding back. "Do you have a list of those you want to bring in and give a choice?"
Emily ripped a paper out of her notebook and handed it to him.
"I will start talking to everyone and see if they would like to volunteer."
"I'll take Bridgett and her family," Emily said to him. "Unless you don't think I have enough room for a family of three?"
Sam looked at Shawn awkwardly and wrote on the paper.
"If there are any that you can't find volunteers for, just let me know," Emily stood up as she spoke. "I'm excited to see what Jose has come up with for a town hall."
Everyone stood and followed Emily outside. Emily could see that Jose and his team had been hard at work on the building next door.
"I'm supposed to go do a follow-up with Doc," Shawn said beside her. "Am I trustworthy to do this one alone?"
"Okay," Emily teased. "But you better not give him any trouble."
"Yes, ma'am," Shawn smiled as he began the walk towards the clinic.
Emily walked to the building and, after making sure it was safe, walked into find Jose. Jose was giving the men directions as she approached. Most of the walls had been knocked down, and only the studs remained.
"It doesn't look like much right now," Jose stated, "But it will look amazing when it's done."
"I trust you," Emily said as she looked around.
"I even put you an office for you. I thought you would like a space to work that wasn't your home."
"That would be nice," Emily smiled back at him. "I'll let you get back to work."
Emily waved goodbye to Jose as she left. Emily spent the next few hours making her way through the town. She had not been able to make her rounds in days and missed checking in with everyone. Emily was surprised at the number of people who told her they were volunteering to take in some new arrivals. It wasn't long before Emily started to see Shawn pairing up the new arrivals with their host families.
Emily made her way back to the gate just as Sam brought at Bridgett and her family.
"All of you will be staying with Emily," Sam said as he walked them in. "She's our leader."
"We need a better title for me," Emily laughed. "Leader makes it sound like we're aliens."
"It kind of does," Bridgett agreed.
"We'll work on it," Sam laughed.
"If you guys want to follow me, we'll get you some clothes, and then I'll show you the house," Emily said as she motioned for them to follow.
Marley fell back and walked with Bridgett. Emily felt more confident in her decision to allow them to stay with her. If Marley felt comfortable enough to relax around them, there was nothing to worry about. Emily led them to the clothing store. Emily waited by the door while they each grabbed a couple of outfits and allowed Jessica to note what they had taken. Once they were done, Emily led them all back to her house.
"You all are welcome to the showers," Emily said. "There are two extra rooms upstairs that you are welcome to use tonight."
"Why would you do this?" Steve asked, looking around the living room. "If I were you, I would have sealed this place up and never opened the door."
"That was my first plan," Emily admitted.
"But when I went into labor, I quickly realized I couldn't do this on my own. I opened the gate and the first group I let in save both me and my daughter's life."
"You have a baby?" Bridgett asked excitedly.
"I do," Emily smiled. "She will be home in time for dinner."
"How old is she?" Mariann asked.
"She will be one next week," Emily said, still having a hard time believing it herself.
"Can I go take a shower now?" Bridgett asked, looking at her parents.
"There's one down here and two upstairs," Emily answered as they all looked around.
"I'll be in the office if you need me."
Emily turned and walked into the study as the family began to make their way to the bathrooms. She had done this enough to know they needed some time without anyone hovering over them. Emily took the time to sit and update her journal on the events that had taken place. Marley took his customary position on the floor. Emily had just finished writing when Steve appeared in the doorway.
"You find everything you need?" Emily asked as she closed the journal.
"We did," Steve replied. "I just wanted to say thank you."
"It's my pleasure," Emily said as she stood.
"Almost every child we talked to told us you saved them at some point."
"I did the best I could," Steve stated. "You know, I didn't even tell anyone that Mariann and Bridgett were my wife and daughter. I was out scavenging when they got picked up. When Jeff took me in, I saw how men's families were treated and thought it safer for them. It also kept them safe if I ever got caught helping the women."
"It makes sense," Emily agreed.
"You said that there were rules to staying and that we got a choice," Steve continued.
"Yes, I thought I would give you a moment before we went over all of that," Emily said.
"No offense," Steve said. "But with everything, I think everyone would like to know now."
"We can go find the others and see if they are ready," Emily said as she stood.
Steve walked back into the living room to get Martha and Bridgett. Emily and Marley led them outside and found everyone with new arrivals walking towards her.
"I take it everyone is eager to learn about Sanctuary?" Emily asked Isabelle who was the first to reach her.
"Can you blame them?" Isabelle smiled.
"They've been wondering about this place since they were brought here days ago."
"That's fair," Emily smiled.
"Alright, everyone," Emily spoke loudly to all the new arrivals. "If you want to follow me, I'll give you a tour and explain how we do things here."
Emily walked with Marley and began the tour. Emily had done this enough that she went through the tour with little thought. They eventually found their way back to main street, where she ended the tour.
"Do you guys have any questions?" Emily asked the group.
"What is going to happen to the ones you didn't bring in?" a female voice asked.
"We are still looking into them, but no final decisions have been made," Emily replied.
"So, there is still a chance that you will invite them in too?" the same voice asked.
"If we can prove they didn't hurt or rape anyone, yes," Emily tried to remain calm as she spoke.
"And the one's that did? What are you going to do with them?" Steve asked.
"The council and I are working on that. We want to ensure that everyone innocent is safe," Emily reassured everyone.
"You said we would sign a ledger and get a house and job once we decided to stay," Bridgett spoke. "When can we do that?"
"I prefer for everyone to sit with the information for a while before they sign," Emily explained. "However, if you all would like, we can meet after breakfast to allow everyone to make that choice."
Emily watched as everyone nodded, and the crowd began to break up as the hosts guided everyone back to their homes.
"You guys are welcome to go inside, or you can walk with me. I need to pick up my daughter. It's just a few blocks away," Emily said to Clair, Steve and Bridgett.
"I think we would like to go with you," Steve said, looking at his wife and daughter.
"It's just this way," Emily said as she walked towards June's house.
Emily knocked on the door when they arrived.
"Mama!" Hope exclaimed as June op
ened the door.
"I tried to get her to talk all day, nothing. She sees you and talks immediately," June laughed.
"She just loves her mama," Emily said as she took Hope's hand.
"That she does," June laughed. "She's welcome here anytime."
"I appreciate it," Emily said as she allowed Hope to begin to pull her towards the street.
"Have fun," June smiled as she closed the door.
Hope led Emily to the street but stopped when she saw people she didn't know.
"Steve, Mariann, Bridgett. This is my daughter, Hope."
"Hi, Hope," Bridgett waved as she kneeled.
Hope smiled and waved back at Bridgett. Steve and Mariann both looked to be in shock to see that Hope was real. Hope went back to leading them all back to the house. Once inside, Emily placed Hope inside of her playpen.
"I'm going to start dinner," Emily said to everyone. "Are you guys allergic to anything?"
"No," Mariann spoke. "Would it be okay if I held her?"
"As long as she's okay with it," Emily smiled. "Be careful. She's fast and will disappear if you don't keep an eye on her."
Emily made her way to the kitchen and began cooking. Once dinner was nearly ready, Emily set the table and moved everything in as it finished. Emily had just put the chicken on the table when she heard the front door open. Emily walked back into the living room to see Shawn had come in and was rubbing his shoulder.
"Just wanted to make sure everything was okay here," Shawn said, looking at Emily as she came in.
"You're just in time for dinner," Emily replied. "What did Doc say?"
"That depends," Shawn said timidly. "Are you going to hit me if I lie?"
"There's a good chance of it," Emily said as she crossed her arms.
"He says it's healing, but it will be a few more days before the stitches come out," Shawn said. "He wants me to avoid lifting until then and then light duty for a few weeks after."
"Did you take your pills today?" Emily asked as he rubbed his shoulder again.
"I'm fine," Shawn said. "We can save them for someone who's hurt."
"You are hurt," Emily replied. "Please, take them for me?"
"That's low," Shawn said. "I'll take them after dinner."
"Well, food’s ready," Emily smiled. "Come on, everyone," Emily called to the rest of the room.
Emily took Hope from Mariann and led the way into the dining room. Emily set Hope in her high chair and put her dinner on the tray. She knew that Hope would be a mess by the end of the meal but decided to give her some independence and let her feed herself. Emily realized quickly that there would be no leftovers as the new arrivals began to eat like they hadn't eaten in months.
"I'm left medicine upstairs," Shawn said as he stood.
"I'll walk up with you," Emily said as she lifted Hope out of the high chair. "It's time for someone to get ready for bed."
"We will handle clean up," Mariann said as she started grabbing plates.
"You don't have to," Emily replied. "I can take care of it once Hope is in bed."
"We insist," Steve said as he stood to help his wife.
"Well, I appreciate it," Emily smiled as she left the room with Shawn.
"I think they are on the nightstand," Emily said as they walked past her room. "I'm going to get her cleaned up, and I'll meet you in a bit."
"Good night," Shawn said to Hope before he walked through the door.
Emily cleaned up Hope and got her into bed.
"Good night, beautiful," Emily whispered as she kissed Hope good night.
Emily walked to the door and looked back to see that Marley was in position under the crib. Emily turned off the light and closed the door. Emily walked back to the hall to her room and found Shawn there waiting for her.
"Did you find them?" Emily asked.
"I did," Shawn held up the bottle. "I took two like I'm supposed to."
"Good," Emily said as she sat down beside him.
"I was hoping to talk to you for a minute," Shawn said as he took her hand.
"What's going on?" Emily asked as she intertwined her fingers with his.
"We haven't gotten to talk since we got back," Shawn said as he looked at her.
"Is something wrong?" Emily asked with a sick feeling in her stomach.
"No," Shawn responded right away. "Things just happened fast, and I want to make sure you are okay with this." Shawn motioned to their hands.
"What would make you think I wasn't?" Emily asked.
"At Christmas, you said you had to work through stuff, and then I got shot. I just want to make sure you are ready for this, and it wasn't just a reaction at the moment."
"You don't remember talking before you fell asleep the first night we were back, do you?" Emily asked.
"Not really," Shawn admitted.
"I pushed you away at Christmas because of my ex-husband," Emily explained. "I still felt bound by my vows and needed to work through that before I could allow myself to move on. I had been working with Father Nathan to do just that."
"I don't want to let something that happened in the heat of the moment put that off track," Shawn said as he tried to pull his hand away.
"You're not," Emily insisted as she pulled him back. "I've been free of it for months now and was just looking for the right way to tell you."
"Really?" Shawn asked her.
"Really," Emily reassured. "I think we should still take it slow, especially with Hope involved, but I am ready for this. That is if you are?"
"Oh, I'm ready," Shawn laughed.
"Ms. Emily," Bridget spoke from the doorway. "I just wanted to say goodnight before we head to bed."
"Good night," Emily responded.
Bridget headed down the hall with her parents to the spare rooms.
"I assume that you are staying again tonight?" Emily turned back to Shawn.
"There are strangers in the house," Shawn replied. "Do you want me to go to the couch?"
"Do you want to sleep on the couch?" Emily asked, smiling.
"Not really," Shawn smiled at her.
Emily grabbed her pajamas and quickly dressed in the bathroom. When she returned, Shawn was walking back into the bedroom with Marley.
"She's out like a light," Shawn said as he walked around to the opposite side of the bed.
Emily crawled into bed and turned off the light. Soon they all three were fast asleep.
Chapter 24
Emily met with all the new arrivals early the following day and was pleased that all of them had decided to stay. Emily assigned them each a place to live and a job. Once they were settled in, Emily headed over to check on the progress on the town hall. Jose and his team had finished tearing out most of the interior walls and were framing the new rooms. Jose, insisted that it would be done in a few days.
"The people still in quarantine are starting to get out of control," Sam said as she came out of town hall.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
"They are demanding to come in," Sam explained.
"That's not going to happen," Emily said as she walked towards the gate.
"Shouldn't we wait for backup?" Sam asked as he followed her. "They are pretty riled up."
"I think you two can handle it," Emily said as she looked down at Marley and continued walking.
Emily opened the door to the quarantine and was greeted by a group of angry women. Emily watched as the door to where the men were opened, and they joined the women.
"Why are we still here!" one of the women shouted at Emily.
"We are evaluating each of you to make sure letting you inside won't put my people in danger," Emily explained.
"We don't want in!" one of the men yelled.
"Just open the gate and let us out!"
"That's not an option until we determine you are not a danger to others," Emily said aggressively.
"What would make you think we are a danger to anyone!?" another woman yelled.
"We told you we were
abused, but you still left us trapped here!"
"We will be conducting another round of interviews today," Emily replied. "You will each have your chance to speak then."