Last Woman 2

by Jacqueline Druga

  Not much, though.

  Wherever Faye and her family went, it would have to be safe and secure. None of us really knew what it was like west of Texas. I hoped traveling that far wasn't one of their options.

  No matter where they went, I needed to know. I needed to be able to be that sense of backup. To check on her, because if indeed she was the last woman, she was precious and it would be every man's responsibility to preserve that.

  The last thing I wish for Faye is a life of hiding and fear. After what I witnessed, after seeing her take her fate in her own hands, Faye wouldn't live in fear.

  She rose from the depths of a pile of dead flesh and went from being a person who just wanted to die, to being a woman who fought to live.

  I envied that.

  There's more to life than just breathing and like Faye, one day I too hope to experience that.

  One day.

  FORTY-ONE - DODGE

  It was the hardest wait I had experienced. I wagered on it being several hours. I didn't expect to hear the jeep return so quickly.

  There were two porches at the beach house. One faced the ocean, the other faced the driveway. We all sat on that front wraparound porch waiting and hoping for the best.

  Not only was there me, Jeremiah and the boys, there were also four soldiers, Dr. Lewis and some senator who didn't say much.

  I was shocked to learn the president survived and more so that he wasn't at the safe house.

  Three people went out to get my son and when the jeep pulled up the driveway, I only saw two figures and my heart dropped.

  My heart sunk and thumped in my stomach when I saw my son step from the jeep.

  I was already out and unconscious when they took him south for help. I never saw how badly injured he was, but the boy that raced toward me looked healthy and only a little thinner.

  His enthusiastic and relieved call out of, "Dad" made me ever so grateful and I leapt from the porch to greet him with the biggest embrace.

  My eyes lifted and locked onto Faye. I exhaled, and reached out my hand. "I am so glad you two are safe. So glad." I planted my lips to my son's cheek, holding them there for a few seconds.

  "Dad, you should have seen." Tyler stepped back. "I think the outfit and hair cut made Faye ..."

  My son stopped talking when Faye shook her head. Obviously something happened she didn't want me to know about. Tyler shut up and I didn't force the issue.

  Faye would tell me in time.

  She held nothing back from me.

  "Where's James and Farmer?" I asked.

  Faye puckered a little and tilted her head. She looked to the sky, in an attempt not to cry. "Farmer was killed. James had to return to base. He'll be back." She slid her hand over my arm and walked to the porch.

  Arm around Tyler, I followed.

  She looked at everyone on the porch and announced that Farmer had been shot. He seemed like a good man and it was apparent by everyone's reaction that he would be sorely missed.

  "What now?" Dr. Lewis asked.

  Faye shrugged. "I don't know. James seems to think we're ok now, but not for long."

  "Then we pack up and go," I said. "We take the boys and go. We need to find a place to settle."

  "You need ..." Dr. Lewis interjected. "To find a stable and safe place for her. She can't run constantly."

  "What about you?" Faye asked him. "Where are you going?'

  "I have research to start again. It's a focus I welcome."

  Then George blurted out. "What about Monk Land, Faye? You still have to go there"

  "Monk land?" Faye asked.

  "That's what Dodge calls it," George said.

  "Oh, I do not. Stop telling tales." I defended.

  "You called it that." Argued George.

  "Once."

  Jeremiah cleared his throat. "If I may? George is speaking about Holy Cross Monastery. That's where I come from. Your friend Bud liked it there. He hoped that you'd go there and stay. We are very deeply embedded in the mountains. A huge wall protects our entrance and we also have guards. We have water, greenhouses, livestock and a doctor."

  Faye looked at Dr. Lewis.

  Dr. Lewis asked. "Is it a real doctor? Not some back woods or herbal healing person?"

  "He was the town doctor. We have a community," Jeremiah said. "People living there. Starting life again."

  Faye looked at me. "Dodge? What do you think of this place?"

  "Honestly?"

  "No less."

  "I want us to go somewhere and start fresh. But it offers the safety you need and the freedom you deserve."

  Her eyes shifted about and she grabbed my hand. "Are there children there? I want Darie and George to grow up around kids."

  "There are kids there." I then leaned close to her and whispered in her ear. "And women."

  Her eyes brightened and she looked at Jeremiah. "Then we go. It sounds perfect for now."

  "Plus," George said. "Bud is there. We can go see him any time."

  "There is a problem," Jeremiah added. "A good portion of the town retreated to our mountain haven. They are not immune to the virus."

  "We have a vaccine now," Dr. Lewis stated. "Many of the people down here were given it. If you'll welcome it, we'll bring it."

  "Yes." Jeremiah said excitedly and extended his hand to Dr. Lewis. "Without a doubt. We want to preserve any and all life that we can. We have to make sure life goes on."

  "Then we have the same agenda." Dr. Lewis replied.

  There was an odd sense of resolution in that moment. A much appreciated reunion, those I cared about were alive and well.

  Bud would have loved that moment. Probably even would have spewed out a sarcastic comment that it was turning into a happy ending after all.

  I thought about Bud saying that and it made me smile. I guess I looked pretty goofy, because I got a bunch of strange glances.

  For the first time in a long time, deep in my gut, I truly felt everything was going to be just fine. Never the same, never the way it was, but fine nonetheless.

  I could live with that.

  FORTY-TWO - FAYE

  We were told we had a couple days to enjoy the house until we had to leave. James was certain there was a safety time frame and Dr. Lewis needed a day or two to get the vaccine packed. Because they didn't want to take a chance of us being followed or anything happening on the road, they were preparing a helicopter to take us to West Virginia. I was good not having to take that long drive.

  But I did look forward to spending that alone time with Dodge and the boys.

  That evening after we were all reunited, it felt normal.

  It was absolutely perfect.

  None of the boys, including Tyler, wanted to leave that beach. After dinner they played for hours on that beach. Football, sand castles, whatever they could do.

  Dodge and I sat on the steps of the back porch watching the three of them laugh and dart about. The sun was setting and it was a serene moment.

  I slipped my fingers between Dodge's. I forget how much I missed holding his hand, sitting there with him, stealing our evening moments like we'd done since we first met.

  "I wish we didn't have to leave here," I told him. "This house is great."

  "Yeah, it is. Maybe we can come back one day. Maybe one day things will be good again."

  "Do you think?"

  "Yeah, I do. You're not the only one, Faye. So there are more. Even if you are few and far between, there will be a time when it's gonna be ok to move about."

  "And smell like purple soap again?"

  "You smell like it now."

  I sniffed my arm and shrugged. "They let me use it. Of course, I don't need my shampoo. Regular soap works now."

  Dodge reached over and rubbed my buzzed head. "It kinda works for you."

  "Really."

  "Yeah. I like it. Now I don't have to worry about finding your hair in my food."

  That made me laugh and then so did the sight of Tyler with Darie in the wat
er. The mother in me called out a 'be careful with him' warning.

  "So," Dodge said. "COM Camp was nice?"

  "Where they had me was. But it doesn't beat this.

  "Really now? You have a fridge, hot water, air conditioning. You think this is better?"

  "Wherever we all are is better. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind having all this and the running water." I nudged him and then rested my head on his arm. "But there really is no choice in my mind."

  "Thank you." He kissed the top of my head. "So uh, James told me about why they wanted you. Project Eve."

  I lifted my head.

  "Something wrong?" he asked.

  "I forgot. For a brief moment, I really forgot."

  "About Project Eve?"

  "Yes." I nodded.

  "Well according to James, that's out. The lab was destroyed."

  I turned to face Dodge more. "What did you think of that? I mean, them wanting me to carry female babies."

  "I saw their reasoning. They believed you were the last woman and by impregnating you with girls, they were assuring you weren't."

  "Kind of inane now, right?"

  "No. More like moot. The project is over. The thought of it is. Now it's up to nature. Until then." Dodge pulled me closer. "We have our little family." He winked and nodded at the boys. "I'm happy with what we have."

  "Me too."

  We fell into a peaceful silence watching the boys. They only had a few more minutes of light, then we'd have to go in. No fires, no outside light. For safety sake we still had to take precautions.

  I thought about Project Eve and how I wanted to tell Dodge. I wanted to tell him that Dr. Lewis delivered a heartfelt argument and that somewhere in hearing his words that the embryos could be accidently destroyed and listening to the gunfire, I suddenly decided leaving it to fate wasn't a gamble I wanted to take.

  Yes, I wanted to leave it up to nature, but there was no certainty that I would get pregnant let alone carry a girl.

  The cases of gender altered embryos were an assurance that the female species may live on.

  Call it a hunch, or even a female intuition, whichever it was, I changed my mind.

  And before I could change it again, before the rebels stormed the hospital, we gambled on the implantation and that the single dose of fertility preparation would work.

  Five gender altered female embryos were implanted in me not even eight hours before those cases were destroyed.

  Whether the in vitro worked, remained to be seen. There was a chance our little family was going to get bigger. Until I knew for sure if it took hold, I'd stayed mum on the subject.

  I stopped short on telling Dodge about it all. I wanted to, I really did. Instead I opted for sitting there and just enjoying the fact that we were all back together again.

  With the possibility that I was in fact with child, watching the boys on the beach and holding Dodge's hand, I couldn't ask for a clearer sign that no matter what, life finds a way. And it goes on.

  EPILOGUE - FAYE

  FIVE YEARS LATER

  Wayne, WV

  It was time to leave the nest. At least that was the way that Tyler put it when work on the town of Wayne was complete. Of course, Tyler had left our nest not long after we returned to Holy Cross grounds. He took a liking and bonded with Jeremiah and studied under the monks.

  He claimed he wasn't a monk, nor would he ever go that route, but somehow with his studies, he gained a focus and he began creating art that was remarkable.

  I believe the solace of the monastery was what Tyler liked best. That and the peace. They gave him a single cabin near their main building.

  While Dodge worked hard getting things running and finding a way to restore partial power, I learned the fine art of making soap. That doesn't sound like much or an impressive resume, but it was a craft I learned there and one I enjoyed doing. I never had a skill like that. Tyler would often carve molds for me and always, the ones I made for myself were purple.

  Over the course of the first two years, survivors trickled in. Then around year three they just stopped.

  Our community grew. Hence one of the reasons Dodge and the others worked so hard on Wayne.

  I knew the second on that first day we walked into Holy Cross that I was home. It was a perfect community and reminded me of what I read of pilgrims. Dodge insisted we weren't going to be there long.

  Eight months after we arrived, I gave birth early to a beautiful set of twin girls. I carried triplets until my fifth month but lost one.

  Dr. Lewis showed up not long after I lost the first baby and he never left.

  He stayed and then was one of the first people to move back into the town of Wayne after Dodge and the others got the first street complete.

  Darie and George grew up as normally as the world let them. They read and wrote stories and played games without relying on gadgets or gizmos. They had been ready to move into Wayne long before me. I found security behind the walls of Holy Cross. A security blanket that took five years to lose.

  James dismantled COM Camp and then began the task of rebuilding it.

  We communicate with them regularly.

  James stops by every three months. He's doing well and staying busy.

  Dr. Lewis says that technically I am still the only women to survive the virus. The women at Holy Cross weren't immune. The vaccine assured their survival because the virus was still going strong.

  Other threats emerged and Dr. Lewis was working hard to fight those. Whooping cough was back with a vengeance and any inoculation we had were already expired.

  Since the virus, eight babies were born including my daughters.

  One child died of whooping cough. Of the seven children that lived, my babies were the only girls.

  I worried if I would even like the girls. Would I feel for them like I did Sammy and Mark, would I love them like I loved Tyler, Darie and George? After all, biologically they weren't mine. I doubted there'd even be a connection.

  But when they were born all doubts went out the window. They were my children. No, they were mine and Dodge's children. I never expected him to be less than a great father. Dodge was. The day we baptized the twins, two years to the day that I woke up on that field of dead bodies, I started a new chapter of my life and married Dodge.

  We made our little family, or rather big family ... official.

  We didn't need to, we wanted to.

  I stopped letting Dodge do everything for me and went back to my old self-sufficient self, I made one exception to that rule. Diaper duty.

  The day I left Holy Cross reminded me of the day I left for college. I was sad and scared; after all, I was leaving a home I'd had for five years.

  It was a big change and a big step. But in the new life that's what everything was ... new.

  Life was never the same as it was before the virus wiped out the world we knew. It never will be.

  We take it as it comes.

  One step at a time, one day at a time.

  We close our eyes at night and sleep peacefully. We wake up grateful to be facing another day.

  Considering all the tremendous heartache behind us and painful memories we carry, I'd say we're doing okay.

  We couldn't ask for any more. We're still alive and not only that ... we're living.

  Table of Contents

  ONE - FAYE WILLS

  TWO - DODGE CASH

  THREE - FAYE

  FOUR - DODGE

  FIVE - FAYE

  SIX - DODGE

  SEVEN - FAYE

  EIGHT - DODGE

  NINE - FAYE

  TEN - DODGE

  ELEVEN - FAYE

  TWELVE - DODGE

  THIRTEEN - FAYE

  FOURTEEN - DODGE

  FIFTEEN - FAYE

  SIXTEEN - MAJOR JAMES REYNOLDS

  SEVENTEEN - FAYE

  EIGHTEEN - DODGE

  NINETEEN - FAYE

  TWENTY - DODGE

  TWENTY-ONE - Major Reynolds
<
br />   TWENTY-TWO - FAYE

  TWENTY-THREE - DODGE

  TWENTY-FOUR - MAJOR REYNOLDS

  TWENTY-FIVE - FAYE

  TWENTY-SIX - DODGE

  TWENTY-SEVEN - FAYE

  TWENTY-EIGHT - DODGE

  TWENTY-NINE - FAYE

  THIRTY - DODGE

  THIRTY-ONE - FAYE

  THIRTY-ONE - DODGE

  THIRTY-TWO - FAYE

  THIRTY-THREE - DODGE

  THIRTY-FOUR - FAYE

  THIRTY-SIX - JAMES

  THIRTY-SEVEN - FAYE

  THIRTY-EIGHT - DODGE

  THIRTY-NINE - FAYE

  FORTY - MAJOR REYNOLDS

  FORTY-ONE - DODGE

  FORTY-TWO - FAYE

  EPILOGUE - FAYE