After Days
Page 6
His trusty dog came over to greet him and stuck his wet nose into his hand. As much as he would have loved the company of Buddy with him on these daily treks, he understood the reasoning behind leaving the dog at home. Buddy was smart but not that smart and may have barked or tried to go to the woman if he saw her. Also, he already had enough to worry about with leaving his own tracks for her to find!
Dennis made his way to his backroom and flipped on the switch for his old trusty CB unit. He still chuckled every time he used it. He remembered the days when everyone had one of those tiny phones attached to their ears or their fingers everywhere they went. Typing in their texts to each other instead of paying attention to where they walked or drove! There had to be laws put in place to actually tell these idiots that they couldn’t use their cellphones and drive. People had really been getting dumber and dumber back then with all of the fancy devices they had to make their lives easy.
“Homebase, this is Dennis, do you copy.”
“This is homebase, we read you Dennis, go ahead.”
“I think the time has come to send reinforcements. Shes gonna pop any day now.”
“Thanks for that imagery Dennis, I’ll relay your message.”
“Over and Out”
Dennis made his way into his kitchen with Buddy by his side. “Time for dinner buddy, what will it be tonight? For me its beef soup and for you its dog food again, although the beef doesn’t taste like real beef so don’t worry that I’m eating anything better than you.”
Dennis and buddy made themselves comfortable in their usual positions in front of the electric fireplace, Dennis in his leather recliner and Buddy on his memory foam bed. That dog sure was spoiled but he did love the companionship. He did consider himself more of a people person so his assignment here had him disgruntled at first, but he had come to enjoy the quiet solitude of the woods and watching the lady had been an interesting assignment indeed. He had never seen such an industrious woman and even though he had snuck over a couple of times in the dead of night to change a couple of things she had done on the solar system, he was still surprised at how much she had managed on her own. He had begun to feel a fatherly attachment towards her and didn’t like that she was still alone despite being so heavy with pregnancy. It had taken all of his will to keep himself from revealing himself to her. He knew that his leader had a plan and his trust in his leader was infinite so he had to believe that there was a reason for how they were going about this.
Dennis fell asleep in his recliner not long after finishing his soup. Truth be told, he slept there most nights, not wanting to be in that big empty bed all by his lonesome.
Chapter 13 – Babies don’t wait for a snowstorm to end – Present Day
Maya looked out the front window as she sat drinking her morning tea, decaf tea of course. The sky was dark and she could feel the chill in the air warning of a coming snowstorm.
In all of her weeks and months of preparation, there was one thing that she hadn’t thought about. What if she was unable to produce milk for the baby? She had awoke this morning in a panic with that thought and knew she had to make one last trip into town to get some formula just to be safe. She knew that there had been powdered formula on the shelves at the town’s mini mart but it hadn’t crossed her mind to grab any when she was there last.
If she was quick about it, she could get back in time before the snow began to fly again.
Bundling up as best as she could in all of her winter gear, she hurried out to the jeep and quickly started it, cranking the heat.
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Dennis had a funny feeling when he awoke that morning and had decided to take the trek to the ladies place to make sure she was okay this morning. He had just been there last night but something didn’t feel right. As he trudged through the snow towards her place, he heard the Jeep start. Oh lord, what was that woman up to now! He caught a glimpse of the red jeep flashing through the trees as she drove off down the road. Dammit! He turned and began to run towards his cabin, going as fast as his tired legs could manage. There was a storm on the horizon and the flurries had already started. That woman was not going to make it back before a wall of snow descended on them.
Dennis burst into his living room, startling buddy from his resting spot in front of their fake fireplace. Gasping for air, he stumbled into his back room and fired up the CB unit.
“Homebase, come in, this is Dennis.”
“This is homebase, you okay Dennis? You sound a bit out of breath.”
“That woman….she’s decided to go out driving in this weather.”
“Damn, ok. I’ll relay your message. Keep your CB on for further instructions.”
“Over and out”
Dennis collapsed into his recliner still fighting for air. Buddy sat next to him looking at him with what he considered to be a concerned look, if dogs could look concerned.
“Don’t worry old buddy, I won’t leave you out here by your lonesome.”
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“DAMN” Maya yelled in frustration as the flurries began to hit her windshield. She drove a little faster down the dirt road knowing in the back of her mind that she should be turning around instead. She was almost to town!
She tore into the mini-marts parking lot just as the sky opened up and a wall of white descended down. Running into the store as fast as her burdened body allowed her, she located the baby formula and grabbed the few containers still left on the shelf and hobbled her way back out to the jeep. She had begun to get cramps again and walking was painful. She had read about this in one of the many baby and birthing books she had found at the library after she began getting cramps several weeks ago. It was a normal part of the process and she was no longer concerned that it meant anything.
Hoping back into the driver’s seat, she tore back out of the parking lot and hit a patch of fresh snow, sending the jeep into a tailspin. The seconds seemed like minutes as she fought to regain control of the jeep and when she finally came to a lurching stop, her heart was pounding a million miles a minute and her palms were damp with sweat. Many years ago before her parents were killed in a car crash, her father had taken her out driving several times before letting her get her driver’s license. He would take her into icy parking lots and snowy back roads and would pull the emergency brake when she wasn’t expecting it and then would coach her through keeping the car from flying off the road or into a post. Those training sessions had served her well today and as she got her breathing under control she began to laugh hysterically. The laughter turned into sobbing and she sat there for several minutes sobbing uncontrollably. If her baby could hear her right now, they probably thought they were going to be born to a lunatic mother.
Maya got herself under control and got back onto the road, driving much slower this time. But going slow was her only option at this point as the white wall of snow made it nearly impossible to see the road ahead.
She was only a few miles from home when the jeep lurched and stalled. It had never done that before but wouldn’t start again despite her multiple attempts.
Cursing her bad luck, Maya popped the hood and got out into the blinding snow.
The snow stung when it hit her skin and the wind behind it was the second insult. She got the hood up and propped and started to look around when she noticed the burning smell. She could hear something dripping and when she looked down at her feet, saw the rapidly growing puddle of oil coming from under the jeep.
Maya slammed the hood shut and ran to the jeep, digging around for a couple of the bags she kept in there for her shopping excursions and threw the baby formula and a few other things she didn’t want to leave behind into them. It was only a couple of miles, she could walk.
A ripping pain tore across her belly and Maya screamed as she clutched her stomach and leaned into the jeep. She felt the wetness before she saw it. Her water had broke.
The tears streamed down her face as she strugg
led upright despite the pain and she used the jeep to walk until she reached the hood where another pain ripped across her and she fell to her knees.
The pains continued so quickly one right after the other that Maya could only curl into the fetal position and try to wait them out. The snow was falling hard and fast and she was quickly covered in it. She reached up, trying to reach something to pull herself upright. If she could get into the jeep, she might be okay. But another pain ripped through her and her vision blurred, and then everything went black.
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Dennis was startled awake by the crackling of his CB.
“Dennis, come in, this is homebase.”
Dennis recognized the voice of his leader and stumbled out of his recliner.
“This is Dennis, come in.”
“Dennis, we are at her residence and she’s not here. We’re heading out to look for her. Please be ready in case we need your assistance.”
“You got it. I’m preparing my emergency supplies now.”
“Over and out”
Dennis hurried around his cabin grabbing his pre-prepared bags of medical supplies and headed out to see if he could get his old, trusty defender to fire up. Now that he didn’t have to be stealthy about his movements, he could drive instead of walk to the ladies place.
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Maya felt the ground shaking beneath her freezing body. She felt paralyzed and couldn’t open her eyes. Her belly swelled with pain and the aching in her tailbone was excruciating. She was shivering so hard her teeth chattered and at first she thought that was why she was vibrating but then she heard the rumble of what sounded like a very large vehicle. It couldn’t be. Had she died? There was no one else here.
The light engulfed her and she opened her eyes only to be blinded by it. Her tears had frozen on her face and opening her eyelids was painful enough as it was. She fought to keep her eyes open and saw only bright light through the blinding snow but could hear the crunch of tires over the snow and the loud rumbling of an engine. Oh god, there were other people here and now I can’t even protect myself and my baby. She was too weak to cry, scream, or move.
The vehicle stopped and she could barely make out the outline of tires not too far away. As she struggled to keep from passing out again, she saw a dark figure jump out of the truck and run towards her. Was she dreaming? Was she dead? She must be dead because as the person made their way to her and dropped down in front of her, Matts face is what she saw right before she passed out again.
Chapter 14 – And baby makes….5? – Present Day
The screaming is what woke her up. Who the hell is making that god awful noise? As Maya opened her eyes and came to her senses she realized it was her making the noise and the reason was because it felt like her insides were being pulled out.
Someone touched her head and she jerked back quickly and saw a woman kneeled beside her with a cool washcloth held to her forehead. “It’s okay sweetie, your baby is almost here. It will be over soon but you have to push now.”
Maya let out a startled cry as she looked down to her legs and saw Matt between them. Another rip of pain took her attention back to the task at hand and she yelled again as she pushed with all her might. She was rewarded with the angry cry of a baby and began to sob as the relief flooded her body. She was so confused but too tired to sort it all out.
She could feel someone wiping down her legs and then cover her with a blanket. She looked up as Matt nestled her swaddled baby up against her chest.
“Matt, is that really you?” Maya tried to lift her hand to his face and he set her hand on top of her baby’s head instead.
“Maya, meet your baby boy. Do you have a name for him?”
Maya began to laugh and the woman came around to stand next to Matt.
“Yes, if it was a boy, I was going to name it Matt.”
A surprised smile spread across Matts face and the woman frowned slightly.
The woman lifted the covers up higher on her, “You should get some rest. That was a hard birth and your body needs all the rest it can get now.”
Maya didn’t object as she could barely stay awake despite the swirling questions in her head and the ache in her gut every time she looked at Matt.
Another voice took her attention to the doorway and she saw an older gentleman standing there looking in at all of them. “You gave us all a scare missy. What the hell were you thinking going out in this kind of weather in your condition?”
Maya frowned as she looked at all of these people now crowding her bedroom. Matt walked over to the man and put his hand on his shoulder. “She’ll have plenty of time later to explain herself Dennis. Let’s all let her rest now.” And with a last glance over his shoulder, Matt and the others left her bedroom and Maya looked down at the beautiful baby now sleeping peacefully nestled in the crook of her arm. Grateful tears slid down her face as she realized how close to death her and her baby had come. By some miracle, Matt was still alive and he had come in her time of need. But where had he been all this time and how had he known to come just then? It couldn’t be sheer coincidence could it? Maya fell into a deep sleep as all of these thoughts swirled through her mind and her dreams flowed with all of her wonderful memories of her time with Matt before their unborn baby had died and the world as they knew it had ended.
Chapter 15 - Is this purgatory? – More than three years ago
Matt took a deep, gasping breath and then began to choke and cough as his lungs filled with ash. His head jerked up as he came to his senses and he swung his head around him, looking for any crazy people running towards him with a baseball bat or some other weapon. His last memory was seeing his brother get bashed in the head with a baseball bat but then his mind begin to swirl with the memories of everything that had happened after that. Looking down into his arms where he had been holding his brothers head in his lap, his arms were now covered with ash and he realized that he was naked.
What the hell? Looking around him slowly, he took in the piles of ash and scorched metal. Rubble filled with bricks sat where his brother’s apartment building used to stand and as far as he could see, the city lay in ruins of rubble and ash.
Matt slowly got to his feet, remembering how he had been reduced to dragging himself right before he had died. He was pretty sure he had died anyways, if not for the painful last breath he took then for sure the nuclear plant that he saw explode behind him. Confusion filled his mind as he began to walk in no particular direction. Taking in his surroundings and thinking in the back of his mind that he sure felt good. How was it possible that he felt so damn good? He felt strong and energetic and his mind was so clear.
He must have walked like that for hours, eventually heading out of the city and away from the nuclear plant in hopes of eventually getting to the end of the blast radius. He was naked, no shoes but yet he felt great even after walking for this long. Nothing he stepped on seemed to hurt his feet but one puzzling thing was the lack of hair on his head. He definitely remembered having a very full head of hair when he died and now there was just stubble.
As he neared the end of the blast radius, the carnage became more recognizable. Scorched skeletons hung out of their twisted cars, buildings still half-stood with windows blown out and holes through their concrete. Parts of the street had buckled up, revealing the underground sewers in some sections. Eventually he came across an army surplus store and he went inside to find some clothes. As much as he was enjoying his naked journey through the city, he might want to have clothing on when he came across other survivors.
Clad in dark green rip stop cargo pants, a black thermal shirt and some black combat boots. Matt also found a belt to strap a long knife and 45 handgun to. He wasn’t taking any chances that all survivors were as friendly as he was. He loaded a couple of extra mags and ammo into the pockets of a knee length black overcoat he had also found and set back out on the road.
His friends teased him that he had immersed himself first in working tireless hours on various jobs and then tireless hours on his own house as a way to avoid having a family and responsibilities. As his friends settled down and began having families of their own, they really had no idea what his real motivation had been and he had never divulged that information. He just let them continue thinking that he wanted to be a bachelor for life and allowed them to come out and work with him when their wife’s let them out of the house so they could feel like they had gained back some of their manhood.