Only The Dead Don't Die (Book 3): Last State

by Popovich, A. D.

  “I can’t believe this is happening to me?” Justin whined.

  “An officer will escort you to your T-zone apartment. And, Agent Chen, try to contain your anger until you get to your residence,” Chief Watson cautioned. “You don’t want the doctor to put you on tranquilizers.”

  Justin nodded meekly. He let the tears roll down his cheeks. His Academy Award-winning performance was working. His heart had thudded at the right moments, so whoever monitored him would assume he was genuinely grief-stricken. Meanwhile, his heart raced with hope. Ella had escaped! All he needed to do was look up the truck’s address to find her. Easy-peasy.

  Chapter 12

  Shari O’Hara tacked the last of the pink and lavender crepe paper streamers into the ceiling, draping it over the small dinette set in spiraling twists. Ella sat at the opposite end, meticulously frosting the pound cake. Scarlett had taken Twila to the creek behind the cabin to look for magical stones so they could prepare for the surprise birthday party. Although, as Shari had learned, it was difficult to surprise Twila.

  Last week Shari had asked Twila when her birthday was. The child had been clueless. “Birthdays are only in fairy tales,” Twila had scolded.

  Shari had struck a sensitive nerve when she had told Scarlett they should have a spring birthday celebration for Twila. After all, if one were able to choose the day, why not spring or summer? Scarlett had decided on the spot to have the party next week. Was Scarlett afraid something might happen before spring?

  Apocalyptic prophecies had inundated Shari’s dreams since she was a child, warning humanity had reached its tipping point. As the decades passed, one false flag had led to another. She had come to think the End Times would not occur in her lifetime. And when it finally had, she still hadn’t been prepared, emotionally and spiritually.

  “The cake isn’t as pretty as it should be,” Ella worried, one hand on her belly while the other swirled the pink frosting into peaks.

  Shari handed her the package of glittery pink candles. “It’s splendid. She’ll love it,” Shari reassured. The rattling of the doorknob interrupted them. “They're back.”

  Ella bustled into the kitchen, taking the cake with her.

  The moment Twila walked inside the cabin, they shouted, “Happy Birthday!” The sight nearly brought Shari to tears. She never had children. Her one brief marriage had been tumultuous at best. She had learned the hard way; romantic relationships were difficult to keep. Boyfriends hadn’t appreciated her psychic gifts and had treated her more like a pariah than a mystic.

  Twila’s hands flew to her mouth. “For me? No one ever loved me enough to give me my very own birthday party,” Twila bemoaned.

  The statement was odd; however, Twila was an unusual child. Extremely gifted, intelligent, but lacking discipline. Come to think of it, Shari had been like her as a child, without the extreme bouts of moodiness. She had to give Scarlett credit for her endless patience. Of course, Twila had been to hell and back according to Scarlett’s backstory. No doubt, Twila had gone through more than a child should have to endure.

  “Ooh, presents. Which one is mine?” Twila circled the dinette table, fingering the crepe paper.

  “All of them, silly.” Scarlett laughed. Twila didn’t seem aware of the concept of a birthday party.

  Twila’s light-golden skin glowed with delight, and her eyes lit with anticipation. Shari wished she could see the glimmering aura the child emitted. It was one of the things she missed. She had seen evils in all its ugly shapes and forms. It was the pure essence of innocence, the shimmering lights of a young soul that had always rekindled her faith in humanity.

  “I want to open this one first.” Twila held up a pink-foiled package with a big white bow. Luckily, Shari had a closet full of holiday supplies.

  “Sure, sweetie.” Scarlett smiled back.

  Shari stood by the window and kept glancing outside. No one usually ventured to the cabins, preferring the safety of the well-secured lodge. Nevertheless, she worried one of her inebriated guests might come looking for her. She wanted to enjoy the celebration. The contagious jubilance dancing in the room affected everyone, especially Scarlett.

  Scarlett was a sight to behold. Her bold widow’s peak accentuated her features: her mesmerizing aquamarine eyes, her long curvy nose, and her full lips. Today, her beauty eclipsed the burden she shouldered. It didn’t take a psychic to see that. It must be wretched raising a child during the End Times.

  Twila was growing into a beauty herself with bouncing locks of honey-wheat hair, hypnotic golden-flecked eyes, and flawless golden-tinged skin. Scarlett had guessed she was eight years old. It’s not like they had her birth certificate.

  After Twila turned the package over and over for nearly a minute, Ella finally chanted, “Open it already!”

  It was the only prompt Twila needed. Her little hands ripped off the paper and then tore open the box. She slowly removed the layers of tissue paper, flying each sheet in the air as if the tissue paper were the present. “How did you know? I wanted a snow globe my whole life,” Twila exclaimed.

  “It’s from Shari. Tell her thank you,” Scarlett coached.

  “Thank you!” Twila dashed to her and thanked her with a tight hug.

  “You are very welcome.” Shari’s lashes went moist.

  Twila dashed back to the table of presents. “Uh oh, I know what this one is.” Twila reached for the shirt box wrapped in a floral print. “It’s the pretty yellow dress you were making when you thought I was sleeping.” Twila smothered the present with kisses.

  “Did you peek?” Scarlett scolded playfully.

  It must be challenging keeping secrets from Twila. Shari’s own parents used to have a tough time surprising her. To make everyone happy, she had learned to fake it. It made it more comfortable for everyone. “No one likes a know it all,” her mom used to preach. After decades of knowing things, Shari had found a peacefulness once her mind had been decluttered from the never-ending thoughts streaming the etherworlds.

  After Twila opened the package, she stripped off her clothes right there and slipped on the white lacy sundress lined with yellow cotton. Scarlett had turned a pair of white cameo lace curtains and a yellow tablecloth into an adorable dress.

  “Now aren’t you pretty as a picture?” Shari declared. Scarlett had been busy the past week going through the boxes stored in the lodge’s cellar and had found all kinds of fabric from clothes to curtains. She had helped Scarlett cart the sewing machine to the cabin. After all, Ella would be needing baby clothes soon. Or would she? More than anything, Shari wanted to know if the baby would make it.

  Twila flitted around the room like a fairy in a fashion show. “I feel like a magical princess!”

  “I wish I had a camera,” Ella said.

  Scarlett just stood there beaming.

  “I have to look in the mirror. Bye.” Twila ran to the bedroom.

  Shari joined them by the table. “She’s something else. Wait ’til she’s sixteen. You’ll be pulling your hair out.”

  “Is this really her first birthday party?” Ella whispered.

  Scarlett shrugged. “That’s what she says. Sometimes I think time started over for her after the Super Summer flu. It’s probably a defense mechanism. Nothing that happened before is part of her memories.”

  “I get it. Sometimes I block out the bad things . . . until I can handle it,” Ella admitted.

  Twila pirouetted her way back to the table, twirling the dress. “I’m ready to open this one. I need a new book to read. We’re almost done with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

  Shari and Scarlett exchanged raised eyebrows.

  “Ooh, Anne of Green Gables.” Twila cuddled the book. “I think I will love it!” She gave Ella a questioning frown. “You didn’t get me anything?”

  Ella shook her head and headed to the kitchen.

  “Manners . . .” Scarlett hinted.

  Ella returned with the pound cake topped with a mile-high of fluffy pin
k frosting.

  Twila gasped! “I knew it was something pink. I never had pink cake before. I wish Katie were here. I promised to bake her a tea party cake one day.”

  It seemed an awkward statement. Scarlett ignored it and gathered the shredded wrapping paper while Shari lit the candles.

  “Do you know what you’re supposed to do next?” Ella asked.

  Twila gazed at the cake. A huge smile took over her face, and she blew out the candles. Twila insisted on cutting the cake. She painstakingly licked her frosting-covered fingers before delivering each huge slice. Scarlett didn’t say a thing. Watching them radiate with happiness sent a gentle wave of electricity to Shari’s heart. She basked in the joy as if it were a spectacular sunrise. She missed the good times—the laughter that poured from one’s heart into another’s.

  After her cake, Twila grabbed the novel. “I want to read this one all by myself,” she said with a guilty smile.

  “Sure, sweetie,” Scarlett said. “Wash your face and hands first.”

  “I’d say our little surprise party was a success,” Shari said.

  “I think we managed to surprise her a little,” Scarlett agreed.

  Ella grabbed her lower belly and plopped into the vintage rocker. “That was fun. Sorry to be a party pooper, but I can’t stop obsessing over Justin. I have this loco image of him searching the market for a smuggler. We should go to the Zhetto Market. Tomorrow’s the first Saturday of January, right?”

  Scarlett laughed. “I can just see him. ‘Dude, are you a smuggler? ’Cause you sure look like one.’”

  Twila shouted from the bathroom, “You can’t go there. Not safe.”

  “Twila’s right.” Shari held Ella’s gaze. “Suppose for a moment, Last State saw you escape in my truck. They could still be searching high and low for you. It’s a risk we can’t take.” Shari wasn’t happy about skipping the market: Zhetts needed her remedies, and she needed the income.

  “Duh, if they had seen us, Enforcers would have been here by now. They can track anyone by the license plates,” Ella continued.

  “Heavens, Zac knows better than that. The plates are registered to a fake address,” Shari assured.

  “Hmm. Twila, where is Justin?” Scarlett asked.

  It was certainly worth a try. Shari had been working with Twila, helping her to interpret the cryptic messages and images of clairvoyance.

  Twila responded with an exaggerated cross-eyed look. “Now?” She was more interested in her new book.

  Scarlett nodded with stern eyes.

  Twila took the Merkaba out of the necklace pouch Shari had given her during one of their training classes. She put the crystal to her forehead. “Yucky! Too many people. Too much ugly energy.” And she returned to her book.

  “I think we need to stick to our original plan and wait for Zac,” Shari stated. He was the only one with the know-how to get Ella, Scarlett, and Twila into Boom Town. Safely. Then she would no longer have the huge responsibility of keeping them safe and hidden. Zac, you’d better show up before the Enforcers. It was Shari’s biggest worry.

  “I guess you’re right.” Ella sighed.

  “You know Justin. He can smirk his way out of any jam,” Scarlett commented as she took a stack of plates to the kitchen.

  “Twila, can you try again, pretty please,” Ella bemoaned.

  “Okay, okay,” Twila groaned with exasperation. She twirled into the living room.

  It was evident the child didn’t understand the significance of her gifts, treating it more like a chore. She held the Merkaba to her forehead in an overdramatic fashion and stood there. Silent.

  “I see him. Justin’s with a bunch of men. They’re laughing and drinking from bottles. He’s pretending to be their friend.” Twila giggled. “They think he’s goofy.”

  “Where are they?” Ella exclaimed.

  “The blinking sign says Jack’s Bar and Grill. Oh, I think he’s trying to find out where Shari’s truck lives.”

  “Now, tell us about Zac,” Scarlett said with undeniable excitement in her voice.

  Twila concentrated.

  “Oh no! Zac works for the bad guys.” Twila stopped. “Oh, he’s just pretending. He’s riding in a helicopter looking for—things. He wants to come home, but they need his help.” Twila let out a long breath. “That’s all I see.”

  Scarlett and Ella shared pensive frowns.

  “I wouldn’t worry then. Zac’s still on his mission. It sounds like Justin made it to Boom Town,” Shari said. Of course, she didn’t know. With her decades of clairvoyant experience, she was well aware of how easy it was to misinterpret it, and she didn’t want to put a damper on their pleasant day.

  Shari sat next to the window with a watchful eye while Ella dozed in the rocker, and Scarlett cleaned the mess. Shari debated over beginning the more esoteric mystery school teachings. She had started with the basics on the power of meditation, cleansing and protecting auras, and chakra balancing. There were so many things the young ladies needed to learn. And she already felt the strands of time slipping through her fingers.

  Shari came over every day after breakfast and after dinner. After the basic teachings, she had let each one choose their path. Twila had shouted out her preference first. The child was fascinated with crystals and stones, in particular, the Merkaba. Ella was a natural with herbs and seemed to prefer them because they didn’t interfere with her Catholic beliefs.

  Scarlett was the most cerebral of them all and had more of an understanding of her clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience abilities than Twila. Twila’s abilities were more like wild magic. Scarlett’s were more developed if only she trusted it more. Ah, they were a work in progress. Their accelerated learning had confirmed each had chosen the right path. From chakras to crystals, Shari had once again found her place as a Lightworker in the waning era of humanity. Was it a waste of time?

  “Believe . . .”

  It was the same enchanting voice that had been whispering messages to her lately. It had been her first contact with a spirit guide since she had lost her gifts. Perhaps it meant her psychic abilities were returning. But that was even more dangerous, for it worked both ways. If she could connect to the cosmic universal mind, the unnamed ones could connect to her as well unless she maintained a powerful shield of protection. It was a universal law. She worked on the shield constantly; however, since she couldn’t see, she didn’t know how effective it was.

  “Ohh, I don’t think the baby liked the frosting,” Ella moaned, adjusting the rocker’s blue gingham cushions.

  “I’ll make you a cup of peppermint tea,” Shari said.

  “Thank you.” Ella was on the verge of tears.

  Poor thing, here come those hormones. The peppermint should help with her volatile mood swings. What Ella needed was Motherwort. It soothed over the overwhelming feeling of gloom and doom.

  “My back is killing me. Do you mind if I soak in the tub for a while?” Ella struggled up from the vintage hickory rocker.

  “I’ll get the tub ready for you.” Scarlett headed to the bathroom.

  “Thank you.” Ella slumped back in the rocker. “I’m such a whiner.”

  Shari didn’t like the thoughts that first came to mind. She hoped it was just indigestion and not something wrong with the baby. Ella was approximately five months along and had been doing fine.

  Shari postponed her trek back to the lodge while Ella relaxed in the claw-footed tub. With the wintery rains on the plains, she didn’t expect any more guests tonight. But she had two overnight guests who had paid for dinner. Criminy, they can wait. The pot of stew could simmer another hour. She wanted to make sure Ella was all right.

  Twila had changed her mind about reading the book on her own and decided it was Scarlett’s turn to read the novel aloud. Shari pretended to listen to the story while planning tomorrow’s lessons in her head.

  Scarlett stopped reading and quietly climbed out of the sofa.

  “Asleep?” Shari whispered.
She had been waiting for Twila to crash after all the sugar. “Scarlett, I meant to ask you—”

  “Ella’s dying!” Twila’s statement shattered her thoughts like the deadly crackling of thin ice.

  Scarlett ran for the bathroom. Shari was right behind her. Ella lay in the tub. Lifeless. Streaks of pinkish-red billowed in the water.

  “Ella!” Scarlett cried out.

  Ella mumbled something.

  Shari checked her pulse. “Say something.” Her weak pulse warned the baby was trying to abort.

  “She needs the magical tea!” Twila said as dramatically as she possibly could.

  “What magical tea?” Shari asked.

  “It’s, uh, monoatomic powder. Not an herbal tea. All I know is, Ella swears it saved her first baby—for a while,” Scarlett explained.

  “Yes, I know of it. There’s a lot of controversy over its authenticity,” Shari recalled. “Internet scam artists used to claim it was a miracle cure.”

  “So, it doesn’t exist?” Scarlett frowned.

  “Oh, it exists all right. Finding an authentic source is another matter. It so happens, I put up a few bottles of a special False Unicorn formula this summer.” The fairy wand-like plant had been a rare find. She had only harvested a portion of the rhizome root, which was known not to grow back. She had buried several quartz crystals in the ground, hoping to regenerate the endangered species.

  “Will it work?” Scarlett implored with desperation in her eyes.

  “Yes,” Shari said with one hand on the door and one hand holding the shotgun. She honestly doubted it. However, hope was a cure of its own accord. She had tried to save many babies after the pandemic. They had all died. Along with their mothers. But she hadn’t had False Unicorn Root then. During her commune days in the eighties, she had midwifed for a while. False Unicorn had worked wonders, arresting miscarriages even after the contractions had started.