by SJ Morris
The fire got so big so quickly it was hard to tell through the flames if the infected were coming towards it. Then the infected broke through the fire and came at me all at once. Their tattered and torn clothing caught fire as they walked through the raging fire, so I ran to the nearest tree and climbed the best I could just to get out of the way. The more infected that crossed into the fire, the more significant the flames grew. It was only a few minutes before some of the trees were on fire as well.
I heard Chris and Lance screaming for me, and their voices caught more than just my attention as the infected also turned towards their shouting. I jumped from the tree, rolling onto the ground painfully. My body must have completely hated me at this point. I wasn’t sure why it still even worked anymore.
Catching my breath, I got up slowly, pulled my gun from my waistband, and took aim at the infected that were turning towards my family. I had fifteen rounds in my clip, and I was going to make each one of them count. I ran around the expanding fire, the flames licking at my face as more infected continued to pile onto the mass of burning bodies. I could clearly see the infected that were now breaking from the flames to chase after Chris and Lance’s screams for me. I ran parallel to them and stopped to take aim. Ten pulls of my trigger and the ten burning infected were on the ground.
Chris and Lance both ran out to me and began firing into the mass of burning bodies thrashing within the raging inferno. More of my family came out to help, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Allycia chasing after a young boy. The boy looked like Christian, one of the children we saved from a daycare months ago. The little boy was screaming for Tori, one of my son’s friends. Christian stopped at the mound of dead infected that Lance and Chester had just killed. I assumed the person under the infected bodies was Tori, and somehow Christian found out she had been killed and came out looking for her.
I saw how the scene was going to play out as more infected attracted by the fire and the screams broke the tree line, so I ran for the two of them. Christian slid on his knees at the pile of bodies and started digging through them to get to Tori’s lifeless, torn, and destroyed figure. I screamed for Allycia to not touch him, but she looked up at me with fear in her eyes as she grabbed Christian to pull him away. She fell backwards with the little boy in her arms and the infected were on top of them within seconds. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, but it all happened so quickly.
I screamed for help and began firing at the monsters threatening to take my Allycia from me. Five shots, and I was out of ammunition, but I continued to pull the trigger as Tom, Lance, and Chris ran to my side and fired on the infected also. One of the infected was hit in the knee and slid down face first on top of Allycia and Christian. I screamed and threw myself at them, but Chris grabbed me and pulled me back.
They couldn’t fire without the risk of hitting Christian or Allycia, so I pulled a knife from Chris’ belt and tore away from his grasp. I jumped at the infected now on top on my only daughter, pushing it’s barred, bloody jaws away from her and stabbing it in the top of its head. The blade went all the way through the top right side of the infected’s head and the tip of the knife passed through the monstrosities left cheek.
The others continued to fire on the remaining infected coming towards us. I dropped the knife and the infected with it to reach for my daughter. I pulled her close into my arms, and as I did, the now lifeless body of Christian fell to the forest floor. He had been bitten on his neck, and deep red blood was still slowly pumping through the mortal wound. I looked down to Allycia and screamed in pain, sadness, anguish, and rage as I saw that her arm was ripped open and her lifeblood now flowed from her wrist. I grabbed her arm tightly, applying as much pressure as my exhausted body could, but the thick warm blood flowed around my fingers without slowing.
My only daughter, who was now dying in my arms, calmly looked up at me.
“Mommy, don’t cry. I love you, and I’ll see you again. I’m not scared. I know I’m going to be with Daddy again. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“I love you too, honey. I am so proud of you and everything you have done. You are my sweet little girl, and I will love you forever. Give Daddy a kiss for me when you see him,” I whispered to her as tears fell uncontrollably from my eyes.
I rocked her softly as her breathing slowed. Lance fell to the ground holding both of us, and Tyler ran out to us as well. Surrounded by those that loved her most in this world, Allycia closed her eyes and took her last breath.
Chapter 10
I took the blade from the head of the infected that killed my daughter and quickly punctured Allycia’s brain so she wouldn’t reanimate. I didn't think I could handle seeing her that way. We got everyone left alive back inside the compound with only a limited number of infected to kill just before opening the big steel doors. We left Allycia’s body by the gate since I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do yet. I knew we should burn her body, but I just couldn’t think about it at the moment. I needed quiet. I needed time to get my thoughts and emotions straight in my head. Too many things had happened over the last week, and I was already overwhelmed without having to now deal with the death of my daughter.
Chris offered to walk me to my room or be a shoulder to cry on if I needed, but I just wanted to be alone. Thankfully, I made it to my room without anyone else stopping me to talk. I grabbed a garbage bag from the bathroom and tossed every single piece of clothing I was wearing into it. I was going to burn them just to be rid of them.
I got in the shower and turned the water on as hot as I could stand it. I watched the black infected blood and Allycia’s bright red blood run from my body. I washed my hair, then my body, and then I washed everything again. I scrubbed so hard my skin turned a bright pink. When I was satisfied I was clean enough on the outside, I plugged the drain and sat in the hot water to soak and think about how I felt inside.
How could I have let this happen? How could my little girl be gone? I wallowed in my sadness for a long while. I sat unmoving with my thoughts until the water turned cold. I drained the frigid water and contemplated filling it again just to sit a while longer remembering my Allycia, but it was too much. I had no more tears left to cry. I had no more energy left to beat myself up with. I stood and grabbed my towel, but when I touched it to the bare skin of my breasts, they hurt tremendously. Oh no! I couldn’t be! It’s just not possible!
I quickly dried myself and threw on clothes. I ran downstairs to the lab rushing past everyone who tried to console me. I threw open the doors to the medical room and then into Troy’s lab. Troy stopped abruptly, looking up at me annoyed for disturbing him.
Flustered, he asked, “Can I help you with something Abby?”
“I need a blood drawing kit now!” I demanded.
“Top right cabinet, like always. What’s wrong? What are you doing?” he questioned as he stepped back from my frantic searching.
“Here!” I threw him the kit. “Draw my blood now! I need two vials.”
Putting his hands on his hips like a kid, he asked, “What are you doing Abby? What’s the rush?”
“Just draw my fucking blood, Troy! Two vials, now! Why do you have to act like a petulant child when someone interrupts you? The world does not revolve around you. Draw! My! Fucking! Blood!” I screamed at him, angrier than I have ever been in my life.
“Fine, but no need to yell. Sheesh.”
After he drew the two vials, I ripped them from his hand. I didn’t bother covering the injection site, so there was blood dripping down my arm. When I saw it, I realized I was shaking uncontrollably.
“Abby, I’m becoming very concerned. What’s going on? Are you okay?” Troy asked genuinely looking worried.
“I can’t do this. I’m shaking too much. I can’t steady my hands. Troy, you are going to have to test them for me,” I responded coldly.
“What am I testing your blood for, Abby? You have to talk to me. You’re scaring me, and that’s pretty hard to do.”
“I ne
ed you to do an HCG quantitative blood test for me.”
“Wait, what?” he asked, his mouth falling open.
“Yes, Troy, I need you to check my HCG levels to find out if I am pregnant or not,” I said. I began to cry as I finally wiped the blood from my arm.
“Wait, when did this happen? You’ve been gone for two months. Were you with someone while you were out there?”
“Two months! I was gone for just over a week. Two days in bed after the crash at Lovers’ Pass, one day at the black site, and about a week in the bunker. That’s ten days! What do you mean two months?”
“Abby...you have been gone for almost nine weeks. You left to draw the herd over the cliff on August 31, and according to my calendar, today is October 29th. Where have you been this whole time?” he asked, acting more like himself now that he was stating facts rather than dealing with emotions.
“What? There’s no way I was gone for that long. It’s impossible. I...I...no!” I fell to the floor sobbing.
“Here Abby, come lie down. Let me do the test for you, and you relax. How about you tell me what you remember from while you were gone?” he asked as he helped me up onto one of the gurneys.
I recounted everything I remembered to Troy, and he listened intently taking notes in between completing my blood work. I could only account for ten days. When I crashed the ATV over Lovers’ Pass, Jack brought me to some safe house and told me I was out for two days. Then I woke up in the medical transport truck with the awful Dr. Constance Brigantine where she knocked me out again, but as far as I remembered I was only out for the rest of that day. The only time I remember waking up was when Jack rescued me. After we got away from the black site, we traveled for about half a day to another safe house. We were there for a week before we were on the move for most of another day to get me back to the cabin.
None of the time I was missing made sense. The only explanation I could think of was that Dr. Brigantine put me in some medically induced coma so she could run her tests on me without me fighting her. That was the only thing I could think of that possibly explained what happened to me. Just the thought of missing two months of my life because of that insane woman made me nauseous. It was either that or the possible child growing in my womb.
“Well, that is some recollection, Abby. You have been through so much. And now to find out that Jack is still alive, plus he had a hand in this virus being released and your whole life with him being practically manufactured. I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling,” Troy said holding my hand gently, which surprised me. I wouldn’t expect any compassion from him of all people.
“That reminds me, how did Jack first contact you after we were released from Georgia?” I asked him.
“He emailed me from Justin’s firehouse email account. He said he had to make sure he couldn’t be traced. Why?”
“Jack told me he couldn’t tell me anything because we were being watched and listened to at all times, so I was wondering how he could have worked with you and eventually mastermind the entire expansion project here along with everything else.”
“I don’t know, Abby. Every contact we had in the beginning few months was via Justin’s email, and then we started talking on the phone. I’m sure it was someone else’s phone though. Maybe he stole them because whenever he called me, it was always from a different number with a different name.”
“Now I’m not sure I can trust anything Jack told me. Something feels very off like it’s all orchestrated. It feels like he was never really my husband. Like he never really loved or cared for our children or me for that matter. I just don’t know what to believe, especially now with the possibility of being pregnant and having been in a coma for two months. Who knows what the hell Dr. Brigantine did to me? Like an idiot, I thought the Antivirus 1015 had also given me some sort of super quick healing powers only to find out I’m right where I should be because it’s been nine weeks since the crash.”
“Well, I can answer one of your questions for you; the test is done.”
I asked almost not wanting to know, “What does it say?”
“Well, you are pregnant, but your HCG levels are through the roof, which could mean a few different things. Let’s do an ultrasound to check everything out,” he said, getting up from his computer.
“Thank you, Troy, for all of your help. I know I came down here screaming at you, and I’m sorry. It’s just everything is so crazy, and I feel stuck in the epicenter of it all. I just want everything to go back to the way it was,” I replied feeling defeated by life.
Troy wheeled over the cart with the ultrasound machine and monitor, looking at me sadly, “I understand. I may not be the easiest to talk to, especially when I’m working, which is pretty much all the time, but I’m here if you need me.”
Wow, this was really happening. The zombie apocalypse was upon us, my previously dead husband was alive, my daughter was dead, and I was pregnant at thirty-eight after having only had sex once that I can remember in the last three months.
“Going to be cold, sorry, I wasn’t expecting to be doing this today, or I would have heated up the gel.”
“You and me both, Troy.”
He hooked everything up rather quickly and turned on the monitor. He used the ultrasound wand to smooth the gel over my lower abdomen and flipped the machine on. The black and white monitor came to life with blurry images of my insides. I almost didn’t want to watch. He found my bladder, which was full, and then he froze.
“What, what’s the matter, Troy?” I said beginning to worry more than I thought I could.
“Look, there,” He said pointing at the screen. “There are two fetuses. You are pregnant with twins Abby.” He said staring at the screen with wonder.
I couldn’t believe my eyes as I ogled the monitor. Two, two babies. As the thought of being pregnant with twins in the middle of the zombie apocalypse sank in, Troy reached over and flipped a switch that brought the sound of two fluttering heartbeats to life from the speakers of the machine. Just then, Chris stormed in.
“Abby! Dana said you ran past her crying earlier. Is everything...oh my God, what is that sound? What’s going on down here?” he said dumbfounded.
“I’m pregnant, with twins. Surprise!” I replied. I dropped my head back on the bed and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to have to explain what I had been through again to Chris. Not after just going through it all with Troy. The whole situation was exasperating.
“When? How? What...wait. We only made love that one time over two months ago. How? I mean, I know how babies are made but...wow!” Chris said smiling from ear to ear and jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning.
It made me smile to see him so happy about the babies and to see a man of his size jumping like that should have been on a funny video clip show. His response was hysterical. I almost didn’t want to tell him what I had been through over the last nine weeks and that there was a significant possibility these babies were not his. For all I knew, Dr. Brigantine implanted them for reasons I couldn’t fathom other than her wanting more children that could possibly have my specific genetic marker as Allycia did. With that thought, I turned over the side of the bed and vomited all over the floor.
Running over to comfort me, Chris asked, “Abby! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, I just, ugh. There’s so much we need to talk about Chris, and I think we need to have this conversation now so that the truth is out right away.”
“Okay, whatever it is you need to tell me, just get it out, no secrets. I’m here for you and our babies,” He grinned again and rubbed my hand gently.
“It’s a long story, so I think you should have a seat.”
Chris grabbed a chair from the counter and handed me some towels to clean off my stomach and my mouth. Troy went to work cleaning the floor and then left us to have our conversation alone. He refused to look either of us in the eyes as he exited. I guess he had enough emotional sharing for one day.
I recalled what wer
e the last ten days in my head, but what I now knew to be the last nine weeks of my life. Chris sat quietly listening, holding my hand, and rubbing his thumb over the top of my wrist the entire time. His face showed all of the emotions I expected as I walked him through my story, and in the end, he said nothing. He got up to sit on the bed next to me, grabbed my face in his large, warm hands, and kissed me deeply.
“I love you, Abigail. Nothing could ever change that. I don’t care what experiments that crackpot doctor did on you. Those babies are ours. Yours and mine. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to keep all three of you safe. Jack can rot in hell for everything he’s done to you. I don’t care what his motives were or if he was blackmailed. He hurt you and caused your family so much pain. As for Dr. Brigantine, let her come for you. I will murder her and everyone that works with her if they try to hurt any of us.”
His eyes were fiercely bright as he spoke calmly, and I knew in my heart he was telling me the truth. He would do anything to protect me and everyone here. I just didn’t want him to have to.
“Well, according to Jack, Dr. Brigantine is looking for the cabin, but she hasn’t found it yet. With him blowing up part of her lab, I assume it’s going to take her and her men a while to recover, but they will, and I can only think she’ll be looking for us with a newfound fervor. Especially if me being pregnant is of her doing. She’s going to want these babies and me,” I said rubbing my belly for the first time.
“Well, she isn’t going to get them. The only thing she’s going to find here is a fight and her long overdue death.”
I felt a sense of relief hearing those words from Chris. It was then that I realized I had possibly found the love I thought I had with Jack. My mind was telling me to be skeptical since Jack had me fooled for over seventeen years, but my heart told me Chris was the real thing. He loved me, and I knew without a doubt that I loved him. In the middle of this disaster with crap being thrown at us from every direction, I felt safe. I felt like everything might just turn out to be okay. Then, I began to wonder how long this sense of security was going to last.