Kylie is frantically looking around for someone to blame for the deaths of her parents. She sees several zombies walking down the middle of the street. She wants to get even with the people that killed her parents, but no one is to be found. Kylie runs straight to the zombies in the street and points the handgun at them.
Matt comes outside the house and sees Kylie running towards the zombies in the street.
Matt says, “What the hell is she doing?”
Three zombies are walking towards Kylie. Kylie wants to kill everything that she sees. She has never fired a gun before. She keeps pulling the trigger, but no bullets are coming out. She lowers the gun and tries to figure out why it’s not firing. A zombie is about 4 feet away from Kylie now and getting closer to bite her.
Matt yells, “The safety is on!”
Kylie clicks the safety off. Points the gun at the zombie’s forehead and pulls the trigger.
Boom!
The zombie falls backwards. Zombie brains, blood, and pieces of skull fly on to the street. Kylie points the gun at the other zombie and shoots her in the left shoulder. The zombie gets brushed back by the shoot, but she is still coming towards Kylie. Kylie fires another shot and hits the zombie in the neck. The zombie is knocked down from the gunshot but is still alive. The last zombie is about to grab Kylie. Kylie turns towards the zombie, but the zombie pushes her down. Kylie falls onto the street. She drops the gun and is attacked by the zombie.
The zombie is aggressively trying to bite and scratch Kylie, but she is protecting herself well. She kicks the zombie off her and the zombie falls backwards. The zombie gets up off the ground and is walking towards Kylie who is trying to get up from the ground. The zombie is about 2 feet away from Kylie. He reaches for her brown hair but is suddenly knocked to the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Matt fires three shots from the handgun that Kylie dropped. Kylie gets up from the ground and runs over to Matt. Matt walks over to the zombie that Kylie shot in the neck, but is still alive and shoots her in the head.
Matt turns towards Kylie and shouts, “You can’t be doing that crap. Running off and trying to kill zombies. You could have died.”
With tears in her eyes, Kylie says, “I know. I’m sorry. I just let my emotions take over, and I wanted to kill everything.”
Matt and Kylie hug and kiss. Matt walks Kylie back to his car. Kylie looks at her parents’ house and feels a great sense of loss. Matt opens the door, and Kylie gets in the passenger seat.
Matt walks around the car and looks at Kylie’s parents’ house one last time.
He stares at the house and says, “Chuck and Laura, I’m so sorry you guys didn’t make it, but I will take good care of your daughter.”
Matt gets into the car and starts the engine. He knows that Kylie is very upset and wants to get out of this neighborhood as quickly as possible. Matt drives through the neighborhood and towards the exit. He glances over at Kylie and sees that she is still very upset. She has this blank stare on her face. Like a look of disbelieve to what she just saw and went through.
Matt grabs Kylie’s left hand and squeezes it three times. The three squeezes signify him saying, “I Love You.” Kylie squeezes back three times as well. The hand squeeze gesture makes Kylie feel a little better about what just happened, but it will take a long time for her to get over the loss of her parents.
CHAPTER 12
WHAT’S NEXT?
Nicole has been in labor for a couple hours. Phil keeps putting a cold wash rag on her head. Lauren is working on Nicole’s breathing, while trying to keep her calm, and I'm trying to deliver the baby. I'm not an obstetrician by any means, but being an orthopedic doctor, I am the most qualified person in the house to deliver Nicole's baby. I can feel the nervous energy in the room as we all want Nicole to be safe and deliver a healthy baby. Nicole is doing well, but ready to get this baby out of her. I take a quick look at Nicole, Lauren and Phil. Then I look over at the knife that Phil brought me. Phil brought me an acceptable clean and sterile knife that I could use if we decide to deliver the baby by C-section.
I coach Nicole, "Push, push, and breathe Nicole."
I reach down between Nicole’s legs and feel that she has dilated several centimeters now and a couple more pushes should deliver the baby. My adrenaline is pumping and the last couple hours have been a blur. I really hope she can deliver this baby naturally as delivering the baby by C-section is dangerous to the baby and Nicole.
I ask, "How are you doing Nicole?"
Nicole screams in a sarcastic tone, “Just great. Get this baby out of me.”
“You are doing great Nicole,” says Lauren.
I check for the baby and tell Nicole to push. Nicole pushes and I see the baby's head now. I am overcome with joy to know that the baby is coming and I don’t’ have to perform a C-section delivery.
I shout, "I see a head."
Nicole screams in pain.
I say to Nicole, “You can do it Nicole. One more good push.”
Nicole squeezes Lauren's left hand and gives a big push. I feel for the baby. The baby’s head comes out, followed by shoulders. The baby is half out. I grab a hold of the baby and gently help the baby all the way out.
I ask, "Phil, can you get me a couple of towels?"
Phil runs to get a couple towels from the bathroom. The baby cries. Nicole cries and Lauren starts to cry. I check the baby for any defects, number of fingers and toes, and what sex the baby is.
"It's a boy!"
Nicole is happy, but gives me a concerned look on her face.
“I feel like something is still in there,” says Nicole.
I ask, "What do you mean?"
Nicole replies, “Down there. I feel like another baby is in me.”
While holding the baby boy, I look down between Nicole's legs and I’m beyond shocked as to what I see. Phil comes running back into the living room with several towels. I hand the boy off to Phil and check out what Nicole is talking about. I examine Nicole a little closer and find that she does in fact have another baby in her.
I instruct Nicole, "Nicole, you have to push again for me."
Nicole screams as she holds onto Lauren’s hand.
Nicole pushes and another head starts to come out.
I can’t believe what I am seeing and say, "Oh my goodness Nicole, you have another baby in there. One more push and the other baby should be out."
Nicole squeezes Lauren's hand and attempts to push out the second baby. The baby comes out and starts to cry. I check the new baby out. I see that the baby looks great, has all 10 fingers and toes and is a girl.
I look at Nicole and say, “It’s a girl!”
"A boy and a girl Nicole," says Lauren.
Both babies are crying now, Nicole is trying to control her breathing and Lauren is making sure Nicole is ok. Phil holds the boy in his arms and has a big smile on his face. I hold the baby girl and can't help to think how Nicole having her babies right now will change everything. Having a baby at any point in your life will change a person’s life, but two babies being born in this new world will be a huge challenge.
I look at the baby girl and hand her over to Lauren.
Nicole is exhausted and passes out while lying on the floor. I see that she is breathing, but she is very fatigued after giving birth to the babies. Phil is holding the baby boy, while Lauren holds the baby girl. I walk over to Lauren and the new baby girl. I clean the baby with a damp wash cloth. The baby girl looks to be a cute healthy girl. She even has a good amount of brown hair.
I grab another damp wash cloth, go over to Phil and clean the baby boy. I wipe the baby boy down and he starts to cry. Phil tries to comfort the baby with a gentle rocking motion and the baby calms down. I look at Nicole, Lauren, Phil, and the two babies. As I look at the group and the new babies, I can’t help but smile. I feel happy knowing that everyone is safe and that we are all together.
I hear a loud groan from the ba
ck bedroom.
It was from Derrick.
Derrick is lying in the fetal position on his left side. He is blocking the doorway of the master bedroom. I want to have Nicole lie down in her bed and place the babies in the back bedroom. I gently nudge Nicole to wake her up.
Nicole wakes up and asks, “How are the babies doing?”
I reply, “Everything is great Nicole. I just want to move you to your bedroom. Do you think you can walk to your bedroom?”
Nicole replies, “Yeah, just give me a second to get myself together, but I think I can walk to my bedroom.”
I reply, “Okay, great. Take your time. When you are ready, let me know when you think you can move to your bedroom.”
Phil is holding the baby boy and hasn’t stopped smiling since I placed him in Phil’s arms. I like seeing Phil like this, happy and smiling, but I also need his help to move Derrick out of the way of the Nicole’s bedroom door.
I ask Phil, “Can you help me with something?”
Phil replies, “Yeah, what do you need?”
I look at Derrick and say, “We need to move Derrick, so that Nicole can lay in her bed.”
Phil says, “No problem. I’ll give the baby to Nicole, and we can move that asshole out of the way.”
Phil hands the baby boy over to Nicole and comes over to me. Phil and I walk over to Derrick. I step over him to get into position to move him. Derrick is breathing but he has a lot of swelling and blood all over his face. Phil grabs Derrick’s arms, and I grab his feet. We pick Derrick up from the floor and walk towards the garage.
"Let’s put him down right here," says Phil as we drop Derrick in the garage.
Derrick looks terrible. His green shirt is all bloody, his face is swollen, and starting to bruise, but he is lucky to be alive. Phil wraps duct tape around his hands and feet. I don’t trust Derrick and keeping him tied up in the garage makes the most sense, until we can figure out what to do with him next.
"What are we going to do with this asshole Ryan?" asks Phil as we look at Derrick lying there.
I reply, “I don’t know, my main priority is Nicole and the babies right now. I can't believe she just gave birth to twins.”
Phil and I take one last look at Derrick and walk back into the house from the garage.
“You did a great job Ry. I can’t believe you delivered her babies. I’m glad Nicole and the babies are healthy,” says Phil.
I reply, “Thanks Phil. Thank you for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you and Lauren.”
Phil and I walk past the kitchen and down the hallway. Phil goes into his bedroom to wash his hands. I walk into the kitchen and wash my hands in the sink.
“Ryan. I’m ready to move to the bedroom,” says Nicole.
I walk over to Nicole. I take the baby boy from Nicole and hand him to Lauren. Lauren is now holding the baby girl in one arm and the baby boy in the other.
I help Nicole stand and we start walking towards the back bedroom. Phil comes walking out of his bedroom and assists Nicole and I to the bedroom. We get into the bedroom and Nicole sits down on the bed. Phil walks into the living room. He gently takes the baby boy from Lauren’s arm.
I help Nicole lay down into the bed. She gets under the sheets and looks very peaceful.
Nicole looks at me and says, “Thank you so much Ryan. You are amazing. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
I reply, “You are welcome Nicole. I’m glad you and the babies are safe. Get some rest.”
I leave the bedroom and find Lauren and Phil holding the babies in the living room. Phil and Lauren walk into Nicole’s bedroom with the babies. I start cleaning up the living room. I grab the sheets and start to fold up the sheets that Nicole was lying on.
Phil comes into the living room and helps me finish cleaning up the living room. We grab the sheets and throw them in the laundry room.
Phil goes into his bedroom. He lies down on the bed and tries to relax for a little bit.
I walk into Nicole’s bedroom and find Lauren taking care of the babies in Nicole's room, while Nicole is sleeping in her bed. As I walk into the room I see three cigars on the bedroom dresser. I walk over to Lauren who is watching the babies in a make shift crib.
I turn to Lauren and ask, “How are the babies doing? How are you doing?”
Lauren replies, “They are doing great, and so am I. I can’t believe she had twins. I’m glad we could help deliver Nicole’s babies.”
I look at the two babies and say, "It's been a crazy couple of days. I can't believe I delivered two babies. Thank you for your help sweetie. I couldn’t have done it without you. "
Lauren puts her head on my right shoulder. Lauren looks at the babies and says, “It’s been way too crazy for me. You did a great job though sweetie.”
I kiss Lauren on the forehead and ask Lauren, “Can you watch the babies for a little longer? I need to do something with Phil.”
“Of course, I can,” says Lauren.
I kiss Lauren and say, “Thank you sweetie.”
I walk over to the dresser and grab two cigars. I walk over to Phil’s room and see him looking in his bag that is placed on his bed. I knock on the door and show him the cigars. He smiles and walks towards me.
I ask, “Do you have a lighter?”
Phil reaches into his bag and says, “Yeah, actually I think I do.”
He moves a couple things around in his bag and pulls out a red lighter. We walk outside to the front porch. I hand Phil one of the cigars. Phil lights his cigar and then hands me the lighter. I light my cigar and take a puff of the cigar.
I feel great sitting on the front porch and relaxing. The cigar is good and it’s a nice cool morning in Florida. Phil and I are sitting in chairs on the front porch. I look at the neighborhood and feel that it’s safe around the house. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so I’m enjoying this moment of peace with my cigar.
Back in the house, Nicole wakes up and asks, "Hey, how are the babies doing?"
"Just great. Do you want one of the babies?" replies Lauren.
Nicole replies, “Bring the baby girl over to me.”
Lauren picks up the baby girl and gives her to Nicole. Lauren walks over to the boy and picks him up also.
Lauren asks, “Any thoughts on names for these two?”
Nicole looks down at the baby girl and says, “I actually have. I like Mia for her. As for the boy, I haven’t thought about it. I only thought I was having a girl. Having twins is a big surprise to me.”
Lauren puts the boy on the bed and takes Mia from Nicole’s hands.
As Lauren takes Mia from Nicole she says, “Here, sometimes holding your baby will help you name them.”
Lauren puts Mia down next to the boy. She picks up the boy and hands the baby boy to Nicole. Lauren picks up Mia and puts her close to her body.
Nicole looks down at the boy, smiles, and says, “He feels likes a Mason. Mason for him.”
“We got a Mia and Mason,” says Lauren.
Phil and I are still sitting in chairs on the front porch. We both are enjoying our cigars and being able to take a break from the chaos we just experienced. It has been a crazy couple of days and to take a couple minutes to relax like this is much needed. The neighborhood is quiet now and almost peaceful.
Phil looks over at me and asks, “What’s next? What do we do now?”
I reply, “Great question. I don’t want to stay around Derrick and not sure what to do about that situation. I hope Shaun and Matt make it down here, but we don’t know how long that will take, or if it will happen at all.”
The reality of Shaun and Matt making it down to Nicole’s house is hopefully good, but we can’t worry about them right now. Shaun and Matt can handle themselves, and I believe they will be ok. We will see them again. I’m just not sure when that will be.
Lauren asks Nicole, "Do we have any babies supplies, like diapers, a crib, or anything like that?"
Nicole says, “Yeah, we hav
e baby stuff in the garage. I know we have a crib in the garage that needs to be put together as well as a bunch of stuff we got from the baby shower.”
Lauren leaves the room while holding Mia and goes looking for me. Lauren finds Phil and I on the front porch.
Lauren knocks on the front door to get my attention. I get up from the chair and walk over to the front door.
As I open the door, I ask,” Is everything okay?”
Lauren replies, “Yeah, everything is good. Can you get the baby supplies out of the garage though?”
I reply, “Yeah, no problem.”
I put out my cigar and walk towards the front door.
Phil says, “I will be right in.”
I reply, “Take your time. I’ll be in the garage.”
I walk into the house and go the kitchen. I grab a bottle of water from the kitchen and head into the garage. I open the garage door and see Derrick hasn’t moved at all since Phil and I put him in there. I walk over to Derrick and want to see how he is doing.
I say, "You are a father Derrick. Twins, a boy and a girl.”
He tries to smile, but his face and eyes are so swollen and bruised that he can't get a good smile on his face. Part of me feels bad for Derrick and the other part remembers when he shot me. I hate to see someone suffering like Derrick is, but I remember he cheated on Nicole, tried to cover it up, and was willing to hurt anyone that got in his way.
I hand Derrick the opened water bottle. He grabs the bottle with his hands that are duct tape together.
Derrick drinks some water and says, “Thank you."
I examine Derrick’s face, jaw, and eyes. Nothing appears to be broken. He just looks to have some soft tissue damage that will heal over time. Phil beat him up badly, but did show some restraint when punching him.
Phil enters the garage and walks past me and Derrick. He is looking for the baby supplies that are on several shelves in the garage. Phil finds the baby supplies and starts making a pile of them to bring into the house. He finds a new crib in a box.
Phil and I bring the crib in the house, and put it in the bedroom. We place the box down next to Nicole's bed. I find Lauren and Nicole each holding a baby. They both seem very happy, and I hate to break up the happiness, but I need to ask Nicole what she wants to do next.
Fight 4 Us (Book 1): The Beginning Page 17