Dead World Rising

by Katerina Petrova

  Before I could say any more Bridget had come back, she was holding a small handgun.

  'Here take this, it's light and small. It'll be good as a starter gun,' she said smiling.

  'Thanks,' I replied happily.

  She showed me how to load the gun, how to aim properly and when to shoot. It wasn't that hard, but I did miss my target the first few times.

  'Don't worry laddie, you'll learn soon enough,' Bridget told me encouragingly.

  I practised for a good few hours, feeling better for letting out some of stress. Just as I left, Finn came walking up.

  'Hey, you off to do some training?' I asked him.

  'Yeah, I have a feeling that we've not seen the last of that group. I want to be prepared for when they come,' he told me.

  'You're right, we need to be ready,' I replied.

  'Vera was looking for you, she's in the war room.'

  'Is everything alright?' I was confused, why would Vera want to talk to me?

  'I don't know, I didn't ask but it sounded urgent,' and with that he was off. The war room, was a place where the people gathered to go over important ideas and missions. We'd gone in there the night we approached them about helping us rescue the women, Vera immediately wanted to help and thankfully so did her people. None of them had any idea of what Nathaniel's group were like, they traded with them on occasion but Vera told us they seemed like normal people. Once we told them the truth, they were all furious.

  'You wanted to see me?' I asked nervously. While I liked Vera a lot, and I would be forever grateful to her for helping us with the slavers, I couldn't deny that she made me a little nervous. I knew she was a kind woman who cared about her people, but she was also strong, fierce and not one to mess with.

  One of her people had told me that she didn't think twice about killing traitors and trouble makers.

  'Yes I did, it's about your sister,' she said sternly. I felt extremely nervous, I could only hope and pray that the other women's words hadn't convinced her to kick my sister out. I knew what they'd said, because they'd told me.

  'Has she done something wrong?'

  'Not yet, but I can't ignore what I've been told,' she told me.

  'I know, what the women have said. All I can say is that my family and I will keep an eye on her,' I replied nervously.

  She gestured for me to sit down, I felt shaky as I sat on one of the chairs. If she asked Maggie to leave, I would go to. 'To be honest with all that I've heard, if Maggie wasn't a teenager I'd kick her out right now. But I'm going to give her a chance, you will have to keep an eye on her. If she screws up even once, she's out,' Vera gave me a stern look, I knew she was serious.

  'I promise, she will no trouble,' I promised.

  'See that she isn't. That's all,' she dismissed me. I left the room feeling more uneasy, I had to talk to Jade. Maybe she could talk to Maggie. I ran back to our house that we shared with Jade, Finn and Tamara. Maggie and Jade had one room, Finn and I had shared a room together while Tamara had a room to herself. I didn't knock as I entered, I found Jade, Tamara and Maggie sat downstairs on the sofa. Maggie was crying in Jade's arms, Tamara was stroking her hair.

  'I didn't want to do those things, I had no choice. You have to believe me,' Maggie cried.

  'It's alright lass, we know,' Tamara comforted her. I knelt in front of the sofa, I put my hands on my sisters lap and told her it would all be okay. I knew of the awful things she'd done, but I didn't know what she'd been through. I noticed the faint scar on her neck and felt my anger rise, I had to stop myself from exploding.

  'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to shut you out. I just couldn't tell you, I've done so many awful things,' Maggie wailed.

  'It doesn't matter, your my baby sister and I love you no matter what you've done,' I told her.

  I pulled her down to me, I held her tight as she cried in my arms. I would do whatever it took to get her back to being herself.

  'How can I ever make it up to those women? Lola lost her baby because of me,' she cried. We sat with her as she wailed, until she could cry no more. Jade took her up to bed, she needed her sleep. I didn't know what to do, or how to help her.

  Clearly reading my mind Jade came downstairs and said, 'don't worry, she'll be alright. She just needs time.'

  There was a knock at the door, Jade called for them to come in. It was Brooke, one of the women who'd lived here since the beginning.

  'I brought you all dinner,' she said shyly. Brooke was a small slender woman, in her early forties. She had long brown hair, pale blue eyes and olive skin. She was a quiet, shy woman but she was also very kind. She'd been among those to help the women adjust. We all said thank you, our eyes lit up when we saw what was for dinner. Fresh eggs and boiled potatoes, along with some salad, my stomach growled fiercely.

  'Is your sister alright?' She asked kindly.

  'No, but she will be. She just needs time,' I told her.

  'If you need any help, let me know,' she replied as she turned to leave.

  'We will do,' Jade answered graciously.

  As the door closed we sat and ate our dinner, it had been so long since I'd had such good food.

  'This is amazing,' Tamara said, her mouth watering at the food.

  'I know, maybe here we can finally have a good life,' Jade chimed in.

  Maggie must have smelt the hot food, she came almost running down the stairs.

  'Damn, that smells good,' she chirped happily.

  'There's some for you too,' I smiled. She gobbled her food down fiercely, she really must have been hungry. I guess all the upset made her hungry. I sat for a moment watching Jade, Tamara and Maggie just sat talking and laughing. Maybe, just maybe we had found our forever home. There was hope for our family, although my joy was tinged with sadness. If it wasn't for Frankie, we wouldn't be sat here now. She had been the hero when we needed, she'd given us the strength to fight and to stand together.

  I took comfort in the fact that after so many years apart, she'd found her first love again. Nikkita would make her happy in a way I couldn't, and that was okay, as long as she was happy.

  Jade told me she and Nikkita had gone back to the castle, and while my heart wanted to race off into the sunset to find her, my head had realised that Frankie and I just weren't meant to be.

  'You alright there lad, your awfully quiet,' Tamara said interrupting my thoughts.

  'Yeah I'm alright, I'm just thinking about Frankie,' I smiled. 'Oh yeah, I forgot. The others told me you finally got some,' Maggie teased. I felt myself blush, I wasn't one for talking about intimate things, but my relationship with Frankie was new news to Maggie. No doubt she'd have questions, and I of course would tell her how I'd fallen in love. How it was Frankie who helped us to rescue her, and how I'd lost my girl to a woman.

  'Go on, ask away. I know your dying to,' I told her laughing.

  'How did it happen? You two getting together,' she asked smiling. 'It was after we killed most of Dave's men, we went on a run and in the middle Frankie decided we should check out the local hospital in Holmfirth. We got to the last floor when we got overrun, Frankie and I ran to the roof but there was a huge hole in the middle of it. I of course nearly fell in, god knows how she managed it, but she held the door shut with one foot while clinging to me. I begged her to let me go but she just screamed that she wouldn't let me die because she loved me,' I smiled at the memory.

  'Wow, that sounds so, romantic,' my sister gushed.

  'Oh yeah, really romantic with all the corpses trying to eat us,' I laughed.

  'Tell her the rest of the story lad, you know where you both fell in the hole at the church,' Tamara laughed loudly.

  'Really, I have to tell her everything?' I asked joking.

  'Hell yes, I want to know all of it. Everything I've missed,' my sister giggled excitedly. So that's what I did, for the rest of the evening. Finn came back halfway through and listened as I reminisced about Frankie and me. It was weird, I thought that by reliving the time I spent with Fr
ankie, it would hurt. Instead it just made me smile, it made me see that even though I only got to have her for a short time, I was a lucky man. My sister laughed and smiled as I told her of our adventures, some of which were pretty funny. Like how in our last day at the church, we all got blind drunk, I still laughed at it now.

  'Oh god, I felt so awful in the morning,' Finn joined in our laughter.

  'So did I,' I laughed.

  'It makes me glad that even with all the awful things going on, you still were happy,' Maggie said genuinely. 'Thanks, and yeah I was. All the crap we've been through to get here. Losing Cameron, Amber, Tom and Jillian, we've taken what happiness we could find and embraced it. Don't get me wrong, I'll always love Frankie but I'm glad you know, that I got to be with her even just for a while. And I'll always be thankful, if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be sat here together,' my words came straight from my heart, and they knew it.

  'One day, I'll got to Frankie and tell her how grateful I am. It took a long time, but I've finally got my family back,' Jade replied almost crying. 'Aye, and where would we now if she hadn't come along,' Tamara piped up. 'I never would have got my sister back, and I wouldn't know that my mum is still alive,' Finn told us happily.

  I got up and went to the kitchen, I found some plastic glasses and some pop, albeit very flat and out of date pop but still. I took the glasses into the living room and poured enough for all of us, despite all the awful things we'd been through we had so much to be thankful for.

  'I know we've all been through shit, but there's so much we have to be grateful for. So I want to raise a glass, to Frankie, she was our hero,' I said almost tearfully.

  'Aye, to a fine lass who put us all back together,' Tamara joined in. 'To the girl who captured our hearts,' Jade toasted. I let the tears of joy fall, as did we all. All our pain and suffering, was finally at an end. We'd beat the slavers, beat undead and somehow managed to find each other again, in this crazy world. This was our new life, our new beginning, and nothing or no one could ever tear us apart again.

  Chapter 9

  Nikkita

  I knew I was dreaming, but it felt so real, like I was reliving my memory.

  'I'm really nervous,' Frankie said.

  'Don't be, I've told my parents about you and their really excited to meet you,' I replied smiling. It was the official meet the parents night, and Frankie was beyond nervous. I'd already met her parents and it had gone really well. I got on great with her dad, we both loved football and old music like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. We both favoured the song Sympathy for the Devil. Her mum was really sweet, she kept fussing over me and asking if I needed anything. I remember how nervous I was,my hands were shaking, my palms were sweaty and I feared my heart would jump right out of my chest. So I truly understood how Frankie felt. This evening was important to all of us, not only were my family and Frankie meeting each other for the first time but this was my first relationship.

  I met Frankie at her house so we could walk to mine together, I held her hand and tried to soothe her fears. Looking at her I could tell she'd made an effort, her hair which was usually tied up in ponytail had been freshly straightened and the sides had been clipped back which made her look so girly, so beautiful. Frankie's usual attire was jeans, t-shirt and skater shoes. Her beautiful ankle length topaz flowy skirt, black vest top and sheer dark blue shirt only enhanced her girly look. No matter what she wore, Frankie was always beautiful to me but tonight she wowed me.

  'You look amazing,' I told her.

  She often shied away from compliments, she smiled shyly but said nothing about it.

  'What if they don't like me?' She asked nervously pulling at her shirt.

  'Of course they'll like you, what's not to like,' I smiled.

  'Well are there any topics of conversation I should avoid?'

  I laughed, 'no not really, although I wouldn't ask my brother Lorne about his pet rats or he'll go on about it for hours.'

  'He has rats as in 'rats' plural?'

  'Yeah, I think it was twelve at last count,' I smiled.

  'Blimey he must really like them.' 'Yup.' The sun was trying desperately to peek through the clouds as we walked through Dukinfield park, there was a breeze in the air that made it feel much colder than it was. I kept hold of her hand as we went by the large circle grass area, the flowers were in bloom which made this part of the park seem almost tranquil. Here I spent many Summer days lazing about on the grass either writing stories or drawing in my art book.

  As we neared my house, I paused for a moment to look deep into her sapphire eyes and kiss her longingly. I pulled her close to me, wishing that we could be like this always. I didn't tell her, but I too felt nervous about tonight. My parent's were laid back and loving, but had only found out my being a lesbian a few weeks before I met Frankie and while they seemed okay with it, I hoped they didn't think it was a phase.

  As we approached my door, I took my keys out of my pocket and turned to look at Frankie. Her hands were shaking, so I took them in mine and leaned in for a kiss just the door opened and my father stood there smiling. Frankie pulled away as her face turned red, I wanted to laugh but instead just turned to my dad.

  'Hi dad, this is Frankie. Frankie this is my dad Neil Winsford,' I said sounding surprisingly calmly.

  'H-hello,' Frankie replied.

  'Frankie, it's so good to finally meet you. My daughter hasn't stopped talking about you,' he laughed breaking the ice.

  Frankie's face softened as we led her inside. The evening went better than expected, she complimented my mum on her cooking which of course won her over. Frankie and my dad talked about her plans for the future, my dad admired young people who had a plan, and of course her and Lorne talked about his rats. Even my slightly stern brother Thomas was won over by Frankie's kind, loving nature.

  I'll never forget that night, all the people I loved most in world together. If only things could have stayed that way. I woke to early morning sun, as I often did. I smiled remembering my dream, things were so simple back then. We spent those next few years going to and from each others house, it was lucky for us that our parents were so understanding about our relationship. As I looked down at Frankie, I couldn't help but think how incredibly lucky I was. Despite everything, we'd finally found our way back to each other.

  I lay there for a moment, just watching as my lover slept. Watching her chest rise and fall, seeing her sleep peacefully without a care in the world. Since being back with her, my life had finally taken a happy turn. She was my life, my love and never did I truly think I'd be back in her arms. I moved a strand of her golden hair out her face as she slept, I stroked her face, waking Frankie from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered, she smiled as she saw me watching her. I leaned down for a kiss, feeling my heart flutter at the taste of her soft lips.

  Our mornings often began like this, with no worries other than the occasional dead one that came our way. With no other people to distract us, we were free.

  'Morning, sleepy head,' I said smiling.

  'Hey, what's got you up so early, it's barely dawn,' she muttered sleepily.

  'You know I'm always up early. I can't help it,' I told her. It was true, I'd spent much of the last five and a half years sleeping in woods or abandoned buildings, I always slept lightly and even now I could never sleep in. Although I didn't jump so much nowadays, which was a good thing.

  'What's the plan for today?' She asked softly.

  'I thought we'd do a run to the nearest town, see if we can't refuel our supplies,' I replied gently.

  'Okay, lets at least wake up properly first,' she yawned.

  'I've got the perfect way to wake you up,' I smiled playfully.

  'Oh yeah, and what's that?' She asked already knowing what I meant. I pulled the covers down, she lay there in these fluffy blue pyjama's that I found in a nearby town I'd been to last week. It had been getting really cold, I'd brought some of the bed covers from the other rooms to keep us warm, but there was no bette
r warmth than body heat. I sat on her, undoing the buttons of the pj's. No matter how many times I saw her pale body, it never ceased to arouse me. Just one look, one feel of her soft milky skin was enough to get me hot. I resisted the urge to just rip off her clothes, instead I gently took off her top. She took the bobble from her hair, letting her long golden locks flow free around her body. It had gotten so long, I loved running my fingers through it. She kept talking about cutting it, but I told her I loved it this way. I ran my fingers gently over her breasts, feeling them harden at my touch. Sometimes I felt as though I were in a dream, like I'd wake up any moment and find myself back in the woods, alone.

  'I love you,' she murmured.

  'I love you too, more than life itself,' I told her. I slid her bottoms off, gazing at the golden hair between her legs. I smiled lustfully, feeling my desire for her rise within me. I waisted no time, in plunging my tongue between her legs. I loved the feel of her body trembling at my touch, knowing how much she wanted me. I reached up to play with her nipples as my tongue swirled around her. She moaned with pleasure, I could feel her body building up to release all the tension within. I pulled my tongue away, not wanting her to have the release just yet.

  'Every damn time woman,' she said smiling.

  'You know me, I never let you off that easy,' I replied with a raised eyebrow. In the two weeks we'd been back together, she never ceased to surprise me. Long gone was the timid, scared girl I knew. The woman who sat before me, was a warrior, a Goddess, and I could not have been more proud to call her mine. She jumped on me, throwing me down, I saw the twinkle in her eyes, the lustful smile on her face. I was hungry, hungry for the pleasure only she could give, even Delilah couldn't compare, and wow Delilah was- well that girl had stamina. Frankie was different, she was both gentle and fierce, both wild and tamed at same time. She pulled off my tank top, not bothering to be gentle. She yanked off my jeans and knickers, looking at my body with sultry eyes.

  'Oh god woman, just take me already,' I told her.

  'As you wish,' she replied in a sensuous voice. My body warmed at her touch, it tingled making me hotter than I already was. I reached out to grab her hair, I pulled her close, kissing her as she slid her fingers inside. I let the feel of ecstasy overtake me, there was nothing, no one who could make me feel like this.