by Lara Frater
“She’s different. She’s not my daughter. Besides, she isn’t completely without supervision. Tanya’s keeping an eye on both of them.”
“Dad, I froze.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“In the cantina when the gunmen came in and started shooting, I didn’t pull my gun. I grabbed Simon, but they killed him already-- I hid under the table.”
“Honey—“
She began crying. “You’re always saying that if you have a gun, you need to use it when you have to. I should have killed them, but they were too many--”
I touched her shoulder with one hand and swerved around a pothole with the other.
“It’s not your fault,” I said and I believed it. Dena knew how to shoot. I taught her a healthy understanding and respect for guns but every situation was different.
“Yes, it is.”
“Honey, it is 100 percent Joel’s fault. He was crazy and his men were crazy for going along with him.”
“But every time there’s a mass shooting, you always say it could have been prevented if someone had a gun.”
“It’s not always true--”
Dena stopped crying and looked at me. I don’t ever think I admitted to my daughter I was wrong.
“Every situation is different. Nothing is a guarantee, honey, nothing. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that.”
She didn’t respond. I saw a zombie, an old one. I stopped the truck and then relayed a message to Annemarie that Dena and I would kill it.
“Do you want to take care of it yourself?”
“No, and not because I need help from my father but because we need to do this together.”
I unbuckled myself and hugged her hard. I knew I had to let her grow up.
“Will everything ever be okay, dad?” she asked as I held her tightly.
“It may not be okay for a while,” I admitted, “But I think it will work out. If we all stick together.”
Epilogue: Full Circle
We got to the store as dusk began to settle in. The counter was flickering. Probably not best to stay here long but it was late and I had a lot of guns to off load. Overnight wouldn’t kill us.
The front had been smashed but I had emptied the store as the flu epidemic began its full swing. To get to my gun storage and shelter you needed to break through a steel door. Whoever broke in didn’t get through. There were some dents indicting someone tried but the door remained locked as I left it.
I had the three keys needed to open the door. I allowed everyone in. I had a basement shelter which would shield us from the radiation. I let Tanya see backroom but I never allowed anyone other than my family use the shelter. I hadn’t even allowed Jim inside when he was hurt.
I opened the door to the gun room. I turned to the others and saw Annemarie’s mouth agape. When we fled the bombs, I barely took my inventory.
I left almost all the shotguns. I mostly took rifles because they shoot fast and easy and the handguns because they’re small. Most of the guns were inventory for the store, but others were my own personal weapons and a few military grade ones I really shouldn’t have.
Now that we had a truck, we could take it all back. We’ll have an arsenal in case of future Joels.
“That’s a lot of guns,” Gwen said. I knew Gwen really didn’t like guns. Neither did a few other people. They didn’t complain about it, but they seemed nervous. Even Grace felt that Jim shouldn’t have a gun. She told me it would be more likely he would shoot himself.
“If you never want to touch one, I understand. But if you want to ever learn to use one I’ll be happy to train you.”
“I hate guns,” she said, then paused. “But I think we need them now—I’ll think about learning.”
“Annemarie,” I said. “Maybe we can find something a little bit more comfortable for you.”
She laughed. “I’m getting better.”
“What about you, Felix?”
“I seem to be pretty good at swinging a tire iron but I’ll take lessons. I suppose we should all learn.”
I didn’t ask Frannie. I felt bad for holding a gun on her, even if she did agreed. Better to give her some time alone.
“Now we have more ammo, I think I’ll start giving lessons to anyone who wants it.” I closed the door. “I have crates, we’ll pack everything we can tonight, load in the morning. Let me show you to the shelter.”
I hadn’t taken my big generator with me because of its size, but I took a small one. I brought a little fuel to have electricity for one night. It was pretty hot. I ran the AC on energy-save.
The sleeping situation ended up with Annemarie and Gwen in my bed, Dena stayed in her own, Felix slept on our sofa, and I slept in my dad’s room. I would visit his and Vincent’s graves tomorrow.
He had congestive heart failure. We stole two or three year supply of his medication at the drug store but he was living on borrowed time. There were no hospitals, not way to check his arteries. Two months after we met Jim, my father went to sleep and never woke up. Exactly how I wished him to go.
I didn’t even know the state of my health. Hannah gave everyone a physical, Dr. Phillips can do more, but there are no labs to check blood, no EKGs to check the heart, no way to check for cancer or internal bleeding or ulcers. No x-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, or even getting our appendix out.
Hannah had to pull slugs out of Jim and Stan. She tried on Dave. Taking out the one in his shoulder but couldn’t for the one in his gut.
My son couldn’t be saved. The zombie grabbed his arm and bit it before I had a chance to shoot. A tiny bite killed him. Something Hannah could have fixed up in five minutes and he might have not even had a scar.
I was interrupted by ringing. It was coming from upstairs. Other people came out of their bedrooms to investigate.
I looked at the other people. I wasn’t imagining it. They heard it too.
I went upstairs to investigate. I heard others following.
It was my goddamn cellphone. I had left my cellphone behind on its charger. For the first six months I kept it charge hoping things would come back to normal. I forgot about it when it never rang. When I turned the generator back on, it must have started charging again. I picked it up. It read ‘Unknown number’. I clicked it on.
“Hello?”
“Call 800-555-1010,” said a recorded computerized voice, then it clicked off.
“What is it?” Annemarie asked.
“A recorded message to call an 800 number.” I called it back, thinking this was some weird fluke. Some call that never made it through two years ago.
“Hello,” said a voice, real, and female. “This is Donna Boyle of the New United States Republic. Who am I speaking with?”
I had no idea how to answer that.
“Are you there?”
“Yes.”
“And you have questions.”
“A million. Where are you?”
“I’m outside Pittsburgh, sir. Might I ask your name?”
“Mike.”
“Mike. I’m a former civil servant from New York. I’m with the scientists who bombed the cities. We are now working to get the technology up and running. We’re also tracking the survivors and combing the country killing the remaining zombies. It may take some time to get to you, but we’re here to help.”
Join me for the final chapter of the End of The Line series: Full Circle. Estimate publication date October 2014
It’s been two years since the events of Stuck in the Middle. Despite tragedies, drought, and the elements, Harbor Island is thriving with over 200 people living at the farm or around town. It’s also been six months since anyone has seen a zombie even on the main island. That peace may be shattered when a representative from the New United States Republic arrives. They are looking to create a new country. Jim, who is now in charge, is optimistic but cautious about the new people. They aren’t just looking for soldiers to fight against the remaining zombies, food to feed their troops, they are looking f
or people immune or carriers of the zombie virus claiming they are the only ones who can cure it forever.
About the Author:
Lara Frater is a versatile author who writes non-fiction about being fat, and fiction about zombies, sci-fi, dystopia, and ghosts. She is also a librarian and an unapologetic bibliophile. Her first novel End of the Line was published in 2012. Her first book Fat Chicks Rule came out in 2005. She’s published an assorted amount of poetry and short stories. She lives with her husband, and an assorted zoo of friends, family, cats, dogs, snakes, and a cannibal parakeet in Rego Park, NY. Follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/FraterLara
Table of Contents
Part 1 Annemarie
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part 2 Montauk
Chapter 6 Jim
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part 3 Tanya
Chapter 13 Harbor Island
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Part 4All Points North
Chapter 20 Grace
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
PART 5
Chapter 24 Mike.
Chapter 25
Epilogue: Full Circle