Midnight Outbreak

by Jeffus Corona, Brandy

  “Alright,” he began, “We have a few new things to cover. I talked to the captain this morning and the troop will leave our compound at the beginning of next week.”

  Smiles broke out all around the table. Mari let out a squeal.

  “But,” Josh broke in. “We will also be saying goodbye to one of our own.”

  “Say what?” Mari asked, anxiety riddled on her face.

  “Sarai will be leaving with them and continuing her job as the head medic.”

  A hush fell over the group and Sarai gave a small, sad smile. “I’m going to miss all of you. The captain asked if I would continue working for them and I just feel like this is the direction I’m supposed to go.” She sighed. “Lord knows that y’all have given me more than enough job security around here. I think I’m really needed out there.”

  “Like it’s your calling right?” West asked. Makayla gave him a weird look, and he just shrugged.

  “Exactly, West. When they pack up and leave, I’ll be going with them.”

  Joan, seated next to her, leaned her head on her shoulder and shut her eyes.

  Brendan cleared his throat. “Well Sarai, we are going to miss you. I know Uncle John was forever grateful for your help with all of us. Especially him, since he never could go a day without at least one accident.”

  Everyone except the newbies laughed, remembering Uncle John and all his accidents. Brendan’s quip lightened the mood immensely.

  “Okay,” Josh spoke up, quieting everyone. “Second thing is, we need to discuss what exactly will happen to us going forth. I think that the compound should stay around. We don’t know how long the world’s going to take to rebuild, or what exactly is going to happen. I don’t know if anything will ever be the same, but it’s doubtful. If you want to leave, that’s fine. There’s family that many of us have wondered about throughout the years, old homes, old hometowns. If you feel like you want to leave, then that’s your prerogative and there will not be any ill will if you decide to do so. Just like Sarai here, if you have a calling somewhere else, then admit that’s where you need to be.

  “If you do want to stay, then we have work to do. Simon told me last night of an old lumber store that they passed not too far from here. The soldiers will leave all the fences around the perimeter. We need to rebuild certain sections of the house. The weather’s gonna be getting warm, so we’ll have to restock our food. When the army does leave, there won’t be all that extra food anymore. So we’ll have to go back to how we were before, with hunting and gardening.

  “The vampires aren’t staying. Well, except for Luna.” Josh cast a glance at Brendan, whose cheeks reddened. Will muttered something, and Brendan jabbed him in the side with an elbow. Josh continued, “While the vampires have suffered a lot of loss, they still have places that they can go. But they won’t until all the dead heads have been rid of.”

  Mari let out a small cry and immediately put her head in her hands.

  “Mari, they’ll still be around. They won’t disappear forever. We’ve come to an agreement that they will keep in contact with us.” Josh tried to console her. She doubled over, her head disappearing from view as her tiny body shook.

  Van got up, motioning for Brendan to stay put, and she went to Mari’s side. She whispered into her hair and then stood up with Mari. They walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

  Lisa looked confused. “I guess the vampires are good friends?”

  Brendan nodded. “Well, they are, to all of us. They’ve served with us here and Mari took a real strong attachment to Lexi and Sienna when this all happened. Her mother was killed when she was five and the vampires came into her life very shortly afterward. Lexi has been like a mom to her. For a very long time.”

  Lisa nodded. “Poor thing.” Brendan only gave a short nod, creases wrinkled his forehead.

  “So, with all that being said. If you want to stay at the compound, raise your hand.” Brendan’s hand shot up, as did Josh’s.

  Will put both his hands up. “I’m Van’s answer. We’ve both discussed this already and she wants to stay.”

  Makayla and West’s hands were next. Simon and Lisa looked around at the group, then at each other and raised theirs. Only Joan and Sarai didn’t have theirs up.

  Everyone looked at Joan and then Josh. This next bit of news was going to be hard. Joan had come to him in the early hours this morning and had told him.

  “Joan, go ahead and tell everyone else what you told me.”

  She nodded and cleared her throat and began. “Back when all this started happening. I told myself that if it ever stopped, if there was ever a time when it was free and clear I would go search for my daughter and son. They were both in other cities but I wrote them when the mysterious ‘illness’ was starting. I told them to go to our acreage of land in Tennessee and stay put. My daddy had a place a lot like this and I can only hope and pray—and I’ve done a lot of both in the last seven years—that they made it there and stayed put. I have to go see. I don’t have a lot of years left. I want to see my babies before my time’s up.”

  Her confession shut the entire room up. Will’s shoulders slumped, as did Brendan’s. Sarai was shocked and looked at her with her mouth agape.

  “How are you going to get there?” Makayla asked quietly.

  “Well, the captain said he would fly me up to the area. If they’re there, I’ll stay. If not, then I guess I’ll find my way back to you guys. Y’all have become my family. I love each of you more than anything. My daughter and son were my life. They were only twenty and twenty-four when all this stuff happened. Both of them were in college in different parts of the state of Michigan. I can only hope they followed my directions and didn’t think their mom was a raving lunatic.” She smiled, her wrinkled face glowing just a tad bit.

  “So that’s that. There will be some changes. There’s always been changes around here and we’ve always pushed on. I’ve already told Joan, that if—God forbid—her kids aren’t there, for her to come back home to us. She knows how to contact us on the CB and we’ll go get her.” Josh cracked a smile. “I haven’t been out to Tennessee in a while.”

  Will raised his hand and Josh nodded to him, giving him the floor. “Simon and Lisa, we hope that both of you find this place agreeable. It’s not perfect by any means, but it works. The future is one big unknown and maybe one day we won’t need this place, but I don’t think that time is anywhere close.”

  The newcomers nodded. “We are so appreciative. We really are,” Simon said truthfully. He and Lisa had cleaned up the night before, taking a shower and getting in cleaner clothes. Lisa had proven to be a very attractive girl without all the dirt covering her. Simon, who was part Cherokee, they’d learned, looked better as well.

  They’d told the group how they were high school sweethearts and had been on summer break right before their senior year when the plague happened. Their families had all been taken from them and they stuck together for the entire time.

  “Well then, everyone is free to go. Just hold strong for the rest of the week. The soldiers will be gone soon.” He threw an apologetic glance at Sarai. Nobody liked the army being there but when they left it would mean Sarai’s sweet soul would be gone as well. She shook her head and shrugged, telling Josh not to worry without having to use words. She was good like that. Not having to say one word, but conveying so much in her simple gestures.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Spring brought the new changes that Josh had warned the group about. The army packed up and left, taking Sarai and Joan with them. Sarai’s farewell was bittersweet. They all knew that she would do great wherever she was going, but they were sad to see her leave. She had been a fixture at the compound. Her grace and beautiful smile helped them all individually while they recovered from whatever wounds they had endured.

  Sarai had promise
d it wouldn’t be a goodbye. Just a so long, see you soon. Nobody could keep promises in this day and age. She had Joan cut her hair a little shorter, insisting that long hair just got in the way when it was time to save a life or fix a wound. Her goodbye message was short and sweet, her voice giving out on her and tears overwhelming her before she turned and left.

  Joan had left with a bag packed with the belongings she had brought with her at the very beginning. That included a framed photo of her and her late husband, a photo of her kids and her wedding ring with a book Uncle John and his wife had given to her when she got married. Mari gave her a bracelet constructed of tightly woven twigs and vines and she slipped it on with tears running down her face.

  She gave each person a hug and a kiss, even newcomers Simon and Lisa. Then, before she left the house, she spoke with tears still running down her face and a voice wobbly with emotion. “Each one of you is special. A survivor, most of all. Don’t ever forget that. You are here for a purpose and you were brought into my life for a beautiful reason. To keep me living. When this all happened and I lost contact with my children, I wanted to give up. It was Uncle John and my dear friend Peter that told me to come out, to save myself, because I was needed. He was right. I will be praying for each of you just like I’ve always done. I love you all.”

  Then she left. Josh prayed that she would find her kids and that she wouldn’t experience any more heartache than she already did.

  ***

  That night, Josh finally consummated his relationship with Makayla. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her up the stairs. They went into his room and closed the door, lighting a candle on the nightstand. Most everyone was still awake, but that didn’t matter. He sat on the bed and pulled her on top of him, straddling his legs. Their faces were inches apart.

  “I want you to know that I slept with a few women while I was away.”

  Makayla nodded curtly. “Okay?”

  “I slept with them and it had been the first time since my wife died.”

  She frowned and reached her hand to cup his face. “It’s okay. We weren’t together. We still aren’t. You don’t have to explain anything to me, darlin’.”

  “But I want to. And I do want to be together. I’m one fucked-up man and I’ve never wanted to start something because I can’t handle losing. I was lost when Myra died; she haunted me. I still miss her; I feel guilty as hell for not thinking about her every day like I used to. But I don’t want that to get in the way of me and you. I want there to be an us, and I think we should try.”

  Makayla smiled. “I think there should be an us, too. I’d like that very much.”

  Without another word, she bent her head down and kissed him. It was different from when he was with Lacy. It wasn’t so much squashing a need that had risen, but instead finding himself again, loving another woman’s body. He took his time undressing her, kissing all the rises and falls of her skin and body. She was beautiful in every way and finally he laid her down underneath him and entered her.

  She grabbed tufts of his hair and bit his shoulder, while he thrust into her harder and harder. Finally, they both came in muffled screams. He collapsed to the side of her, his body slick with sweat.

  “Shit,” she whispered.

  He smiled over at her. “Ditto.”

  They cleaned up and went to bed for the first time since they had met, cuddling together on the full size bed. Her naked body pressed up against him was a foreign feeling, but one that he reveled in. He took her one more time before they finally fell asleep, naked and feeling satisfied.

  Josh felt a weight completely lifted from him. This time he felt whole. Maybe he could let himself fall in love with her. She was a fighter, a survivor like him. He wanted her to be with him.

  ***

  Spring turned into summer, the season everyone hated in east Texas. The air was muggy and as soon as you stepped outside your body was doused with layers of sweat.

  Inside the house wasn’t any better, and the doors were left open, as were the windows, to let whatever heat out of the house. It was miserable, but Josh found himself in the best mood all season long. Mari donned short summer dresses and West was often found without a shirt on while they went on throughout the day. Since summer meant longer days and shorter nights, the vampires weren’t seen as much. And when they were awake, they were busy making plans for leaving the compound.

  A message over the CB had confirmed that there were no more reported zombies in the countries of the United States and Canada. With that, the vampires decided it was time to take a break and leave the humans.

  It was a bittersweet farewell. Josh had never liked the idea of supernatural things being true, but he couldn’t hide the fact that these particular vampires had become their family. Even Will, for the first time since they had been together, shook hands with each vampire and wished them well.

  “We will keep in touch. I promise,” Lexi said as she, Miguel, Sienna, and Lukas waved goodbye before flying up into the air. Mari wasn’t as heartbroken as everyone thought she would be. She held on to the hope that she would see her vampire family again and they would be a consistent part of her life. For Mari’s benefit, Josh hoped she was right.

  Things with Makayla had blossomed, and did so even more after Will and Van decided to get married. Brendan officiated the small ceremony, and Mari and West acted as flower girl and ring bearer. Seeing Will so happy, carefree, and in love gave Josh hope.

  He would never admit it, for fear of being called some sort of crude expletive from his best friend, but Will gave him hope in the future.

  Will had told him that Van was pregnant. The very early stages, but they had conceived a child in the zombie plague. Josh knew it would be hard, but he vowed silently to himself and then out loud to his best friend to help them however he could. Will would make a terrific father, a strong protector always, in any type of danger.

  Simon and Lisa proved to be quite the help with their background in living off the land. Simon had knowledge of countless techniques that had helped him and Lisa survive all those years in the wild. Since Joan was gone, Lisa took it upon herself to teach the children and continue them with their studies. “You never know, y’all may have the chance to go to a real school one day,” she was fond of saying. She was a hopeful person, very positive and always looking on the sunny side of things.

  Brendan had changed his sleeping schedule so he could spend more time with Luna. Nobody chided him with the fact that he had fallen in love with a vampire. Some things were just meant to be. He worried Luna would get bored or lonely without the other vampires to keep her company. She was an outsider, a loner, and she and Brendan suited each other perfectly.

  Luna and Mari grew closer, too. Luna had always held back, she explained, because of her respect for Lexi and Mari’s bond. She never wanted to overstep and upset those boundaries. But now that Lexi was gone, Luna wanted to be there for Mari. So Brendan let Mari stay up as late as possible, changing her sleeping habits slightly. Kids were wired different, though. They could stay up all night and still be ready to go in the mornings. Or at least, that was the case with Mari.

  Each day brought a little more freedom to the kids, without the worries of dead heads around. Though Brendan, ever the conspiracy theorist, always said nobody could trust what the government said one hundred percent.

  The children went to the nearby creek to swim and fish. Brendan took them both on hunting trips without the fear of zombies lurking around.

  They never heard from Joan. They all wanted to believe that she had found her son and daughter. Thinking anything else would be heartbreaking.

  Will kept in contact with Lexi. She had resumed her father’s job, as did Will, and they kept in contact about where nasty hives of vampires were. Will returned to the vampire-killing business with Lexi’s blessing. She was concerned
with the numbers of vampires growing because of the news of the ending of the plague. So he did what he did best, and started killing.

  He would disappear after having a conversation with Lexi and come back reenergized, his katana used once again for what it was made for. Van worried about him and wanted to come help, but she couldn’t, not while she was pregnant. He promised to take her under his wing and teach her the ropes just like he had done with Josh so long ago.

  Without the fear of zombies, life was freer. Josh had learned long ago not to give in to those feelings all the way. The future was still uncertain. Even though that was true, he decided to live life to the fullest.

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  Things were starting to change. The grid was turned back on and they had running water and electricity for the first time. They got one news channel up in Dallas and even though it was fuzzy and gray, they were still able to watch it. It reported once a day. Every day at noon. They would gather to listen to the hour long show. From Canada to the southern tip of Texas, towns were being re-built.

  The co-op army had disbanded and the United States made its own army. They tallied the total survivors. The numbers weren’t very high, but there were survivors across the land. And that made them hopeful. Each survivor was given a stipend to help rebuild and restart. A few months later, the survivors at Uncle John’s compound were paid a visit. The stipend wasn’t money, because nobody had any access to money and it was basically useless.

  No, the stipend was food, clothes, and weapons. That was more useful and needed than any money.

  The news station also reported that the government would rebuild. The President was back in DC, in a newly rebuilt White House. He finally appeared on TV one day, dressed to the nines and inside the new office.

  “We will overcome this situation. Whatever happens from now on, we will be a stronger nation, a strong people united because we have all persevered—”