Managing the Apocalypse

by C. J. Boyle

  She watched the live camera feed from the Rehab Center. At that point, all it showed was people working to clean it up and get it ready for people to live in. When she really thought about it, she couldn't blame Kera entirely for the demise of her marriage. Martha couldn't have the children that she so desperately wanted, and even though her husband told her it didn't matter and that he still loved her, she had trouble accepting that she would be enough for him. She let herself use Kera as an excuse, but she knew the truth and perhaps, he did too.

  The center was ready for use in just a week. Everyone thought it would be easy to find enough Link children to fill the center but in reality, it seemed that they gave birth in stages. Probably a biological mechanism to prevent starvation or overpopulation. At first, they could only round up twelve children, but after a few weeks that number grew to twenty. And after the people of New Hope were filled in on what was happening, there was an abundance of volunteers to take care of the children. Martha desperately wanted to be one of those volunteers, but she would have to bide her time for now and hope that things would work themselves out.

  ~ The Move ~

  There was never any question about where Kera would go. The only real question was whether or not Brody would go with her. She packed her bag and headed to the infirmary to pick up Rose. Her Uncle was playing peek-a-boo with her and making her giggle. Kera watched Rose and her godfather playing, and when Rose giggled, it made her all happy and shiny inside. She quickly took her cell phone out to record it. Playing a video of a cute little baby giggling on a really bad day might make everything better again. That little face could easily capture the entire world and never let go. When Kera thought about these Link babies, she couldn't help but think about Charlie and the small possibility of raising him again - or as Mitchell put it, him but not him, again. She had to go to the Rehab Center and be part of it all. She had to know what to expect from the children and what they might be able to contribute to mankind. Everyone was justifiably afraid that the children would suddenly turn into Links, or something entirely different but just as deadly. Kera broke the news to the people of New Hope, awkwardly, over the P.A. System. She wanted everyone to hear the same information at the same time instead of letting the story get passed around, added to, and perverted into something completely fictitious and inaccurate. When she thought about her speech she cringed. "Over the past year we have discovered that, unfortunately, human women can no longer have children. A lot of us, myself included, are having a lot of trouble coming to terms with that. Over the last few weeks another mystery about the Links was unlocked and we're not sure what that means yet. It seems that the Links are giving birth to human children that are very much like the people they used to be. Not only that, but they seem to age very quickly. Like I said, we don't really know what that means. So, we want to set up a school away from New Hope to raise some of these kids over the next year or so and, basically, learn about them and see what happens. If you'd like to volunteer, we are going to need people willing to be twenty-four hour caregivers who are going to love these children and try to raise them to be good people." She tried to be short, simple, and to the point but as soon as she left the office where she made the announcement she was immediately cornered by people screaming questions at her. At the end of the day, she had a major migraine and the volunteers that she needed. Most of the people at New Hope were happy about the children. Kera hoped it would stay that way. She had always believed in God and thought that he had a plan for them. She couldn't imagine that God intended that life for his children. There had to be a reset button somewhere. Maybe this was it.

  Kera picked up little Rose and looked at her Uncle Shawn. He was faking the biggest frown he could manage. "It's only for a week and then you'll come see her. I promise I will take good care of her." She looked at Rose's sweet little face. "I love her too."

  He walked them out of the infirmary. "Well, I love you both." He kissed both of his 'daughters' on the cheek, "I'll see you soon." He waved at Rose, "say bye bye! bye bye!"

  Kera carried Rose outside where everyone was gathering near the city bus she had stolen on the night of The Turn. She looked around for Brody, but couldn't locate him. Instead, she saw Carl with Melissa. She walked over to them, "Hey you two, do you know where Brody is? I mean, if he wasn't coming, I thought at least he'd say good-bye."

  Carl's mouth dropped open a little, "He's not here?" He looked around, "I dunno, Kera." Melissa gave him a mean look. He pointed at her and then placed his finger on his lips. He turned back to Kera, "You don't know Brody like I do. He's a player." He got on the bus.

  "Don't you listen to him, Kera. That man loves you." Melissa scooped Rose out of her arms, "Come on."

  The ride to the Rehab Center was an hour and fifteen minutes. That's a pretty long time to think about any recent mistakes you might have made to drive the man you love away. He told her several times over the last few days that, although he loved her and would follow her pretty much anywhere, he didn't know if he wanted to go with her to teach a bunch of Link kids how to be human. Kera was so angry with him that she stayed in her Uncle's apartment for the last couple of days. Brody never came to see her or tried to apologize. This, of course, confused her but it also made her even madder. She looked out the window and saw part of her reflection. ‘Don't worry, Kera. It will be okay’. Kera leaned forward to speak to Carl who sat in front of her. "What about Mitchell?"

  Carl shrugged, "I'm pretty sure he's already there. Either that or Brody killed him."

  When they finally got to the Rehab Center, it was nearing sundown. Everyone got off the bus and went inside the main building to get their room assignments. Kera walked over to Melissa to get Rose but she shook her head. "I'm going to get her a bottle. Why don't you get your room set up and then come get her?"

  It seemed like a practical idea to Kera. She grabbed her bags and half carried them and half dragged them down the hall until she reached her room. She fumbled with the door until she got it opened and stumbled inside only to find it lit by candlelight. The room was small and resembled a dorm room in a college building. It had a table and a couple of chairs next to a full-size bed. The table had an assortment of fruit and a bottle of champagne, and glasses. The bed had rose petals and Brody on it. He was wearing a tuxedo and a huge smile.

  Kera was elated. She dropped her bags on the floor and jumped onto the bed with Brody and kissed him several times. "Oh my God, I thought I was never going to see you again."

  "Don't be stupid." Brody kissed her tenderly, "Happy Birthday."

  "It's not my... " Kera's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open, "It is my birthday!" She hugged him tight. "I can't believe you did this!"

  Brody let go of her and got up and shut the door. "I have a gift for you," he reached under the table and grabbed a small cooler and put it on the table to open it. He brought out a red container and two spoons. "Cook made this for me. Well, for you. He made it for you." He pried the corner of the container up and sat next to her. "Close your eyes."

  Kera sat up and closed her eyes as she was told. Brody opened the lid and scooped out some of what was inside. "Okay, open your mouth."

  Kera laughed, "Brody, come on."

  "Trust me."

  She opened her mouth and he gently put the spoon inside. It was cold, amazing, wonderful, vanilla...ice-cream! "Mmmmm!" She moaned with delight, "How'd he make this?"

  "Apparently, it's pretty easy if you have the right stuff," he grinned and helped himself to a bite. "Cook is awesome. Another man who obviously loves you."

  It didn't take a genius to know that Brody was sarcastically referring to Mitchell. Kera took another bite and eyed him. "Mitchell isn't tied to a tree somewhere, is he?"

  Brody laughed, "No. He apparently wanted you to have a happy birthday and agreed to make himself scarce for the night. But he said, and I quote "all bets are off for tomorrow."

  Kera dug her finger into the ice-cream and got some of it on the end. Brody
watched her curiously. "What are you going to do with that?"

  "I'm sure I can find lots of places to lick this off of," Brody watched the ice-cream start to melt as she brought it closer to him and wiped it on his neck," Starting with this one." She licked the ice-cream off his neck, making sure to get every last bit of it, and then kissed near his ear.

  He obviously enjoyed feeling her tongue and lips on his skin. He smiled at her, "My turn." He got some ice-cream on the end of his finger, "Take your shirt off."

  "Take yours off," she leaned over and sucked the ice-cream off his finger as slowly and seductively as she could.

  He blew air out of his lips and shook his head slightly. Excited, he worked at taking off his tie and tried to unbutton his shirt at the same time.

  "Leave the tie on." She took her shirt off revealing her white lace bra.

  His eyes lit up, "Dirty."

  "You're dirty."

  Soon he was shirtless, wearing only a tie around his neck as he drizzled a spoonful of melted ice-cream down her chest and belly. She smiled and laughed while she tried to stay still as the cold drops hit her body. When he put the spoon down, she looked at him and waited in anticipation. He grabbed her waist with both hands and dove towards her bellybutton where most of it started to pool. Kera couldn't help crying out with joy. They played with the ice-cream until they were both very sticky, dirty, wholly satisfied, and very much in need of a shower.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Day to Day

  The next day was spent getting acquainted with the facility. It would definitely be different living there instead of at New Hope. The Rehab Clinic didn't have any power, which meant that the water wouldn't work unless the diesel generators were running the pumps. Which probably would have been useful information the night before when Brody was romancing Kera with vanilla ice-cream on top of a bed of fake rose petals. He stood in the kitchen watching her mixing special shakes for the children. They basically consisted of powdered calorie and protein rich shakes that body builders or athletes would use in order to consume enough calories to build muscle mass. After that, she mixed in a massive amount of chocolate syrup. She poured a little bit into a cup and handed it to him, "What do you think?"

  He didn't want to taste it. He scrunched his nose up at it and shook his head.

  Kera laughed and leaned in close to him, "What if I put a little bit on my finger?"

  He wanted to pick her up and put her on the counter and take her right there in the kitchen. Instead, he looked her in the eyes in such a way that he was sure she could read his thoughts. He picked up the cup, "You're dirty." He took a sip.

  "You're dirty," she turned red but smiled.

  He swallowed the thick chocolatey drink and cringed. "Oh my God, that's terrible." He coughed and then wiped his lip, "The kids drink this?"

  She nodded, "They seem to like it."

  She poured the mixture into several bottles and showed him how to cut the rubber tips a little wider to allow the thick shake to pass through easily. After that, she placed the bottles on a tray and walked them carefully into the cafeteria. He followed her. The kids knew what was coming and all of them crowded her and reached up for their bottle. Some of them pushed each other, "Me first!"

  Brody snapped his fingers and pointed at them, "Hey! Cut it out or no one gets any!" He helped Kera hand them out. He looked at Jessie in the back by himself. His was a large mug. Brody grabbed it off the tray and walked over to the boy. Physically he was about eight years old. He was already missing his top center teeth and two adult teeth were growing in. The poor kid looked miserable. He handed Jessie the mug, "Hey, little man, how you doing?

  "Ok, I guess." He gulped his drink.

  "You wanna go shoot some hoops with your pal, Brody?"

  Jessie had a chocolate shake mustache over his lip. "Yeah!"

  "Okay, let's go, kiddo."

  Brody took Jessie outside to the basketball court. The weather was warm but there were dark clouds threatening to end their fun sooner than planned but Brody was determined to have a little bit of fun with the boy. He walked over and picked up the basketball that had been sitting on the ground just waiting for someone to play with it. Carl insisted on bringing a basketball and Brody was glad for it. Not only was playing good for blowing off some steam, but it was a great way to pass the time - not to mention a good way to bond with a kid who needed a friend. It couldn't be easy for Jessie to be the only eightish year old boy at the center. He definitely didn't fit in with the others.

  Brody bounced the ball to Jessie, "Do you know how to play?"

  The boy caught the ball and looked at it closely. He twisted it around and looked at the black lines and the little orange bumps. He mashed his hands hard against each side of it, brought it above his head, and then beamed it at the ground as hard as he could. It bounced up over Brody's head and he caught it as came back down. "I'll take that as a 'no'." He dribbled the ball as he walked up to the basket. "In basketball, if you're moving, you have to be bouncing the ball, like this. Otherwise, you're traveling."

  Jessie looked at him funny. "Traveling?"

  Brody considered for a moment. It really didn't make sense to him either. "It's just a term they use for when someone moves the ball from one point to another without dribbling it."

  The boy cocked his head to the side, "Dribbling it?"

  Brody laughed, "It's just what we call bouncing the ball. Tell you what, let's concentrate on throwing it through the basketball hoop. Okay?" He tossed the ball up. It hit the corner of the red square on the goal and then dropped through the basket. "Like that, okay?" He grabbed the ball after it bounced off the ground and then he gently tossed it to Jessie. The boy suddenly flinched and put his hands up. He caught the ball but only after it hit him in the chest. Brody wanted to laugh but held it in. "Okay, now aim for the little red box."

  Jessie held the ball next to his face for a moment and then tried to launch himself and the ball up to the basket. The ball hit the ropes under the hoop and fell to the ground. Poor Jessie looked defeated. "I can't do it!"

  Brody nodded his head, "Yes, you can. You just have to keep trying. You'll get it."

  At the end of the court, Dr. Haley watched them play. He was a curious old man with long white hair who always wore his white coat where ever he went. It was how he was most comfortable and it was part of his personality, so he felt naked without it. He watched as the giant, mountain of a man named Brody, tried to teach the oldest Link child how to play basketball, and he found it highly intriguing. The boy tried to shoot the ball through the basket again but failed miserably. Mitchell walked up beside him. Haley was glad to see him because he had questions. "That's your son, right?"

  Mitchell raised his eyebrow at him, "He calls me daddy." He was wary of the doctor.

  The doctor didn't let Mitchell's expression phase him. "Did your son know how to play basketball?"

  "He played all four years of high school." He watched Jessie throw the ball again. It almost went in. He yelled at the boy, "Good try, Jessie! Keep it up!"

  When Brody realized that Mitchell was watching them, he waved at him to come join them. Mitchell looked over at the doctor briefly and excused himself. He walked over to the pair as they played. Jessie tried again and rocketed the ball towards the basket. This time it went through.

  Brody gave the boy a 'high five' and smiled broadly. "Good job!"

  Jessie was excited and proud of himself. "Thanks, Uncle Brody!"

  Brody was surprised. He looked at Mitchell as he walked up. "Did you tell him to call me that?"

  Mitchell shook his head, "Me? No. But we both know someone who might have."

  They nodded to each other and watched Jessie run after the ball.

  * * *

  Kera walked to the back corner of the property to start her guard duty for the evening. It was a warm day and the area was shaded by a couple of trees. Birds were chirping and the air smelled like a mixture of grass and dirt, but it wasn’t a ba
d smell. It smelled like spring. Melissa was sitting on a small boulder with a rifle lying across her lap. Kera walked up and sat down on a boulder across from her. “Hey, I’m supposed to relieve Carl. Where is he?”

  She looked annoyed, “He had to go to the bathroom.”

  Kera noticed that her color had changed slightly since the weather had changed. “Your skin is a little pink now.”

  “I know, I look in the mirror every day.” She shook her head, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound as rude as it did.”

  “Yes, you did. What’s wrong?” Kera didn’t think Melissa had a problem with her, but she clearly did.

  The ‘false’ Link looked at her with her silver pinkish eyes and shook her head. “I just don’t get it. Not to toot my own horn but I’m a great, well-rounded, person. Yet everyone looks at me like I’m a freakin’ vampire and you…” she gestured to Kera and then let her hand fall to her side.

  “I’m what?”