by Deb Rotuno
“Reminds me of finding Sasha,” I said with a chuckle, but my gaze snapped up when I heard Hank’s and Freddie’s voices get loud. “Oh, fuck!”
I was on my feet and running toward them. Freddie was holding his own, but it was Hank who was in trouble. He’d tripped or something and had zeaks falling on him. I didn’t even waste time with my compound bow but pulled out my .45 and popped off three rounds, killing the closest threat.
As I fell to Hank’s side, I saw the problem. A large truck had been shoved off the road, but there was a greenish-gray hand latched on to Hank’s leg. Flattening to the asphalt, I killed the bastard, but the red stain on Hank’s jeans caused my heart to sink.
“It bit you?” I asked him, getting up and dragging him back a few feet.
“Grandpa!” Freddie yelled, falling next to Hank.
I felt a hand grip my shirt, and Hank pulled me down to face-level. “You… You tell Sara… You tell my little girl…”
I was shaking my head. I didn’t have a fucking clue how I was going to tell Sara about her father. Suddenly, Freddie was pulled to his feet by my dad.
“Freddie, go watch the dog. Give him some of your rations. Go!”
Freddie’s wide eyes shot to my dad, but he didn’t argue, simply got up and did what he was told.
My dad, reaching into his backpack, turned Hank’s face his way. “I can try, Hank. Tell me now…” He pulled out a dangerous-looking syringe, popping off the cap and thumping it to get the air to the top.
Hank simply nodded, barely grunting out, “What’ve I got to lose, right?”
I flinched when the needle slammed home into the vein in his forearm, but when my dad pressed the plunger, Hank practically bowed up off the road and growled in pain through gritted teeth.
In all reality, Hank would’ve already started to turn, but we waited.
“Grandpa Hank!” Rina sobbed, and I held up a hand.
“No, no, no, Rina! Stay with Freddie. Stay right there, please, baby!”
She sniffled and then started to cry in earnest. Freddie, who was watching us from where the dog was in front of the truck, called her name.
Looking back to my dad, I could see sweat beading on his forehead as he continued to check over Hank.
“He… He’s not turning,” I whispered.
“If the formula is correct, he won’t,” Dad replied. “But I need to be sure, so…” He didn’t finish that sentence, but I knew he was waiting for the virus to either take hold or the vaccine to succeed. He busied himself with cleaning the bite on Hank’s leg. “Hank?” he asked, glancing up at my father-in-law’s face. “You still with us?”
“Yeah, but this shit burns!”
Dad glanced up at me, only to go back to the wound. “Perhaps we caught it in time. Maybe the burn is the vaccine fighting the virus,” he muttered to himself.
“It’s been…well over thirty seconds. He would’ve turned, Dad.”
“I know.” A small spark of hope flickered in his expression. “I know, son. Keep your fingers crossed.”
A shiver ran through Hank, and I looked down at his face. It seemed calmer, more at ease.
“Talk to me, Hank,” I ordered, placing a hand on his chest. His heart was beating heavily beneath my touch, which seemed like a good sign.
“I’m… I feel…”
Dad and I leaned closer, waiting with bated breath for his answer.
“Okay.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I shot a quick look to my dad. His expression would be comical, if not for the circumstances. His eyes were wide, his hands still worked on the wound, but a small, pride-filled smile quirked up the corner of his mouth.
“Mom did it,” I whispered, shaking my head.
“Hold that thought, son,” Dad said, wrapping gauze around Hank’s calf. “I want to get him back to base. We’re a closer drive there than to home. I want Alex to check him over before we go back.”
What he didn’t say was that he didn’t want to bring an infected Hank back to camp…or back to Sara. It would shatter her sweet heart should something happen to any of us, but this was her father.
“Okay, let’s get him in the truck…”
“The back,” Dad interrupted, giving me a stern look. “No chances. The virus could still take hold. You won’t want him in the cab if that happens.”
“Copy that,” I sighed wearily. “And the dog?”
We glanced back toward the truck, and I shook my head. It seemed as if Sam knew he’d just found a safe haven, because my kids were being licked from head to toe and loving every second of it as they fed him bits of venison jerky and chicken. I snorted, cracking a small smile.
“Never mind. I guess he’s going,” I said in answer to my own question.
I helped Dad load Hank into the bed of my truck. Sam was exhausted and his feet were sore, so I helped him into the backseat, where Freddie and Rina climbed in after him. But Freddie slammed open the back window.
“Grandpa Rich…”
“I’m doing my best, kiddo. Okay?” was all my dad answered, but he locked gazes with my son. “Just…gimme some time.”
“’Kay.”
The drive back to base was nerve-racking. I kept an eye on the two men in the back, as well as the dog that my kids were already in love with—they seemed to be telling Sam all about Sasha.
“You’ll have a friend when we get home,” Rina cooed, tugging on his ear before giving him some more food from Freddie’s backpack.
The men guarding the gate saw us coming at top speed and immediately opened the gate to let us through, though they were calling out to others to announce we’d come back.
Grayson looked a little worried when I came to an abrupt stop just outside the building where Alex’s lab resided.
“We need Alex! Like now!” I ordered, running around from the driver’s side to the tailgate. I pulled it down with a slam, jumping up in there to help my dad. “How you doin’, Hank?” I asked, but my mouth fell open. Hank looked…fine. Perfect, if not for the wound on his leg.
“What happened?” Alex asked, rushing to the end of the truck.
“He was bitten. We had a swarm stop us on the 140,” Dad explained. “I gave him the vaccine.”
“How long ago?” Alex gasped, reaching up to help Hank down.
“Well over…ten minutes ago.”
Everyone came to a standstill around us—Grayson, his men, even Alex.
“It works,” Grayson barely said aloud. “Seriously?”
Alex nodded vehemently. “It would seem so, but let’s get him inside. I want to monitor him for a few days.”
Hank groaned, rolling his eyes in such a way that I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. He looked just like his daughter.
“Shut up, Jack,” he snapped but then smirked at me. “Leave me with them. Go home.”
“Not yet,” I replied, giving his shoulder a squeeze just before they went inside the building. “Let me make sure what’s going on with you. I don’t… I can’t do that to her, Hank.”
The mention of his daughter caused him to sober up a little. “She’ll…” He sighed, meeting my gaze. “Okay.”
Turning around to help the kids with the dog, I came face to face with Grayson. He looked…shocked, awed, and a little nervous. I’d known of the guy when I was stationed at Fort Warner. His reputation was that of a fair but tough CO. Now, with all the changes in the world, he was shouldering a hell of a lot of responsibility, and he was doing a damn fine job at it. Where he could abuse his position, he didn’t, which made me respect him.
“If this works…” he whispered.
Smiling a bit, I gripped his shoulder. “It’ll change everything.”
It took twenty-four hours for Alex to announce that Hank’s blood was virus-free. The entire base practically cheered. He’d tested it almost once an hour, but just about the time Hank was losing patience at being poked, prodded, and stuck in bed, he was cleared to leave the base.
We left A
lex to start working on a large quantity of the vaccine, which was renamed an antivirus. Life as we’d known it was about to change. No longer did we have to worry about a zeak bite.
I lifted Sam, who was looking a little better but still quite sore, into the truck.
“I miss Mommy,” Rina whispered against my cheek when I set her in next to the dog. Her deep-blue eyes met my gaze, and I grinned, dropping a kiss to her forehead as I echoed the sentiment. “She’s gonna be worried. We were gone too long.”
“I know, baby,” I told her, but I looked to Freddie when I said. “I need you guys make sure to love on her lots when we get home. Big hugs, lots of kisses. Okay?”
Both kids smiled and nodded, but it was Freddie who said, “Okay, Dad.”
Clear Lake, Oregon
3 years & 5 months after Hurricane Beatrice
Sara fidgeted in the passenger seat of the truck. It was such a moment of déjà vu that I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t. I pulled to a stop outside the cabin that had seen it all—from giving Sara and me a place to truly fall in love, to sheltering my family while I busted my ass for six months across the country to get to them. This little wooden building had seen it all.
Shutting off the engine, I gazed around the old camp. There was evidence left behind that we’d packed up in a hurry so long ago. There were no zeaks wandering around, though I could see one or two skewered to the old fence, just like when we’d lived here.
The old camp had seen three winters since we’d left, not to mention countless rainy days, and it showed. The cabin that belonged to Hank had seen better days. There was a small tree toppled over onto the front porch, which had crumbled the steps. Derek’s cabin had a few missing shingles from the roof and the front door was a little crooked, and my parents’ cabin was wide open, which meant someone had come through looking for supplies. I’d expected nothing less than what we were seeing.
We’d been so damn busy, not to mention safe at Klamath Lake, that this place was almost forgotten. We’d seen the antivirus come to be a true and usable reality. Hank was the proud guinea pig, having been the first test. We’d had three weddings in the last year alone, all performed by General Grayson. Alex and Tina were the most recent and Derek and Lexie before them, but the most surprising—to everyone but Sara, apparently—were Hank and Millie. He’d come so fucking close to dying that day that he didn’t want to waste another second. He got back to camp and asked her in front of God and everyone.
Life was moving on too. We’d lost so many along the way, but we were now growing. Derek and Lexie had just celebrated the birth of their little boy, Caleb. Ruby was expecting sometime in December, and Joel was ecstatic. We’d seen two litters of puppies, thanks to Sam and Sasha. Some were loved and spoiled pets at the lodge, and some were with Grayson on the base in Medford, being trained.
And finally, we’d seen the first train come through to the north side of our lake. Humans were carrying on, and the zeaks were slowly dying out. Winters were deemed zeak-hunting season, where large groups would head out to destroy what was still left out there. We were more than surviving; we were now flourishing. We were winning against the virus that had been unleashed over three and a half years before.
I took in my own cabin, happy to see it didn’t look too bad. The railing on the front porch was warped, cracked, and crooked, but the fortified windows and the front door seemed to be intact. I had so many memories of this place. Derek had given it to me as a high school graduation/joining the Army gift. He’d done it with a crooked smile and deviant intentions, saying it could be a bachelor pad, but that wasn’t how I’d seen it. I’d loved this lake, loved coming here as a kid, and to me, the cabin had been my getaway. It meant something to me. I’d gotten drunk for the first time here, hunted here, and fished the little lake behind me. And even though I’d still been with Kim when I’d received his gift, she’d never seen it. She’d broken up with me not long after she went to college. Hell, I’d still been in basic training.
It had been Sara. It had been her all along. She’d been the first and the last girl I’d ever brought here. It had been this place that I’d dreamed about when stationed overseas, and when I needed something to fight for, it had been the thought of showing Sara this place. When the world crashed, it had been this place that I’d sent Sara. It was my escape, my safe haven, and my end goal to all things bad. Seeing it again gave me a sense of peace.
Gazing over at my wife, I smiled when I saw she was watching me. “Damn, Shortcake, I didn’t think we’d see this place again.”
“Why are we here?” she asked with a sweet giggle, but her eyes took in the building in front of us.
“Hank wanted me to check on it. Make sure it was still standing,” I told her, turning in the seat to face her, but my head fell to the headrest just to stare at her.
God, I used to drive her crazy when we’d come here. It was our escape, our tiny vacations from her work and my job on base. I’d tease her the whole drive up here, only to kiss her stupid when we’d finally stop the truck. Reaching up, I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
When her eyes broke away from the cabin to meet my gaze, I smiled, trailing my fingers down her cheek. “You know… You’re just as beautiful today as you were the first time I brought you here.”
She blushed a little but shook her head. “I was so nervous…”
Chuckling, I nodded. “I know, baby. I didn’t mean to rush shit back then, but damn it all if I didn’t need you here…alone. You’re all I thought about that first tour overseas. I just… I wanted it all with you.” I brought her lips to mine, kissing her softly. “And I got it. I got everything I ever wanted and then some.”
She smiled. “I got just as much, you know.”
I kissed her again, smiling a little as I pulled away, dragging my tongue across my bottom lip. “It’s your birthday, Shortcake. What do you want as a present? I brought the quilt.”
Her laugh was stunning and loud and made me laugh with her. She leaned in to kiss me roughly, still giggling a little.
“We shouldn’t stay long, Jack,” she chided, though there wasn’t much oomph behind it.
“We won’t,” I promised with a smile, but I sobered quickly. “I’ve made you a shit-ton of promises in our life, Sara, but I hated that I couldn’t promise you this place again. Now I can. Things are starting to really settle down, and I just… I needed to give this back to you.”
“And to you too,” she surmised, smirking at me, but she kissed me again. “I’m happy to see this place again.”
I sighed in want and love and just happiness. “I told you, Shortcake… The rain doesn’t always last. It may have taken its time, but…things can’t stay bad.”
She leaned in, her fingers slipping into my hair as she suddenly kissed me for all she was worth. Again, it reminded me of that first time I’d brought her here. She’d kissed me just like this when I told her she couldn’t mess up, that I’d already fallen for her. I was just as lost to her now as I was then, if not more. She was my best friend, an amazing mother to three healthy kids, and she and I had been through hell and back.
She broke away from my mouth, pulling my forehead to hers. “Jack?” she panted.
“Hmm?”
She giggled at my lazy smile and inability to stop kissing her. “Jack…take me inside, and bring that quilt. There’s something I want to do…”
I barked a laugh but nodded. I opened the truck door and pulled out the bag I’d packed. It felt good to have our place to escape to again. It felt normal and real, and it felt like us again. I knew we only had a few hours, but I loved that I could finally keep one last promise.
Sara took the quilt with a sexy laugh, leading us inside. She seemed to be on a mission, so I followed her. She spread the quilt over our bed, and once I set the bag down, she tugged my hand, pushing me down onto the edge of the mattress.
My girl looked nervous as she stepped between my legs, but her face was beautiful, with pink cheeks
and a sweet smile.
“I have something for you, Jack.”
“What? No, baby… It’s your birthday…”
“Shut up, Jack,” she said with a laugh, grasping either side of my face to give me a giggly kiss. “Trust me… This is for me too, and it’s sort of perfect that we’re here.”
My brow furrowed as I watched her. My mind fought through a thousand memories of this place as I tried to pinpoint what she was hedging around. When tears started to well up in those beautiful eyes, my heart hurt.
“Baby… Shortcake, you’re scaring me…”
“I’m sorry.” She sniffled, trying to get herself together. Finally, a brilliant smile broke through the tears. “I saw your mom yesterday. She…um…”
I stopped breathing, my eyes raking all over her. Suddenly, the memory of sitting in this very spot a little over ten years ago hit me hard. Sara had been acting just about the same way. Happy, nervous, scared, and hopeful…all rolled into one gorgeous package as she told me she was expecting Freddie.
A gasp escaped me as my own tears blurred my vision, but I pulled her closer between my legs. I cupped her face but then touched her everywhere, almost to make sure she was real. When my hands found her hips, they instinctively moved to her tummy, rubbing reverently.
“You aren’t!”
“I am.” She laughed and sniffled at the same time. “Dottie thinks somewhere around six weeks.”
I didn’t say anything—my mind sort of shut down—which made Sara nervous, so she started to ramble.
“Jack, I know it’s a risk, but we’re better now, safer. I just… We said we’d let nature take its course when we stopped the pills… I honestly didn’t think it would happen, but—”
I don’t think I could stop myself if I tried. My lips met hers in a rough kiss, but I gently pulled her to me by the back of her neck. We’d wanted a big family when we got married, and after she’d had Freddie, we’d taken our time. Now we’d have what we’d always wanted.
“Oh, God…” I breathed against her lips. “We’re really doing this? You’re really pregnant?”