by Crist, J. D.
"So, you were an outlaw with a set of morals?" Emily didn't want to sound condescending, but the question still came out that way.
"It sounds ridiculous, but yes. If you want to cross my name out and ask me to leave, I get it." Shawn looked defeated, and Emily couldn't imagine asking him to leave.
"Well, with your military background and experience with criminal activity, it sounds like you would make a great head of security."
"What!?" Shawn sounded both shocked and confused.
"Yeah, we will need someone to keep the watch on the wall organized as well as the police force, everyone will need to be trained with the firearms they will be using, and we will need someone to help lead groups outside the wall to hunt for supplies that we may have to get outside." Emily tried to sound confident and hoped that it would help reassure him that he was welcome here.
"You want me to stay, despite what I just told you?" He was looking at her with both confusion and amazement.
"What is that vest your wearing?" Emily asked without hesitation.
"It's for the club I belonged to. They may all be dead, but I still wear it to keep them close." He looked at the vest while he talked.
"Upstairs, I have a photo album of my family. It has my parents, brother, and sister. It also has my dick of a husband. I keep it to hold on to the good, not to focus on the bad. Just like you keep that to honor your brothers. It helps you to keep them cose. We all have crap in our past we may want to forget, but it's the bad stuff that gives us the strength to move forward." Emily hadn't realized most of this herself until she was speaking the words out loud.
"You are a remarkable woman," Shawn smiled. "I will take the job, boss."
"Good," Emily smiled back at him. They left the study, each still laughing, and found that everyone had moved to the living room. They joined everyone as they talked about how excited they were about what was to come. Derick sat silently in the corner and headed upstairs to bed without saying a word. Emily fed Hope one more time before saying good night to everyone and heading to bed herself. She elected to skip the shower tonight and instead dressed for bed and slid into bed next to Marley. Hope was asleep within minutes, and Marley was right behind her. Emily looked at the bedroom door and realized she had not locked it once again. Despite her dislike for Derick, she felt completely safe and couldn't remember the last time she felt like this.
Emily woke early the following day and got both herself and Hope ready for the day. She remembered her pills and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast. As she walked through the living room, she found Shawn still asleep on the couch and made her way quietly to the kitchen. She was surprised to see Doc was already there and enjoying a cup of coffee.
"Good morning," he chimed as she walked in. "You remember your pills this morning?"
"I sure did," Emily replied. "By the way, I realize I never said it allowed yesterday, but I assume you are okay with being the town physician?"
"Oh yes," Doc laughed," I would be useless as a farmhand or construction worker."
"Great, I believe the clinic has a private apartment above it, if that's okay with you."
"That sounds perfect," Doc replied. "I do have one request if it's not too much trouble."
"Of course, what is it, Doc?" Emily was opening the door for Marley as she spoke.
"The key code to the medication room. Are you able to reset to something that only you and I know?" Doc seemed embarrassed to be asking.
"I can. It's no problem. Is there something concerning that I should know about?" Emily felt that Doc would not ask if there was not something specific that worried him.
"I looked through the medications after your procedure, and the room is quite extensive in what it has. I went back yesterday and noticed that some things were missing, and Derick went from being a loud jerk to calm and relaxed very fast yesterday. I can't be certain, but I would like to be certain that no one uses, abuses or wastes the medication."
"I completely understand. As soon as I'm done feeding Hope, we will go change that code." Doc seemed relieved that she understood. Marley came trotting back in and looked disappointed at the empty bowls that waited for him. Emily shut the door and knew that both she and him would have to wait until Hope was cared for. Emily fixed Hope's bottle and sat down at the kitchen table to feed her. Once Hope had ate her fill, Emily stood, and Marley was taken care of. Emily said to Doc, "Let's go get that changed real fast."
"Oh, I don't want to trouble you. Please have your breakfast."
"It's no trouble, and the rest of the house is still asleep. This way, we can be sure the code is secure." After placing Hope in the basinet, Emily turned and walked to the study and opened the panel that hid the master computer. She opened up the clinic and went through the sequence to change the code on the medication door. Doc watched as she went through the processes. Once the screen flashed asking for the new code, Emily moved to one side and motioned for Doc to enter the code. He did it slowly as Emily watched, and then the computer asked for it to be entered again for confirmation. Emily entered it the second time as Doc watched to make sure she got it right. The computer flashed confirmation that the code had been changed, and Emily closed the panel.
"See, no trouble at all." Emily smiled at Doc as the panel closed.
"I have to say, that felt like a science fiction movie." Doc laughed.
"Yeah, Robert did have a certain flare, that's for sure." Emily turned and saw that Hope was already deep in her morning nap. She decided to let the babe sleep and leave the door cracked in case she woke. She headed back to the kitchen with Doc. She poured herself a cup of coffee and made some toast. The toast had just finished as Shawn walked into the kitchen. He gave a quick "Morning" and walked half asleep towards the coffee. The house was all awake not long after, and everyone grabbed a quick breakfast, eager to set out into the town for the day. None of them had a chance yet to explore, and they were anxious to see what there was to see.
Emily already had a few houses in mind for the families and was eager to set out. Once everyone was ready, she grabbed Hope from the study and walked to the door. She had not seen Shawn since his cup of coffee and assumed he was probably outside having a cigarette. When she opened the door, Shawn was waiting outside but not with a cigarette.
"I thought this might help with all the walking you were doing today." Emily looked down to see a stroller.
"It's perfect, thank you." Emily smiled as she placed Hope inside. Hope seemed happy and was back to sleep in a few moments. Emily began her tour through the town, showing them each of the buildings and what she had found inside. She explained that everyone would be set up with a locker for their weapons and would only take them out while on wall duty. Shawn would be working on that schedule. Right now, the only people allowed to carry a weapon inside the wall would be herself, Shawn, and Sam. Shawn and Sam brought the stroller upstairs to the apartments so Sarah and Jessica could each pick one out. They chose apartments across the hall from each other, and soon it was on to the men's side. Shawn chose one towards the center of town, farthest from the wall. Derick looked in each apartment, complaining about what each one had to offer. Emily was considering the idea that maybe she should have let Shawn throw him off the wall when he finally chose one. A quick stop at the clinic and Doc was able to look at the apartment and claimed it was perfect. She then took Bobby and his family to look at a three-bedroom house next to hers. Bobby picked out a bedroom within minutes, and his parents said they both loved it. Howard and June both liked the two-bedroom she showed them next to the school.
Emily then led them all to the farm. The group commented on how many houses there were, and the excitement continued to grow. Once they reached the farm, everyone seemed in awe. Emily took them to the barn where Buttercup was waiting as always. The cows were already inside and seemed very upset that she had not milked them the day before. After she finished the tour, Jacob and Tessa seemed eager to get to work. Emily began the walk home, and everyone
took off their separate ways, eager to get to work. She needed to get everyone a locker set up and set up the cards for everyone to keep track of their credits. Soon it was just her, Hope, and Marley walking down the road together. Emily turned to walk towards the wall instead of going home. Once she reached the wall, she picked up Hope and walked up the metal stairs to the top.
Emily stood looking out over the wall with the wind whipping around her. The change was definitely in the air, and she was going to stand here through it. She tried to remember the woman who just a year ago couldn't even stand up for herself. It was hard to believe that the same woman was now the leader of this town. Emily looked down at the baby in her arms and then at the faithful dog by her side. It was time for another new beginning, and Emily felt confident that she would handle it as well as she did the last.
The phone went straight to voicemail. The battery must have died months ago. Emily's voice rang through the speaker on the phone.
"This Emily. Leave me a message."
A dull tone followed her words, indicating that it was time for the caller to speak.
"Hey, Emily. I just needed to hear your voice. I hope wherever you are, you are at peace. I hope one day we get to see each other again." The sound of crying takes over for just a moment. " I love you."
The caller hung up, and the phone remained silent on the bedside table.