by Crist, J. D.
"That should do it," he said as he walked towards the cab.
Emily watched as he climbed inside and turned the key. The truck cranked but didn't fire over.
"It can take a couple of tries to work it through the fuel lines," Cole explained.
He turned the key again, and Emily nearly jumped when the truck roared to life. Cole couldn't contain his excitement as he clapped his hands and celebrated.
"Time for the final test," he said to Emily.
"Would you like to go for a ride?"
"Oh, I'm not being left behind," Emily smiled as she walked over and climbed into the passenger side.
Cole put the truck in gear, pulled it out of the makeshift garage, and began driving through the streets of Sanctuary. The truck went smooth, and Emily could not help but be surprised. Cole slowed the truck to a stop when they reached Emily's house.
"You did an amazing job, Cole," Emily beamed.
"Thank you, ma'am." Cole was grinning like a kid who managed to steal a warm cookie.
"With the remaining fuel turning to sludge would you like me to set to work on the other vehicles?"
"Definitely." Emily couldn't help but be excited. "Let's get the pickup done next if you can."
"I'll get started on it in the morning."
Cole jumped out of the truck and walked over to the passenger door, and opened it for Emily.
Emily felt herself blush as she allowed Cole to help her out of the truck. Cole walked her around the truck and then, with a tip of his hat, was back in the truck and driving back to his house. Emily waved goodbye and turned back to her house. Shawn was sitting on the porch steps while Hope and Marley played in the grass.
"Was that a date?" Shawn asked in a mocking voice.
"A test drive," Emily laughed. "The moonshine fuel works like a charm."
"That's a good thing. Our remaining gas is almost gone."
"He's going to start on the pickup tomorrow morning."
"That is our primary one," Shawn replied.
"You sure that it's a good idea?"
"I do." Emily placed her hands on her hips as she spoke. "Are you questioning my judgment?"
"Nope," Shawn smiled. "I know better than that."
"Good man." Emily smiled as she joined him on the porch steps.
"I'm sure you're mad at me for going to Father Nathan," Shawn said, not looking at her.
"Not mad," Emily spoke. "Frustrated but not mad."
"I understand that," Shawn said. "I was just worried."
"I know," Emily nudged him as he spoke.
"I'm not going to say there won't be any later nights on the wall, but I'll be okay."
Shawn nodded as he continued to watch Hope and Marley play in the grass. Emily leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder as she watched Marley and Hope play. They sat together until the sun had started to set, and Hope began rubbing her eyes.
"I better get her fed and in bed before this turns ugly," Emily said as she began to stand up.
"I need to go work on the schedules anyway," Shawn said as he stood behind her. "Remember, if you need anything, just radio."
"I will." Emily waved goodbye to him after she picked up Hope.
Emily led her family inside and once again set to making dinner. She noticed that her food supply was finally running low and resolved to make herself a shopping list after Hope was in bed. They were all at dinner quickly, and Hope managed to remain pleasant through a bath. Emily laid Hope down in her crib while Marley took his position under the crib.
Emily quickly gathered the clothes that Hope had outgrown and replaced them with the ones she had just picked up. She then headed back downstairs and grabbed the bags of clothes she had stored down there over the past couple of months. Emily loaded them all into the washer together and started it. She wanted to ensure that they were all as clean as possible before taking them to Jessica in the morning.
Emily headed upstairs, set to do some basic house cleaning, and wrote her list while the washer ran. Once it was finished, she loaded everything into the dryer and headed upstairs for her shower. Emily finished and headed back to the bedroom to get dressed. She knew she should be exhausted because of the very little sleep she had gotten the night before, but she was wide awake. Emily opened the closet, but instead of her pajamas, she put on jeans and a t-shirt.
Emily grabbed the baby monitor and listened to ensure that both Hope and Marley had fallen asleep. She then put on her jacket and tucked the baby monitor into the pocket. Perhaps a walk around the wall would help her wind down and go to sleep. Emily quickly headed out the door and made her way towards the wall. The sun was down, and the street was empty.
Emily retrieved her rifle from the armory and then headed up the wall. Emily was relieved to see that no one was in the control room and knew they must be doing patrols. Emily took up her post by the road once more and placed the baby monitor on the ledge. She then took her rifle from her shoulder and began the process of scanning the road just as she did the night before. Now and then, she would hear someone walk behind her, but none of them said anything. The street was quiet tonight, and Emily felt her mind begin to relax. After a few hours, Emily pulled the monitor from the ledge, placed it in her pocket, and headed back down to the armory. She returned her rifle to her locker and made her way home.
Emily quickly changed into her pajamas and retrieved Marley from Hope's room. Soon they were both snuggled into the bed, and Emily allowed herself to glance at the clock. It was three-thirty by the time she got into bed. Emily allowed herself to yawn and fell into a dreamless sleep in minutes.
Chapter 12
The rest of the summer flew by, and Emily kept her same routine. After putting Hope to bed each night, she returned to the wall and would not go to bed herself until about three-thirty. Hope was beginning to resist being in the carrier, so she had mastered the art of crawling and preferred to move. Emily was forced to take more frequent breaks to give Hope a chance to get out and move around. Marley was back to his old self, and if it weren’t for the scar, no one would ever know he had been injured.
Shawn had continued with his classes and even had Margaret helping him teach. Derick was not allowed in the classes. During his wall shift he was only a spotter and was not allowed a weapon Shawn had said for security reasons, it was not safe to allow Derick a gun at any time. Emily had followed his suggestion, and Derick had made his feelings clear. However, while he vocalized them, he always knew when to stop and return to work.
It was the end of October, and Emily had planned an event for everyone. She had been working with some of the townspeople, and they were going to celebrate Halloween. The only rule, no zombie costumes. They had been working with the parents and helping them make the children’s costumes. They were going to have a little party and allow the kids to trick-or-treat around to different tables.
Everyone had been on edge since the encounter with Jeff, and they had not seen any new groups since. Emily told them that people were probably trying to find a place to hunker down for winter. However, she knew what they all were thinking was perhaps true. Jeff was probably intercepting the groups or had at least done something to the stations. Shawn was knew that Emily would disapprove of a group going out to take out Jeff. While everyone’s accuracy was getting better, Emily felt the risk was still too high for them.
Cole had converted all of the vehicles to run on moonshine. It was just in time as the last of the gas had turned to no more than sludge. He had been back stocking their new fuel source and had even managed to brew an extra for “grownup time.” Emily had not felt comfortable sending a group out on the run since the attack. She had searched the empty house and come up with about a dozen bibles and gave them to Father Nathan. She knew that he wished for more but seemed grateful for what she was able to give him.
Emily made her way through the streets doing her daily check-ins. Everyone was in high spirits, and many expressed to Emily that they were excited for the eve
nt that night. Emily had baked her cookies the night before. Once Emily had finished, she headed back to her home to find some of the guys already setting up. Hope began to squirm and fuss on Emily’s back. Emily stopped and removed Hope from the carrier and placed her in the front yard. Hope began to crawl, and Marley began to follow her through the grass. Emily sat on the front step and watched the two of them play for a while.
She could see that the tables were all nearly ready, and the lights were all up. Hope was crawling towards Emily and showing that she was prepared for her lunch. Emily scooped up Hope and took her and Marley inside. She fed Hope lunch and then laid her down for a nap and read her a short story. Emily had found herself reading to Hope every chance she got.
Once Hope and Marley were both asleep, Emily took the baby monitor from her room, grabbed the cookies, and headed outside to help set up. Emily was helping Bobby set up chairs as Hope began to make noise.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Emily said to Bobby.
“I’m almost done,” Bobby smiled back at her. “You guys should start to get ready.”
“Well, you better run home to get ready too,” Emily grinned at him.
“I will as soon as I’m done.” Bobby could barely contain his excitement as he spoke.
“Is it true that the grownups are dressing up too?”
“It’s true,” Emily grinned.
“Even Shawn?”
“I’m not sure, to be honest. I guess we will have to wait and see.” Hope began to grow louder over the monitor. She was upset that Emily had not arrived yet. “I better get going,” Emily smiled at Bobby as she headed towards the house.
“I can’t wait to show you my costume!” Bobbie yelled back at her.
“I can’t wait to see it!” Emily called back to him as she walked into the house.
Emily made her way upstairs just as Hope began to make her frustration known. As Emily opened the door, Hope went quiet. Emily looked to see Hope standing in her crib smiling and Marley sitting beside it.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t name you Patience,” Emily teased as she picked up Hope and gave her a diaper change.
“Mommy will get dressed first, and then we will get you and Marley ready.”
Emily walked Hope to her room, and Marley followed. Emily closed the door and allowed Hope to crawl around with Marley watching over her while she got dressed. Emily had worked hard on their costumes over the past month. Hope would be a princess; Marley would be her noble steed, and Emily would be a queen. She had protested at first, but Julia and June insisted. Emily slipped into her dress and then set to work on her hair. Once Emily was done, she put her crown on the bed and picked up Hope.
Hope cooperated in putting on her costume and was soon dressed as an adorable princess. Emily had made her a pink dress with tule and had glued gems over the bottom of the dress. Emily had also made her a cone princess hat and draped pink cloth on the top. Emily was pleased with how it turned out. Hope seemed happy with her new outfit as well. She didn’t try to pull the hat off but was fascinated with the gems. The gems helped to keep Hope distracted while Emily put Marley into his costume. Marley stood still while Emily secured his saddle and attached ropes as reigns to his collar. Once everyone was dressed, Emily grabbed her crown and walked everyone back downstairs and outside. Emily realized she had taken a while to get ready as everyone was already gathered and the music was playing. Shawn had changed the wall shifts so everyone would only have to be gone an hour at a time during the event. Emily walked out to the street and began greeting everyone.
“A queen should never be seen without her crown,” Shawn spoke from behind her.
Emily quickly placed the crown on her head and turned to face him. Emily couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at him. Shawn was dressed as a grizzly bear.
“Where did you?” Emily couldn’t finish her sentence because she was laughing too hard.
“Margaret helped me,” Shawn laughed. “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” Emily grinned. Shawn offered her his fuzzy arm, and Emily took it. Shawn then led them through the party. Everyone was laughing and having a good time.
“So, I may have told one person that the costumes were required,” Shawn grinned while looking over Emily’s head.
“You what?” Emily laughed.
“Yeah, I had Margaret help me with his required costume.”
Emily turned to see Derick walking towards them dressed as a court jester. Emily quickly had to look away as she burst out laughing.
“I better go tell him that it was all me before he sees you guys and thinks you did it. It was worth it, though.” Shawn bowed and then took off, walking towards Derick.
“You’re an asshole!” Derick’s voice rang out over the music and talking.
“I know,” Shawn said as he continued laughing.
Emily smiled to herself and made her way to a table to sit down. Hope continued to look around and smile at everyone.
“What do you think of my costume?” Bobby ran over to her. Emily looked at his cop costume and knew that he had chosen to look like his dad.
“It’s perfect!” Emily remarked.
“Ready for a family picture?” Jessica said as she walked towards Emily.
Emily couldn’t help but smile at Jessica’s costume. Jessica was wearing a cheerleader outfit. Jessica had talked about how she was a cheerleader in high school and had carried her uniform with her even after the flash. Emily assumed that this was her actual high school uniform.
“Family picture?” Emily asked, realizing what Jessica had asked her.
“Yeah, I found a camera and a printer. I thought everyone would like to have a picture to remember tonight.”
“That’s a great idea,” Emily replied. “Do you think you can take one of everyone dressed up? It would be nice to have a town picture.”
“I figured out the timer function, so yes,” Jessica smiled.
“If you can, maybe we should take a yearly picture of everyone.”
“I can.” Jessica was grinning big. I can get the original group together for a picture in the next couple of days, and then we can take one every year on Hope’s birthday.”
“Why Hope’s birthday?” Emily asked.
“Technically, that’s the mark of the first day you opened the gates. It seemed like a day that should be remembered. Not that celebrating Hope is not enough, of course,” Jessica tickled Hope as she spoke.
“I like it,” Emily smiled.
“I hoped you would,” Jessica said proudly.
“Well, let’s do this,” Emily replied. Emily turned to Marley, who was already standing next to her.
She carefully positioned Hope on the saddle. Hope immediately grabbed the ropes and was excited. Marley stood still while Emily turned back to look at Jessica. Jessica snapped a few pictures of the three of them.
“Got it,” Jessica smiled. “I will try to get everyone together here in the next few minutes to get it done before the kids get on a sugar rush.”
“Where do you want us all to stand?” Emily asked.
“If it’s okay with you, I was thinking in front of your house. It’s the focal point of the whole town.”
“It’s fine with me,” Emily smiled as she picked up Hope and turned to make her way back to the yard.
A few minutes later, everyone was gathered in front of the house, and Jessica was positioning them all. Jessica had Marley lying in the grass in front of everyone. Hope refused to sit still on Marley’s saddle and insisted that Shawn held her. Jessica even managed to get Derick to stand in the shot though Emily was sure he would not be smiling. Jessica set the timer on the camera and ran back to join all of them. The camera flash went off, and Jessica ran back to it.
“First try!” Jessica yelled as she looked at the photo. “I will get these printed up and have them at the store if you guys want to pick them up tomorrow.”
Everyone smiled and thanked Jessica as they began to spread out into
the street. Emily stood and watched as everyone went. While she had been there to welcome them each in and invited them to stay at her home, she had not truly realized how many people were now in Sanctuary.
“I think they are ready to do the trick or treating,” Shawn said while handing Hope back to Emily.
“Well, I better get the princess out there to see her subjects,” Emily laughed.
Emily walked with Hope between the different tables. At each, Hope received a treat or a toy of some kind. Once they had finished, Hope began to rub at her eyes. The excitement of the day was wearing her out quickly. Emily managed to get Hope to eat and then headed inside to put her to bed. Once Hope was out of her costume and Marley’s saddle removed, the two of them fell asleep before Emily could close the door.
