My heart sunk. I was so envious at that moment that I decided to retreat back into my apartment. I began to close the door.
"Wait," she called out. "Don't go. Come out."
"I didn't want to invade your privacy."
"That's your balcony."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
I took a step to the balcony and paused. "Did you eat?"
"Not yet."
"I have plenty from the mess hall. Are you hungry?" I asked.
"That sounds nice. Are you sure you want to share your food?"
I smiled as my answer, set down what I carried and went back to my apartment to get her a plate.
She accepted it and said, "Smells wonderful. Is this rule breaking?"
"Probably." I sat down.
"I can't believe they set forth rules about me. How many have you broken?"
"All but one."
Faye laughed.
"Please don't let me interrupt you." I pointed to the phone.
"Are you not wanting to talk?"
"I love talking with you. I just thought ..."
"No, it's fine. I was able to charge my phones."
"Phones as in plural?" I questioned.
"Yeah, my phone, my husband's, my son Mark's. I thought for sure after being off for so long, they wouldn't work. But lucky me. What a gift." Faye said with such awe.
"It is a gift. How did you still have your phone? I thought you told me the other night you were out with friends when you went into the coma."
"I was. But that was also the time of my life when I didn't care. And this phone." She held it up. "Was put away, because I had so many pictures and videos. I was so afraid of breaking it or losing it, I didn't use it. I got one of those pay as you go jobs."
"That was very smart. I am very envious. I wish I had my phone, I wish I had my wife's phone. My daughter's phone ... well maybe not, she was fourteen."
Faye crinkled her face. "I would be afraid to see what was on there." She paused to eat some food, complimenting it again.
"They do well for us soldiers as far as cooking."
"I'd say. Do you have pictures? Anything?"
I shook my head. "When I went down with the flu, I don't know what happened to my stuff."
"Did you go back home at all? I mean, I'm sure you had things there."
"Can I be honest?"
Faye nodded. "Please."
"I ... I've been afraid. I've been afraid to deal with that pain again."
"I understand that. Where are you from?"
"Surprisingly, about forty miles from here. Great place we got on foreclosure. Private, secluded. Beautiful."
"And you haven't gone back?"
I shook my head. "Pitiful huh?"
"No, not at all. But you should. I'll go with you if you'd like."
"I would like that. Especially since you and I have such similar tragedies."
"Misery loves company."
With a closed mouth smile, I shook my head again. "You're not miserable Faye."
"No, I guess you can say I'm healing. And this helps. So you need to go get your personal items. Honestly, James, it will not hurt. It will make you smile."
I watched as she glanced down to her phone. Cautiously, I asked. "May ... May I see your family?"
She gasped out with an airy, 'ah'. "James, yes. Please." She lifted her phone. "This is my daughter."
I leaned over the railing awkwardly trying to glance at the small phone screen. "Screw it." Grabbing my food and drink, I stepped over that railing and joined Faye on her side.
"Whoa. You crossed the rail."
"I did." I sat on the chair next to her.
"Wait. Is that a rule that you broke."
"It is." I inched closer. "But right now, I don't care."
There was something about the look she gave me. Our eyes made contact in that dim light, and she gave me the most peaceful smile. I felt it. The dinner in hand, I spent that evening looking at every single picture, listening to each story and watching each video.
Rule breaking or not, I enjoyed it.
TWENTY-FIVE - FAYE
September 8
Tyler finally came out of the medically induced coma the day before and was feeling well. I was waiting to have an in-depth conversation with him, because I needed to speak to him.
A lot was on my mind and Tyler was not only a friend, but fast becoming a son to me. I could imagine me having the conversation with my own son, Mark. He was smart and intelligent, like Tyler. Would be grown up about what I needed to discuss. I also needed to know what Dodge would think and Tyler was my best source.
I needed to discuss what happened in my meeting with Dr. Lewis and Barry. What they had asked, not the way it was presented, played heavily on my mind.
Tyler of course, was a breath of fresh air. He looked so much better and had his color back. He was sitting up in bed, eating what looked like broth.
He smiled brightly when he saw me. "Faye, you're back."
"I am." I kissed him on the cheek, leaving my lips there an extra moment. "How are you feeling?"
"A little sore. You didn't stay long last night after I woke up."
"You needed rest."
"Faye, where am I? There are lights. There's power."
"A hospital in COM Camp in the Panhandle community," I replied.
"I don't remember how I got here, just waking up once when they told me they were gonna operate. Before that, those guys ... they didn't hurt you, did they?"
"Nope. Your dad came."
"Where is he?"
"He's not here. He took a heck of a beating, Ty. He is up north and hopefully, will be here any day. The Army showed up looking for me right after the attack. They saved you." I pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Is my dad all right, though?"
"The medic that took care of him believes he'll be fine. We almost lost you, and that was my concern."
Tyler grabbed my hand. "Faye, you shouldn't have come here. They were searching for you. You don't know what they want."
"Actually, I do know. I need to speak to you."
"What's going on?"
"They told me what they needed. There's a something called Project Eve ..."
Tyler cut me off. "They want you to have babies."
Tightly closed mouth, I nodded.
"Who will be the father?"
"They already have fertilized female embryos they want to implant."
"Wow." He sat back some, sinking into his pillow. "They want you to start repopulating. Breed girls so they can reproduce. That's a heck of a lot of responsibility."
"I know."
"Did they say what they were gonna do with these girl babies after they were born?" he questioned.
"They want me to be a mother. But ... I didn't go beyond that. I think it's more of a jump start plan."
"What did you tell them?"
"That I would think about it," I said. "Tyler, what do you think your father would say?"
"Faye, it doesn't matter. I know you and my dad have this Post Apocalypse weird bond thing, but this isn't about him. It's you having the babies. What do you want to do? What are your thoughts?"
"I don't know, Tyler. I don't. Don't you think it's my obligation to do this?"
"No. No I do not. Obligation to do what?" he asked with edge. "Deliver mankind from extinction? Be the new Eve. Every species will eventually face its extinction, if it's man's turn, then there's nothing, not even carrying embryos, we can do. If man is meant to live on, then nature will find a way. Not some lab, and not by some woman made to fill guilty."
My first reaction and thought was 'wow', when I heard this bright young man speak so passionately.
He brought up a very valid argument and point. One I would carry with me as I made my decision.
TWENTY-SIX - DODGE
We stopped that first night at a KOA campsite Bud suggested outside of Charleston West Virginia. We made really good time there. We saw no on
e on the roads at all. I knew the good timing thing would go to hell, because we had to veer off the main highway because of road blocks.
Those pesky government made holes that made it impossible to travel. So a one hour highway ride fast turned into a two hour trip.
Darie didn't handle the winding roads and bumps all that well. I determined he wasn't the healthiest kid. He wasn't sickly, but he got sick very easy. I figured he never fully recovered from his bout with the virus.
Motion sickness kicked in about the same time I started hearing the 'clunking' sound coming from the front end of the RV.
I wasn't a doctor or teacher, but I sure as heck was a good mechanic and knew right away it had to be the bushings or sway bar. I may not have packed the best first aid kit, but I packed my tools. I needed a place to jack it up. Take a look and do what I could to get us back on the road.
We were about ten minutes outside of a little town called Wayne, West Virginia. If there was one thing I learned passing through the small towns of West Virginia. There may not have always been a restaurant, but there almost always was an auto repair place.
My plan was to power up the shop with the generator and lift the RV. Hopefully, they had a lift big enough or I'd be jacking it up manually with several jacks.
Wayne, West Virginia was a hilly community with scattered frame houses, railroad tracks and a strip mall that looked abandoned long before the virus. It was a one stoplight town with a population '1410' sign that hung as you entered.
What I first believed to be a school bus graveyard ended up being a stroke of luck.
It was a service shop for buses. It wasn't state of the art, but I didn't need state of the art. Fortunately just before 'town' there was a Value Auto Parts store.
There wasn't much distance at all before the parts store and the rest of town.
The courthouse peeked at the top of the hill, just before the business district. I parked the RV just outside the bus garage and decided to walk with Bud and the kids to find a good place to hunker down. I didn't know how long it would take, but being that it was already afternoon, chances were, Wayne, WV was our pit stop for the night.
We unloaded some things from the RV. I didn't want them staying in the shop as it was too dirty and Darie was already susceptible to everything.
The courthouse was probably the best option.
"Do we really need to fix it?" Bud asked.
"Yeah we do, if we don't, the back roads will do us in. We're not taking the straight shot, we're going north and west and east."
"Can you fix it?"
"Can you find a KOA campsite?" I asked rhetorically.
Bud laughed. He said he wanted to explore a little with the boys and I told him to stay close. He agreed.
I headed back to the shop. One thing I noticed that was strange about Wayne was there were no bodies. No people lying on the streets. No cars just abandoned. In fact, the school buses were the only vehicles we saw.
Not a police car, aid setup or warning flyer, there was nothing that indicated that the town was hit by a virus. Nothing except the fact there were no people.
The hydraulic lift was out and I had to go about raising the RV the old fashioned way. Knowing all school buses came with a jack, I hit them up.
I had just raised the RV enough to crawl under when I heard an odd 'clomp'.
It was a steady clomping and it took a second to register and then I realized it was a trotting horse.
I stepped out of the garage, at the same time I spotted Bud and the boys walk out onto the street. They must have heard it as well.
In the distance I saw it arrive. A horse drawn buggy. At first I wondered if we wandered into Amish land, especially when I saw the bearded man. His beard was long and he wore all black. Only when he pulled closer did I notice he wore some sort of black robe and a black hat with what look like a veil.
The closer he drew, I saw the 'cross' as well.
He was younger, maybe thirty, and he drew the horse to a stop.
"Afternoon, we saw you arriving."
Bud and the boys made their way to me.
Bud questioned. "We?"
"Yes, sir." he nodded. "We have a lookout that sees for miles." He stepped from the carriage. "I am Deacon Jeremiah." He extended his hand to me.
"My name is Dodge Cash." I indicted. "This is Bud, George and the little one is Darie."
"Pleasure." He slightly bowed his head. "Are you in distress? The vehicle is not working?"
"It's having issues," I said. "But nothing I can't fix."
"That is good. We don't see many travelers. Most of which are not traveling in a recreational vehicle. Or ...' He looked at Darie and George. "Have small children. Those we do see, we wouldn't approach, they travel the main roads."
"How many are you?" Bud asked. "You keep saying we."
"Many. Hundreds. We have not counted."
It nearly took my breath away. "Hundreds?" I sputtered.
"Yes, when news of the virus heightened, we started receiving a pilgrimage of people. We welcomed them."
"You received a pilgrimage?" I questioned.
"Yes," Jeremiah replied. "We have a monastery ten miles into the mountains. Holy Cross Monastery. We are self-reliant in every way and people came. We opened our gates and were spared, I believe because we are remote. It never touched us."
"That's amazing," I said. "It's a pretty barren world out here."
"May I ask where you are going?"
I answered. "South. Florida."
"To the government community?" he asked.
"Not intentionally. My son was injured and ended up there with a friend."
Darie in his youthful naivety, blurted out. "Faye. We need to find Faye. They took her too."
Jeremiah walked to Darie and crouched down. "That is wonderful. But God has told me a secret. Women, like Faye are to be kept a secret." He held his finger to his mouth. "Special and protected. Do you know what that means?"
Darie nodded.
Jeremiah rubbed his head then stood and looked at me. "If indeed this is true, then the woman Faye, is in the hands of the government. Do you trust this?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. I honestly don't. I have to get them."
"I see. Well, while you make repairs, I offer you assistance in anyway. The invitation is open for you to rest, have a warm bed and meal. Also the little one does not look well. We have a physician. I would gladly escort you there."
"Thank you, but I think ..."
"Dodge," Bud interrupted. "I think we should go."
I blinked several times and held my hand up to Jeremiah. "Can you excuse us?" I then took hold of Bud's arm and led him a few feet away. "We don't know them. This could be a trap."
"Well, I know of this monastery. We're in the area and honestly, listen to the way he talks, the way he's dressed. Don't think marauders are gonna don that attire just to hijack us, do you?"
"Is it your years of gut instinct."
"Yeah." Bud winked. "Besides, Darie ain't well. I want him to see a doctor. We don't know when we'll see another medical professional."
If Bud was thinking all was gonna be all right with this man, then I went with what Bud said. He did have a good gut instinct. And he was right, Darie needed to be seen by a doctor. I needed to know the boy was okay.
I asked Jeremiah if there was room for me to work on the RV there and when he replied there was, I asked if he'd wait while I did a quick assessment and gathered what I needed to fix the RV.
He did.
After raiding the auto parts store, I lowered the RV and followed him.
We drove slowly, which worked well for the RV. It didn't clunk as badly when moving at a turtle's pace.
I knew the second we arrived at the property that we had stumbled upon something we didn't expect.
A pickup truck was parked outside a huge gate, the doors of which had to be twenty feet high. There was a wall but I didn't suspect it went around the entire circumference of the
monastery, just a guarded entrance.
A man in a leather jacket, baseball cap and holding a rifle was one of two people it took to open that gate for us. He looked like he could have been a good old boy from Wayne.
We drove through the gates watching them close behind us.
The road was narrow and after a mile, it opened up. While we had not yet arrived at the main area of the monastery, we saw something else.
Trailers, RV's, tents ... all set up and more than those, we saw people.
A lot of people. They didn't look like refugees. They appeared to be moving about as a community. Some did laundry, some cooked. I saw men working on a construction project.
Our pace slowed down even more and not only did a child dart across the road, but he was followed by two pigs,
Chickens and other livestock moved freely about as if they were just as much a part of the community as everyone else.
"Good God," Bud gasped out. "This is a sanctuary."
"Look Darie." George said, excited. "Kids, we can play. Can we play with them Dodge? Can we?"
"Yeah." I murmured. "Sure." I barely blinked as I drove, taking it all in. Jeremiah wasn't exaggerating when he said hundreds flocked there in a pilgrimage.
"Dodge, this is the place," Bud said in slight shock. "You have to get Faye, this is where you settle. There is life here. It's safe here."
While I wasn't certain it was where I wanted to settle, Bud was correct in stating there was indeed life and it was safe here.
The monks and those who traveled there made it safe.
They had to.
I was rendered speechless and grateful because speckled throughout the masses of survivors ... were women of all ages.
Faye was not the last one.
TWENTY-SEVEN - FAYE
Several things transpired that afternoon when Tyler took his first steps post-surgery. We ran into Barry who asked if I could take some tests. Since Tyler was worn down from his brief but productive walk, I agreed.
Barry didn't ask me if I had decided, it had been a couple days, but I know asking me was on his mind.
I hadn't made up my mind, but the subject was heavy on my thoughts.
Should I? Shouldn't I?
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