by Nathan Combs
Wade shook his head and laughed. “You’re a troubled man.”
“Well?”
“Of course, I remember. Get to the point.”
“Right. After we built Fort-T, we took down King Jackson, changed the name of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Fort Hope, and created a nice little settlement.”
“Having nuclear power didn’t hurt.”
“No, it didn’t. It took us a while, but we eliminated Nina and The Light. No more dumbass cannibals frolicking around Tennessee, munchin’ on fillet of Aunt Mary.”
Wade chuckled. “Also true.” His face scrunched up. “Where’s this going?”
“Before Nina and her horde moved into the neighborhood, you didn’t make many mistakes, but—”
“Look, Bill, I know I underestimated her at first, but so did you.”
“Yeah, I did. But when we shot her ass in the Tennessee River—excuse me—when we shot the girl we thought was Nina, that’s where you really screwed up. We shouldn’t have stopped searchin’ until we recovered the body. If we’d found it, we probably would’ve realized Anna was Nina long before she took the baby and headed off to wherever the hell she went. And Noah might still be alive.”
“You’re assuming he found her and she killed him.”
“That’s right. Probably chowin’ down on one of his thighs right now.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“Is it? You predicted the ice age or whatever, and you moved everyone here to Moore Haven, and that’s awesome. Really, it is. And the fact that we’re battling pythons and gators notwithstanding”—he swatted the side of his neck—“and these relentless fuckin’ bugs, at least we’re warm.” He paused, leaned forward, and wagged his finger at Wade. “But you compounded your Nina mistake when you cut Horst Nagel loose. He’s alive. Assholes like that never die. If Nina’s alive too, they’ll hook up again. Somehow.” He nodded for emphasis. “It’s gonna be just like old times.”
“Look, Bill, I know you hate them both, but if they are alive, the odds of them meeting up are remote.”
“It’s not remote. We don’t know if Noah found Nina or if she morphed back into Anna. But Noah’s tough, and if anyone can pull off that rescue, it’s him. As for Nina, predators follow the herd, and the herd’s here. And Nagel? Even he isn’t stupid enough to stay in Tennessee. Florida’s the obvious choice.”
“Did you forget that we barely made it here ourselves? And we had vehicles.”
“Maybe you’ve forgotten that Nina’s one tough, resourceful bitch.”
Before the world was shrouded in the dark cloak of anarchy, David McNulty had been a registered DC lobbyist for a Fortune 500 life insurance company. He had been visiting his parents in the Rio Grande Valley when the shit hit the fan. He had a keen, formal wit and was highly intelligent. Traits that served him well in post-apocalyptic America.
McNulty had met Gabriel Shelton two years ago at a trashed drugstore in Del Rio, where they were both scrounging for drugs. Shelton had babbled incessantly about anything and everything, and it didn’t take long for McNulty to recognize the subtle genius and insanity of the man. It had occurred to him then that with a little grooming and a gentle push in the right direction, he could use Shelton to achieve his own nefarious goals.
In a remote and rugged mountainous area 150 kilometers north of the city of Shaoyang, in the province of Hunan, China, a small alpine village of forty-seven souls suffered the daily struggle for survival.
The oldest villager, Ya Zhou, was a frail eighty-one-year-old grandmother who had worked for the Chinese Ministry of Education for thirty years, then retired to her ancestral home at the tender age of seventy-one. The Millennial Bug was the most brutal event she had endured in her life. She’d watched helplessly as her entire lineage died out. She held her husband and her sons, her daughters, and her grandchildren as they drew their last ragged breath, then buried them in long-suffering silence.
The residents of the village revered Ya Zhou for her strength, grace, knowledge, and wisdom. Grandmother Ya Zhou was not only their matriarch, she was also their de facto leader.
When the missiles rained down, Chen Yu, a former People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) officer, was visiting his parents in a small town northwest of Shaoyang. Unable to return to his unit, he remained at home and watched as the inhabitants of the village, including his parents, perished from one thing or another.
A long and frightening twelve months after the bombs stopped falling, Chen found himself alone and lonely. He was a small, wiry man, gregarious by nature, with a habit of overthinking situations both large and small. The subsequent months without the comfort of human companionship were a heavy burden for him to bear, and at the age of forty-five, he began a quest to find someone—anyone—to share his life with.
Four months and two sets of shoes later, and twenty pounds lighter, Chen Yu stumbled upon Ya Zhou’s village.
Chapter Two
Discovery
Noah’s remembrance continued and his jaws clenched as the scene replayed in his mind. Just three days ago he had entered their old house near Delano an hour or so behind Anna—or Nina—through the garage. After cautiously making his way through the kitchen, he’d peered into the living room. Anna was crashed on the couch under a pile of blankets, the baby asleep in her arms.
His relief was fleeting.
Sensing his presence, she stirred and, in a throaty voice he didn’t recognize, said, “Hey.”
The look on his face was a question.
“I’m not Anna, Noah. I’m Nina.”
The moment became engraved forever on his soul. It was Anna’s voice. But the tone was different. Deeper. His composure collapsed. He stepped back as a bitter chill pierced his core.
Without warning, Anna jumped from the couch and screamed, “No!” Her heart skipped a beat, then accelerated north of 180. Visibly shaking, she reached out and took his hand. Her face paled. She whimpered, “Noah, I love you.”
Her words scalded his brain. He stood mute. Gawked stupidly. Suddenly he shuddered and took a deep breath. Like a deflating balloon, the air left his lungs in a whoosh. As partial reality settled in, another chill wrapped itself around his spine. Goosebumps popped up, and the hair on the back of his neck bristled.
Abruptly, a memory of the night he’d found Anna intruded. Canoeing the Hiawassee River in the dark. The fat, black-toothed hillbilly at the campsite attempting to rape her while two others watched. Taking them down. Taking her home. How scrawny and physically damaged she was. Remembering nothing, not even who she was. Her only memory was a name—Anna.
Shaking if off, his mind went into overdrive as snippets of thought raced through, competing for dominance.
Is this possible? Anna and Nina are one person? Is my wife a cannibal?
Suddenly it dawned on him that Anna’s journey from Fort Hope to this house was a fantastic feat for a healthy woman, much less one who had given birth a short time before, so maybe she wasn’t normal.
A second epiphany followed. It didn’t matter. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. Anything. And he loved her unconditionally.
Anna released his hand, bent, and covered Stormy.
He stared at her, still wearing the cloak of disbelief. “Anna, what—”
“Aw, poor Noah.”
Recovering rapidly, Noah had grasped her arm. “There are two of you?”
“Unfortunately, Einstein, yes. The dumb bitch you married, and me.”
He stared at her for an extended time. “How do I determine who I’m talking to?”
Nina shook off his hand. “Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look.” She smirked, then shrugged. “I can’t answer that right now. I just met this dipshit. As soon as I figure it out, I’ll let you know. How’s that?”
Her face softened. Her eyes filled with tears. Her voice chan
ged. “Noah, I am so sorry. I didn’t know.”
When he didn’t respond, she’d said, “I swear to you, Noah. I didn’t know that I was—I mean that Nina is—that we’re the same?” She shook her head from side to side. “I’m scared, Noah. I don’t know what to do. But she hates Stormy. Please. Don’t let her harm our baby.”
Nina laughed. “You’re pathetic, Anna. The only way Noah can stop me from doing anything is by killing me. And he’s not capable of that.” A wan smile appeared, and she moved her face to within inches of his. “Right, Noah?”
His eyes narrowed to slits, and he said nothing. At that moment, Noah knew if it was the last thing he ever did, he’d find a way to separate this revolting entity that shared Anna’s body—a split personality, if that’s what she was—from the gentle and loving woman who was his wife.
Nina turned her back to him, walked casually to the stove, opened the door, placed a log on the fire, and adjusted the airflow. Turning to face him, hands on hips, she grimaced and then smiled and began pacing back and forth. “It’s time for the hard, cold facts of life, boys and girls. By now, Fort Hope’s abandoned and the nuclear reactor’s shut down. We’re probably the only people left alive in this godforsaken land. Not that I believe in God. It’s a figure of speech.”
She snorted. “But there’s no disputing that we’re stuck in a world of snow and ice and bitter cold. And we can’t grow food. In other words, we’re screwed. I think that’s a fair appraisal. Don’t you?”
Noah had yet to accept the messages his eyes and ears were sending to his brain. Physically, this was Anna. Five feet four, petite, coal-black hair, beautiful blue eyes, and creamy white skin. But the voice did not belong to his wife.
Nina stopped pacing and stood in front of a full-length mirror near the front door. Her eyes locked on the reflection of her eyes. She sneered. “Apparently, Noah isn’t listening. You answer me, Anna. I’m not going to talk to myself. Or am I?” Her maniacal laughter bounced around the room.
Anna shook her head slowly and said, “Just spit it out, Nina.”
Nina’s eyebrows rose. “There’s no need to be rude, but okay.” She turned from the mirror and faced Noah. “Pay attention, Noah. This is the way I see it. Anna needs you to stay alive. Reluctantly, I do too. Well, not really, but you might come in handy. I don’t need the brat, but I suppose Anna does. Apparently, you do too. So, here’s my deal. The three of us learn to live together. Four, if you count the rug rat.” A malignant grin creased her face, and she shrugged. “Actually, she’s not a rug rat yet, but I suppose she could live long enough to become one.” She cackled insanely. Without warning, she stopped. “I crack myself up.” Her eyes narrowed, and in a sharp voice, she demanded, “Well?”
Noah was paralyzed with disgust.
Nina turned suddenly petulant and girlish. “You’re no fun, Noah. In fact, you’re boring as hell. But I get it. Relax. I won’t kill you. And I have no intention of eating you—at least not literally. As I said, you might come in handy. I have a very high libido.”
“You’re crazy. I’d never make love to you.”
“Crazy? Possibly. But love? Really? Trust me, Noah, we’re not talking about anything resembling love.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Actually, I prefer females, but the choices are rather limited, wouldn’t you say? So, you’ll have to do. And you will. Whether you want to or not.” Her face morphed into a sweet smile. “Truce?”
Anna grabbed his hand. Tears formed and began to trickle down her cheeks. Beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. Pulling the robe tight around her throat, she wiped the perspiration from her eyes with her fingers, then shivered and stared intently into his eyes. “I won’t let her harm you, Noah. She doesn’t have the control she likes to think she has, but she is right. I need you. Stormy needs you. It won’t be easy, but learning to live together is the only logical thing for us to do. We’ll figure it out together. Please, Noah?”
“I have to think.” He went to the front door and exited into howling banshee winds and the teeth of the early autumn blizzard.
The slamming of the door shook the walls of the house. The new log in the stove popped, and the wind whistled eerily in the eaves and rattled the windows.
Nina grinned. “Wow. I think we just agreed on something, Anna.”
“Nina, if you even think of touching him, I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Kill me?” She rolled her eyes. “You are so dramatic. If we’re going to live together, you have to stop being such a dumbass.”
Anna turned her focus to worrying about what Noah would do and walked to the window overlooking the porch to peek out but couldn’t see him. Her face crumpled, her body sagged, and she went to the couch, picked up the baby, and sat.
Noah was leaning against the outside door, breathing heavily. His head felt like it was going to explode, and he told himself to calm down and think. The wind-driven ice pellets were the equivalent of a bucket of cold water in the face, and he gasped, took a deep breath of the bitterly cold air, and instantly regretted it. His lungs were on fire. His eyes threatened to leave their sockets, and he started coughing. The left side of his face was numb, and he covered it with a hand while moving to the alcove at the corner of the porch. Out of the wind, he waited until the coughing fit subsided and his eyes stopped tearing, then he leaned against the wall of the house in thought.
The decision he had to make wasn’t complicated. Killing Nina simply wasn’t an option because Anna would be dead too. Plus, she had to feed the baby. Learning to live together was the only choice. He had to protect both Anna and Stormy, and in time, he’d find a way to exorcise Nina’s persona from the woman he loved.
His decision made, as distasteful as it was, he opened the door.
Anna was sitting on the couch, nursing Stormy, and looked up as he came in. Cold air washed over her, and she shivered.
Noah closed the door, took four steps, and stood in front of her. “I’ve decided you’re right, but there have to be ground rules.”
Anna’s face smiled.
Nina’s said, “Holy shit! Ground rules! That is exciting. I can’t wait. What are they, Noah?”
He cocked his head to the side and stared daggers at her.
Nina made a face and rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing looks can’t kill, Anna, or we’d both be dead.”
Noah ignored her sarcasm, bent toward her, and moved his face to within inches of hers. “I need to be able to talk to you independently. And I need to know which one of you I’ll be talking to before I say anything. Is that possible?”
“Get the fuck out of my face.”
Anna rose, put Stormy in her crib, then went to him. She took his hand and smiled. “We considered that while you were outside. We agreed it might be a problem for you, so, if our face looks soft, it’s me. If it’s hard, it’s Nina.”
Noah grimaced. “Really?”
Her face became granite, the voice sharp as Nina replied, “How difficult can that be, Noah? If I look like a bitch, it’s me. If I look like Saint Rose of Lima, it’s Anna. Deal with it. What else?”
He leaned toward her. Face to face, in a soft, calm voice, he said. “Nina, I don’t know what caused you to be what you are. I suspect it was beyond traumatic, and for that, I’m sorry. But if we’re going to survive, I need to know I can count on you.”
She pulled back and turned her head. In a barely audible voice, she said. “Traumatic?” Then she whispered, “You don’t know anything about trauma, Noah.” A brief tremor passed through her, and her eyes widened.
Never think about Russia.
Never think about the past.
Not ever!
Snapping out of it, she took a deep breath and turned back to face Noah, her voice throaty once more. “You can dispense with the pity crap. It might be hard for you to believe, but I never go back on my word, and I give it to you now. I won’
t harm you. As for surviving, I’m not a moron. I’m ready to listen to what you think we should do.”
He gently took her arm and sat her on the couch. Standing in front of her/them, he said, “We can survive here for about a year. That’s it. We need to go south. To Florida.”
Nina’s mouth dropped open, and she jumped up. “Florida? Jesus, Noah…”
Anna finished with, “…that would be awesome.”
The response in two different voices was disturbing. “Please don’t talk at the same time.”
Nina smiled a hard, cold smile. “Right.”
Her face changed, and Anna smiled warmly. “Okay.”
He stood staring for a few seconds, then shaking his head slightly, he sighed. “To begin with, we only have one horse. Mine didn’t make it. And if Wade was right, and I believe he is, we’ve entered some sort of ice age. That means the snow will get deeper. It will get colder. We have snowshoes and a toboggan, courtesy of whoever owned this house before the apocalypse. But the horse won’t last, so we’ll have to walk. If we don’t leave soon, we won’t be leaving at all. We’ll starve. It’s that simple.”
Nina’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes grew wide. “Do you really think we can walk all the way to Florida with snow up to our asses?”
Anna smirked. “With snowshoes, we walk on top of the snow, not through it, Nina.”
“I know that, bitch. It was a figure of speech. You’re barely capable of walking, period, much less walking to Florida on snowshoes. You’re too weak. That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. What’re we going to eat? What about the brat? And what happens if we make it to Florida? Are we gonna hook up with Coltrane? Oh, yeah, that’s right, I forgot, I’m his favorite cannibal. No problem. You haven’t thought this through, Noah. I don’t even want to consider—”
Anna interjected, “You’re big on speeches, Nina. You talk too much. You’re the weak one. You only act tough.”
Nina’s face contorted. “You want tough? I’ll kick your worthless a—” She stopped suddenly, smiled, then laughed, and the sound of tinkling bells filled the room.
