by Deb Rotuno
“Well, they can wish in one hand and sh—”
“Derek!” I chastised him with a laugh, pointing toward the end of the porch where Aiden was playing with his toys.
“My bad, Sare,” he said with his laid-back grin as he stepped down to the grass. “That kid’s so quiet…”
I smiled and glanced over at the little boy I loved as my own as he and one-year-old Zoe played together. He wasn’t a baby anymore. He was almost three, and he was a very quiet, shy little guy. He was the opposite of his sister, who was chatty and bold and silly. And they both followed Freddie around like shadows.
Freddie, who was now nine, considered them his brother and sister. He watched over them like a hawk but teased them relentlessly too. My son had grown so much in the last year, it was hard to keep up, but he’d also become mellow and calm, so much like Jack that it was almost scary. On the one hand, he was a happy, laid-back little boy who still loved to fish and hunt and play football with Josh and Quinn. On the other hand, he was fiercely protective and the first to act when a pack of zeaks would come through, though it had been a month or so since the last one. More than one time, Derek had said that Freddie was a lot like how he remembered Jack when he’d first moved in with him and his parents when he was a teen.
Looking out across the front lawn, I watched my son stand by his dad’s side as they all talked to Grayson. They were both armed, though their compound bows were slung across their backs. Freddie had abandoned his old .22 rifle the previous summer when ammo started to become an issue. Derek, Joel, and Jack had taken another run, only this time it was back to Klamath Falls, and they’d raided a hunting-goods store. They’d brought back compound bows, crossbows, and more arrows than I could count. They’d also said most of the smaller towns around us were just like Sandy had been—ghost towns. Empty.
That thought made me shiver. The long, six-month separation from Jack seemed like forever ago, but the memories of what might have been made me want to run to my husband, wrap myself around him, and never let him out of my sight again, though it was a ridiculous notion now. We rarely were apart anymore, and if we were, it was only for a day or two. The longest had been the last trek into Medford the year before.
Some things had improved after they’d returned. The greenhouse was now exploding with fruits and vegetables. The windmills and solar panels gave us refrigeration and hot water, not to mention cooking indoors. We still hunted for deer and wild turkey. We also still fished the lake, but the main source of our nourishment were the chickens, rabbits, and goats Lexie had saved. Food was no longer an issue.
The past year, however, had not been without hardship. We’d lost two more of our own. Margaret had fallen ill just last fall, and she didn’t make it through the winter. According to Rich, it had been cancer—something she’d probably had way before the virus had taken over the world—and without modern healthcare and routine checkups, there was no way of knowing that she’d been sick. Before she died, she’d told Rich and Dottie to use her body for research.
The other casualty was Lucy. We’d lost her to a zeak attack. She’d been out by the animal stalls to milk the goats and grab some eggs when a zeak had grabbed her through the fence. There had been no chance to get to her in time. Jesse was now a single father to Zoe, though we all helped him when he needed it. He buried his grief over his wife into loving and raising their little girl as best he could, but my heart hurt for him all the same.
The revving of engines caught my attention, and the soldiers loaded back up into their trucks, except for one young man who was walking with Jack and Rich. He wasn’t in the usual cargos and boots but rather jeans and a plaid button-down with a white T-shirt underneath. He was, however, carrying a military-sized duffel and wearing a nervous expression on his face as he walked toward us.
“Derek, Sara, Tina… This is Dr. Alex Hart,” Rich introduced after we’d hugged him. “He’s going to stay with us for a bit.”
Smirking, I shot a glance to Jack, who had his strong arms folded across his chest. I had a feeling they had indeed tried to pull Dottie from the lodge but had settled on sending the poor young doctor with Rich instead.
“I think we all need to sit down for a meeting,” my dad suggested, running a hand down his face. He turned to my son. “Freddie, would you run around back and call everyone into the lobby?”
“Sure, Grandpa,” he replied, taking off in a sprint around the side of the building.
I felt a tug on my jeans, and I grinned down at Aiden as he reached up for me. “Mommy.”
“Hi, handsome,” I crooned, picking him up and shifting him to my hip. “You hungry?”
“Yup,” he chirped, nodding fervently.
I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist and kisses planted on my temple as everyone went on inside. Jack reached over and ruffled Aiden’s hair, just to hear him grunt and giggle at the same time.
“Daddy! Stop!”
Jack’s chuckle was adorable, but even cuter was the slight bit of melting Jack did when called Daddy by any of the kids—especially Rina and Aiden. Aiden copied Freddie, but Rina had taken a bit longer. The first time she’d called us Mom and Dad, Jack and I had both been teary messes. She missed her mother, Olivia, but she loved us. We told all three of them we loved them repeatedly.
“No can do, bud. Sorry.” He turned to me, his brow wrinkling a little. “Dad got some interesting news…” He held the front door for us. “This meeting should prove…eventful.”
“Oh boy,” I sighed.
I set Aiden down at the coffee table, where the kids were all getting ready to eat. The bigger table was slowly filling up with everyone from outside. I pulled Rina’s long hair away from her face, fixing the clip and kissing the top of her head when I was done. However, it was Ava I needed.
“Half Pint, do me a favor. Stay with Rina and Aiden, keep them occupied for me. Please?” I asked her, smiling when she nodded.
“Sure, Miss Sara,” she replied, reaching over to tuck a napkin into Aiden’s shirt. “What about Freddie?”
“He’s fine. He’ll sit with Jack.” I pointed toward the table, where Freddie was already filling his plate as he sat next to his dad.
Ava was now fifteen…and stunning. She was every bit Ruby’s sister—tall, red-haired, and smart. She’d shot up a few inches and had developed curves in all the right places. Her crush on Quinn was still there, though she rarely showed it.
The whole group of kids was barely recognizable, really. Quinn sat with Joel and Derek at the other table, as did Josh, who was now seventeen. Both were tall, handsome, and sweet boys, though Quinn was really a man, filling out, with broad shoulders and an easy smile, and his quiet, musical nature was what drove the girls crazy. Janie was just as adorable as the day I’d first met her, only she was taller and closing in on thirteen. Mallory was about to turn sixteen, and she was head over heels for Josh. They’d been together for quite a while.
Ava and Janie were our best babysitters, even though Mallory helped occasionally. Zoe, Aiden, and Rina were usually pretty good for them. The whole lot of them were the future of this camp, and they grew stronger, smarter, and better every day. They could’ve been the complainers, considering their age, but they weren’t; every last one of them was a contributing member of the lodge.
I joined everyone at the other table, taking a seat between Jack and Mose. Jack set my plate down in front of me, kissing my temple, and I smiled in thanks up to him.
Leaning to my ear, he whispered, “I had to stake claim to the potatoes, or Joel would’ve eaten the whole damn bowl.” He pointed a finger toward the opposite side of the table, where there was a massive mountain of mashed potatoes on Joel’s plate.
When I giggled, Jack shot me a wink and my favorite silly smile but then turned to Rich. “Okay, Dad… Let’s hear it.”
Rich had taken the head of the table, and he nodded as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I’ve got some news. Grayson has reestablishe
d communication with other military bases.” Murmurs of shock and questions erupted from the table, but he held up a hand. “Just wait… It’s as ancient as it can get. Morse code, something from the past, but nevertheless quite effective.”
“He’s made contact? With others?” Jack asked, leaning forward on his elbows.
Rich hummed and nodded. “He has. There are…people out there doing the same as we are—surviving, developing communities…thriving, really.” My father-in-law smiled, and for the first time in a long time, I saw pure, golden hope on his face. “They’ve gotten replies back as far east as Michigan. They’re hoping for an answer from the DC/Virginia area soon.” Rich paused for a moment, tenting his fingers in front of his face. “Just like we’re doing, survivors are taking advantage of secure locations, their area vegetation and hunting, and trying to start over. They also report back that the winters are when they do the most clearing of zeaks. They ravage large cities, taking out as many of the frozen dead as they can so that when the spring comes, they have less to fight.
“What Grayson is calculating… Well, he thinks that eventually, we’ll rid ourselves of the infected, but considering how many are still out there and how few of us there are, it’ll take years to clean up,” he sighed, frowning a little. “There is no more government, president, or true military. The men who are working for Grayson could leave, but they don’t. What families they have are staying at the base and are safe. They’ve been working hard toward three goals.” He held up three fingers. “One is to get out on the water, start seeking out the living, maybe find a place that hasn’t been infected, though fuel is an issue. The second thing is trains.”
“Oh, right!” my dad said softly with a slow nod. “They could put the old engines back to work. The newer ones run on diesel and electricity, but the old ones were coal or steam. It would just take hard work to get them back up and running.”
“Exactly,” Rich agreed with a smile. “That’s exactly what a group in Michigan is trying to do. They’re working on getting here, creating a way to connect to us via the Pacific Railway. It’s old, but it comes from Lake Superior straight to Seattle, and they could connect to a track heading south.”
“God, that would open up…everything. Communication, trade, travel…just everything,” Derek noted, sitting back in his chair. “What else?”
“Immunization,” the new doctor piped up, pushing his wire frames up on his nose. Alex smiled nervously but went on. “A vaccine, something to keep us safe. We’re close but so far away. We’ve got the capability to at least…try.”
“We’ll definitely do our best,” Dottie soothed with a calm smile the young man’s way.
“Last thing,” Rich stated. “Grayson will be clearing the roads into Salem over the next few months. If you see fires in the distance, that’ll be him. Okay?”
“Why fires?” I asked, looking between Rich and Jack.
“Fire kills two birds with one stone, Sara,” Rich answered me. “It not only attracts the zeaks but truly cleanses the area of the infected. They don’t have to stop and pile them up; they just burn out. They use that tactic more in the city areas, where buildings are concrete, essentially trapping them in the streets.”
I nodded, grimacing a little at the thought, but it made sense. My next question popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. “And they need what from us?”
Jack snorted but reached down to squeeze my leg. “Nothing, Shortcake…” He pointed to Alex. “Except to give the doc here a place to work with my mom. That’s it. In trade, Grayson will continue to give us information. He’ll be back in a few days with some ammo and fuel.”
Alex smiled my way. He was a handsome thing in a shy, nerdy sort of way. Dark hair, big brown eyes, and youthful skin, but there was an intelligence there that was hard to miss. He’d seen some ugly stuff, I’d have been willing to bet. Then again, we all had.
“This is the new commerce, Sara,” Alex said softly. “Trade…a bartering system. There’s no other way to move on. Money means nothing now. It’s useless paper and metal. We’ve all got to start from scratch. This country was the richest on paper at one point, but now we’ve got to reestablish ourselves. We’ll eventually run out of what was left behind by those before us, and we have no alternative but to learn to make things again. Everything—fuel and ammunition being a couple of things. We also have to pick up where we left off on some things, like mining, manufacturing, farming, and shipping. Trade amongst ourselves is imperative, not to mention overseas again, which will most likely be years in the future. And we can be smart about it this time.”
He sat back, looking up and down the table. “This…vaccine we’re trying to make doesn’t really matter in the great big picture. Those who have survived this long have learned to do so on sheer will and strength and intelligence. They’ll pass it on and on and on…” He trailed off a little but looked to Rich. “Eventually someone will need to call all the shots again, like a president or someone in charge. People need it; they need someone to turn to. Someone like Grayson will step forward and take responsibility for us all, and that’s a good thing, because it’ll be better than before. There will be no greased palms, no backdoor deals, no personal agendas. It’ll be for the good of who’s left, for who’s gonna still be here,” he finished, pointing toward the table full of kids. “The virus has erased the blackboard. We can make this new world what we want it to be.”
“Only if we work together,” my dad added.
Alex smiled again, adjusting his glasses. And I caught Tina’s face as she stared at the guy; there was definitely curiosity there. If that was the case, then I hoped it worked out. She deserved to be happy again.
He let out a deep breath and nodded. “Exactly. If we work together.”
2 years & 2 months
after Hurricane Beatrice
I strolled out onto the dock, taking a deep breath and letting it out. The night was warm and clear, with every star shining above me. They reflected off the surface of the lake.
I sat down on the bench near the end of the dock. The only sounds I heard were the slight splashes against the pylons and the groans of the zeaks in their pen. Dottie, Rich, and Alex had needed new specimens, so Jack and Derek had brought them a couple. They’d removed their arms and bottom jaws, tying them to a tree, but they could still make noise.
It was rare that I went into the clinic that held Dottie’s work, but I’d just left it. It now resembled Frankenstein’s lab to me. Jars and bottles held zeak body parts, the equipment was constantly working, and the smell was a combination of death and formaldehyde.
A perfect flower appeared in my vision, and I smiled, looking up to Jack. He knelt in front of me, his face filled with such warmth and concern that I couldn’t help but lean in to kiss him.
“Mom said you’d come out here, but she wouldn’t say why, Shortcake,” he whispered, as if speaking aloud would scare me off.
I nodded, reaching up to rake my fingers through his hair. His face was a touch scruffy, but I’d grown used to it. When I first met Jack, I loved him clean-shaven, with smooth skin, but that wasn’t always possible now.
“It was… She needed some blood to work with, so I donated to her cause,” I told him, smiling when he laughed a little. “She tested me for…some things.”
His head tilted. “And?”
“And…nothing. Negative all the way,” I told him, feeling a little melancholy about that answer, but I shrugged a shoulder. I swallowed thickly, a lump forming in my throat. “I… I don’t think I can get pregnant, Jack—on or off the birth control.”
Jack’s face stayed calm, but he nodded, lifting my fingers so he could kiss them. “You were hoping for a different answer?”
I gave a sniffly laugh. “No…yes…maybe?” I grinned at his chuckle. “I got pregnant with Freddie on birth control, so I was thinking maybe this was the same thing, but…no. It’s not anything to do with wanting it to be different, but still…”
Jack
nodded, cupping my face. “It’s okay. We’ll be fine, no matter what. I can’t… No, we can’t get any more perfect, Sara. We’re good. We need nothing. Understand? I get it, but you need to know that my heart, my life is full and good—really good—without changing a thing. We have two beautiful boys and an amazing little girl, sweetheart. I can’t fathom anything better than that. And they’re all ours. I love each of them as if you’d given them all to me, not just Freddie.” His fingers pinched my chin gently to make sure I met his eyes. “Stop the pills if you want, baby, and if it happens, it happens. But if we never have another baby, Shortcake, we’ll still be just as perfect as the day I met you.”
Smiling through tears, I grasped either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. “I love you,” I sighed against his lips, and he smiled as he echoed it back to me.
Lifting my hand that held the flower he’d brought me, he raised an eyebrow at me. “Now…you’re not gonna ask what this is?”
“Um, a daisy?”
He chuckled and nodded. “Well, yes, but it represents what today is…”
My brow wrinkled as I tried to figure out what he was talking about. “Jack…I’m…”
His grin was sweet, a little devious, but a whole lot sexy. “Twelve years ago today, I stepped into Shelly’s Bar for the last time before I shipped out for Afghanistan. I’d already fallen for this really pretty blue-eyed girl who worked there, you see. And…”
My voice was barely a whisper. “Oh, God, Jack… That’s today?”
He laughed softly. “Yes, ma’am. Our first kiss and first dance.” He stood up in front of me, holding out his hand for mine. “There’s no music, but I can still kiss you, hold you.”
I was up and wrapped around him before he could blink, but his chuckle shook us both. He hummed a bit, but otherwise he just swayed us back and forth, dropping kisses on my head, my temple, and finally my lips.
Pressing his forehead to mine, he smiled so sweetly. “You have no idea how much I needed you, how much I wanted to stay, or how much I wanted to make love to you before I left, but it didn’t seem right.”
