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Author's Chapter Notes:

Oh man, it's been a while. My muse decided to take a vacation, but now its back, full force. So, here's the new chapter. I hope you enjoy. 




Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


I woke up in the dark, and immediately reached out. My hand smacked into a table, fingers grazed a cold metal. I gripped the object tightly and jumped from a wilted mattress.

A small, dying candle lit just a tiny sliver of the room; it sat on an old fashioned mantel across from the four poster bed. Bare toes sunk into the dusty hardwood, which displayed a trail of footsteps near the fireplace; mine would be the only ones without boots. I inched closer to the light and examined the powdery tracks. I followed a few that led toward the bed, some paced the fire, and others led toward a door.

In my state of unconsciousness, my clothes were changed. The dark grey cove uniform was replaced with a granny nightgown; it smelt like a ninety year old, too. My eyes went to the fireplace, surrounded by dark wood, while peeling floral paper lined the wall. Above the mantle, hung a large painting of wildflowers, now discolored from age, while the floral pattern continued with an upholstered wingback chair in another corner; a heavy, wooded desk right beside it. Sheer drapes hid a window, but upon inspection, four x fours boarded up the opening.

Quickly, I snatched up the arrows which lay abandoned at the end of the bed. I wrapped its holder around my body and looked toward the bedside table; the crossbow sat across the top. Inspection of a tall wardrobe came next. Its hinges squeaked upon opening, so I made the movement as quickly as possible. Like I expected, I slept in an elderly woman’s bedroom, where most of her clothes were gone. I pulled out one the drawers, but they were empty, collected enough dust to write several times in the same spot.

It was when I pushed the last drawer in, that I heard a creak from outside the room. My eyes went to the closed bedroom door, opposite from where I stood. All that stopped it from opening was a brass handle, with no lock. No lock meant no barrier.

The creaks slowly morphed into footsteps as the person came closer. While they’re steps were deliberate, the pattern of the footfalls were erratic, like they trying to sneak. I took a step forward and the room filled with a crack from the floor; now I knew what they were tried to avoid. The fine hairs stood with suspicion. Since they wanted to go unnoticed, I had to come up with another plan.

On my toes, I undid the safety on the crossbow and raced to the mantle. Footsteps stopped outside the door, fingers grasped the handle. I leaned forward and blew out the candle as the knob turned. The door opened.

In pitch black, I watched its silhouette against the hallway light. They paused at the darkness within the room, before slowly looking toward the bed. The waft of fear drifted across the room.

A few seconds went by before they fully opened the door and entered the room. “Stop where you are!” I yelled and flicked on the flashlight attached to the weapon. Bright LED light shined heavenly on Dr. Marab. Frightened, the man back into the doorframe shook the items he carried on a food tray.

“Michael sent me to check on you,” he announced, as if it was enough for me to let my guard down.

“Where am I? Where are my clothes?” I demanded and he blanched.

“We found a farmhouse, on the outskirts of town. All of our clothes were placed in the fireplace downstairs. We thought it would be best to burn any smells of blood…” he started, but I interrupted.

“Is Miriam dead?” I asked; my thoughts already on my escape.

“She’s alive, patched up.”

He stood, frozen. I took noticed of the tray he carried, several plates and a mug lay upon it. “What’s that?”

“Food. It must have been days since the last time you ate?” His sincerity caught me off guard. I did whatever that was in the van, however many days ago, but actually fueling me, I couldn’t remember… or cared. He came inside and walked over the desk. I watched as he placed the tray down and began to spread everything out. “This place had good storage in the basement, a feast compared to what we were eating…” he added, but I had enough with his gibberish.

“Where is Jasper?”

The doctor’s hands stopped in midair. I watched as he deliberated on the best response. I asked again, more forcefully and tapped the crossbow against a bed post. “Last I saw, he was boarding up the kitchen window…” He stuttered.

“Turn around,” I demanded and moved closer.

“Please, turn off the light. You are blinding me,” he whined, his arm shielded his eyes. Instead of turning the light off, I switched it to red and lowered the weapon to his groin.

The red glow spread throughout the room, allowed the doctors to see inside. With hesitance, he took out matches and located the candle. Slowly, he nodded toward the mantle, and crossed the room slowly. “I think we should see if you have a concussion and then we’ll move onto your other condit…” However, I didn’t let him finish. I moved quickly; dropped the weapon on the mattress and snuck up behind him, with an arm around his neck. “Ahh…” he squeaked, however I applied more pressure.

“Shh…the less you fight, the easier this will be,” I whispered, my lips at his ear. “I’m going to put you down for a little nap, and when you wake it might be extremely dark, but don’t worry, someone will find you.”

Marab shook his head no, his mouth opened, but his cries were no more than mumbles. “Shhh…” I continued to whisper until his fight was gone and his body went limp.

I struggled against man’s heavy weight, took care when I slid him toward the wardrobe. With one arm around his belly and another outstretched, I pulled the wardrobe door open and endured the daunting task.

Marab was safe and sound; his body crawled into itself when I shut the door. I managed to locate my boots beside the desk, slipped them on, and grabbed the crossbow. Its crimson glow was enough light for me, so I blew out the candle and exited the room.

Immediately, I was hit with black light. I clicked off the red and allowed the bluish, black hue to guide me down the hallway. I raced against time and made sure to stay on the runner; the doctor would wake soon. The plush carpet, with its neon floral print, absorbed the sound of my footfalls as I scanned doorways for anyone else. I had half the mind to search the rooms for a backpack and more weapons, yet I kept on past them.

Finally, I made it the stairs; below sat a darkened foyer separating two rooms. An amber glow spilled from the room to the right, while the opposite was dark. The front door and adjacent windows were boarded up similar to the ones in the room I left. A black handgun sat on top on a small table. Perfect, I thought.

With slowly steps, I descended toes to heel, my crossbow aimed high. I made it down half of the steps, before the firelight reflected two silhouettes against the hardwood flooring. Voices carried from the room, as the people moved closer to the doorway. The smaller out of two reached out and stopped the bigger figure with a tight grip.

“Don’t walk away from me like I’m the only sinner, Michael. You are not a saint,” Miriam snapped. I went down a few more steps until their silhouettes were longer important, because I watched the real deal.

Even though, she was on one side, the rectangular table between them didn’t have much depth. So I watched as they spoke through heated whispers. “Watch it,” Michael warned, his fingers found hers and ripped through from his t-shirt.

“Why? This is ridiculous!” she spat and swung away from them. Quickly, Michael followed after her, further into the room. Out of sight now, I took another few steps down, only to stop on the last one. From here I heard every angered word Miriam uttered, while Michael stood over a piano. The woman went on and on about someone, about orders and before the war. She mentioned Washington D.C. which used to be the capitol until the main sectors of our government moved to an secluded island. She ranted about having to do wall duty, while Michael fought a war. I strained as she lowered her voice during key words, and let her volume lift for everything else. “You know if he wasn’t your brother, he would’ve been dead by now.”

“If he wasn’t my brother, he wouldn’t be involved at all,” Michael cornered her against the black instrument, but Miriam held her ground.

“A title doesn’t make a mass killer. He would’ve always been a sick fuck…” she started but Michael didn’t allow her to finish. His hand shot up, but his body blocked my view. Miriam stayed silent.

“I don’t give a flying shit what you think of my brother. I will find him and I will deliver him into the hands of people more qualified to judge this situation, and to investigate his importance of a cure.  Until then, you keep your mouth shut, especially around her.”

Miriam’s voice was low when she agreed and Michael made her repeat herself. “Yes…” she forced out and then he moved away from her. He arched over the papers on top of the service and maneuvered several mapping tools.

“You said you searched here?” Michael pointed; his stern eyes gave her no room for any other banter. She huffed and nodded. Michael looked down at the spot and plotted. “What did you find?”

“It was a bust there, however the second time we were ordered, someone took a wrong turn,” she spoke, anger laced in her words but she was still compliant. Even after seconds of silence, she moved closer to the maps and pointed a few inches from his finger. “A mining town, slow burning fire underneath the surface; that was all the information anyone knew about it.”

“And, what did you find?” He stressed.

“Ghost town; mostly buildings, houses, barns, everything was perfectly intact, even the cars were parked correctly. Yet, it was completely abandoned. We scanned the town for two days, set up camp on the outskirts but nothing.”

Michael took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, tiredly. “Then, what makes it so special?” A dark spot marred the inside of his forearm, a nasty bruise.  

“Well, several days later, Norris was sent out to the same spot. Remember it was an accident that we ended up there, and now Karen has the big boys going, for a week.” Miriam arched closer to Michael, her voice lower with more reassurance. “You and I know that Norris doesn’t do investigative missions. He ain’t going anywhere unless there’s something someone wants and a hundred percent chance he can bring it back. Catch my drift?”

“Then we’ll ask Sage.”

“He’s going to lie. As long as he holds in what they retrieved, he’s guaranteed safety with us.”

“Then, I’ll beat it out of him,” Michael responded, seriously, and Miriam laughed.

“And I was so worried that you changed, but, naw, you’re still there, Mikey.”

I watched with bated breath as she brought her hand up to his jaw and Michael allowed it. She rubbed his light shadow and walked around the piano, closer to him. With her hair out of a bun, the loose, long tendrils fell in waves down her back and kissed her skin. While I stood in a grannie nightie and boots, she made a tight t-shirt and tiny jeans appear sexy. I stood, deadpanned, as the girl hopped on top of the baby grand and pulled the Seal between her legs, her hand never moved from his cheek.

Her lips moved in a light whisper; my distance was too far to overhear. Michael didn’t move, nor respond, but stayed still as her other hand crawled up his shirt and around his neck. She tilted his head down, right above hers. My body responded on its own.

Instantly, my trigger finger tinged with delight as it reached for release, but I aimed the crossbow away from the couple when Miriam’s words grew louder. “I’ve really missed you. You are the reason I left Paradise.”

She continued to caress him and it lit a torch in my gut, however her words hypnotized. It wasn’t a matter of want; I needed to hear their story. “For months, I thought you left to be with Norris like the missions before. I heard stories about The Citadel, some Zombie camp he was manning for research. So I volunteered to join; I was a part of the last group to leave the wall. Do you know what it felt like to send months in that hell hole, only to hear that you vanished, alone? No one survives alone, Michael,” she whispered, and I moved forward.

As I inched closer, my heart raced against my chest. Michael let out a deep breath and for the first time, turmoil crossed his face. “I had to find Henri.”

“The whole world needs to find him, but you didn’t have to leave me behind.”

“It was too dangerous. This world is nothing like any war we’ve been in. I couldn’t travel along someone I cared about and worry about my own survival.” I blanched at his words, a statement which I heard before.

“So, you don’t care about that girl,” Miriam asked, and her heartbeat quickened. I stepped closer, reached the entrance to the room and leaned against its frame. “Tell that she means nothing. That we’ll drop them off and go back to Paradise,” she pressed.

Michael’s breath quickened, his body didn’t move, nor did his expression. My gut dropped at his silence, his answer came from his next actions.

His hand reached up, gripped her jaw within his fingers and sent his lips down upon hers.

Miriam cried with ecstasy as Michael deepened the kiss, moved into her. His arms supported his weight behind her, while Miriam had her arms at his hips.

I raised my crossbow higher, jealousy brought on an angry haze. I aimed it at the back of his head, but moved slightly, when I thought about who I really wanted gone. I counted in my head, tried to decrease my emotion, but my trigger finger didn’t move, and never would.  

A hand covered my mouth at the same time another intercepted the crossbow and clicked on its safety.

“Shoot her and he will kill you,” Jasper whispered in my ear. The couple’s kiss which started light had picked up aggressively. “You can’t be jealous.”

He removed his hand from my mouth and pulled me back, but I resisted. He whispered my name as a plea but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her hands under his shirt, or his mouth against her neck.

“Celeste, that’s their past…”

“Exactly, his past,” I emphasized. My voice, loud enough to startle the couple, caused only Michael’s sharp eyes to zone in on us, before he moved out of her arms.

“Can we have privacy?” Miriam yelled as Michael stared me. I turned away from his scorched gaze. I had a sickening feeling.

“I need a bucket,” I whispered and raced away, a toilet and cracked heart on my mind.

Jasper yelled the directions to the kitchen, but warned me about the darkness. Blindly, I raced down the hall. I switched on the light from the crossbow and followed his words. Once my feet hit the checkered floor, I saw the small gray bucket in the corner and my stomach lurched into my throat.

Immediately, I went down on my knees and bent over the plastic rim. The darkness blinded my view of the vomit, but an extreme taste of iron alarmed me. In between gags, I heard someone enter from behind, smelt their woodsy scent immediately.

Michael’s powerful approach echoed through the hallway and signaled a confrontation; his bright flashlight illuminated my corner instantly. I brought my head up as my gut wrenched and crawled away. I leaned against the cupboards and reached for my crossbow with shaky fingers. He crossed the kitchen fast, only to stop when our shoes touched. Softly, he lowered to his knees. “Are you okay?” I tried to ignore the image of him and Miriam that flashed before my eyes, however the imaged burned more than my vision.

“What does it look like?” I replied sarcastically, my fingers grazed my bow. My actions were quick when I secured my fingers around it; however Michael was one step ahead. His right arm spread out and he ripped the weapon from my hands, sent it across the room.

“Celeste,” he whispered, but the urge to gag sent me back over to the bucket. I cried as thick fluid flowed through my lips and dropped to the bottom. Michael came close; his warm hand lay on my back and rubbed.

“Don’t…” I snapped and hit his hand away. I wiped my mouth with the back of my fist and turned toward him. My eyes squinted against his light and I gasped when I felt his fingers on my chin. His thumb wiped at a wet spot along my jaw and he pulled away to observe.

“You’re throwing up blood.” The statement was heavy with emotions, but what I didn’t expect was to be scooped up into his arms. “Shit,” he cursed and tightened his hold on me.

“Marab!” he yelled and stormed from the room. “Marab!” his voice bellowed through his chest as he carried me down the hallway. Eric appeared, and cursed, before Michael could say anything.

Michael made a sharp left and ran up the steps, the doctor’s name echoed through the landing. As he cleared the last step, I heard Miriam’s voice. “Found in the wardrobe.”

“I’m fine,” the doctor’s groggy voice filled the hall next.

“Good, you need to look at her now!” Michael demanded. His movements were quicker as he commanded. He sent Jasper to get the doctor’s supplies, while Miriam was in charge of boiling water. Sage was on Violet duty, who, had yet to make an appearance.

Michael made a right and entered the room I woke up in. He headed straight for the bed, while someone lit candles. Dr. Marab spat orders to Michael, and once Miriam delivered the water, asked her to leave. He turned to Michael, but paused. “She needs a full physical,” he warned, but Michael was silent. I was too weak to offer input.  

My head fell back on the pillow, heavy and in pain. What caused me to be sick downstairs travelled through my body and was now in my head. I felt Marab’s hand move up the night gown, cold fingers grazed my bare thighs. “Hmm…” I moaned, responded to an electric current in the air. I breathed deeply and turned my head to the source of the strong smell. Eyelids opened to reveal Jasper with his arms crossed and grinding teeth. “He needs to leave,” I whispered in warning. Jasper’s aggression mounted with each second Marab touched me. “Stop,” I stated firmly, but the doctor kept going.

I repeated myself, louder this time, and the doctor only gave me a look. “One more check,” he spoke, but Jasper and I had enough.

“Stop,” I sat up and shoved Marab with such force that he flipped over the edge on the bed and landed on the floor. Then my focus was on Jasper. “You, go!” I pointed toward the closed door, tried to see straight.

“No,” he growled, his voice was lower than normal. Dr. Marab stood suddenly, his feet retracted away from me and Jasper until he hit a wall. The smell of his fear overpowered the small room.

The Middle Eastern man shook underneath his long sleeve shirt and pants. His heartbeats increased immensely, and the smell of sweat followed his distress. I zoned in on his throat, visualized his blood as it pulsed through his veins. Suddenly, my mouth watered and something clicked.

“Jasper…” Michael called to the man, and when I looked at my friend, his transformed eyes were fixed on the doctor; his head cocked slightly to the left and his top lip rose in a pant.

Disoriented, and fighting the effects of my own hunger, I jumped out the bed and marched over to Jasper. “You have to leave, doctor,” was all I needed to say, before the man raced from the room. The door slammed the door shut behind him, which was perfect for my next words. “You’re starving, aren’t you?” I spoke to the creature in front of me, who replaced Jasper.

I placed my hand on his chest and felt the power of his breaths, the pure strength in his muscles. “…Celeste,” Michael called, with much urgency.

I looked up into Jasper’s eyes and blanched. They burned bright with yellow and his cheeks hollowed. “Ahh,” I gasped as his hand gripped my wrist.

“Let her go, man.” I heard the click of Michael’s Beretta and suspected he was right behind me, aimed and ready. The sound alerted Jasper and his attention was no longer on me. Instantly, he pushed me away. His head tilted left and right, the crack of his bones resonated through the room. “Jasper, you need to feed, I’ll go hunting,” Michael tried to talk but the creature had already took over and there was no getting him back.

The memory from the van came back to me and I knew the danger that would come if Jasper wasn’t sedated. I looked over at the table where Marab forget his tools. I looked at Michael to see his eyes glance at the table as well. Perfect.

I whistled loudly and Jasper whole body went rigid. Without much time to think, I whistled again, and grabbed a pillow from the bed. It didn’t carry any weight, but the object flew fast enough to engage Jasper’s self-defense. The man reacted fast, caught it within a hand and threw it away. However, I sent another one flying right away. By this time, Michael took advantage of the distraction and grabbed a syringe from the table; it was already filled.

The one second I took to concentrate on Michael, was the second Jasper got to charge. By the time I turned back to him, he was a couple feet away from me; his fist back, ready to swing. Quickly, I ripped the sheet from the bed and swung. The wild movement of the cotton sheets flowed toward him and wrapped around his head, however he still charged, unfazed.

“Michael,” I screamed and jumped on the bed, a split seconds before Jasper ran into the wall. Dust exploded and a huge chunk of drywall fell to the ground.

“Ahh…”Jasper growled and ripped the sheet right down the middle.

“Michael,” I stressed. Without anything hard, I was defenseless. I took a quick glance at the Seal, who nodded, right before I looked back at my friend.

This time, I bit down hard on my bottom lip, and he smelt the blood before I tasted it. Jasper let out a terrifying roar and I knew we needed to act fast.

I jumped off the bed, as Jasper leaped toward me. His heavy body slid across the mattress and ended up on the floor. He hopped up on two feet and ran toward me. “Now,” I screamed, and grabbed the wooden desk chair and swung toward him. Jasper braced himself for the impact and sent splinters flying as it shattered against his ripped body. At the same time, Michael raced past me and sent the needle right into Jasper’s neck.

I watched as Jasper punched, aimed for Michael’s face but he moved just in time. Jasper’s heavy fist pierced into the Seal’s shoulder, a crack followed. Jasper went to swing again, but he began to sway.

“Fuck,” Michael cursed as he stepped away from the out-of-control man, whose arms were swinging everywhere. I approached, but he stepped away from me, too. The smell of sulfur signaled Michael’s fear.

A thump took my eyes away from the wounded man and I looked back at my friend. He had knocked over a useless lamp, and was leaned up against the bed. “Jasper,” I called, and for the first time since he went mad, his eyes were back.

“Celeste,” he whispered and looked at me with shame. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, a man defeated by his demons.

“I am, too,” I voiced and watched as his body went limp and eyes closed. As Jasper lay unconscious, half off the bed, the room stayed quiet. Michael hadn’t moved from the far side of the room, and I still stood a couple feet away from Jasper. Once, I was certain Jasper was fully sedated; I crossed the space and leaned down to lift him up.

“Leave him, you’re too weak,” Michael spat, finally broke the silence.

“You should pop that shoulder back in,” I replied and continue to struggle. Michael rammed his shoulder into one of the bed posts before he walked over to me and grabbed Jasper shirt. I watched as he lifted the sleeping man onto the bed and looked at me.

“Are you hungry, too? Is that why you’re bleeding?” I faltered under his scrutinizing eyes and looked at the floor, however I still nodded. “Fine, I’ll go hunting.”

“By yourself?” I asked, too quickly, and the man paused. The caution I had slipped into my voice, and both of us heard. However, I forced myself to remember what happened downstairs.

Michael resumed his way to the desk and picked up his gun. “I haven’t told the others about your feeding habits and that’s the way it’ll stay.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“No,” he shot me down, before I could finish. “you’ll stay here and keep an eye on him. Besides, I don’t need to worry about a bleeding pregnant woman suddenly morphing, again.” He turned to walk out but I stopped him.

“You can’t save us any more than you can trust us. You need to let us go and find your brother alone,” I voiced, and he responded.

“No.”

“No is not an option.”

 

“It’s the only option you’ll get. My brother is a part of whatever is inside of you, but more importantly, he’s a part of what started this hell. I find him, deliver you both and that child to the UN, and pray that there’s a fucking miracle, because without one, no one will survive. 






Chapter End Notes:

Oh...Miriam and Michael? Michael and Celeste? Celeste and...baby daddy? It's so fun developing these characters in this world, but now the good stuff. Henri will be found and secrets will be told. 

As always, thanks for reading. I would love to hear back for ya!







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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.