Photocopies but not the originals. Kelly was adamant about keeping the original sketch drawings. She 'owned' them. Julia had originally given up on her, but Jayson and Tavin took over and talked her into handing them over. Julia had a feeling that there were more than eight sketches that Kelly had presented at Thanksgiving. All of the sketches filled 1 book and she was half way through another book. Jayson drove them to the library where they photocopied all of them during a painstakingly long process that cost Julia money. Julia could not understand Kelly's unwillingness to separate from her books, but Kelly explained they belonged to her and she didn't want the pages ripped out or any damage to come to them. When they came home from the library, Julia spread the photos out around the kitchen table after dinner. Each photocopy didn't give the sketch any justice to the intricate details, each artistic nuance, each stroke of the pencil. It was all she had to work with and she made due.
Julia held the first picture in her hands and studied it, the background, the scene in which the main character had been drawn. Who the hell is this? She felt nothing off each sketch. She felt no vibe, no energy, no connection. She needed the originals. As she glanced across the room to Kelly's bag near the door, she suggested that Tavin maybe slip over there and hand over the first book.
"Nope."
Julia went fishing around in her backpack and sat beside Tavin on the sofa. She felt the book, the energy buzzing off it. "Feel." She whispered, looking toward the steps. Tavin touched the sketch. Nothing. "Give me your hand." She said softly. Tavin placed his hand in hers while he watched TV and then once Julia made her connection, he felt the vibe. "Cool. It kinda tickles, Julia."
"I've been told." She said as she disconnected and went in the kitchen. She sat back with Tavin and the photocopies she'd made. The first photocopy, she flipped over and made notes on the back as she ran her fingers over the original. She did so lightly as to avoid any smudges or smears or fingerprints. She had to handle them with kid gloves or Kelly would be angry. She'd be angry knowing they were invading the privacy of her bag in the first place. "This is gonna take forever. Hours." Julia complained.
"Who is he?" Tavin asked as he held onto her hand despite the fact he could have left go.
Julia shrugged because she didn't have the answer to that question. "I go on emotion. I sense positive or negative, fear, joy, pleasure, pain. I'm different."
"What are you feeling with this guy?"
"Passionate. Like for a cause. Intense feelings. Strength. Honor. Brotherhood. Experience. Like see here. The tat on his arm means something. She blurred it though. On purpose, like it signifies something."
As the pages turned over the course of an hour, she and Tavin sat hand holding and connected, feeling the pictures externally and internally.
"This kid is shady as all hell. Feel it?"
"This is fun." He smiled, having given up on the TV altogether. He laid his head on her shoulder, relaxed, leaning back. "He's hiding something?"
Julia pressed her finger over the long jacket her wore. "Negative energy. Ugh, it's-"
"What's under that coat?" He asked. "He shouldn't have it on. Look at the flowers in the background, blooms. It's not matching the season."
Julia jotted down the observances on the photocopy.
The next sketch they felt was all sex. Julia withdrew the hand as it hovered over the bodies, faceless and entwined together. "Kelly, Kelly. Damn." He grinned, taking in the nudity in front of their eyes.
"Don't need to be psychic to get the vibe there." He commented.
Julia turned the photocopy over to make notes. Tavin studied the sketch, two bodies completely nude. The room bare except for some boxes and a few filing cabinets. Clothes lay in clumps on the floor around the chair on which he sat with her atop him. His face in her chest and her facing him. No clear facial identification, but Julia felt their identities. She traced the female's spine.
"That's Karen." Julia advised him as she touched the long hair that fell in waves over her back. "And that is..." She added, fingers tracing his arms as they curved around her upper back. Hands on her shoulder.
"Next." He said, looking away. "Come on, turn the page."
She turned the page, then flipped the next photocopy over. "She musta been high on the pregnancy hormones here. God, look at all of us." Julia chuckled. Nudes galore. Julia, Karen, Macy, Kelly, Jesslyn, Hayley, and a couple others that Julia didn't know. "This represents something. We can't all be knocked up, right?" The female nude bodies in a line, hands interlocked. The detail on the bodies was perfect as Julia had seen and enjoyed a handful of them. Each detail to the creases in the skin was exact. All women with prominent baby bumps.
"How does she know what you all look like naked?"
"Beats me. I mean I have been naked with her. Like getting dressed and undressed. She's seen me. And probably Jess. She's got Macy's scars down to line though. Look at this. She's exactly like this."
"So are you."
"Ugh, I am so utterly flat chested. She could have embellished for the pic here a little bit."
"Look at fat Hayley." He snickered.
"That's right on the mark there. That's exactly what she looked like pregnant."
Julia left that page blank because she felt nothing off it.
"Next." He said, anticipating more nudity. The next sketch was the exact as the last only the abdomens were gaping open and empty. Blood oozing and dripping to the floor where the zombies crouched feeding on infants. Body parts, dismembered infant corpses. They both looked away. "Next." He urged as Julia studied the corpses scattered at the mothers' feet.
"Losing our children." Julia said, placing her hand over the page.
"Next. She told me, so lets move on."
Julia flipped the page, flipped the photocopy. Scenery, scenery, more scenery. Hand holding. Two hands, male and female. "Me and Jay." She said, placing her hand against the photo. "No." She said, dragging his hand to the page. "Look." She said, placing their interlocked hands over the sketch. "Fuck, Tav."
"Two people who can't let go."
Being linked to him via hands, she knew what was coming and ducked out of the way before the kiss happened. She didn't release him, but she didn't lock lips with him either.
"Sorry, Julia." He apologized.
''Tavin, I-" She started when he came at her again.
"Let go." She said, unlocking her fingers, trying break the connection.
"I can't, remember." He kept her in her spot, but backed off her a bit. "Why fucking not? Fuck." He cursed.
"She's fucking pregnant with your kid, Tavin. And I don't want to be that girl anymore."
"What girl? We love each other."
"Jules-"
"How can I make you understand?"
"You said it yourself, Jules. 2 people that can't let go. I don't want to let go."
"I can't hurt you, Tav."
"Don't then, Julia."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't."
you don't think...Chess had told her...think, a memory...
Still having the connection, Julia whisked him back to the weekend. She held the knife at his chest and she cut him. Fast forward...cut him...fast forward...she cut him...and he felt the pain. She kept jumping back and forth from cut to cut to cut until his pain was so fresh it was like he was being cut for real. He left go.
"That hurts as much as it did then." He complained, backing off her. "You really took me there." She was quiet. He touched her again and she flashed the cut again across his chest. "Stop that." He yelled.
"That doesn't tickle. I'm sorry."
"It hurts."
"I know." She agreed. "I asked you to choose. You chose. Think about it."
"She ain't leaving."
"I get that, but it hurts her like when I cut you. Every time you fuck around, it cuts her like this." She explained, touching him and zapping him with another cut.
"Don't touch me. Stop." He yelled.
"Exactly. Don't touch me, stop."
"You want me to just turn it off."
"Did you answer me honestly when I asked you who you wanted?"
"Yes."
"Then you have your answer." She told him. She closed Kelly's book and gathered up her photocopies. "Tavin, I like sitting next to you. I like connecting like we just did. It feels good. It feels right. I like when you touch me, talk to me, flirt with me. It's fun. But I can't anymore. I-"
"I got faults, Julia."
"I know. We got the same faults. I'm trying. It's ok to slip up sometimes."
"Like the drugs. Slip up and then fix it."
"I know I am completely irresistible." She laughed. "But seriously, the sexual energy between us is on fire. Why is that?"
"Cause it's wrong."
"I was hoping for something a little more deep." Julia said, rising from the seat. She tucked Kelly's book back in her bag and went into the kitchen with her papers. She set them on the counter.
"What do you wanna hear?"
"What you think, Tav. Obviously. Wrong just scratches the surface."
"What are we then?"
"Fun." She answered
"A distraction." He countered
"Escape."
"All of the above."
"You know when Jay said take me to the happy place, know where I wanted to go?"
"Where?"
"McDonalds." She replied. He laughed. "Seriously." She said, raising her voice as she pulled the casserole from the oven.
"Ok, I give. Why McDonald's?"
"Remember when we all went to visit your mother in jail with the kids? We went to lunch at McDonald's and when Jay took Alex to the bathroom, you reached across the table and you locked your little pinky around mine."
"I did?" He asked.
Julia set the casserole on the table and entered the living room. As she stood in front of him, she stuck out her pinky finger. He hesitated. "Gimme your finger." She urged, wiggling the pinky at him. He complied and she sat them at the table in the McDonald's by the prison. Like it was yesterday. "I go on emotion, Tavin."
"That strong?" He asked, feeling the weight of it, the pull divided evenly between the two brothers. One who had killed for her and one who hadn't.
"You don't remember this?"
"Not much, no." He answered as she flipped them through time to when he knocked on her door. He knew he shouldn't go in there. She forwarded them into bed.
-Julia, please don't cut me out of your life.
-I won't again, Tavin. I swear it ...
-I fucking miss you, talking to you. I been going crazy too, Julia. I never felt like this before with anyone. And I know how things are. But please don't reject me...Leave with me, Julia. Now. Pack a bag, take my hand and walk away with me. I need you.
-I can't leave them. I love them.
-But I love you. Please don't cry, Red...That's not why I came here. I wanted to see you happy and smiling. I need you, Red. I can't explain it. I don't wanna explain it. I'll do whatever you ask me to do, ok? However you want this, I'll take it. If you want it all the time, or every once in awhile. I won't push you or force you. But I need to see you and hold you...I need you to talk to me and be in my life.
Julia fast forwarded to a time he would not remember. A campfire and friends sitting around that campfire, having conversation about life. Tavin had spent time with a Mexican abuelo and she wished she could have witnessed the conversation, but having been restricted from the Mexican encampment, Tavin had gone in alone. He came out at peace.
Live a simple life...he'd said in parting from the abuelo. If she didn't gift us the life she did... This is what it was all about, Jayson. Every minute that passed and every awful lesson we learned brought us to this. It made us strong. We're all intertwined, all our lives, how we all move together and work together, this is our destiny. No matter how fucked up it is, the life we were given prepared us for this, to weather this. I'm grateful for it. After every year I spent living in the real world and this new one, I can finally say I'm grateful for it.
Julia loved listening to him. He made life sound so simple at the campfire, all stoned. There was no deep universe prophecies, because Tavin didn't bare himself like that. But when he knew himself, felt something strongly, he said it. He happened to be at peace at that time.
There were always bad people at our fence before. The fence was our personal space and we decided who we let in and who we didn't. This world is no different from our last. It's always been dangerous. It's always been a gamble with the people in the world. Now it's more cut and dry. We take people at face value. There's no more fake and there's no more bull shit. This world is better than that shitty place we came from. Here, we realize what matters most. It's shoved in our faces, there's no hiding it...But that's the point. What we have in our closets, the places we keep under lock and key in our heads. That's it. That's what keeps us alive. It's our pain, our struggle, our choices that mold us into the people we are. Once we figure it all out, the choice is where do we go from there?
Just keep living.
Tavin listened as he spoke as if he'd never heard his own voice before. He saw the point and despite not having had the exact experience, hearing himself in a good frame of mind, in a peaceful state surrounded by the family he still surrounded himself with, he felt he understood himself better. Whatever he'd experienced that day with some Mexican grandpa had obviously brought him comfort. A comfort he usually didn't feel.
"That's what you are." He said, letting her finger go from his. "Julia, you're the Mexican grandpa."
"We are emotion, that's how we communicate. Anger, jealousy, love, stress. We sense it and we act on it."
"We have to figure out how to talk with each other."
She pointed at him. "Deeper."
"If we hold back the emotion and we don't fuck with each other, then..."
"Yes.."
"Then we talk."
"We get..."
"Naked."
"Yes. Tav. Finally..." She sighed. "Dinner." She said, turning off the whole entire conversation.
"And we just keep living." He said under his breath.
It took days and many hours of Julia's spare time going over each sketch in the book and then writing notes on the back of each sketch. Kelly's art work took on a life of its own as Julia spent every spare minute going through the books. She'd warned them that would happen. When she delved into something, she obsessed over it. When she obsessed over something, it took over her whole life. Kelly was pissed she'd taken her book, but Julia swore it would be returned in one piece. Once she showed Kelly why she needed the true sketch, she understood. "I'm trusting you with my life's work." She stressed to Julia.
She sat on the floor next to Jay in his chair as he played Xbox, pouring over pictures and photocopies. When she spied something interesting she mentioned it to Jayson. He was becoming quite annoyed by her new obsession, but she swore it was almost over. "Put the books away, Julia. For one night."
"Jay, I already took care of you twice. You wanna go again?"
"No. Well, yeah, maybe- just put that away." Julia closed her books and set everything under the TV stand. "It's enough for one night. It's your birthday. Chill."
"Eh, I don't care. You know that."
"Eh, I do." He said, mocking her.
"So what now?"
"Cake and ice cream?"
"I see. Is Jess here?" She joked.
"Julia, real cake and ice cream." He corrected her, not seeing the humor there.
"Oh, well, we're not doing the whole song and all are we?"
He turned off the system and he told her to stay put.
"Jay, no song and all. Come on."
"Let Tatia have her moment please, Julia." He snapped at her. "She's excited."
"Fine. Only for her though. No balloons, Jayson." She warned him.
Julia sat on the floor and waited, listening to the shuffling foot steps above her head and Tatia's giggling and whispering. More footsteps, chairs sliding around on the floor. She had to fake some excitement and surprise for the 6 year old. This was taking way too long.
"Put them in the living room." She heard from above. "Cause, Tatia, she don't like balloons."
While they were preparing the festivity, Chess texted her balloons.
-happy birthday and a smiley emoji.
-thanks -she replied.
-what did you get
-laid
-and
-cake and ice cream in a minute. they're calling. love you
Julia made a surprised fuss for Tatia, sat in a specific chair in front of a flaming birthday cake. Tavin set a cardboard hat on her head, stretching the rubber band under her chin. The happy birthday song ensued and clapping followed. Tatia helped blow out the candles.
Jay sliced up the vanilla sheet cake and handed out pieces. Ice cream on the side. She really didn't want any, and was feeling really self conscious at the moment. She wished she had a birthday pizza, not cake. The whole reference made her feel down, but considered it may be the last birthday cake she ate she tried to enjoy it. She slapped a smile on her face and looked at Tavin. "What?" He mouthed to her. She held up the cake and that said it all. She picked at it, then set it down.
She pointed to the fridge and motioned to drink, pretending she had a bottle in her hand. He looked inside and held up a beer and she reached for it. Cake...every time she heard the word or saw a piece, the derogatory reference rang through her mind.
-birthday beer...she texted to Chess.
-we're going on a call
-Now?!
-keep your mouth shut and don't get drunk, please. you got time, we're gearing up.
-when
-hours, we gotta ride out
-where
-outside of Pittsburgh. I don't have exact coordinates yet. Mount Oliver
"Mount Oliver, Tavin." Julia said out of the blue. She took a drink, a big one.
"What about it?" He asked.
"Outside the city or inside?"
"Outside. Suburbs. Like this."
"Ok, thanks."
-I love you. be careful
"Why?"
Julia didn't answer as she picked up the pack of cigarettes off the counter and went outback with her beer. While she was smoking, Jay stepped out back and stood next to her.
"It's funny, Julia. There's a big red dot over Mount Oliver on Alex's iPad site."
"It is." She agreed nervously. "You ready?" She shivered.
"You gonna be able to piggyback him and keep calm?"
"He knows what he's doing. I prefer not knowing when he's going or what he's doing. That's why I have Alex tell me afterward."
"Ok, I can understand that."
"I feel it. Even though I disconnected, I feel it. I can't shake that feeling." She said, losing her breath. "It's a suffocating feeling. Like I can't catch my breath."
"We're not going then?"
"It's from him. The residual fear. The fucking panic, Jay. I haven't felt like this since-" She paused, controlling her breathing. "Since the library."
Jay tugged her toward him and held onto her as she cried. "Shh, Julia. Calm down."
"My heart's racing." She gasped, her hands gripping at weapons that weren't there.
Julia finished the cigarette, then lit another, thinking all the while how people were infected and dying not too far from them. The military burned the victims, the biohazard that they are, but those families did receive ashes back in urns. Their deaths were as documented as their births had once been. Perhaps those that get sick and survive do hold a cure or the key to developing a vaccine circulating inside their blood. Julia felt sure she had developed some form of immunity, built up antibodies to the virus or bacteria that caused the disease. If Chess was correct, however and the z-virus was bio-warfare, then the creator probably held the cure as well. When Julia head back inside, much calmer and more focused she took the iPad from Alex and started her own chat. She detailed her theory at length, sought others who'd also been in the zombie world, and asked for comments or for anyone to expand on her theory.
"Julia, you told him not to post anything, but you go and get theoretical in a chat room?"
"It's neither here nor there now, Jayson." She replied as they head to bed. Julia and Jay got comfy and settled into their bed for an activity other than sex. As they lay waiting, Alex jogged downstairs, again like he owned the place, giving no warning he was even going to drop in.
"One day you're going to run into something you shouldn't see." Julia warned him.
"I've seen it." He said, curling up comfortable next to Julia on top of the covers.
"What are you doing, Alex?" Jay asked, looking across Julia's chest to him.
"I wanna go too." He answered, getting as comfy as Jay and Julia. He lifted himself so Julia could put an arm around him.
-he'll be asleep before they get there, Jay.
"You shouldn't be here." Jay told him as Julia's chest became his pillow.
Again, they waited for something significant to happen when Julia, too came downstairs. No knocking, no asking. Descent into a basement that was becoming crowded.
"Guys, are y'all sleeping?" She asked shyly.
"No, Julia. What's up?" Jay said.
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Um, we're gonna watch a movie. Go to bed, Julia." Alex replied.
"You coming up? You know, after the movie?" She asked, scanning the basement and wondering why the TV was off. The scene looked strange with the three of them laying in bed together. The kid was curious and suspicious of them.
"Sure, Jules." He answered.
"Are you two dressed?" She asked shyly, her voice cracking.
"Of course we are, Julia." Jay answered her.
"Oh, ok. I'll just go now." She said. "Um, maybe I could watch-"
"No." The three replied in unison.
Julia, too said goodnight and head upstairs, but she thought the situation was strange enough to tell Tavin about. He descended next and interrupted the 'movie'.
"Are we on a mission?" He asked, edging closer to the bed.
The three of them comfortable there did look strange. Jay was sitting up and Alex was curled up next to Julia. She had her arm around him and he looked comfy laying there. All appearances he was sound asleep.
"Yes." Jay replied.
"Are we there yet?" Tavin asked, nudging Alex a bit. When Alex stirred, Tavin sent him off to bed. He whined a bit, but Tavin wasn't having that. "Off you go, boy." He said and he invited himself to sit in sidesaddle.
"Now, this is strange." She said, taking hold of Tavin's hand.
He sat like Jay on the opposite side of her. "This is a comfortable bed. I never been in it before."
"Oh, there's a bed you haven't been in?" Jay mumbled.
Four trucks carried the unit to Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. The vehicles approached at a steady speed, the men spread out on the seats inside the open and covered truck beds, seat belted in to their seats. The vehicles wound off the highway to the city, then wound through suburbia. The three listened as they received report. The local authorities had 10 blocks cordoned off and residents were restricted from coming or going. All residents were told to stay inside with their doors locked because a prisoner or prisoners from a nearby state penitentiary had escaped and were now at large in their community. A manufactured news report had alerted local residents to that fact. A house by house search would be conducted as the prisoner or prisoners were confined to that specific area. Under no circumstances would a live human be permitted to walk in that 10 block radius. Road blocks had already turned people away and local authorities had secured the area for the teams.
One by one the team members emerged from the rear of the truck and carried out their orders. House by house, yard by yard. When their area had been cleared they fanned out and waited for the next all clear.
Knock on the door...short explanation provided...resident welcomed team inside...room by room...top to bottom of the house and then the surrounding yard. Nothing. Not one community member denied them access or questioned their validity. For all intents and purposes they looked and behaved as a SWAT team. They moved in the darkness, their eyes and ears trained to filter out the background noise and observe the environment for their specific target.
-Go back. You missed something.
No response. She could hear his breathing, feel the heartbeat pick up.
-I said go back, Chess. The woman who answered the door. Go back.
As the all clear for the house nearly came down, Chess hoped to God Julia was correct on her assumption. He called it off and set back through the front door to the house, another member followed him and then another. If the house was not cleared, they all went back through the house and started the process from scratch.
-The house is clear. It's the woman.
-she looks fine, dammit.
-she's glowing fire red, Chess. She's got a raging fever.
Julia stopped her banter and let him carry on. He approached the middle aged woman cautiously and questioned her. Some routine information before the house would be cleared. Name, who else lives in the house? Julia sensed the transformation as it was gnawing its way through her gut. She could hear the stomach hyper-growling as the intestines self digested.
-she's gonna hurl. back up. Eww, back off her.
-she looks fine, she's talking normal.
"He never fucking trusts me." Julia complained aloud to Jay and Tavin. "He always doubts me."
"I see it too. Move." Tavin ordered, listening to this woman as she disintegrated in her abdomen.
Chess backed off and lifted his weapon at the woman. The rest of his team followed suit, confused as to why he would draw on a civilian. Chess backed further away from her.
-you better be right...
The blood droplets formed first in the crease of her lips, a small trickle as it oozed from the corner of her mouth over her crooked chin and onto her night gown.
As she vomited the goopy remnants of her intestines, globs of lumpy and stringy small bowel, the large intestine evacuated rectally and the homeowner stood before him hemorrhaging. The heart beat ceased and only an instant passed between death and death reborn. The woman transitioned rapidly from a living, talking and seemingly well female civilian into a massive bloody contagion. The woman, a monster, now stood in the room with Chess and his team members. The moan escaped her throat and Julia gasped from the sound of it. She hadn't heard it in ages, but the fear pulsed in her chest. They didn't hear the gunshot, rather they witnessed it. The weapon Chess fired had a silencer, so no noise ricocheted off the walls. The woman crumpled to the floor in her bloody feces. Chess put her down.
"Clear." Someone called and the team moved on, shutting the door on their way out. One of them pulled a can of spray paint and placed a red X on the door. That house and everything inside it would burn. Most of these houses were clear. They found a couple that were empty, abandoned and they made their way inside and cleared them as well.
-this doesn't feel right...Julia thought
None said a word as the team advanced down the hill through the suburban street. Street lamps lighted their way. They patrolled the neighborhood and waited, nothing in particular was strange about Mount Oliver. Typical small town suburbia at night on a Wednesday in February.
-on a Wednesday night...Julia thought...that place looks dead
"Definitely." Tavin said.
-where the fuck are we?
-Brownsville Road
Chess looked down the block, past the McDonald's and the Sunoco gas station. The slight dip in the road as it bent a bit directly toward...
"What's down there?"
"I sense we're expanding the radius, babe." Jay mentioned as Chess brought the building into focus.
-Julia, how do you do this?
-no clue. come on, let's go. it's starting to glow. the color...
"I see it too, it's like an orb only it's red, coming off that building down there."
"I don't see shit." Jay added, straining to see what Julia and Tavin meant by the red glow. Jay searched the darkness with his vision and saw nothing that indicated any glow, any danger, any thing that would lead him down that road. Julia's connection tickled up their arms. It was similar to that sensation when you've been sitting too long and needed to stretch. Julia sat up and leaned back between Jay and Tavin. She had the strongest urge to go, step forward.
-I don't see shit either. it's quiet.
-fuck it, I'm going...jump, jump, jump, dammmmmit....she cursed
"Whoa, Jules. Slow down." Jay gasped surprised as she dragged them into the street. She and Jay stood beside Chess only it felt like they were in a bubble. She looked to her left and Tavin wasn't there. She and Jay made the jump to Brownsville Road. "Can he see us?" Jay asked, moving his hand in front of Chess's face.
"Nah, we're here. Not there. This is what Kelly does." She answered, keeping a firm grip on Jay's hand as she pushed forward down the road toward the glow. "Do you see this?" She asked as they hurried down the sidewalk.
-church, it's a fucking church. services 7:30 Wednesday. Julia took in the large brick structure and stepped toward the entrance.
"Oh, no. We can't go in."
"Why not, Jay?" She argued with him. "The door is right there."
"Weapons-"
"We're invisible like. They won't even know we're here. I've done this with Kelly."
-shut the fuck up, Julia.
"No." He shook his head.
Julia wondered if she had jumped with the wrong brother.
While Jay and Julia stood arguing on the sidewalk outside the church, Julia watched Chess from a distance. Did they need permission to walk down the street? Did he have to clear it with superiors to expand the search? Julia was overwhelmed by the heat radiating off the building. It was a hot zone. She knew it, was sure of it as she was sure that it was Wednesday in the Pittsburgh burbs.
"Jayson, we stay together." She raged at him, yanking his arm, pulling him forward. They climbed the couple steps and opened the door. They advanced no further, standing in their bubble. She knew what they'd see. She knew with every fiber of her being that the energy coming off that building was not Christian. It was a blood bath.
"Close the motherfucking door, Julia." He demanded.
The door being thrown open down the street had alerted the team and Chess's superior officer that his hunch had been accurate.
The odor emanating out of the building brought on the nausea. The heat gushed through the open door and carried the smell of fresh coagulated blood and bowel. A ghastly stench that brought back a million memories. Heads turned inside the church. Bloodied faces staring dead eyed at them.
-30! Julia shouted, scanning the room. Men and women, mostly men still feeding. Julia sensed the hunger, the thirst. The moans, the sound of chunks of flesh being removed from corpses, the swallowing, the sound of swallowing into broken bowels. No wonder they were never sated, always hungry. They could never feel full. Constant hunger and empty abdomens that could never fill.
Chess wasn't lying when he told them they were fast. Despite the fact she and Jay were in no danger, she reacted as if they were and she shoved Jayson out of the way of the lurching and agile monsters. She leaped off the steps onto the sidewalk and hauled ass in the direction away from the church. So much for staying together.
She ceased running for her life when she realized they weren't following her. She hadn't been seen at all, rather the church door having been opened had caught their attention.
"Jayson!" She called. Where the hell did he go? "As fast as he is, he's probably half way home."
Julia watched as the team advanced on the church, picking off the monsters as they spilled through the door into the street. They moved forward inside the church and as each infected was put down, the red glow gradually faded to black. "Jayson!" She called again as she moved back to the open doors, past marines and dead in the street. "Come back!" She yelled. She saw his outline in the distance by the gas station. He'd run the direction in which she'd shoved him.
Julia went to church, Jay joined her momentarily and they stood back and observed as the team took the monsters down headshot by headshot with dead on accuracy. They stood firm and calm in front of oncoming threats. It was efficient and clean and fast. Not one of them ran or hesitated. They jumped into what Julia and Jay had run from. They'd been completely unprepared for the sight of their agile opponents and had the been there in reality instead of in their safe bubble, the odds they would have lived were slim to none. There was no way she could have outrun them.
"Julia, we separated."
"I got you out of the way."
"We run together. We stay together. It's a rule."
"We haven't done this in a while. I'm a little rusty alright."
-where are you?
"By the door."
-how?
"We jumped."
-go home
"I'm not sure how just yet."
She and Jay had moved out of the church and across the street and watched the building burn. Another fire a few blocks away as the residential house burned, smoke curling into the cold night sky.
She and Jay were silent, Jay waiting patiently for her to take them from Mount Oliver to their bed. He was pissed off, she didn't need senses for that. She could tell by looking at him he was not pleased.
"I panicked, Jay." She said.
"I noticed." He said, shivering from the cold. "Aren't you the one who said they couldn't see us and you go freaking out?"
"Well, yeah, but when it was coming at me, that changed obviously."
"I asked you not to open that door. I told you to close that door." He grumbled. "And I am freezing fucking cold."
"We didn't dress for Pittsburgh in February."
"Take me home now."
"I don't know how."
"Figure it out." He ordered, taking her back across the street to the burning building. It had to burn down. No trace could be left behind, thankfully for him as he warmed up beside the blaze. "Are we done here or what?" He raised his voice, startling her from her train of thought.
"Yeah, Jay."
"Well? I can't believe you brought us here and you don't know how to get us home."
"I haven't perfected this shit yet? I don't know. I just don't know." She replied, feeling emotional. She was overwhelmed by a flood of sadness, despair.
"Do not start crying, Julia." He asked, putting his arm around her.
"I'm new to this, Jay. I have to crawl before I walk."
"Crawl us somewhere else."
Hours passed. The buildings were decimated and the marines were packing up their gear, readying to head out, back to Maryland. As dawn approached, the sun creeping into the sky on a Thursday morning they hopped into the rear of the truck with the marines to head out. Julia was at a loss and Jay wanted to warm up. Hours passed where he said nothing to her. The mood inside the vehicle was juvenile and they were riding on this high that Julia was absorbing. Their energy was abundant.
"Energy, Jay." She whispered. "Do you feel it? Their energy."
"I feel a lot of things right now, Julia. Energy is not one of those things."
"Adrenaline. The rush." She said, looking at the men who surrounded her on all sides. Handsome, excited men with tactical gear. They hadn't all got inside yet. Some still milling around Brownsville Road, waiting with their teams.
Julia peered through the open door at the rear of the vehicle. She pointed, drawing Jay's attention outside. "Get your ass up." She commanded, dragging him along for the ride in the bubble. "See that bitch, Jayson." Julia asked, pointing to the blond. They hurried toward her. "That's the bitch. Blondie." Short, squat in a pants suit on a Thursday at dawn. Her hair pulled up and pinned up. She looked neat and she looked official.
-Chess, the blond right in front of the burned out church.
-you 2 still here?
-I don't know how to get home just yet. the blond, Chess...from the school.
Chess popped his head out of the first truck and strained to see the blond.
-she fine...
-go chat her up
-don't have to tell me twice
-name badge...Julia said, getting close enough to read her name. Cookie Fields, Public affairs liaison, she approached the man in charge who dismissed her, looked through her as if she wasn't standing there.
"Sir, again, with all due respect," She smiled her straight, glossy white teeth at him. "Sir, this incident has taken on a life of its own. A church, sir. You burned a church to the ground."
"Cookie, with all due respect, escaped prisoners burned a church to the ground with the congregation inside."
Julia didn't appreciate the tone of voice he used addressing her as Cookie. Although Cookie was possibly his biggest pain in the ass, a pint sized nudge with the voice of a nagging housewife.
"Sir, I urge you to make the public aware of the threat in order to be prepared. If the public was armed and ready to defend itself when the time comes, the outcome may be-"
"That decision would come from the top. Organize the press conference and make your public happy." He stated. He turned and he walked away from her.
"Cookie Fields." Chess said, stepping in beside her.
"Fuck off." She snapped, pulling out her cell phone.
"How's the arm, Cookie? Which one did she break? Remind me. Was that before or after she strangled you and took your weapon?"
"Who are you, marine?" She asked, scrolling through her phone.
"Chester Morgan. I hear my wife beat your ass, Blondie."
She glanced sideways at Chess, a smirk grew on her face. "You're wife's a dumb cunt."
-Chess, if you agree with this bitch...
-go home
"Jump back in him, Julia." Jay suggested. "You slid out of him, slide back in."
"Oh, whatever." Julia was annoyed. She latched onto Jayson, compressing their matter into energy and settling into the part of his brain that made all this possible. She adjusted a moment or two before crossing them back home. "I am exhausted." She said, feeling her mattress beneath her, Jay at her side. She threw back her blanket and got up.
"I'm going to sleep."
"It's time to get up." She head up the steps to get everyone started on their day. Coffee and lunch first for Tavin. She heard him up already. She climbed up the steps and woke up the kids, rousing them. Julia wanted Tav to drop Tatia off at school for her. She could eat breakfast there. The only place Julia wished to go was bed.
Tavin came down ready for work and in a mood. "What happened last night?" He asked. "You left me behind."
"Next time." Julia yawned as she began to detail her all nighter in Mount Oliver. "I couldn't get back. I didn't know how."
"How did you?"
"I was trying like hell to jump back home like when we were at the farm house. We went through Chess like a portal. I guess only the two of us fit, cause when we jumped outta Chess, it was just me and him standing there. I had hold of you."
"Took you all night to figure it out."
"Kinda, but I am glad we stayed. We got to see Blondie. Cookie Fields, Public Relations liaison in her Hillary Clinton pants suit and heels." Julia answered, feeling drained. Her body felt tight, her muscles were sore. "Your wife's a dumb cunt. That's what she said to Chess. But I think that's why I stayed around all night. For Cookie. Listen, she said something to the commander or the general, whatever he was. She said she thought that the public should know the truth, that citizens need the information to arm themselves and to be ready to defend themselves if necessary. He shut her down, talked down to her too."
"So."
"I didn't like the way he mocked her, like said her name all condescending. 'Cookie'. " Julia said her name in the same mocking tone. She set his breakfast on the table in front of him. Then his lunch and his coffee.
"Red, stop doing this."
"Doing what, Tav? The zombie thing. You think I sh-"
"No," He laughed. "The breakfast and the coffee and the lunch."
"You doing that yourself now? Kelly dragging her ass outta your nice warm bed?" She asked, looking around the room for the new person volunteering their time to make his day start off nice.
"You just don't have to feel like you have to. Kelly can."
"Funny, I don't see her anywhere." Julia smiled.
She set out the cereal bowls for the kids as they filed down one by one, except Tatia who she put in a coat with her school bag to send out the door with Tavin.
"Take her to school please."
"Sure." He said, taking Tatia's hand. He intended on driving her the three blocks, but Karen hurried in and offered to take her instead.
"Hey, would that be alright with you? If mommy walks you to school."
"Julia wants me to go with Tavin." Tatia replied, hand attached to Tavin's.
"How about I ride along then? Tavin can drop me off somewhere too." Karen smiled.
"Ok, mommy Karen." Tatia said softly.
"Mom, 5 minutes."
"Sure. Lemme throw some shoes on."
Julia left Tatia with a kiss and head to bed, collapsing onto her mattress beside him. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Julia was woken by Jay to get Tatia at school. Three hours of sleep wasn't enough as she rolled over, feeling drained and told him to go. She slept like she hadn't slept in years and awoke near 4pm with Jay prodding her to move. Every muscle and bone in her body felt like breaking glass and she felt an intense heat inside her. He remarked how red she was, like she'd been sunburned and as he felt her skin, palpated her forehead, her neck, she was on fire. Not warm or hot, but on fire.
"Tylenol."
"Three Tylenol." She groaned, curled up beneath her blanket.
He brought her three white pills and a thermometer. She downed the pills with water and laid back down. "104.4." He remarked. "What's wrong with you?"
"My body feels like it's breaking apart."
