Dinner was a quiet affair with each attendee seemingly lost in his or her own thoughts. Other than a few polite comments on the food, very little was said.
Alice stayed long enough to assist with the clean up before declaring that her day had been a long one and begging to be excused. After noticing her for the first time since he’d met her that afternoon, Felix had paid close attention to her during their meal. Although they exchanged no words to speak of, the energy impact between them was so profound that he was certain the others felt it too.
His habit of stepping out for air after the evening meal came in handy. No one thought a thing about the fact that he’d practically followed Alice on her heels out the door after she said her “good-night”.
“Can I walk with you for a bit?” he asked from a close distance behind her.
Since she’d expected him to veer toward the back of the house once they’d stepped outside, she was startled enough by his presence to jump just a bit.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said in a sultry tone.
Her voice had a high and nervous pitch as she explained, “I didn’t know that you were behind me.”
He gave a small smile. “We were all lost in our own thoughts tonight. Table talk was at a minimum.”
“Is Kendra okay after being bitten?” Alice asked.
Felix looked surprised by her question. “It’s been long enough to show that she is. Did she not look okay to you?”
Alice shook her head. “I didn’t see anything different. I was just checking.”
“We’ve been inoculated, remember?” he said with confidence. “I’m sorry we didn’t realize that the virus came here. We’d have brought the inoculation with us.”
“It is a bit scary,” she admitted as she began to walk again. She wanted to add that, before he came, there was no concern about zombies, but thought better of it. This was the first time that he’d conversed with her one on one and she didn’t want to spoil things.
“It’s so different here,” he mused. “I thought we’d be safer here than on the surface, but it’s been the opposite.”
Again, she wanted to point out that she’d been far safer since she’d escaped the surface, until their arrival, but she resisted the temptation. Instead, she said, “You’ve had a time of it, for sure.”
“A time of it?” he said, incredulously. “My wife was eaten by tigers.”
Alice stopped walking, covered her face with her hands, and vigorously shook her head. “Please, don’t remind me. I have nightmares about it as it is. What I wouldn’t do to turn back the clock and have things end up differently.”
He moved close enough to place his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I can be an ass sometimes. I forgot that you witnessed it.”
“It was terrible,” she moaned. “I barely had time to get into the tree and she was strapped to the traverse we’d made to transport her…”
“Don’t,” he said with a mixture of hurt and compassion as he removed his hands from her shoulders. “Don’t think about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
She may have been genuinely distressed about the topic, but it didn’t stop her from seizing the opportunity at hand to be closer to him. She let her body go limp and fall forward so that he was forced to either step aside and let her continue to fall or catch her with his torso. To her relief, he did the latter.
Uncertain what to do, he held his hands away from her body while she moaned her misery into his broad shoulders. Little by little, he succumbed to her agony until his hands were finally gently rubbing her back while he verbally consoled her.
Keeping her face buried against his muscled chest, she did her best to hold back the smile of victory that threatened to come forth. When he gently took her by the shoulders, pushed her away from him, and stood her upright, she fought the urge to display her disappointment and keep a forlorn and pained look instead.
“I’m sorry, Alice. I’m pretty messed up right now,” he moaned. “I shouldn’t have brought Ari’s death up to you and… well…you know.”
“It’s okay,” she whimpered as she watched him turn and walk away.
***
The food at dinner had tasted different to Kendra. Surprisingly, instead of her senses being dulled by the virus, they were heightened. She wondered if this was what it was like for those who fully contracted the disease. How horrible it would be to have the senses at an all-time high while the motor skills were just the opposite.
She mentioned this to Rex that evening as they prepared for bed.
“I thought that you were acting differently at dinner. You took a bite of the roast and hesitated. Then, I remembered that you gravitate more toward vegetables, so I didn’t say anything,” he asked after she’d finished explaining her eating experience.
“I’m glad that you didn’t,” she mused. “Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that all is not well in Hopeville where we’re concerned. Bringing attention to the fact that the virus affected me in any way, be it a small way like altering my taste buds, in front of Alice seems unwise.”
“You feel it too, huh?” he said as he stepped behind her and, pulling her so that her back rested against his chest, wrapped his arms around her in a loving hug.
She turned to face him and placed her hand upon his cheek. Pulling his face so that she could look into his eyes, she said with a smoldering tone, “Shall we see what other senses have been heightened?”
“We have a problem,” Arthur said with concern as he bounded into the house. Setting his hat on the kitchen counter, he accepted the steaming cup of herbal tea that his love offered him while kissing her on the cheek.Olga slid onto the stool at the counter opposite him. “Does it top Rex bringing my niece home with a zombie head embedded into her arm?”He nodded. “I believe it does.”She closed her eyes and filled her lungs with air. As she slowly let it out, she said, “Tell me.”“As you know, I sent Alice to warn the town council about the zombie threat. Now, they’re in an uproar. I tried to find her to hear exactly what she told them, but she’s nowhere to be found.” He scowled while slowly shaking his head. “They’ve got it in their heads that you and your family are cursed and have brought evil to our doorstep.”&ldqu
The meeting went better than anyone could have expected. Claiming that she had plans that couldn’t be altered -and also that she wasn’t willing to divulge what they were- Alice wasn’t able to attend, but she assured Arthur that she was eager to go on the mission with them and would follow whatever rules and plans that they put into play. That was good enough for Arthur even if it didn’t quite sit well with Kendra and Rex.“I don’t know about taking her with us,” Kendra said as she and Rex stepped outside of the house for some fresh air and privacy. “I can’t explain it, but something isn’t right with her.”“Do you think it’s because she’s obsessed with Felix?” Rex said with a grin.Taken aback by his comment only briefly, she smiled in return. “She’s pretty obvious, isn’t she?”“To everyone but him, I think,” he re
Alice was sitting at the breakfast table conversing with Rex, Olga, and Felix when Kendra sauntered out of the bedroom to join them. Their easy manner of conversation made her feel foolish about her outburst the night before. Although she’d gone to bed feeling righteous in her actions, the scene before her stripped away those feelings and replaced them with shame and regret.The sunlight coming through the large picture window rested on Alice’s once wrinkled face in a way that made her flesh resemble smooth porcelain. Seeing her well-shaped mouth smiling so alluringly at Felix was enough to take Kendra’s breath away. There was no denying that the girl was good looking with sex appeal as well. Leave it to her aunt to find a way to show it.Kendra was aware that the smoothness of Alice’s flesh did not continue to the torso that she had covered with clothing, but she also knew that it wouldn’t be an issue for Fel
“The children,” Olga gasped as she looked at Rex with a face that showed far more worry than he’d seen since he’d met her.He couldn’t blame her. The children were being cared for by Arthur’s friend Jeb and his wife to allow them the opportunity to focus total attention on their plans. The topic of leaving them in Hopeville until their mission was over had been a heated one, but Kendra wouldn’t hear of it. She’d just gotten Eugene back and had no intention of being separated from him ever again. As for baby Rex… she’d managed to escape the alien’s with him in tow when it was just her and a severely drugged husband in a pony cart. Surely, if she could keep him safe through that, she could keep him safe through anything.Panic filled Rex as he looked out at the crowd and saw a rope being strung over the branch of a tree. “I can’t believe it. They really intend to
“What took you so long?” Felix called out as the fugitives neared the tunnel’s opening.“We were about to come looking for you,” Alice added as she nervously paced back and forth.“They’re out for serious blood,” Kendra said as she leaned against a large boulder to rest. “We were lucky to get out alive.”Arthur was about to mention the fact that a few of the villagers weren’t so lucky and, then, thought better of it. Alice was already nervous around Olga and her family. Telling her that Kendra infected her attackers and they turned was probably not the best thing to do at the onset of their mission; if at all. Since Olga and Rex made no mention of it either, he assumed that they felt the same. He only hoped that Kendra would keep quiet as well.“We have to get the children,” Kendra said as she wiped at the perspiration on the back of her
The day and a half spent traveling at a steady speed through the tunnels seemed more like a year and a half to the small group. Each dealt with their own special demons in the dark. For Alice, it was the memory of running for her life. First from the cyborgs and, then, from her own people. For Felix, it was his time with Ari. For Arthur, it was concern about what happened back in Hopeville and how he, as the founding father, should address it once he returned.Olga and Rex spent their time in silent worry about Kendra. As did Kendra. She was not only fully aware that her behavior was shifting, but she felt a change going on in her mouth that concerned her.“I need to talk to you,” Kendra whispered when she guessed herself alone with her aunt in the darkness of the tunnel.“Can it wait?” Olga asked with a sense of urgency. “We should be out of these tunnels by early tomorrow. Then, we c
It was seven more hours of excruciating blackness before they saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel. Moods immediately lifted as renewed energy filled their bodies. Legs that only moments earlier felt weak to the point of barely able to support their torso suddenly experienced a surge of renewed vigor as they practically raced each other to the opening.Kendra was the first to reach the exterior of the tunnel. Although her first instinct was to race into the sunlight and pay homage to its brilliance while filling her lungs with fresh air, she knew better. Stopping just inside the opening, she flattened her body into the shadows while she visually inspected the area for cyborgs, aliens, or even humans who could prove dangerous. Prior to going into the earth’s core, she would have been cautious around a stranger, but not be prepared to kill or be killed. Her exposure to the dark side of humanity caused a considerable change in he
The peace and calm that the group felt about being able to camp under the stars without worry of being kidnapped by an amazon warrior or eaten by some prehistoric beast was a welcomed sensation. Because of this, sleep came fast and deep.They slept so solidly, in fact, that no one heard the small group of men entering the campgrounds just as the sun rose over the treetops.“What have we here?” said a deep, male voice.Kendra’s eyes were slow to focus, but she didn’t need to see the owner of the voice to recognize him. She’d heard it all of her life. Recognition brought her into immediate alertness. With lightning speed, she sat up and shook Rex awake.“Hello, cousin,” Rupert sneered as he locked eyes with Kendra. “Long time, no see.”The sound of strange voices quickly brought the others out of their slumber. Fortunately, they came to their senses quick enough to realize