{"id":282,"date":"2013-07-22T04:01:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T04:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=282"},"modified":"2013-07-22T04:01:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T04:01:07","slug":"chapter-68","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-68\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 68"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 68<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

When my dad died, I thought I\u2019d never be able to laugh or even smile ever again.\u00a0 The first time I did, it felt fake.\u00a0 Okay, it probably was fake.\u00a0 The first time I did for real, it felt wrong.\u00a0 I felt guilty, like I shouldn\u2019t be having fun when my dad wasn\u2019t around to enjoy things anymore.\u00a0 I knew he was probably having fun up in Heaven, or at least I hoped he was, but that didn\u2019t stop me from feeling bad about it.<\/i><\/p>\n

After enough people told me it was okay to laugh, that my dad was watching over me and would want me to go on with my life and be happy, I started to believe it, and I learned how to smile for real without it hurting.\u00a0 But I was never as happy as I used to be.<\/i><\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s the same now, for all of us.\u00a0 We feel like we shouldn\u2019t let loose and have fun when the world around us is dead, but sometimes we do anyway.\u00a0 I think we\u2019d go crazy if we didn\u2019t.\u00a0 It\u2019s better now than it was when we were all living in the chapel.\u00a0 We even have video games now!\u00a0 Makayla would like that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we\u2019d play as much Resident Evil, though.\u00a0 We\u2019re living Resident Evil now.<\/i><\/p>\n

Kevin always reminds us that we can never let our guard down completely, and he\u2019s right.\u00a0 \u2018Cause even when it seems like things are getting better, something bad always happens\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Daddy, if you are watching over us, we need you now!<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday, August 3, 2012<\/b>
\nWeek Fifteen<\/i><\/p>\n

After her father\u2019s death, the public library had become something of a sanctuary for Gabby.\u00a0 On hot summer days, she liked to escape the bright sun and retreat into the cool, dark corners of the library, curl up in a chair, and lose herself in a story. \u00a0She liked the silence and solitude of the library, the musty smell of the books which made her forget who she was and let her pretend to be someone else.\u00a0 She preferred fantasy tales to the scary stories and sappy tearjerkers her friends liked to read.\u00a0 The real world was scary and sad enough; when Gabby read a book, she wanted to visit another world and stay as long as she could.<\/p>\n

As much as Kayleigh annoyed her, she owed her for being the one to finally convince the others to check out the base library. \u00a0For as little else as they had in common, the two girls apparently shared a love of books.\u00a0 That surprised Gabby; she\u2019d always thought of sorority girls as dumb bimbos who only went to college to drink and party.\u00a0 But Kayleigh actually knew a lot.<\/p>\n

Still, Gabby had been grateful to get away from her and the others once they were safely inside the library.\u00a0 She roamed the shelves, looking for a book her English teacher had recommended to her before the Osiris Virus was unleashed.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s called \u2018Redwall,\u2019 and it\u2019s by Brian Jacques.\u00a0 If you like the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll like this one.\u00a0 And if you do, there are plenty more in the same series.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 Gabby had always been skeptical of people telling her what she would and wouldn\u2019t like, but since Mrs. Tremain was probably now either dead or a zombie, she felt she owed it to her to give the recommendation a try.<\/p>\n

She found the book, a nice, thick hardback, and settled down in a patch of sunlight on the carpet to read.\u00a0 She was quickly charmed by the idyllic, flowery descriptions of Mossflower country, where Matthias the mouse was helping with the preparations for a big feast at Redwall Abbey, while Cluny the rat and his army grew closer, intent on invading and pillaging the abbey.\u00a0 The suspense of the impending attack kept her turning the pages, her eyes skipping over lines of heavy dialect in her hurry to read on, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Riley shout, \u201cOH MY GOD, you guys, you have GOT to see this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabby lowered her book for just a few seconds, listening to the distant replies from her mother and Gretchen.\u00a0 Then she determinedly went on reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cGABBY!\u201d Riley called.\u00a0 \u201cC\u2019MERE!\u00a0 You\u2019ll love this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabby rolled her eyes, but she knew her mom would start freaking out if she didn\u2019t answer, thinking she\u2019d been attacked, so she grudgingly set her book facedown to mark her place, picked herself up from the floor, and followed the sound of Riley\u2019s voice.\u00a0 \u201cCOMING!\u201d she hollered back in annoyance.<\/p>\n

She found Riley standing in front of a big old TV on a cart, like the TVs they wheeled in to show movies on at school.\u00a0 This one was so ancient, it was hooked to a VCR, instead of a DVD player.\u00a0 Riley was holding the remote and laughing hysterically, while a grainy picture flickered on the TV screen.\u00a0 Gretchen, Kayleigh, and Jo were gathered around her, looking bemused.\u00a0 \u201cI was poking around in their media archives,\u201d Riley gasped, breathless from laughter, \u201cand I found this!\u201d\u00a0 She handed Gabby the box to a VHS tape.\u00a0 It was titled Reach for a Book!<\/i> and the cover featured a woman with a cheesy smile and a bob haircut, surrounded by a group of equally cheesy-looking kids in tacky, eighties-style clothes.<\/p>\n

Gabby snorted.\u00a0 \u201cLooks like the kind of videos my guidance counselor makes us watch at school.\u201d\u00a0 Made,<\/i> she corrected herself inwardly, the sarcastic smile slipping from her face.\u00a0 Everything about her old life had to be referred to in the past tense now.\u00a0 Everyone she\u2019d known, with the sole exception of her mother, was dead or a zombie.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah, it\u2019s hokey alright,\u201d said Riley, \u201cbut it gets better.\u00a0 Look closely at the kids.\u00a0 Recognize anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Glad for the distraction, Gabby squinted at the goofy, grinning faces of each of the children.\u00a0 The widest, toothiest smile belonged to a blonde boy in a red and white sweatshirt.\u00a0 There was<\/i> something oddly familiar about him, and she looked at him for several seconds before her jaw dropped.\u00a0 \u201cOH MY GOD!\u201d she mimicked Riley.\u00a0 \u201cIs that-??\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNick?!\u201d gasped Kayleigh, snatching the box from over her shoulder.\u00a0 She brought it right up to her nose, studying the cover for a second, before she burst out laughing.\u00a0 Gretchen and Jo swooped in from the sides to get a look at it, too.\u00a0 Soon, they were all cracking up.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, okay, watch!\u201d wheezed Riley, aiming the remote at the VCR to un-pause the video.\u00a0 Gabby came closer, smirking as she recognized a young Nick among a group of kids sitting around a library table.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, how about it?\u00a0 Are we gonna have the party or not?\u201d<\/i> asked the Nick onscreen.\u00a0 He looked close to her age, but his voice hadn\u2019t started to change yet; it was oddly high-pitched.\u00a0 He said his lines the same way kids at her school sounded in their school plays, and even though he was pretty hot, she could suddenly understand why he hadn\u2019t had much success as an actor in L.A.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait till we show him this,\u201d she giggled, while the cheesy kids talked about planning a surprise birthday party for their cheesy friend with the cheesy librarian.\u00a0 She must have been laughing through the transition, or maybe there wasn\u2019t one, because all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the cheesy librarian burst into a cheesy song.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a musical<\/i>?!\u201d shrieked Gretchen, laughing so hard that tears started to stream out of the corners of her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s your L-I-B-R-A-R-Y\u2026\u00a0 It\u2019s the place to be!\u201d<\/i> sang the cheesy librarian, over the chorus of their uproarious laughter.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s your L-I-B-R-A-R-Y\u2026 It\u2019s your library!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon, Gretchen, you don\u2019t randomly break out in song in your classroom?\u201d Riley asked sarcastically.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t<\/i>, thought Gabby automatically, feeling another pang of sadness.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, sure, all the time,\u201d giggled Gretchen, playing along.\u00a0 \u201cMy students sing along and rock out just like those kids, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sang<\/i>, Gabby corrected.\u00a0 Rocked<\/i>.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t keep herself from thinking it.\u00a0 All of Gretchen\u2019s students, kids younger than her, were probably dead or zombies, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cNick\u2019s really into it,\u201d Kayleigh snickered, as cheesy Nick swayed back and forth to the beat of the song.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least he\u2019ll never forget how to spell \u2018library\u2019,\u201d joked Jo, as the word was spelled out yet again in the song.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s reach \u2013 up \u2013 high!\u201d<\/i> chanted the cheesy librarian, and the five of them nearly collapsed in fits of giggles as they mocked the hand motions that goofy little Nick and the other cheesy children onscreen were doing.\u00a0 \u201cSing L-I-B-R-A-R-Y\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Watching the older women, including her mother, be silly and dance around in front of the TV made Gabby smile.\u00a0 It reminded her of the kind of thing she and Makayla would do \u2013 and had done, many a time, during viewings of High School Musical<\/i>.\u00a0 That was back before Gabby stopped caring and started pretending to care, before her father\u2019s murder and long before Infernal Friday.<\/p>\n

Her world had been one of innocent fun then, but now she saw that they could still have fun in a world that was changed, a world that was not so innocent, a world that had fallen apart.\u00a0 There were still bits and pieces of their old lives that they could get back, moments just like this \u2013 goofing off, laughing with friends, making fun of a cheesy old video.\u00a0 The undead world was a scary place, but they didn\u2019t have to be scared all the time.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t have to be sad all the time, either.\u00a0 They could still smile and laugh and have fun.\u00a0 She<\/i> could do all of those things.<\/p>\n

Grinning, Gabby mocked the dancing along with the rest of the girls, and they were all still laughing hysterically when AJ came running into the library.<\/p>\n

\u201cAJ!\u00a0 Watch this!\u00a0 Oh my god, you have<\/i> to see this!\u201d crowed Kayleigh, bouncing up and down as she pointed at the TV.<\/p>\n

But Gabby took one look at AJ\u2019s ashen face and knew the fun was over.\u00a0 Something was very wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d she asked in a whisper.\u00a0 Behind her, Riley paused the video, and the library fell deathly silent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got attacked-\u201d AJ panted, out of breath from running, \u201c-in the bowling alley.\u00a0 Howie\u2019s hurt.\u00a0 We need you, Jo.\u00a0 It\u2019s\u2026 it\u2019s bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was all he said, but it was enough.\u00a0 Gabby watched her mother take off jogging for the front door, and she and the others quickly followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is he?\u201d Jo demanded, as she climbed behind the wheel of the Hummer.\u00a0 AJ ran around to the passenger side and jumped in beside her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey put him in the truck and took him to the medical center,\u201d said AJ.\u00a0 \u201cThere was… a lot of blood\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Jo nodded, cranking the ignition.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone buckled?\u201d she asked, glancing into her rearview mirror.\u00a0 Gabby, Kayleigh, Riley, and Gretchen had squeezed themselves into the back seat.\u00a0 Gabby was sitting on Kayleigh\u2019s lap in the center seat.\u00a0 She grabbed the seatbelt, extended it to its full length, and clipped it around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we are.\u00a0 Drive, Mom!\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a second\u2019s pause, Jo slammed her foot to the pedal and peeled out of the library\u2019s parking lot.\u00a0 The Hummer veered through the base\u2019s winding roads, making it to the medical complex in record time.\u00a0 Even Gabby was impressed with her mother\u2019s driving.\u00a0 They pulled up to the front doors, and Jo threw the car into park, as they all scrambled out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch out for the undead,\u201d she warned Gabby warily, as they hurried through the doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be okay now,\u201d said AJ.\u00a0 \u201cWe cleared this place out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t you think that about the bowling alley, too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPoint taken.\u00a0 Hey, GUYS, we\u2019re here!\u201d he bellowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn here!\u201d\u00a0 The answering call came from one of the rooms on the right side of the hall.\u00a0 AJ and Jo took off running again, and without thinking, Gabby followed.<\/p>\n

She was unprepared for what she saw when she skidded through the door.<\/p>\n

Nick, Brian, and Kevin were standing around Howie, who lay facedown on a table, his shirt ripped open, his back dotted with gauze pads.\u00a0 Gabby knew that the pads were supposed to be white, but these were bright red, soaked with blood.\u00a0 There was more blood on the floor under the table, puddles of it, then smaller drips that made a trail all the way to the door, from when they had carried him in.\u00a0 Gabby looked down in shock and saw that she was standing in a smear of blood; the floor was slippery with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you do something?\u201d she heard Kevin ask, his voice unusually grave, even for him.\u00a0 She glanced up and saw the way he was looking at her mother.\u00a0 His face was as white as AJ\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s bleeding out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabby followed his eyes to her mother, who actually looked pale herself.\u00a0 But of course her mom could do something; she was a nurse!\u00a0 She took care of people who were hurt worse than Howie all the time.<\/p>\n

But then, Howie was a hemophiliac.\u00a0 Gabby had read about hemophilia in her science book at school; she knew it was a genetic disorder and that it messed with the blood\u2019s ability to clot.\u00a0 Even if his cuts weren\u2019t deep, Howie would keep bleeding and bleeding, until there was no blood left.<\/p>\n

Tears stung her eyes, as she watched her mother put her hand over her mouth and start to shake her head.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

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