{"id":304,"date":"2013-07-22T13:11:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T13:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=304"},"modified":"2013-07-22T13:11:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T13:11:03","slug":"chapter-78","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-78\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 78"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 78<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Life sucks, and then you die.<\/i><\/p>\n

I used to think people like AJ were just being emo, saying things like that, but now I know it\u2019s true.\u00a0 That\u2019s my new phsylosophy on life, or however you spell that word.\u00a0 I\u2019m too lazy to look it up.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care anymore.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point?\u00a0 Caring only makes you hurt.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to hurt anymore.<\/i><\/p>\n

I just want to be numb.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tuesday, October 9, 2012<\/b>
\nWeek Twenty-Five<\/i><\/p>\n

It was another bright, fall day in sunny Florida, but to Gabby, it felt like the entire base was stuck under a dark shadow.\u00a0 The gloom seeped from AJ, who sat scowling in his wheelchair under a nearby tree, watching the others work on the wall through his dark sunglasses.\u00a0 Even though Gabby couldn\u2019t see his eyes, she could tell he was shooting murderous looks at her mother and Howie, who had forced him out there.<\/p>\n

After the incident the day before, the other adults had decided AJ could no longer be left alone.\u00a0 With him out of commission and the others still gone, they needed all hands on deck to help finish the fence.\u00a0 They could spare no one to sit inside the house and supervise AJ, so they had wheeled him outside, where they could keep an eye on him.<\/p>\n

Gabby, who knew how overprotective her mother could be, felt for AJ, but she didn\u2019t blame them, either.\u00a0 It had scared her to hear Howie shouting for her mother again, calling for her to come quick and help AJ.\u00a0 When she\u2019d followed the two of them back to the house and caught a glimpse of him slumped on the kitchen floor, her heart had leapt into her throat, and her mind had flashed back to seeing her father lying on the kitchen floor like that, in a pool of blood instead of vomit.\u00a0 At first, she\u2019d thought for sure that AJ was dead, but it turned out he was only passed out drunk.\u00a0 Her mom had forced her out of the room while she and Howie took care of AJ, refusing to let Gabby see him until he was sobering up in bed.<\/p>\n

Standing outside the door, she\u2019d listened to the lecture he got from the two of them after coming to.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t heard her mother yell like that in a long time and was glad that, for once, it wasn\u2019t directed at her.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know how far this could set back your recovery?\u201d Jo screeched at AJ.\u00a0 \u201cYou should be taking care of your body!\u00a0 Instead, you fill it with alcohol, to the point of unconsciousness, fall out of your chair, and land on the dirty kitchen floor, where God knows what sort of bacteria could have entered the open fracture<\/i> in your leg.\u00a0 Are you suicidal or just plain stupid?\u00a0 Do you not realize how serious this is??\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to scare you before, but I\u2019ll put the fear of God in you now:\u00a0 If your leg gets infected, you could end up losing it.\u00a0 It\u2019s very easy for a dangerous infection to get into the broken bone, and once that happens, the only way of saving your life will be to amputate your leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Gabby\u2019s insides twisted queasily at the thought, she\u2019d heard AJ shout back, \u201cFuck no!\u00a0 You think I\u2019d let you cut off my fucking leg?\u00a0 How am I supposed to outrun the zombies with one leg?\u00a0 Fuck that; I\u2019d rather die!\u00a0 I\u2019d be dead anyway, with only one leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you understand how serious this is, then,\u201d her mother had replied icily.<\/p>\n

AJ had muttered that he understood, and that night, Howie had made him watch while he poured the rest of the liquor down the kitchen sink.\u00a0 AJ\u2019s mood hadn\u2019t improved much since then.\u00a0 He was sulky and silent, only speaking when someone asked him something directly.\u00a0 They let him brood.<\/p>\n

Gabby could understand how he was feeling.\u00a0 She wiped the sweat off the back of her neck with a towel, then brought her fingers around to the front, sliding them up underneath the stretchy choker necklace she always wore.\u00a0 As she massaged her throat, feeling the raised scar under her fingertips, she thought back to the dark days after her father\u2019s death, when she had wanted to shut out the world, too.\u00a0 She thought about telling AJ that things would get better, but that wasn\u2019t really true.\u00a0 The world was no better than it had been in those days; in fact, it was a lot worse.\u00a0 The pain hadn\u2019t gone away, either.\u00a0 It had just gone numb.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t blame AJ for wanting to dull his pain with booze.<\/p>\n

Dropping her towel, she walked over to him and offered a tentative smile.\u00a0 \u201cWant some iced tea?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

AJ didn\u2019t return her smile.\u00a0 \u201cOnly if it\u2019s a Long Island,\u201d he replied, deadpan.\u00a0 Gabby wasn\u2019t exactly sure what a Long Island was, but she knew it included alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cJust regular old sun tea.\u00a0 You sure you don\u2019t want some?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo thanks, kid.\u00a0 I\u2019m fine,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t seem fine.<\/p>\n

Gabby shrugged and walked away.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going up to the house to get a drink!\u201d she bellowed at her mom, who was tying a couple of log posts together while Howie held them straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cBring me back one!\u00a0 Lots of ice!\u201d her mother called back.\u00a0 Then she added, \u201cBe careful!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will!\u201d Gabby sing-songed, unconcerned.\u00a0 The base was pretty much safe now, as safe as anywhere could be these days.\u00a0 Zombies popped up on the outskirts now and then, usually coming out of the water, but the area where the houses and other buildings were was clear.\u00a0 Still, out of habit, she picked up one of the guns that were lying on the ground nearby and, after checking to make sure the safety was on, slid its barrel through the belt loop of her shorts for the walk up to the house.<\/p>\n

If Makayla could see me now,<\/i> she thought with some amusement, imagining her best friend\u2019s reaction if she knew Gabby\u2019s mother let her carry around guns.\u00a0 She remembered how the two of them used to play Resident Evil<\/i> on Makayla\u2019s brother\u2019s Playstation and wondered what Makayla would think about her becoming a real life zombie-hunter.\u00a0 It might have been cool, if only Makayla and Colton and her other friends were alive to see it.<\/p>\n

She made the trek up to the small house she and her mother had started to call home and let herself in.\u00a0 A pitcher of sun tea was chilling in the fridge; she took it out and poured it into three tall glasses of ice.\u00a0 Standing at the counter, she gulped down one of the glasses herself, sighing with satisfaction as the cool tea slid smoothly down her dry throat.\u00a0 She finished her drink, then set the glass down by the sink and picked up the two full ones, carrying one in each hand.\u00a0 She walked slowly back towards the coastline, being careful not to spill.\u00a0 They had all brought water canteens down to the worksite that morning, but the water was like bathwater by now, warm from sitting out in the sun.\u00a0 The iced tea would taste wonderful to her mother and Howie.\u00a0 AJ would be sorry he\u2019d turned her down.<\/p>\n

These were the innocent thoughts flitting through her head as she wandered back to the unfinished wall, the glasses of tea sweating in her hands, the gun slapping against her thigh.\u00a0 As she walked across Bayshore Boulevard, which ran parallel to the water, she could see AJ slumped in his chair, his chin drooping to his chest, and her mother and Howie still bent over the wall, adding another wooden post.\u00a0 She could also see what they did not:\u00a0 a trio of twisted bodies, lurching out of the bay behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom!\u201d she screamed, and the glasses of iced tea fell from her hands and shattered on the pavement as she broke into a run.\u00a0 \u201cHowie!\u00a0 Look out!\u00a0 Behind you!\u201d<\/p>\n

They both looked up, hearing her but not understanding at first.\u00a0 By the time they turned around, it was too late.\u00a0 The zombies were practically on them.\u00a0 Jo swung wildly with the hammer in her hand, connecting with one zombie\u2019s skull, while Howie ran for his gun.\u00a0 AJ\u2019s head snapped up, and he started screaming, \u201cGet me a gun!\u00a0 Get me a fucking gun!\u201d<\/p>\n

Howie charged toward him, gun in hand.\u00a0 He dropped the gun into AJ\u2019s lap, but even as AJ picked it up and took aim, Howie was already behind the wheelchair, dragging it backward by the handles.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d AJ protested.\u00a0 \u201cLet me fight!\u00a0 Go help Jo!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp my mom!\u201d Gabby screamed, as she made it to them.\u00a0 Down by the water, her mother had managed to take down the first zombie with her hammer, but she was still surrounded by the others.\u00a0 Gabby raised her gun and aimed carefully at the one furthest from her mom.\u00a0 She took her time lining up the shot, and when she fired, it was dead on.\u00a0 The zombie dropped, a bullet in its brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood shot, kid,\u201d she heard AJ say, but she could not reply.\u00a0 Her mouth fell open in horror as she watched the third zombie fall upon her mother, knocking her to the ground.<\/p>\n

Gabby could see Jo struggling under the zombie\u2019s weight as it scrabbled over her.\u00a0 She managed to grab it by the shoulders and thrust it upwards, trying to throw it off her, but its waterlogged body was too heavy.\u00a0 Her arms trembled with the effort of holding it up, out of biting range.\u00a0 Howie took off running towards her, but Gabby knew he\u2019d never get there in time.\u00a0 Desperate, she raised her gun again, seeing if she could line up a clear shot.\u00a0 It was going to be close, but if Jo could just keep the zombie up and off her for a few more seconds\u2026<\/p>\n

Then she heard her mother scream.\u00a0 It was a scream she\u2019d only heard from her once, the night her father had died \u2013 raw and guttural and terrible.\u00a0 For Gabby, that was all it took to force her into action.\u00a0 She held her breath, locked her elbow to steady her shooting arm, and thought, Daddy, please,<\/i> as she squeezed the trigger.<\/p>\n

Her shot was low, but at first, she thought it was good enough.\u00a0 It passed through the back of the zombie\u2019s neck, missing the brain, but severing the spinal cord.\u00a0 She could tell by the way its hands stopped clawing and its legs went still, yet its jaws went on snapping.\u00a0 The zombie was still a threat as long as it could bite, but at least now her mother would be able to push it off her and get away.<\/p>\n

So why wasn\u2019t Jo moving?<\/p>\n

\u201cMom?\u201d she called, her voice shrill and panicky.\u00a0 Get up\u2026 get up!<\/i> she begged silently, as she watched Howie reach her mother and pull the paralyzed zombie off her.\u00a0 He jammed the barrel of his gun into the center of its forehead and pulled the trigger, exploding its brains all over the ground.\u00a0 Finally, the snapping jaws went slack.\u00a0 But still, Gabby\u2019s mother didn\u2019t get up.<\/p>\n

Gabby raced toward her crumpled form, her heart pounding, her breath coming in shallow gasps.\u00a0 \u201cMom?\u00a0 Mom?!\u201d\u00a0 She skidded to a stop, dropping to her knees at Jo\u2019s side, and stared down in horror.\u00a0 Her mother\u2019s hands were pressed over her heaving chest, unable to hide the red stain spreading steadily across her shirt underneath them.<\/p>\n

At first, she assumed the zombie must have been bitten her, and she thought, She\u2019ll be okay.\u00a0 AJ got bit, and he was okay.<\/i>\u00a0 But then she watched as Howie gently slid Jo\u2019s hands out of the way to assess the damage, and she saw the wound, saw where all the blood was coming from:\u00a0 a little, round hole in the center of her mom\u2019s t-shirt.\u00a0 And she understood.\u00a0 It was not a bite, but a bullet hole.<\/p>\n

She had shot her mother.<\/p>\n

Even as she stood there, shaking her head in denial, a part of her could piece together what had happened.\u00a0 The bullet must have gone straight through the zombie\u2019s scrawny neck and hit her mother in the chest.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t thought of that when she\u2019d taken the shot.\u00a0 She\u2019d only been trying to help, to save her mom\u2019s life\u2026<\/p>\n

But there would be no saving Jo now, not with bright red blood spurting out of her with every last beat of her faltering heart.\u00a0 Instinctively, Gabby already knew it, knew it because she had watched her father bleed out almost the same way.\u00a0 Still, she threw herself over her mother\u2019s body, as if to stopper up the blood with her weight, and clung to her, crying, \u201cHang on, Mama\u2026 hang on\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Hang on for what?\u00a0 There was no one here who could help her.\u00a0 The only one in their midst with any real medical training was Jo herself, and she knew she was dying.\u00a0 She was still semi-conscious, though she was fading fast, and Gabby heard her voice rasp in her ear, \u201cBe strong, Gabrielle.\u00a0 Be strong, and survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Howie, she pleaded, \u201cTake care of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd take care of yourself.\u00a0 And AJ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will, Jo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabby couldn\u2019t stand to hear her say her goodbyes.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Mama,\u201d she begged, burying her face in her mother\u2019s neck.\u00a0 She pressed her body firmly against her mother\u2019s, holding onto her as if she could somehow tether her to life.\u00a0 Just as Jo had once held her in her arms, trying to stop the flow of blood from the stab wound in her neck, Gabby held onto Jo until she felt her chest stop heaving and her body relax beneath her, as the life rushed out of it.<\/p>\n

Even then, Howie had to practically pry her away.\u00a0 She stiffened, resisting, at first, as he tried to pull her into his arms.\u00a0 Then she went limp and collapsed against his chest, sobbing, while he smoothed her hair and silently tried to soothe her.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus,\u201d a low voice rasped, and Gabby looked up from Howie\u2019s shoulder to see that AJ had wheeled himself up.\u00a0 He stared down at Jo for a long time, his sunglasses pushed back on the top of his balding head, his features twisted with grief.\u00a0 Then he looked back at the two of them.\u00a0 \u201cHoly shit, Howie\u2026 are you hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n

Howie glanced down at himself.\u00a0 He was covered in blood.\u00a0 So was Gabby.\u00a0 But it didn\u2019t belong to either of them.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s Jo\u2019s,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selfishly, Gabby thought, You shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 It should\u2019ve been your blood, not my mom\u2019s.\u00a0 I need her.\u00a0 We all need her\u2026<\/i>\u00a0 She knew it was a horrible thought, but she couldn\u2019t keep it from coming.\u00a0 She wished it had been Howie, the hemophiliac, who was attacked.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t the attack that killed her,<\/i> she realized.\u00a0 It was the bullet.\u00a0 It was me.\u00a0 My fault.<\/i><\/p>\n

She started to sob wildly again, screaming, \u201cI killed her!\u201d<\/p>\n

Howie pulled her to him again, muffling her cries, saying, \u201cShh\u2026 it\u2019s not your fault.\u00a0 You were trying to save her.\u00a0 If you hadn\u2019t taken the shot, the zombie would have gotten her first.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Gabby could not be comforted.\u00a0 She cried until she was out of tears, until she was so exhausted that she finally collapsed.\u00a0 Howie carried her back to the house, where she slept fitfully, her sleep disturbed by nightmares.\u00a0 Waking brought her no relief, for when she opened her eyes, she remembered that her real life was the worst nightmare of them all.<\/p>\n

For the first time in her life, the thirteen-year-old fully understood AJ\u2019s desire to drink himself to death.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

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Chapter 78 Life sucks, and then you die. I used to think people like AJ were just being emo, saying things like that, but now I know it\u2019s true.\u00a0 That\u2019s my new phsylosophy on life, or however you spell that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":78,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/304"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":305,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/304\/revisions\/305"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}