{"id":325,"date":"2013-07-22T14:27:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T14:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=325"},"modified":"2013-07-22T15:18:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T15:18:00","slug":"chapter-86","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-86\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 86"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 86<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Everything\u2019s getting harder.<\/i><\/p>\n

Traveling ain\u2019t easy anymore; we\u2019re having to get more creative with the ways we get around.\u00a0 Fighting these things ain\u2019t getting any easier either. There\u2019s just as much danger, but we can\u2019t always win.\u00a0 The odds are just too high in their favor, ya know?\u00a0 There\u2019s been too many close calls\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to drive a person crazy.<\/i><\/p>\n

But I keep telling myself we\u2019re gonna make it.\u00a0 I have to believe it.\u00a0 Someone needs to have hope around here, and I guess it\u2019s gotta be me.<\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s gotta be me, ha, sounds like a song.\u00a0 I think.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember.<\/i><\/p>\n

I shouldn\u2019t use a song quote this entry, I need a movie one.\u00a0 I should stick in more of those, \u2018cause, ya know, movies can\u2019t be forgotten either.\u00a0 I\u2019m an actor\u2026 well, I was\u2026 or I tried to be.\u00a0 Anyways.\u00a0 I\u2019m not that person anymore, but still, the old me is still part of the new me.\u00a0 Or something.\u00a0 I need a movie quote.<\/i><\/p>\n

I gotta keep the classics alive, right?<\/i><\/p>\n

Except I can\u2019t think of a good movie quote.\u00a0 Damn.<\/i><\/p>\n

Oh well\u2026 song of the entry it is!<\/i><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve used a Beach Boys song yet, have I?\u00a0 Rye loves them.\u00a0 (Which is funny as hell since just about everything else she likes is rock.)<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me go home
\nWhy don’t they let me go home
\nThis is the worst trip I’ve ever been on<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

So hoist up the John B’s sail
\nSee how the mainsail sets
\nCall for the Captain ashore
\nLet me go home, let me go home
\nI wanna go home, yeah yeah
\nWell I feel so broke up
\nI wanna go home\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSloop John B\u201d \u2013 Beach Boys<\/i><\/p>\n

Friday, November 9, 2012<\/b><\/b>
\nWeek Twenty-Nine<\/i><\/p>\n

Nick could feel the wind blowing by him fiercely, challenging him, and taunting him.\u00a0 He turned the wheel accordingly, enjoying the control he now had.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t much he had control of these days.\u00a0 It felt good to be doing something he used to once love, to know he had some hold on something.<\/p>\n

The storm had finally ended the day before.\u00a0 Once it had, they\u2019d found their tour bus trashed by animals and the storm.\u00a0 It had been Nick who\u2019d come up with the idea of trying to sail down the river, in hopes of hurrying their journey along and avoiding the roads.\u00a0 It was night then; he could see the stars twinkling above them gently in the sky.<\/p>\n

Originally, Nick had wanted to steal one of the old-fashioned riverboats they\u2019d seen along the shores, but Kevin had pointed out that they needed far more people to actually operate it properly.\u00a0 In the end, Nick ended up stealing a large speedboat that must have belonged to some fisherman, given how much gear had been left behind inside it.<\/p>\n

A glance back showed Riley sleeping contentedly across the rear seat behind him.\u00a0 Kevin had finally dozed off in the seat beside him only a few hours before.\u00a0 For the moment, Nick was the only human awake in the area, left to his own solitude.\u00a0 He could hear Riley shifting, stirring with the noise of the engine and movement of the boat.\u00a0 He sighed and slowed the boat down, before cutting the engine completely.\u00a0 For the time being, Nick was content to float down the Mississippi River and let his two companions sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, why\u2019d you stop?\u201d Kevin asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he looked around.<\/p>\n

Nick shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI was trying to let you sleep, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to sleep these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRye manages to alright.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean after\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick nodded. \u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin\u2019s near-death experience still unnerved them all.\u00a0 They had become more cautious, more wary, with the exception of Riley and Nick\u2019s little escapade back in St. Louis.\u00a0 Nick thought back that with a wide smile, forgetting for a moment that Kevin was, in fact, awake beside him.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see what Riley saw in him.\u00a0 Any time he looked in the mirror, he saw the same old failure.\u00a0 He had to remind himself daily that that Nick was dead, that life had moved on, and that he had changed, along with the world around him.<\/p>\n

He caught Kevin smiling out of the corner of his eye.\u00a0 The smile was a melancholy one, wistful and accompanied by a distant look in his eyes.\u00a0 The trip had aged Kevin in ways he didn\u2019t like to think about.\u00a0 There were more lines around the corners of his eyes, his face more weathered by the hard times that they had been through since that fateful April day.\u00a0 Nick turned, not looking directly at him.\u00a0 Instead, his eyes focused on the waters illuminated eerily by the moonlight from above.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, man, talk.\u00a0 We can\u2019t do much else right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin leaned back in his chair.\u00a0 His hands rested beneath his head as he gazed up at the stars, rather than Nick.\u00a0 It was eerie how no animal noises could be heard near them.\u00a0 As a nature lover, Nick definitely missed them immensely.\u00a0 They could hear the moans of the undead, but nothing more.\u00a0 Kevin sighed, as Nick looked down at the moon\u2019s reflection along the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two of you just remind you of me and Kristin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick raised a brow, sitting forward to look at Kevin more directly.\u00a0 The boat floated serenely down the river, giving the illusion of a peace that no longer existed.\u00a0 Kevin kept his eyes toward the sky, lines creasing his forehead as his line of vision went beyond the here and now and into the past beyond their reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know you were married\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin gave the simplest jerk of the head.\u00a0 \u201cWe weren\u2019t.\u00a0 I always wondered if we should have.\u00a0 If there was a \u2018one,\u2019 I think she might\u2019ve been it.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t like how many times I\u2019d been sent out on-duty, how much we had to move around\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026 we broke up and got back together so many times.\u00a0 I loved her.\u00a0 She\u2019d bait me, tease me\u2026 so when I see you two, lately, I\u2019ve been thinking of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYou think you\u2019d both be here if you had married her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 I wonder that myself.\u00a0 But then I think maybe it would\u2019ve been worth dying, to have that.\u00a0 To have started my own family, instead of choosing my life in the military.\u00a0 Maybe it wouldn\u2019t have.\u00a0 I\u2019m not one for lot of \u2018what ifs,\u2019 but that\u2019s the one that\u2019s followed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it helps, I\u2019m glad you\u2019re here.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think any of us would be alive today if you weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou give me too much credit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick shook his head, running a hand tiredly through his hair, as he attempted to stifle back a yawn.\u00a0 \u201cNo, sometimes, I feel like you\u2019re not told that enough.\u00a0 Hell, if we had to have gotten stranded in the middle of the country, where the odds are that we\u2019ll die before making it back home, I\u2019m glad you\u2019re the one who led us into this mess.\u00a0 Anyone else, and we\u2019d probably have been nothing but bones picked clean by now.\u201d\u00a0 He grinned.\u00a0 \u201cThe zombies missed out on a grand human buffet because of you.\u00a0 No braaaaaaaiiiiiiiins for them.\u201d\u00a0 He mimicked some slurping noises.\u00a0 \u201cNick \u2013 it\u2019s what\u2019s for dinner!\u00a0 Dun-dun-dun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNice image.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI try, but seriously, man, I mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin smiled up at him gratefully.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, since we\u2019re on a boat, you think I\u2019d be the Skipper if this was Gilligan\u2019s Island<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man sat up, a bit bewildered by the sudden subject change.\u00a0 It almost made Nick laugh.\u00a0 So many people in his life had claimed to be used to his forever-short attention span, but he\u2019d always managed to surprise them sometimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGilligan\u2019s Island!<\/i>\u00a0 You know\u2026\u201d\u00a0 His expression brightened as he happily launched into the theme song.\u00a0 \u201cJust sit right back, and you’ll hear a tale\u2026 a tale of a fateful trip\u2026 that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019re sleep-deprived.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure.\u00a0 Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour tour, a three hour tour\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d be Gilligan; I think I\u2019d end up as the Skipper.\u00a0 The Skipper knew what he was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat made you think of that, anyway?\u00a0 We\u2019re not shipwrecked; we\u2019re not even sleep-deprived.\u201d\u00a0 Kevin glanced around, searching for something, but not wanting to disturb the still-sleeping Riley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur makeshift anchor.\u00a0 It\u2019s too risky to try and tie up the boat ashore; we\u2019d be best off at a standstill in the middle of the river.\u00a0 You clearly need some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick dug down between his legs, where a large weight sat on the floor.\u00a0 Around it was tied a thick, heavy rope.\u00a0 He grabbed the end of the rope, securely fastening it around one of the metal loops on the side of the boat, typically used for tying it down at a port.\u00a0 He expertly tied it, having done it so many times in the past when he\u2019d go sailing just for fun.\u00a0 Carefree days that seemed like eons ago, another life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can stay up and keep watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick yawned as quietly as he could, discretely wiping his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t have to; I think we\u2019ll be okay.\u00a0 We\u2019re in the middle of the river, at the deepest part.\u201d\u00a0 He dropped the weight into the water, hearing the immediate sploosh<\/i> sound that followed.\u00a0 Water hit his face in angry beads that looked like tears.\u00a0 The boat jerked to a stop, swaying gently as the river rushed around them.\u00a0 \u201cYou need your rest, too; I didn\u2019t mean to wake you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you\u2019re right; we should be left alone here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick lay back, staring up at the stars once more.\u00a0 They were so inviting, little gems of light that felt comforting in a world that was no longer safe for them.\u00a0 They seemed to speak to him.\u00a0 He felt as if they were saying that, soon, everything would be alright.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoodnight, Nick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGoodnight, Kevin.\u201d<\/p>\n

As his eyelids grew heavier and fluttered to a close, he prayed he was right.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

It was the splashing of water and Riley\u2019s frantic cry that woke him up, only hours later.\u00a0 His eyes shot open just in time to witness Kevin being pulled into the water by a zombie that somehow had managed to climb up the rope attached to their anchor.\u00a0 His mind raced, groggy and jump-started all at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cWha\u2026?\u201d was all he was able to actually vocalize.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how, but it got up\u2026 Kevin was trying to fight it off, and\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Riley was frantically trying to grab some sort of weapon.\u00a0 Nick immediately saw what she planned to do.\u00a0 He grabbed her wrist, stopping her.\u00a0 Their last close call flashed through his mind.\u00a0 How she\u2019d been moments away from being eaten.\u00a0 The same, familiar fear crawled into his heart, making the decision for them both.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t about to let her risk herself again.\u00a0 He stripped off his shirt, and before Riley could say anything, he dived into the river to help their forever-fearless river.<\/p>\n

Once underwater, the shock of the cold was what hit him first.\u00a0 He forced himself to try and acclimate to the low temperature.\u00a0 His eyes darted around, searching for the sign of a struggle.\u00a0 What they saw was an endless stream of zombies, roaming the bottom of the river.\u00a0 Bloated, their clothes having rotted off, they roamed without any true purpose, their moans unheard.\u00a0 Nick refocused and soon spotted Kevin trying to fight his attacker off.\u00a0 The zombie still had a hand on the rope, keeping it closer to the surface than the rest below.<\/p>\n

He swam forward, suddenly thankful for all those scuba diving escapades over the years, which helped him hold his breath underwater.\u00a0 Kevin was clearly struggling, fighting to be free of its grip, looking desperate for air.\u00a0 Nick propelled himself toward the zombie, full speed ahead, and forced it off of Kevin.\u00a0 The arm holding the rope was torn from the body, bits of flesh flying around and clouding the water, along with Nick\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

A gargled moan escaped the zombie\u2019s mouth, as its one arm reached for his throat.\u00a0 The grip caught Nick by surprise, forcing out the breath he was holding in the water.\u00a0 His lungs began to scream for air, as he struggled to fight it off.\u00a0 Kevin swam up behind it, pulling at the head, whose jaws were snapping at him.\u00a0 He tugged back hard, and the neck, weakened by the water that had puffed up the body, tore away.\u00a0 The grip fell slack, and both men shoved themselves up to the surface for air.\u00a0 Nick gasped, enjoying the feeling as the oxygen returned to his burning lungs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d Kevin said, as he caught his breath as well.\u00a0 He threw the still-moaning head, and it skipped along the water before sinking in the distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo problem.\u201d\u00a0 They swam back to the boat, where Riley was waiting.\u00a0 Her expression was anxious as she helped them both back into the boat.\u00a0 She hugged Kevin, before turning to Nick.\u00a0 He wrapped his arms around her, while Kevin pulled up the weight they had been using as an anchor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you were both dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

He smirked.\u00a0 \u201cCome on now, if I\u2019m gonna die, it\u2019s not going to be in the water.\u00a0 I just wonder how one got up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riley shrugged, still not letting go of him.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe the fact you\u2019re weightless in the water makes it easier to climb.\u00a0 No need for coordination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was too close of a call.\u00a0 We need to start moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick turned to go back up and drive the boat, but Kevin surprised him by sitting at the wheel.\u00a0 He shook his head at him, motioning for him to relax.\u00a0 A sentiment passed between them without a word spoken.\u00a0 His shirt was tossed back at him offhandedly, and he put it on, trying to dry off in the cold.<\/p>\n

The boat started making its way, once again, down the Mississippi.\u00a0 Despite everything that had just occurred, Nick felt safe.\u00a0 They would persevere, and they would survive.\u00a0 Covering them both with a blanket, he lay back on the seats with Riley in his arms.\u00a0 Her head was on his chest, her gaze meeting his own.<\/p>\n

That was how Nick fell asleep once again, a peaceful smile upon his face.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 86 Everything\u2019s getting harder. Traveling ain\u2019t easy anymore; we\u2019re having to get more creative with the ways we get around.\u00a0 Fighting these things ain\u2019t getting any easier either. There\u2019s just as much danger, but we can\u2019t always win.\u00a0 The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":86,"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\/325"}],"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=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/325\/revisions\/369"}],"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=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}