{"id":485,"date":"2015-08-07T03:43:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T03:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=485"},"modified":"2015-08-07T03:43:40","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T03:43:40","slug":"chapter-112","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-112\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 112"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 112<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In one of my early entries from that first year after the world fell apart, I wrote about Little House on the Prairie<\/span>.\u00a0 I loved those books.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m living them.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a good idea Riley had to keep these journals.\u00a0 By writing this all down, maybe I\u2019ll become the next Laura Ingalls Wilder.\u00a0 Gretchen Millworth Elliott Littrell, post-apocalyptic pioneer.\u00a0 Our stories are not so different.\u00a0 In a lot of ways, they\u2019re surprisingly similar.\u00a0 She was part of a large family, and so am I.\u00a0 Her family built a home and a life for themselves on the prairie, like we have here on the base.\u00a0 While they worried about Indians, we feared the undead.\u00a0 As a young woman, she taught in a one-room schoolhouse, similar to the work I\u2019m doing here.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the beginning, I\u2019m sure some of us thought writing in our journals was a waste of time.\u00a0 It was a way to pass the time and keep ourselves from going too crazy, but besides that, what was the point?\u00a0 As far as we knew, there would be no one around to read our words once we were gone.\u00a0 We were all that was left of humanity.<\/em><\/p>\n

We know now that isn\u2019t true.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t just write this for ourselves, but for our future.\u00a0 It\u2019s important that we share our story with our children so that they can pass it on as a part of their history, too.\u00a0 Someday, when a larger society has been reestablished, we\u2019ll want people to read our story and remember our struggle.\u00a0 We\u2019ll want them to learn from the mistakes made in the past so they don\u2019t repeat them in the future.\u00a0 This is our prayer, that tomorrow will help us leave the past behind.\u00a0 It\u2019s my job to teach our children everything they need to know in order to keep humanity alive, long after we\u2019re gone.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Wednesday, April 13, 2022<\/strong>
\nTen years after Infernal Friday<\/em><\/p>\n

By eight o\u2019clock that morning, all the children had gathered at the small school on the base, where Gretchen taught them five days a week.\u00a0 \u201cGood morning, boys and girls,\u201d she greeted them, although there was only one boy in her tiny class.\u00a0 Little Joshua Carter, Nick and Riley\u2019s son, grinned up at her from his desk, smack dab in the middle of the four girls.\u00a0 With his blonde hair and blue eyes, he was going to be a ladies man someday, the spitting image of his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood morning, Gretchen,\u201d the kids chorused back.\u00a0 She did not insist that they call her Mrs. Littrell.\u00a0 It was too formal for their little group, which felt more like a family than any of her previous classes had.\u00a0 Gretchen enjoyed being back in her element, doing something that had always felt natural to her, but it was different here, more like home-schooling than full-time teaching.\u00a0 She had to differentiate each day\u2019s lessons to fit the different abilities of her five students, who ranged in age from four to eight.<\/p>\n

Evette, of course, was the oldest.\u00a0 At almost nine years old, she was already an avid reader.\u00a0 She loved to explore the base\u2019s library and was often found with her nose in a book and her mind a million miles away.\u00a0 She reminded Gretchen of Gabby in that way.\u00a0 She had even started keeping her own diary, after seeing all the adults writing in their journals for as long as she could remember.\u00a0 If I\u2019m like Laura, <\/em>thought Gretchen, looking fondly at her first-born, then she\u2019s my Rose.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just eleven months Eve\u2019s junior, Josh would be eight in July.\u00a0 He had inherited his dad\u2019s sense of humor and his mom\u2019s spitfire personality, so it came as no surprise that he was something of a class clown.\u00a0 Josh was a sweet kid, though, eager to learn, even though he had a hard time sitting still.<\/p>\n

Next came Kayleigh, Gretchen and Brian\u2019s other daughter.\u00a0 Her full name was Kayleigh Josephine, but they usually just called her Kayleigh Jo or K.J. for short.\u00a0 She was six years old and spirited, to say the least.\u00a0 While Eve took mostly after her mother, Kayleigh was a tomboy, Daddy\u2019s girl through and through.\u00a0 She preferred playing outside to sitting in school and would much rather toss a ball around with Brian than look at a picture book with Gretchen.\u00a0 The only thing she seemed to have in common with her two namesakes was the fact that she was smart.\u00a0 By the time she was four, she not only knew all her letters, but could spell words like \u201cpig\u201d and \u201chorse\u201d \u2013 more thanks to playing basketball with Brian than anything Gretchen had done to help her.<\/p>\n

Leslie Anne was Nick and Riley\u2019s second child, named for his sister and her mother.\u00a0 She was almost three years younger \u2013 but only slightly\u00a0calmer \u2013 than her brother. \u00a0Although she\u2019d just turned five, Leslie was already developing the same love of stories as her mother and seemed to be as creative as her father. \u00a0She loved to play pretend and tell wild tales about her “adventures\u201d to everyone.<\/p>\n

Finally, there was four-year-old Asha, the baby of the base (but not for long).\u00a0 Everyone agreed she was absolutely beautiful, a perfect blend of both of her parents, with AJ\u2019s big brown eyes and Selena\u2019s cocoa-colored skin.\u00a0 In spite of her parents\u2019 rough exteriors, Asha was sweet as could be.\u00a0 Of course, having her had softened Selena and AJ a lot.\u00a0 They were better parents than many Gretchen had known before the apocalypse.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t put up with any bullshit.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is Wednesday, April thirteenth,\u201d said Gretchen, pointing to the date she\u2019d written on the board.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a special day.\u00a0 Who can remind us why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGabby\u2019s birthday!\u201d blurted Leslie, her big blue eyes shining with excitement.<\/p>\n

Gretchen smiled.\u00a0 \u201cAlmost.\u00a0 Gabby\u2019s birthday is tomorrow<\/em>.\u00a0 I thought we could make some cards for her later.\u00a0 But what else is special about today<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the anniversary,\u201d Eve spoke up.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t raise her hand either; with only five students, Gretchen didn\u2019t bother with such formalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe anniversary of what?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eve\u2019s expression was solemn.\u00a0 \u201cOf when the world died,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The way she worded it gave Gretchen goosebumps, but of course, she was right.\u00a0 They had been talking about it at home all week, trying to help the children understand why it was a big deal for the grown-ups.\u00a0 Ten years.\u00a0 It had been ten years since the world, as they\u2019d known it, had come to an end.\u00a0 Their children would never get to experience that world.\u00a0 Except for Eve, who was born in England, they had lived their entire lives on the former MacDill Air Force Base.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t know anything different.\u00a0 It was up to the adults to tell them what life used to be like, to preserve what they could of their old culture.<\/p>\n

As a teacher, Gretchen had taken on most of the responsibility for the children\u2019s education.\u00a0 They spent most of their mornings in school working on reading and writing, along with basic math.\u00a0 Gretchen knew that language and literacy were essential to pass on and could not afford to be lost.\u00a0 Writing was the best way to record their history for future generations to read.\u00a0 She tried to tuck as much history as she could into her reading lessons, and she\u2019d had the older kids start keeping their own journals as soon as they were able to write, so that they, too, could contribute to the archives.<\/p>\n

Science lessons were practical ones, usually spent outdoors.\u00a0 They learned about animals by taking care of the cows and chickens and, of course, the pets Nick was never without.\u00a0 They studied plants the same way, by watching flowers grow in the garden and helping Brian farm the fields from which most of their food came.\u00a0 There were simple machines all around them that made their lives easier.\u00a0 They experimented with energy using the solar panels Kevin had installed to power the base.\u00a0 Selena drew on her pharmaceutical knowledge to show them some basic chemistry, while AJ taught them about color by having them help him make dyes and play with paints.\u00a0 Even Howie\u2019s expertise as a hotel tycoon came in handy, as he oversaw the engineering of elaborate buildings with wooden blocks.<\/p>\n

And, of course, there was music.\u00a0 Nick made sure the kids knew every song he considered a classic, while Brian gave guitar lessons to anyone who wanted to learn.\u00a0 Without internet or television to entertain them, they would often get together and sing.\u00a0 So much could be learned through song.\u00a0 Gretchen was still waiting for Nick to go with them on a field trip to the L-I-B-R-A-R-Y, where he could sing the song about its many functions, but whenever she suggested it, he would blush and say he was busy.\u00a0 Maybe someday<\/em>, she thought, suppressing a smile.<\/p>\n

But that day, there were more important topics to discuss.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d she told her daughter.\u00a0 \u201cTen years ago, our world changed overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

She cleared her throat, glancing down at the five innocent little faces looking up at her.\u00a0 She\u2019d had a hard time figuring out what to say that would be appropriate for a four-year-old and even an eight-year-old to hear.\u00a0 How could she explain what had happened without scaring them?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lived in a country called the United States of America.\u00a0 There was a war going on with other countries that were against ours.\u00a0 One country, called North Korea, really didn\u2019t like us.\u00a0 Their leader, a man named Kim Jong-Il, sent some planes over to our country, carrying a kind of poison that was meant to make people sick.\u00a0 Ten years ago, on Infernal Friday, the planes sprayed the poison into the air, and people breathed it in without even knowing it.\u00a0 They got very sick and started dying.\u00a0 By the end of the next day, which we know as Reaper\u2019s Sabbath, almost everyone had died.\u00a0 It was very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

She paused, remembering how she\u2019d sat alone in her house, waiting for word from Shawn, having no idea that she would never see her husband again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then what happened?\u201d asked Josh, egging her on.\u00a0 Of course, he already knew what came next.\u00a0 The older ones had heard the story many times before.\u00a0 To them, it was just that: a story.\u00a0 Even Evette was much too young to have any real memories of the undead.\u00a0 In her mind, they might have been make believe, like the monsters under her bed.<\/p>\n

But Gretchen remembered what they had really been like.\u00a0 She remembered the way they shambled toward her, slowly, but ceaselessly.\u00a0 She remembered the blood-curdling sound of their moans.\u00a0 And she remembered the stench of decay, which would never quite leave her nose.<\/p>\n

She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath before continuing.\u00a0 \u201cThen the dead people started waking up.\u00a0 Only they weren\u2019t people anymore.\u00a0 They were monsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cZombies,\u201d Josh supplied matter-of-factly, looking around at the girls.\u00a0 Kayleigh giggled, but Eve, Leslie, and even little Asha remained stoic, staring up at Gretchen in rapt silence as they waited for her to go on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose of us who were left had no choice but to run.\u00a0 Our homes weren\u2019t safe anymore.\u00a0 I left my house in the middle of the night, got in my car, and drove.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s when you met Daddy,\u201d Eve supplied, her eyes shining.\u00a0 She always loved that part of the story.<\/p>\n

Gretchen smiled and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s right.\u00a0 I met your dad on the road and rescued him from the zombies, and we rode the rest of the way together down here to MacDill, where his cousin was stationed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKevin,\u201d said Kayleigh, and again, Gretchen nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-huh.\u00a0 Everyone ended up here because it was the safest place to be.\u00a0 Kevin kept sending messages over the radio, encouraging any other survivors to come to the base, but Brian and I were the last ones to arrive.\u00a0 After that, it was just the ten of us.\u00a0 Brian\u2026 Kevin\u2026 Nick\u2026 Riley\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Josh and Leslie turned to look at each other, as Gretchen ticked their names off one by one.\u00a0 \u201cAJ\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Asha\u2019s face lit up with a grin.\u00a0 \u201cHowie\u2026 Gabby\u2026 her mother, Jo\u2026 Kayleigh\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Gretchen smiled sadly at her younger daughter, whose eyes lit up in recognition.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026and me.\u00a0 For a long time, we thought we were the only ones left in the world.\u00a0 We even sent a search party \u2013 Kevin, Nick, and Riley \u2013 to look for more survivors, but they didn\u2019t find anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

She swallowed hard, remembering the many weeks they\u2019d spent waiting for their friends to return.\u00a0 What a miracle it was that all three of them had made it back, despite the obstacles that stood in their way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were alone for almost a year,\u201d she went on, \u201cuntil the other group showed up.\u00a0 They came from across the ocean, from another country called England.\u00a0 We went to live with them for awhile because the base wasn\u2019t safe, and they had a castle.\u00a0 But it was cold there and not nearly as nice.\u00a0 We missed our home.\u00a0 So when the zombies started to fall apart, we flew back to Florida.\u00a0 Selena came with us, but the others stayed in England.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWill we ever see them again?\u201d asked Eve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so,\u201d Gretchen replied, \u201cbut I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been away for a long time.\u00a0 You were just a baby when we left.\u201d\u00a0 She smiled at her daughter.\u00a0 \u201cWho knows what\u2019s happened to them since.\u201d\u00a0 It was something they had all wondered about.\u00a0 There had been talk of trying to return to England someday.\u00a0 Gabby was especially eager to go, but Gretchen would just as well stay on the base.\u00a0 In the last ten years, they\u2019d made a life for themselves there.\u00a0 Why risk it?\u00a0 Especially now.<\/p>\n

Her hand dropped instinctively to her stomach, as she was suddenly struck by a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.\u00a0 She fiddled a little with the fabric of her shirt, then forced her hand away.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo,\u201d she said, brushing her hair behind one ear, \u201ctonight, when the whole group gets together, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll be remembering:\u00a0 the day our story started, and all the days we\u2019ve survived since then.\u00a0 Does anyone have a question?\u201d<\/p>\n

She spent the next half hour answering their questions as best she could, without getting into all the gory details.\u00a0 Afterwards, the older kids made birthday cards and wrote in their journals while she worked with the younger ones on forming their letters.\u00a0 The morning passed quickly, and when it was time for lunch, Gretchen walked the children home, dropping them off at their doorsteps until she was down to just her two daughters.<\/p>\n

Brian was already back from working in the fields when they walked in.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s my three lovely ladies,\u201d he said, kissing them each in turn.\u00a0 Sometimes Gretchen wondered if he had said the same thing to his first wife and family.\u00a0 It was odd how his post-apocalyptic life paralleled his former one.\u00a0 Once again, he was a father to two daughters.\u00a0 Gretchen knew that Eve and Kayleigh could never take the place of Brooke and Bonnie, just as she would never replace Leighanne in his heart, but even so, she was glad she had been able to provide him with two more children\u2026 and, if all went as planned, hopefully a third.\u00a0 He would never say so, but she knew Brian wanted a boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirls, go wash up for lunch,\u201d she told their daughters, and when they had gone, she turned to Brian and wrapped her arms around him.\u00a0 \u201cI was thinking,\u201d she whispered, \u201cthat maybe we should tell everyone tonight, while we\u2019re all together anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian smiled down at her.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t think we\u2019d be stealing Riley and Nick\u2019s thunder?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gretchen shrugged.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t considered that.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Maybe we should wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just kidding.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they\u2019d mind, but I\u2019ll leave it up to you.\u00a0 Whatever you decide is fine with me.\u00a0 If it slips out, great, and if not\u2026 well, then it\u2019ll stay our little secret for awhile longer.\u201d\u00a0 He reached down and rested his hand over her stomach, which was just starting to show.\u00a0 She would have to see Riley about letting out her pants soon \u2013 at which point their little secret would be a secret no more.\u00a0 Riley would tell Nick, and once Nick knew, the whole base would know.\u00a0 But until then, maybe it was better to keep it between her and Brian.<\/p>\n

She loved the way he would look at her and wink when he thought no one was watching, the knowing smiles they shared behind the backs of their family and friends, like they were the sole guardians of a priceless treasure.\u00a0 And, in a way, they were.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you believe it\u2019s been ten years we\u2019ve been together?\u201d she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

He stroked her hair.\u00a0 \u201cWe, as in all of us, or you and me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth, I guess.\u201d\u00a0 They would celebrate their own anniversary two days later:\u00a0 ten years since the day they\u2019d met, nine since they\u2019d married.\u00a0 Eight more years than she had spent married to Shawn.\u00a0 \u201cGod, I\u2019m so glad we found each other that night,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Brian chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m just glad you saw me and stopped your car!\u00a0 A few more minutes, and I\u2019da been a goner.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled.\u00a0 \u201cIt was the best decision I ever made.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been such a blessing to me, Bri.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, you\u2019re the grace of my life, Gretch,\u201d he whispered back, as he bent and kissed the top of her head.\u00a0 She snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes, picturing him playing the guitar and singing those words to her on the night he\u2019d proposed.\u00a0 She much preferred that memory to the one of him sitting silently in the passenger seat of her car, all covered in blood.<\/p>\n

They had come such a long way since then, in every sense of the word.\u00a0 She hoped they would never have to go back.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

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Chapter 112 In one of my early entries from that first year after the world fell apart, I wrote about Little House on the Prairie.\u00a0 I loved those books.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m living them. It was a good idea Riley had … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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\/485"}],"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=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions\/486"}],"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=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}