{"id":500,"date":"2015-08-11T02:23:30","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T02:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=500"},"modified":"2015-08-11T02:24:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T02:24:00","slug":"chapter-116","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-116\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 116"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 116<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It used to be that I was nothing. As I said once when I first met AJ, if you looked up \u201cLoser\u201d in the dictionary you\u2019d probably find my picture next to it. I wasn\u2019t going to be remembered. I knew I was never going to be famous. Everything I had tried ended in failed attempts. I\u2019d cover it up with good humor and optimism and hope no one would notice. Then, the world changed. None of that mattered. It\u2019s funny how these journals Rye had us start now have volumes. There\u2019s a stack of them up in the attic, kept for safekeeping. Ten years is a long time. The fact we\u2019ve kept going for ten years since Infernal Friday is insane to me.\u00a0 Everything we\u2019ve been through has been worth it. I probably sound like Brian here but honestly, I\u2019ve been beyond blessed with everything I\u2019ve been given since that day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now I\u2019ve come to learn it wasn\u2019t that I was nothing. It was that it just wasn\u2019t meant to happen. I was meant to come back and survive. I don\u2019t question it at all. When I look down into the faces of my children, or see Riley smiling at me, I know this was my purpose all along. If these journals survive the future generations, the world as it\u2019ll be then, they\u2019ll know our names. They\u2019ll know my story. But that doesn\u2019t matter. I don\u2019t need to be remembered. That sort of thing doesn\u2019t matter to me anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n

All that matters in the end is right now. Living and surviving as best as we can.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a song I was teaching to the kids the other day. Cause music HAS to survive! It really doesn\u2019t have anything to do with what I was talking about but I have to keep writing down songs I remember so they don\u2019t get lost. It\u2019s not as good as \u201cThriller\u201d either but hey, it\u2019s still a freaking classic.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI like the feelin’ you’re givin’ me<\/em>
\n Just hold me baby and I\u2019m in ecstasy!<\/em>
\n Oh I\u2019ll be workin\u2019 from nine to five<\/em>
\n To buy you things to keep you by my side!<\/em>
\n I never felt so in love before<\/em>
\n Just promise baby you\u2019ll love me forevermore<\/em>
\n I swear I\u2019m keeping you satisfied,<\/em>
\n Cause you\u2019re the one for me.<\/em><\/p>\n

The way you make me feel\u2026<\/em>
\n You really turn me on<\/em>
\n You knock me off of my feet now, baby (hee!)<\/em>
\n My lonely days are gone\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Michael Jackson, \u201cThe Way You Make Me Feel\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

\u201cDaddy!\u201d his blonde-haired, blue-eyed, seven-year-old son cried with delight as he came running down the dock. It was part of an almost daily ritual. Nick would often be out here between his chores, fishing and enjoying the third love of his life after his wife and kids: \u00a0the ocean. He didn\u2019t often catch any actual fish, but that never mattered much to him. Each day after Gretchen\u2019s school let out and she dropped Josh off at home with Leslie, if Nick wasn\u2019t there, he\u2019d make a beeline for the docks. Homework and chores would come later. Riley had learned early on that if she tried to make him focus after a day of learning, she\u2019d be unsuccessful, no matter how hard she tried.<\/p>\n

Josh had his father\u2019s boundless energy as he leapt into Nick\u2019s open arms with such force, he almost fell back into the water. \u201cHey, little man! Careful, or we\u2019ll end up swimming with the fishies instead of catching them. Mom know you\u2019re here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYep! She says you gotta catch fish today or we\u2019re having nothing but ally-gator.\u201d In so many ways, Josh was his Mini-Me.\u00a0 Nick shifted, and Josh moved to sit on the dock beside him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright, good.\u201d Or Rye will kill me.<\/em> On rare occasions, their son managed to slip out unnoticed, each time practically giving her a heart attack. Nick laughed but, at the same time, understood her fears. The undead might be gone, but that didn\u2019t mean the memories and paranoia had faded completely. The scars would never go away, but Nick felt that was a good thing. Maybe the lessons learned from the end of the old world would finally carry on in the future generations. Ever the optimist, he felt they would.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made cards for Gabby\u2019s birthday today!\u201d Joshua announced, as Nick handed him a smaller fishing pole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bet it looks awesome.\u201d He gazed up at the clear blue sky with a smile. Without the pollution humanity had caused, the skies had changed. Nick often found himself simply enjoying the beauty of nature in the world around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-huh!\u201d He baited his fishing line like his dad had taught him with ease and cast it out into the water. \u201cThen we talked about the anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a lot of ways, it was mind-blowing to know they had come so far in all this time. Josh was a living reminder that there was and still is a future worth fighting for, a future worth living for. All the children of the base were. Having a son had been Nick\u2019s biggest scare and one of his greatest joys. At first, he\u2019d been terrified of losing Riley in childbirth when her labor came. Memories of the way Gretchen had passed out birthing Evette had driven this fear home. But all had gone well, and when he\u2019d held his firstborn in his arms, the love and happiness had been impossible to describe in words. The same had been true for Leslie. They were perfect in every way, and he couldn\u2019t be prouder.<\/p>\n

Soon, I\u2019ll get to have that feeling again. I can\u2019t wait. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really important day. You know, two days from now it\u2019ll have been ten years since I met your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh laughed as seagulls could be heard in the distance, flying above the beach. \u201cMommy always says she found you running away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did.\u201d He grinned. \u201cShe thought I was a zombie and almost ran me over.\u201d Nick set his pole aside and started tickling his little boy mercilessly. \u201cIf she had, you wouldn\u2019t be here!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy! Daaaaaddy, stoooooop!\u201d Josh cried between giggles.<\/p>\n

After a few moments he ceased and ruffled his son\u2019s hair. \u201cYour mommy saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many times. And in more ways than one.<\/em> The seizures had never completely gone away. Jo had been right so many years before. Drugs ran out on the base, and pills they found elsewhere quickly went over. So, like he had back at the castle, he\u2019d simply learned to live with them. The task had become easier to accept once the zombies had fallen apart. Never once, however, did he let the epilepsy stop him from living the life he wanted. He knew that if he ever fell, Riley would always be there to help him up. Her help wasn\u2019t a weakness, the way he once had seen it. It was a sign of the strength of their relationship and something he wouldn\u2019t trade for the world. The seizures, in a sense, had been a gift, as they\u2019d given him what he\u2019d needed to not only survive the Osiris Virus, but to meet the rest of his life. To this day, Nick didn\u2019t quite understand what she\u2019d seen in him back then, but he didn\u2019t question it like he had so often in the first two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMomma used to be strong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh\u2019s words caused Nick to laugh as he stood; he\u2019d come back for the fishing gear later, the way he always did. \u201cShe still is strong, kiddo. Don\u2019t forget it.\u201d He held out his hand to his son. \u201cC\u2019mon, we should head back. She worries about you.\u201d Nick grinned. \u201cFor some reason, she thinks you and I are always out to find trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe says I get it from yooou<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026\u201d He snickered. \u201cShe\u2019s right, but don\u2019t tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh\u2019s little hand rested in Nick\u2019s, and the two started on the familiar trek back home.<\/p>\n

As they walked, Nick found himself thinking of what he\u2019d once thought his life would be. Marriage had been completely out of the question; he hadn\u2019t believed in it thanks to his broken family. He thought he\u2019d live his life in Los Angeles and never come back to Florida again. One day, he\u2019d dreamed of being discovered and made famous for his movies and possibly TV shows. All his dreams had been so shallow and meaningless. He\u2019d never achieved a single one of them. Because of that, he had seen himself as nothing more than a failure. But everything happened for a reason. He\u2019d failed because something bigger had been waiting for him:\u00a0 the chance to be with Riley, raising his children in a world so unlike the one he\u2019d grown up in.<\/p>\n

The life he lived today was so much simpler, but he couldn\u2019t imagine anything better.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

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Chapter 116 It used to be that I was nothing. As I said once when I first met AJ, if you looked up \u201cLoser\u201d in the dictionary you\u2019d probably find my picture next to it. I wasn\u2019t going to be … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":116,"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\/500"}],"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=500"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":502,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/500\/revisions\/502"}],"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=500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}