True Night
Title: True Night, Part III
Author name: frostian
Artist name: thruterryseyes
Genre: RPS
Pairing: JA/JP
Rating: R for language and violence
Word count: ~49k
Warnings: Artistic license taken and abused.
Summary: Jared and Jensen take a road trip to Seattle only to witness what looks like the Apocalypse overwhelm the city. They manage to escape to an island only to discover the situation on Santos to be worse than Seattle. But they cannot leave, as the infected roam freely and the military had set up blockades around the island. Faced with immeasurable horror and growing desperation Jared and Jensen plan an escape, not only to save themselves but the sick who are quickly turning into homicidal psychopaths.
Disclaimer: So much fiction, it could be spotted from an orbiting satellite!
Los Angeles, California
“So, that’s what I know,” Danni said, eyeing the silenced CNN news report on her television. “From what I understand the Navy’s now blockading the city.”
“Did you get hold of Jared’s parents yet?” Donna asked.
“No, their line’s been busy,” Danni answered. “How’s dad doing?”
“He’s worried. Mac is coming home either today or tomorrow.”
“And Josh?” Danni asked. She was in no way surprised that Alan had pulled his youngest out of school. The current news would make any parent want to bring their fledglings back into the nest for safety.
“We can’t get hold of him,” Donna said, her voice thin with fear. “He was on vacation.”
“I remember,” Danni said. “Hawaii, right?”
“Maui. We got a call from him when he landed but that was the last we heard of him. And that was a week ago.”
“Josh can take care of himself,” Danni said firmly. “And there’s something else. From what I heard, most of the navy doctors stationed around Seattle is receiving some kind of a shot. They’re not sure what it is.”
“Is that possible?”
“They’re not told what it was when it was given to them,” Danni said. “But it made quite a few of them sick. Some of them had to be hospitalized.”
“How do you know so much?”
“You’d be amazed what a pair of nice boobs and a reputation as a lesbian could get you.”
“Lesbian?” Donna echoed. “Where did that come from?!”
“My pilot, I’m playing a lesbian character. But that’s not what’s important. The fact that the government is handing out medicine to its personnel is good news.”
“Of course,” Donna agreed with a hearty sigh. “That is good news. I’ll call you the moment I hear something.”
“I’ll do the same,” Danni said. She managed to keep her composure until Donna ended the call.
Then, wordlessly, she fell to the floor. Danni rocked herself until she calmed down and stayed put until she was sure that she could stand on her feet without collapsing.
After downing a glass of red wine, Danni re-read the printout of the e-mail she’d received only an hour ago.
I know you don’t know me but you did my buddy a favor few years ago. He was coming off of rehab and it was tough for him. And your visit was the one thing that kept him going before and after. He’s doing okay now. And I think it’s basically because of what you said and the hours you spent with him.
You treated him like a man even though everyone else didn’t.
So, I think you should know this. There’s shit going down in Seattle and I saw a list. Your husband’s name was on that list. It was about a group of people who got on a ferry when they shouldn’t have. And they got hurt.
The good news is that our bird saw survivors, and if your husband is half as tough as his character on TV, then he’d made it. The island they were heading for is called Santos. It’s a pretty good place to hide out until this shit blows over because the main problem is happening in Seattle.
The ferry was targeted because there were infected people in it. No matter what you see on television, the Navy is not in the habit of shooting civilians, and shooting them while they are on a boat is fucking insane. We’re just not built that way. So, it must have been pretty fucking important for that ferry to not make it out of Seattle.
If your husband’s smart and he knows to keep to himself - he’ll make it.
I can’t say anything else, but I hope this helps.
God watch over you and yours.
Danni wanted to believe the e-mail was a cruel hoax, one perpetrated by some nutjob who routinely jacked off on her FHM pictures because he couldn’t get it up in front of a real woman.
But the mention of the ‘buddy’ blew that notion right out of her mind the moment she’d considered it. She remembered the paraplegic: a nineteen-year-old kid from Montana who had stepped on an IAD while on patrol. The doctors in the Green Zone did the best they could, and the surgeons in Berlin did even better. But they couldn’t perform miracles, and the kid had lost both his legs.
Danni felt sorry for him when she read the letter from his parents pleading for her to drop by and cheer up their youngest child. She also felt rage. Nineteen and bound to a wheelchair: to Danni who was always an active person, this was completely unacceptable.
So, she visited Corporal Timothy Mags, and found someone on the brink of suicide. Danni spent the entire afternoon chatting with him, at times flirting, at times acting maternal. She considered it to be one of her best performances.
And now Danni knew it was also successful.
Jensen’s alive, she braced herself. Sharon said he’s alive and he’s got Jared with him.
Danni had spent enough time with Jensen to know well enough that he could become incredibly tough when push came to shove. But when he was with Jared, the two were almost indestructible: where one would falter, the other would bolster.
At first she admired the give and take. It wasn’t until she’d married Jensen that she realized that particular highlight was exclusive to Jared. She took it well enough, but it wasn’t long before Danni figured out the reason for the exclusivity.
Even then she loved Jensen so she could have chosen to look the other way. But what Danni couldn’t stand was having her husband deliberately behave in the same blind manner. It didn’t take long for the marriage to quietly implode. There wasn’t any one serious blowup, but as Danni withdrew, Jensen did not try to conquer the growing distance between them. It was this willful ignorance which made her give up on their marriage altogether.
Danni suspected he knew her reason for leaving: Jensen never asked why when her attorney served him the divorce papers when he returned to LA.
But now, with all hell broken loose, Danni was glad Jensen was with Jared. She might not be Mrs. Ackles anymore, but she was still very much in love with him. After toying around the idea of dinner, Danni called her family instead.
By the end of the conversation, she’d made up her mind. It took Danni less than twenty minutes to pack what she needed. After securing Icarus in her car, Danni locked down the house. She didn’t take any of the major highways but the back roads. After a full hour, she let Icarus out. The dog had been in enough drives to behave appropriately.
Danni drove through the night, stopping only to get gas and caffeine.
Santo Island
Jensen jarred awake. For a moment, he tensed up, thinking someone had woken him. It took him few seconds to realize it was a nightmare that had shoved him away from the Land of Nod.
He spotted Jared only few feet from him, still deeply asleep, and from the looks of it nightmare-free. Jensen had always envied that of his friend. No matter how ugly the day, Jared had the rare ability to let it go when he stepped out the door.
When he hits fifty, he’ll still be going strong. I, on the other hand, will probably be on my third ulcer surgery, Jensen thought wryly.
He stood up quietly, while trying to rub the ache out of the back of his neck. Now that he’d gotten some truly deep sleep, Jensen was hounded by pain, no doubt a by-product of the superhuman effort he’d put in the last two days.
Jensen briefly considered taking another shower but decided otherwise. He had no idea how long that luxury would last and didn’t want to risk wasting what little they had left. Especially since he found instant coffee in the pantry.
Jensen was not a fan of Sanka, but right now he could write an ode about it. With a stiff yawn, Jensen went to the kitchen, still avoiding the windows even though it was two in the morning. He made himself a cup of lukewarm coffee and settled down with a book.
Whoever was the owner of the summerhouse had impeccable taste in furniture but a garish one when it came to reading material. People Magazine and Us dating back four years were scattered about the house, and the books were mainly of Tom Clancy and Michael Connolly types. Jensen had gone through that phase when he was nineteen and saw no need to revisit it.
He tossed the book aside and instead picked up a gossip magazine, and in minutes was reliving the glory days of ‘Bennifer’. It was well past three when Jensen felt drowsy enough to try falling asleep again. He went back to the office they’d converted into a bedroom. They had chosen the stifling quarters because it had no windows so there was no chance of being accidentally discovered.
Jared was even more sprawled out than he was before, and Jensen had a hard time reclaiming his spot. But after shoving aside a leg, Jensen managed to make a decent sized nest for himself. He was asleep in minutes and didn’t notice when Jared threw his leg back into its previous position.
Jensen was woken for the second time in three hours and under painful circumstances. Jared’s elbow was crammed against the side of his head and his leg had now been pressing over Jensen’s thighs to such a degree that Jensen started feeling rats nibbling on them. He sat up, tossed the errant limb aside while slapping away the bony elbow.
While massaging his calves, Jensen looked around the room and noticed some light creeping under the doorjamb. A glance at his watch informed him it was quarter past six. Noticing how tired Jared was, he decided to wake his friend after his morning ablutions.
Jensen gamily risked using the gas and heated up some oatmeal for breakfast. He found old crackers that tasted okay and tossed that into the breakfast pile because he knew in spite of Jared’s reassurances he went to bed hungry. Fortunately, Jared had high metabolism which allowed him to eat pretty much whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Unfortunately, because of their current situation, Jared could not.
Jensen figured it would take Jared three to four days before physically adjusting to their limited supplies. Jensen had to be forgiving for those days. He knew his friend could become incredibly short-tempered when hungry.
Of course, the fear he’s feeling might kill his appetite. I know mine’s pretty much flushed down the fucking toilet.
Jensen put the food on a tray and made his way back to the den, even more careful about not being seen. Jared was still asleep but Jensen knew his friend was slowly waking up. Jensen had watched him sleep many times and knew the telltale signs only too well.
“Hey,” Jensen whispered, “wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
Jared mumbled incoherently then opened his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight,” Jensen said. “In the morning, if you’re curious.”
“Feels like evening,” Jared sat up. “Oh man … I feel like I took on the entire Pittsburgh defense!”
Jensen dug out the ibuprofen from his bag and handed over the bottle. “The adrenaline’s gone, so we’re feeling everything since the ferry.”
Jared lifted his t-shirt and stared at his chest. “Well, shit.”
Jensen winced. “Oh man, that ought to sting. Are your ribs okay?”
Jared took deep breaths while gingerly fingering them. “None of them are broken. Thank God for little favors.”
Jensen handed a mug of coffee and pointed at the tray. “Dig in. We need to keep our strength up.”
Jared didn’t need to be told twice. He wolfed down the food and water, while saving the coffee for last as if it were dessert.
“Dude, I had no idea plain ol’ oatmeal tasted so good.” Jared gave a small burp and an embarrassed grin. “Sorry.”
“Doesn’t take long for men to devolve, does it?” Jensen asked drily. “Danni used to say leave me alone with my dad and Josh in a hunting cabin for a week and it’d be a miracle if we could remember how to work a cell phone by the end of vacation.”
Jared guffawed. “My mom said that was what happened when Jeff and Dad took that week off to go skiing in Montana. To this day she swears they probably just drank and belched. And never touched the slopes.”
Jensen gave a shy smile. “Yeah, me and Josh did that once. Told mom we were going to explore Yosemite. Ended up watching porn and cruising the bars.
“And we’re never, ever going to tell anyone else about this.”
Jared crossed his chest and said, “I swear I’ll never tell your mom about any skanky stuff you did.”
“And I’ll do the same.” Jensen stiffened suddenly and turned his head towards the door.
Jared did the same but heard nothing. “What is it?”
“I thought...”
Jared heard it then: the roar of truck engine at full throttle. They scrambled into the living room and to the grand picture window, fully expecting the hunting posse from yesterday gunning down a ferry survivor.
But what they saw was even more horrifying. And confusing.
The truck was roaring through the dirt road in front of the house but it was the one being hunted. Following the careening vehicle were handful of chasers, and Jared didn’t need to be told to know they were all infected.
The woman at the back looked familiar but it took Jared a moment to place the face, mainly because the visage had elongated dramatically since he’d seen her last. When she looked around, Jared realized why.
The lower half of the jaw had been completely dislocated so that it was dangling loosely from the skull. And the blood had matted the silver-blonde hair so thoroughly that at first glance she looked like a brunette.
“Is that … Meghan?” Jensen asked weakly.
“Yeah, it’s her,” Jared croaked out.
“Andrea.”
Jared thought the same thing. If Meghan was infected then Jackie and Andrea are too or they’re dead.
They didn’t see the truck crash but they certainly heard it go off the road and immediately spotted smoke plumes above the tree line.
“We have to help them,” Jared said.
Jensen grabbed him. “No, there’s nothing we can do.”
Jared wanted to argue but he knew Jensen was right. “We can’t just sit here and watch!” he managed to croak out.
“No, we can back track where they came from.”
Jared looked at Jensen. “Then what?”
“See if we can find them.”
Jared didn’t need to be told that ‘them’ meant Jackie and Andrea.
“Okay, let’s go.”
They waited for twenty minutes to see if any infected returned, but they did not. Once they were on the dirt road it was easy to follow the truck’s path. Jared kept looking back, half expecting to see Meghan crest a hill, mouth and fingers caked with blood and viscera. Shuddering at the image, Jared forced himself to focus on the tire tracks.
It wasn’t until they rounded a blind corner that they realized things were worse than either of them ever expected.
“Oh shit,” Jensen said, his voice deep with despair and helplessness.
From the looks of it Valley had been burning for some time. The smoke was blending into the sunless sky, which seemed grimly appropriate when compared to the devastation in front of them.
There were bodies littering the streets but not as many as Jared expected. He wondered if others escaped or had become infected and now roaming about Santos like packs of mad dogs.
“I hope to God people made it out,” Jared said.
“To where?” Jensen scoured the scene. He then spotted an all-too familiar landmark. “There,” he said, pointing to a church. “What about there?”
Jared thought the idea was medieval, which meant it made perfect sense. When people were in full throttle panic, they tend to revert to the basest of thoughts and needs.
“Be careful,” Jared cautioned.
“Damn right.”
They approached the building slowly, making sure they weren’t being hunted themselves. To their dismay the front door was unlocked. And the broken pews and scattered chairs told them the church had recent visitors who had zero capability to appreciate the religious significance of the building they’d entered.
“Don’t touch anything,” Jared said, eyeing the blood splatters on the walls.
“Yeah, got that,” Jensen answered. He silently approached the back of the church; his body turned sideways so that at a moment’s notice, he could bolt the other way.
Jared followed him as Jensen opened a door behind the altar. It led down a flight of stairs. There were pictures nailed on the wall and none of them were disturbed.
“They didn’t come through here,” Jensen said.
Jared closed the door behind them as they went down to the basement. The lights were on so it took them only a moment to realize it was even more spacious than the floor above. And stuffed to the ceiling with broken furniture, boxes, and other accumulated debris.
Jensen went around the basement. “Hello?” he whispered softly. “Is anyone here? We’re here to help.”
There was no reply.
Jared pointed to the plywood wall farthest from them and the door built out of the same flimsy material.
Jensen nodded and they slowly made their way. He tried to open the door and found it locked.
“Hello?” he whispered. “Is anyone there?”
There was a sharp scuffle but no one answered.
“Andrea? Are you there?” Jensen added, leaning closer.
The ensuing noise definitely signaled presence behind the wall.
“They’re gone,” Jensen said. “There was a truck…”
The door opened only few inches and a frightened face peeked out. “Who are you?” the woman whispered.
“We were…”
The door swung wide open before Jared could finish his explanation. Andrea exploded out of the room, her face dirty and pale. Jared embraced her fiercely while she bawled loud enough to be heard upstairs.
“What happened?” Jensen asked the woman accompanying Andrea.
“I was at home when she and two women named Jackie and Meghan came along. They were in trouble. Meghan was … she was sick and Jackie didn’t want to leave her. They wanted me to take care of Andrea. I wasn’t sure but she was a child so … so I said yes.”
“What happened to Meghan and Jackie?”
“They went away,” the woman answered tearfully. “Andrea was in a bad way but she wasn’t sick. I fed her and we were watching Wall-E when … when the attack came.”
“How did it happen?” Jensen prodded gently.
“I heard couple of explosions right outside my house. I looked out the window and saw flames. A lot of houses here have gas for their backup generators and I thought one of those went up.
“Then I heard screams.”
Andrea hiccupped. “A lot of people were screaming. Even daddies. I got so scared.”
“Yes, it was when I heard … I heard men screaming that I realized how dangerous it really was. I took Andrea and tried to get into the car when I saw … I saw people running towards us. I didn’t understand what I was seeing first but then I spotted Mr. Gideon and Mrs. Harris and they looked terrified.
“I wanted to take off but I realized something was very wrong, so I dragged Andrea back into the house and waited. Then … then…” the woman paused for a long moment. “Then I saw the others. They were only six of them but I saw … I saw Meghan and Ms. Long in the group. They didn’t look human and they moved so fast! Ms. Long has rheumatoid arthritis so I couldn’t understand how she moved like that! I waited until they were gone and sneaked out.”
“Why? Why did you leave the house?” Jared asked.
“Because the fire was spreading,” was the tearful reply. “And the church is separated from rest of Valley by parking lots.”
“So we ran here,” Andrea continued. “And Mrs. Hicks knew about the basement because she’s a beacon.”
“Deacon,” Mrs. Hicks corrected. “I’ve lived in Santos most of my adult life.”
“We have to keep away from the infected people,” Jensen said. “And obviously we can’t stay around here. Not anymore.”
“Because of the pack?” Andrea asked.
“Exactly, because of the pack,” Jensen said tightly.
Jared knew why his friend reacted so badly to Andrea’s question. They had openly classified a group of people -some whom they knew - as animals rather than human.
“Is there someplace we can go?” Jared asked.
“There’s Loony Lucy’s place,” Mrs. Hicks said. “She’s a local character who passed away recently. Her son died in a traffic accident few months ago and that was enough for her. Her place hadn’t been touched since.”
“Why can’t we stay where you are?” Andrea asked.
“Because of the fire, sweetie,” Jared answered. “It’s spreading and unless we get rain - the house we’re staying in is going to burn down too.”
“Let us go up first,” Jensen volunteered. “When the coast is clear, you guys can follow. But wait, okay?”
Andrea nodded and buried her face in Mrs. Hick’s comfortable sweater. Jared and Jensen cautiously made their way upstairs. They were greeted with thick smoke wafting into the church.
“The fire’s completely out of control,” Jensen said.
Jared saw the flames reaching over treetops and realized the parking lots surrounding the church might not be enough of a barrier.
“We have to get out of here,” Jared ran to the basement entrance and hollered, “Guys, we have to move, fast!”
Andrea and Mrs. Hicks ran upstairs. Mrs. Hicks gasped when she saw the thick smoke now hazing up the interior of the church. She pointed to a door and said, “There’s a footpath away from Valley. I can tell you where to go from there.”
The group quickly made way through the empty parking lot. Jared felt his heart pounding against his chest, threatening to make him faint, but he managed to keep his head by focusing on Andrea in front of him.
They reached their temporary shelter and found its neighbor to the right smoking.
“Shit,” Jensen hissed. “We have to move fast.”
They bolted inside. Jared and Jensen packed their belongings while Mrs. Hicks and Andrea shoved all the food into garbage bags. By the time they came out, the smoking house next door was in flames.
Mrs. Hicks once again took the lead and quickly led them away from the development and back into the woods.
“Do we need to stop anyplace else?” Jared asked, relieved to be rid of the smoke and the heat licking his skin.
“No,” Mrs. Hicks answered quietly, “I think Lucy’s place still has running water.”
That was the end of any conversation as she led them farther away from Valley and to the northeastern coast. As they hiked the residue of the town with its docks and sparse housing faded away until there was nothing but trees.
They walked for over an hour when Mrs. Hicks abruptly veered off the path and started taking another one that ran parallel to the coast. She led them down a steep hill and to a ramshackle house with equally dilapidated barn-like structure in the back.
Jensen went ahead and searched the cottage before giving the okay for the rest to follow. Jared looked around at the stacks of papers, magazines, empty cartons that turned the rooms into potentially lethal mazes.
Loony Lucy is about right. Jesus, what is this? Schizophrenia? Dementia? All of the above?
“There’s a room in the back that’s clean. Actually, it must belong to someone else because it’s nothing like the rest of the house,” Jensen said, wrinkling his nose at the sour and musty smell.
“That would be her son’s,” Mrs. Hicks supplied. “He was a scientist of sorts and when his mother got bad, he moved back here. I talked to him couple of times but didn’t get to know him much. He was very retiring.”
When Jared entered the clean bedroom he expected to feel relieved. But the jarring discrepancy between this room and the rest of the house was actually more upsetting. It was as if he was entering from one type of madness to another, and his preference fell on the chaos rather than this bedroom’s sterility.
He looked at Jensen and saw his friend felt the same way. The wary, distrustful look in Jensen’s eyes along with the corner of the mouth turned down - all pointed to him being upset.
“What is this?” Jensen asked.
Mrs. Hicks looked around. “It’s a neat room.”
“A little bit too neat,” Jared said.
“Wouldn’t you be if you were surrounded by that?” Mrs. Hicks asked, pointing to the hallway and its clutter.
Neither Jensen nor Jared answered, but they knew the hyper-neatness on display was just another facet of the same mental problem outside the bedroom.
“Jared?” Andrea asked nervously.
“Yes? What is it?”
“I have to go to the bathroom but I don’t … I mean…”
“I have to go too,” Jared confessed. “Why don’t we take turns?”
He knew only too well what Andrea was really asking. She didn’t want to be alone; not when the madness was out there, willing to tear apart any victim caught unawares.
He escorted Andrea to the bathroom and waited outside. Even though he had no need to go, Jared pretended to do so by turning on the faucet. To his delight he found the water running.
They returned to discover the bedroom had been transformed with multiple sleeping arrangements.
“Take a look at what provisions we’ve brought and what’s here,” Jensen said, pointing at the food bags.
“The water’s running,” Jared said. “I think it’s coming from the property itself. It didn’t taste like regular tap water.”
“Good, less chance of contamination,” Jensen said. “I want to go out in the back and see what else is there.”
“You want company?” Jared asked.
Jensen shook his head reluctantly. Jared knew why Jensen said no even though he wanted to say otherwise. Jared could feel the fear vibrating off of Hicks and Andrea.
“Okay,” Jared said. “You know what to do.”
“I most certainly do.”
Jared wanted to follow Jensen and watch him from the house but he did not. Instead, he forced himself to be useful.
“Let’s make some room in the kitchen,” Jared said. “The last thing we need is for this place to go up in flames too.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Mrs. Hicks said.
They worked to clear the kitchen of the stacks of newspapers and magazines.
“What’s your name by the way?” Mrs. Hicks asked as she shoveled a heap of yellowed Tacoma Tribune out of the room. “You look familiar to me.”
“He’s a famous actor!” Andrea chirped.
The woman’s head snapped up so fast Jared thought he could hear her spine crackle.
“I work on television,” Jared said.
“Oh my God, Gilmore Girls,” Mrs. Hicks said, her eyes wide. “I loved that show.”
“He’s a kickass ghost hunter now,” Andrea said with inordinate pride. “Both him and Jensen.”
“Oh, that’s why I didn’t recognize you faster,” she said. “I can’t stand scary programs.”
Jared raised his eyebrows and stared out the window.
Mrs. Hicks gave a frustrated sigh. “Maybe I should have watched a few. I could’ve picked up some useful tips for what’s been happening.”
Jared smiled. “By the way name’s Jared Padalecki.”
“Emily Hicks, and we are so grateful you came to find us. My God, that took some courage!”
Jared said nothing. Faced with such gratitude, he was ashamed of his cowardice, his fears, and most of all - his reluctance.
“So, how did you get here? Santos is popular but only with natives or long-time mainland vacationers.”
Jared took a deep breath and mentally whispered his gratitude to Andrea and Meghan: they had stuck to their guns and kept silent about what had happened to them. “We came on a ferry.”
Emily frowned. “Really? I don’t remember the ferry docking today. But then, I hadn’t gone outside since yesterday.”
“Who was this woman, exactly?” Jared asked, picking up stacks of Science Genetics magazines.
“Loony Lucy … sorry, Lucy Compton was a local character. She was fine until her husband, Isaac, died. That was in the eighties. It took a long time for her to unravel but she did eventually.”
“How did he die?”
“Brutally,” Emily answered. “He got hit by a truck that was disembarking from a ferry. Ended up being pinned against a wall. The driver panicked and hit the gas while in reverse. Isaac was almost cut in half.”
Jared winced. “That could take someone around the bend.”
“By the time she started losing it her son had been out of the house for years. He sent money to her, and when she couldn’t handle her finances, he sent it to Pastor Leigh who took care of her.
“Then things soured for him too. He lost his job, got divorced. But then found a new position and moved out here. I saw him sometimes commuting to work on the ferry. He was killed in a car accident few weeks ago. Got into a crash with a UPS or a FedEx truck, I’m not sure. It took Lucy less than two weeks to follow him.”
“What was she diagnosed with?”
“I never found out,” Emily looked around the room and added, “but whatever it was, it had to be bad.”
“Let’s move that stack out of the kitchen,” Jared said, pointing at a mound of National Geographic almost reaching the ceiling. “Do you think you could handle it?”
“Just point whatever you need cleaned out of here” Emily said.
“Yeah, just point,” Andrea echoed.
Jared was glad there was busy work. He knew by experience that boredom was the easiest path for fear to take control of one’s psyche. The last thing they needed was to sit and think nothing but the horrible things that happened so far.
As Jared moved the stacks he realized the science-related ones belonged to the son and not the mother. The address labels told him as much. And yet, they were mixed in with National Geographic and other ancient magazines. All this confirmed Jared’s suspicion that the son had a lot more common with his mother than just blood.
He either let his mother take these or he made some of these stacks himself.
Jared would guess the latter.
“This is just horrible,” Emily said.
“It is,” Jared agreed absently.
“I mean, leg warmers during July?”
Jared looked up to see Emily flipping through old Vanity Fair magazines. He couldn’t stop a small grin from appearing. “Anything else interesting?”
Emily flinched a little before blushing. “Sorry, I get easily distracted.”
She busied herself even though Jared could see her curiosity was killing her. He never got why fashion magazines were so popular. They were like some output from demented photographer high on black tar heroin. And most of it was just plain, glossy shit.
Heaven knows he’d posed for his share, but Jared was glad he wasn’t asked to do more than the few he’d been bamboozled into. Rubbing shit all on his face and body, posing for something he didn’t have a clue about - it all struck false. Acting itself was a pantomime of real life, but there was an echo and if the material was really good - a passable copy of the priceless threads that hold the moments of life together.
After twenty minutes the kitchen itself looked halfway normal, though Jared still loathed the idea of eating in it.
“I can’t believe she could cook anything in here,” Emily said.
Jared ran an index finger around the burners. He lifted it to show there was very little grease. “She didn’t.”
“She probably barbequed,” Emily said though her tone of voice revealed doubts about her own statement.
“And live out of cans during the cold months,” Jared said, checking the still-loaded pantry. “I guess I should be grateful for that.”
“We all are,” Emily said firmly.
Andrea pushed herself forward and examined the canned goods. “Pineapples!”
Jared smiled at her enthusiasm. He was always amazed by children’s ability to enjoy the little things.
“We can have it for dessert, after dinner if you like,” Emily said kindly.
Andrea nodded eagerly. “That’d be great!”
The kitchen door opened, startling all of them and dissipating the good mood.
“The barn’s filled with bikes,” Jensen said. “And I found the well. It’s pretty damn deep. I hid it with some brush, just in case.”
“Did you see anything?” Emily asked.
Jensen shook his head. “The fire’s burning pretty hot.”
“Where’s it headed?” Jared asked.
“Towards west,” Jensen answered. “The wind is blowing in that direction. Hopefully the sky will crack soon and the rain will take care of it.”
“Why don’t you guys get some rest,” Jared said. “When the sun goes down we have to take shifts.”
“Of course,” Emily said. She marshaled Andrea with her.
Jared waited until he heard the bedroom door close before asking what he really wanted. He knew Jensen only too well and spotted the lie as soon as it fell from Jensen’s lips.
“What did you see?” Jared asked softly.
“Not saw, exactly,” Jensen answered in an exhausted tone. “More like heard.”
“What did you hear?”
“Screaming,” Jensen answered. “Like … like …” Jensen faltered and rubbed his face. “It sounded like hell was eating up people but skinning them first.”
Jared winced at the imagery. “Do you think they’re infected? Or…” he didn’t want to finish that sentence.
“At this point, all I can say is I hope so. At least they’re completely out of their minds. But to make a normal person scream like that … I don’t want to know what could do that.”
Jared rummaged through the pantry until he found the bottle of cooking sherry he caught sight of earlier. “Here, take a sip.”
Jensen did without a word. Jared took the bottle and put it back. “How safe are we, really?”
“I don’t know,” Jensen said. “I don’t think the fire will reach us here. But we have to keep moving if the infected people are running around the way they were doing earlier.”
“Because they’re acting like a pack,” Jared concluded.
“Yeah, and that’s pretty fucking scary. We won’t have any chance of surviving an attack from something like that.”
“And on the good news front?” Jared asked with a watery smile.
“They could continue to go crazier, I guess, and turn on each other.”
“And kill each other off, leaving the uninfected alive and traumatized for ten lifetimes.”
“Just about,” Jensen said. “But I think we still have to keep mobile.”
“Maybe we should get a car.”
Jensen shook his head. “No, remember the ambulance in Seattle? How it was quiet? I’m thinking loud noises might attract attention we don’t want.”
“How about the bikes out back?”
Jensen grimaced. “Yeah, that came to mind. But did you see Emily’s feet?”
Jared frowned as he tried to remember. After a while he had to shake his head.
“Something’s wrong with it. Her shoes are different. The right one’s at least a size bigger and its heel is way thicker.
“She might be able to bike some of the way. But if we’re caught out, then what?”
Jared could very well imagine what: Emily would be left behind. “Okay,” he said. “So we move on foot?”
“Yeah, and that way we could use other paths. With bikes, we’d need to use paved ones.”
Jared blew out a huff of breath. “Jesus, and I thought coming to this place was a good idea.”
“We both did,” Jensen said firmly. “And neither of us had any fucking clue how hard it would be to get off the goddamn island if we needed to.”
“Remember the docks?” Jared offered. “We could try to grab a boat…”
“And be blown to bits?”
Jared closed his eyes. “Shit, I forgot about that.”
“But if we stick to the coastline maybe we’ll be safe.” Jensen glanced at Jared. “Do you know anything about boats?”
“Some,” Jared answered. “Depends on the boat.”
“That’s more than what I can do. I could pull up an anchor, maybe. Otherwise, I’m completely hopeless.”
Jared looked down the hallway. “What do you think about Andrea?”
“I don’t know,” Jensen replied truthfully.
“Do you think she’s infected?”
“If she is, we’re all fucked.” Jensen shook his head. “Have to wonder what happened to Jackie.”
Jared remembered the conflagration currently spreading through the town. Even though he suspected his prayers would fall on deaf ears, Jared nevertheless sent one in the hopes that Jackie’s death was both quick and painless.
“Do you want to check out the town later? After the fire dies down?” Jared asked.
“Maybe during dusk or twilight,” Jensen said. “But I hate the idea of leaving them behind.”
Jared shuddered at the thought of what could happen to Andrea and Emily if the infected discovered them. For a moment Jared felt resentment. Neither he nor Jensen asked for this. They could barely protect themselves much less a woman and child.
As expected, shame quickly followed. Then exhaustion. Jared was quickly becoming tired of this particular cycle. “Why don’t we go out for a little while anyway?” he said. “Look, we need to clear our heads too.”
“I wonder … where do they go? The sick? Do they just collapse somewhere? Or do they sleep?”
Jared had to think about what Jensen said. “Because if they collapse, then they’re out. But if they’re asleep, then they can be awakened.”
“Yeah, I’d rather that they be out cold if we have to go out.”
“Either way we should check around the property, just to make sure we don’t get any visitors during the night.”
“Okay.”
“You’re going out?” Andrea asked, looking anxiously at the dying sun. “Why?”
Emily looked equally concerned but calmly said, “They’re going to see if there are other people who need help, like us.”
Andrea’s eyes watered immediately. “I don’t want you to go!” she wailed. “I don’t want them to go away ‘cause they won’t come back!”
“Oh honey,” Jared said as he took Andrea in his arms. “Sweetheart, we’re not going far. Okay?”
Andrea kept on crying but said nothing else; her grip on Jared didn’t lessen for at least few minutes. Only after handing Andrea over to Emily could Jared leave. And he wanted to leave.
The keening noises Andrea made were driving iron stakes into his mind and propelling him out of the house. The madness that had so thoroughly permeated the shack was slowly creeping into his blood and psyche in ways he couldn’t stop.
So, the moment the briny air hit his face, Jared took a deep breath. In fact, he ended up panting like an animal as he followed Jensen.
As soon as they hit the beach Jensen pulled him aside. “Dude, what are you doing? Are you going to keel over?”
“No, it’s that house, I hate it,” Jared said. “It’s like living in a lunatic asylum. And the son? I think he’s as crazy as his mother. He was just better at hiding it.”
“What makes you say that?”
Jared explained all the suspicions he sorted out earlier. As he spoke, Jared felt they were ever more realistic and not based on nameless fears. And from the look on Jensen’s face, Jared knew he was convinced.
“Okay, but that can’t drive us away,” Jensen said. “The truth is it makes the house safer.”
“Why?”
“If the locals think it’s a nut house, then they’ll stay away. And if the infected have any kind of memory left, then they’ll think the same thing.”
“Unless they’re completely out of their fucking minds,” Jared countered. “But the first part - yeah, that makes sense.
“So we stay?”
“Until we find a safer haven,” Jensen said soothingly.
“Okay.”
They scoured the beach before climbing a hill to see the destruction wrought by the fire. It was burning farther west and away from them, but the blackened swath of land and property told of incredible devastation.
“It’s the dry season,” Jensen said. “Even here, in rain central, it can become lethal.”
Something about Jensen’s off-handed comment made Jared frown. A memory brushed against his mind but it was too weak to hold onto. And being so tired, Jared decided not to struggle.
Instead, he followed Jensen and focused his attention on searching for intruder on the property. Luckily, there were none to be found.
As they approached the house, Jared once again felt the sickness leach onto him.
“Hey,” he said. “Why don’t I take first shift? You have to be exhausted by now.”
It was proof of Jensen’s friendship that he said, “Yeah, thanks,” and nothing else when Jared didn’t enter the house, opting to sit on the back porch instead. Not a minute later, rain began falling.
Jared began to calm down as the rain began washing the day away. He knew he should feel nervous, as he was more exposed sitting outside, and yet he felt very little threat.
I wonder if I snapped, Jared thought as he studied the night sky. Or maybe I just can’t think straight anymore. But then … then I’m just a big a liability as Andrea or Emily.
Jared pushed the knuckles against his lips hard enough to cut the inside of his mouth against his teeth. With the tang of blood still lingering on his tongue, Jared walked into the house.
Using just the moonlight Jared began reading a book with big print. To his chagrin, he found that crazy as Loony Lucy might have been, she had good taste when it came to medical thrillers. The next time he looked at his watch, it was one in the morning.
Jared quietly made his way back and found Jensen asleep, laid out in front of the bedroom door like a slumbering guard dog. He had to stop then, as his heart suddenly clenched painfully.
He wanted to lean over and brush his lips against Jensen’s forehead. Something he allowed himself to do that only once: when Jensen came down with incipient pneumonia, an inevitable result after a week’s worth of shooting in the pouring rain.
Jared remembered losing his temper when Jensen insisted coming to work even though he was alarmingly pale and possessing a fever. He’d corralled his friend back into bed before calling for a doctor’s appointment. Jensen had fallen asleep during the drive to the clinic and leaned on Jared who slung a dedicated arm around his friend to keep him from tipping over.
Without meaning to and maybe out of habit, Jared leaned down and gave a light kiss on the sweaty and clammy forehead. By all rights he should’ve freaked out afterwards but Jared didn’t. Mainly because he didn’t give much thought to it. He’d had brushes of this kind before and always managed to quash them before things spun out of control. Or before he thought of them so much that they transform into obsessive circles.
So, the kiss didn’t mean much and since nobody else witnessed it, it didn’t really happen.
But now, after two days’ worth of mind-shattering trauma, Jared had neither the inclination nor the mental strength to delude himself any further.
It’s Jensen, Jared admitted to himself. I’ve always known I could feel something for guys but why do anything about it when all it does is to complicate things?
He looked down at the sleeping figure, unaware his hands curling into fists. Without a word, he leaned over to brush his fingers against his friend’s face when Jensen asked, “What’s up?”
“Your turn,” Jared managed to answer, snatching away his greedy fingers.
Something in his tone made Jensen sit up quickly. “Everything okay?”
Jared swallowed the words he so desperately wanted to say and instead smiled a little. “Yeah, I guess my mind ran away with everything that’s been going on.”
Jensen rubbed his eyes in such a childlike manner that Jared’s smile turned genuine.
“Yeah, that’s not good,” Jensen said. “Don’t want your brain to chase itself like a dog does with its tail.”
“I think there’s some Coke in the pantry. I know you hate warm soda but something’s better than nothing.”
“Amen to that.” Jensen got up and opened the door he was guarding. He peeked in for a long while before closing the door. “They’re asleep.”
“Thank God,” Jared said. “Though I don’t know what kind of dreams Andrea’s having, with all that’s happened to her.”
“Let’s hope she’s exhausted then,” Jensen said, tucking his feet into his foots. “That way she has a chance of having no dreams or at least not remembering them when she wakes up.”
“Sounds good to me.” Jared snuggled into the bedding Jensen had made. “Don’t wake up Emily. Get me instead, okay?”
“Done.”
Jared forced himself to close his eyes in order not to watch Jensen walk away. But he couldn’t stop himself from listening to his friend’s boots clump about the house. Nor could he prevent himself from taking comfort in the familiar steps.
Part II * Part IV
Author name: frostian
Artist name: thruterryseyes
Genre: RPS
Pairing: JA/JP
Rating: R for language and violence
Word count: ~49k
Warnings: Artistic license taken and abused.
Summary: Jared and Jensen take a road trip to Seattle only to witness what looks like the Apocalypse overwhelm the city. They manage to escape to an island only to discover the situation on Santos to be worse than Seattle. But they cannot leave, as the infected roam freely and the military had set up blockades around the island. Faced with immeasurable horror and growing desperation Jared and Jensen plan an escape, not only to save themselves but the sick who are quickly turning into homicidal psychopaths.
Disclaimer: So much fiction, it could be spotted from an orbiting satellite!
Los Angeles, California
“So, that’s what I know,” Danni said, eyeing the silenced CNN news report on her television. “From what I understand the Navy’s now blockading the city.”
“Did you get hold of Jared’s parents yet?” Donna asked.
“No, their line’s been busy,” Danni answered. “How’s dad doing?”
“He’s worried. Mac is coming home either today or tomorrow.”
“And Josh?” Danni asked. She was in no way surprised that Alan had pulled his youngest out of school. The current news would make any parent want to bring their fledglings back into the nest for safety.
“We can’t get hold of him,” Donna said, her voice thin with fear. “He was on vacation.”
“I remember,” Danni said. “Hawaii, right?”
“Maui. We got a call from him when he landed but that was the last we heard of him. And that was a week ago.”
“Josh can take care of himself,” Danni said firmly. “And there’s something else. From what I heard, most of the navy doctors stationed around Seattle is receiving some kind of a shot. They’re not sure what it is.”
“Is that possible?”
“They’re not told what it was when it was given to them,” Danni said. “But it made quite a few of them sick. Some of them had to be hospitalized.”
“How do you know so much?”
“You’d be amazed what a pair of nice boobs and a reputation as a lesbian could get you.”
“Lesbian?” Donna echoed. “Where did that come from?!”
“My pilot, I’m playing a lesbian character. But that’s not what’s important. The fact that the government is handing out medicine to its personnel is good news.”
“Of course,” Donna agreed with a hearty sigh. “That is good news. I’ll call you the moment I hear something.”
“I’ll do the same,” Danni said. She managed to keep her composure until Donna ended the call.
Then, wordlessly, she fell to the floor. Danni rocked herself until she calmed down and stayed put until she was sure that she could stand on her feet without collapsing.
After downing a glass of red wine, Danni re-read the printout of the e-mail she’d received only an hour ago.
I know you don’t know me but you did my buddy a favor few years ago. He was coming off of rehab and it was tough for him. And your visit was the one thing that kept him going before and after. He’s doing okay now. And I think it’s basically because of what you said and the hours you spent with him.
You treated him like a man even though everyone else didn’t.
So, I think you should know this. There’s shit going down in Seattle and I saw a list. Your husband’s name was on that list. It was about a group of people who got on a ferry when they shouldn’t have. And they got hurt.
The good news is that our bird saw survivors, and if your husband is half as tough as his character on TV, then he’d made it. The island they were heading for is called Santos. It’s a pretty good place to hide out until this shit blows over because the main problem is happening in Seattle.
The ferry was targeted because there were infected people in it. No matter what you see on television, the Navy is not in the habit of shooting civilians, and shooting them while they are on a boat is fucking insane. We’re just not built that way. So, it must have been pretty fucking important for that ferry to not make it out of Seattle.
If your husband’s smart and he knows to keep to himself - he’ll make it.
I can’t say anything else, but I hope this helps.
God watch over you and yours.
Danni wanted to believe the e-mail was a cruel hoax, one perpetrated by some nutjob who routinely jacked off on her FHM pictures because he couldn’t get it up in front of a real woman.
But the mention of the ‘buddy’ blew that notion right out of her mind the moment she’d considered it. She remembered the paraplegic: a nineteen-year-old kid from Montana who had stepped on an IAD while on patrol. The doctors in the Green Zone did the best they could, and the surgeons in Berlin did even better. But they couldn’t perform miracles, and the kid had lost both his legs.
Danni felt sorry for him when she read the letter from his parents pleading for her to drop by and cheer up their youngest child. She also felt rage. Nineteen and bound to a wheelchair: to Danni who was always an active person, this was completely unacceptable.
So, she visited Corporal Timothy Mags, and found someone on the brink of suicide. Danni spent the entire afternoon chatting with him, at times flirting, at times acting maternal. She considered it to be one of her best performances.
And now Danni knew it was also successful.
Jensen’s alive, she braced herself. Sharon said he’s alive and he’s got Jared with him.
Danni had spent enough time with Jensen to know well enough that he could become incredibly tough when push came to shove. But when he was with Jared, the two were almost indestructible: where one would falter, the other would bolster.
At first she admired the give and take. It wasn’t until she’d married Jensen that she realized that particular highlight was exclusive to Jared. She took it well enough, but it wasn’t long before Danni figured out the reason for the exclusivity.
Even then she loved Jensen so she could have chosen to look the other way. But what Danni couldn’t stand was having her husband deliberately behave in the same blind manner. It didn’t take long for the marriage to quietly implode. There wasn’t any one serious blowup, but as Danni withdrew, Jensen did not try to conquer the growing distance between them. It was this willful ignorance which made her give up on their marriage altogether.
Danni suspected he knew her reason for leaving: Jensen never asked why when her attorney served him the divorce papers when he returned to LA.
But now, with all hell broken loose, Danni was glad Jensen was with Jared. She might not be Mrs. Ackles anymore, but she was still very much in love with him. After toying around the idea of dinner, Danni called her family instead.
By the end of the conversation, she’d made up her mind. It took Danni less than twenty minutes to pack what she needed. After securing Icarus in her car, Danni locked down the house. She didn’t take any of the major highways but the back roads. After a full hour, she let Icarus out. The dog had been in enough drives to behave appropriately.
Danni drove through the night, stopping only to get gas and caffeine.
Santo Island
Jensen jarred awake. For a moment, he tensed up, thinking someone had woken him. It took him few seconds to realize it was a nightmare that had shoved him away from the Land of Nod.
He spotted Jared only few feet from him, still deeply asleep, and from the looks of it nightmare-free. Jensen had always envied that of his friend. No matter how ugly the day, Jared had the rare ability to let it go when he stepped out the door.
When he hits fifty, he’ll still be going strong. I, on the other hand, will probably be on my third ulcer surgery, Jensen thought wryly.
He stood up quietly, while trying to rub the ache out of the back of his neck. Now that he’d gotten some truly deep sleep, Jensen was hounded by pain, no doubt a by-product of the superhuman effort he’d put in the last two days.
Jensen briefly considered taking another shower but decided otherwise. He had no idea how long that luxury would last and didn’t want to risk wasting what little they had left. Especially since he found instant coffee in the pantry.
Jensen was not a fan of Sanka, but right now he could write an ode about it. With a stiff yawn, Jensen went to the kitchen, still avoiding the windows even though it was two in the morning. He made himself a cup of lukewarm coffee and settled down with a book.
Whoever was the owner of the summerhouse had impeccable taste in furniture but a garish one when it came to reading material. People Magazine and Us dating back four years were scattered about the house, and the books were mainly of Tom Clancy and Michael Connolly types. Jensen had gone through that phase when he was nineteen and saw no need to revisit it.
He tossed the book aside and instead picked up a gossip magazine, and in minutes was reliving the glory days of ‘Bennifer’. It was well past three when Jensen felt drowsy enough to try falling asleep again. He went back to the office they’d converted into a bedroom. They had chosen the stifling quarters because it had no windows so there was no chance of being accidentally discovered.
Jared was even more sprawled out than he was before, and Jensen had a hard time reclaiming his spot. But after shoving aside a leg, Jensen managed to make a decent sized nest for himself. He was asleep in minutes and didn’t notice when Jared threw his leg back into its previous position.
Jensen was woken for the second time in three hours and under painful circumstances. Jared’s elbow was crammed against the side of his head and his leg had now been pressing over Jensen’s thighs to such a degree that Jensen started feeling rats nibbling on them. He sat up, tossed the errant limb aside while slapping away the bony elbow.
While massaging his calves, Jensen looked around the room and noticed some light creeping under the doorjamb. A glance at his watch informed him it was quarter past six. Noticing how tired Jared was, he decided to wake his friend after his morning ablutions.
Jensen gamily risked using the gas and heated up some oatmeal for breakfast. He found old crackers that tasted okay and tossed that into the breakfast pile because he knew in spite of Jared’s reassurances he went to bed hungry. Fortunately, Jared had high metabolism which allowed him to eat pretty much whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Unfortunately, because of their current situation, Jared could not.
Jensen figured it would take Jared three to four days before physically adjusting to their limited supplies. Jensen had to be forgiving for those days. He knew his friend could become incredibly short-tempered when hungry.
Of course, the fear he’s feeling might kill his appetite. I know mine’s pretty much flushed down the fucking toilet.
Jensen put the food on a tray and made his way back to the den, even more careful about not being seen. Jared was still asleep but Jensen knew his friend was slowly waking up. Jensen had watched him sleep many times and knew the telltale signs only too well.
“Hey,” Jensen whispered, “wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
Jared mumbled incoherently then opened his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight,” Jensen said. “In the morning, if you’re curious.”
“Feels like evening,” Jared sat up. “Oh man … I feel like I took on the entire Pittsburgh defense!”
Jensen dug out the ibuprofen from his bag and handed over the bottle. “The adrenaline’s gone, so we’re feeling everything since the ferry.”
Jared lifted his t-shirt and stared at his chest. “Well, shit.”
Jensen winced. “Oh man, that ought to sting. Are your ribs okay?”
Jared took deep breaths while gingerly fingering them. “None of them are broken. Thank God for little favors.”
Jensen handed a mug of coffee and pointed at the tray. “Dig in. We need to keep our strength up.”
Jared didn’t need to be told twice. He wolfed down the food and water, while saving the coffee for last as if it were dessert.
“Dude, I had no idea plain ol’ oatmeal tasted so good.” Jared gave a small burp and an embarrassed grin. “Sorry.”
“Doesn’t take long for men to devolve, does it?” Jensen asked drily. “Danni used to say leave me alone with my dad and Josh in a hunting cabin for a week and it’d be a miracle if we could remember how to work a cell phone by the end of vacation.”
Jared guffawed. “My mom said that was what happened when Jeff and Dad took that week off to go skiing in Montana. To this day she swears they probably just drank and belched. And never touched the slopes.”
Jensen gave a shy smile. “Yeah, me and Josh did that once. Told mom we were going to explore Yosemite. Ended up watching porn and cruising the bars.
“And we’re never, ever going to tell anyone else about this.”
Jared crossed his chest and said, “I swear I’ll never tell your mom about any skanky stuff you did.”
“And I’ll do the same.” Jensen stiffened suddenly and turned his head towards the door.
Jared did the same but heard nothing. “What is it?”
“I thought...”
Jared heard it then: the roar of truck engine at full throttle. They scrambled into the living room and to the grand picture window, fully expecting the hunting posse from yesterday gunning down a ferry survivor.
But what they saw was even more horrifying. And confusing.
The truck was roaring through the dirt road in front of the house but it was the one being hunted. Following the careening vehicle were handful of chasers, and Jared didn’t need to be told to know they were all infected.
The woman at the back looked familiar but it took Jared a moment to place the face, mainly because the visage had elongated dramatically since he’d seen her last. When she looked around, Jared realized why.
The lower half of the jaw had been completely dislocated so that it was dangling loosely from the skull. And the blood had matted the silver-blonde hair so thoroughly that at first glance she looked like a brunette.
“Is that … Meghan?” Jensen asked weakly.
“Yeah, it’s her,” Jared croaked out.
“Andrea.”
Jared thought the same thing. If Meghan was infected then Jackie and Andrea are too or they’re dead.
They didn’t see the truck crash but they certainly heard it go off the road and immediately spotted smoke plumes above the tree line.
“We have to help them,” Jared said.
Jensen grabbed him. “No, there’s nothing we can do.”
Jared wanted to argue but he knew Jensen was right. “We can’t just sit here and watch!” he managed to croak out.
“No, we can back track where they came from.”
Jared looked at Jensen. “Then what?”
“See if we can find them.”
Jared didn’t need to be told that ‘them’ meant Jackie and Andrea.
“Okay, let’s go.”
They waited for twenty minutes to see if any infected returned, but they did not. Once they were on the dirt road it was easy to follow the truck’s path. Jared kept looking back, half expecting to see Meghan crest a hill, mouth and fingers caked with blood and viscera. Shuddering at the image, Jared forced himself to focus on the tire tracks.
It wasn’t until they rounded a blind corner that they realized things were worse than either of them ever expected.
“Oh shit,” Jensen said, his voice deep with despair and helplessness.
From the looks of it Valley had been burning for some time. The smoke was blending into the sunless sky, which seemed grimly appropriate when compared to the devastation in front of them.
There were bodies littering the streets but not as many as Jared expected. He wondered if others escaped or had become infected and now roaming about Santos like packs of mad dogs.
“I hope to God people made it out,” Jared said.
“To where?” Jensen scoured the scene. He then spotted an all-too familiar landmark. “There,” he said, pointing to a church. “What about there?”
Jared thought the idea was medieval, which meant it made perfect sense. When people were in full throttle panic, they tend to revert to the basest of thoughts and needs.
“Be careful,” Jared cautioned.
“Damn right.”
They approached the building slowly, making sure they weren’t being hunted themselves. To their dismay the front door was unlocked. And the broken pews and scattered chairs told them the church had recent visitors who had zero capability to appreciate the religious significance of the building they’d entered.
“Don’t touch anything,” Jared said, eyeing the blood splatters on the walls.
“Yeah, got that,” Jensen answered. He silently approached the back of the church; his body turned sideways so that at a moment’s notice, he could bolt the other way.
Jared followed him as Jensen opened a door behind the altar. It led down a flight of stairs. There were pictures nailed on the wall and none of them were disturbed.
“They didn’t come through here,” Jensen said.
Jared closed the door behind them as they went down to the basement. The lights were on so it took them only a moment to realize it was even more spacious than the floor above. And stuffed to the ceiling with broken furniture, boxes, and other accumulated debris.
Jensen went around the basement. “Hello?” he whispered softly. “Is anyone here? We’re here to help.”
There was no reply.
Jared pointed to the plywood wall farthest from them and the door built out of the same flimsy material.
Jensen nodded and they slowly made their way. He tried to open the door and found it locked.
“Hello?” he whispered. “Is anyone there?”
There was a sharp scuffle but no one answered.
“Andrea? Are you there?” Jensen added, leaning closer.
The ensuing noise definitely signaled presence behind the wall.
“They’re gone,” Jensen said. “There was a truck…”
The door opened only few inches and a frightened face peeked out. “Who are you?” the woman whispered.
“We were…”
The door swung wide open before Jared could finish his explanation. Andrea exploded out of the room, her face dirty and pale. Jared embraced her fiercely while she bawled loud enough to be heard upstairs.
“What happened?” Jensen asked the woman accompanying Andrea.
“I was at home when she and two women named Jackie and Meghan came along. They were in trouble. Meghan was … she was sick and Jackie didn’t want to leave her. They wanted me to take care of Andrea. I wasn’t sure but she was a child so … so I said yes.”
“What happened to Meghan and Jackie?”
“They went away,” the woman answered tearfully. “Andrea was in a bad way but she wasn’t sick. I fed her and we were watching Wall-E when … when the attack came.”
“How did it happen?” Jensen prodded gently.
“I heard couple of explosions right outside my house. I looked out the window and saw flames. A lot of houses here have gas for their backup generators and I thought one of those went up.
“Then I heard screams.”
Andrea hiccupped. “A lot of people were screaming. Even daddies. I got so scared.”
“Yes, it was when I heard … I heard men screaming that I realized how dangerous it really was. I took Andrea and tried to get into the car when I saw … I saw people running towards us. I didn’t understand what I was seeing first but then I spotted Mr. Gideon and Mrs. Harris and they looked terrified.
“I wanted to take off but I realized something was very wrong, so I dragged Andrea back into the house and waited. Then … then…” the woman paused for a long moment. “Then I saw the others. They were only six of them but I saw … I saw Meghan and Ms. Long in the group. They didn’t look human and they moved so fast! Ms. Long has rheumatoid arthritis so I couldn’t understand how she moved like that! I waited until they were gone and sneaked out.”
“Why? Why did you leave the house?” Jared asked.
“Because the fire was spreading,” was the tearful reply. “And the church is separated from rest of Valley by parking lots.”
“So we ran here,” Andrea continued. “And Mrs. Hicks knew about the basement because she’s a beacon.”
“Deacon,” Mrs. Hicks corrected. “I’ve lived in Santos most of my adult life.”
“We have to keep away from the infected people,” Jensen said. “And obviously we can’t stay around here. Not anymore.”
“Because of the pack?” Andrea asked.
“Exactly, because of the pack,” Jensen said tightly.
Jared knew why his friend reacted so badly to Andrea’s question. They had openly classified a group of people -some whom they knew - as animals rather than human.
“Is there someplace we can go?” Jared asked.
“There’s Loony Lucy’s place,” Mrs. Hicks said. “She’s a local character who passed away recently. Her son died in a traffic accident few months ago and that was enough for her. Her place hadn’t been touched since.”
“Why can’t we stay where you are?” Andrea asked.
“Because of the fire, sweetie,” Jared answered. “It’s spreading and unless we get rain - the house we’re staying in is going to burn down too.”
“Let us go up first,” Jensen volunteered. “When the coast is clear, you guys can follow. But wait, okay?”
Andrea nodded and buried her face in Mrs. Hick’s comfortable sweater. Jared and Jensen cautiously made their way upstairs. They were greeted with thick smoke wafting into the church.
“The fire’s completely out of control,” Jensen said.
Jared saw the flames reaching over treetops and realized the parking lots surrounding the church might not be enough of a barrier.
“We have to get out of here,” Jared ran to the basement entrance and hollered, “Guys, we have to move, fast!”
Andrea and Mrs. Hicks ran upstairs. Mrs. Hicks gasped when she saw the thick smoke now hazing up the interior of the church. She pointed to a door and said, “There’s a footpath away from Valley. I can tell you where to go from there.”
The group quickly made way through the empty parking lot. Jared felt his heart pounding against his chest, threatening to make him faint, but he managed to keep his head by focusing on Andrea in front of him.
They reached their temporary shelter and found its neighbor to the right smoking.
“Shit,” Jensen hissed. “We have to move fast.”
They bolted inside. Jared and Jensen packed their belongings while Mrs. Hicks and Andrea shoved all the food into garbage bags. By the time they came out, the smoking house next door was in flames.
Mrs. Hicks once again took the lead and quickly led them away from the development and back into the woods.
“Do we need to stop anyplace else?” Jared asked, relieved to be rid of the smoke and the heat licking his skin.
“No,” Mrs. Hicks answered quietly, “I think Lucy’s place still has running water.”
That was the end of any conversation as she led them farther away from Valley and to the northeastern coast. As they hiked the residue of the town with its docks and sparse housing faded away until there was nothing but trees.
They walked for over an hour when Mrs. Hicks abruptly veered off the path and started taking another one that ran parallel to the coast. She led them down a steep hill and to a ramshackle house with equally dilapidated barn-like structure in the back.
Jensen went ahead and searched the cottage before giving the okay for the rest to follow. Jared looked around at the stacks of papers, magazines, empty cartons that turned the rooms into potentially lethal mazes.
Loony Lucy is about right. Jesus, what is this? Schizophrenia? Dementia? All of the above?
“There’s a room in the back that’s clean. Actually, it must belong to someone else because it’s nothing like the rest of the house,” Jensen said, wrinkling his nose at the sour and musty smell.
“That would be her son’s,” Mrs. Hicks supplied. “He was a scientist of sorts and when his mother got bad, he moved back here. I talked to him couple of times but didn’t get to know him much. He was very retiring.”
When Jared entered the clean bedroom he expected to feel relieved. But the jarring discrepancy between this room and the rest of the house was actually more upsetting. It was as if he was entering from one type of madness to another, and his preference fell on the chaos rather than this bedroom’s sterility.
He looked at Jensen and saw his friend felt the same way. The wary, distrustful look in Jensen’s eyes along with the corner of the mouth turned down - all pointed to him being upset.
“What is this?” Jensen asked.
Mrs. Hicks looked around. “It’s a neat room.”
“A little bit too neat,” Jared said.
“Wouldn’t you be if you were surrounded by that?” Mrs. Hicks asked, pointing to the hallway and its clutter.
Neither Jensen nor Jared answered, but they knew the hyper-neatness on display was just another facet of the same mental problem outside the bedroom.
“Jared?” Andrea asked nervously.
“Yes? What is it?”
“I have to go to the bathroom but I don’t … I mean…”
“I have to go too,” Jared confessed. “Why don’t we take turns?”
He knew only too well what Andrea was really asking. She didn’t want to be alone; not when the madness was out there, willing to tear apart any victim caught unawares.
He escorted Andrea to the bathroom and waited outside. Even though he had no need to go, Jared pretended to do so by turning on the faucet. To his delight he found the water running.
They returned to discover the bedroom had been transformed with multiple sleeping arrangements.
“Take a look at what provisions we’ve brought and what’s here,” Jensen said, pointing at the food bags.
“The water’s running,” Jared said. “I think it’s coming from the property itself. It didn’t taste like regular tap water.”
“Good, less chance of contamination,” Jensen said. “I want to go out in the back and see what else is there.”
“You want company?” Jared asked.
Jensen shook his head reluctantly. Jared knew why Jensen said no even though he wanted to say otherwise. Jared could feel the fear vibrating off of Hicks and Andrea.
“Okay,” Jared said. “You know what to do.”
“I most certainly do.”
Jared wanted to follow Jensen and watch him from the house but he did not. Instead, he forced himself to be useful.
“Let’s make some room in the kitchen,” Jared said. “The last thing we need is for this place to go up in flames too.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Mrs. Hicks said.
They worked to clear the kitchen of the stacks of newspapers and magazines.
“What’s your name by the way?” Mrs. Hicks asked as she shoveled a heap of yellowed Tacoma Tribune out of the room. “You look familiar to me.”
“He’s a famous actor!” Andrea chirped.
The woman’s head snapped up so fast Jared thought he could hear her spine crackle.
“I work on television,” Jared said.
“Oh my God, Gilmore Girls,” Mrs. Hicks said, her eyes wide. “I loved that show.”
“He’s a kickass ghost hunter now,” Andrea said with inordinate pride. “Both him and Jensen.”
“Oh, that’s why I didn’t recognize you faster,” she said. “I can’t stand scary programs.”
Jared raised his eyebrows and stared out the window.
Mrs. Hicks gave a frustrated sigh. “Maybe I should have watched a few. I could’ve picked up some useful tips for what’s been happening.”
Jared smiled. “By the way name’s Jared Padalecki.”
“Emily Hicks, and we are so grateful you came to find us. My God, that took some courage!”
Jared said nothing. Faced with such gratitude, he was ashamed of his cowardice, his fears, and most of all - his reluctance.
“So, how did you get here? Santos is popular but only with natives or long-time mainland vacationers.”
Jared took a deep breath and mentally whispered his gratitude to Andrea and Meghan: they had stuck to their guns and kept silent about what had happened to them. “We came on a ferry.”
Emily frowned. “Really? I don’t remember the ferry docking today. But then, I hadn’t gone outside since yesterday.”
“Who was this woman, exactly?” Jared asked, picking up stacks of Science Genetics magazines.
“Loony Lucy … sorry, Lucy Compton was a local character. She was fine until her husband, Isaac, died. That was in the eighties. It took a long time for her to unravel but she did eventually.”
“How did he die?”
“Brutally,” Emily answered. “He got hit by a truck that was disembarking from a ferry. Ended up being pinned against a wall. The driver panicked and hit the gas while in reverse. Isaac was almost cut in half.”
Jared winced. “That could take someone around the bend.”
“By the time she started losing it her son had been out of the house for years. He sent money to her, and when she couldn’t handle her finances, he sent it to Pastor Leigh who took care of her.
“Then things soured for him too. He lost his job, got divorced. But then found a new position and moved out here. I saw him sometimes commuting to work on the ferry. He was killed in a car accident few weeks ago. Got into a crash with a UPS or a FedEx truck, I’m not sure. It took Lucy less than two weeks to follow him.”
“What was she diagnosed with?”
“I never found out,” Emily looked around the room and added, “but whatever it was, it had to be bad.”
“Let’s move that stack out of the kitchen,” Jared said, pointing at a mound of National Geographic almost reaching the ceiling. “Do you think you could handle it?”
“Just point whatever you need cleaned out of here” Emily said.
“Yeah, just point,” Andrea echoed.
Jared was glad there was busy work. He knew by experience that boredom was the easiest path for fear to take control of one’s psyche. The last thing they needed was to sit and think nothing but the horrible things that happened so far.
As Jared moved the stacks he realized the science-related ones belonged to the son and not the mother. The address labels told him as much. And yet, they were mixed in with National Geographic and other ancient magazines. All this confirmed Jared’s suspicion that the son had a lot more common with his mother than just blood.
He either let his mother take these or he made some of these stacks himself.
Jared would guess the latter.
“This is just horrible,” Emily said.
“It is,” Jared agreed absently.
“I mean, leg warmers during July?”
Jared looked up to see Emily flipping through old Vanity Fair magazines. He couldn’t stop a small grin from appearing. “Anything else interesting?”
Emily flinched a little before blushing. “Sorry, I get easily distracted.”
She busied herself even though Jared could see her curiosity was killing her. He never got why fashion magazines were so popular. They were like some output from demented photographer high on black tar heroin. And most of it was just plain, glossy shit.
Heaven knows he’d posed for his share, but Jared was glad he wasn’t asked to do more than the few he’d been bamboozled into. Rubbing shit all on his face and body, posing for something he didn’t have a clue about - it all struck false. Acting itself was a pantomime of real life, but there was an echo and if the material was really good - a passable copy of the priceless threads that hold the moments of life together.
After twenty minutes the kitchen itself looked halfway normal, though Jared still loathed the idea of eating in it.
“I can’t believe she could cook anything in here,” Emily said.
Jared ran an index finger around the burners. He lifted it to show there was very little grease. “She didn’t.”
“She probably barbequed,” Emily said though her tone of voice revealed doubts about her own statement.
“And live out of cans during the cold months,” Jared said, checking the still-loaded pantry. “I guess I should be grateful for that.”
“We all are,” Emily said firmly.
Andrea pushed herself forward and examined the canned goods. “Pineapples!”
Jared smiled at her enthusiasm. He was always amazed by children’s ability to enjoy the little things.
“We can have it for dessert, after dinner if you like,” Emily said kindly.
Andrea nodded eagerly. “That’d be great!”
The kitchen door opened, startling all of them and dissipating the good mood.
“The barn’s filled with bikes,” Jensen said. “And I found the well. It’s pretty damn deep. I hid it with some brush, just in case.”
“Did you see anything?” Emily asked.
Jensen shook his head. “The fire’s burning pretty hot.”
“Where’s it headed?” Jared asked.
“Towards west,” Jensen answered. “The wind is blowing in that direction. Hopefully the sky will crack soon and the rain will take care of it.”
“Why don’t you guys get some rest,” Jared said. “When the sun goes down we have to take shifts.”
“Of course,” Emily said. She marshaled Andrea with her.
Jared waited until he heard the bedroom door close before asking what he really wanted. He knew Jensen only too well and spotted the lie as soon as it fell from Jensen’s lips.
“What did you see?” Jared asked softly.
“Not saw, exactly,” Jensen answered in an exhausted tone. “More like heard.”
“What did you hear?”
“Screaming,” Jensen answered. “Like … like …” Jensen faltered and rubbed his face. “It sounded like hell was eating up people but skinning them first.”
Jared winced at the imagery. “Do you think they’re infected? Or…” he didn’t want to finish that sentence.
“At this point, all I can say is I hope so. At least they’re completely out of their minds. But to make a normal person scream like that … I don’t want to know what could do that.”
Jared rummaged through the pantry until he found the bottle of cooking sherry he caught sight of earlier. “Here, take a sip.”
Jensen did without a word. Jared took the bottle and put it back. “How safe are we, really?”
“I don’t know,” Jensen said. “I don’t think the fire will reach us here. But we have to keep moving if the infected people are running around the way they were doing earlier.”
“Because they’re acting like a pack,” Jared concluded.
“Yeah, and that’s pretty fucking scary. We won’t have any chance of surviving an attack from something like that.”
“And on the good news front?” Jared asked with a watery smile.
“They could continue to go crazier, I guess, and turn on each other.”
“And kill each other off, leaving the uninfected alive and traumatized for ten lifetimes.”
“Just about,” Jensen said. “But I think we still have to keep mobile.”
“Maybe we should get a car.”
Jensen shook his head. “No, remember the ambulance in Seattle? How it was quiet? I’m thinking loud noises might attract attention we don’t want.”
“How about the bikes out back?”
Jensen grimaced. “Yeah, that came to mind. But did you see Emily’s feet?”
Jared frowned as he tried to remember. After a while he had to shake his head.
“Something’s wrong with it. Her shoes are different. The right one’s at least a size bigger and its heel is way thicker.
“She might be able to bike some of the way. But if we’re caught out, then what?”
Jared could very well imagine what: Emily would be left behind. “Okay,” he said. “So we move on foot?”
“Yeah, and that way we could use other paths. With bikes, we’d need to use paved ones.”
Jared blew out a huff of breath. “Jesus, and I thought coming to this place was a good idea.”
“We both did,” Jensen said firmly. “And neither of us had any fucking clue how hard it would be to get off the goddamn island if we needed to.”
“Remember the docks?” Jared offered. “We could try to grab a boat…”
“And be blown to bits?”
Jared closed his eyes. “Shit, I forgot about that.”
“But if we stick to the coastline maybe we’ll be safe.” Jensen glanced at Jared. “Do you know anything about boats?”
“Some,” Jared answered. “Depends on the boat.”
“That’s more than what I can do. I could pull up an anchor, maybe. Otherwise, I’m completely hopeless.”
Jared looked down the hallway. “What do you think about Andrea?”
“I don’t know,” Jensen replied truthfully.
“Do you think she’s infected?”
“If she is, we’re all fucked.” Jensen shook his head. “Have to wonder what happened to Jackie.”
Jared remembered the conflagration currently spreading through the town. Even though he suspected his prayers would fall on deaf ears, Jared nevertheless sent one in the hopes that Jackie’s death was both quick and painless.
“Do you want to check out the town later? After the fire dies down?” Jared asked.
“Maybe during dusk or twilight,” Jensen said. “But I hate the idea of leaving them behind.”
Jared shuddered at the thought of what could happen to Andrea and Emily if the infected discovered them. For a moment Jared felt resentment. Neither he nor Jensen asked for this. They could barely protect themselves much less a woman and child.
As expected, shame quickly followed. Then exhaustion. Jared was quickly becoming tired of this particular cycle. “Why don’t we go out for a little while anyway?” he said. “Look, we need to clear our heads too.”
“I wonder … where do they go? The sick? Do they just collapse somewhere? Or do they sleep?”
Jared had to think about what Jensen said. “Because if they collapse, then they’re out. But if they’re asleep, then they can be awakened.”
“Yeah, I’d rather that they be out cold if we have to go out.”
“Either way we should check around the property, just to make sure we don’t get any visitors during the night.”
“Okay.”
“You’re going out?” Andrea asked, looking anxiously at the dying sun. “Why?”
Emily looked equally concerned but calmly said, “They’re going to see if there are other people who need help, like us.”
Andrea’s eyes watered immediately. “I don’t want you to go!” she wailed. “I don’t want them to go away ‘cause they won’t come back!”
“Oh honey,” Jared said as he took Andrea in his arms. “Sweetheart, we’re not going far. Okay?”
Andrea kept on crying but said nothing else; her grip on Jared didn’t lessen for at least few minutes. Only after handing Andrea over to Emily could Jared leave. And he wanted to leave.
The keening noises Andrea made were driving iron stakes into his mind and propelling him out of the house. The madness that had so thoroughly permeated the shack was slowly creeping into his blood and psyche in ways he couldn’t stop.
So, the moment the briny air hit his face, Jared took a deep breath. In fact, he ended up panting like an animal as he followed Jensen.
As soon as they hit the beach Jensen pulled him aside. “Dude, what are you doing? Are you going to keel over?”
“No, it’s that house, I hate it,” Jared said. “It’s like living in a lunatic asylum. And the son? I think he’s as crazy as his mother. He was just better at hiding it.”
“What makes you say that?”
Jared explained all the suspicions he sorted out earlier. As he spoke, Jared felt they were ever more realistic and not based on nameless fears. And from the look on Jensen’s face, Jared knew he was convinced.
“Okay, but that can’t drive us away,” Jensen said. “The truth is it makes the house safer.”
“Why?”
“If the locals think it’s a nut house, then they’ll stay away. And if the infected have any kind of memory left, then they’ll think the same thing.”
“Unless they’re completely out of their fucking minds,” Jared countered. “But the first part - yeah, that makes sense.
“So we stay?”
“Until we find a safer haven,” Jensen said soothingly.
“Okay.”
They scoured the beach before climbing a hill to see the destruction wrought by the fire. It was burning farther west and away from them, but the blackened swath of land and property told of incredible devastation.
“It’s the dry season,” Jensen said. “Even here, in rain central, it can become lethal.”
Something about Jensen’s off-handed comment made Jared frown. A memory brushed against his mind but it was too weak to hold onto. And being so tired, Jared decided not to struggle.
Instead, he followed Jensen and focused his attention on searching for intruder on the property. Luckily, there were none to be found.
As they approached the house, Jared once again felt the sickness leach onto him.
“Hey,” he said. “Why don’t I take first shift? You have to be exhausted by now.”
It was proof of Jensen’s friendship that he said, “Yeah, thanks,” and nothing else when Jared didn’t enter the house, opting to sit on the back porch instead. Not a minute later, rain began falling.
Jared began to calm down as the rain began washing the day away. He knew he should feel nervous, as he was more exposed sitting outside, and yet he felt very little threat.
I wonder if I snapped, Jared thought as he studied the night sky. Or maybe I just can’t think straight anymore. But then … then I’m just a big a liability as Andrea or Emily.
Jared pushed the knuckles against his lips hard enough to cut the inside of his mouth against his teeth. With the tang of blood still lingering on his tongue, Jared walked into the house.
Using just the moonlight Jared began reading a book with big print. To his chagrin, he found that crazy as Loony Lucy might have been, she had good taste when it came to medical thrillers. The next time he looked at his watch, it was one in the morning.
Jared quietly made his way back and found Jensen asleep, laid out in front of the bedroom door like a slumbering guard dog. He had to stop then, as his heart suddenly clenched painfully.
He wanted to lean over and brush his lips against Jensen’s forehead. Something he allowed himself to do that only once: when Jensen came down with incipient pneumonia, an inevitable result after a week’s worth of shooting in the pouring rain.
Jared remembered losing his temper when Jensen insisted coming to work even though he was alarmingly pale and possessing a fever. He’d corralled his friend back into bed before calling for a doctor’s appointment. Jensen had fallen asleep during the drive to the clinic and leaned on Jared who slung a dedicated arm around his friend to keep him from tipping over.
Without meaning to and maybe out of habit, Jared leaned down and gave a light kiss on the sweaty and clammy forehead. By all rights he should’ve freaked out afterwards but Jared didn’t. Mainly because he didn’t give much thought to it. He’d had brushes of this kind before and always managed to quash them before things spun out of control. Or before he thought of them so much that they transform into obsessive circles.
So, the kiss didn’t mean much and since nobody else witnessed it, it didn’t really happen.
But now, after two days’ worth of mind-shattering trauma, Jared had neither the inclination nor the mental strength to delude himself any further.
It’s Jensen, Jared admitted to himself. I’ve always known I could feel something for guys but why do anything about it when all it does is to complicate things?
He looked down at the sleeping figure, unaware his hands curling into fists. Without a word, he leaned over to brush his fingers against his friend’s face when Jensen asked, “What’s up?”
“Your turn,” Jared managed to answer, snatching away his greedy fingers.
Something in his tone made Jensen sit up quickly. “Everything okay?”
Jared swallowed the words he so desperately wanted to say and instead smiled a little. “Yeah, I guess my mind ran away with everything that’s been going on.”
Jensen rubbed his eyes in such a childlike manner that Jared’s smile turned genuine.
“Yeah, that’s not good,” Jensen said. “Don’t want your brain to chase itself like a dog does with its tail.”
“I think there’s some Coke in the pantry. I know you hate warm soda but something’s better than nothing.”
“Amen to that.” Jensen got up and opened the door he was guarding. He peeked in for a long while before closing the door. “They’re asleep.”
“Thank God,” Jared said. “Though I don’t know what kind of dreams Andrea’s having, with all that’s happened to her.”
“Let’s hope she’s exhausted then,” Jensen said, tucking his feet into his foots. “That way she has a chance of having no dreams or at least not remembering them when she wakes up.”
“Sounds good to me.” Jared snuggled into the bedding Jensen had made. “Don’t wake up Emily. Get me instead, okay?”
“Done.”
Jared forced himself to close his eyes in order not to watch Jensen walk away. But he couldn’t stop himself from listening to his friend’s boots clump about the house. Nor could he prevent himself from taking comfort in the familiar steps.
Part II * Part IV