Fic - Deadfield - A/U - part 13/?
Title: Deadfield
Fandom: Guiding Light
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia
Rating: Overall R to NC-17
Notes: This is an A/U fic. It's set in "present" day Springfield. A/U assumptions: Olivia left Springfield shortly after her heart-condition diagnosis. Emma doesn't exist.
Parts: One 2-4 5-6 7-8 9 10 11 12
PART 13
Outside in the cold distance
A wild cat did growl.
Two riders were approaching,
the wind began to howl.
- Bob Dylan
“We called you here today because we have a very difficult decision to make,” Phillip began from the front of the room. I sat down beside Natalia and rested my arm on the back of her chair and around her shoulders. “As you know, we’re facing a situation that’s never been experienced before. It is something that has rocked Springfield to its very core. I want to take a moment to thank you all for your steadfastness in keeping the horror at bay. You’ve all impressed me, and I’m proud to call each and every one of you a neighbor… and a friend.
“Before we start, I’d like to take a moment to remember some of our bravest friends and family members who gave their lives to protect us and our town.” Phillip pulled out a piece of paper and began reading off names. “Frank Cooper, Marina Cooper Camaletti, Anthony Camaletti, Harley Cooper Aitoro, Augustus Aitoro, Christina Boudreau, Father Ray Santos, Cyrus Foley, Billy Lewis, and Shayne Lewis.” Phillip lowered his head and was silent for a long moment. I heard various murmurs of comfort around the room as well as the sounds of crying. I saw Natalia wipe a tear from her eye, and I placed a small kiss on her temple. She looked at me sadly for a moment before leaning her head heavily on my shoulder. I stroked her hair slowly as Phillip continued his speech.
“This is not an exhaustive list of the people who have died trying to protect us from the outside threat, but I believe they were some of those closest to us in this room. All of the men and women who have been taken from us too soon were amazingly brave and good and did not deserve their fates.” Phillip took a deep breath and looked slowly around the room before he continued. “The sad fact that we are forced to deal with today is that these people will not be the last to be taken from us. The threat we face is too vast and too unknown. We have bravely fought side by side, and because of that our town and our lives are still intact, however we’ve reached a point where our supplies have dropped dangerously low. We’ve been damn lucky to be able to keep power flowing to most of the town, but that will not last forever, and we’ve estimated that our ammunition supply may last no longer than another a week and a half. After that…” He spread his hands out before him and raised his shoulders. “We’ll be left completely vulnerable. We cannot entrust our lives and the lives of our loved ones to the fickle hands of fate. We must take action.
“Not everyone will like the plan of action I’m about to relate, and I must admit I don’t love the idea of it either, but I truly believe that it is our best chance at survival.
“We must leave Springfield.” A stir of murmurs rippled across the room. “For around two weeks now, my father and I have led a project which has led to the modification and fortification of a small collection of vehicles to make them capable of off road travel. To ensure the safety of their passengers, we’ve welded steel bars over all of the side and back windows of each one. We believe that this collection of vehicles will allow us enough protection to search for a safer location.”
“What if there are no safer locations?” I turned to the voice and saw that it was Remy Boudreau; he had his hand on his sister’s back.
“That,” Phillip replied, “is the difficult reality we need to face. There may be no safer places. We’ve been cut off from outside communication for a long time, so we have no way of knowing. I know many of you hope each day to find those little bars appearing again on your cell phones.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his own phone, and tipped it back and forth in front of him. “But the sad truth is that we may never see them again. Ever.” He opened his hand and let the phone slip to the floor with a thud. “We don’t know anything. We may be able to drive a few hours down the highway and find that we were fools trying to survive in the middle of a contained area, and we may drive forever, finding nothing but death and destruction. Now, I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but I do want you all to know and understand the risks involved.”
“Do you have any specific destination in mind?” Rick Bauer asked from the front row.
“South. Toward Texas… and beyond if we have to. The only thing we know for sure is that north is not an option. Ideally, we’ll find a place where uninfected individuals have gathered in greater numbers than we have here. Our one source of comfort lies in the fact that we know the infected individuals decay much like a corpse might. It is believed to happen at a slower rate, but it does occur. If we can find a safe enough haven, we may live see the end of this in a few months time.”
Phillip paused and looked over the small crowd. “Does anyone have any further questions?”
“When do we leave?” Doris asked.
Phillip nodded at her. “I’d like to leave soon. Tomorrow, if there are no objections. Are there any objections?” The room remained silent. Phillip shrugged. “Alright then, we’ll set the plans in motion as soon as the meeting ends. I ask you all to pack as lightly as possible, bring all the weapons you can, and try to spread the word to any family and friends who may not be here tonight. If you’re willing to lend a hand, I ask you to please talk to Beth or James before you leave. Please, try to get some sleep tonight as well, tomorrow will be a very long day. ”
People began slowly standing and talking among themselves. Natalia stood and held out her hand to me. I took it and said, “Jonathan wants to talk to us when we’re done here,” as I stood up.
She nodded. “Alright. Let’s go see what we can do to help first.”
********
When we finally made our way down to the garage, we found people moving around energetically. Trucks were already being loaded with supplies, engines were undergoing thorough checks, sparks flew as last-minute modifications were welded into place, and the air rang with the sound of metal banging against metal.
“Olivia! In here,” called Jonathan from the doorway of a small maintenance room.
“What’s going on, Jonathan?” I asked as he guided us inside and shut the door behind us.
“I wanted to tell you about a few details Phillip left out during the meeting. First of all, no one knows about this except for Phillip, Alan, and Josh. They agreed you two could be trusted with the information.”
I looked at him in confusion. “Spit it out then.”
“First of all, Jeffrey O’Neill is still alive.”
Natalia covered her mouth and released a small gasp. I blinked at him in surprise. “You’re fucking kidding me. Where is he?”
He shook his head. “First, I need to tell you that he talked to Ava five days ago.”
I felt my knees buckle. Natalia grabbed me and walked me over to an old metal chair. “How? Is she okay? Please tell me she’s still alive.” Natalia rested both of her hands on my shoulders and rubbed them gently.
“Yes. As of five days ago she was safe and travelling toward Texas.”
“Texas?” I asked quietly. I was so relieved and worried all at the same time I couldn’t think right.
“Jeffrey also left for Texas four days ago.”
“What’s in Texas?” Natalia asked.
“An airport and hopefully a means of escape. Real escape from this hell.”
“Stop talking in riddles, Jonathan. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Alright, I’ll start from the beginning. I found Jeffrey over a month ago. At the time, he wasn’t able to reveal himself due to complications with Edmund Winslow. He was away taking care of that issue when 4Gen broke out. He stayed away because he was trying to find a way for us to get out of Springfield. He knew we wouldn’t be able to stay here forever. The northern states were the first to fall to the infection because they had no preparation. He was far enough south that he was able to keep an ear to the ground and find out how the southern states planned on handling the infection. He came back four days ago and told me he spoke with Ava and that he had a plan to get us all to safety.”
“What’s the plan?” Natalia asked.
“San Cristobel Island. Apparently, Jeffrey knows an airport in Texas where we can get an airplane that will take us all there. The last he heard, Texas was relatively uninfected. They had enough time to set up strong military forces across the border. Also, according to Jeffrey, San Cristobel is completely uninfected. If we make it, we can stay there indefinitely.”
“Oh my god,” I said slowly. “That’s brilliant.”
“Do you really think we can pull it off?” Natalia asked.
“If we play our cards right, and survive until we reach Texas, yes… yes I do.”
I felt my brain kick back into working order, and a flood of questions flowed from my mouth. “What if 4Gen has spread to Texas by then? What if we get to Texas and there is no plane? It’ll take us at least a few days to get there. What is Jeffrey doing? Waiting for us with his arm handcuffed to the propeller?”
Jonathan nodded to indicate he’d already thought of those things. “That’s why we’re not making it public knowledge. We don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. We realize that this may be a too-good-to-be-true scenario, but if it works out we’ll be able to save everyone.”
Natalia broke in with her own barrage of questions. “Why Texas? Why don’t we just grab a plane from the nearest airport? Jeffrey’s a pilot; he can fly out from anywhere, can’t he?”
Jonathan shook his head. “First of all, you can’t just walk into an airport and snag an airplane. Second, the officials in San Cristobel haven’t let any airplanes land since the outbreak began. They built the airport only a few years ago, so they were already paranoid. When they got word that 4Gen was causing havoc up here they went into full lockdown mode. They’ve physically blocked off the runway. If a plane attempts to land there before they clear the runway, it will crash. They can’t risk the infection reaching their island. San Cristobel has close ties to this airport in Texas, and Jeffrey was able to strike a deal with one of the men there. They’ll let us land if the guys in Texas confirm we have no infected on board. I know it sucks, but it’s our only chance.”
“And Ava’s headed there too?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around the idea that I might see my daughter again soon.
“Yes. Apparently she’s travelling with three friends. Hopefully she’s there by now.”
“Why did you all wait so long to suggest moving out if you had a plan like this?”
“Alan refused. He thought we could still save the town.”
I gritted my teeth in frustration. “Alan. Of course. Why didn’t I guess that right away?”
I felt Natalia reach up and run her fingers through my hair. “You weren’t here six days ago,” she reminded me softly. I sighed and relented a bit.
“Well, I’ll let you two go now. I just wanted to tell you about the plan. We knew you could be trusted with the news, and wanted you to know in case we ran into trouble. If we get split up or…” His voice faded out and he ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Or whatever, we needed a small group of people to know where to head.”
I nodded and stood to hug Jonathan. “It’s a good plan, Jon.”
He pulled back and flashed a small smile at Natalia and me. “I guess we’re headed home, Auntie O.”
I chuckled and shrugged. “I guess so.”