Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness Ch.38
Title: Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness
By: Pink Rabbit Productions
Chapter: 38
Date: 31 October, 2010
Rating: R (for sex and violence)
Disclaimer: Hmmm, characters, not mine, situation, mine, though with the proviso that certain scenarios owe a major debt of gratitude to George Romero. Sex? Likely. Genders involved? Likely all female (at least anything on camera). Also there are likely to be very bad things in this story. I'm not one for prodigious amounts of gore, but this is horror and there is likely to be ickiness and things that might disturb some folks. Seriously. If it's gonna bother you, move along.
Summary: When the dead rise, civilization falls.
Author's Notes: Awhile back, just for fun, I did a faux movie poster that set Otalia in a horror setting and used some elements from an idea I've had running around for ages (what can I say---it was the Halloween season). See the poster here: http://altfic.com/artgallery/otalia/glafterworld01b.htm . Sooo, at some point, it seemed like fun to take a gander at writing them in that universe. I've quite deliberately tried to break away from my usual style and make it a bit faster moving, with frequent chapter breaks, deliberate cliffhangers, shorter scenes and more directed pov. We'll see if I can keep to one pov per chapter (well, they are short chapters...lol).
Dedicated to: My mom. Seriously. All of my growing up years, she would constantly throw me these what-if scenarios and press me to figure out logical ways to survive/get out of various emergency situations. Now, she never mentioned the zombie apocalypse, but I'm sure that was just an oversight or a desire not to scare a little kid (because, really, I grew up as the daughter of a top secret type during the cold war...I already had enough fear issues), but really, that odd little game was the genesis of...well...not just this story, but a lot of my love of writing. So, thanks mom.
Previous Chapters: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 | Chapter 34 | Chapter 35 | Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 |
Afterworld:
Into the Arms of Darkness
Chapter 38
They stayed like that for a long time, twined together in the darkness. It was an odd improvement for Natalia. It let her go on holding and comforting Olivia, but with her back exposed to the air rather than snugged into the couch cushions, some of the overwhelming heat of Olivia's body was leached away.
"We came into town past the Spaulding mansion," Olivia said when she finally spoke. "Saw that it had burned."
Burned, yeah. That was one way of putting it. It had been a torch to light the night for miles around.
"We didn't see anyone though," Olivia added, her voice soft with an underlying questioning note.
Natalia couldn't decide whether she was hearing hope or fear in the other woman's voice. Probably a combination of both. "You were lucky," she murmured. "If you go by there again, don't let Emma look out. Phillip ranges in the area." She felt Olivia's answering flinch and instinctively tightened her hold, offering what comfort she could.
Muttering a curse under her breath, Olivia wiped at her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Natalia didn't know what else to say.
"Stupid to be crying," Olivia croaked. "We hadn't said two civil words to each other in Emma's life. If you'd asked me before all of this how I'd feel if Phillip died ugly...I'd have sworn I'd dance on his grave..." She trailed off.
Natalia understood the feeling. There was a perverse kind of regret that came with having someone upon whom you'd wished the worst kind of ills fall prey to something more awful than the human imagination could conjure. It left a weird, conflicting burn of vindication and survivor's guilt in its wake.
"What happened?" Olivia asked when Natalia didn't immediately continue.
Natalia was silent for a long moment as she remembered that night and the raging fire on the hill above town. "It should be something dramatic, shouldn't it?" she mused out loud. "A firefight or explosives or maybe a gothic morality play with the curtains being lit in a mad rage and Alan fiddling while Spaulding burned?"
For once Olivia was simply silent, waiting for whatever news was to come. Or maybe she was just afraid of the truth.
A long moment passed and then Natalia shrugged. "Nobody really knows. The gas went out that night, so maybe there was a leak and it ignited. Phillip died, but he wasn't burned...so who knows...no sign of Alan in the wreckage...or elsewhere." Another shrug. It was a mystery, but not one anyone left particularly cared about.
"There must have been others there...servants...Beth...the kids?" Olivia sounded shaken and like she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.
Natalia shook her head. "All gone. Alan burned so many bridges...once he couldn't buy loyalty anymore, everyone left." He never understood the world had changed. "No one even tried to fight the fire that night...just let it burn." Remembering the sense of futility, she felt a rush of shame. Maybe they should have tried, but knowing the dead would be drawn to the fire, no one had wanted to risk their life for a man who'd made all of their lives miserable as often as he was able.
She was pulled out of her memories as Olivia bent over, coiling more tightly on herself. Muscles rippled as she fought a hard shudder that shook her from head to toe.
"Shhh," Natalia soothed. Tightening her hold, she rested her cheek against silky hair.
"Cold," Olivia bit out, though Natalia wasn't sure that was all it was.
Natalia massaged Olivia's shoulder and continued to hold her and murmur soothing nonsense.
"Nobody should end like that," Olivia whispered after a long moment, her voice shaking with the tremors wracking her body. "...nobody caring...alone..."
"You won't, you know," Natalia assured her, understanding the fear all too well. "You aren't like Alan. You have Emma...me..." The last word was little more than the barest of breaths, but she felt Olivia lean back against her in response.
Olivia let out a tiny, sharp sob, trembling in Natalia's arms as she grabbed her own wrist and started searching frantically for a pulse.
Catching her hand, Natalia twined their fingers together as she spread her other hand wider over Olivia's chest and hugged her close. "It's all right," she soothed as she buried her nose in silky hair. "It's beating...I promise."
Curling tightly around Natalia's hand, Olivia found it with her free hand and held it in position. "You'll tell me if it stops?" she whispered, her voice small and heartbreakingly scared.
"I'll tell you," Natalia promised. "But it's beating well, Olivia...I promise you." She nuzzled her cheek. "Your breathing is smooth and easy...and you're shivering, but you aren't cold. Your temp's higher than mine...and you're not twitching." She felt Olivia sag against her and cling tightly to her hands.
"I'm alive?" Olivia whispered very softly after a moment, the words part question, part statement.
"Yes," Natalia confirmed.
They were both silent for a long time, lost in their own thoughts. Feeling Olivia's breathing slow and her muscles relax, Natalia was a little afraid she was sliding off to sleep. Maybe not a problem, but maybe dangerous. Better not to take a chance. Clearing her throat, she murmured, "Will you tell me something?"
Olivia tensed, jerking herself awake. "If I can," she said cautiously.
"When you were so sick, you said you knew about a safe place...what did you mean?" Natalia felt Olivia tense and fully expected a quick denial or perhaps a grim chuckle with some kind of insistence that the claim had been nightmare driven.
What she didn't expect was for Olivia to abruptly shake off her loose hold and push to her feet to become a looming shadow towering over her. "Olivia?" she said uneasily as she reached for the gun, suddenly uncertain. Not that her trust was shaken, but her faith that Olivia was still herself was suddenly a little rattled.
The other woman seemed to realize that her abrupt movement had come across as threatening and took a step back. She held up her hands in a submissive pose. "I need to show you," she said by way of explanation. She nodded to the gun in Natalia's hand. "Y-you should bring that though," she added a shakily, sounding a little hurt by Natalia's distrust. "I'm not trying to trick you. It's just that the information should be someplace safer." She stood waiting. "And you need to see it...so you understand."
Natalia considered trying to argue, but something in the other woman's eyes dissuaded her. Or maybe she needed to know if it was just a fantasy or a real hope. "Let me get a flashlight," she said as she found her feet.
Olivia stood perfectly still, simply watching Natalia while she retrieved one of the emergency lights she kept stashed randomly around the house.
Only a little larger than a penlight, the LED, nonetheless, put out a bright, narrow beam that cut through the room's shadows. Crossing to the garage entrance, Natalia began undoing the locks and freeing the braces. Nearly finished, she looked over at the other woman to find her still waiting patiently, her eyes downcast. She looked tired, a little embarrassed...hurt? "Olivia?"
Olivia's chin snapped up and she seemed to shake herself. She wavered a little on her feet, and Natalia considered suggesting they do this some other time, but something about the look in green eyes stopped her.
In the reflected light, Natalia could make out the tired smile turned her direction. "If you'd feel safer...use the ties..." She held out her hands, wrists together. "However you want to do this, just tell me."
"No," Natalia insisted and returned to stand in front of the other woman. Tucking the pistol into her waistband, she reached up to gently stroke loose bangs off Olivia's brow. "No, but there is one thing that would make me feel safer." She could see the other woman tense as she retrieved the weapon. "You may not have noticed, but I'm not a very good shot," she deadpanned and pressed the gun into Olivia's hands. "If anything goes wrong, you can do more with it than I can."
Her gaze questioning, Olivia accepted the weapon, then slowly nodded.
Natalia could see from her expression that she understood the intent behind the gesture.
Showing faith.
Olivia checked the pistol with quick, efficient hands, then looked up. "I should probably have the flashlight too," she said softly. "So I know what I'm aiming at."
Natalia handed the flashlight over, then watched as Olivia positioned the weapon and flashlight so she could light her targeting field and still brace her gun hand. Both arms trembled noticeably, but she took a breath, straightened her shoulders and shook it off.
"Go ahead and open the door, then let me take the lead," she instructed Natalia when she was steady.
Accepting it was best for the armed person to go first, Natalia did as told, though her eyes were worried when Olivia stepped into the darkened garage.
The once friendly space loomed dark and threatening, every nook and cranny seeming to hold some kind of forbidding shadow.
Standing braced, Olivia ran the light over the room, clearing the space closest to them, then finding the door. The locks were still fastened, the braces firmly in place. None of it showed any damage.
Resting a light hand on Olivia's shoulder, ready to steady her if need be, Natalia felt the faint shift as she exhaled a bit of a sigh.
Step by step, Olivia checked the room, searching out the corners, then checking between the vehicles. Crouching down, she looked under them.
Nothing.
But Natalia could feel her skin crawling, her instincts screaming to get back inside the house. The darkened room felt profoundly unsafe and her eyes kept tricking her, making shadows dance and play at the edges of her vision, causing her to cast quick glances this way and that.
Stepping between the vehicles, Olivia flashed the light inside the truck cab, clearing it quickly before turning to her own vehicle.
Knowing it had been unlocked, Natalia was relieved to see how carefully Olivia checked the interior from the outside.
"It's clear," Olivia whispered when she finished. She shoved the gun in her waistband where it was easily retrievable.
"Good," Natalia said softly, though she was sure her terror showed in her eyes. She stayed out of the way as Olivia moved to the driver's side front door. It was unlocked. A good thing because Natalia had lost the key she'd gotten from Olivia's things.
Olivia climbed in and flipped on the dome light, giving Natalia her first good look at the interior. The front driver's and passenger's seats had both been left alone, but everything in the rear part of the vehicle had been stripped out. Instead there was a platform, with compartmentalized storage and neatly arranged welded steel cabinets and racks along the sides. Long guns were afixed to a specialized rack welded into the ceiling, while smaller weapons were within easy reach along the sides. Assorted satchels and netting catch-alls were hung and shoved into every available bit of space. Some were filled with what looked to be clothing or other soft goods, some clearly with food, and some with things Natalia couldn't easily recognize. Nearly every inch of available space was utilized in some fashion though and it appeared to be surprisingly neatly organized.
Somebody had put a lot of thought and time into the design.
"My security manager did the work," Olivia said distantly. She was sitting in the front seat, a satchel on her lap, grabbing random things within reach and shoving them inside. Unplugging something from the dashboard, she wound up a cord and shoved what looked like a brightly colored netbook into the bag. "We had six company transports...set 'em all up. I got this one and he got one just like it. Others got the vans...but we tried to kit everyone out as well as we could." She shoved the bulging satchel at Natalia, then twisted in her seat, to grab a child's backpack from the back.
A moment of fumbling followed, then Natalia jumped as something bright and blue popped up in the middle of the vehicle directly behind the front seats. It took her a second to spot the Barbie logo along the side, and another second after that to realize it was a cut-down version of a kid's pop-up tent. She realized she must have yelped when she noted Olivia looking at her.
"Emma's bed," the other woman explained as she reached inside to grab what looked like a canvas video game case.
Peering past her, Natalia realized there was a small foam mattress inside that was protected on all sides by a steel casing. The tent obviously folded down, making a neat, out of the way package when it wasn't in use.
"Gives her a place to get away...close the world out for a little while." Olivia shoved the canvas case into the top of the backpack. "It's a little video viewer...let's her watch movies...mostly animated stuff...so she doesn't have to think about..."
She trailed off and didn't finish, but Natalia understood. Anything live action would leave a person wondering if the actors were still alive or more likely, dead. She patted Olivia's shoulder lightly. "She's an amazing kid." She peered at the space Olivia had constructed to let her daughter escape from the horror of the real world. "And I think I'm beginning to see why." Even in the midst of hell, the woman had found a way to let her daughter still be a kid where possible.
Olivia didn't respond to that, just shoved the backpack at Natalia, then turned back, to grab a netting bag. Plastic boxes jumbled inside. She grabbed another backpack, quickly tying the string bag to it before slinging it over her shoulder.
Finally, she unlatched something overhead and pulled down one of the guns.
Natalia realized it was a shotgun not so different from the one Jeffrey's goons had stolen. Olivia shoved it at her and she took it, then watched as the other woman grabbed another rifle from the rack. There was a clip already in place. Natalia had no doubt it was loaded.
"Let's get the hell out of here," Olivia muttered then, her voice trembling in a way that suggested she wasn't quite as calm as she was trying to appear.
It was the best suggestion Natalia had heard in ages.
Moving fast, they cleared the room.
Natalia dumped the things she'd been carrying just inside the door and quickly moved to lock back up. She was just finishing when she heard a soft thump and spun.
Olivia had spilled to one knee, her head down, her body trembling with every deep, ragged breath.
"Olivia?" she panted breathlessly as she hurried to her.
"Got dizzy," the other woman mumbled weakly.
Dropping to a knee, Natalia brushed Olivia's forehead with her inner wrist. "Your fever's spiking again," she murmured worriedly. "And you're exhausted. We should have waited to-"
"No," Olivia bit out, her voice hard even though she couldn't keep her head upright. She rested her forehead on Natalia's shoulder. "It was too important-"
"What was?" Natalia demanded impatiently. She suddenly wanted to know why Olivia had pushed herself until she was ready to drop. "What the hell was so important?"
Without lifting her head, Olivia reached into one of the bags on the floor around them. She fumbled for a moment, then pulled out a stack of slick, paper brochures. A moment's shuffling and she came up with one that she shoved at Natalia. "That."
Natalia peered at it in the thin light cast by the pen light. The bright, tri-fold brochure showed dramatic vistas, local hot springs, a golf course, an airstrip, and a forbidding structure built from local granite. "Castle Rock Resort?"
"It was almost finished when all hell broke loose...very exclusive, meant for the Brangelina set...it's in the mountains, temperate climate, artesian water, its own generators, only one, narrow, defensible road up, no population centers close by, and nobody knows where the hell it is." She tipped her head up to peer at Natalia. "It's as close to a safe place as exists in this day and age."
"That's what Jeffrey was after?" Natalia questioned as she considered the import of what Olivia was telling her.
"Yeah...he was brought in to be personal security for a couple of senators staying at my hotel in D.C.. Bastard bugged my room and overheard my head of security and I working some things out. Bastard realized he could set up his own private little kingdom..."
Natalia nodded ever so slightly as she absorbed the latest revelation. "A man like Jeffrey O'Neill would kill for something like that."
"Yeah," Olivia confirmed. "First he tried to steal the info, then realized what he'd gotten was useless...a listing of every property I own." She snorted. "Then he offered me a deal...let bygones be bygones and all that..." She shook her head slowly and exhaled a soft, bitter laugh.
No, that wouldn't have been acceptable. And Natalia suspected he wouldn't have kept the deal anyway.
"As if I'm that stupid," Olivia ground out.
"What did you do?" Natalia questioned, unable to see an easy way out of the problem.
Olivia chuckled very softly, the sound faintly demonic. "I played along...let him think I trusted him..." She trailed off and was silent for a long moment, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. "And got everything ready...moved fast to escape and get my people out...his men tried to stop us..."
When she didn't immediately continue, Natalia simply whispered, "Olivia?"
"They were ready to kill for what we knew...so we got them first." As she said the last part, her voice was cold and hard. A killer's tone. Lifting her head, she peered at Natalia, her tone shifting, not a threat, but almost a warning. "There are a lot of people who'd kill for this information."
"Not me," Natalia said very softly, wondering if Olivia thought she was one more in line to take something that wasn't hers.
"What makes you so different?"
"My son..."
* * * * * * *
TBC