Gonna warn you like I did with chapter 2. There's a sex scene in this chapter. Be ready for it or skip it if you feel so inclined.

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Special arrangements had been made between the doctor and Abby. They were to be kept in the clinic, staying in one of the patient rooms that was sealed off from sunlight. The room in question was then quarantined by Doctor Harris so that no one would enter except him. In the meantime Abby would volunteer whatever DNA samples she could to help the good doctor with his experiments to create a possible vaccine. While staying there he made sure that if they were to get hungry that they would be given blood stored on site to sustain them. The doctor tried to be selective. From a medical standpoint, blood was more precious than gold in this post apocalyptic world, so he planned to give them blood types that he had the most of while keeping rarer types back.

Not too long after Abby and Owen settled in to their new quarters the town mayor stopped by for a visit. His name was Nicholas Miller, he had been elected by the residents with a pretty wide margin against others who were voted upon. In his former life he wasn't even an official of any kind. He had been instead a TV repairman. But ever since he had joined the colony he had proven himself reliable and trustworthy and the most respected by his peers. There had been those who had attempted to step up and proclaim themselves a proper leader, but the populace decided that someone more humble and with strong moral fiber was needed for the task. There were actually allot of people in Shangri-La who were doing things that they had never done before. Allot of people who were not accustomed to handling a gun or going on supply runs. People whose former lives had been mundane. The only people in the colony who were settling into old roots were Doctor Harris, who was a former hematologist and the town Sheriff, who had in fact been a Sheriff before the vampire infestation.

"Hello Luke. So, where are the new arrivals?"

"I currently have them in one of the patient rooms. I want to keep them here for a few days for observation to deal with some…nutrition issues. I hope that's alright?"

"Oh that's fine, you're the doctor after all, I trust you to make these decisions Luke."

"Thank you." Luke said with some hopefully not too obvious guilt.

"It's incredible isn't it? Two kids like that surviving out in the wild amongst those things. I understand they showed up at the gate covered in vampire guts?"

"Yes, it seemed to mask their scent from them."

"Incredible."

"Yeah…incredible." The doc said in a manner that let on that he knew far more than he was telling.

"I want to kept informed of their progress alright Luke?"

"Yes Mr. Miller."

"Luke. How many times have I told you to call me Nicholas?"

"Sorry, old habits die hard I guess."

With that Nicholas shook his head with a smile and then waved before walking out the door.

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Just before dawn.

Journal of Dr. Luke Harris,

Entry 685

Have restarted my long abandoned research on cure for the vampire contagion. And I have two vampires to thank for it ironically enough. Granted, they are apparently a different breed of vampire, with one of them(Abby) being well over two hundred years old by my estimation. Until about seven years ago, vampires were considered nothing more than movie monsters and creatures of myth and folklore. The rise of the vampires or ferals as Abby calls them changed all that. But if that were not enough, it would seem that vampires have existed alongside of us for untold centuries, living amongst us, with the ferals being a strange new breed that have only recently became active.

Then there's Abby and Owen. I can't help but wonder if I have sold my soul to the devil by agreeing to work with them. After all, they are vampires, monsters, killers…aren't they? It's all so much to take in. Sometimes I don't know what to think. I watch them sometimes. The way that they smile, laugh, touch each other. It's as if they were almost…human. But then I think back to the chilling image of Abby floating before me with yellow eyes and her demon possessed Darth Vader voice. You could tell that she truly was a predator in every sense of the word. But I guess none of this really matters, not if the chance of finding away to halt the vampire infection is possible.

Abby and Owen…they are the key.

Their blood, their saliva, every corpuscle of their DNA must be scrutinized to no end. I must remain diligent.

Note to self, Owen does NOT like needles. Abby had to practically hold him down, her voice though seemed to have an instantly calming effect on him. I almost laughed at the situation. I can't begin to imagine what horrors these two have seen…or committed for that matter. And what is it that freaks little Owen out? Needles.

Need to take a break. Been working myself to the bone for days now without rest, gonna head over to Ziggy's bar, Sheriff Williams has been wanting to see me. Will meet up with him and then come back here and crash.

End of entry.

With that, the good doctor shut off his mini tape recorder.

Meanwhile in the room where Abby and Owen were staying...

In the closet of the room in question, blankets and pillows had been spread across the floor. Within Owen squirmed as shallow breaths escaped his mouth. Abby's mouth in the meantime was somewhere else...between Owen's legs.

She had only been working him for about a minute when suddenly Owen began to feel the same pleasurable sensation starting to build in his genitals that she had made him feel back in the lake, only this was far more intense.

"A-Abby!" He stuttered as she started bobbing her head faster.

He cried out as he released in her mouth, twisting and writhing, but she held him firmly in place as she continued sucking. As his pelvic contractions subsided she gradually slowed down to compensate for the sensitivity that followed as he involuntarily thrusted a couple of times.

But just then.

"Abby, Owen?" Bob said suddenly on the other side of the closet door as he gently tapped on it.

Abby and Owen's eyes were both suddenly full of surprise and panic. Abby's mouth meanwhile was still full of something else!

"Uh, just a minute!" Owen called out, both of them shuffling around awkwardly as Owen pulled his pants back on.

Finally after a few more moments the closet door was slid open from the inside, and there was Abby and Owen sitting on the floor looking up at him as innocently as possible given the cirCUMstances.

"What are you two doing in the closet? Something wrong with the bed?"

"Oh no, it's fine. it's just that Abby seldom uses them. She likes there to be as much between her and sunlight as possible, so she wanted to move into the closet. Even when she used to stay at motels she would usually put herself in the bathroom tub and sleep there."

"Oh, I see. So there's nothing wrong then, everything okay?"

"Umm hmm." Abby mumbled shaking her head yes.

"I thought I heard strange noises. Are you sure that everything is alright?"

"Uh, yeah. We were just uh…playing." Owen responded somewhat nervously.

"Oh, well, okay, I'm going to step out for a bit. Do you two need anything?"

"Umm umm." Abby said again shaking her head no, still keeping her mouth closed.

"Alright, I'll be back after while." He said as he turned and left shutting the door behind him.

After this Abby and Owen turned and looked at each other mischievously as Abby quickly got up and ran over to a waste basket. She then bent over and spat out Owen's semen. She then turned back to him as they both starting laughing with beet red faces as Owen hid his face in his hands.

She then rejoined Owen in the closet.

"That was close." She said as she snuggled up to him.

"You're telling me!" Owen gasped.

"Well, did you like it, did it feel good?"

"Oh wow, that was, that was…oh wow." Owen uttered unable to find the proper words to describe the pleasure he had just felt, "I…I didn't know that girls could use their mouths to do things like that. But what was that stuff you spit out?"

"It's called cum, at least that's what I've heard it called. It's what comes out when you make a man feel good down there."

"So is that what grown ups do?"

"Yea."

"Why did you let me do that in your mouth?"

"Because I knew it would feel really good for you, better than if I were to take it out." Abby explained as a look of almost regret came across Owen's face.

"What's wrong Owen?"

"It...it's just that..." He started to say.

"Just what?"

"You do these wonderful things to me that make me feel good, but it doesn't feel right that you don't get to…feel anything." Owen tried to phrase it delicately.

"I…I've never felt anything like that." Abby finally admitted."

"What? But how do you know how to do the stuff that you do to me?"

"Because that was what some of my former caretakers would have me do to them. They showed me how. It was always about pleasing them."

"Did you like doing it to them?"

"...no." She finally answered after some hesitation on her part.

"Why would you even let them in the first place then? Why not just leave them when they started asking for things like that?"

"Because there were times when my survival was dependent upon them and I simply wasn't left with much choice."

"That's terrible."

"Yeah…it was."

"If you don't like doing these things, then why do you do them with me?"

"Because with you it feels…different. I want to do these things with you, I like to. Even though I'm not really sure why."

"Abby?"

"Yea?"

"Would you…would you let me try…please?"

Abby wasn't quite sure how to react to that question but couldn't help but be naturally curious herself.

"Well, what did you have in my mind?"

"Uh, well, maybe if I did the same thing to you that you just did to me?"

After a great deal of thought Abby finally nodded as she laid back in the closet. Once Owen had her exposed from the waist down he beheld what was between Abby's legs with great curiosity as he briefly pondered the differences between boys and girls. Owen then moved down until his face was right above her pelvis. He was momentarily awestruck by the tiny patch of auburn colored pubic hair that was between her legs. He didn't know that girls had hair down there, he didn't have any between his legs. What Owen didn't understand of course was that girls close to the same age as boys tended to sexually mature faster, Abby had been turned during a time when her body was already going through the changes of puberty. More so, over two centuries ago, girls close to Abby's age were generally promised to other men and expected to be able to bear children as early as fourteen and fifteen. For generations this took place and caused many young girls to sexually mature faster than young girls in today's society.

"Owen...is something wrong?" Abby asked breaking him out of his trance as it were.

"Uh, no." He responded snapping back to reality.

He was clearly nervous, nay, he was terrified. He looked up at Abby to see that she was just as nervous as he was, this was as much a new experience for her as it was for him. But he wasn't about to let his feelings of inadequacy get in the way of trying to make Abby happy. He thought back to some of the things Abby had done to him and proceeded to go down on her. Through allot of trial and error he learned where Abby's sensitive areas were. Though it was a little more complicated in her case and took longer eventually Abby let out a prolonged gasp as she began to feel the onset of her own orgasm.

"Owen!" She cried out, "Something's happening!" She squealed as the fingers of her left hand clasped together with Owen's right and her other hand reached down pushing Owen's face hard into her pelvis.

Abby let out a cry that neighbors probably would have heard if not for the thick brick walls of the former condo. Her back arched as her legs kicked in all directions. Owen found it a bit more difficult to hold her in place like she did him. At the height of her release she even levitated briefly lifting Owen slightly before falling back down.

Despite her previous sexual experiences, in all truth she was just as much a virgin as Owen was. Her face remained frozen in a state of ecstasy, her entire body quaking and shuddering in the aftermath. Her eyes were boggling with a mixed look of confusion and bliss as she tried to wrap her head around what she had just experienced. If Owen had still been human there was a chance that her thighs might have crushed his skull.

Afterward Owen slowly lifted his head up.

"Did…did I do good?" He asked worriedly.

"Uh huh." She said shaking her head and up and down rapidly with a goofy expression that caused Owen to snicker.

She then sat back up and hugged Owen tightly.

"Owen, thank you. That was amazing."

"I honestly had no idea what I was doing, I was scared to death." He admitted as he returned her embrace.

"Well, it felt wonderful to me. So that's what it feels like?" She asked.

"Yeah, I guess so, I don't know if it's the same for girls as it is for boys though."

"No wonder people like it so much." Abby admitted still basking in the afterglow of the most incredible physical sensation she had ever felt.

"I love you Abby."

"And I love you Owen."

Shortly after they closed the closet doors, curled up together in the sheets and drifted off to sleep as the sun began to rise.

Meanwhile after many tiring hours at the clinic a very exhausted Doctor Harris managed to shuffle out into the outside world for the first time in days as he walked into the local makeshift bar. Ziggy's bar had at one time been the 'party house' of the complex back when it was still a normal condo establishment.

"Hey Doc."

"Hey Bob." He said tiredly

"Damn doc, you look like you haven't slept for about three days."

"Been burning the midnight oil…repeatedly."

"Yeah, that's what I hear. You canceled all of your scheduled appointments with the townsfolk too I've been told. What's up?"

"I've started working on a cure for the vampire virus again."

"Really? I thought you'd given up on that."

"I had, but something…new has popped up. Something that escaped my attention before."

"Doc, God knows we all love ya for trying, but don't you think the world is a little too far gone now? I mean even if we found a way to get rid of those damn things life will be far from normal for us. There are parts of the country that none of us will ever be able to go anywhere near in our lifetimes because of radiation."

"Doesn't matter Bob, as long as there's even a fraction of us left, it's worth it to try as far as I'm concerned."

"Has it gotten that bad do you think? What do you figure is the vampire to human population ratio in general?"

"Don't even want to think about it, for that matter I really don't want to think at all right now."

"I heard that, hey Ziggy get this man a beer!"

"Yea right."

"No seriously."

"What? Since when do we have beer?"

"Oh yeah I'm guessing that you haven't heard. We got lucky on our last supply run and found a few cases of Budweiser stashed in some guy's basement of all places. Can you believe that?" Bob told him as an icy cold bottle slid down the bar into his hand.

"Well I'll be damned." The doctor said as he popped the top and swigged it back with a long swallow, "I had almost forgotten what beer tastes like, haven't had one of these since before the epidemic." He went on as he stopped to stare at the bottle, "It's amazing…isn't it?"

"Well, truthfully doc I'm more of a Miller man myself, but hey, beggars can't be choosers I guess."

"That's not what I meant." The doc said with a chuckle.

"What did you mean then?"

"The things that you take for granted in your life, things that you don't think you'll miss, until they're gone that is."

"Yeah, I reckon so."

"Now THIS, I can drink." The doctor said with a somewhat accusatory tone at the bartender.

"What? You don't like my special home brew doc?" He replied.

"Wasn't Eric using that stuff to strip paint off that old school bus he's been tinkering with?"

"Ahhhh, that don't mean nothin."

"Oh really? Well when you stroll into my clinic holding your quivering liver in your hand don't say I didn't warn you."

"Have you seen Eric's 'battle bus' lately doc?" Bob interrupted.

"Is that what he's calling it now?"

"No, that's what I call it, damn thing looks like something out of 'The Road Warrior'. He calls it 'The vampire slayer'."

"What has he done to it now?"

"What hasn't he done to it? Armor plating, gun ports, he's even put a beveled plow on the front of the thing."

"So he still thinks that we're going to be overrun someday huh?"

"Swears to it doc. Still keeps telling that same old story about that herd of what he claims was no less than a thousand vampires that he saw moving through the plains of Kansas over two years ago. With nothing but friggin moonlight to see with just how in the hell can you even tell how many there are of anything? You ever heard of such a thing doc?"

"Can't say that I have, lets just hope that he's wrong."

"I'll drink to that, sounds like something out of a horror movie anyway." Bob proclaimed as he took another long swig of his beer.

"We're already living in one as it is Bob."

"That reminds me, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Hunting party found a new nest yesterday morning."

"Really? I didn't think there were any left around these parts. Where was it?"

"In Rexburg."

"Christ, that's the next town over from us. I thought it was a dead town?"

"It is now." Bob said regretfully, "We found the remains of families that were apparently still hiding there."

"My God."

"I'm pretty sure God has forsaken us old buddy."

"I can't believe it."

"Surprised them too I guess."

"Did we lose anyone?"

"Nope, damn things scurried like cockroaches when the sunlight hit em. They didn't stand a chance."

"Well, hopefully that was the last one, not crazy about the idea of those things repopulating this area like they were when we first settled here. Was there anything else that you wanted to know?"

"I think you pretty much covered all of the bases doc, just do me a favor okay?"

"What?"

"Get home and get some rest."

"Yes sir."

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I should have listened, I should have went home…but I didn't. I went back to the clinic and collapsed in on the couch in the waiting room. I fully intend to start again early in the morning, nose to the grindstone. I can't stop now.

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A couple of weeks later…

"Okay, here's the situation," Doctor Harris began to say as Abby and Owen stood before him, "You've both been here for two weeks now and some people are starting to ask questions. I've already kept you both here for allot longer than I would normally keep anyone that I would be checking for infectious diseases, so I think you should try to go out and mingle. I'm assuming the hunger situation is in order?"

"Yes, the blood packets you just gave us will sustain for some time." Abby answered.

"You got lucky on that. We just recently had out annual blood drive for the entire complex."

"What if people start asking us why they don't see us during the day?" Owen asked with some concern.

"That's when you tell them that I have diagnosed you with Solar Urticaria."

"Solar what?" Owen asked with a dumbfounded look.

"Solar Urticaria is an allergic reaction to the sun characterized by itching, redness and hives on areas of skin exposed to sunlight. But very few people here will actually know that, so if they ask what it is just tell them that what I said you have and that you are allergic to the sun."

"Understood." Abby replied.

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Abby and Owen headed outside as they walked through the complex taking in the sights. There were of course several homes lined up next to each other in solid columns going in all directions. In classic condo fashion the apartments in question all looked practically identical from the outside. As they walked along they saw an empty pool that looked as if it hadn't been used in years. Even though the water was safe and clean in their area the community still enforced water conservation. There was also other recreational areas that included a tennis court, basketball court and a small playground. At the center of the complex was a large fountain that also had been out of commission for quite sometime. The diversionary amusements were located near the center of the complex. Abby and Owen veered towards the playground area to discover several children playing with some odd looking puzzles. They had came in on the last supply truck that had gone out. Owen immediately recognized it.

"Hey, it's a Pyraminx!"

"A what?" Abby asked.

"It's a puzzle that's just like the Rubix Cube, only it's a pyramid shape instead. I saw them first show up in stores right before the outbreak."

"Crap!" One of the children said throwing it down, having grown too frustrated to bother with it any further.

"Excuse me? May I try?" Abby asked stepping up to the child in question.

"Knock yourself out, no one here's even come close to solving it yet."

Abby then reached down and picked it up, her hands moving with amazing speed across the puzzle's surface. Eventually she started moving even faster and a crowd of the kids began to circle around her as they watched her work. In no time at all she had it solved. The rest of the children were looking at her with astonishment, unsure of how they should react. Owen felt the need to say something.

"She really likes puzzles." He said.

"That's crazy, how could she solve it that fast?" One child said.

"What is she some kind of freak?" Another spoke.

"No!" Owen said defensively, "It took her what, five minutes? I'm guessing no one here knows that the world record for solving a Rubix Cube is 39 seconds? There was a tournament that was talked about on TV back before the outbreak. Do you call them freaks too?"

"Dude, how old are you? You woulda been like six back then." A third child challenged.

"I'll have you know that I have a very good memory." Owen stated with pride.

The rest of the children seemed to calm down after that.

"Phew, that was a close one." Owen thought to himself.

Just then a much younger child, a small girl of around seven years of age accidentally dropped hers while fidgeting with it. Abby leaned over to pick it up and then handed it to her.

"Thank you." She said, to which Abby smiled.

However, while she was still slightly bent over she suddenly got a slap on her behind. She straitened back up with a blush as she turned around expecting to see Owen with a devilish grin. But when she turned she saw a completely different boy instead, which only added to her embarrassment. What she saw was a boy who looked to be about 13, with a short blond army style buzz cut and decked out in kiddie camo.

"You got a cute butt." He said with a smug grin as Abby cocked an eyebrow.

Owen meanwhile had saw what he did at the last second and was eyeing him warily.

"So you two are the new kids huh?" He said looking back and forth between her and Owen, "We haven't had any in quite some time. My name is Corey by the way." The boy said outstretching his hand.

Abby hesitated for a moment but then decided to be polite as she reached out her own. But the second she grabbed his he quickly spun her into a pirouette that resulted in her leaning backwards in his arms.

"And I'm also the boy of your dreams." He grinned.

Abby allowed herself a half smile as she pulled away from him.

"You're a feisty one aren't you?" She said.

"You have no idea." He replied.

Owen meanwhile was positively fuming, if looks could kill Corey would be dead a hundred times over.

"So how many people live here?" Abby asked.

"A few hundred, place isn't even close to being full, course we lost allot of people on the way here. Ferals at night, cultists during the day."

"How long you all been here?"

"Bout three years now. Had to clean out some ferals when we first got here though."

"Sounds tough."

"Yeah, pretty rough stuff. But I hear you got it pretty bad too. You lost your folks right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Heh, half the kids sitting here are parentless. What you see here are the tough ones."

"Tough ones?"

"Yeah, some of the kids who lost family didn't handle it too well. Girl I used to know named Angela kinda went funny in the head after she lost her baby sister. And another boy named William hung himself after he lost his folks. Another boy named Greg watched his dad die from radiation sickness, guess he was on the outskirts of one of the big cities back when the nukes were first dropped. He hasn't spoken a word since. There are others, I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea."

"Yeah." Abby said as she thought upon what he had just said, realizing just how hard some of these kids had it.

They were orphans, orphans of the apocalypse.