This fan fiction is based on the 2007 movie I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, which is based on the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson. All characters in this chapter are my own, with the exception of Robert Neville.

Emotion

They had begun early that morning right after breakfast. Jeremy took them in the Hummer to the nearest parking garage where he kept several vehicles in storage. They first went around to each rig and the girl waited as he got out and checked and started each one to let them run for a few minutes. He had six special vehicles up there, with all but one decked out similar to his Hummer with razor wire and armor plating. Each had batteries equipped with trickle-chargers connected to extension cords that led to solar generators on the roof. The storage vehicles all had tanks filled with treated gasoline or diesel so he didn't have to worry about fuel going bad. And he kept all the engines lubed with Slick 50 oil treatment and changed oil every three months whether they got used or not. It was one of those things that helped occupy his mind and life. Now that the girl was with him he could see himself letting go of some of the routine things.

This was his "Emergency Garage One" and he had others like it, smaller versions, in different areas of the city. He really only had to check each location about once a month, but since he was here anyway he went ahead and looked everything over. All of the vehicles checked out except the Camaro, which happened to be the one car that differed in that it was not armored. Something had come along and tripped over the cable, yanking the cord from its charger. But when he turned the key in the ignition the vehicle roared to life and the gauge showed full battery power, so the incident had been recent. How recent he wasn't sure.

Jeremy turned the key off, got back out and looked around suspiciously. The parking garage was well lit on this end but there were some shadows deeper in. His fingers played meaningfully over the trigger guard of the ever ready M-16 at his side as he thought about how early in the day it still was. He walked back over to the Hummer. Still watching the shadows, he opened the passenger door and glanced down quickly at the girl.

"Let's go."

She climbed down and followed him back to a black Econoline cargo van. This was one of his favorites because of the extra armor. It had served as a security van for cash in transit bank use before the plague, but he and Jonathon—the tall Nigerian—had added their own touches, making it as impervious as they could to onslaughts from both gangs and vampires. The tires were "grenade-proof" as Jonathon had prescribed, and along with a Cadillac suspension system that they had modified and adapted, the ride's overall comfort hadn't suffered too much because of it. The vehicle was heavy but with the six liter Power Stroke V-8 turbo diesel, it could move when it needed to. And best of all it had plenty of space in the back for hauling things. He and Jonathon had made good use of this van back when they were catching live vampires for Dr. Nev…. Jeremy shook his head. No. Don't start remembering all of that now. He forced himself to focus on the task at hand.

He helped the girl up into the passenger seat and strapped her seatbelt for her. Glancing around again at the other cars and the shadows, he came around to the other side and got in. He was getting jumpy, he told himself. The sun was up, it was pouring in. It was going to be a good day for collecting.

The first stop with the van was Cityproof over on forty-third Avenue. It was home to one of New York's finest sources for soundproof windows. According to a survivors' lecture he had attended, windows were the biggest culprits for letting unwanted noise into and out of a building. There had been a short class on soundproofing houses for those willing to help modify the planning headquarters and some other strategic buildings. He, Rex and Jonathon had attended, but the work had never even begun, doomed to follow in the footsteps of most other projects the survivors started. Priority rating kept dropping because…. Jeremy sighed…because people kept dropping like flies…until there was no one left for any more grand projects! He was doing it again, thinking too much. At any rate, he knew he would have to learn as he went along on this one. Maybe they would have some brochures inside.

The Cityproof buildings looked okay from the street, though a glance at the windows told him it would be pretty dark inside. He pulled around to the loading dock and parked in such a way that they could leave in a hurry, if they felt like it. He looked down at the girl and gave her a wink.

"You know," he said. He had started to reach for the rifle that lay between their seats but paused in sudden thought. "I never asked your name. Please accept my most heartfelt apologies." He held out his hand to the girl, a silly grin forming on his face. "My name is Jeremy Carter." He didn't know why he was doing this, it was a sudden whim, unless he just felt good because of the sunshine and the day. What if she didn't respond? What if she would never talk to him? He was being silly. He had only found the girl yesterday. Yesterday! It seemed like ages ago.

His right hand hovered between them. The girl looked from the hand up to his face and finally a smile came across hers as well. She reached out with her own, and grasped it. They shook hands. And then…she…giggled… Out loud!

It was the first time she had made an audible vocal sound, besides yesterday and then she had only cried. Jeremy didn't know what to make of it. Should he ask her name? What should he do? A name would be really helpful.

As he was thinking about this, the girl coughed lightly and solved the problem for him. "Pleased to meet you, Jeremy," she said suddenly in a soft ringing voice, as if it was the most painless and natural thing in all the world. Her blue eyes danced with humor and intelligence, and when she smiled Jeremy saw perfect little baby teeth in her mouth like pearls. She looked four, but there was no way she could be four, not to talk like that, all grown up.

Jeremy was immediately ecstatic. A lovelier sound had never graced his ears than the sound of this little girl's voice, saying his name. He hadn't heard another human voice in conversation for so long. It felt like being a prisoner of war, kept in solitary confinement for years, and then suddenly…liberated! Forgotten ducts around his eyes opened and tears spilled out of them, brimming. His throat and chest suddenly had a good solid tightness to them and he began shaking slightly as he stared at her tiny wondering face. He hadn't felt this happy in all his life and he suddenly forgot all about the vampires or why they were even sitting here outside Cityproof, and why a lot of things. Who cared? She could talk. She could talk!

"You'd better tell me your name," Jeremy said, choking, "or I'm going to start calling you Wonder Girl or something."

"Okayyyy," she said, and he could almost hear mental gears going to work as her five-year-old negotiating powers kicked in. "Hmmm, I'll tell you my name…if…" and she glanced over at the steering wheel, "…you let me drive." She placed a tiny hand on the wheel and sat there looking pleased with herself, smiling away from him and moving her head side to side slightly as if in time to a smug, secret rhythm.

It was too much for Jeremy. He started laughing, full of emotion. It was a deep cavernous kind of laugh that took minutes. Every time he looked over at her he would laugh more. "Okay," he finally managed, "If we ever get done here, you can drive."

"My name is Victoria Allison Cooper," she said, keeping her end of the bargain. It sounded like she was well rehearsed. No doubt her mother had been a careful teacher.

"Pleased to meet you, Victoria," said Jeremy. But it was another half an hour before he was able to leave the van. He found out that she was almost five and that her Mama always said she was small for her age. And that she liked chocolate, pizza, and Chinese food. And a bunch of other things…

A/N: Next chapter gets a bit more exciting, I think. Update coming soon…