9

Alex ignored Scott's use of the childhood nickname and led him outside and around to the back of the house. The patio furniture was stacked, but they pulled two chairs down and set them at a table. They sat down across from one another and Alex pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and offered the pack to Scott, who stared at her for a moment before accepting it with a grateful smile.

After taking a long, deep drag, Scott asked, "So how long you been smoking?"

Alex exhaled. "Just since the end of the world. Figured if I had to kill people I could smoke and have a few beers if I wanted."

"Seems reasonable to me," Scott said.

"So what did you want to talk about," Alex asked.

"Well, before all this happened your mom and I were waiting to tell you some things, but the right time never came up… and then everything happened…" Scott started.

"You guys were going to split up, right? Doesn't really seem to matter now, does it," Alex interrupted.

"Not directly, no. And we weren't going to split up, at least, we hadn't planned on it. I met Christine and after we'd been together for a while, we decided to have a child. Your mom knew all about it. We were going to just keep doing what we had been doing, I see you and your mom on the weekends and Christine and Joey during the week. It was going to be okay, we were going to tell you about your little brother the next time I came home, I swear," Scott explained.

"My brother? Really, Scott? Are you fucking kidding me?" Alex spat, jumping out of her chair. She began pacing back and forth, taking frequent drags from her cigarette.

"No that's the basic story. I swear your mom was okay with everything. She was even excited for us about the baby," Scott said, running his hands through his dirty, thinning hair, his eyes tracking the distressed young woman that was once his little girl.

"Why would she be excited about her husband having a kid with some other woman," Alex yelled.

"We'd been living separate lives for a long time, Alex. Years. You know that. Christine and I have been together for over two years. Your mother met her several times. It wasn't like I was sneaking around on Julie. I loved her. She did her own thing as well. We just kept it from you. We didn't want you to be hurt by our decisions," Scott explained lamely.

"So you thought the solution was to only spend weekends with me, leaving me to be raised by whoever was around? Cuz Julie was never around. I hope you're around for Joey more than you were for me. He won't have the support system I had to make sure he turns out okay," Alex said as she stubbed out her cigarette under her boot and turned to face Scott. "Good talk, Dad. Just so you know, I ain't looking for a step-mom and I sure as hell don't want anything to do with that kid. They're your family, not mine."

"Alex, give Christine a chance. She's a good person. I think you might find you have some things in common-" was all Scott got out before Alex interrupted him.

"Like what, Scott? What might I have in common with your concubine? Did she kill her mom and then slide around in her rotten guts while fighting for her life against some crazy cannibal bitch? Did she get the shit beaten out of her and almost raped by a friend of hers who she then had to slit his throat? Maybe she knows how it feels to kill a small herd of the dead all alone or walk through a large herd of them with nothing but the skin of a dead one to protect you. Any of those things sound like Christine to you, Dad," she snarled. Scott didn't say anything. "I didn't think so. I've got other shit to do. I'll see ya around."

Alex turned on her heel and returned inside to Jake.

"How'd it go," he asked.

"It's his kid, like I thought. Said Julie knew about it, that it's been going on for a few years and she was okay with it… said she was excited for them about the baby. He expects me to treat them like family or some shit. Told him I've got my family and the concubine ain't it. They're his family. He made that choice," Alex said.

"That's pretty harsh, Alex. They just got here. Ya don't gotta treat her like yer mom, but she's gonna be livin' here. Ya gotta figure out how ta deal with her. Besides, ain't there enough room fer a couple more people in our family? We thought we lost everyone, Alex. Sally did lose everyone. Just think about it fer a while, give 'em a chance," he said as he leaned in and kissed her on the nose, making her smile. He then kissed her quickly on the lips.

Alex sighed. "Holy shit, fine. I'll think about it and give it a few days," she said.

"An' ya should take it easy on yer dad, really. He's had it rough, just imagine bein' out there, on tha run, with a baby - a newborn baby - with those fucking things everywhere. We're really lucky here, even with all tha shit we've had ta do. Just give it some time, please," he asked.

"Okay, I'll ease up on Scott too. Geez…," Alex huffed. She snuggled into Jake's chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Can't we just go back to skipping those steps at home? There's so much to think about… more change just means more to lose." Jake comforted her for another moment before Doc Hobbs entered the room and interrupted them.

"Alex, where's your pa? I've got an update for him," Doc said.

"Scott's still outside. I'll go let him know," she said. She walked quickly out to the table where he was still sitting.

"Hey, I'm sorry for being so harsh… I'll try harder to be… less abrasive. It's going to take some time to adjust," Alex said.

"It's okay, Alexandra. I understand. It's a lot," Scott offered.

"Doc is lookin' for ya. Says he's got an update for you," Alex said. Alex followed after Scott, who hurried inside.

"Hey, Dr., Alex said you've got some news," Scott asked upon entering the dining room.

"Yes. Connor is doing well. I removed all of the fragments and I repaired most of the internal damage that was caused. Some of the wounds were pretty dirty and I'm afraid there is a high risk of infection. We've started him on broad spectrum antibiotics, just to be sure, and we'll keep a close eye on him for the next few weeks. Assuming we manage to keep the infection away, he should make a full recovery with very few lasting effects," Dr. Benson reported.

"That's excellent news. We've been through two war zones together and in more firefights than I can count. Been watchin' each other's backs more than half our lives. Thanks, doctor," Scott said, shaking the man's hand. "What about Joey?"

"Well, he's definitely malnourished. We hooked him up to an IV for fluids and nutrition. He's also got a low-grade fever, but so far we aren't seeing a cause. We're going to let the fever run it's course for now, see if we can figure out what's causing it. Not much more we can do for him until we start getting bloodwork back," Dr. Benson answered.

"Two of the men from my party were lab researchers at Stanford, before all this. If you need help running labs, they can help," Scott offered.

"That's good to know, and we will take you up on it. This guy's so little we don't want to take any more blood than absolutely necessary. Can't risk having to repeat a test. Send them on over once they've had a chance to settle in," Dr. Benson said. "Other than that, I'd like to treat Christine for dehydration and malnourishment as well… since she didn't have enough food to eat, enough calories for both her and the baby, her body started breaking itself down to provide for the child. It's a very good thing you guys arrived when you did. Another week out there and you almost certainly would have lost them both. We'll get them set up in a room together and work on getting them healthy again."

"Thank you, doctor. Would it be possible for me to stay with them? The idea of leaving them alone…" Scott said.

"Say no more. We can accommodate all three of you, no problem. We can move another bed in there for you," Dr. Benson said, waving Nurse Cindy over. He explained what they needed to do. Jake offered to help her and they went to get the room set up.

Alex stood back and watched everyone making plans and moving into action. She felt oddly detached from the scene before her. She silently slipped away and snuck into Sally's room. Alex pulled a chair up close to the side of the bed and took Sally's hand in both of hers.

"Hey, darlin'. Hope you're getting some good rest. We found some more people and brought them in… there's even a little baby, Sal. You can show him how to ride a horse someday, won't that be cool," she said to the sleeping girl.

Alex sat quietly for a while trying to think of something else happy to tell Sally.

"Me and Jake, we kinda got married… not like ya think of, with a white dress and a minister and rings and stuff… that shit just doesn't matter anymore. We just made promises to each other, just us… no one else was there. It was perfect… Alex Dixon has a pretty bad-ass ring to it, don't ya think," she quietly said to Sally.

She paused again, wishing Sally would respond. Alex missed her and she just wanted the girl to be alright. Alex squeezed Sally's hand and then rested her forehead on their hands. Tears slipped down her nose and onto their hands.

"Come on, Sally girl. Be strong. You can make it through this… don't let that fucker win, you hear me? You are so strong, so smart and beautiful. He can't take that from ya, kid. He can't. You are a fucking rock star, Sally. You will come through this just fine," she said.

Alex kept her head down crying silently into their hands. She heard the door click quietly behind her but she didn't move. She heard footsteps and a warm hand touched her shoulder and squeezed gently. It was Jake. She knew from his touch and his smell.

"Hey. I was gonna head out. Ya wanna come with me," he asked her quietly.

"Sure," she responded. "Okay, Sal. I'm gonna let ya rest now. We'll be back this afternoon to check on ya," she said to Sally.

Alex followed Jake out of the room and outside. They walked to the barn hand in hand, discussing the various things that needed to be taken care of today. The ranch didn't stop just because people were sick.

"Ya wanna talk about it," Jake asked her after a pause in the conversation.

"About what? My dad's new family? No thanks. It is what it is, talkin' about it won't change anything. Like I told you already, I'll give it some time and see how things go, but you and Sally are my family," she told him adamantly.

"All I'm askin' is that ya keep an open mind an' that ya try ta be nice. Don't try ta drive 'em away," he said with a smile and a squeeze of her hand.

Alex glared at him, but it was short lived as it turned into a grin while she looked at him. "You think you know me so well," she huffed.

"I know ya well enough ta know yer tells an' how yer brain works, most of tha time anyway," Jake said with a smug look.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the barn. Everyone was up now and getting a start on the day. The bunkhouse was its usual meal time chaos, which Betty and Norma somehow managed like it was nothing and things ran smoothly every day for every meal. Tim and Ellie were seated at a table eating with an exhausted looking Zach. Jake and Alex got their food and joined them.

"Zach was just telling us that things look calm out there. Seems their story was true, no one else seems to be following them," Tim said.

"That's good," Jake said. "Ya did a good job, kid. Ya make sure ta get some sleep after ya eat."

"I just about poked my own eye out with my fork a minute ago, so yeah, I'm headed to bed momentarily," Zach said tiredly. "How's Sally? Any change," he asked.

"She's the same. Dr. Benson has his hands full at the moment, but we're going back this afternoon. He should still be waking her up today," Alex said.

"I was gonna go by and see her, but it sounds like it's pretty busy over there right now. Maybe I could come with you this afternoon," he asked.

"I don't see why not. We don't want to overwhelm her, but you can come with us," Alex said. "Other than the horses, what else are you supposed to take care of today? I can cover you so you can sleep longer," Alex offered.

"I've already taken him off the roster until tomorrow. Kid managed to work for the last two days without a break, covering for our asses. He's earned some time off. But if you'll cover the horses, that will cover all of his duties," Tim said.

"Done," Alex said. "And thanks for stepping up when we needed you, Zach."

"Ditto," Tim said. "Looks like we've got an up and comin' council member," he said with a grin. Zach just looked at them like they were crazy.

"Didn't doubt ya fer a second," Jake said, leaning across the table and clapping Zach on the shoulder. Zach visibly sunk under the weight. "We've been countin' on ya since tha day ya got here an' ya never complain 'bout nothin'. Now, why don't ya go get started on that nap? We'll come get ya this afternoon, alrigh'," Jake asked him.

"Sounds good," Zach replied. "And thanks for all the nice things you guys said… it means a lot. You guys can always count on me to do whatever needs to be done… this place is my home too, and I thank god you guys brought me here. I'm honored that you guys trust me enough to give me so much responsibility." Zach got up from the table and picked up his plate, but Ellie took it from him.

"I got this. Go on, hon. Get some rest," Ellie said. Zach walked off towards his trailer and the others began discussing the plan for the day.

"Betty just told me this morning that the meat supply is getting low, so we need someone to take care of restocking the smokehouse," Tim said.

"I got that," Jake said. "Already was thinkin' 'bout' what we need. Me an' Al can round up some hogs and heads of beef ta slaughter. Should be finished 'bout tha time Dr. Benson was talkin' 'bout wakin' Sally up"

"Alright. Ellie and I will take charge of the few things around here. We've had some questions about Kara, people wonderin' what really happened. Gonna have to tell people somethin'… do we have the story sorted out," Tim asked Jake and Alex.

"Yeah," Jake said. "She came onta me in tha bunkhouse, ambushed me naked an' got pissed when I refused her. Kara slapped me just as Kathy walked in an' she saw me slap Kara back. Kathy helped dress her, but Kara knocked Zach out when I had him guard her while I looked for tha rest of tha council. We think Sally saw Kara sneakin' inta tha house an' followed her. Kara was going to stab Alex while she was in the shower, Sally killed her before she could do that. We think she killed J.J. just before she jumped on me in tha bunkhouse… but I got no idea why. She seemed ta dote on tha kid," Jake finished.

"Alright, that's what we'll tell people then. We've dealt with the bodies, everyone is buried in the grove. Thought we should have Billy's service soon… people need to finish mourning," Tim said.

"I agree. I was thinking that maybe we could have a sunset service today. Maybe move the evening meal back and we could eat after the service," Alex said.

"I was kinda hopin' we could have a bit of a celebration," Ellie said. "Billy would be pissed at us for cryin' over him. He'd want us to have a party," Ellie explained.

"He would be pretty upset about all the waterworks,"Tim said with a laugh. "Let's plan on doing something tomorrow evening, that'll give Betty and Norma enough notice that the menu is changing. We don't want to upset the cooks."

"That's true. Let's come back this evening with some ideas about the celebration," Alex suggested. Everyone nodded.

"I got one other thing to bring up to the group," Tim said. "I think we need to start beefing up our human defenses. Comin' across two really unfriendly groups in opposite directions in a couple of days? Makes me really nervous. I think we really need to make some changes with that in mind. This place is big and easy to infiltrate if you can walk and crawl. Should we come back tonight with some ideas," Tim asked. Again, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Don't know if he's up ta it, but we gotta at least ask Scott ta be part of tha conversation. An' I think he's got a right ta a seat on tha council," Jake said.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask about that. Are things going to just continue the way they have been, with him back? I mean, it's his land…" Tim's voice trailed off.

"It became my land when he was presumed dead and we took charge of it, making it what it is. He can be part of the council if he wants, but his vote doesn't count any more than everyone else's. If it wasn't for us, he'd have nothing to come back to," Alex said calmly.

"I don't know about that," Jake said.

"Are you serious? Don't you remember those assholes from town that showed up here a week into things? They were here to take this place. If they were here and Scott showed up like he did, what kind of welcome would he have gotten? Open arms, warm food, new clothes, medical assistance and a bed to sleep in? Not from those fuckers. So don't try telling me that his claim is bigger than ours. It ain't. I'll be happy to talk to him about it," Alex said.

"I don't think that's tha best idea, Al. I'll talk ta him after he's had a chance to breathe fer a minute. Are we in a hurry fer an answer," Jake asked the group.

"I don't see why we would be… Things can just keep goin' as usual. If he says somethin', shows an interest, we can take it up then," Tim said.

The group agreed, including Alex. She didn't really care as long as they weren't just going to give him control of everything. She'd worked too hard, bled too much, hurt too much to just let a group of strangers come in and take over… strangers she was supposed to be family with.

The group split up and went their separate ways to start their projects for the day. Jake helped Alex feed the horses before they began the process of slaughtering hogs. Jake backed the truck up to the pig pen and Alex herded four of them up the ramp, then closed the tailgate and jumped in the truck. They drove to the slaughterhouse, Alex led the first hog down the ramp and Jake closed the rest in before helping her get everything in place. He adjusted the hoist while Alex shot the pig in the head with the bolt gun. They worked as a team to hang and bleed it, then did it all over again with the rest of the pigs.

It was hard, sweaty work, even in the early morning. Once they were fully bled out, Jake and Alex moved the carcasses into the cleaning room of the slaughterhouse where they worked together to clean the carcasses before moving them to the butchering room to cut them into pieces. They salted the pieces that would hang in the smokehouse to cure and set aside the parts that would be used by Betty and Norma to make sausages.

They finished with the pigs just before lunch. They cleaned up and ate quickly before saddling up their horses and heading out towards one of the neighboring ranches. They had decided to round up cattle as they came across them and let them graze on the various neighboring properties where there was enough land that they could just roam freely. Whenever they needed meat, they could just round a couple up and herd them back to the Lazy H.

It didn't take very long for Jake and Alex to find a couple of good-sized heifers and a bull that were easily cut from the herd they were lazily grazing with. They herded them back to the ranch and followed the same procedure as they had with the pigs. They cut each carcass into primal cuts and everything was hung in the cold room to cure for a couple of weeks. The bovines took longer than the pigs to process, so it was closer to dinner time than they had planned on by the time they finished cleaning everything, and themselves, up. They joined the rest of the latecomers lining up in the bunkhouse for food, advising Betty of their additions to the meat stores. They'd already delivered the makings for sausages to her and Betty was happily chattering about they kind of spices she was going to use to make them breakfast sausages. Jake and Alex just smiled and nodded, excited about the prospect of more of Betty's homemade sausages.

After eating quickly, they wandered over to Zach trailer so he could join them in seeing Sally. After knocking a few times, a still exhausted Zach stumbled to the door and pushed it open for them. "Just give me a sec, I'll be ready," Zach mumbled.

"No worries, kid, we'll be waitin' right here," Jake replied.

It wasn't long before Zach came bounding out of the trailer, slamming the door behind him. "Sorry. It felt like I'd just closed my eyes when I heard you knocking on the door. I don't think I'll ever stop being tired," he joked.

They walked along quietly until Zach broke the silence. "I can't believe your dad is alive and he made it all the way back here… that's pretty amazing," Zach said. "I mean, the odds of that happening have got to be ridiculously low."

Alex responded with a non-committal "uh-huh" and Jake didn't say anything. "Did I say something wrong," he asked.

"No, you didn't say anything wrong," Alex replied. "It's just… complicated."

Sensing this was clearly none of his business, Zach didn't ask any further questions and the rest of their short walk was completed in silence. When they walked into the front area of the clinic, Alex noticed that it was much quieter than it had been that morning.

"Hi guys," Nurse Cindy greeted them as she entered the room. "Dr. Benson is just checking on Sally now. You can go ahead and go in," she said, gesturing towards Sally's room.

They walked through to Sally's room and saw that Dr. Benson had just finished up with her. "Well, she ready ta wake up yet," Jake asked.

"Everything looks good. I stopped administering the sedative at lunch today and it usually lasts about six hours, so she should start waking up anytime now. All three of you can stay in here but keep the noise down and once she starts coming out of it, keep your voices down and try not to move around too much. The less input she has to sort through the easier it will be for her to fully wake up and figure out what is going on around her. Just hold her hand and talk to her quietly and she'll come around eventually," Dr. Benson said.

"So when she wakes up we can take her home," Alex asked.

"Well, hypothetically, yes. But given how agitated she was when you brought her in, we're going to just have to see how it goes. Could be all she needed was some rest, in which case, yes, you can take her home. If she is still having the type of issues she was when you brought her in, we might want to look at some options. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's just wait and see how she feels when she wakes up," Dr. Benson said. "Also, we got your father, brother and step-mother all situated. They've had some time to rest, if you'd like to see them."

"I'm not sure where you got your info, doc, but she ain't my step-mother and the kid ain't my brother. I'm just here to see Sally, thanks," Alex said.

The doctor looked at her, but Jake shook his head slightly and nodded to the doctor to meet him out in the hall. After Dr. Benson left the room, Jake excused himself and met the doctor in the hallway.

"Hey, doc. Sorry about that… Alex is having a hard time adjusting ta her pa bein' alive. He just told her 'bout tha kid bein' his. Told her that it's been goin' on fer years an' that her ma knew about it an' supported it. She don't know what ta make of it. Gonna take her some time ta stop bein' so… Alex about it. They're doin' okay, though? Mom and baby," Jake asked.

"So far, so good," the doctor responded. "Still not a lot to go on with Joey, but I'm positive that just getting him adequate nutrition will go a long way. They said he didn't get sick until they were on the road. I'm hoping whatever it is will solve itself if his body gets strong enough. We just have to wait and see. Christine should be okay. Started her on some vitamins and calcium supplements in addition to the IV. Her bones are weak because her body was eating away at the calcium to supply it to the baby. I'd like to do an x-ray on her to take a look at the bones, but, again, we're waiting to give them some time to recuperate."

"Thanks for the update, doctor. Let me know if there's anything we can do to help," Jake said.

"You sure about that? She doesn't seem to care if they live or die," Dr. Benson said.

"I'm sure. She's angry now, but she'll be even angrier if something happens to them," Jake responded. "Alex can be a bit complicated," he said with a grin.

"Well, son, I do believe men have been commenting on the sanity of women since, well, since they invented the language to do so," Dr. Benson said with a chuckle. Jake nodded.

"Some days I really do wonder," Jake said. "But then the next day everything is back to normal, almost like it never happened. I'll tell ya, she sure does keep me on my toes," he laughed.

Jake returned to Sally's room and took his seat next to Alex. Zach sat across from them holding Sally's other hand, and he was busy telling her some silly story about a bird and a frog he'd seen when he was out on watch one day. Alex sat listening half-heartedly as she stared out the window. Jake had just sat down when movement from Sally caught everyone's attention and they all froze, staring down at her as they did so. It wasn't much, just the twitch of her leg, but they waited patiently for any sign that she was waking. After a moment, when she didn't move any further, Zach resumed his story and Alex resumed staring, only now she was staring at Sally instead of outside.

It was another hour before Sally really started to wake up. The leg twitch progressed to an arm twitch which progressed to voluntary shifting in the bed as she rolled over on her side, facing Zach. When no one else seemed willing to talk, Zach resumed his story, which now involved one of the horses as well. When Sally rolled back over onto her back her eyes finally began to move around under the lids and cracked open just a bit. Alex immediately started talking to her.

"Hey there, Sally girl," Alex cooed. "Just take it easy. You've been asleep for a couple days, so give yourself some time to wake up," she told her quietly. Sally rolled towards Alex's voice, smiling with her eyes closed. Her lip had healed considerably in the two days that she'd been there recovering. Doc Hobbs had been putting the horse salve on it, and between that and not moving it, the body had a chance to heal itself some.

"Alex…" Sally hoarsely whispered.

"Shh…I'm right here, Sal. Just take it easy, we aren't going anywhere," Alex said quietly.

"Wh… why did…" Sally was trying to say something but her throat was dry and she began coughing. Zach got up without being asked and went to get the doctor.

"Hush now girl," Jake said. "Doctor said ya gotta take it easy, don't try ta talk jus' yet."

Sally's smile got bigger. "Jake…" she whispered.

Zach returned with Dr. Benson and Nurse Cindy. Cindy brought a plastic cup with a straw in it and some small ice chunks. The doctor gave Sally a precursory look, but didn't linger long. He pulled Jake to the side to explain.

"She's still not quite awake yet. Seems to be okay, but I don't want to give her a full examination until she's had a chance to wake up some more. If she can sip out of the straw you can let her, or if not, you can give her some ice chunks, once she's more alert. We'll be close if you need anything," Dr. Benson said.

Jake nodded and returned to Sally's bedside.