CHAPTER TEN -- ZOMBIE ROAD

The survivors were travelling down the road but they weren't flirting with disaster. Melody was heavily pregnant and was screaming in the back seat, seeing as how she was currently into the ending stages of labor. Cora and Allie were holding her down while Melody's sister-in-law Edna was doing the actual delivering part.

"She's coming," Edna soothed. "Laurie Jean is coming, Melody." Melody had been pregnant since before the outbreak, so they already knew the baby was a girl. "She'll be fine, honey."

"Holy shit," Cora screamed, as she looked down between Melody's thighs and saw all the blood and . . . stuff pouring out, and then the baby's head. This was going to happen with her body, too. "Holy shit," Cora repeated. Melody was huffing and puffing, her face beet-red. It was bad enough she was having to give birth in these stressful, cramped conditions at all. But the fact she was doing it without drugs or anything? Daaaamn . . . She was taking the pain, overtime.

Her cries of pain proved that.She stared at Mike angrily, where he sat in the front seat of the Humvee. "You asshole, you fucking asshole!!" Her eyes were wild and she looked like she was about ready to kill her husband if Cora and Allie weren't holding her down. "You put this fucking thing in me, you asshole!! Just so you could have your kicks, motherfucker!"

Mike didn't look surprised. He'd seen a lot of movies, apparently. "It's gonna be okay, babe. Just calm down, you'll feel better after the baby gets out, o--" He was interrupted by Melody lunching forward and socking him hard in the face. He sat back, his eye already beginning to swell slightly.

"Damn," muttered Roger, who was driving in place of Aaron while the other man took a break in between Mike and Roger on the front seat.

"Get off me," Melody screeched. "Get the fuck off me, bitches!"

"Wait," Edna said quietly, and everyone stopped breathlessly, even Melody. She pulled out a blood-covered bundle. The sound of the baby wailing was the most relieving sound any of them had ever heard. "It's alive. All ten fingers, all ten toes. Great. Welcome to this zombie-infested world, Laurie Jean McCoy."

--

"Watch her head, and you can hold her."Allie silently accepted the baby from Melody, cradling her carefully in her arms. They had pulled over on the side of the road for the occasion and Aaron and Roger, the strongest men of the group, were standing aiming their rifles around protectively while the others fawned over Laurie. Allie gave a weak smile, the first show of emotion she'd shown since being threatened by Richy Rich.

"You did without an epidural or whatever, girl," Edna was saying, hugging Melody tightly. "You are so awesome."

Cora was standing to the side, as quietly as possible, holding her hand on her stomach. She wasn't showing yet, but she had missed her period and she was feeling queasy a lot. She must be pregnant, right? But she was thinking -- did she really want to go through all that pain that Melody had just gone through? Roger interrupted all the thinking and cooing over the baby by sternly speaking up.

"We better get a move on. Mike, your turn to drive. We're running low on ammo. Let's try to conserve it, people." He had naturally assumed the role of complete leader and no one had opposed him. Roger rocked, pretty much. Melody took Laurie back from Allie and turned to head back inside the Humvee, but then her face went wierd and she hurriedly handed the baby to Edna, with the explanation, "I think I'm gonna puke," and ran off to the other side of the vehicle, just in time to explosively vomit all over the weeds.

Mike looked worried about his wife. He turned to Roger. "I think we should just sit tight right here man. Just for a little bit."

The other man shook his head stubbornly. "It's not possible. We can't just fucking camp out here in the middle of nowhere. We've gotta get to a really small fucking town, load up on supplies and find a new place to stay."

Mike grinned. "Why not? Camping is a legitimate strategy."

But in the end, they got back in the Humvee and went.It wasn't much better than the prison, but the road was more free.