Chapter 50 "Community"
Day 150; Group A&B
A chair sat in a totally white room, facing away from the door. A desk sat between the chair and the door, with counters lining the walls of the room, a sterile gray color. There were no windows, and only two doors. One that led out to a hall of the registration building, and one that led to a bathroom.
The bathroom door opened up and a woman with curly blonde hair walked out holding a dull blue hospital gown. "Thank you, Harlan," she said, throwing the gown into a hamper in the corner of the room.
The chair flipped around, revealing the handsome face of Doctor Carson. In his lap was a notebook with his appointments listed. "Of course, Lyssa," he said warmly. "Keep doing those wrist stretches I taught you."
The blonde smiled, nodded, and exited the room. The doctor looked down to his notebook and scratched out the woman's name. Four names were crossed out, and three remained.
He stood up and opened the door wide open. "Olga Kozlov," he called.
The Russian woman stood, smiling happily to the doctor.
Harlan gave her a fresh robe and showed her to the bathroom. She came out a few moments later and sat in the long, white chair designated for patients.
"So, how are you feeling today?" Harlan asked as he rose and grabbed his clipboard.
"I'm fine, I guess. I just wanted you to check up on the baby."
"Again?" the doctor asked, giving her an inquisitive look. "You came in here just three days ago. I don't think much has changed."
"I know," Olga shrugged. "But I just want to make sure."
"Are they making you do this?"
Olga lifted a brow, not much appreciating his tone. "No," she said calmly, "the fathers aren't making me do this. They would have the right to ask me to if they wanted, though."
"You know, it's not exactly they're baby, right?"
"It is their baby."
"Well, you didn't sign a contract, did you? Didn't fly this by Jim for legalization?"
"No," Olga spat, quickly getting irritated. Thunder roared outside, alerting them that a storm was brewing.
"Well, then, if you wanted, this could be your baby. I mean, you hardly know them. It's not like they asked you because you're all such good friends."
Olga looked to the side, seeing the doctor's point, but she held her ground. "Doctor, I know what it's like to be out there. Every second, you don't know what's going to happen. People could die at any moment. I'm doing this for them because here, you don't have to worry about that. I've always wanted a child, but you know as well as I do that I couldn't raise the baby as well as I want to. Those two, I've seen them. We're closer than you think. They're ready for a baby. The world moves a lot faster now."
Doctor Carson couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You may think so, but as you just admitted, you're not the most mentally strong of all the residents here. You're overlooking so many things. Firstly, it's two men. Not even men, they're both just nineteen! Nineteen! And you barely know them. And lastly, the world we live in isn't fit for babies. Like you said, anything could happen out there. What if this community fell apart? What if a herd came through and overtook us all, and that baby was out there? It would get everyone killed, then die a horrible death on its own. Probably starve to death if it isn't devoured by walkers or murdered by heartless bastards."
"Like I said," Olga retorted, "you don't know them like I do. They're smart; they're strong; they're loving. They understand the world. Robert specifically knows what it takes to survive; how cold you have to be to succeed. He's learned more than any of the other people in his group that I've talked to. The closest ones I can think of who get it are Shawn and Selenis. Granted, I haven't talked to them much, but my point still stands. This baby will make it. I'm done arguing this point. It's my body, and it's my decision. I want to have this baby for them. Now give me my check up and don't say another word to me about this, or I'm getting Jim involved."
The doctor stared at her bewildered, but kept his mouth shut. He sighed, turned back to his desk for his supplies, and prepared to do his job. She couldn't resist smiling contently as Harlan was facing away from her, pleased that she left the man speechless.
Roger walked in through the large gate of the community as rain poured down heavily, leading his crew back into safety. Boyd and Kevin sat by in cheap plastic chairs on the wall with an umbrella and a thick coat on as Malcolm held his umbrella over Allan, who was working on opening the gates. When the scavenging crew was mostly in, Allan worked the wall back to a close and nodded to Malcolm. The ponytailed man gave an extra umbrella to Kevin as he and Allan went back to their seats. Kevin then rose and began to climb down the ladder.
"Roger, Caleb," Kevin greeted the scavengers' leader and his right-hand man, a heavy man with thick stubble and a beady green eyes. Though they were dry under the wall's platform, Kevin still had to speak loudly over the downpour, "As requested, we're now informing y'all o' new members. Yesterday, shortly after ya left, a group of five joined the community. The leader's name's Mark, and he and one of his members named Karen'll be joining you on your next run."
"Are you kidding me?" Caleb asked with a tinge of genuine anger in his voice.
"No, I am not. Jim's approved them, and they think they're best suited to go scavenging and hunting with you. It's not that big a deal, is it?"
"Kinda," Caleb said rudely, wiping the rain off his face.
"I don't see how, other than them being new. Ken worked out fine, didn't he? Shawn, and Seth, and Robert, and Greyson?"
"Yeah," Roger agreed, looking to Caleb, "they did. And I'm sure these two will, too."
"If not," Caleb warned, "I call dibs on handling it."
"Of course," Roger rolled his eyes. "Consequentially, if they don't work out, it's on your head."
Shawn looked to Seth and they shared a chuckle. Caleb took things like this way too seriously, and it would be hilarious to see him get put in his place.
Patricia stood in the kitchen, watching the rain hitting against the windows as she washed dishes. Selenis walked down the stairs and noticed the older woman. "Robert's probably so happy right now," she said with a smile.
"Of course he is," Patricia said with a laugh. "Poor Greyson," she joked.
Selenis chuckled. "That poor baby," she attempted to joke, but instead reminded the two of how awful the world is for a child. She bit her lip and looked to the rain as Patricia stared back down at the dishes. After a few slightly uncomfortable minutes, Selenis changed the subject. "So what's with you and Mike?"
The blonde attempted to force her smile down, but clearly failed. The younger woman beside her gave her a nudge, forcing a laugh and "I don't know!" out of the elder.
"Yeah you do! You brought him back here the first day you two met, of course you got somethin' going on, right?"
"He walked me home and kissed me on the cheek; it's not like I slept with him."
"Well, you sure were over at his house for a long time the other day."
"I was helping him with his girls," Patricia said defensively.
Selenis hummed in disbelief. "Sure."
"Well," the elder gave her, "it's not like I haven't tried."
"I knew it!" the Latina laughed in victory.
"Alright, alright," Patricia laughed.
After their laughter died down a bit, she tried to keep the conversation going. "So what do you mean you've tried?"
"You know," the blonde shrugged with a smile, "when the kids are at school, I sometimes try and make things a bit...romantic."
"Uh-huh," Selenis laughed suggestively.
"But when things get a bit too intimate, he just kinda...lets go. He stops, coming up with an excuse or some pity story, like he's still grieving his wife. It could be that, but...I can't help think I did something wrong."
"No, no, no," the Latina reassured her. "He probably really is upset about his wife… Or maybe he's got ED," she joked, getting a laugh out of Patricia.
"Thanks," she snorted. "I needed that. Maybe you're right."
Beth and Malcolm sat in the livingroom of David and Alexandra, the guardians of Mika's friends. It was a beautiful, classical house, painted in bright whites and blues. It was very open, and definitely reminded them of their childhoods. The whole house felt very homely, and was probably the largest one that was not a part of the Governor's Estates section.
"So you two are official now?" Alexandra asked as she brushed her fried blonde hair behind her ear.
"Yup," Malcolm grinned, grabbing Beth's hand and kissing her on the cheek.
"And you both adopted Mika?"
"Well, sorta," Beth shrugged. "I brought it up to Mika, but I didn't want to actually say 'adoption.' I think she got it, though. She calls me 'Momma' now," the blonde smiled and looked to the floor. "We haven't asked her about Malcolm, yet, though."
"I'm sure she'd love to have you as a father," David said as sincerely as he could, though there was clearly a sense of falseness in his tone.
Malcolm picked up on it and smiled. "So, are you two back together now?"
Alexandra bit her lip and looked to her ex, silently scolding him. David opened his mouth to speak, but the middle-aged woman quickly interrupted him. "Not exactly. The romantic aspect of our relationship is virtually dead now," she made a sharp glance to the man beside her, "but we're doing our best to keep it together for the kids. We can't hide it from Tyler and Sophie, but the kids are still mostly oblivious, I hope."
Beth nodded, empathising with the couple. "The last thing those girls need to hear is that their aunt and uncle don't love each other anymore. Especially after losing their mom like that...and the world being the way it is. Sounds like they've had pretty tough lives already. I hope Tyler's able to deal with it, though. For his sisters."
Alexandra and David's tension seemed to vanish as they both looked sad and guilty in contemplation. "He's a strong kid," David stated. "He'll be alright. For his sisters, at least."
"We should go already," Mika whispered from behind the doorway.
Julia and Mia looked to each other sadly and finally listened to Mika's pleads.
"Let's just go back upstairs, okay?" the young blonde asked, attempting to get their mind off of the news they had just overheard. Mia looked up as a tear rolled down her cheek and nodded. She wiped it off and grabbed her younger sister's hand as the three sneaked back upstairs.
