Chapter 29 – Clouds of Change

"I just don't understand how this could be possible," Rosalie said when we told her what happened. "He was cured. He should still have the cure in his blood."

"Unless," I said, but then hesitated because I didn't even want to think about the horrific flash of a thought I had.

"Bella, what is it?" Edward pressed, knowing me far too well to just let it go.

I sighed. "What if… what if the virus mutated again? It could be an entirely new strain that none of us are immune to."

"Which would mean we are all in even more danger than we realized," Rose concluded based on my theory.

"Well, you were the original cure, right?" Emmett said to Edward. "I mean, it was already in you without you ever being infected, so maybe you're still immune to this new strain. We could just have Seth bite you, and maybe he will be okay."

"But what if he's not?" Rose countered. "It is possible that he was just immune to the first strain for whatever reason. If Seth bites him and he isn't immune, we will have lost them both, and I'm sorry, but Charlotte needs her dad."

My stomach twisted from the thought, and I reflexively grabbed onto Edward's arm to hold him tightly. The excruciating memory of thinking I lost him forever crept back into my mind, and I didn't think I could survive going through that again. "We can't take that risk," I said slowly.

"So, we just cut our losses?" Edward asked incredulously, clearly having a hard time with that option. "How can we just do nothing to help Seth? And those dogs literally saved our lives multiple times by warning us when the infected are nearby."

"It's horrible, but none of us are any different than the rest of the world," Rose said gently. "We have been lucky so far; Seth's luck just ran out."

"And what happens when your luck runs out?" Edward challenged her. "Or Emmett's? Are you prepared to just let your lover go when we could possibly bring him back?"

"There has to be a safer way to help them," I said, desperately hoping to avoid putting my husband at that level of risk.

"What if we cover a bullet with Edward's blood, and just shoot them?" Emmett suggested.

"If his blood does cure them, they could still die from their wound," Rose disagreed. "I'm not a surgeon. Removing a bullet can be seriously risky, especially in this environment."

We discussed strategies for a while longer but couldn't come up with a viable solution. However, as the sun began to set, we realized just how much danger we would soon be in from not figuring something out.

"This house is fortified. We will be okay," Edward said as we all huddled in the living room and awaited the inevitable attack from Seth. What we neglected to anticipate was the blood curdling scream he let out just before he began pounding on the walls.

"He's going to attract more zombies here," Rose said shakily.

"Mamma, Unckie Sef outside?" Charlotte asked as the pounding became louder and woke her up.

"Yeah baby, he isn't feeling well right now," I said as calmly as possible before choking on my own emotions.

"I want Unckie Sef!" she cried, and I knew exactly why. For her entire two years of life, anytime there was danger, he was the one who took her so Edward and I could have our hands free to use our guns. She felt safe with him and couldn't possibly comprehend that he was now the source of our danger.

"I know, baby," I cooed as I tried to comfort her.

When Seth screamed that zombified scream again, Emmett cocked his gun. "If we take him out now, others might not have heard him yet," he said while looking at Edward. "Your call."

Edward glanced out through the cracks in the boarded up window, and then he shook his head. "We only shoot him if he gets in."

It was a long, horrible night as we were forced to listen to Seth banging on just about every inch of the house, including the roof. The walls shook, and parts of the drywall crumbled, but when the sun rose above the horizon, the house remained strong and Seth assumedly retreated back to the dark barn.

"We can't do this every night," Rose said as we walked through the bright yard to peer into the barn at a safe distance. "Eventually, he will get into the house or he will find some friends and they will help him get in."

"We could try to lock him up somehow," Emmett said as we considered our options.

"But, if he is going to starve to death, maybe it's kinder to just… end his suffering," Rose wondered out loud.

Edward noticeably locked his jaw as he considered it, and then he looked over to me. "I don't know what to do," he admitted.

"We don't have to decide just yet," I told him supportively.

We all agreed to just wait for a bit longer to make a decision, but as we were sitting down to eat some lunch, the shadow at Charlotte's feet seemed to disappear. I looked up and immediately scooped her in my arms as I noticed the clouds rolling in.

"You're better with a gun," Rose looked at me and said. I nodded once, and then handed my baby to her.

"We can't wait any longer," Emmett told Edward, so Edward reluctantly agreed to do what was necessary.

Rose took Charlotte inside, and the rest of us turned our full attention to the barn and waited. Seth emerged slowly, and I had to turn off my emotions after seeing his face completely distorted from the virus. The two dogs followed him, and even a few nasty looking cats emerged from the darkness. They all moved slowly, not out of necessity, but out of caution. They showed unexpected intelligence by looking up at the sky and creeping forward when they determined it to be safe for them.

"Edward?" Emmett called to him when we all hesitated our firing. As much as none of us wanted to kill Seth, we knew it was what we had to do. However, with the wind that day, the clouds were constantly moving, and the sun peeked back through, forcing Seth and the animals to retreat.

"He is going to come back out when the clouds cover the sun again," Emmett warned. "We just need to suck it up and take the shot."

From his words, an old memory flashed before my eyes. My dad telling me I needed to "Suck it up and take the shot." At the time I was a twelve-year-old acting like a brat by throwing a fit because I didn't want to take an immunization. I wasn't sure why that memory hit me so hard, but even without truly understanding it, I immediately took off running towards the truck to get Carlisle's vaccines. I had no idea if it would work, but something possessed me to want to try.

I grabbed a vial and shakily filled a couple of syringes; one, of which, I slipped into my back pocket just in case. Just in case of what exactly, I had no idea. However, when I turned around to go back to where Edward was, I stopped dead in my tracks. Sam was there, standing in the shadow of the truck. He was snarling at me with his lip pulled back unnaturally. He looked more like a creature from a horror film than my loyal companion, and it would have broken my heart all over again if I wasn't so damn scared.

"Good boy, Sam," I said slowly, but looking into his eyes I knew he was incapable of understanding or controlling his urge to kill me. I had one hand on my gun and used my other hand to lift the needle up to my mouth to pull the cover off with my teeth.

"Bella!" Edward shouted at me from across the yard. Sam turned to look at him, so I used that distraction to throw the needle into his shoulder.

Sam immediately turned back to snap at me, but I jumped into the sunlight just in time, and then watched amazed as he crashed to the ground and began convulsing.

I could hear Edward and Emmett's footsteps as they came barreling towards me, but I couldn't look up at them. My focus was glued to Sam as he rolled around and whimpered on the ground.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Edward asked in a scared rush as he grabbed me and looked me over for any signs of being bitten.

"Dude," Emmett said, grabbing both Edward's and my attention. We looked down at Sam and were stunned to see him lying there panting for air as if he just ran some huge marathon in the blistering heat.

"Bella, what did you do?" Edward asked with a mix of curiosity and scolding concern.

"I tried one of your dad's vaccines," I told him.

"What? Why? Bella, he could have killed you."

"I didn't realize he had followed me over here," I said defensively. "I thought he went back to the barn with Seth and Wolfe. I had my gun to shoot him, but I just… reacted," I explained, still not exactly sure why or how I actually did it.

When the clouds blew back in front of the sun, we all looked towards the barn and held our breaths.

"Edward, it's working," Emmett said, reverting our attention back to Sam. The poor dog looked exhausted, but he climbed back to his feet and began growling again, except this time it was directed towards Seth, who was once again, creeping out of the barn.

Edward looked at me, and without understanding it either, he grabbed the extra syringe hanging out of my pocket.

"Let me take it to him," Emmett volunteered. "I'm more expendable than you. Charlotte needs her dad."

Edward clearly hated letting someone else take that risk, but for our daughter's sake, he conceded.

With the syringe in hand, Emmett walked towards the barn. As the wind continued to push the clouds around, Seth hissed and growled inhumanely, making Emmett tense as if he was ready to pounce on him.

"Easy now, Em," Edward instructed sternly. It would take more than just mindless brute strength to get that needle into Seth, which was probably another reason why Edward wanted to do it himself. Emmett was a great fighter, but he usually did it instinctually and fueled by adrenaline rather than wits. In this case, he would need both.

"Let him come to you," I added.

Going into the barn could only mean trouble. At the moment, Seth was the only one trying to brave the scattered cloud cover, whereas if Emmett went inside, he could potentially be attacked by the animals as well.

"I got this," Em replied confidently. His focus during the standoff rivaled any old western gunfight duel. "Come on Seth, you little shithead, just let me save you."

When a larger cloud shaded the sun's rays, Emmett and Seth both charged. Their bodies slammed into each other like thunder, and they began wrestling around in a way that made it difficult to see what was happening. Suddenly, my stomach dropped as I saw the unused syringe roll out from under them. The very next instant Emmett was screaming out it defeat as Seth's teeth locked into his shoulder. As Seth appeared to be sucking Emmett's blood, Emmett began convulsing.

I reflexively raised my gun, but before I could take my aim, Edward got in the way by running towards them.

"Edward!" I called in a panic. I ran as well, but he screamed at me to stay back.

I trusted him enough to do as he asked, but those few moments seemed to move in slow motion, and I could almost hear my heart racing as I watched him close in on them.

At full speed, Edward dropped down to the ground and slid towards the fight, grabbing the syringe, and pulling the cap off as he went. His momentum had carried him right into the middle of them, and in seemingly one swift move, he somehow managed to break them apart and jam the needle into Seth's arm.

I was shocked and relieved to see Seth automatically fall over as the vaccine worked its way through his body. Edward and I were both so focused on Seth that we stupidly took our eyes off of Emmett for a second, and that was all it took for him to jump onto Edward's back and sink his teeth into his neck.

"Edward!" I screamed in horror. I grabbed vials and two more syringes from the box and filled them as I raced towards him.

"It's okay," Edward said after he managed to throw Emmett off him. He grabbed his neck to stop the bleeding, but even without the immunization, Emmett dropped back to the ground and began convulsing once again.

I grabbed onto Edward's arm and reached up to his face. Other than being bitten, Edward was still completely unaffected by the virus, and apparently, still able to pass his immunity onto others.

With another cloud passing overhead, Wolfe came charging out at us, and thankfully, Sam was healed enough to ward off his attack and spread his immunity to his son as he did so.

Just as quickly as they were all infected, they were now all cured and rapidly on their way to making a full recovery.

"Did I get him?" Emmett asked groggily as he began to come to.

Edward chuckled. "Yeah, you got him."

We turned our attention to Seth, and he was even more confused. "Don't kill my dog!" he said before breaking down and sobbing harder than I had ever seen him cry before. "He's my best friend, please don't shoot him."

Edward helped him up and patted his shoulder. "It's okay, kid. We got him back."

"Really? He's okay? My blood saved him, right?" Seth asked hopefully as he looked around. As if on cue, Wolfe practically jumped in his lap and began licking his face. "Oh boy, there you are! I knew you would never turn on me. You're such a good boy!"

Edward and I both just looked at each other, and then he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly. We got lucky again. That could have ended so much worse for everyone, and we could only be grateful for the outcome we had.

"Don't ever do something like that again," he mumbled in my ear.

"Me?" I asked playfully as I pulled back and looked him in the face. "You're the one that jumped into a fight between two zombies."

"But I'm immune," he argued with a smirk.

"You didn't know if you would be immune to this new strain, or whatever the hell caused them to be infected again."

"Yeah, but I figured I probably was."

"And I figured I was safe enough with the sun out to get those immunizations. It was worth a shot."

"Sam could have killed you," he said, becoming serious. "Just like that, Charlotte could have lost her mother."

"I didn't think he followed me. I thought he went back to the barn. Besides, the important thing is that your dad's concoctions did work. Those are the same injections I would get every six months. Chances are, because of that, I'm probably immune too. That's probably why you are immune."

"I never got any injections from him," he argued.

"Not that you were aware of. He must have got it into you a different way."

"Oh man, how did you get hurt?" Emmett interrupted us, assumedly after seeing the blood dripping from Edward's neck.

I hadn't noticed the blood until he mentioned it, but now that I had, it did look pretty bad. So, I reached up to his wound and tried to stop the bleeding.

"It looks like you might need stitches," I said to Edward apologetically, making him groan. It wasn't the first time he had an injury that required stitches, and he was already dreading the idea of getting them again. He certainly wasn't kidding when he said he hated needles.

"Did the dog bite you?" Emmett asked him concerned.

"No, you did, but it's fine. I won't hold it against you," Edward said casually before taking my hand and leading me back to the house so Rose could stitch him up.

Rosalie was absolutely horrified when we explained everything that happened, but after stitching up all of the guys' injuries, she rewarded Emmett's near-death experience with a little alone time. Seth, on the other hand, was still understandably in shock.

"Did I really drink Emmett's blood?" he asked full of disgust.

Charlotte must have heard his voice because she woke up from her nap with a big smile on her face and cheered seeing her "Unckie Sef."

"Aww, did I scare you, baby girl?" he asked her before scooping her up in his arms.

"Yeah, well you did try to kill us all last night," Edward whispered teasingly into his ear so Charlotte couldn't hear.

"Damn, being a zombie sucks," Seth grumbled, but he quickly got over it so he could play with Charlotte.

Something made Edward look out the front door, and then he huffed. "Now what is he doing?"

Seth, Charlotte, and I followed Edward outside, and we were all pretty surprised to see Wolfe running in and out of the barn, each time bringing a new zombie cat with him. He must have been biting them just enough, because each one would convulse and after lying down for a bit, they would get up and scamper around in the sunlight.

"Well, I guess that's helpful," I said impressed.

"Good boy, Wolfe!" Seth encouraged him. When Wolfe seemed content with his cat wrangling, he came trotting back to Seth and looked so proud of himself. "That's right. You're such a good little healer, aren't you? Yes, you are!" Seth cooed while roughing his scruff.

With the virus basically eliminated from the property, we were comfortable enough to stay there for a while, but Edward couldn't get those events out of his mind.

"But how did my father's old vaccines cure them? It's all so strange."

"Your blood cured them again too," I added, knowing there had to be a connection between the two.

"But why did they need to be cured for a second time?" Edward retorted with frustration. "It's all so maddening, especially because I don't think we will ever get the answers."

"Too bad we didn't spend more time in your father's lab before we left Forks," I told him. "Maybe he had some documents in there that could explain all of this."

A few more days passed, but we had yet to decide on what our next move would be. The virus was obliterated from the property, Charlotte had a bunch of new friends in the form of cats, and the house was fairly secure and ready for long term survival. It was a good place to hunker down and stay a while, but then Edward said something to me that I never would have predicted.

"I think we should go back to Forks."

"Seriously? Why?" I asked in shock.

"There are only a few more of those little vials left, and what if the virus mutates again, or their cure wears off, or whatever the hell happened to cause them to be infected again. What if you or Charlotte need it?"

"I really think I'm immune too. Carlisle gave me those immunizations every six months…"

"Every six months," he repeated. "You haven't gotten one in years. They could wear off over time for all we know. What if there are more unique strains of this virus out there and my blood doesn't work next time someone gets bit? What if my father's lab has the key to making more of whatever the hell his vaccine is? I don't know, I just think we need to go and see if we can figure some of this out."

"It could be really dangerous going there. It's cloudy more than it's sunny," I reminded him, not that he could forget.

"I know, but this nagging feeling I'm having is too strong. I've been obsessing about it and I need answers. I would say that I should go alone to keep Char safe, but every time we've separated it's ended badly."

"We aren't separating," I said unwaveringly.

"But you're right, it is a risk, and I don't feel right about asking the others to come with us."

"So, we leave that decision up to them," I told him.

He nodded in agreement. Of course, we both knew they would agree to come. They were all so loyal to Edward that they would follow him to the ends of the world if that's where he was planning to lead them – which, in a way, he was. Forks would definitely be our most dangerous trip yet, and the fact we were bringing our two-year-old daughter with us could possibly be the worst mistake of our lives. However, if anyone could get us through it alive, it was Edward…