Hi everyone, so as some of you who have been following me for a long time know, when Lent comes I usually give up fanfiction for the 40 days. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten season so you won't see an update until Easter. I'm so sorry about this, I feel bad especially since the data loss and recovery back in the fall already set my posting schedule back. Overall, I'm just glad to have my data but at the same time a big part of me wants to be able to share the rest of this story with you sooner. (there's also that annoying little voice that is telling me I don't get many reviews on this story so none of you really care that much but I try to not listen to that voice - maybe it's Murphy's voice, I can now sympathize with season 3 10K) Anyway, it will be a while before you see a post from me but hopefully the time passes quickly. Happy Valentine's Day too!
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S7E01:
Bailey was tossing and turning in bed trying to find a comfortable position with her large belly. She was just in the fifth month of her pregnancy and was now starting to feel the baby move. It was one of her favorite parts of pregnancy, except at night when she was trying to sleep. She huffed as she fell back against her pillow and brushed her bangs out of her face and tucked them behind her ears. The rest of her hair was in two braids that ran down the sides of her head. They ended at her collarbone now, since she'd cut her hair about a month ago taking at least three inches off. From her past experience with TJ she knew how much babies liked to grab and pull hair and with a toddler and an infant in her future she figured she do herself a favor and chop it now. Tommy had liked the new length, and he would run his hand through it when they were lying in bed or he'd play with the shorter ends.
"Can't get comfortable?" Tommy's groggy voice asked from beside her, half his face buried in his pillow. She hadn't realized she'd woken him up and tried to shimmy so she was still on her back but now propped up on a pillow.
"Baby can't get comfortable." She said miserably, "I swear he or she must be practicing somersaults in there."
10K moved, shifting so he was further down the bed as he rested on his right forearm and brought his left hand to rub over her stomach.
"Hey Little K." he whispered against the bump using the nickname they'd chosen for all their babies until they were born. "Don't keep Momma awake all night. It's a big apocalypse out there and she needs her rest to be at her best for us okay? Try to settle down for her."
He rubbed her stomach for about five minutes longer as the baby calmed down, liking the soothing touch. Every now and then Tommy would hum a little which helped not only put the baby to sleep but Bailey too as she nodded off and her head hit the pillow.
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"Hello all." Came CZ's voice over the radio in their apartment, "It is currently 9:15 am on the third day of the sixth month in the year 11 A.Z. The weather is 77 degrees, expecting some cloud coverage later in the day but sunshine in the week ahead. To my fellow Newmerican citizens, good morning. To those outside of our post-apocalyptic country good morning to you as well. We are broadcasting on all frequencies, some nobody knows about. As always, if you have any way to communicate, any way at all, you've got short wave, long wave, dark wave, broadband, xband, two coffee cups and a string, even smoke signals! I will hear it from lovely Altura here in Newmerica. And as always, Newmerica is glad to serve as your beacon of hope in this world that is slowly rising from the ashes. If you need help please, seek us out. If you need help getting here send a signal and we will do our best to reach you. Now we have a few announcements today. All supply trucks are on schedule. Farming production is up. The TreeDwellers Outpost had a minor lumberjack incident putting three men out of work, though no one was seriously injured. They are looking for any able bodied man or woman who would be interested in helping them out in the meantime to please contact them by radio correspondence. The Islanders are looking for volunteers to start a new. . . "
Bailey then tuned out as she worked on breakfast. 10K and TJ had already eaten and Tommy was going to drop him off at school on his way to the gate for his shift that day. Bailey still worked at the supply and storage building but they'd told her she could start coming in a little later, to give her some peace in the morning, especially since she was starting to get that little waddle in her walk, though thankfully she wasn't looking like a penguin just yet. Her pregnancy wasn't the only thing that had been going on either. In the past few months Warren had decided to go away to spend some time with Cooper on his farm. George had not only approved her leave of absence but had encouraged it, telling Warren everyone needed a break from the apocalypse in one way or another. And she wasn't the only one who had gone on a well deserved vacation, Doc had also left to visit Kuruk at the Waterkeeper's Outpost; now that a few years had passed and many of his patients had a good grip on managing their PTSD and anxiety it allowed Doc to have a bit more free time again. Red was still their head doctor and sometimes Doc would step in and give her a hand if she needed it but she'd taken to her duties in the medical field very well and was constantly asking for more medical books from Pacifica to read so she could learn more.
Addy was also back at Heartland with Finn, though now that the weather was nice again she'd been spending as much time as she could 'exploring the world and doing good deeds – while killing shit with the Z Whacker'. She always made sure to let Citizen Z and Kaya know what she was up to so they could keep the others in the loop on her whereabouts. Murphy was, well, Murphy. He seemed to be enjoying life in Limbo, so much that they barely ever heard from him which was fine with Bailey. She didn't want Alvin Murphy anywhere near her children and 10K shared that opinion.
As she finished making her breakfast she felt the baby move around in her belly finding a more comfortable position as he or she was jostled around by Bailey's movement. She smiled to herself and brought one hand to rub her growing bump as she ate quietly enjoying how peaceful life had become for her little family.
Murphy POV
"Yeh didn't have the oven cranked high enough!"
"I sure did Bruddur. You just too dumb to read the numbers!"
He listened to Ma's boys arguing in the other room which they'd converted into a bizkit factory in the basement of Limbo. Murphy sighed and rested his elbow on the bar putting his head in his hand. Business was booming as always, customers came flooding in daily looking for an escape from the dull apocalypse, Talkers came for the bizkits and he was raking in the bullets and other supplies for a profit. But there was still one thing on his mind. . well not his mind, but Dr. Sun's mind. He had her brain locked up tight in a freezer and in a safe next to it was all the notes he'd taken after that first bite. He'd only nibbled on it a handful of times since then mainly because there was still a few very obvious problems.
Number one, Sun Mei's brain was the only successful sample of the vaccine left in the world. He couldn't just eat it all which also meant he couldn't learn all the information he needed to replicate it. On top of that he wasn't a doctor, he barely understood all the scientific-mumbo-jumbo-talk most of Sun's notes were written in. It was like asking a high school science class to find a cure for cancer.
Number two, he had no idea what gene he was meant to replicate in the first place. Sun Mei had even said herself that his blood kept evolving, it kept changing and three years later he still had no idea how to even begin to find the protein she'd used in her sample that had been such a success. Every blood draw he'd done on himself in the past three years had been different then the last and putting each one under a microscope and examining each cell and it's individual structure was no easy task.
Number three, he was doing his best to keep all his study under wraps. The truck of stolen goods he'd been forced to abandon in the snow three years ago had been retrieved shortly after that ruckus with those AWOL soldiers. Thankfully everything had still been inside and after having his blends make repairs he'd gotten the truck parked safely behind Limbo. He'd brought in only the essential lab equipment and set it up in his private quarters. But everything else was still in the boxtruck, which he'd converted into a secret office type space. Like he said he barely understood the notes and files he'd stolen and he was also scared that if he brought everything into Limbo Warren or one of the others might show up and realize he'd stolen from Red.
Now of course over the past three years he had gotten the occasional inquiry "How's the cure coming Murphy?" "Have you figured out Sun Mei's cure yet?" but it was more difficult than all that and as long as the others believed things were progressing slowly he had an excuse to be left alone.
There were some silver linings though, for one he still remembered a lot of what he'd picked up from eating Dr. Merch's brain. But the fact that he didn't have all those notes from Spokane left him twitchy. He didn't want to try anything if there was a chance he'd get it wrong. And with so little vaccine left in Sun Mei's brain he had to use what he had sparingly.
There was also the fact that this vaccine differed from Dr. Merch's greatly. For instance, once Dr. Merch had been his blend she had been in a position where she clearly knew her vaccine worked and all that she had to do was re-create whatever she'd injected him with. But this time re-creating Sun Mei's cure meant he had to sort through cells that had been affected by Zona's cure, the Black Rain toxin, and who knew what else, floating around in his blood.
He sighed and slammed his hand down on the bar before getting up and making his way to the truck out back. He unlocked the hatch and slid the door up revealing the boxes of files and notes he'd stolen. He rubbed his hand down his face as he looked through each one, lifting some lids before dropping them back down and stopping at one box in particular. He pulled out the top page and read through the first paragraph.
"Adjuvant." He found in the notes. He knew back with Merch's vaccine he'd adjusted the adjuvant to create his blend vaccine, the mix of Dr. Merch's cure and the cocktail Dr. Kurian had brewed back in Mexico. Murphy had no real need of that now, his bites didn't weaken him each time like they had when he was blue, like how they'd weakened Lucy when she'd saved him. Now he could bite whoever he wanted and make endless blends. But he didn't need that either, he didn't need them to get him to the top, or an army to protect him and Lulu. Lucy was gone and he'd talked his way out of his own troubles before. Right now the blends were just good employees who never bothered him or asked for time off. They were reliable and would always keep working hard as long as they thought they were pleasing him. Besides, the Talkers and Blends of Limbo already treated him like a king but there was still something else he'd wanted.
"Laugh it up stump boy, one day this apocalypse is going to make me a rich man." He'd told the kid once, and if he could only re-manufacture the cure Sun Mei had discovered he'd be able to sell it on the black market for who knew how much! Sure Limbo did well, but he wanted more.
"Adjuvant." He read again, "It's all about the adjuvant." If only he had a starting point, a drop of the original – then it hit him like a slideshow of Z-weed flashbacks. Merch's booster shots, Sun Mei's first attempt at a cure, there was one person walking around the apocalypse who had that in their blood, one who didn't have all the Zona and Black Rain crap mixed in tainting it. He slapped the file folder of papers down and left the truck locking it back up again.
He was going to Altura.
10K POV
"Why was the bullet unemployed? He was fired." There were a bunch of groans from the rest of them as Luke laughed at his own joke. Guard duty wasn't as serious as it used to be, after three years of very little in the way of threats it was more of a precaution then the necessity it used to be. 10K didn't mind, it gave him time to hang out with the guys and add to his kill count. Although with so few Z's he hadn't gotten very far in the past three years. He was at 9,108 but if his slow count meant his home was safe, he'd make the sacrifice.
"What is a parrot's favorite food? Squawk -a- mole."
"Don't quit your day job Luke." Dave, the guy in charge of guard duty, said. He and 10K used to be co-supervisors but after Bailey had TJ 10K had let Dave take the full job as leader of the guard. That allowed 10K to have less work responsibility, leaving more time for his family.
"I'm just glad he's a better shot then he is a comedian." 10K added getting a chuckle out of the rest of the guys. He looked down as they leaned on the few feet of wall in front of them, it stuck up a good five and a half feet above the platform they were standing on giving them enough coverage but also enough to see far out in case of incoming trouble.
"So 10K." Dave called to him from down the wall a bit, "You and Bailey ready for the new baby?"
He chuckled and shook his head, "Not at all. Thank God her due date is still four months away."
"Well you've got practice from TJ, so it can't be as scary as last time." Luke said.
"Well yeah, for that stuff, but. . . I dunno, having a new baby in the house and a toddler is going to be a lot."
"Well if you can kill nine thousand Z's I think you can handle a couple kids." Dave replied, having a couple teenagers of his own and knowing what it was like.
"Yeah. And TJ's really excited to help out. I think we'll be alright."
"Incoming." Luke said and they turned seeing a supply truck heading their way. The driver waved out the window at them but he had collected a few Z's trailing his vehicle.
"Open the gate!" Dave shouted to the guards below their platform, "10K you got this?"
"Yep." He said bringing his scope to his eye, anchoring the barrel with his antler, then he paused. Three more years of the apocalypse had now put Altura and most of Newmerica in an ammo shortage. Luckily, they didn't get too many Z's this far north but bullets were now only to be used in emergency situations. Instead, he lowered his gun and took out a rubber band and a gear, quickly turning his antler into a slingshot and letting the sharp metal fly. "9,109. . .9,110. . . 9,111. . . 9,112."
Wow four Z's in one day, after the calm three years they'd had that was a record. But hey, it beat the Zunami's they used to put up with.
Bailey POV
With an hour left to her shift Bailey excused herself to go pick up TJ from school before she returned. TJ loved visiting where she worked, all the other women always gave him plenty of attention telling him how big he'd gotten and letting him show off the pictures he'd made or the ones he'd colored in his coloring book. Addy would be proud, TJ seemed to be taking after her in the art department. Bailey gave a short laugh as she fixed the clip in her hair holding her bun together before going back to her clipboard and taking the last of the inventory. When she was done she began filling out a form for her and Tommy, they'd need to stock up on things at their apartment and she was already at the supply building so she might as well get their stuff now. She filled in the number of hours work they'd be spending and made a list of what they needed.
"Can I do it Momma? Can I?" TJ asked when he saw her head for the supply shelves and the bins of food and miscellaneous things.
"Sure TJ." She said looking at the list, "We're getting carrots, celery, and potatoes."
TJ grabbed a brown bag and opened it leaving it on the floor before he began weaving through the aisles looking for what she'd listed. The other workers all watched him over their shoulders as they filled boxes with folded blankets and clothing. They smiled as TJ came back with his arms piled high with the veggies. He put them into the brown paper bag and Bailey listed some more supplies.
"What about this one?" TJ asked stopping at the plastic bin full of bags of flour, cans of sugar and other baking ingredients.
"TJ we can't bring home sweets every time. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else." She scolded him gently as a sad little frown took over his face and he reluctantly pushed the bin back into place on the shelf and moved on to some apples she'd told him to grab.
"Can we get peanut budder for the apples?" he asked placing the fruit into the bag.
"Yes we can get peanut butter." She said and his face lit up again as he rushed around to the isle where they kept the peanut butter.
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Bailey carried the brown paper bag by its handles as TJ walked beside her while they made their way home after she'd finished work. When they got to the lawn in front of the apartment building she saw 10K was approaching from the other direction, finished with his work for the day too.
"Papa! Papa!" TJ shouted before running over to him and Bailey felt her heart get all warm and fuzzy again watching Tommy's smile as he bent down and scooped up his son, resting him on his right arm as he held him steady with his left hand.
"Papa, I did a supply run!" TJ said excitedly and Tommy looked at him with a bit of shock.
"You did?" he asked putting TJ down as Bailey caught up with them and he kissed her hello as TJ moved to the bag in her hand.
"I got apples, and carrots, and honey. . . " he went on as Tommy took her free hand and they continued home.
"He did all the shopping today for me." Bailey said when TJ was finished and 10K seemed to understand that was what TJ had meant by 'supply run' but if calling it that made him feel like a big boy they weren't going to burst his bubble.
"Wow TJ you did all that work?" Tommy asked and TJ looked up at his Papa with a smile clearly proud of himself for impressing his father.
"Mm-hmm and Miss Annie was there and she liked the picture I made in school so I let her have it to put on her wall." Annie was another one of the workers at the supply building and one of TJ's favorite people, she used a lot of the molasses they got shipped in to make her own candy and always snuck TJ a few pieces.
Then 10K's radio on his belt went off as Dave's voice carried over the frequency. "All guards lock down stations. Available men needed at all posts. We have an escaped prisoner. Repeat, Roman Estes has escaped."
Tommy let go of her hand and was off like lightning, "Get him home!" he called back to her before he turned and ran faster for the nearest guard post taking out his hand gun from his belt. Bailey grabbed TJ's arm and rested her other hand on her stomach so it wouldn't move too much as she ran in the other direction across the lawn, taking him back to their apartment where she could get her gun and lock them in.
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I cannot tell you guys how difficult it was writing the Murphy/vaccine plot. There are so many factors that it gave me more then one headache as I edited it again and again and again. If any of it still didn't make sense leave any questions in the comments and I'll try to do my best to clear things up in the next post. Also, any predictions on what Murphy's going to be up to this season? Or Estes?