A:N/ Hi folks. Sorry for the wait. I started a new job last week so I didn't have a lot of free time. I hope you like the chapter. Drop me a line!

Chapter 24: Revelation

EDWARD

"How the hell did I ever become the fucking medic of our group?" I growled, wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand as I finished tying off Rose's stitches.

No one said anything in response. I'm sure they could tell I was just at the point of breaking.

My mind was in a turmoil of emotions—worry, shock, confusion, but mostly anger.

As I focused on stitching up the gushing wound of my friend, my teeth were clenched so tight that my whole head ached. I was so fucking angry that it was almost hard to breathe.

I was angry that in the short amount of time that Bella and I'd been seperated that she'd almost gotten herself killed. I was angry that fucking Jasper Whitlock who had screwed me over for the sake of his newly acquired family was the one who'd nearly taken her away. And then to top it all off, I was angry that Alice had the nerve to beg me for help.

I wanted to scream fuck you at the top of my lungs, but another part of me held back. If it were just Jasper, I'd walk away, but Alice's family had fed me and put a roof over my head. They'd taken me in when I was barely keeping it together. I owed her.

"There… you're done," I said to Rosalie as I finished taping the bandages over her wounds. "There's more Advil in the First Aid kit."

Stepping away from the others, I began pacing the room, trying to get a hold of my conflicting thoughts.

"We'll give them food, but that's it," I said finally. "Let them fend for themselves like we've done."

At first no one said anything, but then Rosalie spoke.

"I hate to sound ruthless, but do we really have enough food to spare? We need to think about ourselves in the long run."

I nodded, having had the same thought.

"We have a few survival packs left. There's enough of a variety in them that it would give them strength to look for more food themselves," Bella said. "Neither of them look like they have much life left in them if we don't help them. It's the right thing to do."

I looked at her incredulously, but before I could say anything she continued talking.

"I'm not saying we invite them to join our group. I'm just saying we give them enough that they can keep on fighting on their own."

She'd created packs a long time ago that included nutrient rich food that we could eat if we were on the road and away from our shelter.

It was enough. They didn't deserve anymore than that.

"Fine," I said. "I'll take the food there myself and then we're done with them."

"Like hell you will…" Emmett said, bluntly from where he sat at the fold down kitchen table.

In the cramped space of the RV, Emmett looked like a giant sitting at a kid's table. It would have made me laugh if it weren't for the serious look on his face.

"Not only are there survivors wandering around the city that nearly killed Rose and Bella, but that Jasper guy is a psycho. We're going together. It's safer that way," he continued.

I knew that there was no point in arguing. The rest of them weren't going to let me go alone.

Looking at our map, we saw that Camden Head apartments weren't too far away from where we were now. So, it seemed safer for us to walk because it would draw less attention.

I was worried about Rose, but she said that even with the pain it was safer for us all to be together. So, I wound some stretchy material that I found in the First Aid kit around her ribcage, just to make sure that her bandages stayed in place.

Packing the food in my backpack, I grudgingly told myself that it was the right thing to do.

We ran into a small group of zombies on our way to the apartment building, but we took them down easily. It occurred to me after the fight that a zombie attack seemed like nothing anymore. It was the other survivors that were the biggest threat now.

The apartment building was a five story complex which probably in the old world had been quite beautiful with its tended gardens and washed windows. But now the rose bushes were tangled patches of brambles and there was garbage everywhere. Broken glass littered the sidewalk outside the front entrance from the busted out windows of the first floor apartments.

We circled the complex and saw that in the alleyway on the left hand side, there was a fire escape that zigzagged up the side of the building.

That was probably how Alice and Jasper had made it to the top floor.

I snorted at their stupidity. The top floor was a dumb idea. Survivors should always have multiple escape routes from any place where they've set up camp. No wonder they were barely surviving.

I motioned the others towards the ladder. Jumping up, I grabbed the bottom rung of it, so I could pull it down. Then, hauling out my bowie knife, I carefully crept up the fire escape with the rest of them behind me.

When I reached the top, I tried to look through the window of the emergency exit, but it looked like it was covered in zombie gore. It almost looked like a zombie had exploded in there.

Carefully, I grabbed the handle and stepped to the side so that when I pulled open the door Emmett could kill whatever may be on the other side.

Emmett nodded at me and I mouthed 3, 2, 1 and jerked open the door.

Immediately, a large zombie tumbled out, nearly knocking Emmett backwards with his weight.

"Shit," I swore and yanked my knife up to kill it, but Bella was faster. With her ice pick, she stabbed it in the head with all of her might. Its head made a sickening crunch as her blade pierced its skull and then it fell limply against Emmett who was ready for it this time.

But instead of falling completely on top of Emmett, the zombie stopped mid-fall. I noticed then that there was a rope tied around its neck to keep it from escaping. This was clearly a trap set up by Jasper. It was a clever idea, but we easily dealt with.

Using my knife, I slashed at the rope and shoved the dead man off of Emmett. With the entry way of the fire exit clear, I could see that someone had smeared the door and walls with the gore of several zombie kills. I shook my head in disgust. Jasper had really lost it.

Pulling open the inner door, the four of us crept down the hallway. I'd never thought about the fact that I wouldn't know which apartment they'd be in.

"Alice?" I called out.

Even without speaking too loudly, my voice echoed. Almost immediately the apartments around us awoke with a chorus of moans and growls.

However, I saw one of the doors a few doors down open a crack.

"Edward?" a voice hissed.

"Yeah, it's us," I said, approaching the door.

Cautiously, the door opened and I saw the timid eyes of Alice peeking out.

For a moment, she just stood there with the door mostly closed.

"Open the door, Alice. You were the one that asked for my help. So, here I am," I said, sharply.

I was going to give her food, but that didn't mean I had to be nice about it.

Alice turned away from the door for a moment and I heard her talking to someone who I supposed was Jasper.

"It's Edward… He's here to help. No… no… Sweetheart… We've got to-"

Fed up with the bullshit, I shoved the door open.

"Let's get this over with, Alice," I said, striding into the room.

A snarl erupted from the opposite side of the room and Alice let out a gasp.

I turned towards the sound and glared at Jasper who was standing facing me with death in his eyes.

But even with the dangerous look in his eyes, I could see that he was no match for anyone right now.

His eyes were bleary and he swayed on his feet, like just remaining standing was taking a lot out of him.

They were clearly starving to death.

But in my anger I didn't care.

"Bring it, asshole," I said, with a tight grin. "Just give me a reason."

"Jasper!" Alice gasped, staggering to his side, but nearly falling as she grabbed a hold of him.

Alice tried to to block his view of me, but Jasper stepped to the side of her in order to keep his sights on me.

Emmett stepped to my side and Bella and Rosalie flanked me on the other.

Having had enough, Alice slapped Jasper trying to get his attention.

"Snap out of it!" she cried out, desperately.

It was clear that Alice knew that any chance for help was slipping through her fingers.

At the stinging sensation, Jasper's head snapped down to Alice.

"Alice! What the hell?" he gasped.

"Jasper, you have to calm down. They're here to help us," she exclaimed.

Jasper looked up at me again and this time he didn't look quite as psychotic.

"Edward," he said, tension in every line of his body. "What are you doing here?"

I looked at him in shock.

"Your woman begged me for help. What the hell do you think I'm doing here?"

"I'm happy you're here Edward," Alice said, interrupting the tension between us. "We've both thought about you a lot. We're really sorry about what happened between all of us."

"Oh, do you mean banishing me from your home? A place that I put myself in danger to keep safe and even worked to put food on the table? Is that what you mean?" I snarled. She couldn't just say that to me and expect me to accept it.

Bella put her hand on my arm to soothe me and I forced myself to relax. I didn't come here for this. I came to fulfill a debt.

"Enough. We didn't come here to argue. Edward convinced us to share our meagre supply of food with you," Rose said, coldly. "Let's get this over with."

Bella pulled my backpack off my shoulder and opened it to pull out the survival packs. She'd copied her notes about vitamins and minerals into a little notebook that she was giving to them.

"Here are two survival packs that I've made. Each one includes a good balance of vitamins and minerals. I've also written down a list of things that a person needs to be healthy and the kind of food that includes these things. Without fresh food, it's difficult but it can be done," Bella said, handing the packages and notebook to Alice.

All manners put aside, Alice jerked open a tin of tuna and started to wolf it down.

"Easy now," Emmett said, handing her a bottle of water. "You'll make yourself sick."

But Alice was beyond listening.

We stood in silence for a few minutes; Alice's level of desperation was a sobering sight.

Finally, she sat heavily down in a chair and looked at Bella.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself. It's been so long," she said, tears in her eyes. She then looked at Bella who was standing quietly next to Rosalie. "Thank you so much… Your name's Bella, isn't it?"

A smile graced Alice's face and I saw hope in her eyes.

"That's me," Bella said, but then she didn't say anything more.

I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to say more, but was holding herself in check. Bella was upset about what they'd done to me, but she was remaining quiet about it, probably because she didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

"I don't just mean for the food. I'm thanking you for trying to save me. I didn't think that there were any good people left," Alice said, reaching out and taking Bella's hand.

Bella yanked her hand away from her and stepped back to my side.

"Yeah, right. Lots of thanks she got when psycho over there tried to cut her throat," Rosalie spat.

I looked to Jasper at that moment and I saw a look flicker in his eyes that could have been regret before the coldness returned.

"I was defending Alice. She…" he said, pointing at Bella, "looked like a threat."

"So, kill first and ask questions later, asshole?" Rose snapped.

"Please… please don't fight…" Alice begged, looking around the room until her eyes landed on me with a pleading look.

She looked like a little girl, not only was she small but her thinness made her eyes seem larger, giving her a child-like look. It was hard to stay angry at someone who looked so weak.

"I protect what's mine!" Jasper snarled which caused my eyes to snap to him. He was glaring ferociously at Rosalie.

I really didn't like the look in his eyes.

With three long strides, I was in front of him and slammed him back into the wall. Then before he had the chance to catch his breath, I punched him in the face and then stomach.

Jasper folded at the waist before collapsing to his knees as he tried to take in huge gulps of air.

Crouching down in front of him, I spoke quietly enough that no one else could hear.

"I'll kill you before I let you lay another hand on one of my family," I growled.

"Right back at you. I won't let anyone hurt her," Jasper hissed through clenched teeth.

"So, does that mean killing anyone that comes into her vicinity? Does Bella look like a killer to you?" I hissed, my anger escalating. "Who's like James now?"

Jasper's eyes snapped up to meet mine. There was fury in them at my words, but also another deeper emotion that surprised me. It looked almost like despair.

"I had no other choice." he said too low for the others to hear. "You don't know what it's been like Edward…"

At his words, I nearly hit him again.

"I know exactly what it's been like… At least you had her. I was all alone," I hissed. "You threw me out like trash."

"Out there, people are ruthless… They're evil… They stole from us… They tried to hang me… I had to keep her safe… so I killed… I killed them all…" Jasper said and I saw a hint of madness creeping into his eyes.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, causing him to blink.

"Snap out of it," I said, flatly.

The anger had lessened at his words. It was clear that Jasper and Alice had been through trauma, but so had we all.

"I truly didn't understand what it meant when I made you leave the farm," Jasper finally said.

I could see the sincerity in his eyes, but it didn't change anything.

"That isn't good enough…" I said to him before standing up and looking around the room.

I saw that the others had moved to the opposite end of the room and were talking quietly, obviously giving us time to talk.

I left Jasper and walked over to where the rest were standing by the table.

"So, what's with the exploded zombies in the fire exit doorway?" Emmett asked Alice.

"Jasper discovered a couple of months ago that if zombies can't smell you it's like you don't exist. So, if you cover yourself in their blood, you could walk into a herd of zombies and go unnoticed. He's covered both entrances, just in case any make it up here," she said.

Bella looked up from where she was leaning over the table examining what looked like small packets of something.

"That's why Edward wasn't hurt that day in the woods when you rescued me, Emmett. He was covered in their blood," she said, a look of surprise on her face.

Reaching her side, I draped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into my side.

I felt the need all of a sudden to touch her, to have her near me.

But more than anything, I wanted to get out of here.

Rosalie must have seen it in my eyes because after looking at me for a minute she said, "Okay. It's time for us to be going."

Bella and Emmett looked at her and then quickly at me before nodding.

"Do you have to go?" Alice asked. "We can clear out an apartment for you."

"We're not staying, Alice," I said. "I came to fulfill a debt to you. You and your parents helped me once and now I've returned the favor."

Bella gathered up the small packages on the table and put them into my backpack before joining us at the door.

"Good bye Alice," I said, not saying a word to Jasper as I opened the door. However, as I waited for the others to join me in the hallway, I looked into the apartment and met his eyes. He was staring back at me. We looked at each other for a few moments, neither one of us saying a word. There really wasn't anything to say.

Then, Emmett pulled the door shut and it was finally over.

We just went back to the RV that afternoon, having no energy to continue searching the north side for the gated community that Rosalie knew about.

I decided to be look-out because I wanted some time by myself. No one said anything about it. Bella just kissed me on the cheek before I stepped outside and climbed the ladder to the roof.

Seeing Alice and Jasper in the state that they were in had been disturbing to say the least. It wasn't enough for me to want to let them join us, but it was upsetting to see two people I knew suffering in such a way.

Again, I thought about how lucky I was to have found Bella. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would have either been dead or insane like Jasper if I'd not found her.

From the minute I'd met her, Bella had grounded me. It always seemed like she had a plan. At first, she had her mission to clear her town. Next, her mission was to gather and organize food to keep us healthy. Then, she planned for us join Emmett and Rosalie and look for others to create a new life. I think she even had a plan to get me, I thought with a smile.

God, I love her, I thought.

It was obvious that Jasper and Alice didn't have any of that.

But that's not my problem, I thought shaking my head.

I can't think about this anymore, I told myself standing up.

Climbing back down the ladder I opened the door to the RV and rejoined my family.

We left bright and early the next day to search for Elmhurst Estates which we'd found on the map.

As we drove through the city, we could tell when we were getting closer by how the buildings changed. Gone were the high-rises and apartment buildings. We were now driving by Georgian style houses with tree-lined streets.

It was out of this labyrinth of streets that we came upon the fancy cast-iron finials and great arched front gate with the Elmherst name hammered in metal across the front.

We made an initial circle of the winding roads surrounding the community, looking for any gaps in its brick walls. Seeing none, we pulled up to the front gate.

Emmett put the vehicle in park and we all climbed out.

Staring at the front gate, we hesitated. This had been our goal to find a place like this and now we were standing in front of it.

It was Bella that made the first move, stepping forward and pushing on the gate.

It was locked securely and didn't even move when Bella put her full weight against it.

"We'll have to climb the walls," I said, looking to the left where the brick walls towered above us.

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Emmett said.

"The trees are too close to the walls. I'm sure we can find one sturdy enough to climb," Rosalie said.

"If we decide to stay, we're going to have cut them down, " I said. "If we can get in by the trees, then so could any other survivor."

"Let's look for one this way," Bella said, grabbing my hand and pulling me after her.

Half way around the building, we found a large oak tree with thick branches that had started to encroach on the wall.

Grabbing ahold of one of the lower branches, I pulled myself up the tree easily. Too easily for my liking. These trees really had to go.

Carefully, I edged my way along one of the branches until I was close enough and then swung down onto the top of the wall.

I looked around quickly for the dead. I didn't want us to get trapped when a herd was nearby.

But when I saw nothing, I jumped down.

Hauling my rifle off my back, I used my scope to scan the area.

I heard the others jump down beside me followed by the click click of their weapons as they raised them.

The houses were large, each one seeming like a mansion to me.

I'd lived all my life in a three bedroom bungalow in a middle-class neighbourhood. This was definitely not a middle-class neighbourhood.

We walked down the main street, trying to look everywhere at once.

As we walked by a particularly large white house, I saw movement in the window.

I froze and quickly crept over to it, looking inside.

Inside were two dead, one was in a wheelchair while the other was bumping around the room as it ran into things. They were both very frail looking. They'd probably both been elderly. Neither of them would put up much of a fight.

I made a mental note to myself that this house might be a good choice. However, it was a little too close to the wall for my liking. I didn't want it be so close that any survivors would be able to hear us if we were outside.

At another corner, we saw the first sign of anything being wrong, an abandoned BMW sat with its crumpled front end wrapped around a telephone pole, its twisted passenger door gaping open.

With the locked gate, it meant that there was probably at least a few zombies wandering around the streets.

But beyond that glaring mark on the serenity of the community, everything was abnormally still. It left me with a general feeling of unease that kept me on edge.

We circumnavigated the maze of wide, paved roads. It was clear that there were zombies still inside houses, but they were all contained. We could take our time clearing them out. I was surprised to find in a community this size that there was a convenience store and even a small church.

"This is perfect!" Bella called out, running over to me and jumping into my arms when I swung my rifle back over my shoulder.

She kissed me hard, causing me to forget the general feeling I had that something was terribly wrong.

"Oh shit, guys!" Emmett said, causing me to snap my head in his direction.

There were dead people pouring out of the front door of the church, clearly drawn by Bella's voice.

They just kept coming and coming past the point that I thought that they'd even fit inside.

There were too many of them to fight hand to hand.

"We need higher ground," Bella said, all business again.

I looked around at the houses, looking for a three story one. If we could get into the house and pick off any dead inside quickly, we could get up on the roof and shoot the herd.

I saw a promising house with a balcony jutting out from one of the upstairs windows.

"That one!" I shouted and we all ran towards it.

Emmett kicked in the door, allowing me to run in past him.

I was immediately met with four zombies who moaned loudly, almost sounding excited to see me.

"I don't have time, fuckers," I snarled, slashing at them with my axe.

I looked back in time to see, the rest of them killing the remainder of the zombies and trying to push a couch up against the door.

"There's no time," I gasped. "We need to get up on the roof."

The others stopped what they were doing and ran after me up the stairs and towards where I thought the room with the balcony was.

Throwing open the door, I scanned the room for dead. When I saw none, I opened the balcony doors and ran outside.

The moaning below us was almost deafening.

"Boost me up," Emmett said. "Then I'll pull up the rest of you."

It took all three of us to get Emmett up onto the roof and by that time we could see that the dead were now surrounding the house.

Quickly, Emmett pulled the rest of us up after him.

Together we scanned the crowd of zombies below us. There were at least fifty milling around below us and we had no idea how many had actually gotten inside the house now.

"Well, this is a clusterfuck…" Emmett said, running his hand through his hair. "We're going to use up all of our ammo, trying to get rid of these guys and the sound's going to carry."

He was right. It was going to take a lot to get rid of them.

"No choice," I said. "Let's get started. I'll take the ones on the right."

I sat down on the edge of the roof with my legs dangling over the side to get enough of a view that I could take aim at the zombies that were on the outer edge. I took my time, not wanting to waste any bullets.

We were able to pick off quite a few of them, but I was starting to get anxious about the amount of bullets we were using up.

"Guys… I have an awful idea…" Bella said, hesitantly.

I stopped shooting and looked at her.

"We can't use up any more of our ammo. We don't know when we'll find more. So…" she said with a look of disgust on her face.

"Oh my god. You're not going to suggest what I think you are," Rosalie said, looking sick to her stomach.

"We need camouflage. We need to go down there and fight hand to hand," she said.

"Camouflage… what do you-" I began, but then I figured it out.

Alice said that if the zombies couldn't smell us, they couldn't see us. We could be in the middle of them and they wouldn't even notice until it was too late.

"Jesus Christ…" Emmett said, clearly having figured it out too. "How can we trust that Alice and Jasper are right?"

"They are," Bella said. "Don't you remember how Edward was in the midst of zombies killing them on the day you rescued me?"

Emmett sighed and then nodded.

"Well, let's go get a couple from downstairs," he said.

Before climbing down off the roof, Emmett looked over the edge to see if any of the dead in the house had made it onto the balcony. Seeing none, he jumped down. Then, he helped Rosalie and then Bella. Once they were off, I climbed down.

Lucky for us, two of the dead had made it upstairs and were now pawing at the glass as they tried to reach us.

"Let's do them one at a time," I said, motioning towards the larger man.

"Okay," Emmett said. "I'll open the door and you kill it."

With a grim nod, I raised my axe as Emmett quickly opened the door in a jerky movement, causing the dead to tumble forward.

With one sharp downward stroke, I killed it.

Then, I just stood there staring at it.

My stomach churned at the thought. I'd been sprayed by zombie muck before and it hadn't bothered me. But I'd never deliberately smeared myself with it.

It was Bella who made the first move. Grabbing my axe she started hacking away at it until it was a bloody mess.

Then, pulling on a pair of gloves that she had stashed in her bag, she began smearing herself with it.

I heard Emmett gag beside me. I cringed remembering how he seemed to have a sensitive gag reflex.

"Don't you fucking dare, Emmett. I can't handle doing this if you start spewing," I snapped.

"I'm trying, dickwad," Emmett growled at me.

"You better get your hair too, Bella," Rosalie said in a practical voice. "People give off a lot of heat from their head which intensifies their scent."

I looked at her in surprise.

"I used to work at a hospital," she said, with a faint smile. "Grossness like this doesn't affect me as much anymore."

Once Bella was done, she started in on me. I closed my eyes and let her. I realized that with my eyes closed, I could deal with it without wanting to puke.

Emmett?... not so much…

When he started throwing up, I had to look away or else I would start too.

I even plugged my ears so I didn't have to hear the heaving.

Finally, we were done and ready to go out to deal with the dead.

It was starting to get darker, so we had no time to waste.

"I'll try it out first," I said, stepping in front of everyone as I opened the sliding glass door and let the second zombie out.

I stepped close to it with my axe held tightly in my hand.

The zombie stopped moving for a minute, clearly sensing me.

It turned towards me and took a step in my direction with a throaty moan. I waited for the familiar growl, but it never came. After taking a big whiff of me, the dead turned away looking for other prey.

Looking at the others with wide eyes, I motioned for them to follow me downstairs.

As quietly as possible, we dispatched the others that were meandering around the entryway. Then, we ventured outside.

Emmett gestured at Bella and then Rosalie to take the left hand side of the herd which seemed the lightest. Then, he gestured that he was going for the center and for me to take the right side where the dead were piling up against the side of the house in their attempt to get inside.

Without a word, we moved forward and started the grim business of killing. It was exhausting work and many times we had to come to the defense of each other when we were overwhelmed by a particularly tough zombie. But eventually, we got the upper-hand and just as dark was upon us we'd gotten rid of the remainder of them.

Collapsing to the ground, I laid down onto my back. I couldn't even raise my arms anymore. Every part of me hurt.

I should have checked on Bella, but I couldn't move.

"Good job, guys," Emmett said, from a little ways away.

I nodded, but couldn't find it in me to respond.

The only sound from any of us was our panting breaths as we tried to regain a bit of the energy we'd expended.

Against every instinct I had, I didn't even recognize the signs that meant I was falling asleep.

I woke up hours later to the sound of moaning.

I reached instinctively for the blade I kept hidden under the pillow before realizing that I wasn't even in a bed.

I grabbed my knife that I kept hidden in one of my boots and sat up quickly scanning the area for the source of the sound that woke me.

I realized with dismay that I'd fallen asleep outside in the open.

"It's far away," Emmett said to my left. "You can go back to sleep."

I shook my head and looked over at him.

"I'm really sorry. I don't understand how I could fall asleep at a moment like that," I said, shaking my head in shock.

"None of us are eating enough. I'm amazed that we have the energy we do. We certainly didn't have enough to take on a herd of zombies. You all just used up whatever energy you had left," he said, gesturing with his chin towards where the others were collapsed in sleep too.

"What about you?" I asked.

"I'm bigger than you. I have more energy to spare," he said, followed by a grin. "Plus, I'm more awesome than you."

"Think again, asshole," I said with a tired grin.

After a pause, I looked around at the mass of dead around us and then at the church.

"Why do you think there were so many in there?" I asked, nodding towards the church.

"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death," he said softly. "Where else would people go when the book of Revelation is coming true around them."

"I didn't take you for a religious man," I said, looking at him curiously. My parents were not religious, so it had never been a part of my life.

He just shook his head and looked down at his hands.

"What do we do tomorrow?" I asked, looking around at the large houses that towered over us.

"We see if we can make this place a home…" he said, quietly.