Chapter 26: Not Alone

BELLA

Rose and I were in the garden when I heard Edward and Emmett banging at the front gate. Excited to see them, I hurried to the front of the house to meet them.

The first person that entered when I threw open the gate was Edward. A smile spread across my face at the sight of him, but when I looked into his eyes it disappeared.

His brow was furrowed in what looked like worry or stress, which put me immediately on guard. Did something happen to Emmett?

Rosalie rushed forward too, looking around Edward for Emmett.

As I made a move to go over to him, Edward stepped aside and waved for someone outside the gate to enter.

I was shocked beyond speech when I saw Jasper slink by Edward, his eyes flitting everywhere as he looked for danger. Once he saw that there was nothing, he left the gate and came back with Alice tucked behind him. Emmett followed after them and locked the gate securely.

I was beyond angry at Edward. They were only supposed to talk to Alice and Jasper and get a feel for them. Then, we were all going to discuss whether we would bring them into the community. It wasn't just Edward and Emmett's decision. It was supposed to be made by all of us.

I strode over to him and grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, dragging him a little distance away.

"I can explain…" he said as he ran his hand nervously through his hair.

"You had no right-" I began to say, but Edward spoke over me.

"Let me ex-" he started, but I cut him off.

"We were supposed to decide together!" I practically shouted. "This is serious, Edward!"

By bringing them into the community, he was basically tying our futures to theirs. It shouldn't have been something that was decided without Rose and me.

"I know. I know. But Bella-" he began again as he pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture I knew was from frustration. However, a voice behind us stopped him before he could finish.

"I'm pregnant. That's why Edward brought us back with them."

I looked up in surprise and saw Alice step out from behind Jasper and begin to approach us.

I saw immediately that she had a noticeable bump where her shirt fell in folds around it. She also had one of her hands laying lightly on her swollen stomach while her other hand she was yanking on the end of her hair with what looked like painful force.

"Oh my god…" I said, horrified.

The only thought that entered my head was, that poor baby was going to be born into this world?

Alice and I stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, a silent conversation happening between us.

"I know," Alice said, bitterly. "I'm the worst kind of person. I've doomed an innocent baby to this world."

But while her tone was bitter, there were tears brimming in her eyes.

I didn't know what to say. A million thoughts were flying through my head. I felt sadness for this girl and her unborn baby, but fear was stronger. A crying baby was a sure fire way to attract the dead. If we ever had to leave this community, having a baby with us would be a death sentence. But then a thought formed in my mind that nearly floored me. The same thing could have happened to me. Edward and I never used protection. I don't think it crossed either of our minds. I couldn't believe how stupid we'd been. It wasn't like we didn't know how babies were made…

"Come inside," Rosalie said, coming over to Alice and draping an arm over her shoulder. "Let's have something to eat. You need some fresh vegetables."

As she passed me by, Rose met my eyes and I saw concern just as strong as mine. Our lives had just become a million times more complicated.

"Bella, I had to do it," Edward said quietly.

I nodded at Edward's words. I wouldn't have been able to leave a pregnant woman behind either.

Looking around, I noticed Jasper was gone, probably into the house to follow Alice and so was Emmett. This gave me a chance to talk to Edward in private.

"You know how dangerous this is, don't you?" I asked, turning to him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

I felt his chest enlarge and contract with a deep breath.

"The minute I saw that she was pregnant I thought of you. That could have just as easily been us. We've been so careless," he said, pulling me tighter against him.

I nodded into his chest, feeling a chill run down my spine.

"What about Jasper?" I asked, worried about his answer.

"I don't know, Bella. I didn't have enough time to get a read on him, but I don't think we should underestimate his need to protect Alice. If he feels this is a secure place for her to live and have his baby, I think that he'll help protect it."

I nodded because I knew that Alice was his top priority.

I looked up at Edward's face and was saddened to see that in that moment he looked a lot older than 18. He carried so much weight on his shoulders.

"We'll make it work," I said, reassuringly and stood on my tiptoes so that I could kiss him. "Let's go get something to eat."

As we entered the house, I saw that Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice were sitting at the dining room table eating.

Rose and Emmett were watching the other two warily as they ate. Alice seemed oblivious, but I could tell by Jasper's tense posture that he was on edge.

Pulling Edward towards the table, we sat down opposite the two of them.

"This is a beautiful place. Thank you so much for welcoming Jasper and me into it. We'll never be able to tell you how grateful we are," Alice said around a mouthful of food.

I nodded in acceptance and I heard murmured you're welcomes around the table.

"You need to fortify this place more," was Jasper's contribution. "There's people who are gonna try to take it."

I was annoyed at first by his words until they sank in.

"What do you mean? Are there survivors nearby?" Edward asked, sitting forward.

Jasper didn't even look up as he shoveled food into his mouth.

"What he means is that we've had some close calls with other survivors that are tearing apart the city. We've seen them kill other people who were just looking for food," Alice said, looking at us all earnestly.

Emmett was leaning forward now too.

"Have they reached this part of the city?" he asked, concern lacing every word.

"No," Jasper said, finally looking up and staring at Edward. "But they will."

"Is it James?" Edward asked.

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other.

"… only seen some of his gang, not him," he said with a shrug but the intensity in his eyes belied the casual shrug of his shoulders.

"You mean that bastard might be nearby?" Emmett snarled, shoving his chair away and standing up.

I saw Jasper's whole body stiffen like a snake getting ready to bite.

Alice rested a hand on his arm and he immediately calmed. She was so attuned to him that she didn't even need to look at him to recognize his reaction.

"We killed a couple of them," Rosalie said, quietly but calmly.

I looked over at her in shock. How could she be so calm about this? I was freaking out inside.

Jasper looked at her in surprise and then with a contemplative look.

"How often do you patrol?" Jasper asked, looking back down at his food.

"Not often enough," Edward said, standing up and pacing the room.

"You need to make traps," Jasper said.

"What kind?" Emmett asked.

"Things that'll kill or at least make noise," Jasper responded, pushing his chair away and starting to pace the room. It started calmly enough but then got faster until it was almost manic.

He was muttering to himself and to Edward and Emmett about safety and not to let down their guard.

The guys were suddenly in deep conversation about the ways to fortify the place, their meals forgotten on the table.

It was in this quiet moment amongst the three of us at the table that I looked at Alice.

Her face was too thin with sunken cheeks and purplish bruise-like patches under both eyes. She was in no shape to carry a child safely. I wondered for a moment whether the pharmacy had any pregnancy vitamins.

"Thank god for all of you," she said, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. "Jasper was going mad trying to save us on his own. You guys are survivors, Jasper's a survivor. I'm not…" she said quietly.

I didn't know what to say and neither did Rosalie, but she was the one to act.

Reaching over, she placed a hand on Alice's.

At Rosalie's kind touch, Alice covered her face with her other hand as the tears spilled over.

"We can't care for a… we can't even care for ourselves let alone a little…" Alice whimpered which soon turned into a sob. "We've been so selfish."

I couldn't imagine what she was going through. It was hard enough taking care of each other. I couldn't imagine taking care of a helpless infant.

Then, it hit me that this was just what we were in for. We'd all be helping to take care of a new life in the world of the dead.

"We'll make it work," I said, quietly trying to reassure her and me.

"I'll do what I can to contribute. I don't want to be a burden… not any more than I have to," Alice said, whimpering. "I understand what you're all burdening yourselves with by accepting Jasper and me."

"Don't think about it now. Just eat and rest," Rose said.

Hearing Alice's distress, Jasper was at her side.

As she nestled against his chest, Alice's eyelids began to droop with exhaustion.

"We have an extra room upstairs," Rosalie said.

"Do you really mind?" Alice asked. "We could stay in another house."

"We can talk about that tomorrow. You need some rest," Rosalie said. "I'll show you to the room."

All of them stood up and headed upstairs, leaving me at the table.

I picked at my food, contemplating the future.

A sigh escaped me as I felt a pair of arms encircle me.

With an answering sigh, Edward buried his head in my hair.

"The house next door is cleared. I think it would be a good place for them. We can't all live in this house together," he said softly.

I nodded, but didn't say anything.

Turning around in his arms, I straddled him.

I gently kissed his forehead, his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, and then his lips.

He pulled me into him as he kissed me back.

Weaving my fingers into his hair, I pulled him into the kiss more firmly.

Even though I felt him hardening under me, neither one of us wanted to take it further. Our fears were just too close to the surface.

"We can make this work," he said, uncertainly.

"Yes," I said, punctuating it with a kiss.

"We're safe here," he continued, a little more confidently.

"Yes, we are," I said, kissing him again.

"We'll make it even safer," he said, kissing me this time.

"Yes," I said.

"We'll start fortifying tomorrow," he said as I kissed him along his jawline.

"Take me to bed, Edward," I said.

Gently, he scooped me up and carried me up the stairs and into our room.

It was one of the first nights alone where we didn't make love.

Things had changed and we couldn't go back in time.

The next day we started our lives with Alice and Jasper. Early that morning, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward left to check the community wall.

Once the guys had left, I took Alice to look at the house next door and also the garden.

The house next door was the same size as ours, but without the fence.

I felt a little guilty about that, but not enough for all of us to live under the same roof. I didn't trust them enough for that.

Alice was timid at first, answering questions with one or two words.

She was clearly stressed about being apart from Jasper. They'd been each other's only companion for a long time, so I could tell that she felt vulnerable without him. However, after a few hours, she relaxed enough to begin contributing to conversations and actually had a lot of useful things to share.

As a farmer's daughter, Alice knew about the ins and outs of farming. She knew which vegetables would last into the winter and also knew about canning and other ways to preserve food.

We compared lists and matched up foods that could be preserved with foods that had essential vitamins and minerals that we'd need for the winter.

My biggest concern for the moment was water. We needed a clean water source that wouldn't run out. We couldn't live on bottled water that we found in houses and I was worried about what bacteria were in the pond. We talked about it a lot as we weeded the garden, but hadn't come up with a solution.

We spent the rest of our time without the boys cleaning and airing out Jasper and Alice's house so that they could sleep there that night.

By the time the boys returned, I'd gotten use to Alice and I was almost able to begin forgiving her for what she'd done to Edward. There was no malice in her. What she and her family had done to Edward was sheer ignorance. It was clear that before she'd left with Jasper that Alice's family had been pretty sheltered. Now, Jasper, on the other hand, had known what the world was like. I wasn't sure I would ever forgive him for that.

When they returned, Jasper went right to Alice, checking her over to make sure that she was unharmed. I resented that a little. We weren't the danger. He was.

As he spirited her away to check out their new home, I went over to Edward and wormed my way under his arm so that he could wrap it around me.

"How did it go?" I asked quietly even though we were alone in the backyard.

"Good. He's not as unstable as I thought. Some things set him off and he gets a little manic, but it's only when his worry for Alice is mentioned. He's not the same guy that I knew, but I don't think he's completely crazy," he said, squeezing my shoulder.

"Is he safe to be around?" I asked.

"I wouldn't trust him enough right away to be alone around him. But I think with time being in a safe place, he might start to come around," Edward said, kissing the side of my head before letting me go.

"I'm starving. Have you dug up any potatoes? I'm hungry enough to eat them raw," he said, striding towards the house with me trailing behind.

The next day when we emerged from the house after breakfast, we were all shocked to see that Jasper had been busy. He must have been up all night because their house was literally surrounded by what at first looked like junk but soon I recognized it for what it was. Tin cans tied to string to alert him if anyone tried to sneak up on his house. An obstacle course of twisted and jagged metal chair legs and embedded knives and nails in wooden planks that were slightly obscured by grass and brush that would slow down anyone alive or dead that wanted to creep up on their house.

Edward just shrugged after looking at it for a few minutes and then went out back to dig up some food for breakfast.

A few hours later, Jasper and Alice emerged from their house and joined us in the backyard. I was sitting under a tree with my back leaning up against it as I read a book and Edward was sprawled on the ground next to me with his head in my lap as he listened.

I looked at them and was pleased to see that Alice looked better. She looked less tired and there was a little colour to her cheeks.

Then, I looked at Jasper for really the first time. I'd purposefully avoided looking at him ever since I saw him lunging at me as he got ready to kill me.

He didn't look as he had then. The feverish gleam of the kill wasn't in his eyes and while the thick scar on his neck and one down his cheek made him look a little scary he didn't look like a monster.

Alice came over to us and plunked herself down in the shade of the tree as Jasper made a circuit around the inside of our fence, looking for whatever he was looking for.

"I had a great night sleep last night," she said with a sigh, stretching her legs out in front of her. "I think it was the first night that I didn't wake up in a panic."

"You should just relax today. There will always be a never-ending amount of work to do, so you have to set aside time to just enjoy being here," I said, rolling my neck because it felt stiff from having slept on it wrong last night.

Seeing my discomfort, Edward sat up and started massaging it.

Alice smiled at his show of affection and then looked over at Jasper with a wistful look on her face.

"It looks like Jasper was busy last night," Edward said.

"He doesn't sleep much anymore," Alice said, sadly but then a small smile graced her lips. "I hope that this place will help him. Maybe he'll start to feel safe again."

The rest of the day we did nothing urgent. We just relaxed and enjoyed the sun that had come out that morning burning away any remnants of fog.

Rosalie had gotten out her knitting and was now teaching Alice how to do it while I worked on Edward's blanket for him. He had started it during the winter, but I knew it was going to take him a long time without help. I couldn't wait to snuggle up in it at night-time. He'd picked a beautiful shade of indigo that he'd teasingly said would look amazing against my nude body.

He looked at me as I knit, his eyebrows waggling suggestively. I smiled at our inside joke and kept knitting.

That evening as Emmett used the barbecue to boil noodles for spaghetti with some of the bottled water we'd found in the drug-store, Rose and I heated up some spaghetti sauce over a small fire pit we'd built in the backyard. We allowed ourselves the luxury of having one hot meal a day, only doing it at night so that no one outside of the walls could see the smoke.

"What do you think of them?" Rose asked.

"I just don't know," I said. "I'm terrified about having a baby around."

Rose nodded and was silent for a few moments.

"I always wanted to be a mom, but now I feel like it would just be selfish," she said.

I nodded in response and stirred the sauce with a wooden spoon.

I wanted to ask her something, but I was embarrassed about it. She must have sensed it because I felt her eyes boring into me.

"I know that you're stewing about something, Bella. Out with it," she said.

Finally, I blurted out.

"You and Emmett have sex, right?" I asked.

"Ummm, weird question, but yes," she said, followed by a snicker.

"Aren't you afraid of getting pregnant?" I asked, looking behind me to see if anyone was within hearing distance.

"Well, Emmett always pulls out before… you know…" she said, her cheeks clearly turning red even in the firelight.

"You know that's not foolproof. Sex Ed taught us that," I said, stopping my stirring.

Rosalie grabbed the handle of the pan and the wooden spoon from me and took over.

"We know. We don't have sex often. There are many other ways to fool around which can be just as fun," she said. "Let your imagination run wild. I'm sure you can think of some stuff."

Our conversation stopped after that as Emmett called out to us that the noodles were ready.

That night Edward and I went to sleep exhausted from our love making that included almost everything we could think of besides actual sex. It was a relief to know that we didn't have to give up that part of our lives because of the world we lived in.

It was pitch black outside when I was awoken by some kind of noise. I bolted up in bed, not knowing what had awoken me. Edward was already up, yanking on his pants and pulling out the knife that he had hidden under our mattress.

"Stay here," he ordered, looking at me seriously.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know-" he began, but snapped his mouth shut as we heard a loud bang come from next door.

"What the hell?" Edward said, striding over to the window that faced Jasper and Alice's house.

Emmett burst into our room.

"What's going on? I heard-"

A loud banging started downstairs as someone had begun pounding on the gate of our fence.

Rosalie was suddenly at my side, crawling onto the bed next to me.

She grabbed my hand tightly, as the guys ran downstairs.

At first, I couldn't hear anything besides raised voices and a lot of commotion.

Then, out of the noise I heard running up the stairs and then Alice was standing in the doorway in her nightgown.

I could see how much she was shaking even from where she was standing.

"Come over here," I said, reaching out a hand to her. "What's going on?"

Suddenly, I heard another loud bang from next door and then a crash.

"There's someone in our house," Alice said.

"Oh my god…" Rose said, leaning heavily against me.

Alice crawled onto the bed with us and we all huddled together.

Things quieted down after a while, but it was still a long time before the guys returned and joined us in our bedroom.

Edward and Emmett immediately came to us and hugged us close.

"Where's Jasper?" Alice asked, looking around frantically.

"He's over at your house in the attic. You might want to give him a little time, Alice," Emmett said, grabbing her arm as she began to get up. "He's fucking lost it."

"I'm not afraid of him," she said, shrugging off his hand. "Jasper would never hurt me."

Quietly, she slipped out of the room.

"What's going on Edward?" I asked clutching him to me forcefully. I'd been so terrified that something might have happened to him.

"Someone was in their attic. Jasper heard someone moving around up there but when he went up to investigate, whoever it was had already left."

"How does he know that it wasn't just a rat?" Rosalie asked.

"Whoever it was left stuff for them," Emmett said. "Now, Jasper's tearing the attic apart looking for however they got in and out without him noticing."

"Should we leave?" I asked, a sickening feeling hitting my stomach at the thought of leaving our sanctuary behind.

After a lengthy pause, Edward finally answered.

"I don't think we need to do anything hasty."

I sat up from where I was cradled against his chest to look at him in surprise.

"What do you mean? There's someone sneaking into our houses," I said, confused by his calmness.

"We checked over the house and I'm sure that whoever it was is gone now. But it's what they left that makes me think that we're not in immediate danger," he said, thoughtfully.

"What was it?" Rosalie asked.

"A bottle of pregnancy vitamins, a stack of diapers, two large bottles of water, a map with stuff circled on it, and a sock monkey," Edward said.

I stared at him in confusion and he just shook his head.

"I know. It's disturbing that someone's been in our houses, but it's not exactly threatening..."

When things seemed to have quieted down next door, we grabbed a couple of flash-lights and went to Jasper and Alice's house.

Edward kept me close to him as we entered their house. I don't know whether it was to protect me from Jasper or the possibility that the unnamed intruder was still there. Either way, I stuck close to his side.

After a quick check of the downstairs and the second floor, we made our way to the attic where it was clear that Jasper and Alice were.

The minute Emmett pulled the rope in the ceiling that opened the door and pulled down the ladder for the attic, I heard snarling coming from the room above.

I froze, recognizing the sound from when I was nearly killed by Jasper.

After a few moments, Alice called out.

"It's okay. Come on up."

Her calm words were a stark contrast to Jasper's growling which sounded like a wild animal.

Emmett and Edward went up and I heard muffled conversations.

"Back up, Jasper. You know we're not the enemy," Emmett said, firmly.

The growling didn't ease up, but Alice didn't seem fazed by it.

"Let's bring the stuff downstairs so that we can take a look at it," she said, calmly.

Rosalie and I backed away from the ladder as the four of them came down, first Emmett, then Edward, followed by Alice and then Jasper.

Jasper's eyes were wild as they tried to look everywhere at once. In the muted glow of the gas-powered lamp that Emmett was holding, I could see how he quivered in his barely contained fury.

I backed away from him even more until Edward grabbed a hold of me and put his body between the two of us.

Together we followed the others downstairs until we reached the kitchen where Emmett laid out the "gifts" the intruder had left for them.

I picked up the bottle of pregnancy vitamins and examined it. The seal was unbroken which was a good sign because it hopefully meant that no one had tampered with it. Then, I picked up one of the water bottles. I noticed right away that it was the same brand name of water that we'd found in our house. And there were only two bottles, just like there were only four bottles in our fridge. Enough for one bottle each.

Whoever had been in this house had also been in ours. They'd probably left all the chocolate and treats too.

"Holy shit! Will you look at that!" Emmett exclaimed in excitement. "The fucker left us a map that shows where there's a well that we can get water!"

He had the map spread out on the table and was pointing at a red circle with words printed next to it.

I moved to his side along with Rosalie, Edward, and Alice.

Next to the red circle drawn in what looked like magic marker were the words "water well" and under those was the word "Welcome."

We didn't sleep any more that night. I wasn't quite scared by what was happening. I was more unsettled by it all.

"If the person doesn't want to hurt us, why haven't they just approached us. What's with all the sneaking around?" Alice asked.

"We've seen enough groups of survivors to know that anyone that just walks up to someone's door and knocks is looking to get themselves killed. Whoever our intruder is, probably knows that too," Edward said to her.

She nodded in agreement with his explanation.

"Actually, this is probably the safest way for them to introduce themselves," he continued.

"Or else he or she is fucking with us… waiting for us to let our guard down... poison us… or any number of other things," Jasper muttered under his breath.

"Why would they do that Jasper? Why would they leave things for us that we need? They could have come in and just killed us while we slept," Alice said.

Instead of being soothed by her words, they seemed to upset Jasper more.

"It's not safe here… We've got to go… It's not safe here…" he said, jumping to his feet and grabbing a hold of Alice's arm.

"No!" Alice begged, trying to pull away from him. "We can't leave."

When he didn't let go, Edward jumped to his feet and pried Jasper's hand off Alice and gave him a shove.

"Calm the fuck down, Jasper. Think about this rationally," he said to him.

"You're deluded if you think someone did this out of the kindness of their heart. No one is like that anymore. You're all idiots if you think this world's like that… and idiots die," Jasper snapped.

Emmett grabbed a hold of Jasper as he made a move to grab Alice again and held him with an arm across his chest.

"Chill out Jasper. Can't you see that you're scaring your girl?" Emmett hissed.

At Emmett's words, Jasper's shoulders slumped as he stared at the woman he loved.

"Alice, darlin', don't be scared of me. I'm only trying to protect you," he said, as gently as he could in his crazed state.

"Then, sit down and help us figure this out. We can't give up this place, Jasper," she said, beckoning him to the table. "We need to make this place work."

Finally, he relaxed his tense posture enough that Emmett felt that he could let him go.

Once Jasper was seated next to her, Alice took his hand and squeezed it.

"Let's all stay at our house tonight," Emmett said. "Tomorrow, we check out the well and see if our mystery guest has left anything else for us. Then, we take it from there. They've got to be staying in one of the houses that we haven't cleared."

We sat for a while in silence, all of us thinking about what had happened that night.

"I'll hunt him down and kill him," Jasper said, breaking the silence. "That will solve the problem. We won't have to look over our shoulders anymore."

"No!" we all shouted at once.

"Jasper, we can't kill this person. Look what they've done. They're trying to show us that they don't want to hurt us. They want to help," Alice said, wrapping her arm around his in a death grip.

Jasper was shaking his head in denial. It was clear that he wasn't going to be reasoned with.

Edward looked at Emmett and I saw a silent conversation pass between them.

It was Emmett that joined Jasper and Alice at the table.

"Look, man. Killing this person is out of the question for now. We're not like James and his crew. We don't just kill anyone that we come across. We're not monsters. I'm not saying that it might not be necessary at some point in the future…" he began, but was cut off when Jasper lunged across the table at Alice.

"Alice! No!" he shouted.

I whipped my head towards Alice and saw that she'd opened the bottle of vitamins and was in the process of swallowing one with a gulp from the water bottle she'd opened. Jasper slapped the bottle of water away from her face, but it was too late.

"It's done," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I believe in my heart that this person means us no harm. Taking one of the vitamins is the sure-fire way of proving it to you all."

All of us stared at her in shock, not knowing how to respond to what she so recklessly did.

The silence was broken when Jasper angrily shoved his chair away from the table with a resulting bang as it toppled over and stormed out of the house and into the night.

Without a word, Emmett followed him.

A:N/ So what do you think? Do you think the person is a friend or enemy?