Chapter 33: Madhouse
BELLA
For the first few weeks after returning home, Edward had been in a lot of pain and it made him extremely cranky. Carlisle insisted on bed-rest, which drove him crazy. He wasn't used to not doing anything. He was no longer that kid who'd been more than willing to sit around his house and play video games. Now, all he could see was the amount of work that needed to be done and how he wasn't able to help. However, when he fought Carlisle's treatment, he was told that normally it took fractures around six weeks to heal and that there was a possibility that some of his internal injuries. Therefore, Carlisle said that he was lucky that he wasn't going to make him stay in bed for longer.
Even though his mind was willing, Edward's body still needed to recuperate. When he was out of bed, his cheekbone and ribs would ache and he would still get short of breath. So without anything to do but heal, he slept a lot.
It was clear that he was still suffering the psychological effects from his time with Caius and James. He was nervous and flinched if he didn't notice you approach. He zoned out sometimes which frightened everyone because it was so similar to Jasper's breaks with reality. When he would try to go to sleep, it was with trepidation, even after a couple of weeks had passed. The fear of being unconscious and open to attack wouldn't cease. And then there were the nightmares that seemed to always come close to dawn.
However, once he was asleep he looked so childlike without a care in the world. With his bronze hair sticking up in all directions and the almost constant furrowed brow relaxed, he looked so innocent.
He was on his stomach now, using his arm as a pillow. His back was slowly rising and falling in a steady rhythm of breaths that soothed me more than any other sound ever could.
Leaning forward, I kissed him on the forehead and then the lips, which caused him to let out a little whine of "please don't wake me up yet," but after a few minutes one corner of his mouth turned up in a lazy smile as he came awake.
"You need to eat something," I said, holding a bowl of stew on my lap.
He groaned as he rolled over on his back followed by a wince as he inadvertently pressed on his tender rib.
"What's to eat?" he asked with a sigh.
"Beef stew," I said with a smile.
He looked at it curiously because it was food that we didn't have.
"We did some more bartering with Camden Head," I explained.
With a small frown, Edward nodded.
Things had been rough this past month.
Carlisle and Esme had been spending a great deal of time at Camden Head. Carlisle felt responsible for the people there because he was the only doctor. I never visited the apartment complex, but from Emmett and Rose, I learned that the location wasn't great for twenty-five people. There was nowhere to grow food even though they'd found garden centers that had an abundance of seeds that could be used. They also had no room to move. They were pretty much stuck in their apartments and the roof where they were trying to set up make-shift gardens. Going outside was a risk, especially since in the last month, there had been an upsurge in the number of dead wandering the streets. Some of the group had been searching for a better location where they could start settling in for the future, but every other gated community that they'd found had been overrun because the walls had not been able to withstand the mass of dead. The only real reason that they were surviving day to day was because of on one of their supply runs for food, the Camden Head survivors found a Del Monte warehouse that contained a large amount of canned food. However, when they were transporting it back to the apartments, they lost two of their people in a zombie attack. It made them leery about going too far away from their home.
We weren't in a great situation either. We did some trade with Camden Head, trying to plan for the next season, but we didn't have much to barter with. All of us were starting to realize that without a way of preserving our limited amount of fresh food, we wouldn't have enough to keep for the winter. Esme told us that there was a woman at Camden Head that had grown up on a farm that may be able to help, but she didn't think that she'd be willing to help people she didn't know.
Not only was food an issue for us, but also there seemed to be more dead converging on the walls of our community, searching for a way to get in. Rose, Emmett, and me along with Peter, Eleazar , and Charlotte had to patrol the walls in partners to keep the dead from building up in one location. Sometimes with a build-up of dead, the zombies would start crawling on top of each other as they tried to reach the top of the wall. There had been a close call two weeks ago where we'd almost been too late and they'd practically reached the top of the wall. We'd become too relaxed behind our wall and it had almost cost us.
Then, there was Alice. It had been a little over a month since Edward's escape and in all that time we hadn't seen Jasper. After weeks went by, the rest of us began to suspect that Jasper wasn't coming back. It was then that Alice became angry- angry at Edward for not forcing Jasper to come home with him, but also angry at Jasper for abandoning her. Then, her anger turned into a kind of numbness. She barely mentioned Jasper and had stopped planning completely for the baby. Carlisle was extremely concerned about her behavior and had us keep an eye on her twenty-four hours a day.
Alice was not the only one who was pregnant and having problems dealing with it. Two women from Camden Head were not as far along as Alice, but they were experiencing depression and anxiety over having children in this new world.
For the last few days, Alice had clearly become increasingly uncomfortable, frequently wincing and clutching her stomach. However, when any of us, especially Carlisle, asked her about it, she would adamantly refuse to admit that there was anything wrong. She also wouldn't allow Carlisle to examine her. Esme told me that Carlisle thought that Alice was in the precursors of labour, but that she was in denial. Therefore, Esme left Chris with us so that if something happened in the night he could run to get them.
And then one night, I woke up to the feeling of Edward gripping my arm.
I reached out automatically to soothe him because I was used to the nightmares that plagued him almost every night.
"Bella? Did you hear that?" he asked me.
"It's just a dream Edward," I mumbled. "Go back to sleep."
Then, I heard it, the sound of someone crying out in pain. I bolted up in bed next to him.
"Stay here!" Edward demanded, jumping out of bed and throwing on a pair of pants. But as he threw open the door, I heard the person cry out a name.
"Rose!"
The high-pitched voice was clearly Alice's.
And that was when I knew that the baby was coming.
Throwing on some clothes, I followed Edward out the door and ran into Rose at the top of the stairs.
All of us rushed down to the room that had been set up for Alice. We found her sitting on the edge of the bed with what looked like a puddle of water at her feet. She was hunched forward with her head in her hands, breathing heavily.
Rose hurried to her side and dropped to her knees next to her. Ever since Alice and Jasper had moved to the community, Rose had developed a special relationship with her, almost like mother and daughter. This had become even more apparent in Jasper's absence. Rose took it upon herself to watch over Alice, making sure that she was eating properly and sleeping enough. The only disagreement they ever had was over the baby. Rose didn't fully understand why Alice refused to speak or even think of the baby. She understood Alice's grief over Jasper. However, in her mind, Rose felt that the baby was Alice's connection to Jasper. If he never returned, she still had a part of him that she could love and nurture.
"Is it the baby?" Rose asked, gently.
Alice shook her head, but then hunched in upon herself as pain ripped through her.
"Get Chris," I said to Edward.
"NO!" Alice shouted, but then clutched her stomach and whimpered.
Without a word, Edward slipped out of the room to wake Chris and send him for Carlisle.
For an agonizing fifteen minutes, the four of us watched Alice writhe in agony, not able to do anything as she continued to rebuff any help we wanted to give.
Finally, I sighed in relief as I heard the gate and then the front door open.
"Hello?" Esme called out.
"We're in Alice's room," Edward responded.
"No, no, no, no, no," Alice whimpered as Carlisle entered the room first with his medical bag.
He placed his bag on the night-stand and crouched down in front of Alice while Esme sat down on the bed next to her. Gently, she brushed Alice's sweat dampened hair away from her face. Her black hair that had grown to her shoulders was plastered to her face from exertion, but in her blue eyes there was a fierce gleam of stubbornness.
"Alice," Carlisle said, gently but firmly. "It's time to get ready for the baby."
"I can't," she cried.
"Yes, you can, sweetheart," Esme said.
"Could one of you boil some water?" Carlisle asked, looking over his shoulder at all of us. I hurried out the door to do it because I wanted to be useful.
By the time I returned with a pot of boiled water, I could feel the anxiety in the room. Edward was about to pull his hair out and Emmett quivered with the barely contained need to just "do something." But there was nothing any of us could do and right now we were just in the way. I sent Chris over to Eleazar, Charlotte, and Peter's house. He put up a fight, but Charlotte had agreed to keep him. I knew it would be too traumatic for Chris to listen to Alice in pain.
I grabbed Emmett's and Edward's arms and nodded towards the living room.
Then, the three of us just sat on the couch and waited, listening to the pleadings of Alice for it all to stop and the gentle coaxing of Esme and Rose.
"I won't have the baby without him," Alice whimpered.
"You have no choice, sweetheart. The baby's coming whether you want it to or not," Esme said gently.
I had tears in my eyes as I listened to Esme and Rose try to console Alice.
"Don't you want to see your beautiful baby, Alice? I wonder who Matthew or Clara will look like? Will they have black or blonde hair?" Rosalie asked.
"No, no, no," Alice wailed. "It's not supposed to be like this. Jasper needs to be here!"
I wanted to cry with her. I could only imagine what she was feeling. If I were having Edward's baby and I didn't know whether he was alive or dead, I would completely lose my mind. I looked over at Edward as a tear escaped involuntarily and I saw that he was staring at me in the same way.
Alice must have been experiencing labour pains for quite a while because before we knew it Carlisle spoke, "Okay, Alice. It's time to start pushing."
What passed after that were some of the worst hours of helplessness that I'd ever felt.
We had to listen to Alice's pleading for Jasper. We had to listen to her whimper and scream in pain.
Emmett and Edward had to get up periodically and step outside because it was just too much at certain points, but I didn't move a muscle. I couldn't for some reason. It was like it was my job to keep vigil over this new baby that was going to be an important part of our family.
Finally, Alice let out a great cry followed by a loud wail of a newborn baby, angrily yelling at the world for bringing it into it.
All three of us stood up at the sound and as I looked at Edward and Emmett I could see that their eyes shone with tears like mine. I reached out and took both of their hands.
Over top of the wailing, we heard the most beautiful sound of Rose saying, "Welcome to the world, little Clara."
I had just started drifting off to sleep on the couch when Esme came into the room and asked if any of us wanted to meet the newest member of our family. We all shot up off the couch and were at the door in seconds.
Looking into the room, we saw a very tired looking Alice sitting up in bed, holding a small bundle in her arms. When we approached, she looked up at us. She gave us a small smile before looking back down at her daughter, holding her close and caressing her head.
It was Edward who reached for the baby first. He was the one that had had experience with a baby. Carefully, he took Clara from Alice's arms, making sure that he supported her head.
Emmett and I hovered next to him, looking down at the red-faced little girl who seemed unimpressed with her surroundings.
Gently, Edward traced his knuckle down her cheek and then ran a finger down the bridge of her nose which caused her to sneeze. We all broke into a fit of laughter at the sound which caused the baby to start crying.
Immediately, Alice reached out for her daughter and held her close, crooning to her in a quiet voice.
"It's time for you all to go to bed now. There are a few hours before first light and Alice and Clara need to rest," Carlisle said.
Then, he turned to Esme.
"I'm going to sleep here on the couch, but you should get Chris and go home. There's going to be plenty to do in the morning," he said.
With a beautiful smile, Esme kissed him on the lips and then turned to the rest of us, pulling each of us into a tight hug.
Soon after that, Edward and I went to bed, but neither of us were sleepy. I felt energized as the tension of the last twelve hours was released.
When Edward had stretched out with his head on the pillow next to me, he reached over and pulled me close, settling my head against his chest. I fit there perfectly, as if that spot were made just for me.
"I wish Jasper was here," Edward said, quietly. "He has a daughter and doesn't even know it."
"Do you think he's still alive?" I asked, sadly.
"If any of us could make it, it would be Jasper."
"I can't imagine what Alice is going through. If that were me-" I began, my voice becoming choked with tears.
"It's not, Bella. I'll never leave you again. Wherever I go, you go," he said.
Silence fell between us. Edward began running his fingers through my hair which felt amazing, which caused me to burrow in even closer to him.
"Mmhmmm," I moaned, as he massaged my scalp. After a few minutes his hand moved lower, rubbing up and down my back.
I tilted my face up to kiss him and he captured my lips in a tender kiss.
"I miss being with you," Edward said, his voice deepening as the energy changed between us.
With Edward's injuries, we'd barely touched each other and we were both feeling the need.
Turning onto his side, he wrapped his arms tightly around me, as mine found their way behind his neck.
"Oh," I moaned, my eyes rolling back as Edward made his way from my lips down my neck until he reached the edge of my tank top. Feverishly, he wormed his way under my tank top and cupped my breast. Then, he pulled my shirt up so that his mouth could replace his hand, and I felt like I had to claw at his back just to stay grounded.
"God, I want you so much," he moaned, returning to my lips.
Edward rolled us over so that his body hovered over mine, but it was then that he flinched and groaned in pain.
Carefully, I rolled him back over on his back.
"It's not going to happen, Edward. You haven't recovered enough."
Edward let out a hissed breath of frustration.
"This fucking sucks," he growled. "I want you so much, but everything hurts."
I looked at him for a moment and then let my hand glide down his stomach until I cupped him through his boxers.
"Oh fuck," he panted.
Encouraged by his response I continued to rub him. His lips attacked mine with ten times more energy than before.
"Oh, God. Shit, Bella," he gasped, kissing my neck. However, as he became more and more wound up by my touch, he suddenly let out a cry of pain as his tender stomach muscles clenched.
Immediately, I let him go and peppered his face in kisses of apology.
Edward sighed again and pulled me to him, so that I could settle my head on his chest.
"Well, I guess all of those condoms will just have to wait," he muttered.
About a week into his time with us, Carlisle sent Emmett, Peter, and Eleazar on a supply run to a nearby pharmacy to clear it out of essentials. Then, Carlisle brought all of us into our living room and gave us a talk about birth control while Esme doled out boxes of condoms. We all squirmed in embarrassment, but were secretly thrilled. Emmett and Rosalie barely left their room for three days.
"It's okay," I said, although my body quivered with the pent up need I had for him. "Just hold me."
After a while of tender caresses and gentle kisses, we fell asleep.
Our lives after the birth of Clara settled into a kind of domesticity that we hadn't had before. It was like the baby had brought a sense of normalcy into our lives that overshadowed the dangers lurking outside our walls.
Each of us took turns looking after Clara when Alice needed to rest. She was fiercely protective of the baby, never wanting her out of her eyesight, but she relented when she was just too tired to stay awake. She still smiled rarely, but on the occasions that it did happen it was always directed at her daughter.
Holding Clara in my arms late at night with Edward pressed next to me, I felt at peace as I stroked her pale blonde fuzz that was beginning to grow. As she stared up at us, sucking on her fingers I couldn't help but see a happier world ahead of us.
It took two months for Edward to be back to full health both mentally and physically. Finally, Carlisle allowed him to join me in patrolling the walls. We worked in shifts with the others, but it wasn't easy to maintain a constant watch.
Like always we made our way clockwise around the community, checking the wall and listening for the dead. For the most part it was quiet, besides a few lone dead that pawed at the wall as we walked by. They weren't difficult to get rid of, but we didn't want them to attract other dead who may have been attracted by their movements.
We'd only made it half way around the community when we heard a noise coming from a cluster of trees to the west.
"What was th-"
Another noise cut off Edward's words.
He spun towards the woods at a loud rustling that shattered the stillness.
A flock of birds suddenly took flight, the swarm bursting out of the trees like fireworks. I stared transfixed for a moment as the flock moved in unison across the sky.
With a grin, Edward pulled his crossbow off his back and we hurried towards the woods. We hadn't had fresh meat in quite a while.
Then, another two flocks of birds erupted, which froze both of us in our tracks.
Something had startled the birds and it was something coming from the west side of the community where we hadn't reached yet in our patrol.
As we started running towards the woods, we heard the sounds of branches snapping as something moved quickly towards us through the trees. Horrified, I watched the first zombie burst out of the trees forty yards away—a big male with a missing arm and trailing intestines. Its head wobbled left and right as it searched for fresh meat before zeroing in on us. Then, with a loud moan, it started ambling towards us.
"Shit!" Edward snarled and frantically fit a bolt into his crossbow.
Together we made our way towards the zombie, each coming at it from different sides.
However, before we reached it, to my left another and then three more dead stumbled out of the trees and rushed towards me. All were adults both male and female, clad in torn, blood-spattered street clothes. They weaved back and forth unsteadily on their mangled limbs but with a fair amount of speed as they sensed a fresh meal.
"Shit, shit, shit," Edward said, shooting the dead as two more appeared from the woods. He still wasn't at full strength and I knew he worried about fighting them hand to hand.
Not wanting to use my gun for fear of attracting more that were clearly getting in from somewhere, I let a female zombie get close enough so that I could stab her with my icepick. It had been a while since I'd been this close to one of the dead and the old horror that I'd felt at the beginning came back a little. The dead woman's head was tilted at an unnatural angle, but I could tell that she was trying to lift it even though her neck was broken. This movement was causing the tendons in her neck to make a kind of crackling noise which was more disturbing than her hungry moans. The greyish skin on her face hung loosely and in tatters as if someone had raked it with their nails. But I forced these thoughts out of my head as I lunged for her and stabbed her in the head with all my strength.
Then, I turned towards an elderly man who was missing half his head and knocked him to the ground with a kick to his knee because he was too tall for me to reach.
Once I killed the old man, I turned to Edward who was grappling with a large barrel-chested dead man. Edward was panting as he tried to avoid the dead man's hands so that he could slash him with his axe. Finally, after a struggle, he slammed his blade into the man's forehead, dropping him to the ground.
Without a word, we rushed into the woods, heading towards the wall. When we got there, it was immediately clear what was happening. Like before, the dead had built up without our noticing. They were now piling on top of each other like a zombie step ladder and tumbling over the wall into our community.
Climbing the wall a few feet away, I aimed my gun and began shooting. There were around twenty of them, clambering to reach the top. Edward began shooting too and soon we'd taken care of most of them.
A loud commotion came from behind us as the rest of our group were drawn by the noise.
"What the fuck happened?" Emmett said, standing at the bottom of the wall, panting.
"Another build-up of dead, but this time some of them got over the wall," I said, shaken up.
"The walls are too large to cover with just us. All of us would have to be on constant guard to cover the perimeter," Peter said with concern.
It was a huge problem, one that we didn't know how to solve.
"Let's gather everyone at our house tonight, so that we can try to come up with a solution," Edward said. "Something has to change or else we're going to lose control of the situation."
Peter went to get Carlisle, Esme, and Chris and just after dusk we sat in our living room looking at each other in concern.
"We could build onto the walls. Maybe add some barbed wire if we could find it," Emmett said. "It would make it harder for them to get in."
"That still doesn't solve the build-up. Making taller walls won't help if enough of them congregate in one place," Esme said.
"We can put more wooden spikes around the bottom of the wall," I said. "The zombies will get stuck on them and not be able to move."
"Once enough of them get stuck though, it'll be just like a bridge for others to cross," Edward said.
"What we really need is more people patrolling the walls, to get rid of any build-up," Carlisle said.
"No," I said, understanding where he was going with this.
"They're good people, Bella," Carlisle tried to explain. "They could contribute a lot. Many of them have a lot of skills that could help this community survive."
"If they are such skilled survivalists," Edward growled, "why did they allow James to rule over them for so long? It took Sue, Jasper and Eleazar to get them to wake the fuck up."
Esme shook her head, sadly.
"I can't explain it completely, but I think that there is a learned helplessness that comes with seeing people around you die for fighting back. A lot of these people lost family members when they refused to follow James' rules. Also, it was either survive on the road alone with the dead or stay with James who while being cruel still provided them with a roof over their heads and food," she tried to explain.
I shook my head in anger.
I looked over at Emmett and Rose and saw a contemplative look on their faces.
"Please tell me you don't agree with Carlisle and Esme," I said.
"I don't know, Bella," Emmett said. "I'm starting to feel like the walls are closing in on us. We don't have enough food and there are more and more dead that are piling up around us than ever before. What else can we do?"
"At least come and meet them," Carlisle said. "Get to know them a bit before making a decision. I think you'll see that they could be great additions to your lives."
The next day, Edward and I joined Carlisle and Esme on their trip to Camden Head. The rest of our camp was going to spend the time patrolling the walls.
As we approached the apartment complex, I was struck by how much it had changed. The fire escape was full of junk, like tvs, fridges, dishwashers, anything that could block the way of the dead. There were spikes jutting up from the ground surrounding the people and already some of the dead had impaled themselves on them. As we drew near the front of the building, we saw that someone had smeared the door and the steps with zombie muck, trying to cover the scent of humans inside. Also, motionless zombies were propped up against either side of the door and against the railings that led up the stairs, looking almost like Halloween decorations. If I didn't know that they were using the dead as camouflage, I would have thought that the people inside had gone insane.
The minute we crossed the threshold two men with guns met us.
"Morning, Doc," one man said, stepping forward and shaking his hand. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Tyler," Carlisle said with a friendly smile.
"Seth," Carlisle said, turning to the other young man. "How are you doing, son?"
This was Sue's son.
Just like Sue, his Native American heritage showed in his coal black hair and deep brown eyes that stared at us in curiosity. But instead of seeing Sue in him, I was reminded of Jacob as a teenager. Just like Jacob at thirteen or fourteen, Seth had a long gangly build that he hadn't quite grown into yet. My heart clenched at the reminder of my best friend with whom I'd spent almost every day with in my childhood.
At the sound of my shuddering breath, Edward looked at me curiously.
"Just a memory…" I murmured.
With an understanding look, Edward took my hand and squeezed it.
"I'm okay, Doc," Seth said, with a trace of a smile that I'm sure in better moments of his life would have brightened up a room. "But you should see Leah. She's not doing so good."
"I'll do that," he said, patting Seth on the shoulder. "Tyler and Seth, I'd like you to meet Edward and Bella."
Tyler looked at us in surprised, but then scowled, but Seth just looked at us with sad eyes.
"It's nice to meet both of you," Edward said, but then turned his attention to Seth. "I'm so sorry about your mom, Seth. I'm only alive because of her."
Seth stared at him for a moment, a variety of emotions flickering across his face. However, finally his face settled into a look of sad resignation. He reached out his hand for Edward's and clasped it.
"Thank you," Seth said, quietly. "I don't hold my mom's death against you. I remember you from the cafeteria. My mom told me that if we let James continue to beat on you, we were no better than James and Caius. She was like that…"
"I'm still sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through," Edward said.
"All of us have lost people," Seth said and then turned away before his emotions got the better of him.
Tyler stood stiffly to the side, but thankfully he'd lost the scowl once he heard Seth and Edward's talk.
"I suppose you're here to see Ben," he said, looking at Carlisle.
Ben had taken over leadership of the group once they'd moved into Camden Head. Carlisle told us that Ben didn't want the job, but things just weren't getting done with everyone free to do what they wanted.
"Yes. Could you get him?" Carlisle said.
Tyler unclipped a walkie-talkie from his belt and held it to his mouth.
"Ben? Ben? Come in…" he said.
"Tyler? What's up?" a voice came through the static.
"Doc's here and he's brought visitors… Edward and Bella."
There was a moment of silence before Ben spoke.
"Bring them up."
Following behind Tyler, we walked up flight after flight of stairs. At each landing, we could see through security doors into hallways lined with apartments. In many of the hallways, the space between apartments were full of things like drying laundry, baskets of supplies. It was clear that families were using even the hallways as part of their homes. In one of the hallways, I saw two little children chasing each other back and forth.
It was clear that the space wasn't working for the number of people living here. If they were able to leave the building from time to time, it would be a different story, but even on our way to Camden Head we had to avoid a herd of dead that were moving through town. With no escape from the concrete building, it was claustrophobic inside.
Finally, we reached the top floor where Ben and Angela's apartment was located along with Seth and Leah's.
Ben was waiting for us at the top of the stairs.
He looked a lot different than the last time we'd seen him. His hair was no longer the trim brush cut that he'd worn when I'd first met him. Now, it was shaggy and unkempt looking. His glasses had a piece of type holding the frame together, giving him a nerdish appearance. However, behind the glasses his eyes looked tired. Not just physically, but mentally. His role as leader was clearly weighing on him.
"Welcome to our home," he said, looking at us with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Sorry for the mess. We're still getting adjusted to the space problem."
"We're happy to be here," Edward said. "Sorry it has taken me so long to visit. I only just recovered."
It was clear that Ben knew that Edward's words weren't completely the truth. The truth was that Edward and I had been avoiding this place. However, Ben chose to ignore it.
"Let me show you around," Ben said.
After briefly showing us around the inside of the building, Ben led us up the roof. On the way, he explained to us the difficulties he was having feeding his people.
They still had some of the canned goods from the Del Monte warehouse, but that wasn't going to last them through the winter. They had found a few farms that still had produce, but again it wouldn't last. They wanted to venture further out into the surrounding area, but with the loss of two of their people during their discovery of the Del Monte warehouse, people were nervous. However, the one good thing was that they had a woman named Mrs. Esther Cope who had grown up on a farm and had a lot of techniques on how to preserve food so that they could stretch some of the crops they'd found for a good part of the winter. It wasn't enough, but it was all they had.
While the building itself was chaotic, the roof of the building had a clear organization. There were large buckets used to collect rain water in the left corner, a small garden in raised planters in the center as well as a small fire that had a large metal cauldron full of boiling water sitting in it. On the right side in the direct sun, was what looked like cafeteria tray carts. However, instead of dirty cafeteria trays filling the racks, there were window screens covered in netting.
A thin elderly woman with hunched shoulders and wispy salt-and-pepper hair pulled into a messy bun stood in the center of the roof talking to a group of young people who surrounded her. From this distance, I couldn't hear what she was saying, but from her gestures I could tell that she was giving them orders.
Ben led us over to her just as the people who surrounded her parted and went about the jobs that she'd designated for them.
"Mrs. Cope," Ben called out as we approached.
She turned towards us and squinted, one hand shading her eyes. She had a square weathered looking face that looked like she'd lived a hard life, but as we got closer her inquisitive hazel eyes contradicted her frail appearance.
I wondered as I looked at her how she'd survived. She didn't look capable of defending herself against the dead and she wasn't someone that I expected James would have found useful.
As we reached her, she swiped at her long pleated skirt, getting rid of the dust and dirt that covered it and then spoke.
"Who have you brought up here Ben? You know I don't like people getting in the way," she stated.
"Mrs. Cope. This is Bella and Edward. They're part of Emmett and Rosalie's group-"
He was interrupted by Mrs. Cope turning towards a teenage boy with blonde spiky hair.
"Put them on here," she said, gesturing towards the cafeteria tray cart "But make sure you cover them with the netting, Mikey. You don't want the bugs eating them all up."
He was placing slices of the green tomatoes on what looked like a window screen.
"Let me get another screen," she said, wiping the sweat from her forehead and starting to hobble towards the door.
"I'll get it Gran," a woman said, moving past us and heading towards the door that led off the roof.
Ben tried to get her attention again.
"Mrs. Cope. This is Edward and Bella. They're a part of Doc's crew," he said.
The woman stopped watching what the boy Mike was doing and looked at us.
"So these are the people that Doc abandoned us for," she said, baldly. Then, she squinted at Edward.
"I know you. You're the one that Sue got herself killed over," she said, somewhat harshly.
Edward opened his mouth to respond, but before he could she started shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, young man. That was unkind. We're all still a little raw about her death. James is the bastard that's caused all this. I saw how he beat you to a bloody pulp… If I were younger, I'd probably have done the same as Sue. James is a beast that deserves a special place in hell," she said sharply.
"Every morning, I thank Sue for saving my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. I can't begin to express how sad I am that she lost her life in order to save me," Edward said, his voice getting quieter as he spoke.
Ben cleared his throat interrupting the tense moment.
"Doc's here if there's anyone you know that needs him," Ben said.
"Doc's got to do something with Leah," Mrs. Cope said with a frown. "I know she's grieving her mother, but how she's behaving isn't good for her or anyone else."
Ben nodded.
Mrs. Cope looked at us with a thoughtful look on her face.
"You'll probably be meeting the girl later. Don't take what she says to heart. She's not herself. She's actually quite a sweet girl," she said and patted Edward on the shoulder before turning back to Ben.
"Also, make sure Doc checks in with Tanya and Victoria. They're having a lot of trouble with the morning sickness, poor duckies… having babies in this world…"
Edward jerked at her last statement and I looked at him in surprise. However, he smothered his shock quickly.
"Let me introduce you to the others up here," Ben said, gesturing us towards where the boy Mike and another guy and girl were busy slicing and drying tomatoes.
"This is Mike Newton, Claire Young, and Quil Ateara" Ben said.
The three teenagers looked up at us in surprise, not used to meeting strangers.
"Guys, this is Edward and Bella. They're part of Doc's group," Ben continued.
The boy named Mike had pale blonde hair, light blue eyes and what I considered a baby-face. He was probably not a whole lot younger than me, but the exuberant look on his face made me feel that we were ages apart.
"Wow," Mike said with a broad grin as he looked at me. "I never thought I'd meet anyone my age ever again, especially not someone so beautiful."
I felt Edward bristle next to me, so I reached out and took his hand reassuringly.
Seeing our clasped hands, the excitement extinguished in Mike's eyes, replaced by a friendly smile.
"Oh well," he said with a shrug. "I'll just scratch another one off my list."
Edward let go of my hand only to drape his arm around my shoulder in a possessive gesture.
Claire was a beautiful girl who was probably close to Mike's age, but a lot more reserved. She greeted us with a friendly but quiet "hello" before turning back to her work.
Quil echoed Claire's hello, but continued to look us over, focusing most of his attention on Edward. After sizing Edward up, Quil stepped closer to Claire and whispered something to her as he helped her cover a screen with netting before putting it on the tray rack.
"I feel like I've just stepped into some teen drama," Ben said with a smirk. "Sorry about Mike. I don't think the apocalypse has changed him much."
Ben then led us down two stories.
"I'd like to introduce you to some of the older members of our group. They've been spending their time pouring over maps, looking for a better location for us," he said, with a frown. "But so far no such luck."
Knocking twice on an apartment door, Ben stepped inside, gesturing for us to follow.
At a large kitchen table, three men stood close together hunched over a map.
As we entered, almost as one they stood up straight and looked at us.
"Bella, Edward, this is Carl Bammer, Aro Volturi, and Arnold Clapp. Three of our seniors," Ben said with a grin.
"You better shut your trap, young man," the man Ben pointed out as Carl Banner said with a grin.
"Carl is our military man," Ben said, the grin not leaving his face.
"Retired military man… don't forget the retired part," Carl bantered.
The man called Aro stepped forward and offered his hand to me and then Edward, ignoring the friendly joking going on between Carl and Ben.
"I'm pleased to meet you. My name is Aro Volturi."
Aro had jet-black hair smoothed back off his forehead and pale white skin that stood out in stark contrast to his hair. He was quite a handsome man for his age, even with his large hook nose and eyes that were slightly too far apart.
"It's nice to meet you to Mr. Volturi."
"Oh please, call me Aro, my dear" he said with a smile.
"What have you guys been working on?" Ben said, stepping towards the table where maps were laid out.
"Well, we've found a couple of locations that we might want to look for food. Mrs. Cope said it's the time of year that corn, squash, turnips and other root vegetables are ready to harvest and this town here," the man named Arnold Clapp said, pointing on the map, "is known for its corn fields. That's pretty well what the whole town does."
"The problem is," Carl said, "it's a fair distance away and we don't have enough fighters. It's a dangerous trip and we've got mostly teenagers in our group."
"How many people do you think we'd need?" Ben asked.
"I'd feel good with eight," Carl responded. "Four for each vehicle."
Ben hauled out a small notebook and a pencil from his pocket and started writing.
"Well, let's make a list. There's me, and you and Arnold," Ben said, looking at Carl. "Then, we have Liam, Tyler, Jared, and Embry… If Leah were in a better state of mind, she's a good shot too."
Aro joined the conversation at this point.
"I think you're forgetting gentleman that if you take all of our fighters on this supply run, who's going to protect this place?"
Listening to them discuss back and forth how many men they could part with for the trip, Edward tugged me aside.
"What do you think?" he whispered.
"About what?" I asked.
"We need more food too, Bella. Maybe we should team up with them and get a share of the crop," he said.
"I don't know, Edward…" I said, reluctant to get involved with these people.
"We won't survive the winter without more food and Mrs. Cope seems to know how to preserve crops. We could get some advice from her if we help to supply food for her camp too."
I nodded, understanding what he was saying.
"We have to discuss it with everyone else," I said, quietly.
Edward nodded in return and then turned back to the conversation.
Edward cleared his throat next to me, getting the attention of the men.
"I'd have to discuss it with my group, but we have several members in our community that are decent fighters. They may be interested in joining you on a supply run. We won't make it the winter without more food too," he said, hesitantly.
I couldn't deny that our family needed more food to survive the winter and it was almost impossible for us to scavenge for food on our own when we had to patrol the walls night and day.
"Well, that is an interesting proposition… What do you think, Ben? Can we trust these people?" Carl asked.
Ben looked at us, thinking out his answer carefully.
"Doc vouches for them and Edward and his crew treated us fairly by leading us to this place. I think we can trust them to live up to their word."
"Well, we won't be able to leave for a couple days. Let's make it three. We need to make sure that everything here is secure before leaving for a few days. So, let's say you think it over and then let Doc know," Carl said, crossing his arms across his chest.
"We can do that," Edward said.
With that settled, Ben gestured for us to follow him out of the room and down the hall.
"Let's go see Angela. She'd kill me if I let you go without seeing her," he said as he led us to the end of the hall.
With three sharp raps on the door, a soft voice called for us to come in.
The apartment was the same basic set up as Jasper and Alice's had been.
There were four women in the apartment, Angela and three other women. Angela stood up and came over to us, pulling both of us into a hug.
"Edward, Bella, It's so great to see you," she said with a smile. "Edward, you look so much better than the last time I saw you."
Edward smiled at her with his charming lopsided grin.
"It's good to see you too Angela. I'm surprised you recognized me. I was a mess when you met me," he said.
One of the other women stood up when Edward spoke and turned quickly towards us.
She was so beautiful that it made my stomach hurt. She had blond curls with strawberry tint to it and slanted green eyes. Her features were delicate with a small turned-up nose and full lips.
"Edward is that you?" she asked, with wide eyes.
I turned to Edward in astonishment.
"Hi, Tanya," he said in a tone that I didn't understand, but I knew wasn't good.
His jaw was clenched and his eyes flashed angrily before he got it under control.
"I can't believe you made it out the camp alive!" she said, happily as she came around the couch and walked up to us. "I never thought I'd see you again."
With her pregnant belly distended, Tanya couldn't quite pull Edward into a hug, but even that amount of contact caused Edward to flinch.
I looked at her curiously, trying to figure out why her name sounded so familiar.
Then, it hit me. Edward had told me about her. Tanya was Garrett's daughter.
One of the other women stood up and eyed us with fascination. She was the complete opposite of Angela and Tanya. There was something wild about her with her brilliant orange hair full of chaotic curls and in the way her eyes flickered edgily around the room. Her pale blue eyes and sharp features only added to her unnerving appearance.
"Is this a family reunion?" she asked in a high singsong voice, almost like a little girl's.
"No. Edward and I go way back," Tanya said with a look directed at Edward that would have made me defensive if I didn't know the backstory.
"Right… we have history…" Edward said, but there was no light in his eyes.
Tanya looked at him in confusion and then stepped away.
Angela looked back and forth between them in confusion, before trying to lighten the tension in the room.
"Bella, Edward, I'd also like you to meet Victoria," she said, gesturing towards the red-haired pregnant woman and towards a woman who was sitting in a rocking chair facing us "and Leah."
Leah was beautiful in an exotic way–perfect copper skin, glistening black hair, eyelashes like feather dusters framing chestnut brown eyes. However, her stare was vacant as she ignored everything around her and stared out the window.
Angela stepped away from us and walked over to Leah and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Leah? Leah? We have visitors," she said gently.
Leah blinked and seemed to come back to reality.
"What?" she asked.
"This is Bella and Edward," Angela said, gently.
The minute Edward's name slipped out of Angela's mouth, Leah's eyes flashed towards us.
Barely contained fury suddenly poured out of her as she glared at Edward.
"It's you! It's your fault!" she practically yelled.
"Leah… Leah, calm down," Ben said.
However, instead of calming down, Leah stood up and rushed towards us with a look of hatred in her eyes.
Edward took a step back as Ben stepped between him and Leah.
"Get Doc," Ben said to Angela. Angela rushed out of the room with a resigned expression on her face.
Leah struggled violently against Ben, trying to get past him.
I grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him out of the room.
However, before we were out of the room, the high-pitched voice of Victoria spoke,"Come back soon. The madhouse is always looking for new recruits," she said with a giggle.