THIRTEEN
As the first hint of sunrise began to peek over the horizon, Kate emerged from the kitchen pantry she had barricaded herself into and surveyed her surroundings. She crept around the first floor of the home, gazing out the windows from every angle to make sure the home was not surrounded by El Capitan or any of his thugs. When she found it clear, she returned to the kitchen, which was the best lit room of the house, and examined the wounds in her arms and legs.
Well, they didn't look much better, but thanks to the isopropyl alcohol she'd found under a bathroom sink, they didn't look worse either. She retrieved the bottle from where she'd left it and used a kitchen towel to apply more to her gashed and scrapes. The feeling was not quite as searing as it had been the night before, but it still was unpleasant and she gritted her teeth throughout, knowing that an infection would be almost as bad as not finding any water as quickly as possible.
The prior evening, Kate had run until her lungs burned and her wounded legs ached. After a ten second break behind a tree, she'd taken off running once more and continued to move forward until it became almost too dark for her to safely see. Thankfully, she had not come across any zombies in that time, nor had any of El Capitan's people found her. She hoped that she was not worth enough for them to track after—especially in the dark—but had still hidden herself and stayed awake listening for signs of a potential attack for the entire night.
Despite her tragic situation, she did have one small bit of luck. In addition to the isopropyl alcohol and a handful of bandages, the house she'd chosen for a bunker also had jeans and a t-shirt that fit her reasonably well, which were a welcome replacement from her soiled shorts and tank, even with the summer heat.
After bandaging up her deepest wounds and finding a bag in which to carry two spare bandages and the alcohol, Kate set off along the neighborhood streets. That morning, she had two very important goals. First, find water and food, preferably in that order. Second, find a point from which to orient herself. Thanks to the blindfold she had no idea of the direction in which El Capitan's men had taken her. She knew her starting point was approximately twenty miles north of Philadelphia, but could not get any more specific than that—not that it mattered if she had no idea what direction she'd traveled from there. She was hoping to reach a main road that would have directional mileage signs. Given her battered state, the closer she was to Philadelphia, the better.
Making her way down a street she hoped led towards a main road, Kate searched every house she came across for food and water, but found them all to be almost entirely bare. Given the fact that most of the homes had shattered windows and kicked in doors, this did not surprise her, but she was banking on finding a stray can of soup or, really, any canned item, but all she found were unusable dry goods: rice, beans, and some flour.
By the time she reached the main road it was mid-morning. The day was overcast, but humid, making her thirst persist. After passing two street signs displaying names of locations she did not recognize, Kate felt extreme weariness settling into her body, right down into her bones. The prior-forty eight hours had been utterly exhausting; the emotional and physical stress she'd been subjected to had only been made worse by the fact that her dietary needs had not been met. She had hopefully picked up a water bottle thinking it was at least partially full only to find out the interior was merely dotted with condensation more times than she cared to count, each one of them etching away at her already fragile state.
Standing there, on the side of a road in the middle of what she presumed to be Pennsylvania, Kate had never regretted her decision to leave the treehouse more. Had she not made that decision, she, Rick, and Tux would have been safe at that very moment. They would have had food and water. They would not have been attacked and robbed multiple times. They would have been fine.
Rationally, she knew their safe haven would not have lasted forever, especially when it came to food, but that moment was not one filled with rational thought for Kate. She didn't give a damn about being rational. All she wanted was a drink and something to eat. Hell, she would have even taken the pork rinds she rejected months earlier as long as they came with a full bottle of water.
In the midst of her internal scorning about leaving the treehouse, Kate had stopped walking without realizing. When she became aware of her lack of progress, she decided a five minute break was warranted. Lifting her feet off the ground as much as her weary brain would allow, Kate shuffled her way towards the nearest tree and collapsed against it. She slid down to the ground and sat with her feet flat. Then, she bowed her head forward and forehead against her knees. Five minutes; all she needed was five minutes.
"I really cannot thank you enough for doing this." From his position in the front passenger seat Rick glanced at both Pete and his wife Jessica in turn. In the end, it hadn't taken much to convince them to go on a search and rescue mission; his impassioned speech had won them over. Before venturing out that morning they had warned him that their quest would more than likely fail. Rick understood the risks; he knew they might never find her even if they searched a week, and he had been only granted one days' use of a vehicle, but he knew he could never live with himself unless he tried.
Before setting out, the three of them had met with Luke and he had shown them a map of where they were, still almost twenty miles north of Philadelphia, and where he believed El Capitan's compound to be located. Luke once again reiterated that he did not want to get close enough to ruffle El Capitan's feathers, but Rick insisted they wouldn't have to. Kate was smart and resourceful and he was more than willing to bet that she had somehow managed to escape her captors and was on the run somewhere in the surrounding area.
"Even if that's the case, we're talking about a hundred square miles," Luke had said.
"I know," Rick returned, "but we have to at least try."
And try they had practically since first light. They'd driven up and down most every main road to the south of the compound and at midday were moving on to those to the west. With each abandoned stretch of blacktop, Rick's optimism began to fade. Even if they drove right past her there was no guarantee they would find her. She might be fearful of El Capitan's group and thus be hiding behind a tree or in a building. He had his window rolled down in hopes she might see him, but there was still no guarantee.
"It's really no problem, Rick; we're glad to help. Or try to help, anyway." Jessica told him while giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "How long have you and Kate been together?"
In response to the question, Rick almost laughed. Had it been a year earlier, he would have thought himself insane for falling irrevocably in love with a woman after barely more than two months together, but the circumstances were far from ordinary. From the start they'd spent every waking hour together, bringing them much closer than two people in a traditional relationship. Add on top of that their obvious connection and the life threatening circumstances surrounding them on a day to day basis, and it had simply happened.
"Only a few months. We met after it all happened. She saved my life…twice, actually," he said referring to both the imminent zombie attack and the fact that without her he had a limited desire to continue on without his mother and daughter.
Jessica smiled. "That's so sweet. I'm glad you two were able to find each other though all of this."
"Thanks. Me too. I—wait stop!" Rick should when something along the side of the road caught his eye. "Stop! Stop the car!"
Pete did as instructed while asking, "What is it?"
Had it not been for the pale blue color of the jeans, he might have missed the petite figure huddled against the tree, but he saw it—her, judging by the brown hair curtaining down over the folded arms. After sending a silent prayer heavenward, Rick reached for the door handle only to be stopped by Pete.
"It might not be her; it might be one of them."
Rick expression remained steadfast. "I have to check." With that, he popped open the door handle and slid from the vehicle. He was still several hundred feet from the figure, so he crept as gently as he could with his heart slamming violently against his rib cage. "Please don't be a zombie; please don't be a zombie…" He repeated under his breath. He knew finding her undead would be far worse than simply finding her dead, though of course neither scenario was preferable.
When Rick was about a hundred feet away, he called out softly, "Kate?" but the figure didn't move. This led him to believe that the crumpled figure was not a zombie, for one of those surely would have roused with the combination of his noise and scent (or however else zombies detected their victims).
"Kate? It's me: Rick."
He crept continually closer, but still the figure did not rouse. Now barely a dozen feet from her, Rick contemplated his next action. In case she was armed, he did not want to touch her and end up starling her for fear of her accidentally injuring one or both of them. He searched for a stick with which to nudge her foot, but he found none. Instead, he found a rock, which he pitched at a nearby speed limit sign. When the rock and sign connected, an unpleasant clang was made which, thankfully, roused the delirious woman on the ground. Rick dropped to his knees.
"Kate? Hey, Kate; it's me?"
With a sluggish gaze, her eyes turned towards him and focused, though barely. "Rick? Is-is-that-"
"Woah hey, hey." He dove quickly to her side when he noticed her head beginning to bob. "You're okay, Kate; you're going to be okay."
Rick took a moment to cradle his body against hers and try his best not to break down in tears. He'd found her! He'd actually found her! The odds had been almost impossibly stacked against them, but once again they'd conquered them together. His emotional state caused his limbs to begin to tremble, but he knew he needed to hang on long enough to get her to safety.
With all the strength he could muster, he scooped Kate up from the ground and hurried back to the truck as quickly as he could. Jessica had moved to the front passenger seat to give him room to slide Kate into the back. Once they were both settled, Jessica handed back a bottle of water with the cap off and Rick accepted it with a thank you.
Cradling Kate's head as best he could due to the awkward angle, Rick held the bottle to her mouth and poured a small amount through her cracked lips. He waited a few moments and then repeated the process again. On the third time around she grumbled something he could not understand, but he did manage to rouse her enough to let her take a longer drink from the bottle. Then, she settled back against him and he pressed his lips to her head, trying his best not to cry in front of the practical strangers.
From his position behind the wheel, Pete shook his head disbelievingly. "That's one lucky lady."
"Who isn't in great shape, either." Jessica added, pointing towards her forearms.
Rick gazed down and saw the blood covered bandages and cursed beneath his breath. He hated to see her injured, but now that they were together, she was safe. She would be okay; they both would.
"Let's get out of here."
Pete silently nodded, did a U-turn in the middle of the street, and headed back towards the country club.
Kate opened her eyes and found herself staring up at a pure white ceiling. She was inside. Somewhere inside. Oh god—where was she!?
Fear clutching her chest, she sat immediately upright and gasped until a hand came to rest gently on her arm.
"Kate, Kate; you're okay; you're safe."
Kate glanced to her left and saw the most incredible sight she had seen in quite some time: Rick, smiling at her. She remained too stunned to respond verbally so he lifted his hand from her arm and cradled her jaw. "Do you think you could drink a little more now? I don't want you to get sick. You can have some fruit, too. It's canned, but the sugar should actually help you feel better."
Still too amazed to really process his words she merely said his name softly. He smiled grew wider.
"Yes, it's me; you're safe Kate. Do you remember what happened?"
"Remember…" She echoed him and lowered her gaze to her lap so she could think back. She had been running away from El Capitan, hidden in a house, and then she remembered walking, but everything was fairly hazy. She did, however, remember a distinct set of blue eyes. "You found me?"
He nodded and gave her left hand a squeeze. "You were passed out on the side of a road. I'm guessing you hadn't had anything to eat or drink since you'd been taken from the garage…"
She shook her head. "No, no I hadn't…"
He gave her hand a solid squeeze. "Did they hurt you, Kate? We saw your arms and then when I undressed you I saw your legs."
She shook her head. "No, no; I did that to myself—had to climb over a barbed wire fence to escape."
The writer's eyes grew wide. "Barbed wire? Jesus. Well, here, you can tell me all about it, but drink this first." He held a cup of water before her and she took it, gulping it down greedily. It did not taste quite as good as the cooled water from the mini-fridge in the treehouse, but it was damn close. Once her cup was drained, he passed over a small plastic dish of pineapples with a plastic spoon in it. Normally, she was not a huge pineapple fan, but as she was contemplating eating the dish itself, she happily munched down on the sweet, juicy fruit. She even poured the remaining juice into her mouth once she'd finished.
Rick smiled at he took the dish from her. "Feel better?"
"Getting there, but a hug would help."
He chuckled and slid from the chair on which he sat to the edge of her cot. "You got it."
Kate wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tucked her face into his neck. Feeling the stubble there brush against her nose sent tingles down her spine. She had feared she would never see him again; that they would never be able to find each other, but he had rescued her. Given how they met, that felt entirely appropriate. She kissed the underside of his jaw before saying, "Thank you for finding me."
"Hey, I had to keep my promise, right? We're in this thing together; always."
Kate stayed in his embrace for several minutes before pulling back and brushing her lips against his. Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer she asked, "So where are we? The save haven in Philadelphia?"
"Ah, no; we didn't make it there, assuming it actually exists. These people didn't know anything about it when I asked, but they're kind of isolated. We're actually on a golf course. Well, in the clubhouse of a country club that has a golf course—bout twenty miles north of Philly."
"'They?'" she questioned, curious. "Who's 'they?'"
"This community of people; there are about seventy of them." Rick then briefed her on the situation surrounding his encounter with the group and their subsequent plan that ended in her rescue.
Kate nodded and considered the information. Of course she was grateful to the group of heroes who had not only kept her boyfriend safe, but afforded him the opportunity to find her; to enable them to stay together. Yet, she could not help but worry about a long-term solution to their recent homelessness. After everything, she was not terribly keen on getting right back on the road.
"Do you think they'll let us stay here?"
He brought one of her hands up to his lips and held it there for a moment. Then, lowering it from his mouth, he held it against his chest while stroking her wrist delicately with his thumb. "Well, they're not kicking us out tonight. You just need to focus on resting up and getting rehydrated; we both do."
She nodded, knowing he was right, and leaned her body into his once more. "I know and I will I just…can't stop wondering where we'll be tomorrow and the night after that and the night after that…"
"Together." He promised her. "No matter where it is, I can guarantee that Kate; I'm never letting you out of my sight again."
She chuckled. "I might get sick of you then."
"Mmm no; no one in the history of time has ever gotten sick of me."
"Then they must have been lying to you."
"Kate!"
She laughed when he grumbled at her. After kissing the underside of his jaw she said, "Kidding. I'll never get sick of you."
"Never is a very long time, Kate." He cautioned her.
Snuggling up against him, she closed her eyes and let herself relax fully for the first time since they left the treehouse. "I know."
A/N: and you guys were worried :P
The next chapter, the final official chapter, is the epilogue of sorts and then don't forget about the alt. ending. :)
Thank you so much for all your reviews!
