The Last of Us - Forged In Hell

by IAmElvie

The Last of Us begins just prior to Sarah's birth. There are canon characters and my own. If you're a canonite, please don't read, because things aren't exactly the same as the game. My new chars can change the thoughts and feelings of some canon chars, so it's an AU.Explore bonds forged in hell. What lengths would you go to? Like all my stories it's MA only. I'm not an editor.

3. The Last of Us - Forged In Hell Ch3

The Last of Us – Forged In Hell

Chapter Three

The Descent

Joel had taken her out to a fancy seafood place for her birthday dinner. She loved seafood, especially lobster and crab legs and it had been a long time since she'd eaten them. The candlelight and atmosphere had been romantic and he'd been in top form. He'd even pulled her onto the dance floor to sway to the soft music the band had been playing. Before the date ended, he'd slipped a gold ring on her finger that had their entwined birthstones set into the Celtic knot band. It was a beautifully, perfect evening.

The doorbell pulled her from her thoughts and she hurried over to get the door, but the delivery man was already gone. Delivery men were better than kids at ding-dong ditch. She picked up the package at her feet and carried it in. At least it had arrived in before he got home. She was afraid it wouldn't get here in time for his birthday.

She looked out the back window to see Geralt blowing bubbles at Ryker, who was jumping up to catch them in his mouth. She grinned, sat down at the table and tore into the box. She took out the carry case and opened it up. Inside was nestled a modified, collapsed Oneida Kestrel along with a quiver full of twenty four arrows. Perfect. Ever since that new Arrow show came out he'd been interested in learning archery. Of course, she had no intension of telling him what she'd actually spent on the special order bow – she hoped he'd at least like it.

She'd taken Sarah and Geralt out to the mall last week to get their father gifts. Sarah ended up getting a watch that he'd been admiring ever since his had been damaged and Geralt got him a titanium dog tag locket necklace. It looked like a military style dog tag that simply said 'Miller Time' on the front, which was what they'd always called family time and his name on the back. But when opened it had a picture of Geralt and Sarah on one side and Joel's arms wrapped around her, one of their wedding pictures, on the other side. The chain was thick and they were assured that it was unbreakable.

She'd helped Geralt wrap his gift earlier - though it was obvious it was done by three year old hands, which added to the sentimentality in her eyes.

After Sarah got home from school, she wrapped her father's gift and then helped Lorianna ice the cake she'd made earlier in the day. She smiled as Sarah wrote 'Happy Birthday, daddy' on the cake and then proceeded to put twenty nine little candles all over the top.

"Hope daddy blows fast before the cake catches on fire," Sarah said with a giggle.

"Ha," she scoffed at her daughter. "My cake had only five less candles and it was fine," she reminded her.

Sarah laughed. "Mommy…your cake would have landed on the floor if daddy hadn't caught it. You were supposed to blow out the candles not use your powers."

She pointed to the cake cover next to her daughter. "Can you put the cover on your dad's cake?" She folded her arms over her chest. "In my defense, I had a little too much wine. Everyone wouldn't stop making toasts."

Sarah pursed her lips and shook her head. "I saw you, mommy –you only had a few, tiny sips."

Lorianna grinned and booped her daughter's nose. "That's all it took. I've avoided wine since finding out about your sister," she said as she rubbed a hand over her belly.

Sarah leaned over and laid her cheek against her mother's belly while she gently stroked it. "I can't wait to meet you baby sister."

Lorianna slipped a hand through her daughter's soft hair and held her against her belly. "Feel that?" she asked quietly when the baby moved in her belly. "She can't wait to meet you too."

She laughed softly and kissed her mother's belly.

"Hey, baby girl – that's my job," Joel teased as he set down his lunch tote and hugged his two girls before he settled his hand on his wife's belly. He could feel the baby moving against his hand and it filled him with warmth. "Your mommy and I are going to go upstairs for awhile, baby girl."

Sarah grinned. They did a lot of that. "Happy birthday, daddy," she said as she hugged him. "I was just about to take Ryker over to Linds house to play with Jinx. Call me when dinner's ready."

"Thank you, baby." When their daughter ran out of the kitchen he scooped his wife up in his arms and headed for the stairs.

She laughed softly. "I'm a little too big for you to be carrying, Joel."

"Hush now, you're not heavy." He groaned in pain and staggered a step backwards. "My back…" He grinned at her look of concern. "Just kidding."

"You're terrible…" she complained in a mock grouse.

He chuckled. "That's not what you're going to be saying in a few minutes."

"Promises…promises…" she murmured.

And he had been right. Many words had escaped her lips in his loving embrace, but terrible had not been one of them.

After dinner, Tommy, Laura, Mama Nell, Lindsey, Amber, Mark, and baby Darcy came over to celebrate Joel's birthday. Papa Will was pulling a double shift at the hospital and couldn't join them. More and more people were coming into the hospital, affected by crops that were even now being newly discovered and recalled – or so they were told.

Joel wished things would never change and blew out the candles. He got a bottle of whiskey inside a plastic barf toilet from Tommy, a pair of satellite phones from Laura – and as with anything Laura did, it was not cheap. He got a new heavy Leather jacket from Mama Nell and Papa Will, and a nice swiss army knife from Ams and Mark. From Lindsey he got a framed picture of her, Sarah and Geralt all dressed up as Jedi. All the adults, but the pregnant wives, had whiskey with their cake. When only Tommy and Laura remained, Tommy pulled Joel off to the side.

"Rumor has it the contractor is shaving costs and wants to use inferior product. That true, Joel?" Tommy asked quietly.

Joel raked a hand through his hair. "How did you - yes, it's true. I don't know what I'm going to do, Tommy. I don't want our name associated with poor quality, but we can't lose this contractor," he said motioning to their very pregnant wives. "I'm tryin' to talk him around. I'll let you knowhow things go tomorrow after I've met with him again."

Tommy looked at him intently for a moment and nodded. In the end, he knew his brother would do the right thing. After a round of hugs, he and Laura left.

He stretched and sat down on the sofa with his family. He'd saved the best for last. He opened Geralt's gift first, smiling over the adorably horrible wrapping attempt. He blinked when he saw the dog tag, his name engraved into it. Were they expecting him to die and wanted his body identifiable?Heturned it over to see Miller Time on the opposite side and grinned. He ran his finger over the engraving. His wife had started that saying and it would always be a part of their family.

"Open…daddy. Open," Geralt said as he pointed to the necklace.

He was stunned when he realized it was a locket. "I didn't know they made these for men…" His heart warmed when he saw the pictures held within. The picture of Sarah and Geralt was new, he'd never seen it before, but it had to have been taken recently. The picture of him and his wife brought back memories of their wedding…and when they sneaked off behind the hedge. "It's perfect," he said in an emotion clogged voice. He slipped the thick chain over his neck and hugged his son, smothering his face in little kisses until he giggled.

He picked up Sarah's gift. "Drum roll…"

Sarah started drumming on the table as her father unwrapped it. She stopped the drum roll when he lifted the lid. "You were complaining about your broken watch…so I thought….Do you like it?" she asked uncertain about his expression.

He put the watch on his wrist and bit back a grin. He sent a brief wink to his wife. "Honey, it's nice…but I-" He shook his wrist, held it up to his ear and then tapped the face of the watch with his finger. "I think it's stuck. It's not…"

"What? No…no..no..no…" Sarah grabbed his arm to take a closer look at it. When she saw it working she gave his arm a slight shove. "Oh, ha-ha."

"Thank you, baby – but where did you get the money for this?"

Sarah settled back into the sofa. "Drugs. I sell hard core drugs."

Joel blinked and bit back a laugh. "Oh good, you can start helping out with the mortgage then."

"Stsh," she scoffed. "Yeah, you wish." Sarah quipped as she stroked Ryker's head.

The last gift was large and he was clueless as to what it could be. He picked it up. It was far too heavy to be clothing. He glanced at his wife and noticed she was rubbing her head. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

She wasn't. She had an overwhelming sense of dread that she couldn't shake. Confusion, pain and anger clawed at her, but they weren't her emotions - she just wasn't sure where it was coming from. She shook her head, "I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache." She didn't want to ruin his birthday. "Go on…open your gift."

He studied her a moment and then nodded. Once he had the paper off, he still couldn't figure out what might be in the case. He released the latches and opened it up. He blinked. It was obvious what the quills and arrows were, but he couldn't see how that small, rectangular thing could ever be a bow, though he could see bow string wound through it. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand, still trying to figure out what to make of it. He noticed a button near his thumb and depressed it, hoping he didn't cause it to fall apart or something. The compact item sprang out into a wicked looking bow and his jaw dropped. "You're shitting me…"

"Joel!" she warned, her hand flew to her mouth to hold back a laugh.

"Sorry," he said barely sparing her a glance. He'd never seen a bow quite like it before. It looked somewhat like a hybrid between a compound bow and a recurve. He hit the button again and it folded back into itself. "Holy…sugar….," he said with a glance at his son. He set it back in its case, closed it and kissed his wife. "I can't wait to try it out."

They tucked the kids in, set up the sat-phones and then went to bed themselves. Sleep did not come easy for Lorianna. Screams of torment plagued her dreams until she woke up in a cold sweat. Papa Will. Shadows assailed her and she had to pushthe distraction aside to focus on Papa Will. She grabbed her phone and dialed him…there was no answer. She shook her husband. "I'll be right back." At his mumble she rolled out of bed and pulled on her protective suit and grimaced when she couldn't fasten it over her belly. While the back of the tunic was capable of stretching to some degree, it wasn't made for a pregnant woman. She slipped a t-shirt on and then fastened her tunic on over it as far as she could. The material had shielding capabilities and some protection was better than none.

She slipped on her magbelt, arm and throat bands and stepped into her thigh-high boots and buckled them up. She attached her lightsabers and small med kit, and a vile of bacta to her magbelt and hurried downstairs. "Stay," she told Ryker as she hurried outside to the SUV. Traffic was heavier than normal and cop cars, with flashing, lights flew by her. She passed the hospital, which was crammed with cars. He wasn't there. She turned in the direction of Austin and picked up speed.

Confusion. Pain…there was such pain…but she knew it wasn't hers. On the outskirts of Austin she saw an ambulance wrapped around a tree. No. No. No. She pulled over and ran to the side door. Bloody handprints scored the windshield and she couldn't see through it. The door was held tightly closed by a heavy branch.

She circled to the back, but the double doors were locked from within. Why would they have locked them? She focused on the branch, tossed it to the side and then yanked on the doors with her power. They flew open and banged against the sides of the ambulance. It looked like a warzone inside the ambulance. The driver had been flung to the floor, his throat torn open. He hadn't died instantly; there were handprints and signs of struggle everywhere. Papa Will had his face buried in the belly of a man strapped down on a gurney. "No..." She took a step back. Oh god. Not Papa Will.

He slowly lifted his head to look at her and his fingers curled in with the need to rend the flesh from her body. "Noooooaah…." he wailed in a hoarse, gravelly voice. When she took a step back the urge to pounce on her felt like razor blades clawing at his head. His body began to shake, trying to force him to take action on the building need. "Kill meee…." He rasped.

She could see the agony is his bloodshot eyes, shook her head and took an unsteady step back. Her heart couldn't take the pain. Not him…god, not him. "Papa Will…." Tears slid down her cheeks. He had been the one to lock the doors, to keep himself caged and others safe from him.

His hands rose to his head as a new wave of pain ripped through him. A chunk of hair and scalp tore free as his nails sank in. "Kill meee…." he implored her, each word punctuated with a spray of blood from his lips. He lowered his hands to grip the side of the bed and the railing along the ambulance's side and raised his head to expose his neck.

She wiped her eyes, her breath coming in shuddering gasps. She'd never had to kill anyone she cared about and her hand shook as she pulled her lightsaber free from her belt and ignited it. She could see the toll it was taking on him to fight the infection. His body twitched and shuddered and his throat muscles bulged. "Papa Will…I love you. Be one with life." She threw her lightsaber and closed her eyes, unable to watch its deadly arch. She heard his head slide off his shoulders and fall to the floor of the ambulance. She caught her weapon as it came back to her, the hilt heavy in her hand, and sank to her knees, unable to cope with the loss.

She gave into the crushing pain that overwhelmed her, her body wracked with harsh sobs until she felt numb and empty inside. Oh god…Joel…her family. She pushed herself to her feet and forced herself to remove the heads of the two men in the ambulance, because she didn't know if they would turn into whatever those things were.

She hopped into the SUV and peeled away from the ambulance towards their home. She saw Joel's truck in the drive and released a steadying breath. Maybe they were still sleeping. Maybe they didn't know. She glanced next door and saw lights on in Mama Nell's house. She did not look forward to breaking more hearts. Amber had begged Papa Will to resign, but he couldn't desert people in need. She'd understood at the time, because she couldn't either…but now she'd wished he had. The price he paid had been too great.

She stepped into the house, but only silence greeted her. "Ryker?" she called out softly trying to force down the unease. But there was no wagging butt to greet her. She hurried over to Geralt's room, because he sometimes slept in there. She came to a halt and ice filled her veins when she saw the shattered glass and the body in her son's room. It was Jimmy Cooper, a neighbor a couple of houses down. It wasn't just in Austin…it was here too…that's why the hospital had so many cars, people were bringing their loved ones in and in doing so….they were spreading the infection to everyone else in the hospital. They should have left when Amber warned them. She shook her head. No…Should have solved nothing. She needed to find her family. "Joel? Sarah?" she called out loudly.

She saw a flashing light in the kitchen and picked up Joel's phone. She could see several calls and texts had come in from Tommy. Damn it. Joel was so bad about forgetting his cell. She slipped it into her pocket, grabbed the sat-phones and Joel's bow case and sat them next to the front door before she ran upstairs. "Joel?"

She ran into their room. There was static on the TV and the bed was empty. She turned off the TV, pulled her bag with the lightsabers out of closet and swung it over her shoulder. She put Joel's guitar into its case and picked it up. It was silly and sentimental at time like this, but she would take it anyway. They already had clothing for all of them in the SUV. Just to make sure the house was empty, she ran to Sarah's room. Gone. Everyone was gone. Why couldn't she feel them?

Numb…because she was numb inside. Her brain had shut away the pain to protect her, but that's not what she needed right now. She needed to feel. She centered her focus on her family…and that was when she felt their fear…horrible, gut wrenching fear that was tinged with confusion. They were afraid, but they were alive.

She rushed down the stairs, swung the strap from the bow case over her shoulder, grabbed the sat phones and hurried out to the SUV and shoved them into the back. She called Tommy as soon as she settled in the driver's seat. "Tommy!" she could hear screams and sirens in the background and had to force herself to calm down. "Are Joel and the kids with you?" she asked as she tore out of the driveway.

"Goddamn it, this way! They're coming through!" she heard someone yell. Was that Billy?

"Angel? Meet us at highway marker 49. There was an accident, we had to split up. We're on foot. C'mon…in here….Move it!" he yelled at his wife.

She could hear the wails of the infected on top of them and she had to fight to keep the terror at bay.

"Get to the highway. Angel and Mama Nell should be there soon," Tommy told them.

Joel's mouth fell open and he took a step towards his brother. He barely had time to register the fact that his wife was safe. But he was not about to leave his brother behind. "What?"

"Go, big brother…you've got Sarah and Geralt to think about. Billy has Kate - I can out run 'em!" Tommy pointed out.

Oh hell no was she leaving her husband behind. "I'm not leaving you to them, Tommy!"

"Laura…I love you, but I can't be distracted with worry. Take Geralt," he said leaned harder against the door and put the baby down, shooing him towards his wife.

Laura scooped him up and settled him on her large belly. "Tommy…"

"I'll be fine…go!" He yelled, motioning to the back door.

She could only assume they left when there was no more discussion. "Just take a deep breath, Tommy. You've been trained well. You've got this," she said in a calm, certain voice. He needed her to be strong and have faith in him…and she would. "Do you have your lightsaber or just your blaster?"

"Both," he said with a grin. She still had a hard time calling blasters guns.

"Ok, put your phone in your shirt pocket and button it so we can remain in contact. Turn your lightsaber to full strength. Hold your lightsaber with your left hand and your blaster in your right. Don't use the blaster unless you need to." He'd been trained to use the lightsaber in either hand, but they'd not done the same for blasters. When you take your weight off the door back flip away from it to put some space between you and them." She maneuvered through stopped cars and picked up speed again. She heardthe steady thump of his landing and smiled. "Perfect, Tommy. Try not to think about what you are doing, this is just like practice and you are parrying blows and counterstriking just like you did in the garage."

He knew what she was trying to do. She didn't want him thinking about dismembering humans, but it was hard to detach his mind from what he was doing. He had two things going for him, he was riding an adrenalin rush and there was very little blood with the grisly work. When the lightsaber cut through skin and bone it felt similar to the watermelons they'd practiced on. Without that practice he may well have dropped his lightsaber when the odd sensation ran up his arm.

Even with their arms missing they lunged at him, teeth bared, as if they didn't know or didn't care. That alone helped him handle the fact that they weren't human anymore. After the last head toppled onto the floor, he doubled over vomited up what was left of his dinner until his belly heaved and nothing came up. He shut the lightsaber off, clipped it to his belt, tucked the gun into the back of his pants and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I can't believe I survived that."

"I knew you would. Now, catch up with our family, big brother. I'll be at the marker in a few minutes."

"You know, we don't actually know who is older," he pointed out as he headed for the back door.

"Maybe not, but I've accepted the birthday Joel gave me – and…you are bigger than me," she reminded him.

He grinned. It actually felt good to be called big brother for a change. "That's true. You know…I'm not sure I could have gotten through that without your…strength. You helped keep me calm and focused. Thanks, little sister."

She shook her head. "You didn't need me. It all would have settled into place, even without me," she assured him. "You're body has been honed into an instinctual weapon. If you don't over think things, it will react as it needs to – it knows what to do to survive. Just don't let your head get in the way, it will slow things down."

"Sound advice, master jedi." He heard something off in her voice and came to a stop. "You all right?"

"No," she admitted. "Papa Will…he didn't make it," she said in a strained voice. "That's why I left…I had to find him. The ambulance was wrecked…there were no survivors."

He knew she wasn't telling him everything, but the news was devastating enough. The man was like a father to him. He forced his feet to keep moving. "At least – at least we know…wait…I hear something."

-BREAK TWO-

His wife's cold side of the bed woke him up. He remembered vaguely that she'd said she'd be right back. He rolled out of bed and checked the bathroom. It was empty. He stepped into his jeans and hurried downstairs to see if Geralt had woke her up. He peeked into his son's room, he was still sound asleep.

"Where are you?" he asked softly, a tight ball of concern settled in his belly. He opened the sliding door to let Ryker out to go potty. Within a few minutes he heard a distant scream and Ryker started barking. "Get in here, boy," he ordered the dog. He could hear distant sirens. He closed the sliding door as soon as the dog came in and hurried back up the stairs to pull his shirt and shoes. He flipped the TV on and watched an emergency news broadcast as he drew his belt through the loops. The fact that they were airing anything meant that hell was breaking loose and the government was losing control. He ran back down the stairs and told the dog to stay while he slipped out the front door.

His first stop was Tommy's, but the SUV was gone and the lights were off. He knocked, but all he heard was Ra barking. He grabbed the key from under the flower pot and opened the door. "Ra…come on, boy. Let's go." He wasn't sure if Tommy would have the time to stop back home and he didn't want Ra left at home alone right now.

He locked back up and ran across the street back to his house to let Ra in the front door. He then ran over to the Hansons'. He noticed the lights were on and they were quick to answer the door. "Is my wife here, Amber?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Joel. I haven't seen her since the party. I take it she's not with Laura or Marci?"

Joel rubbed the back of his neck. "I only just woke up. I didn't think to call her." He stiffened when he heard another scream. "I know that…that wouldn't be her, but I won't feel right until I check it out. Can you call Marci for me?"

Amber bit her lip. "Sure thing. And Joe-Joe? Be careful out there. I think – I think it might be time to leave." In truth, she feared it was long past time to leave.

Joel nodded. "Thanks, Ams." He darted down the side of their house, through the walkway between their backyard fences to the street behind their houses. He turned right and ran in the direction he'd heard the scream coming from. A scream was cut off with the shattering of glass. He swung his head to the left and saw a woman crawling across the grass. It had to be old Mrs. Lincoln. He darted over to see if he could help her. Blood splattered him as he knelt down next to her. He placed his hand over the wound on her thigh that was spurting blood. Damn it. He needed to bind the wound.

She clutched at him weakly. "Coop..errrr…" The word slipped from her lips in one last raspy breath.

He wiped his hands on the grass and drew one hand down over her eyes to close them. What the hell was going on? He looked back up at the window she'd fallen out of and saw a man charging the widow. His arms didn't even rise to stop the plunge as he fell to the ground with a growl and lurched back to his feet. Joel jumped to his feet and backed away. Jimmy Cooper. That's what Mrs. Lincoln had been trying to tell him. But this was not the introverted Jimmy Cooper that worked at the airport and had been his neighbor for years. There was an odd light in the man's eyes and a snarl on his gaping mouth.

He heard a screeching growl from behind him and spun around, his arm arcing out to loop around a neck; he followed through with the motion and heard a snap and dropped the body. He stared down at the twisted face of Lisa Cooper before another growl reminded him he wasn't alone.

He wasn't a coward, but he had a family to think about and heroics were put on the back burner. He turned and ran. He should have grabbed his lightsaber or his gun…something…anything…but he hadn't known the danger and thought it was overkill. When he reached his yard he grasped the top of the six foot fence and swung himself over. Those years of training with Angel had really paid off. He stepped in through the sliding glass door in his son's room, pulled out the locked gun case and his lightsaber from his desk drawer. He clipped the lightsaber to his belt, unlocked the case, grabbed his gun and quickly loaded it before he caught sight of his daughter. "You okay, baby? Did your mom get home?"

Sarah rubbed her arms. "I'm fine. I woke up and you and mommy were both gone. I was going to check on my brother when you came in. Why is Ra here? What's going on, daddy? I saw an explosion out the window."

"Somethin' bad's happening, baby. Has anyone come in here?"

"No. Who would come in here?" she asked rubbing her arms again.

"Go grab your brother, Sarah and stay away from the doors."

"Dad…you're kinda freakin' me out," she said as she scooped her baby brother up from his bed to hold him. "What's going on?"

"It's the Coopers. Somethin' ain't right with 'em. I think they're sick." He should have told her sooner what might happen, but he hadn't wanted to frighten her over what was only a possibility.

"What kinda sick?" she asked as she looked back towards the sliding glass door. She saw a man rush forward, slam against the glass and stumble backwards. She took a step back.

"Jesus! Jimmy!" he warned. He must have broken through their backyard fence, he didn't think the man was coordinated enough to jump it.

She yelped and clutched her brother tighter to her chest. "Dad?"

"Honey, c'mere…c'mere," he said waving them behind him. Jimmy rammed the door again. "It's okay," he said when he heard her gasping. "Jimmy!" he warned again. "Just stay back - I have a gun!" But Jimmy didn't much care. The third time he slammed into the glass it shattered and he fell forward onto the floor.

Joel angled Sarah and his son towards the door, making sure to keep them behind him. "Jimmy, I'm warning you…"

"Oh, my god…" Sarah said when she saw the man get up, covered in blood, and charge them.

"Don't!' Joel yelled one final time, hoping he could reach the man and not have to shoot, but Jimmy was nearly on him when he fired the gun point blank into the man's neck. The force of the bullet propelled him backwards onto the floor. He tucked his gun into the back of his pants and plucked his son out of Sarah's arms. Not a moment later, he grasped her arm and pulled her out of Geralt's room. The dogs darted past him to attack the downed man.

"Ryker, Ra…leave it!" he shouted, not certain if the illness would affect them.

"You…you shot him…" Sarah mumbled in shock.

"Sarah-"

"I saw him this mornin'…" she murmured.

He leaned down towards her, his hand tightening on her arm. "Listen to me. There is somethin' bad going on. We have to get outta here. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah," she said softly, her body trembling with shock and fear. He saw the bright lights through the front window and heard the horn. "Maybe that's your mom. C'mon."

He swung the front door open to see Tommy.

"Where the hell have you been?" Tommy snarled. "Don't you ever bother to answer your phone? You have any idea what's goin' on out there? And where the hell is Angel?"

Laura hopped out of the passenger seat and held her hands out for Geralt. She, Sarah and the baby hopped into the back seat. She buckled him into the baby seat in the middle. "Calm down, Tommy," she said as she let the dogs jump up into the back. It would be tight until they could hook up with Angel.

"I don't know! I don't know where my wife is," he said in agitation and raked a hand through his hair. "Did you call her?"

"I did," Laura told him. "But there was no answer. I'm sure she's fine, Joel. If anyone can survive this madness, it's her. You know that."

Joel frowned. He didn't want to hear platitudes. He wanted to see his wife...hold her… know that she was okay. "It's here, Tommy. The goddamned infection is here."

"We'll follow you," Nellie called out to Tommy.

Joel blinked. "Where's Papa Will?"

Nellie frowned. "He's at the hospital. He pulled a double shift when someone called in sick."

Everyone who was sick went to the hospital. Joel sighed. "Don't you worry none, Mama Nell, we'll head to the hospital to pick him up. If we get separated head to highway mile marker 49. We'll all meet up there."

"Holy shit, you got blood all over you," Tommy said in shock when he got a closer look at his brother.

"It ain't mine. C'mon, let's get outta here," he said through a tight throat. His grip tightened on the dash as his brother pulled out of the drive. Leaving without his wife was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do.

"They're sayin' that half the people in the city have lost their minds," Tommy told him.

"Then we'll avoid cities," Joel replied. "We'll be better off in the country. I know Ams wanted to go to Alaska, but they already have snow, it's too dangerous this time of year. We'll have to consider headin' there come spring."

Tommy looked at his brother. "You gonna tell me what happened to you?"

Joel nodded. "Later," he said shooting a quick look back at his children.

"Hey, Sarah, how you holdin' up, honey?" Tommy asked her.

"I'm fine, Uncle Tommy…I am. Can we hear what's on the radio?" she inquired, needing to hear something normal…and if not normal something that might tell her more about what was going on.

"Yeah, sure thing," Tommy told her.

Laura tucked her knees into the back of Joel's seat. "Probably should have had your short legs sitting behind your daddy," she teased trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Poor, Aunt Laura. Where were you?" she asked curiously.

"We stopped off at the Shed after a late movie." She leaned forward. "We heard something," she said quietly. "Marci was attacked at Teiner's – she didn't…didn't make it."

"Ah, fuck," Joel mumbled under his breath. He wondered how many more friends would be lost to this hell.

Tommy tapped the radio. "Damn…a minute ago the newsman wouldn't shut up and now all I'm gettin' is static."

"They say where to go?" Joel asked.

"They said, ah…Army's puttin' up road blocks on the highway. No gettin' in to Travis County."

Joel nodded. "That means we need to get the hell out. Take 71 - that should get us near the hospital."

"Yup, 71, that's where I'm headed."

"They say how many are dead?" Sarah asked.

"Probably a lot. Found this one family all mangled inside their house."

"Tommy," Joel warned, grabbing his brother's arm.

Tommy glanced back at Sarah, Geralt and his frowning wife. "Right….sorry."

"Jesus Christ," Joel said when he saw a car wrapped around a light post. "They admitting how this happened?"

"Nope. They're sayin' they got no clue. But we ain't the only town. At first they were saying it was just the South. Now, they're going on about the East Coast, the West Coast…Holy hell," Tommy said when they saw a ranch house in flames on the right hand side. "That's Louis' farm. I hope that son of a bitch made it out."

"I'm sure he did," Joel replied, mostly to comfort his daughter. He didn't like her exposed to all this, but there was nothing he could do. He picked up Tommy's cell and tried to call his wife. But there was no dial tone. "Damn it…where the hell are you, Angel?"

"Yeah, cell reception has gotten spotty. We'll find her, Joel," Laura said as she patted his shoulder.

"Mommy," Geralt said.

Joel turned around to look at his son. "We'll find her, baby boy."

Geralt stuck out his lower lip. "Mommy scared. Feel mommy…mommy scared." His brows drew together, fat tears slipped from his eyes to roll down his cheeks. "Sad…broken…mommy-"

His heart squeezed painfully. He wasn't a religious man, but he was praying for her safety. "Mommy will be fine, baby."

Laura wiped his tears. "If you can feel your mommy, that means she's okay. And that means she knows you're okay. She'll be here soon," she assured the little boy.

"Are we sick?" Sarah asked point blank.

Joel swung around to look at her. "No. no, of course not."

"How do you know?"

"They said it's just ah…people in the city. We're good," Tommy assured her.

"Didn't Jimmy work in the city?" she pointed out.

"You're right he did…at the airport. He must of caught it in the city, but we've not been to the city," Joel said matter of fact.

"We're fine," Tommy replied. He caught sight of a man and child on the side of the road. "Let's see what they need."

"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" Joel asked when his brother slowed down. "Keep drivin'."

"He has a kid, Joel."

"So do I…two of 'em, Tommy."

"Daddy…that's Billy and Kate!"

"Pull over, Tommy," Laura said. "I'll move the dogs up with us; they can squeeze in the back."

"Goddamn it," Joel mumbled. "Change places with me, Laura. You can sit in the middle and Billy can put Kate on his lap. Revan will have to go with Mama Nell."

As soon as Tommy came to a stop he and Laura got out. He patted Billy on the back. "Sorry about Marci. I'll take Revan back to Mama Nell. We don't have room for him with us. Kate will have to sit on your lap, but we can all squeeze in."

Billy sighed in relief. "Thank you…I wasn't sure what we were gonna do. Someone done drove us off the road and into a ditch. Hard to believe you drove by just when we needed you most."

Joel nodded. "Hop in."

"Kate can sit next to me – we can share a seatbelt. We're small enough," Sarah interjected.

"That's a good idea, baby." He looked down at the brindle dutch shepard. "C'mon, Revan," he said slapping his thigh. The dog followed him to the other vehicle and the rear hatch popped open by the time he got there. "In ya go." After Revan jumped up next to Jinx he lowered the hatch and hurried back to slide into the back seat next to his son. He shook his head at his daughter, who had claimed the window side. She always had to sit next to the window.

Billy noticed one person was missing. "Angel – is she…" his words trailed off.

"She's fine," Joel said a bit more sharply than he intended to. "She'll find us."

Billy nodded. He was still in shock about Marci and he was glad he did not have a friend to mourn as well. "Where are we headed?" he asked in a strained voice.

"To the hospital," Tommy said. "We need to pick up Papa Will. Then – I don't rightly know…but away from any city or town."

"Marci's sister has a ranch about 150 or so miles from here. Might be safe there," Billy said with a shrug.

An ambulance passed them, lights and sirens screaming. "Maybe Papa Will was in there," Sarah said as she watched the ambulance go by.

"We'll find out when we get to the hospital, honey," Laura said quietly.

"No… Papa Will…" Geralt said with a shake of his head. "Not in amblance…not here…" Tears fell from his eyes.

Sarah reached across Kate and patted his arm. "It's okay, Ger…we'll find Papa Will."

Geralt shook his head, his lower lip trembling. "Not here…"

Tommy slowed down when they ran into cars that were lined up bumper to bumper. "Oh…this is bad. Everyone and their mother had the same damn idea."

"Well…we could just backtrack and-" his words were cut off when a man in the car ahead of them jumped out.

"Hey, what the fuck, man? Let's go!" the man said as if his mere presence would be enough to get the traffic moving again. Another man darted onto the street, his hospital gown flapping with his movements and lunged at the man who had gotten out of his car and threw him to the ground. Another hospital patient charged up behind him and launched herself into the car to attack the passenger.

"Turn us around!" Joel yelled.

"Oh, my god…" Laura cried out in horror.

"Tommy!" Billy yelled and gave the younger man a shove to get his attention.

"Holy shit!' Tommy said throwing the SUV into reverse when one of the attackers looked up and charged his vehicle. He looked back, but Mama Nell was quick to throw her vehicle in reverse too. He spun the car to the right, the man bounced off the window next to Sarah's face.

"What the fuck just happened - did you see that?" Tommy shouted.

"Yeah, I saw it," Billy said with a shocked nod.

"That's what happened to the Cooper's," Joel admitted.

"Goddamn…" Tommy said. "Is that…"

"Later," Joel told him. "Here…turn left…."

"Good call," Tommy groused when he nearly drove into a mob of people running in their direction.

'What are they running from?" Kate asked.

"Get us outta here…" Joel frowned, they were only inching forward. "We can't stop here, Tommy!"

"I can't fuckin' drive through 'em, Joel!" Tommy growled in frustration.

"Then back up then!" Joel yelled back.

Tommy looked back. Not only was Mama Nell behind them, but so were people… "They're behind me too!"

"There!" Billy said when he noticed there was a break in the crowd and few coming their way. He pulled around the RV that was blocking most of the road.

"Look out!" Sarah screamed as headlights rushed towards her. The truck slammed into them, and the world spun out of control as the SUV flipped and landed on its side. Sarah blinked; she could hear screams, dogs barking and inhuman growls. She shook Kate.

"I'm fine," Kate said as she unbuckled their seat belt.

She reached over Kate and rubbed her brother's arm. "You okay, Ger?"

Geralt reached out for his father. "Daddy... daddy's hurt."

Sarah crawled past Kate and her brother's car seat. "Daddy?" She shook his arm. "Daddy, get up!"

"Son of a bitch…the door won't open!" Tommy yelled.

"Tommy…the front windshield…we can kick it out together and get out that way," Billy told him.

"Shield your face, honey…" Tommy told Laura and then nodded to Billy.

By the third kick the window gave way. He and Billy crawled through and then helped Laura out.

Mark and Amber ran up to them. "Is everyone okay?" Mark asked.

Tommy looked in through the window to see Joel helping Kate over the seat. He and Mark reached in to pull her out. "I think so. Get back to your truck. Meet us at the highway 49 marker. No sense losing both vehicles."

Mark spun around when he heard the growl behind them; he grabbed the lightsaber from his belt, flipped it on and arched the blade. The body dropped and the head rolled a few inches away. He shuddered.

"Go!" Tommy yelled. "We got this!"

Amber crawled in through the broken window and took Geralt from Joel's hands. "Joe-Joe…"

"Go, Ams…we'll be fine," Joel told her.

"Do you want me to take Ger?"

Joel was torn. He didn't want to let his children out of his sight. He might be safer with Ams…if they could get out of this hell and to the mile marker…but if they couldn't he'd never know what happened to his son. "No, Ams. I can't…I can't let him out of my site. Give him to Laura and you two get away while you can."

Amber frowned, but nodded. "Be careful, Joel." She backed out of the wreck and handed Geralt to Laura. "We'll see you soon." She turned when she heard the shattering of glass. Mark had kicked in the rear window to let the dogs out. "We'll take Ryker and Revan with us, if you want."

"Yes. Thanks, Ams." He didn't want to lose track of them in the crowd. He crawled over the seat and held his hand out to his daughter to pull her over. He slipped through the window and stood up, feeling out his kinks and making sure he could move. A man lunged for him, before he could even bring his arm up, his head and part of his shoulder slid from his body to the ground; the body fell a blink later. "Thanks, Billy."

"Daddy?" she called out in a tight voice.

"I'm here, baby. I'm here. Give us your hands." He and Tommy pulled Sarah from the wreck while Billy guarded their flank. She stumbled and cried out when she got to her feet. "What is it?"

She tried to put weight on it and gasped. "My leg hurts."

"How bad?"

"Pretty bad," she admitted. "I - I don't think I can walk on it."

"We're gonna need to run!" Tommy yelled.

"Tommy, take Geralt. I'll get Sarah. Lindsey, stick tight to Tommy and me. Billy stay out in front and Laura cover our asses. We'll carve our way through if we have to," Joel told them and handed Laura his gun.

She handed Geralt to her husband, tucked the gun into the back of her pants, and crawled far enough through the window to grab her and Tommy's lightsabers from the dash. She clipped his onto his belt and lit hers. She nodded to Billy and took her place at the rear.

Tommy hated having her defend their flank. Not because he didn't believe in her, but because she was his wife…his very pregnant wife and he wanted her protected in the middle, but he knew as well as Joel did that she'd have a hard time running with a toddler and a large belly.

Joel swung his daughter up in his arms. "Hold on tight, baby."

They followed Billy down the road and swung right when a car lost control and slammed into gas station pumps, causing an explosion that shook the ground beneath their feet.

"Those people are on fire…" Sarah said in a shaky voice.

"Don't look, honey. Just keep lookin' at me," he told her.

The skirted a fire truck and headed towards the Armadillo Theatre, the colorful lights seeming out of place in the terror and hell around them. They wheeled left into an ally when an explosion up ahead turned the road into an inferno.

Billy held the chain link fence door open for them and then darted back to the front in time to see Joel and Sarah being attacked. He spun a kick that sent the attacker sprawling to the ground. He stepped on its chest and slammed his lightsaber down through its skull.

Geralt struggled against his uncle's chest. "I wanna see."

"You don't need to see, Ger," Tommy said as he held tighter to the squirming toddler.

Geralt gripped his uncle's shirt. "Wanna help."

"Goddamn it, this way! They're coming through!" Billy shouted.

"Not now, baby…" Tommy said to try to sooth him. He grabbed his phone when it rang. I'll be damned. He wondered how long the service had been working.

Geralt turned his head and held out his hand and flung the baddies away from the fence. "See? I help."

"Through here," Billy said, motioning them through the bar's outdoor sitting area.

"Angel? Meet us at highway marker 49. There was an accident, we had to split up. We're on foot. C'mon…in here….Move it!" he yelled at his wife. As soon as his wife was through the door, Tommy threw his weight against it. "Get to the highway. Angel and Mama Nell should be there soon!" Tommy told them.

Joel's mouth fell open and he took a step towards his brother. He barely had time to register the fact that his wife was safe. But he was not about to leave his brother behind. "What?"

"Go, big brother…you've got Sarah and Geralt to think about. Billy has Kate - I can out run 'em!" Tommy pointed out.

Oh hell no was she leaving her husband behind. "I'm not leaving you to them, Tommy!"

"Laura…I love you, but I can't be distracted with worry. Take Geralt," he said leaned harder against the door and put the baby down, shooing him towards his wife.

Laura scooped him up and settled him on her large belly. "Tommy…"

"I'll be fine…go!" he yelled, motioning to the back door.

-BREAK THREE-

Joel looked at Tommy and nodded. "We gotta go," he said quietly. "Tommy will catch up." He had to believe that. "Billy – can you hold Geralt?"

Billy nodded and took the baby from Laura. "Stay at my side, Katie."

Laura turned to her husband. "If you don't come back to me so help me I will hunt you down and kill you again, do you hear me?"

Tommy grinned at her and nodded. "Go…"

When Laura joined them, Joel burst out the back door.

"Daddy, we can't leave him!" Sarah said in alarm.

"It's going to be fine. We're almost there," Joel assured her. He darted to the left to avoid an infected that had leapt up from its last unfortunate meal to pursue them. He heard the hum of a lightsaber as he jumped down from the small, broken brick wall to the ground. He could hear a helicopter overhead as they approached a semi truck turned on its side. He could also hear the grunts of another infected…or more. They were everywhere. How had it spread so quickly? Or had he just been blind?

He kept running; it was all he could do. "Billy!" he shouted. He had to know Billy and his son were right behind them.

"We're here! Keep going," Billy assured him.

They broke into a clearing; a machine gun took out the infected behind them. It took a moment for Joel to realize they hadn't been shot as well. "It's okay, baby. We're safe…we're safe." He looked over at Billy and his son, then Laura. "We're all safe now." He looked over at the soldier, concerned that the man was still holding a gun on them. "We need help."

"Stop!" the soldier cried, not wanting them to come any closer.

The soldier seemed agitated. Why? "Please. It's my daughter – I think her leg's broken."

"Stop right there!" The soldier warned again.

Joel blinked. This wasn't going well. "Okay," he said taking a step back from the soldier. "We're not s-sick."

The soldier grabbed his radio. "We've got a family of civilians in the outer perimeter. Please advise."

"Daddy? What about Uncle Tommy?"

Joel looked down at his daughter's face. "We're going to get you, your brother and Kate to safety and go back for him, okay?"

"Sir," the soldier said, "There are children. One's injured…a baby…a pregnant woman…" he frowned when he was ordered to kill them. "But…sir…" Damn it. "Yes, sir." He swallowed hard. Some days he hated his duty.

Laura switched her lightsaber back on.

The soldier's head jerked in her direction. "Holy shit – is that a-"

"It is. And I don't want to use it on you," she said trying to distract the man from the children. "I just want to get my family to safety before the baby is born." She rubbed her belly in hopes that the man could be swayed by her condition.

"Ma'am..." the soldier said, hesitating.

Joel bit back the fear that gripped him. He did not like the way that conversation had gone. "Listen, buddy, we've just been through hell. We just need-"

The soldier cocked his gun and aimed.

"Ah…shit…." Joel mumbled and started to turn away from the soldier. Machine gun sprayed and his daughter slipped from his arms when a bullet grazed him. He rolled over onto his back as the soldier ran up to him. He blinked at the bright light shining in his eyes and raised his hand. "Please, don't. My children…my wife is pregnant. Please, don't do this."

"I'm sorry," the soldier said as he took aim.

A gunshot rang out and Joel flinched. When he saw blood splatter from the soldier's head he collapsed back on the ground and looked over to see Tommy standing there, gun still pointed at the soldier whose body had hit the ground.

Tommy took a step towards the soldier to make sure he didn't get back up when he caught sight of Sarah. "Oh no…"

Joel swung his head around in the direction Tommy was looking; his daughter's soft cries tore at his heart. He rolled over onto his hands and knees and hurried towards her. "Sarah?" He glanced around, saw that his son was safe and focused his attention on Sarah. Oh, fuck. She had been shot in the belly, blood was pouring out of the wound. "Ok," he said gently. "Move your hands, baby." As soon as she did he applied pressure to the wound to try to stop the bleeding.

She cried out in pain, her hands clawing up at her father.

He could hear his son crying and pushed that back to focus on his daughter. "Listen to me, baby. You're gonna be okay. You stay with me." They couldn't just stay here; she would bleed out if they did. They needed help.

Laura unzipped her jacket and pulled off the clean shirt, barring some sweat, that she had on underneath. She knelt down and wriggled the shirt under Sarah. "I'm sorry, honey. This is going to hurt, but we need to get more pressure on the wound." She tied the shirt into a knot over the wound.

Joel's heart wrenched with his daughter's hoarse scream of pain. He heard another gunshot and ignored it. "I know it hurts, baby. I know. Hang on for me, Sarah. Hang on." He took her hand. "Look at me, baby. Look at me."

Tommy could only look on in horror when Angel launched herself from the truck towards them. A soldier stepped into the clearing and fired his gun before he could even get his own gun raised.

Lorianna was focused only on her daughter's pain, she sensed the man too late, she turned, grabbed her lightsaber, ignited it and threw it. She brought up her second lightsaber to stop the bullet, but it happened too fast and her body was propelled backwards from the force of the impact.

The soldier's head toppled from his body a moment before Tommy's bullet reached it. Tommy was cursing himself. There would be no reason why a soldier would have been out here on his own. He should have been prepared. He should have known to expect more. But his heart and emotions had been tied up with what was happening with his niece and he'd lost focus.

She inhaled deeply, forcing the pain back and caught her lightsaber. She spun around. She had to get to Sarah…maybe…maybe she could heal her. She took a step forward and her leg gave out from under her. She flung her arm out and sent a burst of power to keep her from hitting the ground. She wobbled precariously on her feet, took two shaky steps before a wave of dizziness struck her and she toppled to the ground. She raised herself up on an elbow, slipped into a meditative state and held her hand out towards her daughter to send healing waves of energy in her direction.

Joel felt the wound on his side begin to itch. He ignored it; his only concern was his daughter right now. "Stay with me, baby." She took a shuddering breath and another.

"Mom-my n..needs to-to let me go…." she forced out the words.

"What?" He turned his head to see his wife, all the blood gone from her face, her body trembling and her hand outstretched towards them. "Stop!" he growled at her. "You're not a healer! I can't – I can't lose you both. Tommy," he pleaded with his brother.

Tommy nodded, took Angel's hand and turned her around. "You have to stop. Sarah doesn't want this! Think of your baby."

She gripped Tommy's arm with the contraction. She sucked in a breath with the harsh pain that tore through her belly. "Too late…" she said hoarsely. She reached down, fumbling with the band of her pants, trying to push them down. "Get my pants off…"

He blinked. "No..no…Laura!" he yelled helplessly as he began to unbuckle her boots.

Sarah stilled when wispy figure held out his hand to her. "Papa Will…." The name slipped out on a breath as she was pulled free of the pain. Two more figures joined him and she recognized them only by picture. "Grandma…grandpa…" But they were dead. She turned around to look at her father and saw him clutching her body. "Oh, god…daddy…"

Bethanne took her granddaughter's free hand and looked at her son, her heart breaking for his suffering. She turned to look at the woman on the ground behind them – a woman that had given her son so much. A woman she wished she'd had the chance to know as a daughter. She looked back down at her granddaughter. "It is not yet time for your daddy to join us. But, your sister…she needs us right now. Come."

"Sarah!" he looked down into her sightless eyes and he gripped her tighter. "Baby – oh god, don't do this to me, baby." He rocked her. "Don't do this to me, baby girl. Come on…" he croaked hoarsely, giving her a slight shake. Not his baby girl…no…not Sarah. "No..no…don't go…no…please…" he begged as he gathered her to him and rocked her back and forth. Tears slipped down his cheeks. "Please…please don't do this…oh, god…please…."

Billy held tight to his daughter and Geralt, trying to comfort them. He looked up when he heard the approach of another vehicle.

Nellie jumped from the truck and ran down the incline and froze when she saw her two downed girls. "Billy, get the children to Angel's truck! Mark, stay with the kids. Amber…" but her daughter had already joined her. She looked over at Joel clutching Sarah, his body shuddering. Oh god...no. She saw Angel, her face white, her forehead lined with sweat, blood oozing from her belly. She would mourn the dead later; right now it was the living that needed help. "Tommy – go take Sarah from Joel. He needs to be here."

Tommy slid the second boot off and nodded. He hurried over to his brother and knelt down next to him. "Joel…give me Sarah. I'll stay with her. Angel…she's been hurt."

When words filtered through the fog of grief, he lifted his heavy head to look up at his brother. It took a moment for what he said to sink in. His heart twisted in fresh agony. "No…" Not her too. He looked down at his baby girl, kissed her forehead and laid her in his brother's outstretched arms. He turned his head and saw his wife on the ground with her head in Laura's lap. She was deathly still. He crawled over to her and saw the blood on her belly. A harsh breath exploded from his lungs. He couldn't do this again. He couldn't.

"Joel!" Nellie reprimanded sharply. "Lift her hips so we can pull her pants down." When he just blinked she slapped him upside the back of his head. "Joel! Lift her hips."

He numbly did as he was told and then realized the significance. "The baby…"

Nellie pushed back the grief; she'd deal with it later. "I'm sorry, Joe-Joe…the baby's coming. It's too soon…."

His mind cleared. He knew what he had to do. But this time he would be delivering grief not joy. "Ams…Grab towels from the truck!" he said as he settled between his wife's legs.

Amber jumped up and ran to the truck, opened the back hatch, pushed the dogs aside and tore through the supplies until she found the towels. She tore open the package of sanitary napkins and grabbed a pad and a box of wipes. She closed the hatch and ran back down the incline to hear Joel singing a love song softly to his wife.

Joel put one towel to the side and the other one he slipped partially under his wife. He then cleaned his hands with the wipes as the final words of the song left his lips. "Since she can't push, I need you two to put your hands on the top of her belly. When you feel her having a contraction I need you to push down until the contraction stops."

He slid two fingers into her to see if he could feel the baby. He felt a foot. Damn it. He searched until he found the other foot and pulled it down towards the first. He hooked his fingers around the tiny ankles and waited. When they said 'now', he pulled as they pushed. By the time the contraction ended he could see his daughter's feet. He took a better hold and waited for the next contraction. When the next one hit, he pulled and the baby slipped free in a rush of blood and fluid. There was a wound in her chest where the bullet had struck, but his hand felt no exit wound. He wrapped the dry towel around her and was surprised when she weakly grasped his thumb and opened her eyes. He'd thought she was stillborn. He'd hoped she was…to see her gasping for breath and in pain twisted his heart. He held his daughter up next to his heart so she could feel its beat and looked at his wife, but her eyes were still closed. "I'm sorry, baby. Your name is Jareen." He knew his wife's best friend back in her world had been Jareen. When his daughter's tiny hand slipped from his thumb fresh tears slid down his cheeks. He'd lost two daughters on this hellish day. He handed his tiny baby girl to Mama Nell and used his knife to cut the cord. There was little blood, her heart had stopped beating. He used the wipes to clean his wife up the best he could and then slipped her panties back on.

"Wait! I have a pad." Amber removed the backing, placed it in her panties and nodded when she was finished. He tossed the wet towel to the side and pulled his wife's pants back up. He looked at Laura. "Is she…" he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"She's breathing," Laura assured him. "But the wound…" she said pointing to the bullet's entry hole. "I can stitch it closed, but I don't – I don't know what kind of damage has been done. She needs a doctor – antibiotics…" she shrugged helplessly. Going back to the hospital wasn't an option. That hospital had been overrun with infected people.

He swallowed hard and nodded. He wanted to hold her and stay with her, but he had to bury his daughters. "Do what you can for her. I need to take care of my daughters so we can get the hell out of here." He looked up and saw Mark coming down the incline with three shovels.

"Don't worry…Billy is watching over the kids," Mark told him. He looked down at Angel and frowned. She didn't look like she was going to make it. No. He couldn't think like that. Too many had already been lost and honestly, he didn't think Joel could take another death.

Nellie took the tiny baby with her over to where Tommy was holding Sarah and knelt down. "Go help Joel and Mark. I'll stay with the girls," she said quietly. She was struggling to keep a lid on her grief.

Tommy looked at Mama Nell. She needed to know about Papa Will…but right now he feared it would be more than she could take. He nodded. "Okay…" he mumbled numbly and rose to help his brother dig a grave for his girls. He glanced over at Angel and gave a silent prayer that she would pull through.

When the grave was deep enough, a blanket was brought from one of the trucks and Sarah with her sister nestled in her arms was wrapped inside of it. Once they were lowered into the ground the men silently filled in the grave, each lost in their own hell….contemplating how much more they would lose before the world was set to rights.

Joel silently carved their names into the largest rock placed over their graves with his lightsaber. It was his fault they hadn't left when Ams suggested it. He hadn't wanted to uproot his family and leave his business behind on a possibility. Now, they were all paying the price and that was something he had to live with. When he finished, he clipped the lightsaber back onto his belt, knelt down next to his wife and pulledher into his arms. He noticed someone had put gauze over the wound on her belly. There was blood, but it wasn't leaking past the gauze. He rocked her in his arms. "Come back to me, Lorianna…I need you," he murmured next to her ear."Please…please, baby…I can't do this again. I can't lose you…"

Nellie wiped her eyes and straightened her back. "We're going to take the back roads back to the hospital. I need to find Will. We'll meet you back here."

Tommy leaned his shovel against the grave marker and then reached out to take Mama Nell and Amber's hand. "We can't go back. Papa Will isn't there. I also know why Angel was gone this morning. She felt something concerning Papa Will and had to go out and find him. She found the wrecked ambulance a few miles outside of Austin city limits. I'm sorry, Mama Nell…Ams...There were no survivors." He felt his throat clench and he swallowed hard.

"Mama…"Amber said in little more than a whisper. Not her papa. She felt Mark's arm slip around her, but it didn't help. "Why?" she yelled. "Why did he have to keep working? He knew it was dangerous! I begged him to quit! I begged…" her knees gave out and she sank to the ground.

Nellie lowered herself down and put her arms around her daughter. She wanted to break down and let out all the grief that she'd bottled up, but she couldn't. Her daughter needed her to be strong right now. She was the oldest now…the matriarch and they would be looking to her for guidance. It didn't matter that she was broken inside, she had to be strong. "You're dad died doin' somethin' he loved, Amber. It doesn't –It doesn't make it easier on those he left behind, but he was content with his choice. It was that same kindness and generosity of heart that I fell in love with…the guy who mowed old Gren's yard just to help the miserly, gouty, bastard out."

"It's not fair, mama…" she whispered.

"I know, baby. It never is." Nellie nodded to Mark and rose to her feet. "C'mon…we gotta get out of here. The longer we wait the harder it's gonna to be to get away."

Tommy grabbed the shovels and hurried up to Mama Nell's truck so he could break the news to Billy before she arrived. Mama Nell was a strong woman, but she didn't need to be driving right now. Billy had just moved Ra and Ryker to Angel's truck when he caught up with him. He put the shovels away and told Billy about Papa Will.

Billy hung his head and raked a hand through his black hair that was graying at the temples. "Goddamn it…Will was one of the best. It's not right." He released a harsh breath. "I'll make sure Nellie doesn't drive. Thank you…for letting me know." Marci…Will…Sarah…and Jareen. Four in their group had already been lost to the hell. How many more would be lost before the world righted itself? He'd only found out about Marci's death this morning. There had been little time to grieve, let alone absorb the fact that he now had to raise Katie on his own. Just as Nellie now had to raise Lindsey on her own. He knew the pain she was going through. He was going through it too.

When Tommy walked away Kate put a hand on her father's arm. She'd overheard what Tommy had told him and it broke her heart about Papa Will. "I'll ride in Angel's truck. That way Mama Nell's truck isn't over crowded." And right now, Mama Nell's family needed to stay together; she was the only logical person to move to the other truck.

Billy's lips thinned in displeasure, but he nodded. He wanted to hold his daughter close, keep her with him. But they were all in this together and she was right. Someone did need to move to Angel's truck. He was proud of his daughter's mature attitude. He hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Go on, then. Maybe you can keep Geralt occupied," he said with a grin that faded as his daughter walked away. He hoped Angel pulled through. They all owed her their lives. He wasn't sure if any of them would have survived without the training they'd received from her. They could not afford for her light to go out. He wiped his hands on his jeans and slid into the driver's seat of Nellie's SUV.

Nellie frowned when she saw Billy in her seat. "Billy, what the hell are you doin'?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

Billy frowned. "Don't you give me none of that, Nellinda. I'm not one of your children, I'm your friend. Right now, I'm drivin', when I get tired you can take over. That's how this is gonna work, Nellie. We take turns. So sit your ass down so we can leave before the military or more infected show up."

Nellie's lips tightened. He was right; he wasn't one of her children. He was only six years younger than her. She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and nodded as she climbed up into the SUV. It was weird seeing a man other than Will in the driver's seat. One of many changes she was going to have to learn to live with. No matter how much her heart screamed for it to be otherwise.

Joel scooped his wife up into his arms when he heard the engine of Nellie's truck come to life. He turned to look one final time at his daughters' grave marker. He didn't know if he'd ever see it again. "Good bye, baby girls. I hope Papa Will is watching over you…" he said softly and then headed for the truck.

-BREAK FOUR-

He was glad to see Tommy and Laura in the front seat. He did not want to think about driving right now. He carefully maneuvered them into the back seat next to his son. He nodded at Kate on the other side of his son's car seat and closed the door. He leaned Angel against him so that her head rested on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, a small smile curved on his lips when he remembered the evening before his birthday. It had been raining outside and she'd run out into the moonlight and lifted her face up to greet the gentle drops in nothing more than his t-shirt. She'd beckoned him to come join her and they'd danced in the rain under the shimmery light of the moon.

She had a way of finding romance and beauty in everything. She could always find a silver lining, no matter how well it was hidden to everyone else. And she had a way of making others see the beauty she saw. It was one of the many reasons he loved her so much. He knew how much she loved it when he sang to her and how romantic, sappy words could melt her into a puddle. He brushed a lock of pale honey hair from her cheek.

I like the feel of your name on my lips,
And I like the sound of your sweet gentle kiss,
The way that your fingers run through my hair,
And how your scent lingers even when you're not there.

I like the way your eyes dance when you laugh,
And how you enjoy your two hour bath,
And how you convinced me to dance in the rain,
With everyone watching like we were insane.

But I love the way you love me
Strong and wild
Slow and easy
Heart and soul
So completely
I love the way you love me…

He stroked her cheek with his fingertips

Oh baby, I love the way you love me….

His lips brushed over hers. "Wake up, baby…I can't live without your love. It would break me." He cleared his throat when his voice cracked. "You are the heart that beats in my chest…the light that warms my soul. I need you…come back to me, Lorianna…."

Geralt tugged on his father's sleeve. "Mommy's not there, daddy. Mommy's gone."

Joel looked at his baby boy. "No, no…baby boy. You're mommy's here, she's just exhausted," he assured his son.

Geralt shook his head. "No, daddy. Mommy's gone. She's…under…"

He blinked, his lips pulling down in a slight frown. "What do you mean under?"

The little boy scrunched up his face in concentration and rubbed his tire eyes. He didn't know exactly, but she wasn't where she'd always been…where she was supposed to be. He couldn't feel her like normal. "She's not there…she's down under…"

He didn't have a clue what his son meant and was relieved when Kate drew the little boy's attention away, taking the conversation in another direction. He closed his eyes and fell into a fitful rest. He blinked when he felt the truck come to a stop and looked out the window. The sun was higher in the sky now. He must have gotten a couple of hours of sleep. He could see what appeared to be a ranch home with barbed wire fencing being put up around the perimeter, men with guns patrolled and a large tent could be seen. "Is this Marci's sister's ranch?" he asked with uncertainty. They couldn't have driven that far while he slept, could they?

"No," Tommy said with a shake of his head. "According to what Billy told me this should be just past the half-way point. They're guarding the road and stopped us. But they have a medical tent…if they've got a doctor, maybe they can take a look at Angel."

"Stay in the truck, Kate!" Tommy said when he saw Billy get yanked out of the truck. He put the pistol in the back of his pants and jumped out of the truck. He frowned at his wife for joining him, but he knew better than to try to stop her.

"Shit," Joel mumbled as he opened the door and climbed out. He laid his wife gently on the seat and closed the door. His hand settled on his lightsaber. He had wondered how long it would take this hell to bring out the worst in people. Now he had his answer.

Big John smiled at Bubba Ray when four lightsabers were turned on. "Oh, lookee here…them there be some scary toys, Bubba Ray. Should we fall to our knees before 'em?"

Bubba Ray spat a brown glob on the ground next to his boot. "We might could, Big John…or we could just shoot 'em," he said with a shrug.

Joel caught up to his brother and Laura. "I would advise against that," Joel warned coldly as he unclipped his lightsaber and ignited it. He and the others had practiced deflecting rocks and bee-bees propelled from a slingshot, so he was fairly confident in his ability to deflect bullets as long as too many weren't fired at one time.

Big John laughed. "More toys. Maybe we ought to give ourselves up to the jedi," he smirked.

"You're smarter than you look, Big John," Tommy quipped. "And these ain't toys, boys."

Joel spun the weapon in his hands, twirling the blade in warning. "This doesn't need to get ugly."

Bubba Ray leveled his gun on the larger man's chest and spit another blob of brown goo in Joel's direction. "That's where you're wrong, buddy. We have women and children ta take care of and we'll just be takin' yer supplies."

"We ain't askin'," Big John pointed out in case they hadn't gotten the meaning.

"We ain't givin' up our supplies. We have women and children to take care of too," Joel said as he moved into an alert, defensive position.

While the men were distracted by Joel's more threatening appearance, Billy arched his blade and brought it down over Bubba Ray's gun, slicing it neatly in half just as the men were hurled backwards.

"Enough!" Nellie said, tired of the male posturing. "Bring your leader here. I have a proposition that would benefit us both," she said as the men pushed themselves to their feet. Bubba Ray bent over, his stomach heaving to bring up the wad of tobacco he's swallowed when he hit the ground. "Shouldn't chew that stuff – it's dangerous to your health." Nellie told him with an arched brow.

Big John looked down at Bubba Ray's shorn gun and blinked. Now he knew fear. The lightsabers weren't toys and one of them had just blown them magically off their feet without touching them. He shook his head. It wasn't possible, jedi weren't real…but it was the only thing that explained what happened. He pointed his gun to the ground. "I'll get The Shepherd." He backed away slowly and then turned to run back to the ranch.

"The Shepherd…" Joel shook his head and looked around the area. There were military supply trucks. It looked as though the military had set up camp here, he could even see a few men, closer to the ranch house, in military garb. Was this a military camp or civilian? It was obvious the two men that accosted them were civilians.

Two men in fatigues returned in a jeep with Big John, one of which appeared to be in his forties and had a cap on his head. The one with the cap had a commanding presence about him, he must be the one they called The Shepherd. Indeed he was, when he exited the jeep and got close enough he could see the name Shepherd on his fatigues.

Gabriel eyed all lightsabers with surprise as he approached the group. So, Big John was telling the truth. Interesting. He looked over the group and his gaze settled on the bearded man. He was the biggest in the group and there was a strength and certainty in the man's eyes, like he knew exactly what he was capable of doing. Had he killed before? Or was he just that certain of his abilities? Experience had taught him that if you took down the biggest and the baddest, the rest tended to fall into line. The question is – would he need to do that? "I am Colonel Gabriel Shepherd, why have you threatened my men?" he asked coldly.

"We didn't threaten your men. They blockaded the road, threatened us and demanded our supplies. We refused," Joel growled.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. That was not how things were explained to him, but he did not doubt the stranger's words. The civilians lacked military training. They were a crude lot. "That is not what they were sent to do. I will reprimand my men later."

"It is me you will talk to," Nellie said to draw the man's attention to her.

He looked over at the woman who appeared to be in her late forties, but remarkably fit. With his legs slightly spread he settled into military rest. "You wanted to parley..."

"I did," she said firmly. "We noticed you have a triage tent. Does that mean you have a doctor?"

"We do," was all he said.

Nellie nodded. "We are in need of his help. If he will help us, my boys will help you set up your perimeter fences and finish buildin' your watchtowers. Amber and I can help with the hunt for food. Then we'll be on our way. Does that sound like an acceptable trade to you?"

He looked over the group again. The men were young and seemed to be in fine shape. But would their help be worth the cost in supplies? If the women were any good at hunting, their contribution might make up for it. Regardless, getting the perimeter fencing and watch towers up was priority one. He would have preferred to ask them to remove their weapons in camp, but with the threat of infected and even the military, no one should be left defenseless. "It is acceptable, ma'am. But before you agree, you should be aware that we have gone AWOL. We refused to gun down clean civilians, so the military would see me and my men as traitors. If they find us, they would likely shoot to kill."

She looked at the others, with their nods she agreed to the terms. "We understand the risks." She switched off her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt. The others followed her example.

Gabriel nodded. "I'm afraid there are no more rooms available in the main house for your party. The mother-in-law house is also filled up, but there is a worker's bunk house," he said pointing towards a small house to the right of the main house. "It will likely need some minor clean up and airing out, but it should service your needs well enough. There is room to park your trucks next to it. What are your medical needs so I can alert the sawbones?"

"It would have been nice if the soldiers we ran into earlier had your convictions. My wife has a gunshot wound to the belly. The bullet was….removed when she miscarried, but we can't be sure of the internal damage," Joel said with a tight voice, barely able to keep his shit together.

"You should get your side looked at too," Billy pointed out, motioning to the blood that covered the lower right side of his shirt and pants. "One of the bullets hit you."

Joel looked down in surprise. He'd remembered the burning pain that caused him to drop Sarah, but so much had happened since then that he hadn't even recalled it. He pulled up his shirt and saw pink puckered flesh. Damn it. When his wife tried to heal Sarah, she'd healed him too, taking even more out of her. "It's fine. Barely a scratch." He couldn't very well tell Billy that Angel had healed him. Not in front of the others.

Gabriel pulled out his radio and alerted his platoon's sawbones of the incoming injury. "Follow us to triage. The other truck may go on to the bunk house. We'll do a meet and greet at 0700 for breakfast at the main house." He turned to the soldier that had accompanied him. "Sergeant, I want you and Corporal Jenson to take over road patrol. Big John and Bubba Ray will be lending their backs to making Shepherd's Landing secure. Dismissed." He returned to his jeep with a silent John and Bubba and waited for the newcomers to follow.

Tommy followed the jeep until they reached the triage tent and came to a stop. "We'll keep Ger with us. She'll be fine, big brother."

Joel nodded. He had to believe that. He kissed the top of his son's head. "Go help Uncle Tom-Tom and Aunt Laura, baby boy. I'll watch over mommy while she's sleeping."He studied his son for a moment. "Thank you for your help earlier – just try not to throw any more men around unless they get ugly towards us."

Geralt nodded. "Yes, daddy."

He winked at his son and gathered his wife against his chest and he stepped out of the truck and used his foot to close the door. He carried her into the tent and blinked when he noticed the sawbones was a woman. Not that he didn't respect female doctors; it was just that all the military movies he'd seen had male doctors. He followed her to the bed she had ready and settled his wife on the portable bed. A nurse sat a folding chair next to the bed and he sat down while the doctor examined his wife.

Rhonda noticed that the woman had recently given birth, her uterus was still enlarged. "I'm Dr. Rhonda Tilmore. I worked triage in an ER before joining the army. Your wife is in good hands. When did she give birth?"

Joel rubbed his hands over his face. "This morning, maybe three thirty."

"Before or after she was shot?" she inquired.

"After – it is what triggered her labor. My daughter died shortly after I delivered her. The bullet…lodged in her chest." Joel said, forcing the words through his emotionallyconstricted throat.

"How far along?"

"Seven months," he said hoarsely.

So without emergency care the baby would not have made it anyway. It was likely the bullet got lodged in the baby's ribs or spine, which was why it did not pass through the baby and cause further damage to the mother. The baby's death saved the mother's life. The anomalies, however, that she was seeing, weren't adding up. Someone had stitched the wound closed and it already showed signs of healing. "Did she retain any of the placenta?"

He shook his head. "No, everything came out with my daughter's birth."

When the nurse finished hooking up the portable ultrasound machine, she ran the wand over the woman's gelled abdomen. She frowned; even the wound from the detached placenta had healed more than it should have. She had assumed that she would need to go in to repair the damage to the uterus, but she could not locate anything except what appeared to be a small area of slightly thickened scar tissue.

She was also concerned by her lack of anything but reflexive movements. She had felt her head for lumps but found none. "Did your wife hit her head or was she on any kind of medication?"

He shook his head. "No, she wasn't taking medication and I – I don't think she hit her head."

"Does she have diabetes?"

"No – why?" he asked starting to become more concerned with the direction of the questions.

She looked at the machine monitoring her vital signs. They'd had to turn the volume down because her vitals were lower than what was deemed safe, yet she could find no indication of what was causing the low vitals, nor did the patient appear to be suffering

"I would like to start your wife on an IV to make sure she stays hydrated. Do we have your permission for that?" With his nod, she motioned for the nurse to start the line. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. "There are several irregularities I need to discuss with you. One of which is that your wife's wounds, both internal and external, do not correspond to times that you gave me. They look to be a few days into the healing process."

Joel rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "My wife heals fast, she always has. What other irregularities did you see?" He asked hoping to keep her from asking too many questions.

Rhonda frowned. Even if she did heal fast, she could not heal that fast. It simply wasn't possible. "When did your wife fall unconscious? And has she woken at any time since then?"

Joel felt his heart tighten painfully. "She fell unconscious after our older daughter was shot and killed by a soldier, just before the miscarriage. I've haven't been able to wake her up since."

Rhonda nodded now she was beginning to understand at least part of it. "Your wife's vitals are alarmingly low and she responds only on a reflexive level, there is no conscious response. I do not believe she is unconscious. She appears to have fallen into a coma like state. Perhaps, the tragedy was more than she could bear and she just shut down, unable to cope." She shook her head. "I can see no physical reason for her to be in a coma. If she doesn't pull out of it in another day, I would like to insert a nasal feeding tube to keep her as nutritionally fit as possible."

He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face. "A coma…." He had thought she was only unconscious. But the doctor was wrong; Angel was too strong of a person to just hide from pain. At least now his son's words made sense. His mommy was not there…she was gone…she was under. That pretty much described a coma.A coma was serious. She might never wake up. He might have already lost her. "Do whatever you need to – just keep her alive." He couldn't lose her too. He loved his family and maybe he was weak, but if he lost her too, he didn't think he'd survive it.

"Of course. I will take whatever measures are needed. You are welcome to pull the bed behind you next to her at night, if you wish to sleep here. Maybe knowing you are close will help her." She rose from the chair. "Some people who have been in comas say they could hear when people talked to them. I'm going to grab something to eat. You should too. You need to keep up your energy."

He watched her leave and then moved the chair so he could pull up the bed. He didn't feel much like eating. But he did feel like he could sleep for days. Once the beds were touching, he crawled in, laid on his side and placed his hand over her heart. The beat was extremely slow but steady. "I love you, Lorianna. Come back to me, baby." His eyes drifted closed.

The next day he got a promise from the doctor that if anything changed she'd radio his team. He hated leaving her side, but he had an obligation to The Shepherd. From sun up to sun down, the men worked the fence line with only small breaks to eat or go to the bathroom. It wasn't that he needed to keep busy, though he probably did. It was because the fence line was their first line of defense. It was six feet high and the wires were strung too tight and close together for anyone to be able to get through and there was a coiled barbed wire along the top. Granted, a brick fence would have been a hell of a lot better, but you work with what you have.

The dogs kept them company, patrolled the fence line and were rewarded with the leftovers of everyone's meals. It was obvious to everyone that Ryker missed Angel as much as the rest of them did. He spent his evenings with Geralt, until he fell asleep and spent his nights curled up outside the hospital tent since he wasn't allowed in. It was heartbreaking to see, but no one had been able to entice him away from his post.

A week later, there were no signs that his wife had ever been shot. The stitches had been removed a couple of days earlier and only the barest white mark was left behind. Another ultrasound showed that the detached placental site also showed remarkable, progressive healing.

Two weeks later, the scar on her belly had disappeared, her abdomen was back to its flat and fit state, her afterbirth bleeding had stopped and an ultrasound showed there were no signs that she'd ever been pregnant, let alone recently given birth. But her life signs had taken a dip; so much so that they'd had to unhook her from the monitor because the alarms would not stop going off. Her heart, respiratory rate and pulse put her at near clinical death. They'd been forced to stop feeding her, because her body was no longer able to digest food, they were relying solely on the IV to sustain her along with water given through the feeding tube. Blankets were piled on her in an attempt to keep her warm. At night Joel slept with her in the small bed to give her his body heat.

-BREAK FIVE-

As days turned into weeks, Joel's hope dwindled. She was healed but still barely clinging to life. He could feel the cold bite of steal from the pistol nestled between his back and the chair. He took her hand and kissed it.

"Take the very breath you gave me
Take the heart from my chest
I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me
Make this my last request
Take me out of this world
God, please don't take the girl"

It was a mantra he'd started singing every day to her. But if there was a god, he wasn't listening. What he did know was he didn't have it in him to go on like this. He'd lost two daughters and his wife was all but a vegetative corpse unable to pull back from the brink of death. Every day, he forced himself through the required motions waiting for the news that it was over. He'd thrown up what little he'd tried to eat the last two weeks and it was taking a toll on him. The irony was not lost on him that he was living out the story that he'd made up about his wife's parents. When her mother passed away, her father lost the will to live and followed soon after. He loved his son and brother, but he'd have given anything to be the one to die instead of his girls. A part of him hoped that maybe his death would be enough of a price to be paid to allow his wife to live. He knew that wasn't rational and he really didn't believe in a god, but he was soul deep tired and lacked the will to keep forcing himself to go through the motions of living. Every night he held his pistol. Every night he wrapped his mouth around the barrel, but every night he decided to give it just one more day. One more day for the news he knew was coming. He took the pistol and ran his thumb along the grooves of the barrel.

Rhonda had never seen anything like this. By all rights, the woman should be dead. She'd taken a sample of blood and been stunned by what she'd found out. One, there were almost no red or white blood cells left in her blood and two, she wasn't exactly human. She looked human, but she had a slight chromosomal difference and the cells that she did see were different than normal human cells, not in shape but in the fact that there were anomalies inside the cell, things that writhed and moved as if they were alive. When the cell went into mitosis the new cell created also had the same anomalies. Perhaps, whatever that was - was what was killing her.

She pulled up a chair and sat down next to had noticed his drop in weight, the black circles under his eyes, the almost empty or dead look in his eyes and became more and more apparent that he was little more than a dead man walking. He wouldn't let her give him an IV; he'd seemed to have lost the will to live. She'd seen it before with the loss of a spouse, though usually it was with couples who'd been married for decades. She blinked when she noticed the gun in his hand and wondered how many times he'd considered pulling the trigger. "That's the coward's way out," she said quietly. "What would your family think if you took your own life? Don't be selfish, Joel. Your family has already lost enough. They don't need to lose you too."

His gaze rose to meet hers. "I should have been the one to die – not them. Not my girls…my wife. I pray every night that god will take me and let my wife live." He grunted. "I don't even believe in god." He shook his head. "She did not come here to die…" he mumbled.

She placed a hand over his and gently took the gun from him. "That is survivor's guilt, Joel. It is something you will need to work through for your son…your family. They need you."

His looked over at his wife. "I need her. I can't – I can't go on like this. The loss is more than I can bear," he admitted in a whisper.

She handed the gun to the nurse and gripped his limp hand. "I know, Joel. She's not dead yet – don't lose sight of that. I've seen patients come out of comas that lasted for years. What do you think it would do to her if she came out of it and you weren't there?"

He pulled back from the doctor and wiped the tears that burned his eyes. "That is why I keep giving it one more day." He cleared his throat. "I just…" his words trailed off. He was tired. He just wanted to lie down and not wake up. He wanted to join his parents, Papa Will, his children and his wife.

She straightened her shoulders and moved their conversation into a more lucrative direction. "I need to talk to you about your wife. Is there something you want to tell me about her?" She studied him, saw wariness creep into his eyes and knew the Joel was aware that his wife was different.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

She pursed her lips. "I think you are aware that your wife isn't exactly human, she's…more. There are anomalies in her chromosomes and cells that I've never seen before. And what you're not telling me might be the difference between watching her die and treating her."Again, she studied his reaction.

Joel felt an icy cold sink into him and his first inclination was to kill the doctor to protect his wife. He clenched his hands to keep him from acting out on his instinct. Right now, his wife needed the doctor. They all did. This wasn't like before. They were kept abreast of chatter on military frequencies. The plague was spreading fast and the military was taking over and setting up martial law quarantine zones. Austin was the first in Texas. Houston, along with all other major port cities, that held the highest concentration of infected were bombed to try to eradicate the infected. They'd also discovered the pandemic was worldwide. But right now all he cared about was his wife. And the government had more on its mind that hunting down aliens. A ragged breath slipped from his lips. "I am demanding doctor-patient confidentiality."

She blinked. "That goes without saying. The only way I would break that oath is if she was infected and a danger to the rest of us," Rhonda told him honestly.

He raked a hand through his hair and rubbed his face. "She's not infected, but you are right – she is different. But what I'm gonna to tell ya ain't gonna be believable," he warned. "She wasn't born here…in this galaxy, I mean. A mirror…an artifact on a world she was visiting fell on her and she fell through a mirror linked to that one into our world. She doesn't know how these artifacts came to be or how they got dispersed across galaxies. No mention has ever been made of them, even in ancient texts that were archived at her…school. What you are seeing in her cells are probably the midichlorians."

Rhonda sat up straight and held her hand out, palm facing him. She'd seen the movies; she knew what midichlorians were supposed to be. "Wait…are you telling me she's a jedi? That the force really exists?" He was right, the story was unbelievable – or at least it would have been if she hadn't seen the anomalies. She'd also heard the stories Big John and Bubba Ray were telling everyone; stories of lightsabers and being thrown by an invisible wave of power. She had thought they might have been high…or drunk…but now….

"Yes," he said tightly. "That's what I'm sayin'. She's a jedi master. But they don't call it the force where she comes from. That was just cinematic liberty. She told me it was simply energy. All living things produce energy and that excess energy can be used if your midichlorian count was high enough."

"…But how could George Lucas…."

"Best we figure is that she's not the only one that has come over. Or maybe it was someone from another dimension, similar to hers but not exactly the same." He shrugged. "No way to know for sure."

She rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, I digressed. I had thought the anomaly might be what was hurting her, now I'm guessing it is what's keeping her alive. She's lost blood and her body has been slow to produce more. I can only assume because it has been focused on healing her, which would explain why she healed so quickly. Maybe that healing used the cells in her body and that is why she has so few." She cleared her throat. This was all surreal and she was in uncharted waters. "Mind you – this is all conjecture on my part. Because she is not human…or at least not what we know as human, there is no way I can know for sure what is going on without further study. But from what I do see I can extrapolate that she needs blood – blood with the same midichlorian properties so that her body doesn't have to work so hard to produce more blood cells on inadequate nutrition. I think that is also why she hasn't woken up. She does not have the cell count she needs to maintain normal body functions."

There was a lot of sense behind the doctor's guesses and he was glad he'd been honest with her. "I also think she spent too much energy healing me and trying to heal our daughter, Sarah. I had Tommy stop her." He shook his head. "She told me once that while she'd had training in self-healing, healing someone else would take a lot out of her and if their wounds were bad it would likely kill her. Sarah and I had both been shot; mine was little more than a flesh wound. I found out later she had healed it. But Sarah…" he swallowed hard. "Our daughter was gut shot – there was too much damage. I didn't know my wife had been shot until – after…" but he couldn't say the words. "By that time, she was already unconscious. Blood…." His wife needed blood and only their son had those midichlorian things. "Our son is like his mother, but he's only three and a half."

Her brows drew together. She didn't like taking blood from toddlers, but she could safely take a little. "How much does he weigh?"

He rubbed his beard. "About forty pounds, I reckon."

She nodded. "If he is willing, we cake take ten to fifteen cc of blood ever other day. It's not a lot, but at this point, every little bit will help her recover faster." She pursed her lips, rose from the chair and retrieved his pistol. "Joel? I'm glad you didn't go through with it," she said quietly as she handed the gun back to him.

A ragged breath slipped from his lips as he looked at the gun nestled in the palm of his hand. "Me too," he said tightly and shoved the pistol between his lower back and the band of his pants. "For the first time since I found out about her coma I have an understanding and hope I didn't have before. My son told me his mommy wasn't there, that she was under. I didn't know what he meant then. I do now. She's in a deep, meditative sleep to conserve energy while she heals herself." He brushed his lips against hers and rose from his seat. "I'll go get my son. He'll want to help his mama."

When he left she returned to the curtained off lab area and took another look at the blood slides under the microscope. Still nothing. She'd taken a sample of the patient's blood and exposed it to a sample of infected blood they'd had stored to see if any fungal growth occurred. So far nothing and it had been five days. The longest anyone else's blood had lasted was two days before fungal growth. If Lorianna Miller was immune to the infection then there was a chance her blood could be used to create a vaccine. The concern was the fact that she wasn't exactly human – at least by their standards. However, she was able to successfully breed and bear children with a human so there was a chance the gene compatibility would be enough to render a viable vaccine after more studies were done.

She could not use the child in these studies because she would be extracting the maximum amount of bloodthat she could safely take to give to his mother. She would simply have to wait until the patient's blood was back to a normal cellular level. In the mean time, she would keep evaluating the blood slide to make sure the patient didn't take longer to become infected.

-BREAK SIX-

Three weeks later, Lorianna shot up from the bed and stumbled onto the floor on shaky legs. She ripped the IV out of her arm, pulled out the tube that had been inserted down her nose and removed the catheter that was taped to her leg that led to a bag, low on the pole of a machine that she didn't appear to be hooked up to in any other way. She shot a small wave of power towards a woman that was approaching her at a run. When the woman stopped and held up her hands in a surrender motion, Lorianna looked around trying to get her bearings. The last thing she remembered was …her hand flew to her belly, flat not round, and her legs buckled. Her baby…Sarah…Papa Will…the memories flooded back and she inhaled sharply with the pain that threatened to overwhelm her.

She rose to her feet on trembling legs but kept her hand held out, palm up, towards the woman. It was obvious she was in some kind of hospital tent. She didn't know how she got here or what happened to her family. She remembered hearing the voices of her family and could have sworn she'd felt the presence of her husband over and over again, but maybe it had been no more than an internalized wish fabricating into a pseudo reality in her mind.

"You're okay, Mrs. Miller," Rhonda assured her. "You're safe here. No one is going to hurt you."

"Where's my family? My husband?" The words were hoarse and scratchy. Her free hand rose to her throat. Talking had been uncomfortable to the point of painful.

"He's on his way back. I radioed his unit as soon as you woke up. Will you let me offer you a candy? It will help moisten your mouth and sooth your throat." Rhonda motioned to a bowl on her desk.

Lorianna nodded, but did not take her eye off the doctor. Why had her husband brought her here and risked them finding out what she was? "What are you going to do with me? What did you do to me?" she asked when pain shot down her throat again. She took a piece of candy from the offered bowl, looked at it skeptically, then unwrapped it, put the wrapper in the pocket of her hospital gown and popped it in her mouth. The welcome peppermint flavor burst across her tongue and her mouth watered.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Miller. The feeding tube can cause some irritation…."

She shook her head. "I didn't need a feeding tube."

Rhonda shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know that at first. I had no way of knowing that. I'm Dr. Rhonda Tilmore and you've been under my care for the last five weeks during your coma – er…meditative sleep."

Lorianna's mouth dropped open and slammed shut. "Five weeks..." she murmured. It didn't feel like five weeks, it felt like she just woke up from a dream. Her eyes narrowed as realization dawned on her. Meditative sleep. "Then you know…" her eyes darted around the tent looking for the fastest escape route.

"Wait!" Rhonda put the bowl down and held up her hands. "I can understand why you'd fear people finding out, but things are different now. That world no longer exists. The situation has gotten worse while you were sleeping. The government has more on its mind than taking you away to a private lab or apprehending us. You're in no danger from us," she tried to assure her.

She sensed something more – something the doctor wasn't telling her, but she did not sense deceit. "Then what are you hiding from me?" she asked skeptically.

Rhonda blinked; a frown pulled at her lips. Telling the woman that she'd experimented with her blood was not exactly the best way to win her trust, but it was apparent that not saying anything was causing just as much damage. "I'm not trying to hide anything from you, Mrs. Miller. Right now, I'm trying to protect you. Everyone here knows who – what you are. That is no longer a secret. It's what I found out about your blood that I am keeping to myself."

"What do you mean? What did you find?" She closed her eyes when a wave of dizziness washed over her.

Rhonda took a step forward when she saw her patient waver. "Please, Mrs. Miller, you need to sit down. Your body has been through a traumatic ordeal and you have not fully recovered."

She locked her knees and squared her shoulders. "You can call me Lorianna or Angel. What did you find?" she repeated. She heard a vehicle pull up outside the tent and relaxed with her knees slightly bent ready to defend herself if necessary. A soft breath escaped when she felt her husband's presence. She launched herself, with a burst of power, over the bed and was nearly to the tent's flaps when he walked in. Her legs gave out when she landed.

He caught his wife before she hit the ground, his heart slamming in his chest. He'd wanted to believe the doctor that she was awake but a small part of him had held back, needing to see it to believe it. He pulled her off her trembling legs and held her tight against him. His throat constricted and he swallowed hard as emotion overwhelmed him. Unnoticed tears trailed down his cheeks. She'd come back to him.

She pulled back far enough to kiss him until she was breathless before moving her lips to his ear. "You made love to me," she whispered softly.

He felt his cheeks grow warm. He had that night his hope had been reborn, he'd made love to her while they were spooning. "I was hoping you would feel our connection, that you would feel closer to me." Her lack of response had bothered him a great deal and he couldn't bring himself to do it again. But in that moment he'd felt close to her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist. "It worked. I felt you with me. You were my dream lover – a phantom of pleasure in the dark, endless void. Whispers would filter down to me, but they weren't always coherent. I waited…I hoped… but you never came back."

He exhaled a slow breath. "You weren't able to give consent and I reckon that didn't sit right with me. Your body gave no response to my touch. I didn't know." His lips grazed hers. "I didn't know," he repeated softly.

Her lips caught his, hungry for his touch after all the time alone in the dark.

Rhonda fiddled with some papers on the desk a small grin on her lips. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the position they were in said a lot. She cleared her throat. "You do realize this is a very public med-tent? Anyone can walk in…at any time. Not to mention you are flashing me, Angel."

"Oh, sweet hell…" Her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment and she lowered her legs to the ground. She spun around, placing her back up against her husband. "Sorry, doctor. What were you going to tell me – about my blood?"

Her lips thinned. She'd hoped the whole matter would have been forgotten. "I don't think we should talk about it here. As I said, this is a very public location." She tucked her slightly graying hair behind her ear. "Can I talk you into staying another day or two? So we can monitor your vitals?"

Lorianna blinked. "I just jerked every tube out of my body and you want to hook me up to a machine? No," she said with a firm shake of her head. "I'm fine." When she saw the doctor's mouth open she held up a hand. "I don't know what after coma care entails, but I was never in a coma. I was in a deep, meditative sleep to focus on healing. There is nothing wrong with me. My body is as it was five weeks ago; it has not known the passage of time." Her hand rose to her abdomen. "Mostly," she said quietly, still coming to terms with the loss of her baby's life energy and the loss of Sarah and Papa Will…and Marcie. For everyone else over a month had passed, for her it was as if it just happened. "I was disoriented and flooded too much to process the moment I came up. That is the only reason I showed weakness. I would like to get dressed before anyone arrives. Where is my armor and lightsabers?"

Rhonda sighed. In the past, she would have refused to release her patient until she'd done more testing. But she didn't have the equipment she needed to do the testing she wanted to do and times had changed. "It was stored in a box under your bed," she said pointing under the bed. "But we will need to talk somewhere more private."

Lorianna was surprised to see her clothing had been mended and cleaned. If felt good to step into clean clothing. She felt more like herself. "Geralt…" she whispered, feeling the connection with her son.

"Our son's doing fine," he assured her. "Darcy has been keeping him occupied and the both of them have been helping Laura out with cleaning. Linds and Kate have been helping the other older children with hunting small game." He cleared his throat. Sarah had a soft spot for animals, he didn't think she would be capable of hunting them and would have preferred to look after the babies and help with the more mundane chores. He looked back over at the doctor."Come with us to the bunkhouse. We can talk there," Joel told her as his wife was getting dressed.

He had chosen to take responsibility for most of her physical needs. After a long day of working on securing Shepherd's Landing, he spent a couple of hours with his son and then spent the rest of the evening with his wife. He'd washed her with a rag and water, brushed her teeth and hair, gave her water through the tube down her nose and even changed her pads and urine bag when needed. He had to feel like he was doing something to help her. All the while he talked to her or sang to her, sometimes until his throat ached.

The whole family had stopped by to spend time with her, usually one at a time due to their duties. He was grateful for their support and love, even though they weren't doing it for him. She'd earned a place in everyone's heart all on her own. "Can you handle the walk? Or do you need me to carry you?" he asked his wife quietly when she joined them once more.

Lorianna grinned and shook her head. "While I might enjoy any excuse to be in your arms," she said with a wink, "I'm fine. My body has not aged, there is no muscle degeneration." She felt her son getting close. Her smiled broadened and hurried towards the tent's entrance to scoop up her baby boy as he darted ahead of the others. She tossed him in the air and caught him, smothering his giggling face with kisses.

His tiny arms encircled her neck. "I knew you were up, mommy! I felt you!" he said when he could catch his breath, his ice-blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

It felt so good to hold him again. "And I felt you, baby!" She couldn't save her daughters, but she would damned well do whatever it took to make sure her son survived. When he released the tight hold on her neck, she put him down to hug Mama Nell and little Darcy. She noticed Laura was standing back a bit looking at her with uncertainty. She walked over to her and pulled her into her arms. "It's okay, honey. I'm glad one of our babies is still safe." A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly. She felt the loss of her baby keenly, but she wasn't jealous or bitter of Laura. She was grateful her best friend didn't have to go through the loss she, herself, was going through.

Laura swallowed hard, relieved there were no hard feelings. "I wasn't sure if seeing me would be too difficult…"

"Oh, hush. You are my sister and my best friend. I want the best for you." She pulled back and took her husband's hand. "Where is everyone else?"

"The men folk and Ams are out working on the watch towers. The girls are with the older kids and the dogs, feeding the chickens and collecting eggs," Mama Nell informed her. "They have chickens, cows, horses and pigs here! They have fields too. Though talk is that they ain't gonna plant corn come spring, because it can conceal too much. They're stickin' to smaller plants and root vegetables. Makes sense, but corn's a major staple for the animals," she said with a shrug. "They have a nice thing going here. They are even planning for what they're gonna do when there is no electricity or gas. The Shepherd's got a right straight head on his shoulders. He told us he grew up here before he joined the military as his civic duty."

One corner of her lips pulled up a little. "Do you plan on staying here and making a life, Mama Nell?" Lorianna inquired gently.

Nellie's lips pursed and her brows drew together. "It's not what I pictured for my life. I never had a desire to live in the country, but I've enjoyed learning new things." She shook her head. "I feel safer here than out there and we've been invited to stay on, but I wouldn't stay here at the cost of losing my family. If'n y'all leave, then so will I."

Lorianna looked at the ground and nodded. She felt her time here would be brief. She needed to move on soon – this is not where she was needed most, but what right did she have to take her family away from the relative safety they have found here? On the other hand, could she just take off the jedi mantle and ignore the push of the calling? And was she being pulled away from here because something bad was going to happen here or because she was needed elsewhere? It wasn't always easy to interpret a feeling.

Nellie frowned and put a hand on Angel's arm. "You're gonna leave…" she murmured quietly.

She forced a smile. "We'll talk about it later, Mama Nell. Right now, Doctor Tilmore…"

"Rhonda is fine. Only The Shepherd still calls any of us by our last names or titles and only because he's used to doing it, but we're not that formal here," she interjected.

Lorianna nodded to the doctor. "Rhonda was just coming with us to the bunk house to talk for awhile."

Nellie eyed the doctor and nodded. "Then let's go talk," she said, motioning for everyone to follow.

From what she could see there was a large three story manner house, a smaller two story house to the left, a one story ranch house to the right and a large barn further back. It was the ranch house they appeared to be heading towards. As they approached she realized it was far larger than she'd thought. Inside, there were three sofas ringing a large TV, a large kitchen, two dining tables with eight chairs each, what appeared to be four bedrooms and two bathrooms, one labeled 'ladies', the other labeled 'gents'. "His and her bathrooms?"

Nellie grinned. "This used to be a bunkhouse for the hired help during plantin' and harvestin' seasons," she explained. "The hired help that stays here year around live in the mother-in-law house. As Gabriel's family started showing up they moved into the main house. There were a few stragglers before us and they moved in with the others. That leaves us this place to ourselves for now, until more show up."

"More people than us can fit in here?" Lorianna asked in surprise.

She nodded. "There are three sets of bunks in each room, so yes, if the need arises. Right now, Billy, the kids and I are sharing one room and the other three rooms go to you kids so you can have some privacy. Enjoy it while you got it, 'cause it's gonna become…awkward if more people show up."

When Darcy and Geralt ran back to their room to play the adults settled on the sofas. "What did you find out about my blood, Rhonda?" Lorianna asked curiously. It had to be something big for her to want to talk about it privately.

Rhonda ran her hands down her thighs. "A few weeks back, I ran a sample of your blood against the blood of an infected that we had in storage. Unlike any sample I've run thus far, yours is the only blood that did not grow fungus. Samples generally show fungal signs within a day or two. It's been over three weeks. In fact, after about a week and a half, there were no signs of the infected cells in the blood sample; your white blood cells eradicated them. You are not human enough, by our standards here, to become infected, even though your blood sample had a low white blood cell count – yet you are human enough to reproduce with a human." Her eyes lit up. "Do you know what this might mean? In theory, it means that your blood could possibly create a vaccine against the infection. I would need to do a lot more testing, of course, find volunteers….if, that is, you were willing…."

Lorianna gripped her husband's hand tighter and her eyes narrowed on the doctor. She could sense there was more the doctor wasn't saying. "And what effect did my blood have on yours?"

Joel stiffened. He was stunned that his wife might be immune. But it hadn't even crossed his mind that the doctor would have tested his wife's blood on herself. He hadn't given her permission for any of that, yet she'd done it anyway. Had it been a mistake to bring his wife here?

Rhonda blinked. How had she known? She cleared her throat. "There was a cellular war at first. My white blood cells attacked yours at first, as I would expect them to do, but the single white blood cell of yours that was in the sample seemed to reprogram my own. Each time it touched one of my white blood cells that cell no longer saw yours as a threat. Once all my white blood cells were reprogrammed, our red blood cells then coexisted peacefully and began to reproduce." She released a slow breath. "I can't say what long term effects would be. It could be that your cells would eventually die out in a foreign body, or…"

"Or the people exposed might become like me." Lorianna shook her head. "What is happening now is horrible, but so is what happened where I came from. People have good and evil inside them and even good people can become twisted with power. You saw the Star Wars movies, right? And Doom? There is no jedi council here, no one to train and help steer people towards a positive end. Even if there was, sometimes even the good can fall – and that is far more likely in desperate times. Look, I know you want to help stem this pandemic and so do I, but sometimes the cure is just as bad if not worse than the disease. Using my blood would be like handing a loaded blaster or lightsaber to a child and humanity would pay the price. Not only would they have infected to fight, but people twisted on power too. I fear humanity is dangerous enough without fueling them with my blood."

She pursed her lips. Yes, she'd seen those movies and others and that worried her too. "I get that and that is why I wanted to talk privately. If my findings got out…" her words trailed off. "Desperation makes people do things they would not normally do. And I have no desire to risk making super humans that could cause a new kind of destruction. Believe me; I've thought a lot about that. But it is only the antibodies that your lymphocytes, or white blood cells, produce that are needed to make a vaccine."

"But…" she prompted the doctor when she saw her frown.

Rhonda raked a hand through her hair. "But…I obviously don't have a big enough lab to mass produce any vaccine or distribute it. Getting a sample of the vaccine to a lab or even to the military would prove difficult right now, since they seem to be on a shoot first ask questions too late vendetta. And even if someone was able to sneak it into a quarantine zone, we would have to make sure whoever delivered the vaccine knew nothing about where we are located. So, yes…there are obstacles to consider."

There was little they could do about mass producing a vaccine at this point. But maybe her family…"Would you be able to produce enough to cover everyone here? Maybe a few extra to freeze until they can get to a lab facility?"

The doctor rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "If you were willing to stay long enough, your white blood cell count is too low right now."

She eyed the doctor carefully. She felt no deceit, but there was a lack of trust since she'd learned the woman had exposed herself to her blood. "If I do this – I will be there every step of the way. I need to ensure my blood is destroyed – that nothing but the antibodies survive."

She could hear the steel in the jedi's voice and knew she would not be able to talk her into keeping a few samples for study. Disappointing, but understandable. "I will agree to your terms. In another week, come see me – well, I mean, I would hope to see you sooner than that – but in a week, I will draw some blood and begin the work of extracting the antibodies." She rose from the sofa. "I will let you spend some time with your family right now – drop by the tent when you can."

After the doctor left she looked at Laura, Mama Nell and Joel, torn by indecision. Now that she knew her blood could transform theirs, she wanted to offer it to everyone in her family. If the cells didn't die out, if they grew in number then they would be like her, their chances of survival would increase. But they didn't grow up around a plethora of masters there to help them through moments of crisis and build up their moral convictions. Could she, alone, give all of them the support they would need? She had very little darkness in her and she'd nearly killed Nurse Needle – she would have if her husband hadn't stopped her. Everyone had some dark in them, though she couldn't see any of them getting twisted by it. Still…the possibility could not be ignored. And if she did nothing and they died because they didn't have the power they needed to survive…would that be any easier? The guilt would be the same either way. She rubbed her forehead. With what was happening right now, they were far more likely to die than become a tyrannical monster she would be forced to kill. A shaky breath slipped from her lips. "When everyone is back this evening…we need to talk." Maybe it would amount to nothing, the cells could very well die off in a foreign host, maybe they would need frequent exposure to her blood to maintain the midichlorians, maybe they would never be strong enough to use the energy around them. There were so many maybes and so few answers. She feared the line between right and wrong was going to blur a lot if this pandemic did not end soon. What would that mean for the survivors?

She rose from the sofa and held her hand out to her husband. "For now – show me to our room."

A grin spread on his lips. "Gladly, Mrs. Miller."