Esmeralda

Today's song is Esmeralda by The Mother Hips.

"Em- Emmett," Bella gasped out between laughs, "Oh god it hurts," she moaned as she clutched her sides as she continued to try and stop the laughter that kept bubbling to the surface. "Holy Christ you are such a ra-tard."

"Ra-tard?" Jacob parroted breathlessly before curling into the fetal position and shaking with laughter.

Emmett rose seriously from his knees and dusted off his pants before fixing the two chuckling assholes with the stern glare he had perfected by studying Charlie for so many years. He briefly considered trying to grow his own moustache before coming back to reality.

"You two cackling butt nuggets go on and have your laugh but when I'm swimming neck deep in frozen confections and you're gagging for some sweet relief that will never come well, we'll just see who's laughing then."

Instantly, Bella's mouth clamped tightly shut and her terrified eyes shot to her older brother. The withholding of sugary goodness was no laughing matter especially if it was frozen. She couldn't help it if ice cream of any sort was her Achilles heel.

"You wouldn't," she challenged warily.

He crossed his well muscled arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh wouldn't I?"

Sensing a change in the atmosphere, Jacob's laughter began to die down as he watched the show down between the giant and his ball busting sister. The Swans really were better than cable it was just too bad he didn't have any popcorn.

Bella looked up from under her eyelashes and fixed her older brother with her best puss in boots stare. "But Emmy," she pouted looking as despondent as possible, "you know how much I love, love, love ice cream. Won't you share even a little bit?" She held up her thumb and forefinger to demonstrate just how small an amount she would need.

Emmett's face softened for a moment before it hardened again. "Nope," he shook his head decisively. "No way you're pulling that crap on me again Isabella, you and Alice have pulled that on me one too many times, it's not gonna work."

"Please Emmy bear?" she clasped her hands together pleadingly. "I wuv you," she sang as she made her eyes impossibly rounder.

Emmett's eyes began to twitch as his resolve crumbled under his sister's assault. "Well maybe just a little," he conceded, opening his arms wide for a hug.

Instead, Bella dropped her hands to her sides and smirked with satisfaction. "That's what I thought bitch."

"Dude!" Jacob exclaimed appreciatively as he struggled to choke back the laughter that threatened to escape. A dark look from a shocked Emmett was all it took to quell the laughter but it couldn't squash his amusement. Emmett might be the big one but it was obvious which sibling had all of the control in their relationship. It was priceless to watch such a large man get owned so easily by such a small woman.

"Whatever," Emmett grumbled darkly as he looked away toward the swiftly approaching vehicle. "So tell me oh mistress of darkness," he rolled his eyes, "what should we do about that?" he gestured toward the road.

Bella hesitated for a moment as she surveyed the interlopers. "Go down and meet them I guess," she shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan," Jacob agreed. "We should probably run back to the house and grab some gun-," he trailed off as both Swans distractedly withdrew handguns from the waistbands of their jeans as they continued to watch the truck's approach. "Okay," he said slowly, "so maybe I should run back to the house and get a gun, just in case and while I'm there I'll let everyone know what's up so they can cover us."

Bella and Emmett nodded in agreement but never took their eyes off of the road. With a shrug, Jacob turned and ran back toward his house to retrieve his gun and alert Sam and the rest of the village about the events that were unfolding below.

"You don't think it's full of zeds do you?" Emmett asked seriously.

Bella closed her eyes. "The bars of your crib had lead based paint didn't they? Yeah Em, I'm sure several of the undead were able to hotwire an ice cream truck and drive it all the way out here just for the hell of it. Seriously? Haven't you noticed they can't even figure out how to use a doorknob?"

"Oh, yeah I guess you're right," he replied rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as the tops of his ears turned pink. "But, uh, do you think whoever it is is dangerous?"

Bella thought about it for a second before answering. "No," she replied slowly with a shake of her head, "I don't think so. We're kinda far out of the way to be raided, especially so soon. Besides, I doubt anyone really knows we're out here."

"I'm back," Jacob panted as he bent over to catch his breath. "Sam and Seth are going to cover the staircase while everyone else watches from the cliffs but uh, Charlie is pretty pissed that you're both going down there without him so I think we should get down the staircase before he gets out here. Jared was going to try to stall him but who knows how long we have." Needing no further encouraging, both Swans exchanged a knowing glance before they scrambled toward the entrance to the hidden staircase. There was no way they were missing out on this because of Charlie's overprotective nature.

The ancient staircase down the side of the mesa was really a series of old handholds and worn stone steps carved deep into the side of the rock which after the road had been built had been only used by tourists during their tours of the ancient village. Unless one knew exactly where to look, the staircase was easily hidden from the road so there was no fear the driver would spot them on the way down.

Emmett confidently led the way down the stairs while Jacob watched nervously as Bella gingerly took the steps one at a time. It wasn't a very hard climb but with Bella's tendency to trip over air it was a perilous one and with a large rifle strapped across his back he wasn't sure how good he would be at catching her should she fall.

After a few minutes of silent descent, they reached the bottom of the stairs and Jacob let out a silent sigh of relief. He was far more worried that Bella would slip on a loose rock and fall down the long staircase than he was about their mysterious visitors.

"So, what's the plan oh illustrious leader?" Jacob asked.

Bella shrugged. "No plan really. Let's just go out to meet the car and see what they want. After that we can just play it from ear. Cool?" she asked her companions as they trekked around the side of the mesa toward the bottom of the old road.

"I guess," Emmett replied as he once again withdrew his handgun from his waistband and took off the safety and practiced aiming it as they walked.

"Jake?" she asked.

"I'm good with that." He unslung his rifle and checked it over thoroughly before also engaging in a round of imaginary target practice with Emmett.

"Alright, well I guess I'll do the talking then," Bella said with a roll of her eyes at the guys' blatant show of masculinity. Boys and their toys, she thought dryly before focusing her attention back on the ice cream truck which had now almost reached the visitor's center.

The trio watched silently as the truck stopped at the abandoned visitor's center before continuing on toward their impromptu blockade at the bottom of the mesa.

"Alright, here they come. Remember," Bella warned, "let me do the talking. You two just stand there and look menacing and please for the love of all that is good and holy, try not to do anything stupid."

Emmett gasped in mock shock, "Moi?"

"Yeah you especially," Bella replied seriously with a shake of her finger. "Jake, if he does anything particularly boneheaded, you have my permission to shoot him. Now shut up and look intimidating, here they come."

Catching sight of the armed guards, the ice cream truck slowed to a gradual stop, its jolly music blaring loudly across the empty landscape.

With a determined look, Bella stepped forward toward the driver's side window and gestured for it to be rolled down. As the dust streaked window lowered slowly, her mind was playing out a series of equally likely and unlikely scenarios but none of them prepared her for the tense and dirty yet shockingly friendly and effortlessly beautiful fate that greeted her.

"Hello," the woman said sweetly as she turned off the truck and the tinny music faded away to nothing. "Oh thank god," she sighed in relief. "I was going absolutely insane listening to that crap. Anyway, I'm Dr. Esmeralda Platt," she extended her hand toward an amused Bella, "but please, call me Esme."

Bella reached out and shook her hand. "I'm Bella Swan and over there is my brother Emmett," she gestured over her shoulder toward the grinning man who saluted with his gun, "and my friend, Jacob Black." Jacob nodded his head in greeting but kept his emotions in check and off of his face.

"Nice to meet you," Esme replied sweetly. "So I guess it would seem my source was correct, there really is some kind of stronghold out here."

"You knew we'd be out here?" Bella asked curiously.

"Yes," Esme nodded her head emphatically, "my upstairs neighbor, or I suppose former neighbor god rest her soul," she corrected grimly, "suggested we head out here when the infection hit but once things got really bad and communication was cut off we lost contact since out apartment complex was overrun. After weeks of hiding, I was able to escape out my kitchen window and commandeer that stupid truck before heading out here. I've been on the road ever since only stopping to collect samples whenever the opportunity arose."

Jacob's head snapped up. "Samples?"

"Ice cream samples?" Emmett asked hopefully.

"Uh no," Esme replied, "although there is still ice cream in the truck I'm pretty sure you don't want to eat it."

"Psh," Emmett waved her off as he jogged eagerly toward the back of the truck and threw the doors open. "I don't care if it's half melted," he shouted as he climbed into the back of the truck, "I'll eat pretty much anyth- mother of fuck!" His muffled voice shouted from inside. "What kind of sick fucking freak are you?"

"Em?" Bella called worriedly as she jumped up and moved toward the back of the truck only to be met by the green tinged face of her brother. "Are you alright?"

Emmett nodded his head silently before jumping out of the van and vomiting spectacularly in the chamisa bushes dotting the desert landscape.

"What the hell Em?" she shouted as she jumped out of the way of any potential back splatter.

"Don't- don't go in there," he panted before once again doubling over and heaving into the bushes.

Disregarding her brother's advice as she usually did, Bella climbed into the back of the truck and looked around. Nothing seemed amiss it looked just like the inside of an ice cream truck should with the exception of a pile of clothes and a box that appeared to be filled with microscopes and other devices, nothing that would cause Emmett's intense reaction. With a frown she strode toward the open cooler, and recoiled immediately after peering inside.

"Ugh," she grunted taking a step back in disgust. "That's just gross." After a moment she hesitantly leaned forward again and peered back into the cooler and took stock of its contents.

Nestled neatly between the boxes of Chocolate Éclair bars and Fudge Pops were several freezer baggies filled with what appeared to be brain matter and if that weren't bad enough the severed head staring blankly back at her was certainly enough to put her off Strawberry Shortcake bars for awhile.

Bella bit her lip and steeled herself against any squeamish tendencies before reaching into the bin of death and retrieving one of the Ziploc baggies in question. Willing herself not to look, she jumped back out of the truck and walked toward a flustered looking Esme.

"Care to explain this Dr. Platt?" she asked holding the bag aloft.

"I know it looks bad but they're, um, samples," Esme explained nervously shifting from one foot to the other. "I'm um, trying to find the cause of the outbreak by studying the brains of the infected."

"And the severed head in the freezer?" she demanded.

"Merely a sample I haven't gotten a chance to extract."

"Ugh," Jacob said while poking the contents of the bag with the muzzle of his gun, "gross."

"Would you stop it?" Bella snapped batting the gun away before turning back to Esme. "So that's what you meant about collecting samples then?" she asked.

Esme nodded. "Yes. The fresher the sample the better. I took my time getting here because I was trying to collect samples from those infected early on as well as those infected more recently. I'm trying to determine if this was caused by a virus and if so whether there are different strains. So far my work has been, slow but I'm starting to get some inconclusive results."

Emmett asked as he emerged from the bushes looking pale and pointedly avoided looking at the grisly package dangling from Bella's hand. "So you're looking for a cure then?"

Esme frowned. "Unfortunately those infected really are dead and something else is animating their bodies so a cure wouldn't do them any good. What I'm looking for some sort of vaccine for the living. If I can make those still living immune to this we might have a chance at survival. Right now the infection seems to be spread mostly through bites but my greatest fear is that it will go airborne and if that happens before I can find some sort of vaccine we're all doomed but first I have to find somewhere that I can do my research in safety."

The trio communicated silently over Esme's head before nodding in agreement. "Alright," Bella conceded, "you can stay with us. We have enough supplies to last awhile as well as the safety provided by the cliffs. There's no electricity but we do have a few generators available to help with your work. Our fuel is limited but if you're working on something that might save us all we're certainly willing to do whatever it takes to help you."

A genuine smile graced Esme's face. "Thank you all so much you don't know how grateful I am for your hospitality. I swear, I'll pull my own weight and I'll do whatever it takes to stop this from spreading. I promise you won't regret this," she gushed happily.

After a brief standoff, Bella eventually forced the guys help Esme load her materials into boxes, save for the severed head which Esme wrapped in a garbage bag and insisted on carrying herself while Bella carried the weapons. After emptying the van of all perishables and storing it with the rest of the vehicles, the foursome began the long climb up the stone staircase.

"So Esme," Bella panted from her position at the rear of their impromptu convoy as she climbed, "I'm curious. You said your neighbor told you to head out here. How the heck did he come up with this place?"

"She," Esme corrected quietly. "My neighbor was a female. She and her sweet little boy lived above me and when the infection first hit this was the first place she suggested we go, I'm not sure how she came up with it thought."

"Huh," Bella furrowed her brow as she felt a sinking feeling in her gut, "this is kind of a weird place to just come up with." She was silent for a moment before asking a question she was almost certain she wouldn't like the answer to. "Esme, what, uh, what were your neighbor's names?" She asked quietly.

"Hale," Esme answered sadly, "Jack and Rosalie Hale."

"Oh," Bella whispered as she suddenly lost her footing and tumbled backwards down the staircase.

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Thank you all so much for your great reviews and all the adds! I love you all and I absolutely LOVE hearing from you! Please keep it up! I would also like to thank whoever rec'd this story to TwiFic Pimps, this is going to be one of the Pimped stories this week and I am SOOOOOO excited so thank you! As always let me know what you think and any ideas you have for a zombie survival strategy, I really get a kick out of reading some of them! Have a great night and remember, don't let the zombies bite!

XOXO,

Bellarella