Kind of a quick upload, some people sent me messages saying they didn't like the cliffhanger. Well, too bad. It's what I live for, haha. Hope you like this chapter! Leave me a review if you'd like, and thanks for making it this far!

Maria saw Joel and the new girl on the ground together. She was clutching her stomach, and her face was contorted in pain. His face was white like a ghost.

She kneeled on the kitchen floor next to the two of them. "Has your water broken yet?"

Jemma let go of Joel's hand. "No, I think I'm fine, I'm just freaking out, I'm great, it doesn't hurt that much, it's fine."

She looked at Maria. "I'm just so scared, I don't know what to do."

Joel stood up. "What do you need me to do?"

"Uh, let's get her to a bed. Can you stand up?"

She slowly got to her feet, with Joel's help. Maria stood at a distance.

Who could she fool? Maria didn't know one thing about having a baby, aside from what she saw on movies. If the new girl was having her baby right then, how was she going to be able to help her out? She knew where the baby came from, and that was it. Tell her to push and see what happens.

Jemma hobbled to her room, and was about to lay down on the cushions, but Maria stopped her.

"Don't you have a bed? Never mind that, let's go to Ellie's room."

Ellie stood at a distance. She was both excited and frightened at what was going on. Jemma was the first pregnant woman she had met in her life.

Ellie had read that pregnancy was some wonderful gift to humanity or whatever. The ultimate purpose of the woman was to give birth to offspring. She had hoped for more in her life, but couldn't think of anything better to do with it. She was having second thoughts as she saw the three others climb the stairs.

Ellie wished she had cleaned her room as Jemma laid on her bed. There were so many books and papers laying around. She knew they wouldn't notice, but she still felt some sort of embarrassment.

Jemma gasped. "Oh, my God."

"What?!" Maria asked, frantic.

"It stopped. The pain. Everything. Is that normal?"

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"I think," Joel said, "it's called false labor. I'm not sure, but I think it's normal."

Maria sat down on the bed. "Yeah, I think you should take it easy. No matter what."

Jemma closed her eyes. Ellie could see a faint sheen of sweat on her face.

"I was kind if hoping I could get this done and over with tonight. That would have been nice." Jemma sounded disappointed.

"You ain't out of the woods, yet." Joel added. He relaxed his shoulders, and some color returned to his face. He paced the room slowly while the others talked.

Ellie was fascinated. "What did it feel like? Someone was punching you in the gut or what?"

"Like, my body was tightening around itself," she made a motion with her hands. "Trying to push it out for me. Sort of like when you've got to puke."

...

Maria stayed for another hour, just make to make sure she didn't go back into labor, false or not. Jemma had returned to a normal state, and that worried Maria. Was something wrong with her baby? Was something wrong with Jemma? She felt confident that she could make it through the night without pushing out the kid.

"I will make sure to get you a real bed tomorrow," Maria said as she walked out of the room. "Someone's got to have an extra somewhere."

Joel and Maria talked in hushed tones downstairs while Jemma and Ellie stayed in her room.

"Ellie, you can share the bed with me tonight. I feel like I'm invading your space by staying up here."

Ellie shook her head. "It's no big deal, I can sleep on the couch or something."

"No, stay with me. I'm going to be lonely if I stay here by myself. Please."

"Okay."

Ellie got into the bed with her. Jemma's long hair was fanned out all over the bed, like a mermaid. Ellie wondered if mermaids were real. So she asked.

"Jemma, do you think mermaids are real?"

She turned to Ellie. "Not really. I think, well, they could be, but I've never seen enough evidence to prove they are. Mermaids might have been real at one point, but I don't think they exist anymore. That's why we have the infected."

"Yeah, makes sense. But, do you think Atlantis is real?"

"That place underwater?"

Ellie nodded.

"Actually, I do think Atlantis was an island at one point. I don't think it was full of magic or anything, but I do believe that the ocean swept over it and it was gone in a day. It's possible." Jemma sighed, and closed her eyes.

"You really think so? I never really believed it or anything, I just thought it was a cool idea," Ellie said. "Like, fairies and goblins."

Jemma stayed quiet.

"Do you think you're gonna stay with us?" Ellie asked. "After you have your baby?"

She opened her eyes. "I don't know about anything. I'll wait to see how everything pans out. Maybe someone will hate me here and I won't have to worry about being a burden anymore."

They laid in silence for a few minutes.

"I like you, Ellie, and if you want me to stay, I will." Jemma looked over at her. Ellie was asleep.

...

Joel tried to remember what is was like when his wife was pregnant. Claire had an easy pregnancy, or so he thought. But, then again, she had access to as many doctors as she wanted. She had all the drugs she could want for pain. She didn't have to worry about monsters coming to get her while she slept.

Claire was kind of a bitch. Beautiful, but a bitch. Joel wasn't in love, he could admit that much. They met in high school, and were together for junior and senior year. Joel was on the football team and Claire was a cheerleader. The relationship was so clichéd it was sick. They stayed together for appearances, mostly.

Claire got pregnant two months before graduation. Joel wasn't even sure if it was his, but he wasn't going to question it then. When Claire came to him, with tears in her eyes, he knew he had to do something about it.

The marriage was hasty, and strained. Everyone knew what happened, and the smiles at the reception were just a façade. Joel didn't want to marry Claire. He wanted to go to school and become a singer, or something. He had to put all of that aside to take care of a family. He got a job with a construction company. They hired him on the fact that he could carry twice his weight up four flights of stairs.

Claire stayed at home and bought useless shit on QVC. Every night, they laid in the same bed and didn't talk. Joel barely touched her at all those nine months. Not that Claire would let him, anyway.

Joel was at work when Claire went into labor. He drove over an hour to the hospital, and by the time he was there, Claire was put under and the doctors were performing a Caesarian. He was the first to hold their child. A girl, they decided on the name Sarah.

He fell in love with her. His baby girl.

Joel went to work the next morning. And the next few months. When he would come home those nights, Sarah could be crying and Claire was passed out, drunk. He tried to talk some sense into Claire, but she wouldn't listen. She didn't want to have to be a mother. She wanted to have fun and go to parties.

Eventually, Claire left. Joel knew she had been cheating on him. Sarah wasn't even a year old yet. Joel had to work less hours so he could take care of her. He hired a babysitter when he could, but eventually it all became too much.

Joel took a year off of work so he could take care of Sarah. He moved back in with his parents. And for a while, everything was great.

Sarah had just turned three. Joel started working again, and they had moved into an apartment near Austin. Tommy called him at three in the morning.

"Mom and dad are dead."

A car accident. A drunk driver had been going down the wrong side of the road. He hit them, and their car rolled seven times. The other driver hadn't damaged his car very much, and he drove away. His father died instantly, they said. His mother lived for a few hours, but while she was going through a CAT scan, her heart stopped beating.

Tommy was only fourteen. He moved in with Joel and Sarah. Their parents house was heavily mortgaged, so they ended up selling almost everything just to pay those bills. The next few years were really hard on Joel. He was trying to hold down a full time job and raise two kids, one of whom was practically half his age.

He fell asleep thinking of the past.

...

Joel woke up to the sound of someone playing the guitar. His guitar. It was coming from downstairs. He also hear Ellie talking, then loud laughter from the two girls.

He slowly walked down the stairs.

Then, singing:

"But don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart, I just don't think he'd understand-" Laughter. "And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart, he might blow up and kill this man!"

Joel walked into the kitchen to see Jemma standing on the bar, and Ellie cheering her on from the kitchen table. Jemma had his guitar slung over her shoulder, and was playing out the song. He could admit, she was pretty good, but not as good as him.

"What the hell are you two doing?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Shit," Jemma turned around. "We were just, um, having a bit of fun."

Joel walked to the counter. "Here, I'll help ya out." She handed them the guitar, then sat down on the bar. She slid off, slowly.

"I'm going, see you guys tomorrow," Ellie said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't forget a jacket."

They heard the sound of the hall closet slamming open. "Yeah, yeah."

Jemma patted her belly. She was wearing black pants and an oversized sweater. She pulled her long hair into a ponytail. She smelled like coffee.

"Have you been drinking coffee?" Joel asked. The smell made his mouth water.

She smiled. "I saved a cup for you."

It was instant coffee, but it sure as hell was better than nothing. They sat on the window seat in the living room. The sun was coming through, and it warmed the seat.

Joel laid back on the wall.

"You know," Jemma started. "There was no choice."

"For what?"

"My baby. I- I didn't make the choice to have it."

"What are you saying?"

"When I was going through Nevada, a group of hunters abducted me. A little over a year ago. I was twenty-three.

"At first, I was their bitch. I was the only female they had. They made me clean, cook, stuff like that. Soon after, though, they started to rape me. Multiple men, multiple times a day. It was torture. If that wasn't enough, they started beating me, too. Tied me up all day and night.

"I don't know. Three months in, I realized I was pregnant. Not like those bastards would know, anyway. Their penises ruled their lives, not their brain. That continued for a couple of months. I grew numb to it. The raping, the beatings, everything. It became routine.

"I started getting sick. After the second day, they knew what was going on. They treated me like shit.

"They let me go, with all of my stuff. They gave me a gun with one bullet, and sent me on my way. I'm surprised I lived even one week."

Joel cleared his throat. "You didn't have to tell me that."

"I know. I was hoping that if I shared my life with you, you would trust me more." She she looked out the window. "And tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know, exactly?" He was hesitant to share, but he didn't think she'd bring any trouble.

"Nothing, really," she mumbled, and got up from the seat.

He heard her walk into her room, and close the door. She didn't lock it. Joel finished his cup of coffee and sat in silence.

...

She was sitting on one of the cushions, reading Dracula. Jemma didn't find the idea of a vampire to be scary in the least. The most frightening thing about the story was how Dracula personally stalked Mina until he found her.

She heard Joel open the door. She briefly turned to him, then continued reading. "I know Ellie's not your daughter."

"That's none of your business."

Jemma closed the book. "She told me already. She told me a lot. You don't need to keep secrets from me." Sure, she was lying, but she wanted to know what he was up to. Joel barely said anything to her, and she wanted to get that asshole talking.

"Let's take a walk." he said, and left to get his jacket.

Jemma walked slightly ahead of Joel. He watched her, and noticed that she didn't really walk, she more or less waddled. Her breath turned white in the air. "This is my favorite time of year, you know? The air, it feels great. The leaves, they're beautiful. It's fantastic. And I love wearing scarves."

"Mmm."

She sighed. "Great response."

He grabbed her arm. "Look, I don't know what the hell you want from me. I don't know why I decided to help you out. I don't really want to be your friend, okay? Let's call ourselves business partners an-"

She pulled her arm away from him. "Business partners?! Business partners? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Is this," she waved her hands in the air, motioning to the both of them. "Some sort of business to you?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I was-"

"Ugh, screw you," she mumbled, and walked away from him.

Joel walked after her. "Hey, just let me explain. I don't want you thinkin' that. I didn't mean anything by it."

They walked further and further away from the town.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled, picking up to a slow run.

Joel didn't speed up, he watched her struggle uphill. Jemma tripped over an exposed tree root and fell forward. He chuckled to himself. Women and their mood swings. She was so dramatic.

"Are you laughing at me, asshole?" She struggled to get back up. "I want to punch you! You're such a douchebag!" Jemma turned her head and saw him approaching her. She tried crawling up the hill, anything she could to put some distance between the two of them.

"Jemma, stop. You're overreacting. Settle down."

"Is that some kind of business tactic?" She made it up the hill and was trotting away from him. Her hair was falling out of the ponytail. Joel watched it bounce with every movement she made.

"Get away from me!"

"Or what?"

"I'll scream!" She started screaming.

"Shut the hell up!" He yelled, and started running after her. Even though she waddled, she moved quite fast.

Jemma kept screaming, and it echoed in the air.

"Stop screaming, you dumbass, you'll attract them!" He could feel his age catching up with him.

She slowed down, and stopped screaming. She was breathing hard, and stopped moving altogether. She turned around and pointed her finger at Joel. "I've forgiven you, but you're still an asshole."

"But you made a big deal out of nothing."

Jemma started laughing. Like a maniac. "I don't even know why! I was angry out of nowhere! It just hit me, like a truck." She leaned against a tree.

Joel stood in front of her. "You really are such an idiot. I can't believe you."

She was still laughing. "I'm sorry, but it's all business, right? So, fire me."

He shook his head.

"Fire me." She moved in closer to him.

"No."

Jemma moved in even closer, and Joel could feel the warmth from her belly. "Do it."

Joel backed up. "I can't."

"Fire me, Joel. Go ahead, you know you want to end this."

Joel moved behind her and pressed himself against the tree. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Fire me, asshole, you don't even want me around you and that fucking town!"

"I think we need to go home. You're acting weird."

Jemma stepped towards him, and Joel instinctively grabbed her neck. He could see the fear in her wide eyes. He didn't let go quickly, he kept his grip on her neck while he let all of his emotions set in. She stiffened and didn't move at all.

"Holy shit," he said, and let go of her neck.

The sound of a snapping branch came from the right, and Joel and Jemma put everything personal behind them. They heard the distinct call of a clicker, and the two started running down the hill.