Once the greetings and the hugs and the 'I love you's' and the 'are you ok's' passed with a lot less enthusiasm than anyone expected, Julia came face to face with Special Agent Ford. Chess and Jay forced him to his tethered feet from the rear of the van.
"Who the fuck is he?" Julia asked.
"This is Agent Paul Ford." Chess answered, giving him a push toward the small and tired Julia and the equally as spent Jody.
"Are we kidnappers now?" She yelled.
"We didn't kill the living though." Jay said, his sing song whiny voice had returned.
"So who is he?"
Chess took a moment to explain the significance of Agent Ford. He slid his ass onto the hood of the minivan and he let her and Jody digest the short story that he'd told. He was the agent that took them and placed them in Z-town, left them supplies through their unfortunate reactions to the Z virus.
"Z-town? Like Nuketown?" She giggled, looking around the road.
"Nuketown is so much more realistic." Jay admitted as he stood guard by the van with his weapon drawn. They were still active in the game. They hadn't left the confines of Oakland, Maryland.
"Well," Julia said quietly thinking. "This could technically go a few different ways, right Jo?"
"Yeah." He replied more tired than interested.
"Tarin. Is he Ok?"
"Yes." Jay replied. "Left the baby in his crib. He was unharmed."
"So there is some humanity in there." She shrugged. She wanted to pace out her thoughts. She was put on the spot with no time to think about Agent Ford. He had a job to do like anybody else in this conspiracy. "Following orders, Ford?" She asked calmly.
"Yes."
"Do you know who I am?" She asked him, moving closer to him.
"No, ma'am."
She held her arm out for him. "Do you know who I am now?"
"Julia Keller."
"Who is he?" She asked, feeling the anger kick up inside her. She yanked Jody's arm and held it up for him to see clearly.
"Jayson Keller."
She laughed a little. "For future reference, Ford, you should study before you abduct, not only us, but anyone."
Chess lit a cigarette, feeling a rant coming on and her rants took awhile. Once wifey started running her mouth, then everyone should just take a seat and weather it till she ran out of gas. Wifey was prone to diarrhea of the mouth. He handed off the smoke he just lit to her and then lit another. "Jo?"
"Nah, I don't feel good." He replied, sliding onto the hood of the van along side Chess.
"You infected my friend." Julia said calmly. "He came close to dying on me, Ford." She continued.
"Jayson Keller is immune. You have been vaxxed." He knew that much.
"That's not Jayson Keller, dumbass." She sounded critical as she pointed out the man who stood to his left and kept his gun down with eyes scanning the environment. "That is Jayson Keller." She paused, but thought it was a great idea to point out his mistake. "We all make mistakes though. Let this be a learning experience."
This far, surviving the night sounded like it was in the cards for Agent Ford. Chess looked at her like she had lost the insanity she once flaunted. "So, let me tell you how this is gonna go down. Cause I am partial to being fair and rational lately."
"Since when?" Chess asked surprised.
"He was working, Chess. The crazy part about this is I enjoyed it. Would have preferred to do it without a busted ankle and an infection and without hurting my friend here. Cause my friend, Ford, is to me what your partner is to you." She sighed and thought about it. "Where is your partner?"
"We buried him today."
"So let that also be a lesson learned in this game we're playing. Cause that is what this is, a game, correct?" She asked and didn't expect or want an answer. "I like playing the game. Had there not been a child involved, I assure you that there would have been 2 dead agents in my house a week ago. Understand?"
He didn't respond and when she said to place him in the van and ordered everyone inside along with him, they were all caught by surprise. She drove though and instead of turning the car around and driving north, toward home, toward freedom, she drove deeper into the small town. "Jo, stay in the car. We'll be right back." She had Chess get the agent out and had Jay stay with Jody. "There's IV's in the bag. Open up a bag and bolus him. Keep him safe."
"K, Julia." He replied, getting to work on the orders he'd received.
They stood in front of a three story house. She indicated to Ford to lead the way and he complied. He knew where he was going and what direction this was heading. Chess followed along, having released Ford's legs to climb the three flights of wrought iron stairs on the outside of the house. When they reached the third floor, Chess pushed the four digit code and the door popped open to the room. The fluorescent light blinked to life above them in the ceiling. No panels around it though. Julia gave him a shove into the room.
Chess was immediately hit with the odor of human excrement and sickness. Blood on the mattress against the wall as well as urine and feces. It was uncomfortably warm in there and there was, in the far corner of the room, a panel removed from the floor. He peered through and saw another room below them.
"Knife." Julia said calmly, holding her hand out to Chess.
He pulled his knife off his hip and he watched as she cut off the man's clothing, leaving him naked and cuffed. He honestly thought she'd cut him or stab him or mutilate him, but she didn't. She handed the knife back to him. "Key." She said, holding her palm out to him. Chess handed over the key, which he had on a lanyard around his neck. "If you move, he will empty that gun into you. Do you understand?" Julia asked as she approached him. Chess drew the gun and aimed it. Agent Ford knew where this was going and he would not be killed, but Chess was unsure. He allowed julia to unlock him and remove the cuffs from his wrists. "You have done this before?" Julia asked.
"Yes, ma'am." He answered.
"Marine?" She asked.
"Yes."
"Good. You're odds have improved greatly, but-" She pulled her gun and she shot him in his foot. The gun shot echoed through the small and insulated room. He dropped, screaming in pain and observing his foot wound. "Have you ever done this injured? Cause I have." She smiled. She gave him some time to calm himself down and collect his composure. "So, Ford, are you listening?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Damn it, you marines are the politest people ever." She mentioned to Chess.
"Yes, ma'am." Chess grinned, training the gun on Ford.
"So, since you're listening, Sir. I think that when you get out of here and when you heal and when I heal, you should come see me." She limped away from him and to the door where Chess stood. "I suggest that you do some research and figure out exactly who the fuck I am and what you're dealing with before you arrive." She raised her voice as she spoke. "Julia Keller, that name will get you no where fast. Julia Morgan, on the other hand, you'll be getting somewhere. Good luck, marine."
Julia and Chess descended three flights of metal stairs to the ground, leaving the door and the trap door open for him. He could choose which exit he would take his naked body through. "Jules, that room-"
"Not now, please. Not ever, in fact." She whispered. She held his arm tight as she limped to the van.
Chess helped her in the back seat alongside her patient and he climbed in the passenger side. He dialed Ray's cell as Jay pulled the van onto route 219 north to head home. "Ray, yo, is she out?"
"She drank it all and she's sound asleep, yes. I removed the zip ties, put her on the sofa so she's comfortable."
"Great, now drive home. Thanks."
"I can take this mask off finally."
"Didn't need to leave it on, Ray." Chess told him. He had forgotten about the mask. He'd been masked the entire time. Didn't matter. "Thanks, bro."
"Yep. See ya at home."
Julia propped her left foot on the console between the two front seats and unwrapped the ACE wraps, setting her foot free. The swelling and pain were out of this world. "It's never gonna heal." She said, rubbing her hand over it, massaging her fingertips into the flesh of her foot. The tears escaped her eyes and flowed over her cheeks. She hadn't been able to do it all day, putting up a good front for her sick partner.
"Should you go to a hospital?"
"No, Jay."
"Should he go to a hospital?"
"No, Jay. He's been infected before. He'll live to fight another day." She eyeballed the IV fluid that dripped into his IV from where it hung on the hook above the side door. "Nice job with the IV, Jayson."
"I tried. I'm sloppy." He replied. He didn't do it everyday.
Julia laid her head back on the seat and laid her arm across Jo's chest as they drove. He was sleeping. He was alive.
"There's eyes on us, you know." Jay mentioned as they stopped at a gate in the road.
"Don't care." Julia replied as she watched Chess open the door. "Drive through the gate."
"What?" Jay asked.
"We do not work for them. Do as I ask, please." She didn't like raising her voice and she didn't appreciate being questioned either.
"No." Jay said sternly. She understood why. She didn't need explanation or a lecture. He looked at Chess. "Push the code." Chess looked back and forth between the two Kellers and at that moment, he wasn't sure what to do. He got out and he pushed the code and the gates opened.
"Overriding me?" She asked, shaking her head.
"Tonight, yeah. Afraid so."
"Been a long apocalypse, boys." She cried, dripping her warm tears on Jody's face below. "What's the code?"
"0827." Chess answered, strapping his seat belt on. The gates closed behind them once they had passed. He told her, figuring it would be changed eventually by some authority.
"Sad thing about this shit is, if they had asked me nicely, I would have volunteered for this. I would have come in a blindfold and no tranquilizer. Dumb asses got one of their agents killed for a game."
"Where's the other one?" Jayson asked.
"Stripped him naked and left him with a busted foot like he left me." She glanced at her aching joint and flexed it then extended it. "Whenever we get to civilization, I want some ice and a bottle of vodka." She slinked back in her seat and she cried, because that's what she felt like doing at the moment. She would cry as long as she chose and she would stop when her body told her to. They drove in silence for miles north on 219 when Jay pulled off to go to the Sheetz Market for the ice and no vodka.
Jody woke when the van stopped, thinking they were somewhere close to home, which they were not. They had driven an hour and a half, about to get on the turnpike in Bedford, Pa. They were still 2 hours from home and it was 2am. "It's alright, Morgan." He said, repositioning on the seat and rolling onto his side. He curled up, head still in her lap.
"Yeah, I know." She dripped on him some more, eyes leaking a sad soul. "Sick of this shit." She whispered.
"Tell me the fuck about it." He tried to smile or find humor in this situation. He put an arm around her. "I gotcha."
"I got you too, Mayers." She straightened out IV tubing and when Jay came back he opened the door and he handed her a coffee and a bucket of fries with a small cup of ketchup on the side. He knew she loved Sheetz fries.
"Best I could do."
"Oh, well, thanks, Jay." She said, her mood suddenly perking up. He gave her a kiss and he told her he loved her as he placed a bag of ice on her ankle. He lifted her foot and balled up a hoodie beneath it to make the console soft. She chewed up a couple fries, enjoying the modern convenience of French fries at 2 am. She stuck one in Jo's mouth.
"So where we living nowadays? Are we back in the house yet?"
"Um, Jesslyn's or Sandy's. House should be done in a few days. Tavin had to fight with the insurance people. Deadly shootings weren't covered." He answered honestly. He glanced at Jody, half awake and weak. Seeing him down was out of the norm. He definitely didn't feel well at all. "Sure about not taking him to a hospital?"
"No hospitals." Jody said, opening his mouth for another fry. He moved his body into an upright position slowly and adjusted in the seat. Julia held out the fries and he took some, dipping them in the ketchup. "I'll be ok."
"We take care of our own. When they're well and when they're sick. Right, Jayson?"
"Yep," He agreed, leaning into her. He kissed her through dirt and grime and soot and decay. She hadn't brushed her teeth in a week either. That had to be pleasant. "Where's your glasses, nerd?"
"Somewhere between the police station and the oil truck." She replied, reaching her hand to his face. She held her hand against the warmth of his cheek while he kissed her. "I had company, but I missed you."
"I had company, but I missed you too, babe." He gave her a final kiss on her forehead before he separated. He slid the van door shut and moved back to the driver's seat in time for Chess to come back. Monster energy drink in hand and a weary look on his face.
"How much longer, Jayson?"
"Two hours." Jay said over the roof of the minivan. He leaned on the door frame, resting his chin on his folded arms and yawned.
"You want me to drive?"
"Don't think it matters at this point."
He looked over the seat at Julia and Jody quietly eating fries, looking like something out of a horror movie. "We need to hose these two off in the yard before they even think about going in the house." He mentioned, climbing into the seat and strapping in.
Once back on the road in the quiet of the van with all four awake, they began to discuss the events as they happened. Julia and Jody started from their beginning to waking in the room. They stopped short of divulging intricate and personal details of the box shaped, sealed room, choosing to focus on the fact they were ill, recovered with little water and food till Jody eventually discovered their exit. Jay and Chess focused on the partner since the few sources Chess had were coming up empty. It had been Cookie in the end that gave them the direction they needed. He knew that if they waited long enough the partner, Ford, would turn up. Chess speculated that was why Ford's disappearance had been extended over the course of the week.
"But what was the point though?" Jayson asked, most curious of all four of them. "Why go through that trouble and why now?" No one could answer that question, at least none of them could answer it. They only could guess.
Jody and Julia continued to detail their incident once outside the sealed room. Each level, both believed, was a test. It tested not only Jayson's immunity, but also tested that vax that was circulating through Julia Fry's body. It tested them on multiple levels, staying together as opposed to one leaving the other behind. Not only did it suffice to show their desire to survive, but their skill level, their ability to think fast on their feet, how to survive and fight and when necessary when to hide and shelter. Had Jody and Julia been at full strength and healthy, their time in Z-town would have been a day as opposed to a week. As soon as they were equally as recovered, both felt strongly the need to find an exit strategy. Julia always prided herself on the exit strategy, the plan B.
Chess and Jayson offered their version of events over the course of the week, making it clear it had been Cookie who had given him the contacts who pointed them in the right direction. Chess's idea of finding and pursuing the partner would have gathered them all the information and direction they needed, but Cookie's contacts, in the end, had been the help they needed. The partner was a bonus, having come out from under his rock for the funeral. They had been all over Maryland and into DC once and came up empty. Chess also confessed to working at the same time, which was unsettling with Julia and Jody. Usually Chess didn't drag his family into his 'work'.
"I have seen the shadiest of shit this week." Jay announced. "I assume you two know what he does." He looked into the rearview mirror specifically at Julia as she ate her fries.
"What? Yeah." She answered like it was no big deal.
"Guns, drugs, like blocks of cocaine and a crate of pot." Jay mumbled in Chess's direction. "Street dealers and distributors." He looked over the seat at Jody for an instant. "...and that last job...I don't even know what that was all about."
"Glad to see we're never talking about it." Chess told him, reminding him they had agreed they wouldn't mention their activities.
"Ooh, what was the last job?" Julia asked curiously, passing the fries to Jody.
"I broke a guy's neck for thirty grand." Chess answered nonchalantly. "No biggie, really. He acts like I took out a federal building with a moving van full of manure or something."
"Oh," Julia commented. She sipped her coffee, surprised he had come out with it so easily. "Was that one of the government things or an independent job?"
"Independent."
"Thanks." Jody commented, munching on the last of the fries.
"I have the money in my sock drawer. I'll give it to you when we get home." Chess said to him. "I hate street dealers, acting like they own the street or something."
"Gotta let em think they do. You didn't cause me any problems, did you?" Jo asked.
"No. But they ain't shit and never been shit and will never amount to shit. Most of them anyway."
"Dude, that's your army, remember?"
"That's it? I would have expected something a little more professional. All hood niggers, if you ask me."
"Can't go around saying that."
"We didn't." Jay told him. "He was so disrespectful. They didn't trust him."
"I wouldn't either. They never met him."
"I'm their boss." Chess said, lighting a cigarette.
"I am. You're mine." Jody corrected him. "Either way, we all answer to somebody. They answer to me, I answer to you and I assume you answer to someone and so on and all the way to the top of the-"
"I answer to no one." Chess scoffed at the idea.
"I find that hard to believe." Julia said, finally adding her two cents. "If your shit disappeared, someone would come looking for you, right? So that is the person you answer to."
"I own it outright, Julia. I go, I buy, I don't have to do anything with what I buy. I can use it, burn it, toss it in the Shades Lake. Doesn't matter."
"But you're part of a bigger picture though, Chess."
"Oh, you and the bigger fucking picture. I created the picture, Julia."
"Yeah, but you moved in on someone else's bigger picture."
"And we dealt with the bigger picture."
"Alright, fine. Whatever. I don't even care cause it's not my picture."
"Start thinking about your picture, zombie killer. What are you gonna do with your life if there's no end to this bullshit life we have going here?"
"It's not a bullshit life." Jayson argued with him. "I been trying to tell you that all week. You are so negative."
"What do you have going that's so great other than the redhead back there?"
"I wouldn't consider this doing great." Julia said, taking her ice pack off her leg.
"This has been the most interesting week of your year since you married yourself off to Red." Chess informed him. He saw Jay's sudden disgust for him, so he self-corrected. "I mean you could do something. Like anything. I mean, you're no dummy and you could do a lot more than you do."
"Like what?" Jay asked. "I don't even know which way is up anymore. This year has been horrible. Worse than last. I started getting my shit together and then..." He thought a moment, reminding himself who was in the car. It wasn't just him and Chess anymore. Of all the conversations he had with his cousin, this one didn't need to happen alongside Julia.
"Oh, so I am a mess, you get to be a mess right along with me? Jay, go back to school, please and stop this madness."
"Yeah, and as soon as I get into a routine or a schedule, some disaster happens and I fall back or fall off and get twisted up in something else."
"I'm the something else." Julia guessed.
"I explained this to you, so don't come at me like it's any surprise, babe."
"Did you pass your semesters at school?"
"Yes."
"Then what are you complaining about? I obviously had no effect-"
"Don't tell me what your effect was or wasn't."
"I was a non-issue."
"A non-what?" Jay asked her with a laugh.
"I shouldn't have been anyway. You made me one. Always making me a priority when I clearly shouldn't be one."
"That's not fair, Julia." He said under his breath.
"Life's not fair."
Jayson knew when to shut up, when an argument was an argument and when he was wasting his breath. She was a big girl and when she wasn't one, she knew who to call. She'd spent the year using and manipulating him at her will.
"I love you though." She said. She pulled her foot off the console and rewrapped it with the ACE wraps, then put on her sock and her boot. "I don't get a feeling this is over either. Like we're just gonna walk away and come out of this without any repercussions? I shot an agent in the foot for Christ sakes."
"And we half destroyed Z-town with all the explosions. Shit is still burning." Jody reminded her. "When they come for you, get me too. Since they think I am him, may as well get me, not him."
"So...um, when we get home, do I like go to the police and tell them what happened, that I am home and all? Think I'll face some charges on that shooting?"
"Well, we'll find out. I got a lawyer. Uh, we'll give him a call in the morning. From what Swigget says, it's a justified shooting. There's no body, no ID on the body. They don't even know about Jody here being with you either."
That part of her future up in the air, she felt optimistic in regards to the shooting. No one told the man to kick in her front door and terrorize her and Tarin. He got exactly what was coming to him. Like the last one about a year ago. She had Alex with her for the last body she dropped. That one had been on her front walkway. They had taken his car, too, which was later found close to Jess's house, a burned out shell of what it originally looked like. The difference a year made. For Julia, it made no difference at all, but the rest of them had moved forward. Julia was stuck in place, suspended in a state of depression. She still felt the depression and doubted she would ever see a way out and onto a level of happiness. She struggled with normal and sobriety, walking a straight and narrow on a daily basis. She was just getting back into the swing of things, getting into a routine when the MIB came back after her.
Shortly after 4am, Jay pulled into the driveway at Tavin's house. He chose to stop there for some of their things and then move on to Jess or Sandy's. Julia went as far as to suggest they clean up there and change and then leave. No one said they couldn't stay at the house or go there, only that the crew wasn't done with their work. She didn't like the idea of leaving their things unattended. No one fancied that idea, but it was necessary. Being that they couldn't live in a crime scene, they were forced to relocate. Since the insurance was giving Tavin a hard time, he took the money they gave him for temporary relocation and he paid for the clean up with that money. He was still short and he set up a payment plan for the money he owed. He was pissed. The insurance would only cover the door frame to Jay and Julia's room. He used that money to pay the crew as well and he would fix the door himself.
Julia left the IV in Jody's arm despite his protests. He didn't see the need, but she waved him off toward the bathroom and warned him to leave it in place. She snooped around a little, looking over the work that was done in the house while she waited on Jody to bathe and dress. Strange little electronic devices were laid out on a table in the upstairs. They were not hardwired to anything yet, but she was suspicious. "Hey, Chess." She called from the hall. "Come here."
Chess was beat, trying not to pass out at the kitchen counter while waiting for Jo and Julia to finish washing up and changing clothes. He heard her and groaned as he dragged his body up a flight of stairs. When he arrived to the hallway, seeing the light fixture on a work table and the devices lined up on this table, he got a bad feeling.
"Since when does cleaning involve this?" She asked, holding one in particular in her palm. She shook her head. "No way in this world this has anything to do with a damn carpet and walls and a door frame." She scanned the house, the clean up was complete and there was no mess. There wasn't one drop of blood or anything else in the hall or in the bedroom that indicated that anything had transpired there. Any and all evidence of a crime scene had been washed, cleaned, shampooed, scrubbed. She was impressed with the clean up, whoever had done it. "Someone needs to be in this house when they return. Someone needs to ask questions and get straight answers. Are these things downstairs too?"
Chess ran hands through his hair and then rubbed his eyes. He didn't know. "Why are you asking me, Jules? I am not an expert in-"
Julia demanded some immediate response, so she took pics of the devices and sent them to Ray. He'd only been home about an hour when she called and he was awake to receive the pictures. He called right back and said he didn't like the looks of the devices he'd seen. He said they were similar to the ones, but more expensive than his own surveillance paraphernalia.
"MIB." Chess whispered, rolling his eyes. "Ok, thanks." He disconnected from Ray before he got off on a rant about MIB and surveillance.
"I am tired of this shit." Julia felt the anger welling up in her and she wanted to smash all of them under her good foot. "So tired, so tired." She muttered, hobbling to her room where Jay laid out sound asleep on the bed. She looked back to Chess. "Go home." She told him, pointing to the steps.
"Uh, what about you people?" He asked her, taking the out he was given.
"Eh, let Tav know we're here and I will see the person in charge of that crew if he doesn't." She scooped up all the small audio-visual devices into her hand and she took them downstairs. She slid step by step on her butt and moved faster that way.
Chess followed along and took his keys off the counter. She walked out with him to the porch and lit a cigarette once outside. "Thanks, Chess." She said, giving him a hug.
He squeezed an ass cheek in return, "Yep, I'll contact the lawyer in the morning and call about new glasses, too."
"Ok, thanks." She paused and let him go.
"What's up? You got more instructions?"
"Nah," She answered, looking around them and the yard. "Uh, I wanna ask something and say yes or no, alright?" She took a drag on her cigarette and looked down. "Um, I wanna fool around with Jo."
"No." He answered. He shook his head on that question. He'd given the directive of no extra, had even taken Tavin off the table when she asked him to do so. Now Jody? "What the fuck for?"
"Mmm, no reason." She handed him the rest of her smoke so she could head inside.
"You connect to him?"
"Kinda." She replied under her breath.
"Ya crazy? Go ride your husband's dick."
"Spent a week thinking about it. Him, because he was with me and then Jay cause-well, Jay, you know."
"Uh-huh. Answer's no. I own you, right?"
"No, you do-"
"If I don't, why are you even asking me? Behave yourself, act like a wife. Thoughts are fine, but damn, Julia. Think of him while you're doing it. Don't actually do anything."
"Eh, he's sick anyway." She shrugged.
"Honor her body, Julia. Don't slut it up. She wouldn't do that, so please don't act on it." He said as he walked toward the minivan.
"Can I kiss him at least? Please, Chess-"
"Enough. Do I need to beat your ass, Julia?"
"No."
"No, what?"
"No, Sir."
Chess stepped toward her and lowered his voice, "So this is you getting out of hand."
"I'm sorry. Chess, no. I'm listening."
"You sure? Julia, I warned both of you not to hook up. I was very clear on it."
"I know, but it was a different time and place."
"Leave it there."
"Yes, Chess."
"Like Jody would say, stay in reality."
"Yes, Chess."
"Julia, I know you're feeling some kinda way and going through that, you feel all connected, but-"
"Guilting me will not work." She sighed. "Clearly you are jealous."
"I am not jealous. Acting like you got something I cannot have whenever I want it. Please, woman. Go inside."
Julia slipped back inside the house and closed the door on him. She was kicking herself for ever allowing her loneliness and need on the flipside to override her common sense. Keep it simple and keep it professional...and she had failed. She had more than work with Mayers.
When Jody finished up in the bathroom, she went after him and got a hot shower, washing the residue of the dead and dirt from Oakland, Maryland off her body. She dried off, dressed in a pair of stretchy pants and an old tee and head downstairs against her better judgment. She made sure he was set up and comfortable on the sofa and that he was warm and had a Gatorade close at hand. She touched his face, the stubble he had trimmed but left the beard in place for the most part. So handsome, but ill, infected. His hand covered hers over his bearded cheek.
"Jo," She said, leaning over him. "I love ya, Jody."
"Yeah, Julia. I know. I love you too. Go to bed, it's been a long week."
"Call me if you need anything, alright? Just like yell, you know."
"Gotcha." He said, turning on the TV. "Ditto. I'm right here." He looked away from the TV to her pretty face. He pushed her hair away. "You wanna stay?"
"Nah, no." She shook her head. "I'm not allowed." She rolled her eyes and thought of her damn ex husband. Telling him she wasn't allowed had given away her desire to stay at his side, but signaling the choice hadn't been made by her. Chess was right after all, be a wife and be a respectable woman. For once...
She hadn't lied when she said she had thoughts of Mayers through the week. She hadn't lied when she said she had thoughts of Jayson either, only the thoughts she reviewed were not of her own memory and time with Jay. That had been Julia Fry's version of events. Her thoughts of Jayson Keller. She, herself, would have very different thoughts and memories of her Jay. "Shit, Jo." She smiled as she pulled her hand from his face. Touching any part of Mayers would reignite the connection. It needed to fade. "I'm sorry, Jo."
"Don't start crying, Morgan. It's cool." He looked back to the TV and he straightened out the blanket over him, loosening it and letting his feet out.
She felt like she was standing in front of Tavin as Jo tried to be cool and collected and disinterested. Maybe he truly was? She couldn't tell for sure. But Jo was the one with the standards and the one who did the right thing when it came to betrayal and he wouldn't betray Jayson for the sake of her. A few days ago they shared their fears and their pain and they felt like they were dying. Their connection had begun when he arrived to the bedroom to help her a week ago. Her emotions were unraveling and instead of sharing them with the man in front of her, she said good night and went upstairs to a door-less bedroom and got in bed with Jayson.
Before she made a mistake, before she let Mayers in and shared her soul with him, she went to the person she was by law supposed to bare her soul. She curled up alongside Jay and cried till he woke up or she fell asleep. Whichever came first didn't matter.
"It's ok now." Jay told her, repositioning himself to her curled up body and fitting so comfortably against her.
"Mm-hmm. I know." She replied. One more time it was 'ok now'. One more time she cried for herself and for another person. One more time she felt shredded by the never ending apocalypse. Once they all jumped home, it had merely been put on hold for a short time. The zoms never truly went away and neither did the pain and sacrifice that she and her people suffered because of the virus. All roads lead to zombies. All roads were stained with the blood of victims and death. She had watched herself turn into one and die from a single gun shot wound to the head not too long ago.
She had nine lives, they all had nine lives. Or was it just dumb luck?
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