It had been a week since they killed daddy in room 12 at Motel 6. His body was sent back to Maryland after the autopsy was completed. The news picked up immediately on the story. It was rather gruesome, leaving out no detail. There was no forensic evidence to implicate anyone and since they were covered head to toe and the weapons were long tossed and the clothes were long gone, they came out of the Motel 6 clean and clear. The news reporters did their superficial digging. He had no social media. He had no family that they knew of and they came up empty on this traveler to their area until they did a background check and discovered he was a pedophile. Suddenly the man's death looked more interesting from a criminal aspect, but the reports died down because he was in fact a despicable human being.
Jess, however, had her suspicions. She was a naïve girl, but she wasn't dumb. The police had tracked her down. They'd done some footwork trying to ascertain why the man was in town to begin with and they discovered it had been for a funeral. The detectives came face to face with a pregnant and distraught 18 year old and informed her he'd been murdered rather brutally. Where had she been that night? As if a pregnant and emotionally drained 18 year old girl would brutally murder a child molester in her spare time, Jess was insulted. After laying her recently departed zombie mother to rest, she went to the motel 6 and slaughtered the man who spent a good part of her childhood molesting her. Jess hadn't seen her dad since she was 9. He appeared uninvited for her mom's viewing and service and he had left when he was asked to do so.
"I was here with my boyfriend." She answered them. "Anything else?" She asked. The detectives answered no. "Then have a good day." Jess closed the door on them and went on with her day.
She spent time with Sandy and she went over the insurance papers and filed claims and made everyone and their brother aware that Louann had died. Some people she had to provide death certificates for. Sandy stuck by her side the entire time and she held her hand through the whole thing. Sandy sat her down and she explained the whole situation as she saw it once they maneuvered through the financials and the bills.
"Mr Morgan, you said you would take care of her, so take care of all this." His mom told over the phone. She gave him the same spiel that she gave Jess earlier. His mom wasn't going back on her promise to make sure Jess and her granddaughter had a roof over their heads, but she also wasn't sure how they would make it work. How involved should they get if Chess was serious about not having any relationship with the girl? He felt his mother pressuring him to marry this girl without having to say it and he felt the 'grow up and take care of your responsibilities' speech was about to go down. He avoided that conversation with his mom like the plague, distracting her. "What's Jess want?"
"I think she needs guidance. What are you thinking?" She asked.
"I need to talk to dad." He said. "Where's dad?"
"Your father's on the road. He should be home tomorrow." She answered. "Chess, what do you need to talk to your dad for?"
"Guy stuff, mommy. Geeze."
"I'm familiar with all your guy stuff and I am the one that has been taking care of all this with her, not your father."
"I want his perspective on this." He said. He could hear her discontent through the phone without her saying a word. "Thanks, mom, for helping her. I woulda done it, but you went off and did it on your own."
"So you're taking it from here."
"No, mommy, not what I meant."
"Sure, sounds like it." She said and sounded hurt that his father's input or opinion was more important than her own.
"We should sit down and talk about it. All of us."
"Sure. Sure." Sandy sighed. "The cops were here today."
"Why?" He asked, pretending he didn't already know. Ray had already told him, but he had to act like he had no clue about anything that went down at Motel 6 in room 12.
"The man in the motel was her father. They had questions. She talked with them on the front porch." But mom was not stupid in any way shape or form. "Should I even ask?"
"No." He said flatly and quickly. Not on the fucking phone, mom...not on the phone. "I gotta go. I'll be back home this weekend." For Jay and Julia. Jody had mentioned that may be a good idea to keep them company over the weekend. "I love you. I'll see you soon."
Chess set the phone on the sofa next to him and he looked to Ben standing in the door way to the kitchen. "I'm moving out." He wasn't sure where yet. He wasn't even sure why.
Ben thought it had something to do with his end of the world and the beginning of the new world conspiracy theory. Ben knew better. The world would not collapse over the weekend unless a lot of major incidents occurred concurrently. Summer was winding down. Most cities had canceled large public events. The country was ready and had been gearing up specifically to avoid the end of days.
Their big leap home changed up the game. Chess brought back pictures, videos on iPads over the course of his time on the flipside. Jody had taken Julia's videos and documentation from the apartment above Mr G's and they sync'd it all to a memory card. Jody returned the iPad and Chess had provided his government a very clear picture of the road to Philadelphia. She had said he had no idea about the devastation there, but he had a very clear vision of it. She had documented it on the iPads he'd bought her for her list of demands. He used it as a testament to the coming plague that would wipe out humanity and modern society. She had documented nests and hordes as they moved and were slaughtered. Julia detailed a very grim future.
They heeded the warning, confiscated the documentation and then formulated a plan of their own. Chess had formulated a plan of his own in case the world collapsed anyway. Nearly a year in and the only thing that brought the truth to the subject had been the Philadelphia incident. Till that point all operations and preparations and drills were covert, secretive or given a cover story. Jody was his plant. Took months to find out where she was hiding. Chess thought she was using Jo and Jo had been using her. Till they went and fell for each other. Thanks to Julia's documentation throughout the Pennsylvania countryside and into Philadelphia, she had changed the mindset of the United Stated government. They paid some attention.
Julia documented murders, her interactions with gang members, child and female traffickers, including those she had trafficked herself. A great variety of encampments struggling to survive, religious and occult, family based and militaristic and she even went back to that school of Mexicans. All the while she implicated herself in a multitude of crimes she could never be prosecuted for. Each video and each person's account were gritty. Each person she came across was affected by the end of days, by monsters. Heartfelt personal descriptions of death and mayhem were listened to and Julia's own self recorded testimony swayed them even more. Sometimes drunk and sometimes sober, she spoke and relayed information that she thought no one would ever see. She was being honest and raw and vulnerable, confessing her sins and everyone else's and at times she was pleading for help and no one came. There was no one to call.
One video in particular affected him more than the others. She had a cami on, rolled up under her rib cage. She had a bandage on her rib cage and she was covered in dried blood and dirt. She was sweating and thin. "I haven't slept in two days. I'm hearing voices-not real- and I am seeing monsters-they are real." She stood having heard a very loud thunk and she passed the cam in her rolled up cami and her loosened jeans. "Mother of God." She muttered off camera. Her body moved around the small enclosure wherever she was. She threw things in a bag as fast as she could and pulled that cami over her stomach. She wrapped her belt she carried everywhere around her waist. A gun tucked in one side and her knife in the other. One other piece of zombie beating technology was clear in her right hand as she strapped up...a bat with nails through the end of it, looking like spikes. It clearly had been used. She leaned into the cam before she turned it off. "I'm gonna fucking die today." The fear was written all over her face and at that moment she truly believed she was going to die. The screen had gone black. Even though he had seen her, knew that she was alive and that she had lived to see another day, the video haunted him. It haunted Jody and those who had watched it at the table that morning. She documented the things she never spoke of. She documented the horrors, the abuses, the wrongs along the way to making the world safer, easier and manageable. She had been forced to video document as she had no paper. She couldn't write it all down, so she did the next best thing and recorded it.
"The world isn't ending." Ben told him.
"I don't get that feeling either." But I don't belong here anymore. In creating a better future in the reality in which he lived, he'd also lost. He'd never lead anyone or anything. He'd never be part of a revolution or rebuild a broken world. He'd never create an infantry of future soldiers. He'd never live in a fortress with Macy and have five kids and he'd never play weird and fun sex games in a hidden room of his creation. He'd never be anything more than what he was, a drug dealer, a man who murdered for money and gambled in his spare time. He was at peace with that as long as his family was safe.
Chess lived light. Few personal belongings. Everything he owned, he could fit in a bag or two and that was fine with him. He spent a couple hours with Ben, exploring that man's body and allowing him to explore his own. There were no tears and there were no promises. When Ben fell to sleep, Chess went in his room, packed his things into two empty bags in the bottom of his closet. He showered, dressed, left Ben enough money for a couple months rent and he walked away. As he drove, he realized he wasn't going home. Jess was in his bed. Even though he loved her and wanted to see her, he opted not to go there yet. He sensed he'd have her with them all weekend at Jay's or somewhere else, maybe her own house, and give mom and dad a break.
Her own house...Chess's mind thought back to the beginning...the pool. He was hot. It was oppressive how hot it was. He hated the end of summer. He hated heat, but he hated cold more. He wondered if his girl was ready to go home yet? He drove to the motel 6, he got a room and he crashed two doors down from the room where a man had recently been murdered. Rates were reasonable and he had the place to himself.
Julia made coffee. She loved the mornings now, had got used to the quiet peace before anyone woke and before the world started. At Chess's house no one was up that early other than Chess and he never bothered anyone what with his morning routine. 4am at Tavin's, Tarin was up, standing in his crib, holding onto the railing. She reached in and got him out, changed him, put a new diaper on him and brought him downstairs with her. She fed him some cereal. Gave him a sippy of juice and left him playing on the floor in the living room with the TV on low. The kid was full of energy, raring to go and she occupied him for some time. Instead of going out back to smoke, she went out front and stood by the door, so she'd have a clear line of vision to the baby playing on the floor in front of the TV. Sesame Street was on and once Elmo started singing, he was otherwise entranced. She was otherwise bored as she smoked and scanned the news channels on line. Nothing was particularly happening in the world. She noticed the date on the phone before she closed it and her stomach did a back flip.
The longer she entertained the one year old, she began to wonder how long it would take for anyone else to wake up. Not that she particularly didn't love Tarin and she had nothing else to do, but she was feeling trapped again. As the sun rose, she ate some cereal at the counter, she went online to occupy her mind and then she started crying for no reason at all. She looked around the downstairs of Tavin Keller's house and she felt the walls closing in. She couldn't place why and she didn't want to speculate, thinking all roads led back to Caroline Keller and a pregnancy that came to an abrupt end a year before. She felt tense and the more tears she cried, she only felt worse not better.
Pull yourself together...pull yourself together...she forced herself up and off the stool and she looked around the kitchen and in the cupboards till Jody startled her coming through the cellar door. She'd been lost in her own head and hadn't heard him at all.
"Whatcha doing, Jules?" He asked, going to the fridge for juice.
"Looking." She answered as she closed the cabinet. She turned toward him, taking in the fine view in front of her. "When did you get here?" Her mind wandered as he moved, in and out of the fridge and getting glass out of the cabinet, the bare chest and the low riding shorts.
"Last night." He answered, interrupting her train of thought. He filled himself a cup of OJ and then set it on the table before going upstairs.
Such a cute ass...she thought, eyes following his backside as he moved out of the kitchen.
"Late." He answered when he came back downstairs.
"Why are you here exactly?"
"Because I haven't found a spot elsewhere, boss. Ok?"
"Well, where have you been the last week since you got back?"
He felt like he was being interrogated. "Out." He replied, dropping some bread in the toaster. "Thinking about going back to Philly if things don't pick up." He said. "I love the city."
"I think that it's a safe bet nothing's gonna happen. Nervous?"
"No. You?"
"Got other things on my mind." She responded pulling her hair back from her face and tying it up in a scrunchie.
"I'm sure." He agreed. "Want some?" He asked, taking his toast from the toaster.
"Some what?" She asked annoyed as she went back to Tarin.
"Toast." He answered, sliding it onto a paper plate and then buttering it up.
"Already ate."
"Oh, ok." He said as he watched her sitting with Tarin. She played with his cars with him on her lap, rolling them through a playschool garage, uphill and downhill and parking the car on the roof. Tarin moved the car and she did it all over again. "Gonna lose it soon?"
"I'll be ok." She answered, knowing exactly what he meant.
"Well, I can keep your mind off or if you wanna talk, then-"
"Jay's upstairs." She replied with a weak smile. "Thanks, though."
"Don't think you should be alone this weekend is all."
"I'm not alone. Think I'm gonna off myself again?"
"Not particularly, but you should be around people that love you." He answered, sitting down at the counter with his toast and juice. "I love you."
"Me too, Jo. Me too." She answered. "We'll focus on life this weekend, not death. Unless all hell breaks loose, then you know, we'll deal with it."
"Hell is not breaking loose." He looked to the window and not one zombie walked by. He saw her phone on the counter and he looked at the news online. A couple small and isolated incidents, but nothing to worry about and absolutely nothing local. All was quiet. If she only knew her recordings were the reason that prompted all the preparation. Had Chess told her? "I-uh-watched all your videos."
"Thanks, I love my fans." She smiled, voice laced with humor and sarcasm. "We are still trending on twitter. I really thought it would have died down by now. You should see all my DM's."
"Huh? The alien thing? That's not what I meant."
"Oh, what did you mean then?"
"The ones you recorded on your iPad on the flipside."
"You made yourself at home, yes."
"A lot of the right people saw your videos. He made them listen."
"What? Who?"
"He gave Cookie the memory card and she forwarded it to the right people. Nothing is going to happen this weekend because you documented what happened."
"That was private-who watched them?"
"Me and Chess for the most part, but whoever sat at the table at the time."
"Oh," She looked back at the baby and continued playing. "I had no paper." She admitted after awhile. "No pencils or pens." She shook her head. "I had nothing."
"I really thought you would come back, Julia. I didn't know you'd leave and stay gone."
"It's alright. You're here now, Jody." She smiled. "But, uh, what about Antonia?"
"What about her?"
"If there's no zombie world, then there's no infantry, then there's no incident in New York and I will never meet Antonio or have Antonia?" She paused, thinking of her daughter. The only surviving child she had. "I went through that for her, Jody. All the work I did and others along side of me, what was the point if not to make the future livable for my daughter?" She set Tarin aside and stood up. "I did all that with Antonia Freeman in mind."
"I realize that."
"So let today be the day that I lose Antonia as well."
"Not necessarily."
"Do you have any idea what it means to live your life for another person? Everything you do is for that one person?"
"I think I can relate. I can never see her again either." He raised his voice to her. "Jules, now that Kev's dead, what's the point? What do I do now?"
"I-"
"I can't be Joseph Jackson Mayers. I can never prove who I am. I can't go home. I can't be with the girl I loved or the girl I love." He saw her tears and he saw she felt for him. "I don't mean to upset you, but we do the things we do with others in mind. Not always the same person." He finished his toast. "I don't blame you. I never will blame you. I could have left your hand go and I could have stayed in Philly when you took me home. I could have moved on and started over. I could do that here and now."
"You could. We all could go our separate ways and break apart and live our lives."
"Is that what you'd like? You've tried taking that road several times. Did it solve anything? You're the one who goes on and on about family." He dropped his plate in the trash and he drank down his juice. "This isn't about your baby and this isn't about you. This is about your family. Simple as that."
"You are my family and that's not fair, Jody. Any other day, yeah, but not today."
"Where does your loyalty lie? So worried about mine, think about your own before you make one more selfish choice. Your actions affect more than you."
"Stop it, Jody."
"I know you better than you think I know you."
"Oh, you gathered that from a couple weeks flirting with me on a roof. Did ya?" She stated, feeling the anger kicking up inside her.
"Julia, you used me."
"I didn't. I was lonely, Jody. I needed someone." He didn't answer. "It didn't feel like that to me."
"Worked out anyway, right?" He shrugged.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I never used you."
"Let's try and stay in reality please." He walked around the counter and he sat on the sofa with the remote. "If you need me I am here."
"Here to argue with me."
"If that's the route you'd like to take. Just remember, I am right here."
"I don't fuck or fight with you, Mayers. We just are." She touched his shoulder as he sat. "I, too, am right here. You know, if you need me."
His hand covered hers, lifted it, folding her fingers over his and he kissed her hand. "You are very lucky that I have a higher moral standard than the rest of these guys." He left her hand go with a little push, gave her that sexy grin of his. He left his thoughts of her drop at that moment, what with the moral highroad he was taking and he watched the news. Absolutely nothing frightening on TV and the world was not visibly decaying in front of their eyes or the news cameras. "Any plans today, Mrs. Keller?" He asked, rubbing that name into her wound he'd opened for her.
"Just the normal." She supposed. That would have to be enough, depending on what normal meant. Julia was only a month deep in her normal, forced to start all over again from scratch and she was tired of starting all over from scratch. Celebrate life, she thought...focus on life...as she sat with Tarin and let him guide her through her early morning.
Tavin was next to rouse from slumber, coming downstairs fresh and dressed for his day. What that entailed, she had no idea. Tarin's attention diverted from her to him and he toddled after his dad. She watched him pick up Tarin and kiss him good morning and hold him on his hip. "So, Julia." He said loudly as he rummaged around the kitchen.
Julia leaned back on the sofa by Jody's feet, wondering if the baby was coming back or whether she could leave and go up with Jayson. He normally didn't sleep in this late. She pictured him upstairs playing Candy Crush or some nonsense or maybe he was getting all the sleep he could in preparation for the end of days that didn't seem to come to fruition. It's early yet...gonna be a long ass day and night if it does..."So what, Tav?" She asked him as her attention turned to the TV.
"Any plans today?"
She rolled her eyes. Focus on life, not death. Life, what part of life other than occupying Tarin Keller? She thought of Jay and she wondered if he'd been rummaging through the room at all. He was the first to admit he was not a fan of holidays or special occasions, but he had hinted that he was turning one more year older a few times. "Um, I'm gonna hang out with Jay when he gets up." She glanced toward the stairs and she thought about a quiet evening together. She had plans, boring plans and he had indicated he wanted boring from her, so dinner and a movie later. Didn't matter what time specifically because neither of them had any set schedule to follow.
"Whatcha gonna do with Jay?"
Tavin was curious for some reason. Jody first then Tavin. What were they thinking? Did they think they would fall apart? Disappear? Shatter at the slightest mention of the date. She smiled a little and wondered if morbid humor would suffice and she opted for the truth. "Dinner and a movie. Maybe some cake." She shrugged. "Speaking of that, can you go buy one? I only have enough money for the movie and dinner." She looked at Jody. "Get some ice cream too. He likes strawberry."
"Shit, it's his birthday." Tavin said.
"Yes, it is." She nodded. No one ever remembered Jay's birthday. This family never did go all out for birthdays. Only Tatia's and Jay always remembered hers.
"Should we do something? Get him something?"
"I'm getting him dinner and a movie." Julia replied.
"So are you two gonna spend the whole day alone?"
"Ask him. I don't know." Julia answered. Her card was already sealed and on the dresser where she had left it when she got up. It had his gift certificates inside. She also got him one of those special cards from her to him and wrote a nice little note inside that reminded him she loved him and thanked him for always sticking by her side. A little sappy for her taste, but she felt it was necessary and had a sentimental moment in the CVS while she read that card. She glanced at Tavin as he looked over the counter at her. He drank some juice and held Tarin. "Guys, what's wrong with you?" She looked over her shoulder at Jody.
"Nothing. Nothing." Tavin responded dully. "You two gonna be alright?"
"I think so." Julia answered, looking back and forth between them. She had already broken down and pulled herself back together. "I can cry, if you like." Were they expecting something a little more inconsolable or painful to witness? She got the feeling Tavin hadn't expected to find her entertaining Tarin and then sitting so calmly on his living room floor. "Were you expecting something a little more dramatic this early in the morning?"
"No, no." Jody shook his head.
"You want dramatic, I can go there, but why?" She asked. "I'm not saying it's gonna be an easy day or even a great day, but it's ok." She watched them and they seemed a little more relieved. They had no idea what to expect. "Um, I think about it everyday, so today is no different." She assured them. "So does Jay."
"Should you really be going out though?" Tavin asked.
"Why not?" She asked back. "What is wrong with you two? Is it the zombies? What zombies-I see no zombies." She pointed at the TV screen and the state of the U.S. seemed very militaristic in nature. It was D-day, drill day. 'Drills' were being held across the country. It had been on the news for weeks that this day was coming and that anyone and everyone, especially those in major cities should not be surprised with all the events taking place. Julia knew to be extra cautious and vigilant as well as many others in light of recent events like that in Philly, but for all intents and purposes, nothing should or would happen. There was always the possibility and Chess had prepared for that. "Are you nervous, Tavin?" She smiled as he set Tarin on the floor.
He clamored to get back up, but Tav asked him "Where's mommy?" Tarin's attention drifted at that moment to mommy and breast milk and he toddled toward the stairs, knowing she was in bed. A moment later they heard the bedroom door slam shut, because Tarin knew to close the door when he fed.
"Not nervous, no." He answered.
Julia shifted off the carpet to her feet to go up with Jayson. "Just a regular day. A day like any other sober day." This was the day they'd all been waiting for.
Chess woke to knocking on his motel room door. He'd hung the no maid service sign on the door, so he ignored it at first. He'd been asleep for a few hours and considering no one knew where he was, he felt safe assuming the maid was being a pain in the ass.
"Chester Morgan." A woman's voice called.
He recognized it right away. How had they found him? The truck? Had to be the truck. Maybe they had someone tailing him? Who knows? He had paid cash for the room. He gathered himself, pulling on a pair of cargo's from the floor. He opened the door and being that Shelby Reagan stood in front of him, he knew it wasn't a social call. "S'up Shelb?" He asked, squinting his eyes at the early afternoon sun over her shoulder. He moved aside a couple inches so her head would block the sun. Being she stood above him a few inches, she could serve that purpose.
"Expected you to be at home, not here." She looked side to side at the row of motel rooms.
To which home she referred, he had no idea. He didn't respond to her, didn't feel he had to explain his current dwelling. He wanted to sleep alone. His mother's sofa would have sufficed, but someone surely would have woken him and he didn't want to be disturbed. Thus, room 10 at the Motel 6.
"Need something, Shelb?" He asked, stepping onto the rubber foot mat outside his door. His eyes scanned the lot behind her. A single black sedan with no specific markings. A rental perhaps.
Shelby handed over a sealed manila envelope, thanked him for his services a couple weeks ago and then walked away. He left it short and sweet as she had preferred. There was no love loss between the two of them.
He pulled his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one before opening the envelope. He watched Shelby Reagan climb into the unmarked black sedan and drive off. Only his truck was parked in the lot across from his room. There was one other vehicle parked by the office. Two doors down, no more police tape and no crime scene. Inside the envelope was legal documentation releasing both him and Julia from their agreements. There was another sealed envelope that he'd open at a later time that detailed the next target and instructions. He was surprised Shelby delivered that to him till he noticed another stack of envelopes that had a rubber band around them. He pulled those out and removed the rubber band. He smiled when he saw through the clear window on each envelope and that they were addressed to himself, then Raymond J. Morgan, Tavin T. Keller, Jayson J. Keller, and lastly Julia Morgan-Keller. This came as a surprise, but their names had been written on the Incident reports as the operators in place at the incidents. Although his electronic signature had signed and submitted the official reports, he'd named the operators involved. They didn't do bad a job for civilians and untrained ones at that. They sure did follow instructions to a tee and worked above and beyond the call when it came to identifying and tagging the victims. No civilian casualties and no team injuries. They did as clean a job as any other team with less equipment and intelligence ability. In fact they did an excellent job, he thought. Probably weren't being paid enough either.
He finished his smoke, tossed the butt and went back to his bed, stretching out and tried falling back to sleep with the news on TV. He switched to CNN , then FOX news. All national news and local TV channels followed drill day. The major news networks had teams of reporters spinning the greatest story ever created. The high risk states had come up with everything from anti terrorism training to natural disaster training. Delaware went most simple with zombie apocalypse training day as it was underway and had community volunteers dressed as actual zombies in designated areas. Local rapid response teams would put their plan into action in these designated areas. FOX news had a team with the Delaware zombie apocalypse and it amused him as he watched the scene unfold, listened to the training first responders and the 'victims' comments before they segued to another segment in another state. He thought briefly of Ben. He was at one of the Maryland drills geared up in the August heat. The focus had been on the major cities. A few larger suburban areas had jumped on the band wagon and had their drill day events and in the burbs that amounted to pamphlets and information about preparedness. 72 hours of emergency supplies and no focus on weapons or self preservation, but it was a small step for suburban kind.
Sleep had evaded him and he opted to leave altogether. He had enough slumber for one apocalypse day. His body wasn't cooperating with him, perhaps too many distractions? The pay day in the envelope, the next target that was in the sealed white envelope, the events on the news. Positive events, proactive events. He tucked the key to the room in his wallet with his pay check and tossed his bag in the truck, making his way home prior through fairly deserted streets till he hit the streets near the square. Dedication day signs hung on poles and had been fairly well advertised in recent weeks. Anyone who had been touched by the events last year was going to be there and the memorial to those lost that day was being unveiled. More names on a stone wall, remembering the lost and the turned and then a celebration of life. That day had not been lost in his memory, but it wasn't foremost in his mind either. Chess parked on the street and head inside with his bag. Jess was napping on the sofa and he met up with his mom first, giving her a hug.
"Your dad is stuck upstate. He'll be back tomorrow." Sandy told him when Chess asked if dad was on his way home. "Something about restricting travel, only necessary personnel."
"Ok, I'll see him tomorrow then." Chess replied as he set his bag on the floor by the steps.
"Where have you been this week?"
"Tying up some loose ends at home. I moved out." He answered her as he took Ray's envelope from the front pocket of his bag. "Ray upstairs or downstairs?"
"Up."
Chess climbed up the stairs and Ray was reading on line with his head phones on. Chess stuck his hand in the door and Ray knew he had company as a notification immediately appeared on the screen that there was activity afoot. Ray looked at the doorway, never anything extraterrestrial, usually his mom or Jess inviting themselves inside. Chess stepped over all Ray's belongings on the floor and handed him an envelope. "Pay day." Chess said, taking a seat next to his brother. He hadn't seen him in a few days, had spoken to him the day before.
"This is blood money." Ray said as he eyed the amount.
"Not nearly enough blood money, Ray."
"I don't want a reward for what I did." He shook his head and he nearly ripped the check up before Chess plucked it from his grasp.
"Nah, bro. I'll give it to Jody if you won't have it." Jody came out of this ordeal penniless despite his actions in Philadelphia. He hadn't been documented and paid and technically couldn't be paid if he were documented. He stayed with Ray for a couple hours, hanging out with his brother like they were kids again. He got caught up on everything that went on at home the last few days and he caught his brother up on everything he'd been up to the last few days.
Of all the persons in his life, he could count Ray to have his back and keep their conversations between them. Ray had come first in his life. Although different and had taken different paths, they had started out together as a single cell and that bond hadn't changed. Somewhere swimming in the insanity of Ray Morgan's mind lived his twin brother. Ray knew it all. When there things he couldn't bring himself to talk about right away with others, there was always Ray.
He hated seeing his brother get more and more isolated from the world. He hadn't even gone back to school, preferring an online higher education. The world evolved, becoming more and more anonymous and soon no one would need to leave the house for anything. He felt Ray putting himself in a self imposed trap. Chess invited him out into the real world with him.
"Today?"
It was dangerous outside and on that particular day it may or may not be more dangerous.
"Ray, you're no pussy. Get up and get dressed."
"Where we going?"
"Was gonna go to Jay's for awhile. Wanna tag along?"
"I bet they got some cake. I'll go with you."
Chess pulled the manila envelope from his bag and took it with him and Ray as they head out for Jay's. Since Jess was asleep, they left her sleep and with Sandy.
Tavin didn't hesitate to take the pay check. He wasn't complaining and any cash that the United States government was willing to pay, he would gladly accept. "Where's my pay from last year?" Tavin asked. "I was involved. You didn't put down my name, did you?" He reflected back on the event about a year prior. "I took out the hive master." He droned with an ominous voice, referring to the nest he and Chess and Ben had dealt with in Maryland. He was terrified that night. "There should be a bonus for the hive master, too." He mumbled as he hung the envelope on the fridge with a magnet.
"What are they doing?" Chess asked annoyed as he handed over Jody's payday for work he hadn't done. He didn't say a word, knowing Ray would never want to profit off the death he did on the street that day. He'd already heard Ray mumbling about blood money.
"From the sounds of it, I think they have all the company they need." He folded the envelope and put it in his pocket. "Thanks, I'll cash this in the morning."
"Well, what do you guys wanna do?" Chess asked, dropping Julia and Jayson's envelopes on the kitchen counter. "Gotta be a bar open somewhere. I know it's D day and all but are we really gonna sit around bored?"
"Maybe later. It's like 2 in the afternoon. What good is gonna come of us at a bar this early?" Tav asked.
"Absolutely no good at all." Chess replied, precisely his point.
"Well, I could, but..." Tavin sounded hesitant. "Wanna see what they're doing first? We said we'd be here, you know, and you wanna ditch out on them?" Tavin complained further. "You went and sobered up our life of the party."
"Yeah, she said a normal day. This is no different than any other day."
Chess took a seat next to Jody on the sofa. And she's not as sober as you all think..."What happened to you people?"
"Well, they're not falling apart and neither is the world, so what the fuck else is there to do? Is that what you mean?" Tavin laughed as he got off the stool at the counter.
"I think that's what I mean, yes." Chess answered. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
A dinner and a movie. That's what she had planned. Jay had other ideas. He didn't want to go anywhere. "Member what happened the last time we went to a movie theater?" He asked as the credits started rolling on the comedy special they'd watched on Netflix. "Closed anyway." He said. He had googled it and the nearest theater that was open for business on D day was an hour away. The restaurant was open for business though.
"What would you like to do, babe?"
"This. What we are doing." He shrugged, scrolling through the Netflix queue of shows they both wanted to watch. "You." He added, glancing at her naked little body sitting indian style beside him. "What do you wanna watch?"
"I don't care." She sighed, annoyed with this husband of hers. She didn't want to spend the day at Tavin's house. She had a very boring day planned and he went and surpassed her boring with his own.
"Yeah, you do care. What do you wanna do, babe?" He closed the laptop and he stared at her. "Wanna drive over an hour away with no money and see a free movie? I'll go."
"Jay, it's your day."
"It's our day." He replied as he leaned back on the headboard.
"It's your birthday."
"More than that, babe." He grumbled. She leaned back right alongside him and he held her hand.
They'd already made love. They'd already fucked. They'd already cried and held each other and they'd already talked and remembered. They knew they wanted to be together, but the energy that circulated around them was most unsettling. "Wanna fuck again?" He asked.
"Ok." She answered.
"Are you agreeing with me because you want to or because-"
"Does it fuckin matter? It will feel good."
"Wanna go back to sleep?"
"Um, I don't think so, but if you want to. I'm not real tired." She replied, looking at the phone that buzzed on the table next to the bed.
"Who is it?"
"Stef." Julia answered. She'd ignored Stef's texts for 48 hours. "Happy birthday, Jayson." She read the text.
"What is up with her anyway? You said we could fuck her."
"We will." She replied as she texted 'thanks'. "Oh, is that what you wanna do? Wanna hook up with Stef?" Julia asked him, squeezing his hand. She opened up Stef's text messages and scrolled through them till she found the picture messages. She opened them up and flipped through them. She'd sent her own to Stef during the few conversations they'd had. "Wanna fuck with Stef?" She repeated as he watched the slideshow.
"Jules, I asked if you were joking-"
"I wasn't. I'm not ready to fuck the girl yet." She replied. "She never hooked up with a girl, you know. You ready to go there? Well, Jay?" Julia asked as she climbed onto him. She sat across his lap.
"I was ready a week ago. But now that I think about it."
"Don't think." She shrugged, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"We're married though, baby."
"Girls are girls." She leaned against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I realize that this doesn't quite compare to this." She glanced at the slide show of face, c-cups and pussy that played out for them. "Going once." She said as she kissed him below his ear.
"Quit fucking with me, baby."
Julia pulled her body away from his. "Those boobies though."
"I don't know." He wavered on Stef.
For someone he said he didn't love, the thought of her made him nervous. She could feel him hard against her heat between her legs. She rocked on him a bit, then lifted and arched just right letting him slip inside her. She rocked her hips on him. "You know you miss her bomb pussy, Jay." She whispered. "She tight like me, too?" She asked as she tensed the heat on him. She heard him moan. "Tell me, Jayson. Does she move like me? Is she tight like me? Does she fuck like me? She hot like me, my Jayson?" She asked as she rotated her hips on him and tensed her walls around him. His arms locked around her waist, holding her in place on him. "Lemme go, Jayson." She demanded as she pushed his shoulders. He did as she asked and she remembered what he had told her about Stef, 'She fucked me, I didn't fuck her.' That being remembered, she fucked Jayson. Usually they worked together as a team and Julia didn't have to put in all the work.
She remembered holding her hand out to Stef as she held her pen in hand at O'Flannery's. As Stef scribed her number onto her palm, Julia reached in and she saw a thing or two. She hadn't had time to completely read the girl and she was soaked in marijuana, all she felt was high. Stef smoked morning, noon and night. She saw a girl that had known instinctively how to please herself. She took a page out of Stef Monroe's book and she fucked Jay till it hurt, because she wanted to feel pain. The tight and fit Julia Fry absorbed pain and got off on it. The more she self served, the more turned on Jayson got and when she came, he followed suit. Out of breath and damp beneath her as she was atop him.
She left his shoulders go. "Going twice." She laughed, holding up two fingers.
"Keep doing that and we won't need her at all."
She kissed him a bit, working her tongue around his mouth as his hands wandered over her body, touching her everywhere except the basic places. "We don't need her now." Julia said as she felt him slip out of her. She rose onto her knees, legs trembling beneath her, thinking about the amount of work she had to put in on him. "I'm not done yet, babe." She said, wiggling her hips over him. He wouldn't put his mouth on her after he came, but they had reached a compromise. His hand moved between her legs and his fingers rubbed over her clit till he worked her up to another orgasm, then another. Julia laid herself back on the mattress between his legs, propping her feet on his shoulders and left him play. Considering she couldn't come with him inside her without some level of discomfort and Jay's size naturally unable to make her feel anything other than pleasure, she lay back and let him give her pleasure.
"This is weird, babe." He said for the millionth time.
"I'm aware. This body though, Jayson. She responded sexually to pain and you can't or won't hurt me, so I need to do this. I'm not finished." She explained for the tenth time. "I love your hands on me though, so it's cool."
"Can't we retrain this body?" He asked as she emptied a moist heat onto his hand and the blanket beneath her.
"Not sure. How would we?" She asked him. "Know how long it took her to get like this? The pain she had to go through to get this far?"
"She never had any problems before-" He argued. "That I know of anyway, from what she told me, you know what I mean."
"Oh, she was permitted to speak of her sexuality and her intimate moments, Jay?" Julia asked as his fingers withdrew from her. "I don't think so. You know as well as I do that she was private." She studied him for a reaction between her spread thighs.
"More? You done yet?" He asked, turning his head and kissing her ankle since it was right next to his head.
"No comment, baby?" Julia asked, reaching her hand between her legs. She slipped her fingers through the slick wet, then felt him push her hand away. "No comment?" She asked, drawing her hand to her mouth and tasting herself.
"No comment." He repeated. "I have no knowledge." He smiled, placing palms of his hands beneath her on her ass cheeks. He lifted her and brought her to his mouth where he sucked on and around her already swollen clit.
"Trying to shut me up." She smirked at him. He continued sucking and licking, holding her in place. "It's working." She breathed heavily as she felt the orgasm approaching. "Jay," She moaned as she touched where his tongue licked at her. "Please, baby." She cried out as her body trembled. Jay ran his mouth and tongue over her and as she came he obliged her against his better judgment, drinking her and tasting as she emptied for him. He set her bottom down on the bed as she breathed heavily.
He gripped her hands and pulled her weak body to his. "If I gotta taste it, so do you." He growled under his breath, then he kissed her.
"Not so bad, Jay." She shrugged, sliding off him.
"Lucky I love you."
"I am." She agreed quickly. "I'm hungry. Wanna go eat?"
"Sure. Lemme get cleaned up and dressed-"
"In the kitchen, Jay. We don't have to go out." She gathered the sheet around her and head to the door. "Comin?" She asked, holding the sheet open for him. She left him wrap up and they head to the bathroom for a quick shower and to get dressed. Jayson complained yet one more time about her recent sexual interests but he also countered it with not caring at all because sex was better than no sex at all. It was also better than anyone else he'd ever had sex with. All Jay wanted was Julia around him and safe and since he had that he was content. Strange sexual behavior or not, she was in his bed next to his body and he would have it no other way.
"So I am glad you're alive."
"In a shell of a body that doesn't belong to me." She complained to him. "But so am I, Jayson."
They dressed and went downstairs, finding Chess and Ray with Jody and Tavin trying to figure out what they were going to do with their free evening. It didn't look like the world was ending and it didn't look like Julia and Jay were any worse for wear either. They looked quite content, but she had said, 'like any normal day'.
Tavin had gone for the cake and strawberry ice cream as she had asked of him. In the hours since he had seen her, the kids had been poking around it and peeking at it and one of them, Alex, had swiped a finger across the side to taste the icing.
"Mmm, cake." Jay said, opening the lid. "Babe are you doing candles or can I just cut into this thing?" Julia peered around his body and looked at the plain sheet cake that read simply, Happy Birthday, Jay. Nothing special about that. "Get any ice cream?" He asked.
"Ice cream is temporarily out of service, but I have the next best thing." She said as he opened the box. She pulled the strawberry ice cream from the freezer and set it on the counter next to the cake.
"Yeah, that's a shame isn't it. Maybe next year." He whispered to her. He had a small stack of cards next to the cake box full of gift cards and money. He was excited not to be broke anymore. He could put gas in the car and he could go to the store and pick out what he wanted. The men in the family were not shoppers. He thanked everyone as Julia sliced up the sheet cake and handed it out to everyone.
"What about dinner?" Alex asked as he looked at Julia. She spooned a bite of strawberry ice cream in Jay's mouth.
"I don't know. Y'all didn't eat yet?"
"We ate, but you-" Kelly said. "There's leftovers, and we didn't wanna bother you."
"I'm good with cake. You good with cake?" Julia asked Jay.
"So, uh, if you two are fine and getting by and all in love, then we're going out." Chess announced. He picked up two envelopes off the counter and handed them over to Julia. "Your government says thanks."
Julia set her plate down and opened up their envelopes. "Oh, we got paid." She looked at Tavin. "You can have mine." She set the envelope on the counter, then picked up her plate again. "I don't need it." She shook her head and Jay gave her a look. "You keep yours. Tav can have mine."
"Julia, that'll pay the mortgage like for two months. I got my own check, too."
"Well, you're going to school, so that's two less months you gotta worry about, right?" She asked. Jay set his check down too. "Yeah, you can have mine. I'm gonna get another job anyway and I won't need it."
"You can have mine too. I didn't earn it and Ray says this is blood money, so here." Jody pulled his pay check out of his pocket and there was six months worth of a mortgage sitting on the counter in front of him.
"I can't take that." He shook his head. "I can pay my own bills." He argued with them, sounding quite independent. "And you already put enough into this place, Julia."
"She did?" Chess asked him. Chess didn't see it that way, recalling the felonies he committed to earn that money she gave him. He didn't recall her handing over any of her sex money to him.
"Well, you take it then." Tavin stated, looking at the envelopes.
"I don't need anything from you." Chess answered.
"I'll take all of it." Alex announced.
"No, it's Tavin's. Leave it." Julia snapped at Alex. "You know better."
"Ok, ok. Who needs it more though?"
"Tavin. He has put a roof over our heads for how long?" She asked. She glanced toward the window. "Being as there's no damn zombies, then he should get it and pay for the roof over our heads. That's what he can do with mine. It's up to you what you guys do." She shrugged.
"Thanks, Julia." Tavin said. "But maybe Jay should go back to school. Use it for that."
"Why don't we all go gambling and blow it." Chess suggested.
"Because we're broke and you aren't."
"I'm fuckin homeless." Chess said. "I live out of two bags. I'm not exactly grown up."
"Shit, I can go back to Philly, Ariana called me like four times already."
"What is the girl's real name?" Julia asked curiously.
"Gretchen." He replied.
"She really look like her?"
"Yes." Jo nodded. "Fine little woman." He grinned. "Cute. Smart. The whole package."
"What's she doing with you?" Alex asked.
"Why's Julia still hanging in with you?" Jo asked as he spied Julia, too quietly eating her own slice of cake.
"Beats me." He answered, putting an arm around her.
"Exactly."
"So what happened to the movies and dinner?"
"Movies closed." Jay answered. "We can hang here tonight. Tomorrow, life is back to normal."
"Well, fuck." Chess complained. "Might as well just drink beer and play cards."
"Yes, like we always do on any regular D day." Kelly said excited to be involved. She fed Tarin his last bite of cake and then set him down. She clapped her hands together, she only wanted to be included. "Is there any beer?"
Chess looked at his cell and saw a text from Jess. "Jess wants me."
"Oh, go get her and some beer then." Julia ordered him. "I need someone I won't drink with anyway."
"Julia, I don't drink." Jay reminded her.
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