Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness Ch.34

[altfic]

Title: Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness
By: Pink Rabbit Productions
Chapter: 34
Date: 18 October, 2010
Rating: R (for sex and violence)

Disclaimer: Hmmm, characters, not mine, situation, mine, though with the proviso that certain scenarios owe a major debt of gratitude to George Romero. Sex? Likely. Genders involved? Likely all female (at least anything on camera). Also there are likely to be very bad things in this story. I'm not one for prodigious amounts of gore, but this is horror and there is likely to be ickiness and things that might disturb some folks. Seriously. If it's gonna bother you, move along.
Summary: When the dead rise, civilization falls.
Author's Notes: Awhile back, just for fun, I did a faux movie poster that set Otalia in a horror setting and used some elements from an idea I've had running around for ages (what can I say---it was the Halloween season). See the poster here: http://altfic.com/artgallery/otalia/glafterworld01b.htm . Sooo, at some point, it seemed like fun to take a gander at writing them in that universe. I've quite deliberately tried to break away from my usual style and make it a bit faster moving, with frequent chapter breaks, deliberate cliffhangers, shorter scenes and more directed pov. We'll see if I can keep to one pov per chapter (well, they are short chapters...lol).
Dedicated to: My mom. Seriously. All of my growing up years, she would constantly throw me these what-if scenarios and press me to figure out logical ways to survive/get out of various emergency situations. Now, she never mentioned the zombie apocalypse, but I'm sure that was just an oversight or a desire not to scare a little kid (because, really, I grew up as the daughter of a top secret type during the cold war...I already had enough fear issues), but really, that odd little game was the genesis of...well...not just this story, but a lot of my love of writing. So, thanks mom.
Previous Chapters: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 |

Afterworld:
Into the Arms of Darkness
Chapter 34

Natalia stared in shock as Olivia turned and started to stagger away, apparently believing herself already heartless, cold and dead.

Except the vein at her temple was fluttering with a distinct pulse and she was flushed and panting. Natalia remembered the heat of the body pressed against her own, anything but cold and lifeless.

But Olivia had apparently decided otherwise and was determined to join the creatures wandering around the house.

Like hell.

Moving fast, Natalia crossed the distance between them in a couple of strides and grabbed Olivia by the back her shirt. Even through the thin cloth, she could feel the fiery furnace of the other woman's body as she tried to pull her back toward the house. "Come inside and we'll talk-" she began, but Olivia cut her off.

"No more talking." Olivia spun, knocking Natalia's hand off as she moved. Even trembling and wavering on her feet, she managed to move fast. "It's over," she snarled, her chest heaving.

Thinking she'd never met anyone more dense and stubborn and unwilling to consider any view but her own, Natalia grabbed her arm and hauled her back. "But, Olivia-"

"Get inside." Growling low in her throw, Olivia straight-armed Natalia back, throwing her into the wall beside the door. Natalia felt Olivia's hand curl into her shirt, pinning her in place. She took another step, her body so close it was impossible to miss the heat pouring off her. Her eyes were wild and they were almost nose to nose as she tipped her head this way and that, seeming to sniff the way Reva had just before chasing after Jeffrey. "Now...while you can..."

Natalia felt her pulse accelerate as overheated lips barely brushed her jaw. Fear? Or something else more potent and more dangerous? Her hand was resting over Olivia's sternum and she could feel the thrum of her heart, the rhythm fast but steady.

If she was dead, it was an all new definition of the term.

"...while I can let you," Olivia hissed as she leaned back to peer into Natalia's eyes.

It was a calculated effort to scare, Natalia realized with sudden insight. And not especially well done for anyone who could look into jade eyes and see the fear. A finger tucked under her chin, the contact gentle in contrast to the rasping growl of a voice. It completely undid even the slightest hint of fear. Olivia wouldn't hurt her.

"Let the dead go this time," Olivia whispered, her voice breaking over into pleading. "I'm cold and done."

Natalia drew a breath to make a logical case, then froze, the words unspoken. Olivia's fever was probably causing the chill, but her heart was beating well, her breathing easy, and the random muscle spasms were nowhere in sight. All good points.

Unfortunately, Olivia was well past hearing. Decision made, her position entrenched, she'd planted her feet, decided she was dead, and Natalia doubted that any amount of proof was going to sway her quickly.

Listening did not appear to be the woman's strong suit.

Meanwhile, the dead were beginning to wander their way. They still hadn't gone into frothing hunger mode, but in Natalia's experience, that could shift very quickly. They needed to get inside, then discuss things.

But Olivia was still determinedly on her Titanic-esque date with destiny. Iceberg spotted, full speed ahead.

Olivia peered at Natalia for a long moment, then finally whispered in a heart-breakingly soft voice, "Take care of Emma." Releasing her grip, she turned away, still determined to wander off to join the dead.

Which was the definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy if ever there was one, even if the reason behind it was the wholly admirable desire to protect her loved ones.

Never argue with someone who's irrational, Nicky had lectured her once when he'd finally just tackled Rafe when he was drunk and in a tantrum and insisting he was fine to drive. Just do what you need to and worry about the fallout when they calm down. She'd been horrified to see her son manhandled so roughly, but in the end Nicky had been right. Better a tackling than the alternatives.

I hope you're right, Nicky, she thought as she nerved herself up, then moved. "You, stop!" she belted out, hoping the shout would make the other woman pause just long enough to give her an advantage.

It worked. Olivia stood perfectly still, but didn't turn back.

Natalia hit her hard and fast, wrapping Olivia up from behind, purposely tangling one of her feet and pinning her arms against her sides.

Olivia responded with an angry grunt, but was still trying to figure out what was happening when Natalia threw every muscle into the task. Hauling Olivia back, she purposely unbalanced her, then pivoted and used momentum to carry them both through the door. There was nothing graceful about the maneuver. It was all adrenaline-driven brute force and sheer determination.

Ignoring any struggles, Natalia just kept moving, rushing Olivia and not giving her time to get her feet set as she shoved her across the interior of the garage and down next to the SUV. "Stay here!" she barked, not giving the other woman time to argue.

Then she spun and hurried to the door, locking it down and slamming the braces into place just in case. None of the dead had shown any interest-their attention was elsewhere-but it never paid to assume.

She was just finishing up when Olivia pushed her aside and reached for the top brace, clearly determined to get back where she thought she belonged.

Idiot!

"Stop it," Natalia ground out as she tried to block any effort to remove the barricades. Even knowing she'd probably have to deal with a fight-there always seemed to be something when dealing with Olivia Spencer-it pissed her off all the same.

"No," Olivia gasped, batting Natalia's hands aside in her desperation to escape. "Have to keep Emma safe." The words were running together, but periodically breaking with her rough sobs. "Have to get out before-"

"No," Natalia said, her voice still sharp, but with an underlying soothing note as she reminded herself the woman was scared, sick, and not thinking clearly. She put a hand on the brace, using her weight to keep it in place. "Olivia...you're not dead...and you're sure as hell not cold. You're burning up."

"You're wrong." Olivia shook her head wildly and a shiver ran over her skin. She tried to shove Natalia's hand aside, but wasn't strong enough. "They didn't pay any attention to me," she muttered. "And that only happens when you're one of them."

A tiny tremor of fear slid through Natalia, but she pushed it aside. No matter what had happened outside, Olivia was very much alive and she wasn't letting her kill herself because she couldn't accept that fact. "You're not one of them," she soothed and slipped an arm over Olivia's shoulder and another around her body. "You're alive."

Olivia didn't realize what she was up to until Natalia hauled her back from the door.

"No," the single word was hissed through gritted teeth. She tried to struggle, but Natalia had one arm neatly trapped and the other at an angle where she couldn't reach anything. It was the same technique she'd used when Rafe had gotten lost in his tantrums.

Of course, he'd been three at the time, so the missmatch had been more in her favor.

Bracing a foot on the wall, Natalia kicked off, using the momentum to drag and shove Olivia along. She heard a growled curse.

"Let me go," the other woman snarled, sounding mighty pissed off for an undead.

"Not happening," Natalia shot back, her own stubbornness kicking in. She dragged Olivia a few more feet and kicked the door to the main house open. She was aching and exhausted and really would have liked to collapse, but they couldn't stay in the garage. It was just too damned dangerous. Better to have two doors to block out any threats.

"Goddammit," Olivia panted, her voice rough and uneven. "You fucking idiot...you don't know what you're doing. You have to-"

"No." Natalia didn't bother to argue as she kicked the door shut in their wake. She was too damned tired to fight with a woman so blasted determined to kill herself. With the door closed, she tightened her grip and sat down, pivoting as she moved, so her back was to the door, while Olivia was wrapped up in her arms. "I'm not letting you go," she ground out.

She'd lost so many people in her life. She wasn't losing one more if there was any chance of saving her.

"I'm already gone," Olivia sobbed, still struggling. Healthy and in good shape, she probably could have broken free, but she was out of gas, her body pushed to the limit and beyond. She was talking, nearly babbling in her panic. "Cold...can't feel my heart...they know it even if I don't...and I can't risk Emma...can't risk you." She pushed at the hands containing her, but Natalia held firm. "I don't wanna hurt anyone...don't let me...don't make me..."

"Shhhh," Natalia soothed, Olivia's terror easing some of her frustrated anger. The woman was trying to protect her daughter, and even if her method was dumb as a sack of glass hammers, she deserved some understanding for trying so hard. "You need to calm down."

That set off a fresh round of wild struggles that left Natalia flinching as she was banged and knocked about. Bruised from head to toe, it took all of her strength to hold on and ride out the desperate wrestling match. "You're alive...and you're not gonna hurt anybody," she soothed over and over, holding on tight until Olivia finally collapsed against her. "We'll find a way through this."

"How?" Olivia demanded between harsh pants. "Nobody escapes...nobody-"

"You're still alive, Olivia...despite what you believe, your heart is beating...you have a high temperature...you're breathing well-" Stick with the facts and hammer them home until she hears you, she silently lectured herself to quell any temptation to lose her temper.

"I could hurt you," Olivia snarled suddenly as she summoned the strength for another round of struggles.

Teeth gritted in frustration, Natalia barely restrained the urge to shake the other woman. Exhausted, hurting and worried about Emma, the last thing she wanted to do was keep up this back and forth struggle. "You won't," she bit out. Olivia was scaring herself and jumping at shadows, but she wasn't seriously trying to do harm.

Olivia's answering laugh was grim and cynical. "You have no idea how strong it makes you."

"Except you're weak as a kitten," Natalia pointed out with quiet logic, refusing to be drawn into the other woman's take on things. "Emma could probably kick your ass right now."

Olivia never heard her. "It changes you...makes you want..." Her voice choked off for a second and she sounded nauseous when she spoke again. "I could...bite you...fucking devour you-"

"And do you want to?" Natalia demanded, her voice hard enough to smash glass.

It was the first thing she said that seemed to knock a little of the tension from Olivia's muscles. "I-I..." A hard shiver rattled her frame.

Natalia didn't wait for the other woman to think, just kept hammering at her. "You tried to scare me out there, not hurt me." Natalia paused to let that sink in as tightened her grip, feeling every dip and curve of overheated flesh. Olivia's fever was climbing. "Am I wrong?"

Olivia blinked, her expression uncertain. She was silent for a long moment before she finally murmured, "I don't wanna hurt anyone now, but-"

"Meanwhile, " Natalia cut the other woman off. Her voice firm, she pronounced each word slowly and carefully. "You. Are. Not. Cold." She stroked Olivia's cheek. "You. Are. Feverish." Then she spread her other hand over Olivia's chest, feeling the solid thud of her pulse. "And your heart is beating...I can feel it."

"I can't," Olivia whispered raggedly. "If I'm feverish, why am I so cold?"

"Because high fevers do that...make you shiver and feel cold." Natalia wondered if the woman had ever been sick as she held on and refused to let go. Despite the harsh grip needed to keep Olivia from escaping, she tried to make her voice as gentle as possible. "It's just a trick of the mind."

Olivia silently shook her head, refusing to accept the other woman's word. "I'm dead," she exhaled. "I know it. You should just-"

"I'm. Not. Letting. You. Go," Natalia insisted. "Now tell me what's going on," she added tenderly, hoping that if she could understand, she could find a way to help Olivia navigate the alien waters in which she found herself.

"I've seen people make the mistake of thinking they could beat it...and they never did."

Natalia could understand the fear. She'd seen same thing, but Olivia's situation was different. There was reason to hope even if the other woman couldn't see it. "What's really going on here?" she finally asked when Olivia didn't continue.

Olivia was silent for a long moment, her expression drawn into a deep frown, while she gnawed on her lower lip. "I could smell you earlier," she choked out at last. "You and Emma both...and it...it made me...hungry."

It was a scary thing to hear, scarier still to contemplate trusting the person saying it, but things were changing so fast that Natalia wasn't willing to write off Olivia's chances. "What do you want now?"

Green eyes slid closed and Olivia shook her head slowly, the movement unsteady with shivers. "I just want Emma safe...you safe...everything to be okay."

"You wouldn't want that if you were dead, Olivia...nobody does...no matter how good they were in life...the bloodlust still controls them."

"You don't know," Olivia insisted, her voice small and broken. "You don't-"

"I know," Natalia cut in. Bracing her fingers along Olivia's cheek, she drew her head around until their eyes met. "I've lived with them...seen my friends become them...seen them kill people they once loved more than life itself." She increased the pressure when Olivia would have looked away, not letting her go. "You aren't that," she said very carefully. "You are very much alive..." She let that sink in for a moment.

Olivia gnawed on her lower lip and for once, didn't seem too eager to argue.

"More than that," Natalia said when she continued a moment later, "I think you're getting better."

Olivia frowned at her, clearly not putting the puzzle together.

Not too surprising, Natalia was still struggling to work out the pattern and she wasn't fighting against all the things going on in the other woman's body. "I think you were dying before," she explained, hoping that the pattern would become more clear as she talked. "You were hallucinating. Your temperature was well below normal, your breathing was strained and the muscle spasms were getting worse." She studied Olivia carefully, seeing none of those signs.

"And now?" Olivia whispered cautiously when she finally spoke.

"Right now you're beat to hell and your temp's high, but you're breathing well, no twitches, and you appear to be reasonably lucid...if not entirely cooperative." Natalia waited a long moment, giving Olivia time to digest what she was saying. "I think when Emma woke you up, something kicked in...maybe it was just getting overheated or maybe something else...but I think your immune system has kicked in again and is fighting this."

She could see Olivia thinking, trying to reassure herself. "I was strong when I first got up," she exhaled when she finally spoke up. "But it was like I wasn't...there... I didn't even feel anything when I killed those men..." She sounded more shaken than Natalia would have predicted. "I'm not even sure how much I still felt for Emma...just knew that I needed to protect her...but I didn't feel it...it was like my emotions were already dead..."

"And now?"

Olivia's chin quivered and she looked like she'd like to dissolve into a puddle. "It makes me sick to think that I...I could be that...blank..." She didn't finish, but the emotion was visible in her eyes. She hated what she'd been.

Which was something of a relief. "That's not something an undead killing machine would say," Natalia pointed out gently. "The fever...the weakness...the fear you're feeling? They're the exact opposite of the dead."

"And what if you're wrong?" Olivia demanded. "What if I'm just weak and feverish because I'm dying?"

Natalia shook her head. "If that's all it is, why would your emotions come back?" She tucked a finger under the other woman's chin, tipping her head up to stare into gemstone eyes. The rich wellspring of feeling was a little overwhelming. "You feel, Olivia...I can see it."

With no ready response, Olivia felt for her pulse at the wrist, but didn't seem to know how and probably didn't feel anything.

Reaching out, Natalia covered Olivia's hand with her own, gently guiding her fingers into the right position. With their fingertips side by side, she experienced what the other woman did, the delicate flutter of her pulse. "Feel that," she whispered near Olivia's ear. "It's your heart...beating strongly..."

Olivia relaxed another tiny notch, but still seem poised to move if the opportunity presented itself.

"I don't know what to do," Olivia admitted after a long beat, her voice soft and scared. She twisted her head to peer up at Natalia with liquid green eyes, her survival instinct at war with the need to protect her loved ones.

Exhaling a tiny sigh of relief, Natalia didn't let go, but she eased her grip a little, letting strained muscles relax ever so slightly. "Trust me," she said very softly, then took a breath when she felt Olivia start to tense. "My father was in the navy as a young man...served aboard a carrier. He used to talk about how sometimes pilots coming in to land at night would get turned around and literally try to land upside down. The reflections on the surface of the ocean would fool them. They'd think they were seeing stars and that they were coming in the right way...and the tower would have to talk them through."

Olivia was listening now, a hint of a frown creasing her brow, clearly struggling, but no longer outright rejecting the possibility.

"If they didn't listen, they died...if they did...they'd be okay...but it took everything they had to do what the tower told them because it went completely against what their senses were telling them." She leaned her forehead against the side of Olivia's head, feeling the softness of hair and the heat of burning skin. "Let me be your tower...trust me to talk you through."

"But what if you're wrong? What if I..." Her mouth snapped shut with a soft clicking of her teeth and her body convulsed with a soft, uncontrolled sob. "I can't risk hurting Emma."

"Trust that I won't let you," Natalia pleaded. "If it comes down to it, I will keep Emma safe."

"You," Olivia said with extra emphasis, "don't even have the heart to put down someone who's begging you to-"

"I can do what I have to," Natalia cut in, her voice hard. "Don't doubt that. I killed a man out there," she added, well aware that while she hadn't fired the killing shot, she'd fired a shot that killed all the same, "to save you."

"You're a crappy shot," Olivia complained, though there was the tiniest flick of humor in her voice.

Natalia pulled the stolen pistol from her waistband and laid it on the floor near her hip. "I think I can hit from this distance."

Olivia sighed and her shoulders sagged. It seemed obvious to Natalia that the efforts to resist were exhausting her. "I can't hear the demons," she whispered and Natalia couldn't decide whether Olivia considered that a good thing or a bad one. Or if maybe she was conflicted.

"Then maybe they're gone...maybe they were never even there." Whatever was going on in her head, scary as it was, it wasn't the horrible delusions from the night before. It was more like some kind of hormone storm that had her emotions all spun up and she didn't know how to process it all. "You have to do this, Olivia...if for no other reason than because Emma needs you." I need you, she added mentally, though she was nowhere near ready to verbalize the thought.

"Said she'd be better off without me," Olivia whimpered, so softly she was nearly inaudible.

"Who?"

"My mother."

Natalia wasn't surprised. During the nightmare, Olivia had frequently pleaded with, and flinched from, her mother. "She was wrong...that little girl needs you...desperately." She stroked dark hair back from Olivia's forehead with a gentle hand. "And anyone who tells you otherwise is lying." Including your own subconscious, she added mentally.

She felt Olivia sag against her, the heat of her body searing Natalia's skin even through their clothes. She was silent for a long time. Debating.

"I wanna see my baby grow up," Olivia whispered at last, her voice achingly small.

Decision made.

Natalia heaved a sigh of relief. "Then we fight this." She relaxed ever so slightly, no longer restraining the woman in her arms so much as holding her gently.

"How?" Olivia sounded impossibly young and scared.

Natalia flinched. She hadn't really been thinking that far ahead, just trying to make Olivia see she was still alive and still had a chance. She petted Olivia's hair back from her forehead, then laid her inner wrist against soft skin. Her fever was still rising. Natalia could only hope it was a good sign. "Keep you as warm as possible...track what's happening...and ride out the storm."

"Sounds like you expect it to get worse before it gets better."

"Probably," Natalia admitted. With nothing to guide, her she could only guess. "My mother always believed a fever killed the disease." She shrugged. "Maybe that's what's happening."

Olivia flinched ever so slightly, but didn't argue. "I don't think sleep is a good idea," she said when she finally spoke again. "The demons came when I slept before...made me want to give up..."

"Okay." Natalia couldn't tell from her tone whether she really thought it was a bad idea or was just afraid of her nightmares.

"So tired though." The admission sounded as though it was forced out through gritted teeth.

Olivia Spencer wasn't a woman used to admitting to any kind of weakness or asking for assistance.

"I'll help you," Natalia promised. She kept her hand in position over Olivia's chest, maintaining tactile contact with the steady throb under her breastbone. Leaning close, she pressed a soft kiss to her temple. It was soft, simple, and utterly innocent, and Natalia carefully didn't consider the extra little thump her own heart made in response.

Exhaling heavily, Olivia sank against Natalia's body, no longer fighting her hold at all.

They were both silent for a long moment, lost in their own thoughts. Natalia was tempted to suggest they move to the livingroom couch, but instinct kept her where she was. She had Olivia settled and ready to fight for her life. It didn't seem like the right time to change anything.

"Emma," Olivia said at last.

"I told her to stay upstairs until I come for her," Natalia assured Olivia even as it occurred to her that she needed to take some time to check on the girl as soon as possible.

"No," Olivia said softly and pointed toward the door to the kitchen. "Emma." Her tone held a wry note that suggested she was used to this sort of thing.

Looking up, Natalia wondered why she was surprised by the small face peering through the crack in the door...

* * * * * *

Mostly, she didn't think in words or even in pictures. Mostly, she didn't think, just reacted to the churning hunger and confused longing. The thing in her arms was important, she knew that, though there was no reason for it. It salved neither the hunger nor the hate. No reason at all.

No reason for anything really except hunting and trying to ease the pain. But still she clung to it, biting back when it annoyed her, letting it feed when she did. No questions, simply actions.

She didn't think about the thing mostly followed behind her either, though it too was important enough that she slowed sometimes in her obsessive hunts, letting its ruined form draw closer when it lagged.

She didn't really know anything. Not why she cared about the things she did, nor why she hated the things that had come into her territory, only that she did.

With the hatred came vague associations of sounds and hints of memory. Pain, anger, frustration. They resonated a bit perhaps because they were the only emotions she still retained. Not only was there nothing good left, there was no knowledge that good existed. Sometimes with feeding came a surcease from the pain and hunger, but that was as close to happiness or contentment as she was capable.

So perhaps that was why she almost felt a touch of peace. Blood and meat, the taste of the hated thing in her mouth, salving some of the hunger, easing some of the pain.

And the location where the meat came from. That was extra satisfying somehow, though the why of it was one more thing she didn't understand.

Just like the way it screamed as it scrabbled away from her and tried to stanch the blood with desperate hands.

Or the thought, in words, so rare in her existence now, that Jeffrey wouldn't hurt any more women, not when she was gnawing on the remains of what he held most dear...

* * * * * *
TBC