Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness Ch.39
Title: Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness
By: Pink Rabbit Productions
Chapter: 39
Date: 7 November, 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 | Chapter 34 | Chapter 35 | Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38 |
Afterworld:
Into the Arms of Darkness
Chapter 39
Olivia felt the way the other woman took a deep breath an instant before her answer, followed by a slow deflation. "You have a son...here?" she whispered, her first thought that the boy must be hiding somewhere...maybe packed away until his mother could be certain the newcomers were safe. She envisioned a toddler following sweetly after his mommy, carefully protected in such uncertain times.
"He's missing," Natalia whispered in a tiny, dead voice, then abruptly pushed to her feet. She reached back down. "We should get you back to the couch and covered up."
"I'm sorry." Olivia barely got the words past the sudden tightness in her throat, feeling the other woman's agony as though it was her own.
Children didn't survive in Afterworld.
Natalia didn't respond or even look at her, just caught her hand and tugged her to her feet. Olivia was weak in the knees and the world spun around her. The only thing that kept her from tumbling back to the floor was the arm Natalia slipped around her waist.
"What happened?" Olivia asked before she could think better of it. "I'm sorry," she stammered, instantly regretting her quick tongue. "I shouldn't have...you don't need to-I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Natalia whispered as she helped Olivia settle back down on the couch. She took the pistol from Olivia's waistband and laid it aside on an end table. "Rafael is stubborn. He didn't believe any of this was really happening...thought it was some kind of government lie..." She slumped to her knees, shoulders deflated, all the fight had drained out of her. "When we got the evacuation orders, he stormed out to see his girlfriend, and just..." She didn't continue for a long moment, the memories probably more than she could deal with. "He didn't come home."
Olivia's mental image of a toddler gave way to a stubborn adolescent riding off on his bicycle, his shoelaces untied. She couldn't imagine how much it would all hurt. "You don't have to-"
"No, I want to..." Natalia whispered raggedly.
Olivia fell silent, though she reached out to rest a gentle hand on Natalia's shoulder, offering any support she could.
"It's just that we fought that day. He was so stubborn...wouldn't listen. The baby was due in a couple of months and he wanted to see her even though her family didn't approve."
"Baby?" Olivia whispered, suddenly confused.
"His girlfriend was pregnant." Natalia must have seen the doubtful look because she explained, "My son will be nineteen in the spring."
She was still using the present tense, Olivia noted, pity welling in her chest. That was a study in pointlessness. If he'd gone missing around the evac time, that meant months away. Anyone gone that long wasn't coming home. She tried to imagine this woman with a young man for a child. That image wouldn't come. "You must have been a baby yourself," she muttered before she could think better of it.
"Sixteen."
"Right...a baby," Olivia said softly, thinking it was too easy to imagine this woman at that age. Fresh-faced, innocent, body to die for. Easy indeed. Hell, even now, with everything she must have seen, there was an innocence and gentleness there that made Olivia want to protect her from the realities of the world. "It must have been hard."
"It was worth it. I loved him...from the first moment I knew I was..." Her voice cracked painfully and Olivia felt her shake with barely restrained emotion. The urge to wrap her in a protective hold only grew stronger. "I can't do this," she whispered suddenly. "Talk about this...I thought I...but..."
"It's okay," Olivia soothed as she gave way to impulse and pulled the other woman into her arms. Despite the way the effort made her muscles tremble, she tugged Natalia up until she was half on her lap, her upper body draped across Olivia's. Natalia's hand found her chest, cool and reassuring, her arm pressed between them. "You don't have to." She petted dark silk hair, tenderly guiding Natalia's head to her shoulder. "You don't have to do anything."
"Hurts too much," Natalia whimpered as she sank even deeper into Olivia's hold.
Feeling Natalia's pain as though it was her own, Olivia folded the other woman a little closer. "Tell me how to help," she pleaded, desperately wanting to make it all better.
Which was a mad fantasy. Some pains simply outdid any attempt at salving them. But she was still driven to try.
It was Natalia's turn to plead, "Just talk to me." A beat, then, "Tell me about anything...your family...your business...movies you've seen. I don't care."
Not family. Olivia dismissed that notion instantly. Both of them sobbing and miserable wasn't going to help anything. And movies weren't really her specialty. San Cristobel hadn't exactly been swimming in movie theaters when she was a child and she hadn't had time as an adult for anything that wasn't geared to watchers of Emma's general age and taste. Which left...
"I own...owned, I guess...a chain of hotels..." All of which was boring, dry, and most recently, sad as hell. One more crashed institution of the civilized world. Nobody really owned anything anymore except whatever they could hold onto. "But here's the thing, it's kind of a silly business some days..." It was a set patter she'd developed over the years, useful at cocktail parties and business conventions. Tales of foolish men and ugly hookers, lost luggage with embarrassing contents, and assorted places both guests and employees had chosen for less than savory, but often comical, exploits. The aim was simple. Play the raconteur and keep an audience laughing over the foibles of human nature. It made investors more likely to hand over their money and auditors less likely to look too closely at her books.
Or in this case, it simply offered a humorous bit of distraction to a human being much in need.
Long minutes later, Olivia experienced the first real burst of triumph she'd felt in ages when she hit the punchline in the story of the most screwed up reservation ever and she heard Natalia's soft, watery laugh. Something fierce and protective roared through her and she gathered the other woman even closer as she launched into yet another comedic tale, her timing quick and steady so Natalia never paused to consider that all participants were most likely dead now.
It was just easier that way. And they both needed things as easy as possible for a little while.
She kept talking, never losing a beat as they gradually migrated from their sitting position to lying twined on the couch, their bodies instinctively moving together as they sought a more comfortable arrangement.
After awhile, Natalia pressed Olivia into the back of the couch and all but pinned her there as she tugged the comforter up over both of them with the explanation, "You need to stay warm."
It was on the tip of Olivia's tongue to respond any number of ways, but she found herself terrified of upsetting the tentative balance. Swallowing her usual need to snark, she sucked it up and did as told. As her reward, she found herself cuddled up against a body that was all softness and welcome. It crossed her mind to try tasting that warm-velvet mouth again, but without a madman to keep them hidden, she was uncertain Natalia wouldn't run for cover. Better to just not take the risk.
At least for now...
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TBC