Awaken by Klergy
Shane and I dive into the river.
When we resurface, we look back at the jet once more. A little package drops from its belly as the roar of the jet thunders deafeningly.
"Get down!" Shane yells.
We both take a breath and disappear under the water.
Shane holds my hand, keeping me below as we feel the rumble of the impact on the stadium.
He tugs my hand and we swim for the other side.
I give his hand a squeeze when I need air and we both rise to the surface together.
My face rises out of the water and I take in deep breaths while looking back at the stadium.
Or what was the stadium.
Flames and smoke now fill the the air where the stadium once stood.
When we reach the rivers edge, Shane and I crawl onto dry land and I let the little puppy out onto the bank.
I drop my backpack and we both collapse onto our backs, panting heavily as we stare over at the bomb site.
I look up at the sky above me, my mind taking stock of todays events.
And I start laughing.
"We fuckin' did it!" I say breathily, between laughs.
Shane chuckles beside me. "Yes, we fuckin' did."
"We're fuckin' crazy!" I yell jovially, throwing my arms up.
Shane laughs some more and I roll over to him and smash my lips to his. He brings a hand up to caress my face and hold me in place.
The pup comes over, wanting in on the action and starts licking our faces.
I pull away from Shane, giggling and start making kissy noises at the little dog.
He gets excited, his tail wagging fiercely as he tries even harder to lick me until he ends up jumping on Shane's face.
I burst out laughing while Shane groans and turns away.
"Aw noo." I say and scoop the little guy up. "Kiss him better."
I hold the pup in Shane's face and the dog starts licking again.
Muffled noises come from Shane's backpack. He pulls the bag into his lap and unzips it.
He unwraps the still dry walkie from his jacket and Daryl's voice crackles through. "Shane! Mia! You there?"
"We're here." Shane replies. He chuckles quietly as the pup fusses excitedly in my arms. "We're good."
"We'll meet you at the bridge. Dillingham Street." Daryl says.
Shane and I grab our things and start walking.
He switches channels on the walkie.
"T-Dog. We made it." Shane announces. "We're headed back to the hotel."
"Crazy asses." T replies, making us laugh again.
It's roughly a twenty minute walk to Dillingham Street. I carry pup the whole way, not wanting the skinny little thing to use any more energy than he has to.
We meet Daryl and Carol, waiting for us where our long road meets Dillingham.
God it felt good to be in their embraces.
And god it feels good to be seated in the back of the Cherokee, heading home.
I rest my head on Shane's shoulder while I cradle the pup. Shane tenderly scratches its head.
"Pretty sure this little guy's a pitty." he comments as the pup starts to close his eyes.
"Can we keep him?" I ask softly.
"Mmm.." Shane says contemplatively.
"Sorry, that was rhetorical. We're keeping him." I state and smile down at the sweetie. "Little Bodhi."
"Bodhi?" Shane questions.
"It means awakening and enlightenment." I explain. "No more death, no more suffering." I lift my head and look at Shane with a closed lip smile.
He looks at me for a moment, his warm eyes looking like melted chocolate. He leans in and gently presses his lips to mine.
Everything else fades as I deepen the kiss. Space, time, nothing else matters, just Shane.
"We're back." Daryl suddenly announces from the front seat. "Go get a room."
I rest my forehead against Shane's and bite my bottom lip, chuckling quietly at Daryl.
"Don't mind if I do." Shane mumbles and nuzzles into my neck.
We make it inside and reunite with our family.
Everyone is besotted with Bodhi until they're hanging on our every word, as we inform them of our bright and hopeful future.
The buzz in the air is delicious and exciting.
We've carried hope with us at every twist and turn these past long months and now the hope is more believable than ever.
But we've done all we can and the rest falls upon the shoulders of Dr's Javier, Rosita, Eugene, Siddiq and Theodore.
Shane and I go to our room and head for the bathroom.
I try to leave Bodhi in the bedroom but when his little paw keeps clawing under the bathroom door as he whines away, I have to let him in.
"Hey sooky bear." I coo, as he bounces into the room.
He tottles around our feet, stumbling around as his tail wags fiercely.
The sweet little guy just looks so happy to be around living people that don't want to rip the flesh from his bones.
He settles on the bath mat, chewing the laces of my boots, while Shane and I lovingly bathe each others bodies.
Once we're out, Bodhi's back around our ankles, licking the water droplets off our skin.
We get dressed and leave our room, grabbing food before we rejoin the others. We discuss everything with them all in more depth, while we eat.
It feels so reminiscent of being around the fire at quarry camp.
And while we may have lost some good people since then, we've also gained some.
I look at the Greene's sympathetically. They just lost their farm, they're home.. And they lost Patricia.
But our apparent success at the hospital has managed to raise their spirits as well as ours.
Which only makes this hopeful bliss all the sweeter.
Shane and I eventually excuse ourselves and retire to our room for the evening. Bodhi jumps up and follows us, his belly now round and full.
As soon as the bedroom door is shut, Shane is on me. Lips crushed onto mine, hands in my hair.
I kiss him back hungrily, wrapping my arms around his neck, my hand caressing his nape.
All the emotions of everything that's happened in the past twenty-four hours, the near death experiences, the triumphs- all boil down into lust, desire and love.
We make our way to the bed, lips barely separating until my back hits the mattress.
I shuffle back until my head reaches the pillows and Shane follows, crawling onto the bed to hover over top of me, his hands either side of my head.
He looks down at me with molten eyes and I smile at him.
"We did it." I say softly, bringing a hand up to caress his handsome face.
"We did it." he reiterates.
I grab his face with both hands and pull his mouth back to mine and we begin one hot make out sesh.
Until I feel another tongue on my cheek and the smell of puppy breath is added to the mix.
I breakout out into giggles against Shane's mouth.
Shane turns his head towards Bodhi, which only makes himself the target.
"Hey, little man," he manages to pull his face out of Bodhi's reach and tries to frown at the pup. "keep this up and you and me are gonna have a problem.."
I laugh at him as he exhales dramatically and drags himself off of me and the bed, taking Bodhi with him.
Shane leaves our room and enters the hall.
"Carl? Hey, Carl?" I hear him yell. "Hey, you wanna play with this dog for a little bit, man? Thanks bud."
Then I hear the hotel room door shut again and I laugh as Shane swiftly returns, jumping back on top of me.
"Where were we?" he asks, stroking his finger down my cheek.
His eyes are molten again and he rubs his bulge against the crotch of my pants.
I sit up, Shane following my movements and we make quick work of each others clothes.
We kiss each other hungrily and before he can get me back down, I turn us and push him back, so he's sitting up against the headboard.
I straddle him and kiss him some more while his hands travel up and down my back, bringing me closer to him.
We break apart for air and stare into each others eyes.
I brace myself on his shoulders and his hands move to my hips.
He helps guide me as I lift my hips up and shift back a little before lowering myself down onto him.
We're still for a moment and I stare into Shane's dark eyes as they burn with desire.
I stroke his neck and his chest before settling my hands back on his shoulders and slowly, I start to move up and down.
His hands grip my waist tighter as his eyes grow darker and his jaw tenses.
Another slow sink down on him has a soft moan escaping my parted lips.
Shane's fingers press deeper into my skin.
We don't lose eye contact as I start to pick up speed and soon I'm riding him hard.
He raises his hips and starts a counter rhythm, our breathing becoming ragged as he bucks up and down.
"Shane.." I pant. "Shane, I'm-" but I'm cut off by my own moan.
"Me too." Shane pants heavily. "Fuck, Mia."
Then my legs are shaking as I come apart, shattering around him.
With one more thrust, I feel Shane come inside me, shuddering with his own release.
I fall to his chest, my head resting on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around me as we catch our breath, with him still inside me.
"Fuck, sweetheart.." he breathes. "..I ain't ever gonna get enough of you.." he says and I smile.
"Have at it, Deputy. I'm yours forever." I say and give him a lazy kiss.
Shane rolls us onto our sides and pulls out.
Then he holds me close again.
"Mm, forever.." he hums. "..I like the sound of that.
~
Over the next week, we worked on fortifying the hotel.
We walled it off, with pallets, sheets of metal, timber beams, anything we found that we could use to build a strong, sturdy, walker proof fence.
Sticks of wood and timber that we filed the ends of to spikes have been placed at the entry. Any walkers come close, they get stuck, skewered on the sticks until we dispose of them.
Not that there's many left around here now.
While the doctors worked on a camouflage vaccine, they made prototypes that only had temporary effects. T-Dog delivered us a handful, so we would be safe on supply runs.
It gave us so much more freedom out and about.
We went further, gathered more vehicles, gas, fencing supplies, weapons, food, clothes even.
And dog food, toys and worming tablets for little Bodhi, too.
On one run, we stumbled across two siblings; Henry and Mika. They were alone and frightened. We brought them back with us and Carol took them under her wing.
They're lovely kids. They were shy at first but eager to help and grateful to be with us.
Carol's been teaching them all about cooking and rationing and Hershel, Maggie and Beth have been showing them gardening and farming.
Bodhi has been a fast learner, very easily trained. He's eager to follow commands and he keeps quiet. But he's still a pup, so naturally, zoomies are a daily occurrence.
Shane and I are his mama and papa. He follows us around mostly but still socialises with everyone. Carl usually. He's Bo's favourite playmate.
Bodhi's other favourite playmate is Daryl.
And I know Daryl loves him too.
We spread out and filled the hotel.
Hershel and Beth share a floor with Andrea and Dale.
Carol and the kids share a floor with the Grimes'.
Glenn and Maggie share a floor with Shane and I, which is fun.
And Daryl has the top floor to himself, but he does float between Carol and ours from time to time.
Shane's proved he really is a master at pancakes.
And he and I took a shining to whipped cream. For personal reasons.
Over another two weeks, I pulled out my journal and started sketching again. It's felt so good to pick up an old hobby.
I worked on sketches of the ones we've lost. With welcome input from the others, to perfect each one.
Amy, Jacqui, and Jim.
Otis, Patricia.
And Sophia.
It was a very emotional task but it was beautiful to look back on our people fondly and celebrate their lives.
I don't plan on filling any more pages with the lost.
Because today, Sergeant Abraham Ford stopped by to deliver us the first batch of immunisations.
December 13th.
Merry early Christmas to us.
He personally thanked Shane and I for our help, inside the hospital and with the bombing of the stadium.
Then he left, to continue on with deploying the vaccine to other survivors.
The roll out has begun.
A new beginning has arrived.
Abraham called on Shane and Rick to help out with securing the town. He gifted us some more weapons and ammo and instructed them to take out any walker they see.
And now we're all 'vaccinated', we're joining in, more than happy to help.
It's taken a good few weeks, but bit by bit, we've secured the town.
Every day, Dale practices with his rifle, learning how to shoot with one hand. He sits up in our DIY watch tower, using roaming walkers as target practice, helping secure the town.
T-Dog and the others venture out and come visit often.
Sgt. Abraham sends any survivors our way that want refuge.
With winter now upon us, he wants to find and help as many survivors as he can.
We keep our hotel to ourselves, not letting any new people in. They start filling out other buildings and help set up fences, fortifying the town.
T-Dog found his sister.
Daryl found Merle.
Merle came to our town but we didn't allow him into our hotel for permanent residence. Not that he really wanted to join us, anyway.
Daryl stayed with us, though. Much to everyone's delight.
And in the new year, the town is secure. The town is safe.
We are safe.
Now invisible to the undead, we can walk the streets with them. Unharmed.
We'll never be hunted by walkers again.
The camouflage is predicted to last six months. At which then we'll all get another dose.
Dr. Javier and the others are hoping to create a vaccine that lasts as long as twelve months by the time our six months is up.
And eventually, one that lasts even longer, as other doctors and scientists begin to join them.
~
Six months later, we all got our next dose of the vaccine. The new vaccine. One that's said to last five years.
The town filled up, so we started to spread out further, to more places.
And September 2011, a whole year after the dead began to walk among us, normalcy was returning.
And old necessities like electricity and clean, running water.
So we started travelling.
Shane and I returned to our houses, packed our things and left, in search of a new home.
Together.
Neither of us were too keen to return to our old places for permanent residence. But I was pleased to see our places hadn't been completely ransacked or damaged.
We picked a place, but a week later, the home owner returned and wished to resume living there. So off we went again.
We eventually found a home in the little city of Jasper, next to Mount Oglethorpe.
It was a lovely place, with a stunning view of the mountains. Bodhi looked so happy in our picturesque backyard.
The house was lovely and had the potential to be so warm and cosy and homey. I really hoped no one came back to claim it, but I totally understood if they did.
And after a month of precautionary waiting, no one showed up. We decided a month was enough waiting time and moved all our stuff in, finally making it ours.
Some of the others in our group followed. Wanting to stay near Atlanta, but not wanting to return to their homes.
Glenn and Maggie moved in down the road, along with Hershel and Beth.
We didn't need to watch each others backs like we'd grown accustomed to, but shared trauma is a beautiful thing and we felt more comfortable staying close by.
Rick and his family moved to Canton. As too did Carol and her adopted children, Henry and Mika.
Dale and Andrea are in Woodstock.
Daryl, somewhere in between.
Life is a mix of the old ways and the new.
We've adapted to survive both.
Our homes are all walker free zones, with security set ups installed to keep them that way.
Because walkers still exist.
There's no cure for them, so all that was left to do was to take them out.
Every now and again, one will mosey on through, but there are systems, set ups and traps in place now. Everywhere you go.
This is the new way of life.
The worst is over.
We don't have to survive anymore.
We get to live again.
And I owe it all to Shane.
My Deputy. My love. My saviour.
My Protector.