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Chapter 117


This morning, I went upstairs into the attic. Nick had already gone to go take care of the animals, and the kids were with Gretch. I went up there with a purpose. It took me a few attempts, but eventually I sat down and started reading the very first of the journals. They’d been my idea, but I had no clue back then how important they’d become. At the time, I figured they’d be good for helping us cope and waste time. Reading them reminded me of who I used to be, back before the world changed, and who I became once it did.

I’m not that girl anymore. I barely remember her. The first one threw away everything that mattered. She put up a strong front and hated the idea of letting anyone in. The second, well, she tried to let others in. Those she did became her new family. However, she was still so hot-headed and stubborn. She still fought to keep that strong front coming. She hated weakness.

Now, I’m a wife.

Now, I’m a mother.

In a lot of ways, change doesn’t begin to describe the last ten years. But it’s not a bad thing. I feel like this is who I was this entire time. I simply didn’t know it. Or maybe I refused to see it. Nick helped me realize what true strength really is. I had it so wrong once. And our children remind me every day of why life is still so precious.

To think, this is the life I once wanted to throw away.

I’m so thankful I got that second chance at it.



Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Ten years after Infernal Friday

As Lucky sunbathed by the nearby window, Riley adjusted the hem on one of the legs of the pants lying in her lap. Once the undead had fallen, she, like AJ and Kevin alike, had needed a new purpose to focus on. Her forever workaholic personality demanded it. It had taken some time, but time she had and eventually was able to research the ways clothes had been made before technology came around. Leather-making, cloths, furs, anything helpful. There was a loom AJ and Kevin had managed to rig up on the other side of the living room, where a TV had once stood. A lot of badly-made clothes followed, but eventually, she had learned how to knit, sew, and crochet.

From journalist to zombie-killer, from zombie-slayer to clothes-maker… the differences were more than slight. But, oddly enough, everything felt so natural. While pregnant with Josh, she’d had a lot of time on her hands once she entered her third trimester and Nick kept fussing for her to take things easy. So she’d read, and she’d learned the skills that would give her a new purpose there on the base. Once their son was born, she’d lost the urge to go find adrenaline rushes, the way AJ still did. The first time she held him, all her priorities shifted into their rightful places. She never questioned it.

“Mama?” Leslie called, pausing from practicing her letters in a workbook Gretchen had given her. She was sitting happily on the bear-skin rug, a present from AJ from his first hunting days post-zombies. No one was sure how he’d managed to find a bear in southern Florida, but they assumed it had been a zoo survivor.

Riley glanced over as she finished with the hem. Josh was outgrowing his clothes again, too quickly for her liking. “What is it, Cupcake?”

Leslie grinned. While she looked a lot like her mother, her smile was all Carter. “We talked ‘bout why today is special. Did you fight zombies?”

“Yup, I did it all the time.”

“Daddy too?”

She couldn’t hide the smirk if she tried. “Your father used to sing as he battled zombies.”

Thriller!”

Riley laughed and rolled her eyes. As Nick had always wanted, that song would never die off. At least, not until they were long gone. Their children had learned the song almost as soon as they could talk. He’d insisted upon it. And deep down, she couldn’t deny him, though she wouldn’t admit it. The rest of the kids on base soon learned it as well, mainly because of the Carter kids. “Always Thriller.”

Cause this is Thriller! Thriller night!

In that moment, she felt a sharp kick against her stomach and winced, rubbing her hand over it. Maybe the Michael Jackson love was imbedded in the DNA at this point. In many ways, Thriller was their song. Their escape from Target and journey to the base had been soundtracked by it, for one. No, it wasn’t exactly romantic, but she’d fallen for Nick’s goofy charm and optimism, not because he was some smooth Casanova. Thriller suited them.

And no one’s gonna see ya cause the beast’s about to strike!” Nick sang as he burst through the door. “Honeys, I’m home!”

Leslie shrieked playfully. “Don’t get me, beasty!”

Nick smirked and began to chase her at a slow pace, while Josh shut the front door and made a beeline to the kitchen for a drink. “I want little Leslie. BRAINS FOR BREAKFAST!”

She screamed and ducked behind Riley, who’d just stood up to greet Nick. Leslie held on to her legs as Riley crossed her arms and tried to look firm, unable to quite pull it off. “Careful, you two,” she chastised, as Nick leaned around her. At thirty-four weeks, Riley was close. The baby could come at any time. Still, as big as she felt, rushing things wasn’t something she wanted. “Last thing I need to do is trip and fall into labor.”

“Absolutely not.” He stood up straight and pecked her lips softly before peering down at their daughter. “We both gotta be careful around Mommy, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Mom!” Josh yelled coming out of the kitchen and setting his empty cup on the counter. “I’m gonna go play hide-and-go-seek with the girls!”

“Wait a minute!” Using Nick for balance, Riley reached over carefully and picked up the clothes she’d finished. “Try these on first.”

His face immediately morphed into a pout. “Awww, Mooooommmm!”

Nick swung Leslie up into his arms. “Hey, if you don’t, then you can stay inside and do your homework instead, Little Man.”

“Fine,” Josh grumbled, coming over to snatch the clothes begrudgingly before heading upstairs.

“You know he gets that from you,” Riley teased.

“Maybe.” With his free hand, Nick rubbed her stomach. Leslie nestled up against him contentedly. “How’s Number Three coming?”

“Stop calling him or her that,” she said, as she tried not to laugh. Her gaze shifted upwards. “The baby keeps kicking like it’s fine. Joshie keeps telling me how it’s gotta be a boy.”

Nick kissed the top of Leslie’s head and snickered. “Well, the poor guy is really outnumbered.”

“Hey, not my fault,” she joked. “Blame everyone else for only having girls.”

Not long after, Josh came running back down the stairs, skidding to a stop in front of his parents. Nick was just setting Leslie down. “You did as your mother asked?”

“Yeah. They fit, they fit. Can I go now?”

Riley nodded. “Go ahead, but take your sister with you.” With the celebration later, burning off some of her kids’ energy couldn’t hurt. They’d be hyper enough as it was. “Be back when it starts to get dark!”

“Okay!” He grabbed Leslie’s hand and practically dragged her out the door. “Bye!”

She shook her head with a laugh as she moved back towards the couch. She tried to sit by herself while keeping her balance, but Nick was quickly there to support her. Riley groaned as she eased down onto the cushions. “Thanks. I think I gained twice the pounds with this kid as I did with the first two. Soon we’re gonna need a crane to lift me up and down.”

“Nah.” Nick grinned. “You’re still pretty.” He sat beside his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “You know, your son doesn’t believe you used to be tough. I had to tell him that you still are and that he shouldn’t forget it.”

“You softened me up a lot you know, Mr. Hollywood,” Riley reminded him, her eyes gazing at him warmly. “But I’m glad you did.”

So much had changed over ten years time. The world she’d grown up in had become a pure Hell. She’d lost everything she didn’t learn to appreciate until it was too late. By all rights, Riley knew she should have died multiple times in the first two years after Infernal Friday. But she hadn’t. She’d survived; she’d grown; she’d changed. With Nick. With the small group of strangers she now considered family. People she couldn’t live without now. They’d had nothing in common but one thing: the fact that fate had given them all a new chance in a world that had died, and was later reborn.

And Riley would never be more thankful.