Colony Z: The Complete Collection (Vols. 1-4) (28 page)

They slept on through the night, in one of the only safe places left in northern Michigan. Tonight, the Zero-Hour would begin.

Tonight, the creatures would feed for the first time.

Albion Camp - 2032

The night after Helen’s wedding to Aaron, Eva pulled Michael aside before they entered their newly finished cabin.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Anything.”

“I know you.”

“…what do
you  mean, Eva? Of course you know me. I’m your husband.”

“I mean, I’ve seen you before. Don’t you remember? Before this island…before any of this.”

“…I felt as though I’d seen you before when I picked you up on the beach…but I thought it was just a feeling. Eva, I was so young. How could I possibly remember?”

“Because you gave me this.” Eva reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a silver locket that Michael had not seen in more than fifteen years. And, suddenly, he remembered. And the memory of the girl that he carved into his father’s cabin all those months ago came flooding back. And the pain that came along with it. Tears streamed down Eva’s face.

“Your father murdered mine.”             

Michael stared at Eva, his eyes growing wide as the memory came flooding back to him.

He had known her. When he saw her on that beach, he’d known her all along. She was the red-headed girl from the woods the night Judith Marie was bitten. The night he’d gotten lost. Thoughts that had been pushed to the back of his mind for more than a decade were suddenly brought forward. Thoughts of America.

Thoughts about a little girl holding his sweaty hands as they walked through the woods, both of them lost together. Thoughts about a locket that he knew, one day, he’d give to someone he loved. Thoughts about how, even at three years old, he had been sure that person was Eva, he just didn’t fully understand where the emotions were coming from.

Thoughts about Eva mentioning her father. And how he’d been shot in Tennessee by a man. Boom.

He remembered that part exceedingly well.

“Eva…” Michael started slowly, staring at her, never wanting to take his eyes away. She had the same freckles the little girl had had, the same arms, the same button nose. She was still as beautiful as ever. She’d grown up away from them…away from him. And yet, it seemed like they were made for one another.

And his father had shot hers. Was it the one that he shot out of cold blood or by accident? He didn’t know, and he supposed it didn’t really matter. When Eva said what she did, she didn’t seem angry or hurt. She didn’t talk like she’d come all this way for revenge. She was just trying to make Michael remember her. She was just trying to make him understand why they felt like they’d met before. Because they had. All those nights ago.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Eva asked, extending a hand to Michael. Michael nodded, taking it. Barefoot, they headed toward the beach and the water beyond.

“Michael, I didn’t mean to bring it up that way.”

“Eva, I’m so sorry for what he did. For what I let him get away with for so long. I didn’t know…I don’t even think he truly knew what he was doing. He was scared, that’s all…scared that you guys might hurt us. Eva, I know he took away someone extremely important to you and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make up for that, and neither will he. But for what it’s worth, Eva, I’m so sorry…”

“Michael, stop.” Eva put a hang over her partner’s mouth, and almost started laughing. “Michael, you saw everyone else I lost back there on that beach. Do you remember my Uncle David? The one who really raised me?”

Michael nodded slowly, the memory of the two men flying to grab their children at once flooding back to him as Eva continued.

“I’m more upset about him than anything,  Michael. And there wasn’t anything you could do about him. I’ll always be in love with my father’s memory, but I don’t remember who he was. I have to own up to that. The father I’ll always love and remember was my Uncle David. And that…that wasn’t your fault. In fact, you would have made him so much happier knowing I’m safe now.”

Eva smiled at him, being as honest as she could possibly be. She was happy now. And, other than the cut she’d gotten on her thumb from cutting the cake (she’d never been too good with weapons), she was completely unharmed. She was safe.

“I love you, Eva.”

“I love you too, Michael.”

Eva looked down at the locket around her neck. It was so beautiful, glinting in the moonlight. Michael stared at the bright moon and the stars surrounding them, seemingly satisfied with the world. Everything was finally right again.

But Eva was noticing the dark mark on her locket. She had just noticed it for the first time and she wondered if it would come off clean.

She didn’t know then that it was blood. She didn’t know then that, when she had kneeled over her dying and infected Uncle David, his blood had wiped off on the back of her locket.

Instead of thinking that far ahead, Eva did what any normal person would do. She wet her thumb with her tongue and rubbed the stain away from the beautiful jewelry.

It stung a bit, and Eva remembered why. The cut on her thumb from the wedding. She smiled and chided herself.

She’d been too damn stubborn to bandage it up.

Aaron and Helen were left alone on their wedding night. Michael and Owen had worked with Aaron to build them a honeymoon cabin, a place where they could spend their lives together. When they entered after their wedding, neither had anything very traditional in mind.

Honestly, they really just wanted to talk.

“I think something’s supposed to be happening right now,” Aaron said, in a vague attempt to do what was expected of him. “Do you…um…do you want something happening right now?”

Helen laughed that sweet, rich laugh that Helen had.

“No, Aaron,” She said through her giggles. “No, I just want to talk.”

“…are you sure?”

“Are
you
sure?” She continued laughing, the situation funnier than even she imagined. Here they were, husband and wife. A gay man and a straight woman, each one wanting to consummate  their marriage less than the other. Helen was tired. It had been a long, stressful day. And, though everyone else thought Aaron was a straight as a line, she knew it wasn’t true.

Maybe one day. But the whole point of loving one another was to give them both the time they really needed to face the truth of the island. Neither of them really wanted a relationship like that, but, when they did, it was nice to know they had each other to help them get through it.

Aaron laughed and picked up his new wife, spinning her around in circles while she smiled that beautiful smile of hers. He could probably get used to this feeling. This feeling of pure happiness. Something he’d lacked so much in his life.

When he set her down, Helen flopped down on their makeshift bed, exhausted.

“Aaron,” she said. “You’re a funny guy.”

“Why’s that?” Aaron asked, falling down next to her. It was odd to the two of them that they were both completely comfortable, lying just like this. Nothing weird, nothing expected of them, no worries or cares or reasons to be upset or lost or hiding. This was exactly how it should have been. How it should always be.

“Because you’re so…different. You seem like you dislike and don’t trust almost every man on this island…and yet, you’re gay. How is that even possible?”

“…there aren’t many men on this island.” Aaron knew they were beginning to tread into territory he wasn’t really ready to talk about. Territory he would probably never be ready to talk about. Not ever. Not to Helen or anyone else. It was a miracle to him that Owen hadn’t told her himself. That Owen hadn’t told her where they found him over twenty years ago.

“What’s wrong, Aaron?” Helen noticed the look on his face, and she immediately began to get worried. Was this night already going to turn sour? Was there something she didn’t know about?

“…Helen…” Aaron sighed, knowing he would have to tell her one way or another. “Do you know where your dad found me?”

“…no. Dad’s never really talked about how he found anybody. I think he wants that part of their lives to be private, you know? Cause they were so tender and hopeless when he found them to begin with.”

“…your father found me in a basement. Locked up in a basement, shackled to a wall.”

“What?”

Helen stared in complete disbelief, as tears began to come to Aaron’s eyes. While he acted like a straight man, anyone would cry when they were about to talk about the things Aaron was about to explain. Even the strongest man would break down and cry when he remembered the terrible things that took place in that basement.

“…Aaron…Aaron, who did that to you?”

“I don’t know who he was, Helen.  I don’t know who he was, I don’t know why he did what he did. I just know that…one day he took my best friend, Tom, and I….and we never came back.”

“What happened to the man?”

“One of the zombies got to him…it came down and just…just ate him. There wasn’t much left of him after. And I can’t say I was all that upset…just terrified that it would come back and eat me. It’s all so blurred. I was only four years old.  But that moment? That moment I remember better than anything.”

“…Aaron, this is all really horrible.” Helen pulled the teary-eyed boy to her lap and pet his hair, hoping it would make him feel more calm. But nothing could really calm someone when they were remembering what Aaron was. “But I don’t understand…what does this have to do with you hating the men here?”

“The boy who was with me…Tom…he was my best friend. I didn’t really know what the feelings were, but I remember them now. They were different than what I feel for you, for example. They were…more…more like romance. More like ‘take care of me because I need you to’ kind of feelings. And…and then the man…the man…”

Aaron’s tears were flooding down his face now, and Helen couldn’t let him go on.

“Shhhh…” She whispered softly, knowing that he wouldn’t stop if she didn’t make him. She got the picture. She knew enough to know about this boy’s past. He had a childhood sweetheart…and then mankind itself had killed him. Mankind itself had beaten him to the apocalypse. And if he wasn’t killed, he would be here right now, with Aaron, holding him and telling him everything would be okay, rather than Helen, who would never be the same as that. She would never be as good for Aaron as his young friend was.

But she knew she was enough. She was enough to make him feel like he was important again. Enough to make him feel like he could trust someone in that world, and that was more than she ever could have hoped for from anyone.

As twisted as their relationship was, it soon became the most well-functioning one on the island. In the years to come, the company wanted to know what their secret was, and how they got along so well. Eventually, after Helen had turned eighteen and they had both truly fallen in love with each other, orientations or not, Aaron finally told everyone the truth.

But until then, it was their secret. Until then, it was their time. And they were going to spend it exactly how they did right now. Comforting one another with a simple gesture of kindness, and learning what real unconditional love was one step at a time.