After The Change by Moore Michael J

Author:Moore, Michael J [Moore, Michael J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror | Infected
Publisher: MKM Bridge Press
Published: 2019-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

Cali and I took the living room again. We boarded up the window with the top of the kitchen table and drug a mattress out from one of the bedrooms. We talked a little as we worked, but she still seemed distant.

At some point she disappeared down the hall and returned a moment later with Jacki in her arms. The kid smiled and bounced up and down when she saw me.

"I told them we'd watch the baby for a while. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't." I sat on the mattress, holding Wes's compass. Her eyes fell on it momentarily, then she looked away and sat on the other end of our bed, setting Jacki between her legs. The child squealed and thrust herself forward, almost falling face-first, reaching for me.

"I think she wants you," Cali said.

"Only because she's not old enough to know better." I half-grinned, stuffing the compass into my pocket.

Cali faked a laugh.

Jacqueline bounced a couple of times, continuing to reach for me. After taking a deep breath, I leaned over, offering her my hand. She grasped my index finger and tried to put it into her mouth. I quickly pulled it away, causing her to open her mouth wide as if she wanted to protest.

"Come here," I said before she could, picking her up and setting her on my lap. She waved her arms and danced happily. Cali smiled and for the first time since yesterday afternoon, it looked real. Funny how a baby can do that to somebody.

"Did they need to talk about us or something?" I asked, looking toward the hall.

"No," she smiled. "I offered to take the baby. I thought maybe they could use a break."

"Zeke's still there, right?"

"Yeah. I meant all of them though. It's probably pretty annoying having a crying baby around twenty-four-seven."

I glanced down at Jacki, who didn't seem to notice the insult. She just stuffed her own fingers into her mouth. I thought back to what Cali said last night about her. She had kept calling her "it". Like she wasn't even human. I wondered if she had always felt the same way about babies, or just now that this one posed a threat to our survival. Or maybe it was more than that. Maybe it had more to do with Wes and some plan that I didn't know about for them to have a family together. It didn't matter one way or the other.

"I wonder," I said, bouncing Jacki on my leg. "How different she'll turn out than people from before."

"People from before?" Cali wrinkled her forehead.

"Us. You know, people born before the change. We had toys, school, civilized society. All those things shaped us into what we are. A child born into a world full of cannibals and psychopaths, though–how will she turn out?"

"Nanananana!" Jacki cried, reminding me again of the young changed at the train station.

"That's why we're doing this, isn't it?" Cali asked. "Going to the prison? Rebuilding society? I mean that's what I thought at least.

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