The Town of Last Haven: A Zombie Novel

Part 25

After Julia returned home to the Wallace household, she was greeted by Trent and Clarise and Lacey with hugs and kisses.

"Are we safe again tonight?" Clarise asked, eyes wide with hope. For once in a great long while--ten whole months--Julia didn't fear for her family's lives all that much.

"The borders are safe. We're clear to sleep through the night." Julia meant here in the house, not those patrolling the walls outside. Julia turned to Luke with a smile. "How did the search go?" she asked.

Luke was in charge of the search earlier in the day. It was his job to go out there and search for anything salvageable beyond the borders of their town. There were parties of ten to twenty who went out hunting and gathering for food like nomads of ancient days; there were parties who went out to search for guns and ammo or anything that could make guns and ammo; and there were parties who brought back anything of the sort.

Luke came home to Julia with a present in hand--books. He held the stack of three out to Julia, who took them and looked at the covers as she read them aloud.

"A book by Sarah J. Maas, and a book by Robert Jordan, and..." Julia hesitated to read the third book in the stack. When she was certain neither Trent nor Clarise were eavesdropping, she turned back to Luke with red in her face. "...and Fifty Shades of Grey?" She covered her mouth with a hand. "Do you really think our... bedroom activities... need anything spicier?"

Luke smirked. "It was a book I know you were curious about back when we were dating pre-my-mistake. You never read the books, but admit it, Julia, you wanted to read them."

Julia blushed harder. "Yes, but--don't tell anyone I have the book, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Luke pulled Julia into another embrace, planting a kiss on her soft lips. She sighed into the kiss, then leaned further into him, inhaling his smoked-wood scent. "By the way, I was thinking we could go somewhere later. There's something I'd like to run by you."

"No third party," Julia stated bluntly.

"Why would I want anyone else when I have you? Julia, I love you." Luke's hands curled around Julia's before kissing her cheek and giving another smile to her. "Is there any lingering doubt anymore?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"No, Luke, I know you love me." Julia smiled. "What is it you want to show me? You know I hate surprises." They laughed, and Luke shook his head.

"I'm not going to tell you," he said. "I have to show you." He paused, Natalie passing by the room from the hallway--she was helping Mrs. Wallace with dinner again.

After the world went to the dead--the wanderers--the electricity ran out and all power went out. There was no more light pollution anywhere, so you could see the stars in the night sky as clear as daylight--more of them than if there was any city light. And so far, everyone was cooking over open fires. It seemed dangerous to some, but to those in the Wallace household they thought it quite cool. Julia was used to camping and eating over open flames, so she taught Mrs. Wallace to cook pre-Little House on the Prairie style. Natalie knew it and enjoyed it too, but she was the one to make sure no one got burned.

"I'll show you later," said Luke, then the two went to the kitchen.

There Mrs. Wallace was cooking trout over an open fire where the oven used to be. They'd made a few 'renovations' to the house, so where the stove used to be was a large open hearth and chimney of red brick. It clashed with the rest of the kitchen, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Natalie, can I ask you something?" Julia smiled to her sister, who joined her in the hall. Julia quickly went up the stairs to Natalie's bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"Julia, what's wrong?" Natalie asked, offering Julia a seat on her bed.

"Natalie, I'll ask you not to tell a soul about this, okay?" Julia asked, and Natalie nodded. "Promise me. Say it."

"I promise," she said, and Julia placed a hand on her flat stomach. Natalie's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped slowly.

"Julia, are you pregnant?" Natalie almost couldn't say the words--she spoke so low that it was nearly inaudible. When Julia said nothing, she asked again, "Julia, are you pregnant?"

Julia took in a deep breath. "That's the thing, Natalie. I-I don't know." Julia looked as if she were about to burst into tears. She held her breath, brushed her hair back from her face, and let out a silent sigh. "I'm scared, Natalie. Luke and I were careful, but..." She didn't know what else to say. This was a big deal for both of them.

"Well, you two were obviously not careful enough!" Natalie whisper-shouted, crossing her arms over her chest, then sighed, hugging Julia tightly. "Whatever happens, I'll be here for you and your baby... even if Luke isn't." Natalie would still kill Luke to keep Julia safe; she'd not forgotten about the promise she made months prior.

Julia wet her lips, brushing tears from her eyes. "No one can know about this. Not Austin or Trent or Clarise, not Mrs. Wallace, not Luke... and certainly not Tanner. You're the only one I have right now." Natalie nodded, then placed her hand on Julia's stomach to feel for anything, a sign of life, of movement.

"Do you know how far along you might be?" Natalie asked, and Julia shook her head no. "Jesus Christ, you go at it with Luke like damn rabbits." It was unusual for Natalie to curse, but this situation called for it indeed! "What do you need me to do?"

Julia let out a low sigh. "I need a pregnancy test, but there are none left at the old drug store." The one in the center of town had been picked clean by scavengers since before the wall was built--no luck there. "Tomorrow, I need you to go with one of the scavenging parties to look for a pregnancy test... or something like it."

"How about a life supply of condoms?" Natalie asked dryly.

"How about both?" Julia asked in a smirk retort. "Anyway, would you do this for me?" Julia asked quietly, now hearing Clarise and Lacey running down the hall, calling for dinner.

"I'll do it," said Natalie, "and I'll cut Luke's balls off if he abandons a pregnant you."

"Thank you," Julia said as dryly as Natalie.