The Town of Last Haven: A Zombie Novel

Part 41

Julia hadn't heard from Luke or his mother for weeks on end. She'd not gone to his house, she'd not sought him out, she'd not done a thing to be near Luke.

There were several nights, however, where Luke was on patrol. He'd circle the town borders before patrolling the streets. And he would go down Julia's home street several times. He'd see her bedroom lights on--the flashlights and lanterns, that is--and he'd want to climb the tree by her window to see her even for a few precious seconds.

He never did that, though.

When morning came, and Luke's patrol shift ended, he returned to his house to see his mother--he had to tell her that he was going beyond the town to fight the dead. He expected his mother to cry, to tell him not to go, beg him to stay. She simply told him tearlessly to return home to her, that he was all she had left. It hurt Luke to know that his mother always wanted more children--she couldn't have anymore of her own after Luke's birth--and she'd thought of Julia and her brothers and sisters as her own too.

"I'll come back, mom." Luke didn't believe his own words. He knew his chances of survival were slim, knew that he would most likely die. I'll die for Julia, he thought to himself. I love her.

Luke saw people all over town with guns and baseball bats wound with wires, brass knuckles and hatchets--the works. His footsteps crunched in the layer of snow on the ground, and he knew he would have to make right what he'd wronged for so long.

He was going to Julia Brown whether she wanted to see him or not.

Luke went to Julia's house quickly, seeing no lights emanating from the windows. That didn't mean no one was home, as Julia loved reading in daylight or nightlight. He walked up the front steps to knock on the front door, then saw Austin. Austin offered Luke an angered look, telling him to go to Hell--that was his welcome--and Luke told Julia's brother that he needed to see her.

"You're not stepping one foot in this house again. Julia doesn't want to see you. Don't you understand that, you bastard?" Austin slammed the door in Luke's face.

Doing as he'd done before--before the world went to the dead, before he and Julia had broken up for the first time--Luke went to the tree by Julia's window and climbed it to get to her. If he was heard inside her room, he knew he'd get his ass kicked by Austin and probably Jake and Julia herself.

He rapped twice on the bedroom window, seeing only Julia in the room--she was lying on her bed with a notebook in hand. Luke narrowed his gaze--as if it helped clear his vision--and he saw what was written on the top of the page: LAST WILL. As if that meant anything now...

Luke tapped harder on the window, and Julia's gaze was pulled from her writing. She went over to the window and opened it but didn't step out of the way or let Luke inside as she may have done before.

"What do you want, Luke?" Julia asked coldly. "We're not doing this again, you hear me?"

"Julia, I don't have much time to talk I'm going to fight the dead. I just... I need to say sorry for hurting you so much for so long. I don't care if you ever love me again or trust me again, but I wanted to make this right." Luke leaned further away from the tree branch to plant a gentle kiss on Julia's cheek. "I had to say goodbye to you in the event that I die." Luke was sincere, but Julia doubted he'd never hurt her again.

Julia's mind was racing a mile a minute, but she swore to herself she'd never trust Luke again. So much had happened to them--they would never be the same again.

"I do love you" was all Luke said before climbing down the tree again.

Julia's blue eyes were almost grey, having a stormy look. She brushed a single tear from her cheek, then closed her bedroom window. She took in a breath, then touched her flat stomach.

"I can't say I love you back," said Julia, sitting once again on the edge of her bed.

Her hand was still on her stomach.