Jade: Earth's Last Hope Against the Undead (11 page)

When she returned outside, Trent looked
different. Something about him seemed less distant and more
approachable. As their travels continued, they seldom spoke or
reminisced about any of their adventures. They walked without
emotion.

Then it dawned on Jade. She had no idea
where they were going or for what reason. Although Trent still led
the way, he also seemed to have lost his all-knowing sense of
direction. She didn't broach the subject for a very long time.

Several hours later Jade fetched her sword,
held it in her hands to appreciate its keenness, and suddenly
realized something horrifying. She no longer knew how to use
it.

"Trent, stop."

He did, his eyes intent on her. "What is
it?"

"My sword. I don't know how to use it."

"Stop being silly. Of course you do."

"No, seriously Trent. I can't remember." She
looked him deep in the eyes. "Do you even know where we are going
anymore?"

"Yes, I do."

"Really? I mean do you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Do you feel where we need to go? Or are you
just walking?"

He shrugged, and then hushed, as if
considering this thought for a long moment. "I guess I’m just
walking west like we were told."

"Don't you get it?"

"Not in the slightest."

"It's over."

They camped out that night and, as they lay
in each other's arms, they made love for the first time.

It was sweet and gentle and of their own
fruition. No one had preprogrammed them to perform this task. His
kisses were tender and his body firm. It was the most passionate
thing she'd ever felt.

Afterward, they lay there, not asleep, but
dozing. And then Trent said something amazing.

"I've been thinking."

"I hope you didn't break anything."

He chuckled. "No, really. Since you used the
sword for so long, wouldn't you have at least remembered something?
I mean, isn't it a little like riding a bike?"

She rolled to him and grinned. "That's your
great thought? It's nothing like riding a bike."

"No, you don't get what I'm saying."

She brushed the hair out of his eyes. "No, I
don't. Explain."

"When you get on a bike after a long time,
your feet just sort of know what to do."

"Yes."

"Well, your muscles have used that sword for
a while now. Maybe your arms just know what to do despite your
mentally not knowing how to use the sword."

She began to dismiss this idea, but then
stopped. Instead she rolled over and stared at the sword. After a
long moment, she picked it up. Meanwhile, he moved in close behind
her and together they stared at the weapon.

She sliced it lightly in the air. It felt
cumbersome, too awkward to be effective. However, just then she saw
something else, too. The sword moved with precision. Not with the
accuracy it once had, but it did still have the correct movement.
Perhaps Trent was right after all.

CHAPTER 6

The Long Road Home

She'd made the decision, despite his plea to
continue westward. He'd wanted to move on, to leave this all behind
now that they'd defeated the bad vampires. They could be together,
start fresh, and see where things went. Perhaps, he'd stated, they
might even find a home of their own and maybe someday have
children.

The thought enticed her. But she also knew
the truth; this would never be over. She demanded they handle
matters once and for all.

It was dawn before they started making their
way back east. Even then, Trent didn't seem so content with the
decision. It left her wondering whether they'd still be together
when this business was finished. None of that mattered, though,
until Hiru and whatever other vampires she'd colluded with were put
to death.

So they didn't talk much and maybe even a
little resentment existed between them, though for different
reasons. But she wouldn't have it any other way. As long as these
other vampires were still alive there would be no other option.
This had to end, even if no one else would ever know the
details.

It was a long road with many stops and lots
of down time. Sadly they hadn't connected in that time and she felt
they were growing apart. It made her wonder if his emotions for her
had also been part of the programming.

By the time they'd made the border, she and
Trent had started talking again, but they still didn't say much. He
seemed rather bothered by her decision and because of that fact she
thought it best to stop for the night.

On their journey, they'd encountered
evidence of others having lost their programmed abilities as Jade
had. They'd come across at least two weapons similar to hers, one a
pole-arm and the other an axe. Both had been discarded on the side
of the road, their owners likely frustrated by the loss of control.
Besides, they would have no longer thought it necessary to do
battle against the undead because they no longer existed. They
would've been wrong of course.

Jade had experienced these precise emotions
when the ability left her. It had felt as though an essential part
of her being had been cut away, taken from her like the air she
breathed. It had been deflating and if Trent hadn't expressed his
theory on the matter so early on, she too might have left her
weapon behind. Might have even continued west and lived a long and
happy life with Trent by her side. Unfortunately, that hadn't been
her path and she knew why.

Trent poked a stick into the fire. "We can
still go back you know?"

"No, Trent. We can't."

He poked again. "I'm just saying."

"I know." His listless mood bothered her. "I
hope you aren't angry with me."

He didn't look up. "Not mad. Just
disappointed."

"But why?"

His eyes found her, looking hardened
and squinty. "Because
what
if?
"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"What if you die? What if I die?" He threw
the stick into the fire where it snapped in half, one broken end
catching and crackling. "We may have sacrificed our only chance at
ever being happy by coming back here."

"That isn't true."

"It could be."

She shook her head despite knowing he was
right. It very well could be the truth. But it didn't have to be.
"Trent, how could we have ever been happy knowing this was still
going on, that at any moment it could start all over again?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess you're
right."

"Of course I am. Listen, I don't like this
any more than you do, but we have to end it. And like it or not,
there's only one way to do that."

"Which is?"

She didn't answer, knowing it would be a
sore subject to broach.

"See? You don't even have a plan."

But in truth, she very much did.

She made sure to keep the mood light that
day, trying to make it all about them and less about everything
else. She needed that for Trent to reveal his true feelings about
her.

So they walked along a local stream and it
did surprise her when he took her hand. They walked that way for a
long time, words unnecessary.

For lunch, they found a local eatery that
had only just reopened. They weren't charging for the food yet, so
everything seemed a bit ransacked and unplanned. People still
crowded inside of the dive, looking for a mere morsel of food
cooked like the old days before everything had gone bad.

There were other surprises, too. She'd seen
a boy riding a scooter and someone driving a car, of all things. At
one point she even swore she'd seen a hot air balloon drifting
along the skyline, far off in the distance. People had regained
some of their confidence and as the world around them progressed,
so did the mood between Jade and Trent. Everything quickly moved
toward normalcy again, which made it very hard to proceed with what
she knew she must do.

That night they sought refuge in an old
apartment building. They cleaned up some, making the place somewhat
presentable before they settled in for the night. In that way,
regularity had been restored to their lives and with it came what
she'd long missed.

When he removed his shirt, she ran her
fingers over his muscles and across his chest. She loved the way
his lip quivered when she tickled him this way. She brushed his
thick hair back over his head and kissed him deeply.

He backed her toward the bed a step at a
time as though they were dancing. There, at the foot of the bed, he
pulled off her shirt and unhooked her bra. They stood bare-chested,
her heart throbbing against his and his beating even harder against
hers. Nothing else mattered in that moment. There were no vampires
or seconds ticking by, just the two of them and what they felt for
one another.

She stole away in the middle of the night
and fled through the hills toward the large moon that lit the sky.
She knew where to go and had taken the entire trip back to plan her
assault. When she reached the house, everything seemed dreadfully
inactive. Still she drew her sword.

Across the lawn, she'd made it half the
distance to the house before seeing any signs of life. Among the
outskirts of the farm several humans labored in the fields,
gathering crops in the middle of the night as if this were somehow
normal. And it might have been, at least partially so, if not for
those blinking lights on their head harnesses.

Somewhere in that house resided the woman
behind it all. Maybe she did have friends, other vampires who had
lived their lives happily here on Earth. But if any of them had
truly been happy on Earth, she'd betrayed them in those final
moments. She'd been the mole all along and had even programmed Jade
and others to kill those vampires at will.

Jade had to remain cautious, though. There
still might be others, those who had aligned themselves with Hiru
in hopes of keeping the livestock to themselves. That way they'd
never run out of blood. There'd be an endless supply with the
vampire numbers having dwindled so drastically. For all Jade knew,
there could be a whole nest of them inside. There were no signs of
any zombies and that meant she'd only have to deal with the
vampires. If she could manage that much, maybe she could return
everything to how it was before this all started.