Mad World (Book 3): Desperation (19 page)

Epilogue

“This is awesome. Mr. Turner, I gotta thank you again,” I beamed over at the CIA man seated in the corner facing us. We were all anxious to get home to Mom, and we knew in our hearts that if we’d gone by land to save Mom, it would have been a longshot at best. Stanley Turner had saved the day.

“Luke, it’s the least we can do.” He smiled at us. He suddenly put his hand to his earpiece and listened, then turned back to us. “Looks like the pilot will be making his descent into Winnipeg in about five minutes.”

Sure enough, the seatbelt sign came on and a uniformed man came into the center cabin to check on us. Risa sat next to me, and I held her hand. Across from us sat Leia. Jonathan sat on Risa’s other side, their hands and arms intertwined. We were all exhausted and yet excited to be getting back home, and I knew Risa could use some down time to fully recover from her injuries. I looked out the window and saw we were approaching the city.

_ _ _

After we landed, we gathered all our belongings and prepared to disembark. We’d left a lot of our heavy equipment and extra clothes back with the SUV, and the government was going to be bringing it over next week.

Swinging her shotgun into her hip holster, Risa grimaced. “I will admit, I am really looking forward to our Sanctuary Medteam treatment.”

Jonathan laughed. “You’re looking forward to the immersion baths the most, I’m betting.” He kissed his wife on the cheek, and she chuckled.

“Hey, it’s a glorified hot tub, who wouldn’t love it?” She kissed him back.

“Okay,” a flight crewman came up to us. “Let’s disembark one by one. The airport has rolled up a flight of stairs, and everything looks good to go.” He opened the airplane’s door, inward and then to the side.

We filed out and down one by one, Dad in the front, DeAndre bringing up the rear as usual. The Winnipeg air felt clean and crisp in my nostrils, and I breathed in deeply. We walked from the stairs over the tarmac toward the small buildings a hundred yards away.

“GRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLL”

“MMMRRRRRROOOOAGGGGGGGG”

“RRRRRAAAAAAAOOAAARRRRRRR”

“What the hell?”

I looked toward the sound and saw a chain link fence off to our left. About 20 zombies were pouring through two holes in it where they’d ripped it apart or torn it down altogether .

“Well, crud.”

As a team, we unholstered our shotguns and leveled them at the zombies, which were approaching at a loping, sideways gait. The blasts took out about two-thirds of them, and we flew into action with our blades, chopping zombie heads off right and left. They never knew what hit them. It was over in less than ten minutes.

“We’d better get over to the terminal, see if everyone’s okay,” Dad said as he wiped his blades and we hurried over to the low, grey buildings.

Coming up to the doors, we saw a guard, ashen-faced, holding the doors open for us, looking us over in shocked amazement. He must’ve seen everything. He looked pale as a ghost. “Everyone okay?” he asked. We nodded to him.

“You’ll be wanting to fix that fence,” Dad said as he passed him.

The guard just nodded at Dad and locked the door behind us. He nervously looked out the window, scanning the tarmac for any more trouble.

“You won’t find anymore out there. We dispatched them all. We’re Team Sanctuary.” DeAndre grinned and chuckled.

_ _ _

Back home, we administered the serum to Mom, and within an hour she was awake and smiling. Looking down at her greying arms and legs in wonder, she said, “Luke, now I really look right.” She looked up at me and smiled. She was still so weak, but she was going to be okay.

“Alyssa,” Dad came forward and gathered his wife into his arms, kissing her thoroughly. “Babe, god how I missed you …”

We all retreated to give them some well-deserved alone time.

Later on, I took Zach in to meet Mom. Knocking at the door, I poked my head in.

“Mom?”

“Come on in, Sweetheart.”

I entered, holding Zach’s hand, pulling him along behind me. He was so shy, partly because he’d heard so much about Mom, partly because we’d become so close in such a short time, and he worried.

Mom sat up in bed, pillows propped behind her. Dad sat in the chair next to the bed, a tablet in hand, going over things with her. He smiled and got up, walking toward the bay window overlooking the backyard grounds, with his back to us, to give us a little privacy.

Letting go of Zach’s hand, I went over to the bed and kneeled, as I had so a little more than a week and a half ago. This time, however, a happy feeling flooded through me, and I looked into Mom’s face, studying the changes for a minute, then smiling. Rising again, grinning broadly, I went and took Zach’s hand once more, and again approached the bedside. Mom looked at us both, and at our hands together, and smiled warmly at us.

“Mom, there’s someone I want you to meet…”

If you have enjoyed this story, the author would be ever so grateful if you would go review it on Amazon & Goodreads. It would bring meaning and happiness to an otherwise lonely life as a writer of odd tales.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samaire Provost lives in California with her son, one dog, two cats, and her husband, who is also a writer. She works in a dark room, hunkered over an old-fashioned clicky keyboard, drinking too much diet soda and harboring an almost continuous fondness for cookies.