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Aberrant: Dead Rising - After the break up. [Complete]


Courier

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Continued from Preparations [Mature]

Almost numb with pain, James landed in a field perhaps a dozen miles from the base. He turned around and not caring that he was naked other than a blue silk robe, started walking. He’d seen a rooftop in passing and he was still hungry. There was an analogy to life there, when leaping he could see where he’d been and where he was but he normally didn’t know where he’d land and he couldn’t change where he was going.

Walking gave him something to do other than think about the pain. It felt like Violet had cut his soul out. Maybe literally. The girls gave him direction and focus. They were his anchor of almost-sanity in an insane world. He’d made long term plans with them, about them. Keep everyone alive long enough to have or create a future. Children. And the greatest gift you can give a child is to love his mother so he’d done that too. He’d loved them, he’d trusted them, he’d moved heaven and hell for them, and if need be he’d die for them. That was the deal he’d made with god or reality. That was who he was and what he did.

It hadn’t worked. Maybe it couldn’t work.

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The field was wild. Everything was wild but the roads and buildings now days. James stopped at a wall of thorns, too regular and dense to be natural. He took off his robe, wadded it up into a ball and held it behind him. The thorns didn't catch on his skin, lacking even hair to get caught on. Naked he was hairless below his scalp. He’d been body shaving since his body building days, his powers did it effortlessly now.

He'd failed more completely than if one of them had died or been infected. Screw ups happened and chance couldn't be protected against. This... Violet leaving with Jill brought into question his entire way of life. Jill had been with him almost from the beginning. He’d saved her life and she’d pulled him out of the very dark place he’d been in. Her leaving suggested it’d been an act, something she’d done just to stay alive knowing he’d be discarded when he wasn’t useful any more. Violet… he’d known he’d bonded with Violet, touched her soul. They’d been talking about how many children to have and when.

If he could be that mistaken about how both of them felt about him, then what could he be certain about? What else was he wrong about? What other pillars of sand was he building on?

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Past a several meter wall of thorns there was a wall of evergreens and then a huge lawn of thigh high grass. On the far side James could see more evergreens, evenly spaced on the lawn were "shade" trees, probably fruit trees of some flavor. The house was a two story McMansion and not a farm house.

James listened but didn't hear any moans or see any zombies around. He took a deep sniff and didn't smell anything but vegetation. No rotting bodies around dead or undead. He put his foot through a body on his first step. At first he'd thought 'human', when he saw the collar he realized he was looking at what was left of a large dog. It'd been very professionally stripped of all flesh and was nothing but bones now. James judged either ants or maggots had finished long ago.

James looked much more carefully as he moved. This wasn't the first time today he'd totally missed something. When your first step proves you wrong, odds were there was a lot more.

So... Jo? JoAnna wasn't like the other two. He already knew he had relationship problems with her. She didn't really need him any more either. Was he going to lose her too? Had he already without noticing? James suppressed a grunt of pain, he'd been so wrong about so much.

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James walked to the front of the house without finding more bodies. The driveway was paved for a few dozen feet and then became a dirt road being reclaimed by vegetation. One corner of the house had a satellite dish and closer inspection showed the 'roof' was solar panels. The isolation and independence meant this could have been a good place to ride out Z-week except for the obvious. Whoever built the house had given the main level a great view of the outside. Big glass windows were great for letting in light but didn't keep out zombies. These were unbroken though, none had come in.

Putting his robe on seemed like more mental effort than it was worth. Still naked, James tried the front door and found it not only unlocked but open. He went inside and found the kitchen.

The kitchen had 'fresh' unpacked groceries lying around on granite counter tops. James ran a finger over the counter top and verified there was dust. 6 months ago, someone had returned from shopping and didn't finish unpacking. It was surreal, but figuring out what happened was more effort than James felt up to at the moment. Super-stamina or not, he felt tired.

From experience James knew opening the refrigerator would be a ghastly mistake, ditto opening many of the sealed containers. He didn't want to know what his senses would make of 6 month old meat, milk, or eggs. James found an unopened cereal box and started eating. After a moment he moved into a living room and found a couch and a blanket. There was a monster large flat TV on one side of the room and a great view on the other.

James finished the box and stared out the picture window numbly.

Someone had put serious effort and resources into this house. Effort that eventually came to nothing, something dark had happened to the owner.

Maybe that was the key? Too much effort? He could just go from woman to woman, and seduce the ones that he could. Go for short flings rather than long term relationships. Sire children he had no intention of caring for. Some would die or be aborted, actually most would... but other guys lived lives like that. With his powers he could make it work.

...That felt so wrong on so many levels.

James decided he was tired of trying to think and would try to sleep instead. For the first time in 6 months, he closed his eyes in a building without having first checked out all the rooms. If there were any zoms around they'd let him know sooner or later.

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James stretched and stood up. He felt better. Not 'well' but less dead. No more staring at picture windows, even ones with views this good. It was getting dark, he'd missed the sunset. How long had he slept? 6 hours? 8? More?

He was hungry again. Opening groceries in the dark was asking for smelly trouble. Time to see what his hosts had left him while he still had some light.

James moved back to the kitchen and noticed the digital clocks were still working. On a hunch he experimentally flipped a light switch and found light. Now this was rare. Solar panels indeed. It was also a good way to attract zoms.

Ignoring his hunger James turned the blinds. Was that what had happened to the previous owner? Probably not, most people do grocery shopping in the day time. Speaking of which...

The groceries seemed to be 'panic' buying from early z-week while the stores were still open. Cans and what the owners thought were staples. There were empty sacks, some must have made it into the refrig. Hmm... power.

James eyed the refrigerator speculatively. Taking a risk, he opened the freezer. Jackpot! Frozen thick crust Pizza! Now if the stove was working... it was. This house was a real treasure. Maybe he'd add the house to his list of caches. It'd be easy. Refresh the propane tank and remove the mailbox that was at the end of the dirt road and he'd be done.

While the Pizza cooked James explored the main level. Clearly this was someone's dream house. The sort of thing you spend 30 years getting ready to build only to find you're too old to enjoy it. Computers. With power they probably worked, not that it helped him any. A home office with business trophies from the early 90's. James took a pen and pad of paper and moved them to the kitchen. A front door that James himself had left open to zoms. Stupid move, good way to get someone killed, but he'd been pretty dead already.

The garage had an expensive looking motorcycle and a much more expensive looking sports car. Just the sort of thing you need at the end of a dirt road. There was also an SUV with two doors still open and more groceries. James helped himself to two bottles of water. The SUV also had a young-child seat.

Even with lots practice James always found it a little uncomfortable looking over the wreckage of other people's lives. James' hosts hadn't just had too much money to spend. They'd also had dreams, children, probably grandchildren, and they'd lost probably everything.

There was a reason why he didn't like this level of introspection. James went back inside, ate his first slice of pizza, and started writing.

  • What do you want to do?
  • 1) Get Jill/Violet Back
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  • What do you want to do?
  • 1) Get Jill/Violet Back
James looked at that statement for a while. The first problem was he wasn't totally sure he did want them back. They'd betrayed him. Hurt him. The second problem was the potential plans for either involved violence or a time machine. Kidnapping them and chaining them both to a wall somewhere... the basement here perhaps... wasn't going to result in good things. Violence had NO place inside a relationship. If he found a time travel machine he'd be better off trying to reverse z-week.

Well, ok then. Maybe the problem was a lack of information? Deal with the root of the problem, not the symptoms. It was possible to imagine Jill going off with V. But if that were the entire problem there'd be no reason to leave. No way could James picture V giving up straight sex. Similarly Jo was probably a non issue, not because Jo was happy with V, but because V was too selfish to dismantle her own life over Jo.

V walking away because of Jo was like saying James was going to give up all three women because there were unmatched men in the refuge. Yes, it was a problem. No, it wasn't his problem. He had enough emotional baggage without worrying about other people's. For this to make any sense there really had to be another man involved somewhere. James got out the pen and wrote down...

  • 2) Destroy/Threaten/Murder/Death/Kill
James looked at that statement for a while and then snorted. This was the 'nail' solution. He had a hammer, so everything looked like a nail. Master Mike had some saying about introducing violence into a situation. Translated to English it came down to, the person who does so loses. The saying was right too, he'd done it just once and it'd been a disaster. Fred's fault more than his, but he'd still lost.

Also... what he'd thought earlier had been right too. V and Jill had been his to lose, he'd lost them. James faced that thought without flinching for a moment. Then he crossed out both of the other statements and decided to try to control his own actions. What could he realistically do?

  • What do you want to do?
  • 1) Get Jill/Violet Back
  • 2) Destroy/Threaten/Murder/Death/Kill
  • 3) Leave.
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James looked at that last word. 'Leave.' Not an ugly word. He could do it. Other enclaves would take him and he knew where some were.

Jo might go with him. He could take the SUV. Or he could even leave the SUV behind as a wedding gift. If he was going to act the part of a feudal lord, well, Jill gave him 6 months of 'service'. Technically it wasn't against the rules for the girls to walk out and he could give away the bride. Violet he felt less charitable towards.

Heck, he could take the SUV here. Replace the battery & carburetor, put in some new gas and it'd work. Red wasn't his color but...

But... Jillian might be pregnant. Coin flip. Nor was it especially fair to ask Jo to choose between the two of them. James tapped a finger on the table and added another line.

  • 4) Stay.
Decisions, decisions. Of course there were other problems not on the list. Jo didn't want children. Mostly because the world was a bad place. James big plan for changing her mind was Jill, V, and Fox's place. If Jo saw other children around, especially by her sister, and saw them safe... then James was betting she'd change her mind. It takes a community and pregnancy was a serious risk without hospitals... and Myf had the 'I win' card for that.

James tapped a finger on the table again. He didn't like were this line of thought was headed. V had been seriously unfair here. True, a relationship wasn't about 'fair', but still. Going back to V's and living down the hall would be asking too much of him.

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Speaking of which, going back naked or dressed in what was laughably called a 'robe' was a problem. He couldn't just leap back without risking landing on someone. He might as well see if his 'host' had some clothes that would fit him.

James picked up the flashlight he'd found while looking for pans and went to the upper level. He assumed that the lights would work but he didn't turn them on because he didn't want any zombie attention. Upstairs he found a barricade and a damaged door.

James frowned and moved the light around. Zombies had been in here. But... no bodies, no massive blood patches where someone died and was eaten. James looked at the barricade and decided it'd been dismantled from the inside.

Odd. Zombies never gave up. Someone hides in the room... the windows are shut, they got out through the door. And the zombie(s) got into the house without damaging anything. James decided to look at the other rooms, the master bed room had a bed that had been used. Slowly it dawned on him what had happened.

Two people. One got infected during the initial outbreak. Day zero, day minus one, whatever. They're in the master bedroom sick and the other person goes out shopping. Definitely for food, but maybe medicine too. They come back, mostly unpack, and check up on the other person. Who has converted, and infects them.

The second person then hides in that room and they're stuck. The zombie is outside waiting for them in the hallway. A few days later, the second person converts too. Both zombies leave through the front door, maybe going after the dog. Or maybe the first person infected the second before he/she converted. Whatever. The point is this placed rotted from the inside.

Now there's a thought. Could this whole break up thing have been entirely V's fault? James thought about what he brought to a relationship. Security, safety, money, power, love, and really good sex. A woman would have to be crazy to want to get away from that.

Of course... Violet was crazy. James had tried to not hold it against her but...

...what she wanted out of a relationship might not be sane. Like a masochist looking for someone to abuse them, but with super powers. Jen had a bad relationship with herself. That had been a serious concern of James for some time. And maybe it didn't end there.

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Whoever previously owned the house had good taste in clothing, and none of it fit James. Even 'universal' clothing like tee-shirts and sweaters were too small. Well, fine. Blue robe and nude it was. James rummaged around in the basement and found the tools he'd 'need' for the motorcycle, then he found he wouldn't need them after all. It'd been winterized, even the battery was disconnected. He hadn't even needed to hot-wire it, the keys were on a hook next to the door to the garage. James assumed, correctly, that the gas in the 5 gallon container in the corner had stabilizer. The bike started the first time, James let it run for a minute then turned it off. He still wasn't sure where he was going, and he could spend some more time here making it a proper cache.

Jo's problems were with V. V's powers were behind Jill's defection. V's powers made her was unstable. All the lines of failure led back to Violet's mental issues. Whatever had gone wrong here wasn't his fault. Without V the sisters would still be with him and they'd be fine.

So... could he have prevented this? He'd tried very hard to stabilize V. Maybe he could have, should have, cut her loose before it reached this point... but even retrospectively he couldn't see where he should have drawn that line. Up to the moment she said 'we're through' he'd thought she was getting better. None of which answered the question of what he should do now, but at least he felt somewhat better.

One thing stood out, he was probably better off with out Violet. Now if he told himself that enough times, maybe he'd believe it.

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James put the tools away and got domestic. He sorted through the groceries and put the spoiled ones in a plastic garbage sack. He turned the water heater down, maybe he'd come back and refresh the gas and maybe he wouldn't. The office yielded some very nice post-its and he walked around leaving messages. The front door got one saying the house belonged to James. The main bedroom got one saying that an infected person had used the bed last. The refrigerator got a warning that it hadn't been opened.

The pantry had 'enough' food, and James found a pharmacy sack while cleaning. The shopper had been panic buying. Of course even getting antibiotics on time wouldn't have helped. They hadn't had a winning move available to them. That thought was both disturbing and comforting.

When he started thinking about laundering the sheets and getting rid of the dried out plants James realized he'd moved past 'using time' and was 'wasting time'. He was using the house to avoid thinking about what he should be thinking about. James sat down in the kitchen and picked up his list.

  • 3) Leave.
  • 4) Stay.
James started writing again.

Reasons to leave: V hurt me. Leaving would hurt her.

James looked at the list and snorted again. What was he, 5? 2? Vengeance was underrated, society functioned because people followed the rules, and without vengeance people wouldn't. Turning the other cheek was overrated, too often it led to the other cheek being slapped. But even so this was both childish and self destructive.

Reasons to stay: Jo will want to be with her sister. Fox's place is safer, more stable, and has other supers. Jill might be pregnant.

James paused. V was unstable. He had no clue what she'd do if Jill was pregnant. He decided to focus on controlling his own actions. James put the pen to paper.

  • 3) Leave.
  • 4) Stay.
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So... go back. Back to Violet's? Unless he could bring himself to be polite to Violet, everyone would be better off with him moving out.

So... could he be polite to V? If he couldn't, he knew Jill. If he started a fight with V, Jill would jump in to back her lover. That's what she did. And if he went down that road it'd be devilishly hard to come back, after Jill started thinking of someone as an enemy that was basically it.

James almost snarled. This was getting harder on him by the second. The only good thing was he'd fled to give himself time to think things through. At a bare minimum he needed to find out about Jill.

How long would it take before his enhanced senses told him whether or not Jill was expecting? If he knew what he was doing... a week? Two weeks? Just asking the question meant he didn't know enough. So... a month would do it. For that matter, V ripped through their relationship quick enough. If he wanted Jill back he could just wait, maybe forever, maybe just a few weeks. Taking that logic a step further, in a few weeks V might want him back.

James paused. He had seriously mixed feelings about that.

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James took a last tour around the house to see if he'd missed anything. The basement had a huge safe which he didn't try to open. It'd have gold, jewels, important papers, guns, or even all of that, so it wasn't worth his time.

He found a carrying case for the motorcycle and put cans of food in it, Jo could decide who got what later. James winced. Jo. Not Jo/Jill or Jo/Jill/V. That was almost like acceptance.

A bill in the office gave him a name he didn't recognize and an address. He wrote down the particulars as best he could, he'd have to add serious directions later in case he needed to find this place in 10 or 20 years. The sky was getting bluer but the sun wasn't up when he left.

Would he take her back? Should he take her back? Sanity indicated no, but he wasn't sure how that'd work out in practice. If it was just him and Jo... did they get married? Raise... oh yeah. No children was something of a deal breaker.

...

James shut but didn't bother locking the doors, then he drove back to face an uncertain future.

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The guards at the front gate worked very hard to keep from giggling at James when he showed up wearing nothing but a silk blue robe. They let him in anyway. He'd come back half naked before. It was a known 'problem', he was indestructible, his clothes weren't. As he drove off he could hear them laughing behind him. James mentally sighed and then dismissed the matter, he had other things to worry about.

It was sunrise. If he went back to the club right now he'd catch everyone before anyone left. If he could find a way to avoid Violet, at least just for a while, he'd really rather...

The wall caught James' eye and he decided it'd be productive to do some heavy lifting before anyone showed up. James lifted and moved things around and got the heavy stuff ready for the other workers. As people drifted in he ignored the stares he got from his half dressed condition.

James decided he'd waited long enough and pushed the bike back to the club. With relief he noted V's trail was fresh, she'd left. Confidently James picked up the carrying box and walked into the club.

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Jo was sitting at the table, eating some dried cereal. Right after Z-day, she'd stopped using milk, since it wasn't certain she could always get some. Then she found she'd like it better, and ate it that way all the time. Her milk was now in a glass in front of her.

She raised her eyebrow when James came in, ubut it was in curiousity, not surprise. "Looks like you had a lively night," she grinned. "Gonna tell me about it or do I get to guess?"

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James blinked and felt a weight come off him. Jo didn't know. It was just a typical morning for her. James had been gone because he'd gotten stuck somewhere after dark.

James said, "Lively isn't the word for it. I found a bunch of cans at a house in the woods that still has power."

James motioned to the box, took a deep breath and continued, "That was right after... that was right after Violet and Jill broke up with me." James tried to say that like he wasn't saying his dog had just died. He didn't succeed.

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Jo blinked and then laughed. "C'mon, that isn't funny," she said. When he didn't laugh, her expression changed. "Wait, what? V, yeah, I can see her hopping to something better - I bet she's got Morgan in the bag. But Jill? What the hell? Jill's part of our family! She's been-"

Jo stopped and turned her face away, but he saw the tears in her eyes. Jill leaving was hitting her hard. Before he could drag himself out of his misery long enough to respond, she'd turned back, her face full of anger. "Fine. Fine. We don't need her. How soon can we build a house, James? Just for you and me. I don't want to live in... Violet's any longer." She spat the other woman's name.

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James walked around and put his arm around Jo. He said, "Jill hit me hard too, but she's still your sister. As for how long... I'm not sure. Weeks? Months?"

James gave Jo a hug, "But they're hard up for housing around here, and I don't want to separate from you. That means I don't want to sleep in the car or in bachelor housing. They may call this place 'Violet's' but we helped build it too."

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"Oh, no, we'll be here until we get our own place built," Joanna said. She leaned into him, drawing comfort from him. "I'm not getting kicked out because Jill has her head up her ass. Stop looking at me like that! She does. She might be a lesbian, but she's leaving you, our protector, to hook up with the crazy bisexual. I love Jill, but she's way too easily distracted by a pretty girl. And she's still my sister, but I can say she's being dumb!"

Jo sighed and rubbed her face. "Damn it. I thought things were going well. I thought we'd worked things out so that we could co-exist."

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James said, "Hmm..." It was hugely comforting listening to Jo. What she said made so much sense, she was wrong about Jill being a pure lesbian but it'd explain a lot if she liked women better. More importantly James hadn't been wrong about Jo all along.

James said quietly, "You're right about V. She's crazy. Not ax crazy, but... there is no Violet, there's only Jennifer, and Jennifer doesn't like herself. She may be engineering destructive situations to punish herself. I'm worried about Jill but I don't see anything I can do but hope for the best." Unspoken was the thought that they were better off without V.

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