Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

An Apocalypse

The world suddenly shook around them, pieces of the ceiling falling on and around them, but Jamila and Ruq didn't let Hadley go.

Hadley finally looked up.

She found Kade sitting cross legged in front of her, cradling the child and holding that same soft smile from before, just for her. She turned to look at Ruq first and then Jamila. The vampire's face was stoic, but their shared mindscape was enveloped in compassion and care. Jamila's eyes shone with tears, but she held a determined look. Hadley turned to the child. The little boy cooed at her attention and gave her a toothless grin.

Hadley would never be able to love the child, but she was comforted by the fact that the little boy wouldn't grow up unloved.

Look around you. You already have a village to help you raise this child. We won't let you fail. I promise.

Dust fell from the ceiling after a little rumble.

They were all going to die here if they didn't move.

But the others wouldn't budge. Not until they thought Hadley was okay. She was certain of that.

She gathered what remained of her strength and feigned feeling better.

"We should leave this place before whatever is still standing above us comes down on our heads." Hadley finally said. She was beyond drained, her voice still shaking with emotion. She cleared her throat and shelved her feelings, but they still bore heavily on her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she looked down at her shin. "But I'm going to have to set my leg before going anywhere."

The pain from her injury gave her something solid and real to focus on.

She grabbed onto that pain and used it to steady her.

On her right, Ruqwik gave Hadley's cheek a quick peck before standing up. "I'll find some splints."

Jamila kissed her left cheek and stood up too. "We'll need something to tie it with."

"The cot in the room you found me in has cotton sheets," Kade said. "Will that work?"

Jamila nodded and went to fetch the sheets.

Kade turned to Hadley. He was still seated on the ground in front of her.

"Will you be okay?" he whispered.

She would never be okay.

"I'll be okay." she whispered back. "Will you teach him what I can't?"

"Only if you teach him what I can't," Kade said with a sad smile. He held out his hand. "Deal?"

The baby giggled. Hadley still felt a piercing sense of resentment and betrayal when she looked at the child. She hoped that time would at least dull the sharp, jagged edges of the feelings, knowing that she would harbour them for a lifetime.

She reluctantly accepted Kade's hand.

"Deal." She lied.

She just had to keep up the front until they got out of here safe.

Ruqwik came back with two flat metal rods that had rough, uneven ends. Jamila brought two cotton sheets. Ruq shredded thin strips from one of the sheets, then followed Hadley's instructions on how to use the remainder of the sheet to cushion the splints against her shin and secure them against her leg using the thin strips. In the meantime, Jamila used the other sheet to create a wrap that secured the child against Kade's chest, to allow Kade hands-free movement.

With her leg splinted and Ruq supporting her, and with the baby secured against Kade and Jamila armed with her axe, they headed to the elevator. It wasn't working, its sides slightly crumpled. Ruq and Jamila explained how it had crashed to this level when the first tremors hit and how they found Kade imprisoned in one of the rooms with the baby, before Ruq had rescued Hadley.