Chapter 65 Cue and the End

Chapter 65 Cue and the End


The sound of a baby laughing echoes over the beach. The sand is white and clean, the horizon a beautiful blue over the gentle lapping waves along the shore. There’s a pile of shells beside a blanket lying in the sand, and there we find the source of the laughter. Baby Stormy lies on her back and laughs at Shepherd. He’s kneeling next to her and making silly faces at her.

“Who would have thought a Cretin would make a good dad?” Trigger laughed, snuggling back into Cue’s side on the blanket next to Stormy’s.

“I heard that!” Shepherd laughed.

“I wasn’t trying to be quiet!” Trigger barked back.

With a sheen of mischief in his eyes, Shepherd grabbed her ankle and quickly pulled her towards him, through the sand, and then he pinned her. They both laughed as he hovered over her and gently kissed her. 

“Never stop teasing me,” he said, kissing her again.

“Never stop being yourself, and I won't have to. It’s too easy picking on a big, clumsy brute!” She laughed and pretended to bite him, snapping her teeth in front of her face.

Cue laughed at them, sneaking around them and scooping baby Stormy off the ground and holding her tightly. “Good morning, sleepy head!” she said as she spun around in a circle and kissed the baby’s nose.

“When do you think Gunner will be back?” Cue asked.

Shepherd started kissing down Trigger’s neck when she answered, "He should be back anytime; he’s never gone more than a few hours.”

As if summoned, Gunner starts walking out of the water. His head appeared first, then his massive shoulders and the bag he carried over them. He marched toward them, and Cue ran for him, meeting him halfway and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

“Good haul?” she asked.

He dropped the bag on the wet sand. It was bigger than Rat, who came up to sniff it hungrily. “We’ll feast on shellfish tonight!” he announced, winding an arm around Cue’s waist and smiling at Trigger.

Shepherd stood up and helped Trigger up with one strong hand so she could run to Gunner and throw her arms around his neck and kiss him. “I missed you,” she said, rubbing her nose on his cheek affectionately.

“I missed you, too, he said, hugging both Trigger and Cue. “I missed all of you.” He bent down and kissed baby Stormy on the head. “Any problems while I was gone?”

Cue looked around the beach and the wall of zombies fencing them in and keeping everything else out. The horde milled around, keeping their distance. Cue didn’t even hear them moaning anymore; she’d gotten so used to it that it was like white noise to her now.

“Nope, no problems,” Trigger told him, releasing his neck and walking back to the blanket to lie back down and stretch.

“Have we decided we want to stay here?” Gunner waved his arms around at the beach. They walked for months, finally arriving in quiet Georgia. There seemed to be no Cretins in the outskirts, and they avoided the cities. Here, near the beach, they could find a home and never run out of food. It seemed to be the perfect place for them to settle down.

“We could live here,” Trigger said, closing her eyes and soaking up the sun.

“I go where she goes,” Cue said. She smiled at the baby and wiggled her fingers at her, making Stormy giggle.

“Same goes for me,” Shepherd said, walking around Cue and pressing his body into her back, holding her tightly. “I go where she goes,” he said, meaning Cue.

“Then this is home,” Gunner said, walking over to a small fireplace they built and using his laser vision to light it. He put a pot of water next to the fire and waited for it to boil before putting in the shellfish.

“Home,” Cue said, leaning back into Shepherd and closing her eyes. “It feels like home.”

“I’ll have the zombies find us building materials, and we can build right here next to the beach.” Shepherd offers, stroking Cue’s arms and kissing her head softly.

It didn't take long for them to gather everything they needed to build a dome like Cue used to have. With Gunner’s laser vision, they were able to weld the metal together. The dome was three times as big, with little dome bedrooms inside for each of them. The center of the dome had a large brick fireplace built in that vented out of a hole in the roof.

Since there was no fear of zombies, there was no need to make it completely sealed, but they had doors they could close to make the Dome safe in case of an emergency. They even had the foresight to make it waterproof, in case of flooding from the ocean.

They iced as a unit, each of them loving the other and supporting each other. They raised Stormy together, a family of a different sort, living happily for the rest of their days.

The end.