CHAPTER TEN
Kind of out in the middle of nowhere, the walled village of Helena had actually been formerly known as Helena Estates, a planned housing community, as a wide carved stone pillar at least ten feet tall just inside the steel gates proclaimed.
As Elisa told Tracy and me, the development, which contained a hundred or so fairly modest yet still very nice homes, had been built a year or so before the virus, to accommodate a large influx of new workers who'd been hired at some kind of a manufacturing plant in a town called Cambridge, which was about four miles northeast.
Sadly, though most of the houses had been inhabited, it didn't seem like any of the residents of Helena Estates had survived the apocalypse. Either that, or the survivors had bolted the community early on, possibly in search of food.
When Nick, Blaine, and their group of wanderers and fellow shifters, mostly all men, had first come north from Georgia, they'd found Helena Estates completely overrun by Bloodsuckers, and unusually strong ones, thousands of them, as if they'd all been drawn into the development for some reason.
Most of them hadn't gotten inside the houses yet, though, or caused any real unrepairable damage to the community. So, with thoughts of wanting to establish a base where people could have some semblance of a normal life and raise families, Nick had decided it would be well worth it to drive all the Huskers from the development, killing as many as possible.
After that, so that the village could be a place of relative safety and peace, the gates and walls had gone up, no easy feat at all, since the gates were solid steel and the walls were wood-and-steel. All the materials for this Herculean project had to be scavenged and hauled in from all over the state, which in and of itself had taken months. Construction of a steel-framed guard tower just inside the gates had taken an additional month.
Since Nick, Blaine, and the other men had to go check in with all the other shifters who'd remained behind in the village, Elisa volunteered to give Tracy and me a tour and introduce us to some people. Saying that she had a headache and was just generally travel-weary, Kathy declined to join us on the tour.
First, Elisa led Tracy and me on a walk to see all the houses, which, as she'd said, were fairly modest yet still very nice homes of varying sizes and styles. I really liked that the homes were varied, because this gave the community a more unique look than many housing developments I'd seen, with cookie-cutter houses and postage-stamp lawns all the exact same size.
Along the way, Elisa introduced Tracy and me to several different women and they all greeted us warmly, welcoming us to the community. Fortunately, and somewhat to my relief, none of these women even came close to appearing to be glaring at me, like I was still pretty sure Kathy had done when Nick, Blaine, and I had first met up with the rest of the group.
I still hadn't figured that out, or why some of her comments to me had seemed to possibly hold just a hint of malice. Contrary to my experience, Elisa seemed to have already developed a great relationship with Kathy, calling her "honorary community traveling den mom," at one point in our journey to Helena, which had made Kathy beam, so pleased she actually appeared to be blushing a bit.
I still hadn't figured out the story of why it had appeared she'd been crying the night before, either. I hadn't asked Tracy if she knew, and I probably wouldn't, knowing it was none of my business why Kathy had been crying. I was just curious.
At any rate, I was relieved that she'd shown me compassion and kindness while I'd been having my weeping fit for the ages. I figured that maybe she'd just had to warm up to me a little, and maybe it had taken my crying to bring out her "honorary community traveling den mom" side of her. I could only hope it would continue.
Further along in the village, Elisa introduced Tracy and me to another woman and her two sons, ages five and six. After saying hello, smiling shyly, the boys ran into their house, ran back out, and presented Tracy, Elisa, and me with cookies wrapped in clear pink cellophane, melting my heart.
Not only did these two little boys seem to be exceptionally sweet kids, it had been ages since I'd seen kids, period. I'd really missed them. Tracy told me that there were a couple more in the village, both boys as well, and two women were currently pregnant, one of them with a coveted and much hoped-for girl, a girl who would one day help repopulate the world if she so desired when she became a woman.
As we strolled by more houses, I asked Elisa how the mother knew that she was carrying a girl. "I mean, I know some expectant moms get feelings one way or the other, but how was the baby's gender officially determined without a hospital or a doctor's office or something like that?"
"Oh, we have a doctor's office, complete with ultrasound machine that Nick and Blaine were able to scavenge from a hospital somewhere west of here, along with a ton of other medical equipment and supplies. Our biggest asset, though, is our village doctor. His name is Chris, and he's a regular human man, not a shifter, and-"
"Take me to Chris, please, Elisa. I have to see him right now. I have to see if he's the same-"
"Well, have a look right now. That's him on the porch of his doctor's office-slash-personal residence, right up ahead. Pale blue-gray house."
I was already speed-walking. "Chris!"
I could see him on the porch now, and I could see he was definitely Chris Chris. Chris of the artful stitching job on my hand. Chris of the four-leaf clover. For some reason, maybe because he was one of only a few kind, caring people I'd met during my entire two-year journey, he felt like a long-lost family member to me.
Rising to stand on his porch steps, he peered at me for a second or two before exclaiming my name just as loudly as I'd exclaimed his. Within seconds, we were embracing, simultaneously saying that it was so wonderful to see the other. Then, after several seconds hugging tightly, we both pulled away at the exact same time, asking the exact same thing, which was how the other had come to Helena.
Smiling, Tracy and Elisa said that they'd both leave us to catch up.
Elisa added that I'd pretty much seen everything on the village tour anyway. "There's really just the armory, which is really just a garage, and there's really not much to see since we ran out of ammo months ago. Now it's just a bunch of dusty old guns in there. There's also the community supply cabinet and food storage center to show you, but that can definitely wait for another day."
A short while later, Chris and I were sitting at his kitchen table with steaming mugs of tea, exchanging stories about how we'd each come to live in Helena. Chris told me in brief how his group had been attacked by another group who wanted to steal their supplies. Only he and one other man had managed to survive, and when that other man had continued on to Pennsylvania, Chris had found he just didn't have the heart to travel that far anymore.
"I was just ready to hang my hat somewhere reasonably safe and start to build some semblance of a normal life again, preferably within a community of like-minded, kind folks. I didn't really know exactly how or where I might meet these like-minded, kind folks, though. So, in a complete black hole of depression, if I'm being completely honest, I just set up camp in the midst of some very dense forestland way to the northeast of here. There was a half-ruined ancient stone cottage that I repaired as best I could with a tarp and other supplies I was lucky enough to have on hand.
“And it was in this little stone cottage, half-starving, that Kathy and her two husbands, Mike and Sam, stumbled across me one day while they were on a trip in search of female survivors to bring here to Helena. Looking out the front window and seeing a woman riding a lion, with a wolf at their side, I at first thought I was hallucinating from hunger. But then the three of them, all in human form now, shared some food with me, and we had a talk, and I begged them to let me come back to Helena with them.
“Looking primarily for female survivors or other shifter men to add to the community, there was maybe just a bit of hesitation, but I think they were going to let me come back with them anyway. Then when I said I was a doctor, that really sealed the deal. And since then, I've been fairly happy here, building the new life that I wanted."
"You haven't been completely happy here, though?"
Chris had been wearing the hint of a smile on his face, but now that smile changed to a slight frown, and he took a sip of his tea before responding.
"I really love this community, and I respect and admire Nick and Blaine. I've made a lot of friends here. I like helping to save lives and heal the sick. But I guess I'll just say that something is missing for me...or maybe someone.
“See, men may be the majority in this village, but there aren't any other men who prefer men romantically, like I do. And believe me...I've done a bit of discreetly sussing out info and even just being fairly direct with some of the men I've befriended.
“But unfortunately for me, it seems that the shifters in this community are just about as woman-loving as they come." Sighing, Chris lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. "So it goes, though. I guess I can't have it all. If I did, I might die of happiness, and then who'd be the village doctor?"
I smiled, though I was sad for him. I supposed I could only hope that at some point in the future, new shifters or regular men might join the village, and that one of them might be the someone that Chris was hoping to meet.
Seeming eager to change the subject from his love life to something else, he soon asked me to tell him how I had come to live in Helena. I told him the brief version of the story, and the very brief version of what I'd discovered about Nashville that morning, telling him about my weep-fest and saying that I just didn't want to cry anymore.
Chris said he understood, and a short while later, he actually had me laughing about something, which felt incredible, just to laugh with a friend in the comfort of a home with electric lights and full creature comforts. I hadn't enjoyed electric lights since I'd left the rink in Detroit.
For that first week in Helena, I hardly saw Nick and Blaine at all, to my disappointment. With some “Borderlines trouble," which I didn't even fully understand, having happened while they'd been gone, they had a lot of issues to deal with. They were often beyond the village walls, patrolling the perimeter of the village, or up in the guard tower with binoculars, or leading their men in surveillance missions to the areas around Borderline, an aptly-named village right on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee.
I ended up moving in with Chris. Next door, Tracy, Trent, and Donovan all moved into a house together right away, and near the end of the week, Tracy told me that Trent and Donovan had asked her to marry them.
Almost on the edge of my seat at Chris' kitchen table, I asked Tracy what she'd said. "And are you positive that you love Trent and Donovan, and they love you?"
Smiling, Tracy shook her head. "Yes, to all those questions. Yes, I said yes to the proposal...which by the way, they're going to get us all rings sometime very soon, but being that there isn't a jewelry store here in Helena, it may take a second.
“But, anyway, yes, I love them both. And yes, they both love me. At least they both said they did last night when we were all snuggled up in bed together after a marathon lovemaking session; but they both looked really sincere, and the three of us have had some really sincere little moments together that make me think we have the real deal together.
“And, Eva, not to switch back to the bedroom stuff, but I'm not kidding...when I say marathon lovemaking session...I mean marathon. Has anyone told you about shifters yet? About them having increased drive and stamina in the bedroom and all that? If no one has, I guess now you know, and let me just say that it's all a hundred percent true.
“Shifters are just...I guess I'll simply say that everything can get kind of crazy in the bedroom. In the best, best possible way. I'll also say that if we wanted to use 'ringing a bell' as a metaphor for something else...well, I 'had my bell rung' three different times last night."
Briefly, I thought about the possibility of sharing a bed with Nick and Blaine and having them work together to "ring my bell," maybe even multiple times. Even just the thought caused a wave of butterflies in my stomach and made my face instantly warm.
Fanning it with a folded linen napkin, I asked Tracy if Trent or Donovan had said anything to her about when their group, led by Nick and Blaine, might return home from a patrol run that evening.
Tracy smiled. "Oh, yeah. I'm glad you reminded me. That was the other reason I came over today. Super early this morning, Nick saw me out watering the flowers, and he asked me if I knew what some of your favorite foods are. I think he and Blaine are planning on getting home from patrol early this evening and having you over to dinner tonight. Which, by the way, you know Blaine just moved into Nick's house yesterday, don't you?"
I actually didn't.
"Which makes me think that they might be planning an invitation for you to move in when they have you over for dinner tonight."
"Oh."
I thought about the ramifications of that, about what might very soon happen if I moved in with Nick and Blaine. I thought about what might happen even at dinner that evening. After grabbing a half-full glass of ice water from a coaster, I guzzled the contents in one long, icy gulp. And though the liquid cooled my throat and stomach, it didn't do much to cool some kind of intense heat that was building somewhere very low in my belly.