What Lies Ahead

[nic]

Hi all. This is my first attempt at fanfiction so be gentle, but by all means offer any constructive criticism you have. It begins from when Jim is shot, covering the 28 day gap in the film before our survivors are spotted and possibly further. This is a Jim/Selena story and is not an action or horror, though there may be slight elements of the latter given their situation. Hope you enjoy.

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Chapter One

She slumped to the floor, back pressed up against the wall, legs curled up in front of her. She felt sure she would have lain flat out had there been the room, sunk right through the floor. She stared across at where he lay, head lolled to one side, one arm fallen from the seat, knuckles grazing the floor, palm open toward her. He looked so peaceful, mouth slightly open, lips startling red against his pale skin.

Silent tears streamed down her cheeks, salty on her lips, dripping from her chin and pooling on her lap. She made no move to wipe her eyes. She couldn’t cry properly, sob loudly, though God knows she felt like doing so. It was as if every ounce of energy had gone from her body, not just physically tired, but mentally exhausted.

She couldn’t do this without him. The fierce determination to survive that had kept her strong all this time, kept her moving when there was nowhere to go, fighting when there was nothing to fight for, had now deserted her. She’d let her guard down, ignored the screaming protests from every rational bone in her body and opened her heart. And there was no going back.

‘How’s he doing?’ came a tentative voice from behind her.

Selena looked up. Out of the back window of the cab rolling fields of gold and green spread away from them as they sped along the meandering hillside roads. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and turned around to look at Hannah, whose gaze was fixed on the road in front of them, both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.

‘He’s ok.’

Turning back around, she crawled forwards and knelt next to him. She took his open hand with hers and with her other she reached out and touched his cheek. Her thumb brushed across his lips and his soft breath warmed her skin.

‘Be ok Jim,’ she whispered. ‘Please be ok.’

[nic]

Chapter Two

Selena slowed the taxicab to a stop as they approached the outskirts of a small village. Dusk was falling but she was didn’t want to draw attention to them by switching on the lights. She eyed the narrow street ahead nervously, the houses on either side blocking her view as the road curved sharply to the left. She was reluctant to take any unnecessary risks, but the last turn-off had been miles back and she’d hoped to find somewhere to stay for the night before dark.

Selena turned around to face her companions. Hannah was curled up on the floor of the cab under a blanket, her soft snores penetrating the eerie silence. Jim lay just as they’d left him. Unmoving. Selena wished he would snore like Hannah, make some small noise, his silent sleep made her nervous.

‘Hannah,’ she whispered. ‘Hannah wake up.’

Hannah let out a small groan and fidgeted uncomfortably.

‘Are we there?’ She asked groggily.

Selena smiled ruefully. She didn’t know where ‘there’ was, and though she’d somehow figured she’d know when she got there, after almost two hours of driving down country roads she was beginning to wonder what she’d expected to find.

‘No, I just need you to be awake.’

Hannah tugged off the blanket, sat up, reached for the long plank of wood beside her and looked up at Selena.

‘I’m awake.’

Selena smiled. ‘Good, just kept alert and watch for any signs of movement.’

She glanced at Jim. ‘Is he ok?’

Hannah reached over and put her hand on his chest. She turned back around, her eyes reflecting the anxiety in Selena’s own. ‘He’s breathing.’

There was a short pause before Selena nodded resolutely and turned back to the wheel.

‘Let’s go.’

---

Everything was just as it should be. Lining either side of the cobbled street was a row of terrace stone houses, each with a brightly coloured front door opening straight onto the narrow pavement. Net curtains hung in most of the small windows, blocking the inside from intruding eyes, but through one Selena glimpsed flowery wallpaper and an old-fashioned wooden armchair as they slowly drove past.

There was no litter. No bottles of milk left standing on the painted doorsteps that stood gleaming and unscratched. No abandoned vehicles, no broken windows, and no bodies. Infected or otherwise. In fact, there was nothing to indicate the infection had ever reached this pretty little village. Nothing to suggest that the infection had ever happened and that the residents of these homes weren’t inside happily drinking tea and watching Coronation Street. That it hadn’t all been a bad dream. Except it hadn’t been a dream, and the eerie prickling sensation of the back of her neck told Selena that that there were no people inside the houses.

They reached the end of the street to find that the fifteen or so houses they had just passed were in fact the entirety of the tiny village. On their left was a small shop which the sign above the door revealed was ‘Stella’s Corner Store’, and on their right was a stand-alone stone house. In front of them the road continued down the valley and disappeared into the hills.

Selena stopped the cab.

‘We should stop here for the night,’ she said, gesturing to the house on their right.

‘This place is weird,’ came the reply from the back. ‘Its like nothing happened, but then why did everyone leave?’

Selena shrugged, pretending the village didn’t give her the same peculiar feeling.

‘It doesn’t matter. It seems safe.’

She got out the cab and shut the door. She walked up to the front door of the house and gently turned the handle. It swung open silently. Before her was a steep wooden staircase, the top of it invisible in the dark. She pushed open the door to her left to reveal a pretty little sitting room with a large wood-burning fireplace, a thick rug and country-style settee and chair. A stone archway led to a small kitchen and dining area. A newspaper laid on the wooden table, dated from almost four weeks ago, its headline telling of rioting in all the major cities.

A large crash from above her made Selena jump. She looked to the ceiling.

‘Hannah?’ She called warily.

She grabbed a large ceramic bowl from the middle of the table and ran back through the room and up the stairs, her boots clunking heavily on the wooden steps. She squinted across the landing in the dark. One of the three doors leading off it stood ajar. Hannah was standing in the centre of the room. A small bed stood under the window that overlooked the rear garden, a teddy bear sat upright on its lilac blankets. The doors of a large oak wardrobe stood open, clothes spilling onto the floor from both it and the open drawers of the chest beside it.

‘They left in a hurry.’

Selena looked at Hannah.

‘Come on, we’ll bring the stuff inside and get some rest. I’ll need you to help me carry Jim.’

---

Selena threw away the empty tins of food and stacked their dirty plates and cutlery on the kitchen worktop, unsure why she was bothering to tidy up. She carefully negotiated her way through the dark living room and dragged her tired legs up the stairs.

A short grunt of pain came from the room at the far end of the landing. Striding quickly across she found Hannah sat on the bed next to where Jim lay, her hand pressed on his stomach.

‘What are you doing?’

‘It’s not rigid.’

Selena looked at her bewildered.

Hannah looked up and met her eyes with an odd calmness.

‘If he was bleeding inside his stomach it would go all stiff. I saw that on ER. And he felt it when I touched him. That means he’s not in a coma right?’

Selena smiled gently. She walked over and sat beside Hannah. She put her arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

‘He’s going to be ok,’ she said gently. ‘We’re all going to be ok.’

After a minute Selena pulled back. ‘Now go and get some sleep.’

Hannah left the room, shutting the door behind her. Selena looked down at where Jim lay. She placed a hand on his stomach as Hannah had. He made a small noise and his face twitched slightly. Was Hannah right? God she hoped so. She wanted Jim to wake up and tell her what to do. Because what were their options? Search the cities for any uninfected people there might be out there, risking their lives in the process? Or find somewhere safe and wait? But wait for what?

Gently Selena laid down on the bed facing Jim. She stroked his soft cheek, his prickly jaw-line. She placed her hand on his bare chest and watched it slowly rise and fall. He had to be ok. They’d been through too much together for him to leave her now.

---

Brightness surrounded her, dispelling the remnants of a forgotten dream. She rubbed her eyes and opening them, found two large blue eyes before her, staring into her own.

‘Morning sleepyhead.’

[nic]

Chapter Three


‘Morning sleepyhead.’

Selena sat upright in alarm. She looked down at the man laid beside her, his large blue eyes staring up at her, a small smile on his lips.

She opened her mouth but no words came out. With a trembling hand she reached out and cupped his face in her palm. Real.

The heart-wrenching sob she had been suppressing for so long suddenly erupted from her, and her hand pulled back instinctively to cover her face.

The smile disappeared from his lips.

‘Hey . . . Lena.’ Jim reached up to take her hand in his and with his other he gently pulled her head down to him.

She sank back down onto the bed, head on his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

‘I thought . . . I thought I’d lost you.’ She stammered through the tears. ‘Again. You said it was ok . . . but then . . .’

He made calming noises and ran his fingers through her soft hair as her sobbing slowly began to subside.

‘It’s ok. It’s all ok now. Don’t cry. I’m not gonna leave you.’

She lifted her head to look at him. ‘Promise.’

He cupped her face in his palm and gently wiped a tear-stained cheek with his thumb. He smiled softly. ‘You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily.’

Selena returned the small smile and lay her head back down on his chest, relishing the rhythm of the rise and fall of his breathing and the soothing caresses of his fingers in her hair. She gave in completely to the exhausted relief that was sweeping through her entire body and all the horrors and traumas of the past weeks slowly evaporated from her mind. Her entire being seemed to focus on his warm body beneath her and she felt whole.

Jim felt her breathing deepen as she drifted back into sleep. He wrapped his arms around her gently as his thoughts wandered to all they’d been through together in the past few days. She’d saved his life. Twice, no three times. He wasn’t sure. He’d lost count of how often they’d been fighting for their lives together in the short time they’d known each other. She’d been the one to tell him the horrific truth when he’d woken to find himself in a strange and frightening world. She’d been there when he’d found his parents. And he’d been there when she found hope. When she fell apart. When the soldiers . . . A nauseous sensation immediately filled his stomach and rose to his throat, burning the back of his mouth. He forced his thoughts to leave that place and focussed his mind on how good it felt to have Selena’s weight on his chest, her slender body pressed up against his own. He felt himself drift away and hoped he’d join her in her dreams.

---

Jim could hear Selena calling him but he couldn’t see her. He tried to move but immediately fell to the floor in agony. Her shouts became desperate. He pulled himself to his knees, pain soaring through his body. He heard crying, and deep, mocking laughter. Oh God, Selena no . . .

Jim awoke, startled. His eyes darted around the room until his memory returned to him. This time, instead of awaking to find Selena curled up against him, he found himself alone in the small room, and with a dull ache in his stomach. He moved to sit up and a sharp pain coursed through him. He groaned and fell back down on to the pillow, head in his hands.

‘Jim?’

Uncovering his eyes he looked over to find a teenage girl watching him apprehensively from the doorway.

‘Hey you.’ He said, smiling warmly.

‘Are you ok?’

‘Yeah. Just hurts a bit is all.’ He took in her anxious gaze. ‘I’ll be fine. Honest.’

Hannah walked over to sit beside him on the bed.

‘You had us really scared,’ she said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

Jim took her small hand in his and squeezed it gently. ‘Sorry.’

She looked down at him and shyly returned his teasing smile.

Jim dragged his legs of off the bed and slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position. He clenched his teeth in an attempt to fight the urge to cry out at the throbbing in his gut, but couldn’t prevent a small groan escaping his lips. He looked down at Hannah who was watching him silently.

‘How are you?’

She paused thoughtfully before meeting his gaze and speaking softly but firmly. ‘I’m ok.’

He smiled gently.

‘Where’s Selena?’

‘She gone to the shop.’

The normality of this sentence struck Jim, and he suddenly realised that he had no idea where this little room he kept waking to find himself in actually was.
‘Where are we?’

Hannah realised what she’d said and smiled apologetically.

‘We’re in a small village. But there’s nobody here. I meant Selena’s gone to raid the store across the street. Then we’re going.’

‘Going where?’

Hannah paused and then shrugged.

‘I figured we’d find some cottage or something in the middle of nowhere, somewhere we’re safe.’

Jim looked up to see Selena stood leant against the doorframe looking slightly embarrassed.

‘Unless you have a better idea of course.’

‘Sounds like a good plan to me. And if we’re in the middle of nowhere we can find someway to be spotted, from the air like.’

It was Selena’s turn to look confused.

‘From the air?’

‘Yeah, you know, if another plane goes by.’

Selena and Hannah both looked at him. ‘What plane?’ They asked together.

‘Ah . . . well . . .’

[Dalia]

very nice!!