A Dead Road ((updated May 1 2012 ))

"Kay," murmured Emily, picking at the plastic on the straw so she could get a drink. Small sips led to bigger ones, and then back to small ones when her stomach churned in warning. She felt bad for her daddy, who seemed so tired lately. Hopefully he wasn't getting sick, too...


A single parent in the modern, pre-virus world was hard enough. Dealing with Megan's death, tending to a very sick Emily, being constantly on high alert and going on excursions to find medicine... running into and getting out of trouble, wondering if he'd make it home in time or if it'd be too late to save his daughter, and doing what he could to keep himself and Emily fed... it was a struggle for survival that Aaron had only read about in books. He was exhausted, but he had to keep going. Just a bit further -- just a bit further. Then he could rest. Just a bit further...

As a cup floated into his line of sight, Aaron almost thought he was hallucinating. He startled once again from his thoughts and looked at Maddie not unlike a squirrel finding the last acorn until spring. "But, I..." he stammered, absently taking the cup before he could protest properly. Aaron sighed into the cup and gulped down its contents. 'Ah - that's a bit better...' The faintest of smiles painted itself across his lips.


"It's tasty..." Emily hummed, reasonably content now that her skin had gotten used to the cooling cloth. A static-y growl issued from the now-empty carton of juice. "Could I have some more, please?" Emily had been enjoying the juice so much that she barely noticed the medicines Maddie brought over.

Maddie smiled at seeing both the father and daughter drink down their water and juice without any trouble and chuckled at Emily as she nodded. " You bet sweetie" she said reaching over to grab another box of juice, she also eyed the glass in Aaron's hand and the water. "Have another Aaron.." she muttered softly with a nod before turning back to Emily with the juice box.

" But first I will need you to take this" she said holding up a bottle of syrup that had a portion dropper on it. "It will help soothe your throat, all you gotta do is wash it down with a drink your juice, Doesn't sound so bad right?" she said knowing taking new medicines could be unpleasant, but this could only do her good.

"I would also like to rub this on you" she said holding out the jar and glancing at Aaron as well, just in case Emily prefered her dad put it on her. "It is a Vapor Rub, it will help with the congestion, you will be able to breath a bit easier" she explained kindly as she opened the medicine bottles.

Emily smiled, "Thank you." She watched her father pour another cup of water, and instead of drinking it he set it down and picked up the remaining vessel and poured that one full of water, too. It was almost like they were having a tea party - just like the animals her mommy drew on the wall for her.

Aaron set the mug of water as close to Maddie as he felt was feasible. "Here - you should have something to drink, too..."

Emily's attention returned to Maddie when she spotted something strange moving near her. It was a bottle, and Emily knew its shape all too well. Cold syrup -- icky stuff, in other words. Emily's face immediately scrunched like a raisin at the thought of taking the stuff. "Alright... if it'll help me get better, I guess..." the girl pouted. The promise of being able to wash it down with a drink made the proposition better.

The vapor rub was met with silence. Emily wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Aaron glanced between the two. "It doesn't hurt, Em. I promise. Might actually feel good - should help you breathe, just like Maddie said. Your mommy swore by that stuff... when she was sick..." He suddenly found the depth of water in his cup to be beyond fascinating, and lowered his eyes.

Emily looked back to Maddie, nodding slowly. "Okay..."

Maddie blinked when Aaron handed her a mug of water, she hadn't realized how thirsty she until then. " Ah.. Thank you Aaron.." she said as she took a few swallow before setting it down and taking a breath "Hadn't realized how long it has been.."

She smiled sympathetically at Emily again " Good girl, that is the spirit" She said taking a dose of the syrup into dropper . " Now, Open up" she said softly offering the medicine to the child's mouth. Emily was being a remarkably easy patient she was mildly surprised considering the situation. Being quite a brave little girl.

She nodded to Aarons words when he reassured Emily, she didn't miss his sudden silence when he spoke of his late wife, and felt bad for him for a second, what he must be going through.. she felt bad.. but didn't say anything.. nothing to say..

She smiled at Emily, "It should help you sleep better as well I am hoping, relieve your coughing" she said taking a bit of the gel onto her fingers, and pulled back a bit of her blankets so she could rub a bit onto her upper chest. " You are a very brave little girl you know, you're doing good" She said trying to be reassuring to both father and daughter.

“Anytime,” replied Aaron. “We’re all probably at least a little dehydrated...”

Emily made another face but reluctantly opened her mouth to accept the medicine. “Iiiiick…” she whined, swallowing the medicine in a hurry before promptly reaching for the juice to wash the taste out. “I hope this’ll make me better... it didn’t help my mommy.”

“Your mommy had a different illness, sweetheart,” Aaron told her, trying to give both the child and himself at least some ray of hope. He wasn't certain, of course, but it was better than letting the child wallow in sadness and doubt.

Emily didn’t look thoroughly convinced by her father’s statement, but she smiled when Maddie spoke again. “I try to be brave, just like my daddy...” she beamed through the phlegmy gravel in her throat. “Sometimes it doesn’t always work...”

Maddie smiled as she rubbed the Gel on the child's upper chest, "It should help you feel better, so you can get stronger and eventually push this icky illness out of you" she said to back up what Aaron said, Even though she believed it was the same deadly flu that killed the child's mother.

But it was the child herself that was different, she stayed alive longer than anyone else with the illness, there had to be a reason why. Emily might have had antibodies to fight it, but her body was running out of strength.. and was starting to lose. If it didn't get any help.

"Well right now Emily you are the bravest 7 year old I have yet to meat, and I have met a lot of children" she said with a chuckle and giving her hand a pat.

She put the blanket back over Emily and tucked her in again, "Alright sweetie, you rest for a little bit okay? I need to talk to your Dad about something" she said nodding to Aaron. " We will be back to see how your doing in a few minutes. Okay?"

Emily made a face as the gooey gel was rubbed on her. "I hope so," she sighed. Azure eyes drifted from Maddie and onto Aaron. Her daddy was so worried and for so long... Emily had all she could do to keep from shedding a tear for him. She did not like seeing people upset or sad, and it was difficult adjusting to this solemn new world when the world before it all was filled with smiles and laughter.

Although they tried to reassure her that she would get better with these medicines, the seven-year-old was doubtful. She tried to remain optimistic, but thoughts of a mother's smile that would no longer be seen from the doorway at bedtime made it hard. They had both gotten sick at the same time... Emily bit her lip at the thoughts in her head, wishing the nightmarish dread to go away and never return. Her thoughts were disrupted when Maddie spoke again, earning the doctor a modest smile.

"Alright," she agreed, to Aaron's surprise. Emily was always a mildly stubborn little girl who would not normally just approve of a nap.

"Rest well, Em," murmured Aaron, leaning forward to kiss Emily on the cheek since her forehead was already indisposed with the cooling cloth atop it. He eased himself off the child's bed, grabbed his mug of water, and nodded to Maddie. With one last glance back to Emily, Aaron stepped back out into the hallway with no small amount of anxiety. What did Maddie need to talk to him about? Was it worse than it seemed, and they were just putting on a very good show? Or was Emily swiftly on the mend? Aaron closed his eyes, hoping for at least a shred of good news.

Maddie watched Aaron wish Emily well, Emily was a smart kid, even being as sick as she was.. These medicines won't save her by themselves, they were meant to cover up the symptoms and let her rest more peacefully. It also let her get to know the child a little better, she was such a sweet kid.

She felt bad for the father and daughter, they had lost so much the death of their wife and Mother and with the way the world was now.. She severely hoped she could help, for their sake..

She watched as Aaron braced himself out in the Hallway, she wanted nothing more than alleviate his worry. " Easy Aaron..I have an idea to help her, I wanted to talk to you about it first, I am not sure she will react well to it. I want to put her on a IV drip, you have a lot of fluid pack that could do her a lot of good particularly with her not being about to keep any food down yet. However with how cautious she has been with the other meds, an IV might scare her.. So I thought it better to let you know first.." she explained.

Maddie patted his shoulder for a second, "And Aaron? She has hung in there for quite a while longer then many with this flu.. I think with a bit of help she will get better. You just hang in there.. okay?" she said quietly.

Aaron took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He watched Maddie as she explained her plan, though the look of worry never left his face. "She... she's never seen an IV. But right now I'd be willing to try an animal sacrifice if I knew it would make her feel better," he sighed. "I'll talk to her about it when she wakes up..." His eyes slipped back to gaze at the floor.

Aaron's eyes snapped back up to look at Maddie when she patted his shoulder. He licked his lips, closed his eyes, and nodded. Aaron opened his eyes again to reveal watery hazel orbs. "I'm trying," he whispered. "I just wish it was me, instead of her..."

He cleared his throat. "Anything else I can get for you?"

If it was possible Maddie's face softened at the look in his eyes, to her the whole thing was still so bizarre, her whole family dead with no one left to worry about or take care of. When Aaron had his precious little girl. She could only imagine what he was going through, "I know.. " she said looking back at Emily's room she was such a sweet kid. It was difficult to see a child so ill and have to deal with all this and the loss of her mother to boot. If there was one thing she had now to live for it was to help them, she would do everything she could, if she could save just one child from this.. Well perhaps it wasn't quite so helpless. This whole mess left her still in shock, treating Emily was the only thing that reminded her what she used to do.

If it weren't for this task, she was sure the ill feeling in her stomach would have over come her ages ago.. it was just such odd feeling she felt like half her body was on autopilot ignoring the other half that was in panic mode.

At his question she thought for a moment and the only thing she could think of was getting organized finding out exactly what Aaron had managed to salvage from places.. "We should get the rest of the supplies and sort through them, I will need to see everything we have to I can plan further treatment once we get her settled with an IV" she said glancing at the bags of equipment. She needed to know every single bit of supplies he got.

Aaron nodded at the suggestion. "I don't even remember looking too hard at what I collected. If it appeared even slightly useful, I grabbed it," Aaron admitted, picking up one of the bags of supplies. It was the most logical decision, and would get both of their minds off some of the things that worried them. "This way... there'll be plenty of room to get things sorted," he sighed.

He stopped just a few steps away from Emily's room and on the opposite side of the corridor. Aaron paused before placing his hand on the chilly metal knob and walking in. The room was painted in warm colors and featured wooden furniture that conveyed the same feelings of warmth. A small pile of clothes lurked in a corner, with a few odds and ends scattered about. In Aaron's opinion the room was reasonably clean for a man who had recently lost his wife and spent most of his days caring for an ill child. Aaron dragged the garbage bag full of supplies over to the queen-size bed. "If you want to go ahead and get started... I'll bring in the rest," he offered, then ran a hand through his hair. It perhaps wasn't the most appropriate spot; but it was near enough to hear Emily call, and there was a considerable amount of space.

Maddie nodded and followed him with a bag as well to the bedroom, she assumed it had been his room, regardless she had room to look over everything. "Alright, thanks this will do nicely" she said setting her bag down and opening it up. There was a lot of stuff, more then a typical clinic really, and with more bags still to go Aaron was well stocked indeed.   He had antibiotics, which would be useful later but not with this virus. Fever reducers, definitely need those

She brought things over to a desk in the corner and started pull stuff out, placing pill bottles in one section and syrup in another. She placed first aid kits and boxes of bandages on the floor stacked on top of each other. As no one was wounded she would deal with those later. Other equipment she laid out according to what she would need now. As she did this her mind started to wander about all that had happened.. what a day, no more then that but at least today she for a purpose. To take care of Emily and Aaron.. it was obvious he was starting to wear down she was.. worried about him as well..

She set aside thing things she would need for emily right away and started organizing everything else. She looked over at Aaron once all the bags were in the room and waiting to be sorted. " You can rest to while I am doing this... if you want" she suggested, she wasn't sure he would comply but he did seem pretty tired. with Emily resting and her organizing...  there was really no better time for him to relax a bit. but then again he didn't know her.. could be likely he didn't trust her enough to let his guard down yet.. she wouldn't blame him.

As Aaron brought one bag after another to the bedroom, he felt his face redden not with exertion but embarrassment. It hit him just now that he had been a bit overzealous in his search to find something that would help Emily. With the state of things, though, one never knew when any of this might come in handy. Furthermore, he now had ample supplies to trade with should the opportunity arise. Medical supplies would be in even higher demand than they were before.

He watched Madison organize the materials, eyes tired from the drive home and several sleepless nights. It almost felt like one of those days after he'd stayed up the entire night grading essays at the college. Aaron wished this entire mess was a nightmare born of sleep-deprived dozing...

Aaron jumped when Maddie spoke, having been in a state of thought that was somewhere between awake and asleep. "I'll be alright," he murmured after a few moments. Aaron couldn't deny that this was the perfect opportunity to get some much-needed rest. Hazel eyes slowly closed and re-opened as he fought the urge to sleep right then and there. Rubbing his eyes only made it worse. He walked over and sat on one side of the bed. "What inspired you to become a doctor?" Aaron asked, voice thick with fatigue yet determined to keep talking.

Maddie could hear the fatigue in his voice, but she could understand not wanting to give into it either with everything going on, sleeping left you vulnerable. " What inspired me... That is a good question" she admitted she hadn't thought about it in a while. She looked at him for a moment and stared thinking perhaps the lengthy story behind it would help him go to sleep. A bedtime story, as it were, and that thought almost made her smile.

"As a kid, I always thought it was the most magical thing in the world to heal someone from an injury or illness Always wondered how they did it or how they know what to do. As I got older and learned the science behind it it found it even more fascinating and it turned out I was good at it. It was either be a doctor or a grade school teacher, eventually in medical school I majored in pediatrics to take care of children and families.. Such as yours, so best of both worlds I guess.." she paused to see if Aaron was still with her or if he drifted off. She would wake him when Emily woke if need be.

Aaron blinked slowly and listened as Maddie explained what sparked her interest in becoming a doctor. Muscles in his face twitched themselves into a small smile. How he wished he could magically heal Emily or anyone else still suffering from the illness that ravaged the world as they knew it. Now, at least, Aaron had some help in that area - someone who knew what they were doing, and hopefully someone he could trust. "Best of both worlds... always a plus," Aaron murmured as his eyes inched their way into sleep. The slightest out-of-place noise would wake him. Or at least that was the plan...

Maddie let a small smile slip over her face as the exhausted worried father finally went to sleep or started to does anyway. She figured he needed it, and was making a guess he hadn't gotten much sleep lately with Emily being so ill.

She silently worked on organizing the equipment and keeping an ear out for emily in case she woke up. After and hour or so she had the essentials organized and the other semi organized until a better spot could be found for them. according to her watch which still worked she had been at it for over an hour and made progress.. so not bad.

She stood up to stretch her sore body and walked out of the room to Emily's to check on her. She had to admit she was getting anxious to try the VI treatment, seem it made a difference in her strength. But first things need to be explained to the little girl.

Aaron had tried his best to stay within a light sleep, but it dragged him further into its depths. He dreamed that Emily was well again - yet in the next second his late wife sprang from the ground and began to chase after them with a lumbering, zombie-like gait. Under any other circumstance Aaron would have startled awake and chalked it up to too much television. Instead he slept on, legs twitching, unable to wake himself up.


Emily opened her warm, tired eyes just enough to see a sliver of her room. The floor had creaked: she was certain of it. Her young ears knew those were not the footsteps of her father, so it had to be the doctor lady he had brought home. Emily tilted her head to the side a little to see if she could see the woman. "Hm?" the little girl moaned, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Where's Daddy?"

Maddie smiled slightly and entered Emily's room when she saw her young patient was awake and knelt beside her bed, "He is taking a nap while you slept, after a little convincing though. I will wake him now that you are awake, in just a moment.." she said in a soft tone and touch her hand to Emily's forehead to test if the fever budged at all. "How did you sleep " she asked hoping she at least slept for soundly then she did before.

She was also hoping Aaron himself was alright, he seemed to tired an hour or two of sleep wouldn't help all that much.. for now it was the most they could afford..

Emily blinked and rubbed one of her eyes. “Okay...” she said, hoarse from the illness and a great stretch of her arms and legs. Her skin remained little warm, but it was starting to bead with fever-breaking sweat. “I slept okay...” The little girl bit her lip. “I get lots of nightmares, but I just go back to sleep now.” Emily squirmed her way to sitting upright. “Did you sleep?”


Aaron’s nightmare shifted from bad to worse. Not only was his zombified wife chasing him, but the entire neighborhood had become a horde of undead with a monstrous craving for live flesh. He didn’t want to hurt anybody; he just wanted to escape. Aaron had seen this one too many times in his movie-watching life to know it wouldn’t end well. As soon as that thought hit him he could have sworn he felt something bite his arm, and he let out a shout that was only a few notes shy of a robust, bloodcurdling scream.

Aaron bolted upright, panting and checking his arm for bite marks. All he found on the flesh of his forearm were the indentations of the seams on his clothing, and that he had been laying on the arm a little too long. Now that he knew he wasn’t going to turn into another lost soul amongst the ranks of walking dead, it hit him that his shout likely woke up the entire house. Aaron’s cheeks and ears turned a bright shade of pink as he shoved himself up and out of bed. “Not even able to watch anything on T.V., and I still get nightmares...”

Maddie smiled slightly at Emily partly because her fever was showing signs of breaking and partly due to her comments and questions to her, "If you ever want to talk about your nightmares Emily I am all ears. You are a very brave little girl" she said gently as she adjusted her bed sheets as she sat herself up. "No, I had some work to do while you and your Daddy had a much needed nap. I will sleep later" she answered gently.

Then she heard Aaron shout come from his room and it made her jump, she swallowed and looked at Emily "Wait here sweetie okay?" she said as she got up to see what happened, she was unable to keep the worry out of her voice.

"Aaron? are you okay?" she asked as she quickly went back to his room, his scream making her imagination wonder what could have happened, and what she would do if it was something terribly wrong.

Emily bit her lip, and nodded. She was worried that voicing her nightmares might make them come true... but her father's shout startled her from explaining that fear to Maddie. The little girl tried to sit up a bit more. "Wh-what if Daddy and you need help?" she asked as Maddie left the room. Emily glanced between her bedroom door and the warmth of her blankets, uncertain as to which option would be better.

Aaron noticed a few items on his dresser had been discombobulated during the massive supply sorting spree, and was putting the items back into some semblance of order to calm his mind when Maddie hurried in. The man jumped slightly and felt his ears deepen their pinkish-red hue. "Yeah... I'm fine. Sorry if I startled you..."

Maddie considered him for a moment before breathing a sigh of relief, deciding he was indeed alright, physically anyway.. from the way he had screamed she had thought someone was trying to murder him. She had a feeling whatever had caused him to scream he didn't want to admit it so she didn't press. "It is alright, as long as you are alright.." she commented. She wasn't really sure what she would do if something had happened to Aaron and how she would take care of Emily.. the girl was scared enough as it was with everything going on.

"Oh and I believe Emily's fever is starting to break, it is a good sign" she said as she stepped back into the hall intending on going back to Emily before the little girl got worried about them. "May want to assure her you're alright.." she gently suggested, considering that scream has scared her she wasn't sure how spooked the little girl had been.

Aaron nodded, still gazing intently at the surface of his dresser. "I'll be fine," he murmured quietly. A secondary comment crossed his mind, but he thought better of it. It sounded so foolish. Now that he was awake and back in the rational world again his nightmare seemed so silly. On the other hand before chaos struck he was something of a novelist - had he told her that? Aaron decided it didn't matter; it was still a silly notion, author or not. Between Emily being so sick and hearing that Maddie had been robbed of almost everything before Aaron had met her, the last thing they needed was him panicking and fretting about an unlikely scenario haunting his realm of dreams.

The man was nudged out of his train of thought when Maddie spoke again. Aaron looked away from the dresser and directly at her, then managed a small smile. His eyes, on the other hand, nearly overflowed with relief. "Thank you," he sighed, "Can't tell you how long we've been fighting fevers..." Aaron chewed on his lower lip slightly at Maddie's second comment - the implication, and exactly what he was worried about, being all too clear. "I'll be there in a minute."

Maddie was worried about Aaron still, but she nodded to him when he assured her,"Alright" she muttered.

She couldn't blame him considering all the strain, perhaps when Emily was taken care of and they had a moment to breath perhaps he would like to talk. She thought about his behaviour and he had been sleeping, she suspected he had a nightmare. With how tired he must have been and with everything going on she could only imagine what his mind might have conjured.

She entered Emily's room again planning on telling her Daddy was alright.

Emily had finally decided she was going to try getting out of bed when Maddie walked back into the room again. The girl was slightly relieved, but it wasn't long before tension returned to her face. "Is Daddy okay?"

Aaron took a bottle of water from the nightstand, poured a little of the liquid into his hand, and splashed the water onto his face. He rubbed the water over his skin to wake himself up, then dried his face off with the lower part of his tee shirt. Aaron checked himself over in the mirror for a quick moment before heading down the hall: still a little pale, he still felt tired, and his hair was a mess. The former professor ran his fingers through the short hair as he walked down to his daughter's room. He listened first to make sure he didn't walk in uninvited, then knocked for good measure. "Is it alright if I come in? Or are you two doing girl stuff?" Aaron asked, forcing a slight chuckle into his voice.