Zone Zero (Book 1 of 3)

Chapter 37

The road before us stretches on as we drive south, putting Zone Two and everything beyond the wall behind us. I dare not look back in fear that I may lose my nerve and ask to return to my home, but deep down I know that I can't. I can never go back there now.

I turn to face Alex and watch as he drives us to our new future. His angelic features are barely visible in the darkness with only the dashboard lights to enhance them. He looks heaven sent as he turns to me and smiles a genuine grin.

A light snore wafts from behind us as Logan lays across the back seat fast asleep. He has had such a long day that I don't even think about waking him. When he awoke this morning there was no way he could have possibly conceived that he would be killing soldiers, saving a vampire and fleeing from his home all in one day.

I can't help but feel bad for Logan having to go through so much for me but I know that if the situation were ever reversed, that I would gladly go to hell and back for him.

I let him rest and return my attention back to Alex; my hero and protector.

A strange feeling of uncertainty pulls at my heart as I think of what our future could hold. He will be forever young whilst I will grow old and wither. Will we have children together? Can he even have children? Will I have to become a vampire now? So many questions flutter about in my mind giving me a head spin.

I push them all aside and go back to gazing at Alex. I would never have thought in my entire life that I could feel so strongly for someone so quickly and that the person would be no person at all, but a vampire. I embrace my predicament whole heartedly.

"I never pictured falling for a human either to tell you the truth." Alex was obviously listening in on me and I can't help but smile.

Even though it feels like an invasion of privacy, I can't help but like him knowing everything there is to know about me and what I am feeling. In some sordid way, it's kind of nice being able to read his thoughts and have him read mine. It takes the guessing out of it.

"Sorry I didn't realize that you were listening."

"Didn't mean to intrude. You just puzzle me sometimes." He speaks honestly and I beam as the words touch his lips.

I take in a large breath and hesitate to ask the one question that has been filling my mind since we escaped the zone. If we are speaking honestly then I should have no fear and just spit it out, so I do.

"Who is Keavy?"

Alex lets out a small sigh before glancing at me quickly.

"She was my sister."

"Do you have any other sisters?"

"No, only Keavy."

I sit in silence hoping that Alex will continue. He realizes that I am waiting on him and looks at me sideways before speaking again.

"Keavy and I were twins. We did everything together until I was old enough to hunt with my brothers and father. She then stayed with our mother and learned her womanly duties while I, along with the rest of my brothers, were trained how to fight and farm."

"How many brothers did you have?" I ask not wanting to ask the question that really lies on my mind; when were you born and more importantly, when did you become a vampire.

Alex chuckles a little at hearing my thoughts and continues on.

"I was born in 752AD and I had four brothers. Faolan, Cailen, Lir and Torin. All strong fighters but not as strong as my father, Molan.

We grew up in a small village by the sea in Ireland. There were always threats of Vikings or the English but our village was strong and we never had any real problems with them. We farmed our land and fought off any intruders that tried to take it from us.

I married and had children as did most of my brothers, except Cailen. His wife died giving birth to their first born and soon their child followed her to the grave. He was so stricken with grief and would often disappear for days at a time.

One day he never came home after a hunt and didn't return for weeks. Then, one stormy night he came to my house, pale and starving. He told me about how he met a beautiful woman that drank his blood and tortured him until finally he was able to escape. We decided to rally our brothers together to search for this woman but when we went outside to fetch them, Cailen turned on me and almost bled me dry. He then dragged me to the woman and begged her to save my life, so she turned me into a vampire.

I was so hungry all of the time that I was too afraid to return home to my wife and daughters in fear that I might hurt them, so Cailen and I joined the woman and travelled the lands for three years before coming back to Ireland. We stayed in a cave that overlooked our village so that I could watch my daughters grow, but one day Vikings landed on our beaches and burned the village to the ground. My wife and daughters were killed in the blaze and I was helpless to stop it because of the sun. The sun is more deadly when you are a new vampire. It hurts less with age.

When night fell all the Vikings had already gone and taken the young boys. All of my brothers and their children where dead but Keavy was alive and hiding in a well. Her wounds were going to kill her slowly, so I begged the vampire woman to turn her as well. She did but when we woke the next evening she was gone leaving only Cailen, Keavy and myself to look out for each other."

I am astonished to hear so much come from Alex about his past that I almost don't believe it. How much he has seen and been through I can't believe that he would so easily choose to care for someone like me.

"I'm sorry I had no idea. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's ok Evie. It was a lifetime ago. I honestly don't even remember my wife's face anymore. Or my daughters for that matter." He sounds almost guilty as he divulges his deepest secrets to me.

"What were their names?"

"My wife was Brona and our daughters were Darina, Maeve and Roisin. That much I still remember." He smiles as he says their names and I can only imagine that he must miss them so much.

"Do you remember anything about them?"

"That's like asking an old man if he remembers being a baby in his mother's arms. I remember that my wife had hazel eyes and strawberry blonde hair along with my daughters. They all looked like their mother except for Roisin, she looked a lot like Keavy."

I think for a few moments on if my next question will be welcomed but decide to go ahead anyway. He can always turn me away if he likes.

"How did Keavy die?"

"That's just it. I don't know. Immortality was slowly sending her mad. Back in the 1960's she said she wanted to be alone and I never saw her again. After so many centuries together she just wandered off by herself and I never heard from her again. We always shared a connection due to being twins so I always sort of felt her but I haven't felt her in decades. If she was still alive I'm sure that I would know."

Alex turns to silence and ends our conversation. I decide to let him be and not to push the subject any further. He has already unveiled so much and I know it could not be easy reliving so much after what we have just been through.