Cora (Love in the Apocalypse #2)

Epilogue

Dyana

I spotted Cora sitting in the yard from my tower and hiked down the well-worn path to see what she was up to.

“Hey, bitch,” I said as I flopped down onto the blanket beside her and immediately started playing with the toes of my favorite little boy in the world. The chubby little baby grinned at me with a toothless smile, drool pouring down his chin. I still hadn’t figured out who Johnny looked like most, but it didn’t really matter.

“Whore,” Cora replied without opening her eyes, her face pointed toward the sun. I studied my best friend and the slight circles under her eyes. I’d never expected my little sister’s best friend to become my entire life, but here we were. She was my family, and even after everything that happened, she chose me to be hers, too. And if I weren’t mistaken, we had another addition to our family on the way.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“We’re enjoying the sun while we wait for the Daddies to come home. They decided to go into town and check things out. See if they can find anything worth bringing back,” Cora replied.

“And I’m guessing you haven’t told them you’re pregnant again, or they wouldn’t have left your side.”

I laughed when Cora’s eyes popped out of her head. “How did you know!?”

“We’re the only two human women on this mountain, Cora. Don’t you think I’d notice when I’m bleeding, and you aren’t?”

“Please don’t say anything to them,” she pleaded. “I haven’t figured out how or when I will tell them yet.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I assured her.

We played with Johnny for a while until we heard voices approaching. “Daddies are home!” Cora cheered, scooping Johnny into her arms and going to meet them at the fence line.

I stood and brushed myself off, taking my time following her to give her time to greet her men properly. Watching them together always filled me with joy for them and a pang of jealousy for me. I wanted my happiness where they didn’t stay because of what I could do for them physically, but because they wanted to. I was done using my body to keep someone around. That ended when I moved into the tower.

I watched the guys approach and then did a double-take. How did they multiply? Three men followed behind them. My curiosity was piqued, even though alarm bells were ringing in my head. Every cell in my body screamed for me to run away, even as I joined Cora at the fence.

“I can’t believe it!” one of the men said. “It really is you, Dyana Lincoln!”

Using my full name threw me, and it took me a minute to recover and focus on the man who knew me. Oh fucking hell. “Jack?”

A grin spread across his face. “Good to see you remember me, Doll.”

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“We found them in town, and they were looking for a safe place to stay, so we thought they could stay at the tower with you for a little while,” Isaac said. He never truly warmed to me; I could see he was enjoying this.

“Well, you were wrong,” I replied, spinning on my heels and stomping away.

Like hell was I going to live with Jack fucking Scofin! Over my dead fucking body. I’d rather bunk with a zombie.