Chapter Text
They were behind schedule and Alex was worried. She had no way of knowing if her plan worked and adding two more people was both a pro and a con. On one hand, there was safety in numbers and Beth was in the Coast Guard. On the other, they were a pretty big target and Dede was barely well enough to walk. Another con would be the Pritchett tension in the group that hadn’t been addressed yet. Alex wanted to get further along in their journey before doing so. She partially regretted it because her mother was having a difficult time keeping a lid on it and Dede was antagonizing Gloria as well as Claire.
“At least I have Mitchell.” Dede said, holding her son’s arm. Mitch looked at Claire who was stone-faced. He took his arm out of her grip. “What?”
“We need a Pritchett family meeting.” Mitch said, maintaining eye contact with Claire.
“Oh good, I was hoping I was not the only one who could feel it.” Gloria said. The others gave her surprised looks. “What? If you feel like someone might come at you with a knife, you be prepared for it. And Dede doesn’t like me, so we don’t need more of this tension.”
They were on the outskirts of Albuquerque and settled in an abandoned military base. Everyone went to scope and explore while the four Pritchetts sat in an office. Phil was outside the room in case he needed to alert them right away. Dede was looking at Mitch worriedly while Jay looked like he knew what was coming. Claire and Mitch exchanged looks.
“Alright, then. I’ll go first since I wanted this meeting.” Claire said, taking her brother’s hand under the table. “This meeting is mostly to address how Mom has treated me.”
“Excuse me? Is this really what we’re doing in the middle of a journey? In case you haven’t noticed, I was recently injured trying to save people.” Dede sniffed.
“As I told my brother, I will lose my shit if I can’t tell you what a horrible asshole you are.” Claire squeezed Mitch’s hand. He squeezed back. “You cleverly hid the way you were from Mitch and maybe I allowed it because he needed a safety net…it was my biggest error.”
“Claire, you should be supportive of your brother-”
“I was more supportive than you ever were. I just wasn’t truthful to you or Dad about what you did to me.”
“For heaven’s sake, you make it sound like I assaulted you. I did not, Claire.”
“Not physically, no. But you constantly talked shit about me, to me. Every day on the way to high school you picked at everything I did, invaded my privacy, and made me think I wasn’t good enough. You made me seem like I was a crazy harlot so that Mitchell would see you as more of a safety net. You tried to turn him against me and yeah, sometimes it worked, but you have no idea what I’ve done for him. What I would have done for him.”
“You have to admit, you were quite rebellious-”
“It was because of you. You made me feel like shit about quitting ice skating because Mitch kept dropping me and I was getting too old for it. I told you I was having my period around that time and I was in pain. I wasn’t going to tell an eleven year old that.”
“You were in pain?” Mitch asked his sister softly.
“Yes. Mom knew, but she guilted me into believing I was a terrible sister. And you know, Dad, you’re complicit too. Could you provide context to why you made me change my dress at Grandfather’s funeral?”
“You were smiling and I didn’t want questions.” Dede said.
“You were.” Mitch confirmed. “But neither of us spoke to you about it, right?”
“No.” Dede said. “You two didn’t speak of him or the funeral or grief. I thought you were both relieved and left you alone.”
“You knew we needed relief from the monster in our lives. You knew he was a terrible presence and still allowed him to harm Mitchell? And you blamed me for not protecting him better. Mom and Dad, you’re both complicit in how Mitchell and I are neurotic, kinda uptight messes. I rebelled to get out of that. To be a person who wasn’t a Pritchett. You made me tell you when I had my periods when I started dating, taking advantage of your son not wanting to hear that ‘gross stuff’ as a preteen.”
“Oh my god…” Mitchell breathed.
“Is it wrong to want to know if you were pregnant?”
“At fourteen, yes. I didn’t even have sex until college!”
“Kids, I’m sorry for not being there.” Jay said. “If I knew, I would’ve…I think I would’ve done differently. I would’ve been there.”
“You think. Meaning you didn’t know. I already feared you wouldn’t be there for me when I came out.” Mitch said. “And you weren’t.”
Jay sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, I was there for you and I love the kids, Claire.” Dede said in a hurt tone.
“It’s not about the kids. It’s about you and how you treat us. You used Mitchell as a puppet and act like you didn’t even want me. Why didn’t you want me?” Claire’s voice cracked.
“Mitchell, tell your sister she’s being ridiculous.”
“No.” Mitchell said. “She’s hurt and it’s your fault. Did you even want a daughter? Dad treated her like a son because I wasn’t the one he wanted.”
“Mitch…” Jay said.
“It’s true and you acted like it all the time, even into adulthood. You didn’t even want to look for him when he went missing.” Claire said.
“I was looking for him, Claire. I didn’t want you to neglect your family. I could look for him because I didn’t have anyone else.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me believe you didn’t give two shits about him? And Mom, why did you basically say the same thing and ignore the red flags?”
Dede shook her head. “It turned out okay-”
“No it fucking didn’t!” Mitch snapped. “It wasn’t okay in the slightest. I was tortured and you couldn’t be bothered to care for a minute!”
“Mitchell, sometimes we have bad relationships-”
“Yeah, and I’m starting to see it. I’m sorry, Claire, I can’t.” He squeezed Claire’s hand and stood up. “I’m going to Missouri based off the fact that the future love of my life is there. I don’t even know if love is real anymore, but I’d like to find out with or without you two.”
“You can go.” Claire said softly, feeling his hesitation in letting go. He left the room.
“Happy now? My son hates me.” Dede sniffed.
“I’m sure he doesn’t, but he’s sure not thinking the same about you. And, Dad, telling me eight years later what you did doesn’t fix shit. You made him leave, you ignored me and made me believe you hated him for being himself, and you pretended everything was back to normal when he came back. You wouldn’t even believe half the things he told me. I’m positive he’s told me at least ninety-eight percent of what happened to him.”
“Why wouldn’t I believe it?”
“Most people wouldn't have believed a man could be sexually assaulted and violated.” Dede and Jay stared at her as if they’d been smacked in the face. “He was abused and tortured daily and once tried to take his own life. He got hit for that. He was scared of everything, even hugging kids, for the longest time. And for some reason, Mom was still his safety net. I decided then not to tell him. But I should have. I should’ve aired my trauma because he told me all of his. We shouldn’t have let you two come between us.” She stood up. “We’ll work together to get to Missouri, but then…I’m not speaking to you again, Mother.”
She left the room before her parents could say anything. She saw Phil hugging Mitch and approached, feeling guilty.
“Mitchell, I-I told them what he did to you…not in detail, but I’m sorry I said it when you should’ve been the one to-” Mitch hugged her. Claire sniffled. “I don’t deserve this.”
“You do.” Mitch mumbled. “You were there for me and you always have been. And I’ve wanted them to know, I was just too scared to say it. I forgive you and I love you.”
Jay and Dede tried to talk to Mitch about it later, but he shut them down. He said that the damage was done and his emotions were still very turbulent. He lost what remained of his respect for his father and every bit for his mother. He appreciated Jay for searching, but it felt backhanded with never actually apologizing to Mitch and for lying to Claire. The feeling of awkwardness was among the group, but not the thick tension of bottled feelings. They were quiet as they moved on.
They decided to go on highway 160 to get the straightest shot to Jasper. They weren’t prepared for Winfield, Kansas. It started out normally, scope the town and clean it as much as possible and claim a place to sleep. The place must’ve been picked clean already, but it didn’t look inhabited. They were tired, but surviving.
Alex and Haley were the first to find out something was wrong when a group of masked men tried to kidnap them. Then they tried to get Gloria and Claire to go with them. They were dealt with, but then more came and brought zombies with them. It was the bloodiest battle yet. More kept coming and bringing zombies with them. Then Dylan threw a bomb back at them and the explosion stopped the battle.
Jay stomped over to a barely moving man and grabbed his shirt. “The hell you attack us for?”
“Survival…you don’t need women…”
“Bullshit answer, but I have more questions. Where did you come from?”
“Wichita.” The man wheezed.
“Are there more of you?”
“No.”
“Were you keeping the zombies as attack dogs?”
“Yes.”
“You sicken me. Those were people. All you had to do was put them out of their misery.” Jay threw the man back on the ground as Haley screamed.
“DYLAN!” She was holding her head as instructed by Beth who had a bite mark on her arm.
“Let me get him patched up, then you guys can cry over my body.” Beth said, determined to bandage Dylan. Andy was trying not to cry.
“Beth…”
“Not now, Andy.” Beth was focused, her hands shaking slightly.
“Beth stop.”
“No, if I stop now, he could bleed out and I-I’m going to lose control.”
“Beth, he’s…he’s gone.”
The blonde froze, looking at Dylan’s face. He wasn’t twitching as Haley’s tears fell on his face. She felt for a pulse. Nothing. “Oh god…”
Alex hugged her sister. “I’m so sorry.”
“Claire!” Mitch yelled. The younger adults saw Dede twitching on the ground as Mitch and Claire ran over to her.
“Hey…” Dede breathed.
“Mom, I-I…” Mitchell cried. Gloria put an arm around his shoulders. Phil was holding Claire who was shaking and on the verge of tears.
“Shh…save the tears…it’s okay. I love you…both of you…Claire, I do love you.” Dede smiled. Claire sobbed. “I’m sorry, my children…”
“I’ll forgive you eventually.” Mitch sniffled. Claire nodded. “Claire too.”
“Jay…”
“Dede?” She was gone. He would never know what she wanted to say. Maybe an apology.
Haley and Andy leaned on each other for comfort as Alex tried to figure out if there was any sign from Frankie she missed. Anything to tell her that Dede, Dylan, and Beth were supposed to live. Well, she guessed Beth wouldn’t be part of the original ‘save as many as possible’ plan because Beth and Andy helped her mother, saved Gloria after she almost drowned and accompanied them to Jasper in the first place. They were supposed to live, right?
“Why…is this happening? I had a plan. They were supposed to live…” Alex panicked.
Claire took Alex’s shoulders. “Honey, look at me.” Alex looked at her mother’s tearstained face and felt guilty. “You’re doing your best. We hopefully got a lot of us to Jasper already and we’re almost there. The plan was to save as many as possible, not everyone. It’s hard to save everyone. Impossible. We already saved extra with Dylan and Sophie in the first place.”
“I don’t blame you.” Haley said.
“I don’t understand the whole thing about time traveling, but I don’t blame you either.” Andy said.
“Neither do I.” Beth added. “You guys go, I’ll…” She gripped her gun tightly and kissed Andy. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They all buried Dede and Dylan and made a grave for Beth. They would listen for the shot and Jay and Phil would come back to bury her. Andy jumped and cried when he heard it, Haley holding him tightly. The grieving group walked the highway, making sure to stay alert.
“Thank you.” Claire told her brother.
“For what?” Mitch said.
“Telling her we will forgive her instead of we already do. I know in the heat of the moment, you want someone dying to go peacefully, but with her and the situation…”
“Peace wasn’t much of an option.”
“Yeah.”
“Mitch, Claire…can I try to make amends?” Jay asked, having fallen back while Phil and Gloria took the lead. “I know I screwed up. I wasn’t there when you needed me your entire lives and I let Dede take charge. Claire, you deserved to be able to tell me about your issues, even if it was period related. I can’t tell you if I would’ve understood everything, but I would’ve understood that your mom was punishing you for your pain and not wanting to do figure skating. Mitch, you deserved a better reaction to coming out and everything that came after. I told myself when I pulled you out of that bar that I would never forgive myself for almost getting you killed. I promised myself I’d never let it happen again, which is why I’m being very protective of you. But you deserved that sooner. A father being an actual father.”
“It’s possible for you to gain my forgiveness…but, you have yet to meet Cam, so…I don’t know what he’s like, but I know he’s my soulmate.”
“I’ll give him a chance, I promise.”
“Claire?”
“We’ll work on forgiving you.” Claire said. Mitch nodded in affirmation.
“It’s okay that you said that to her, by the way.” Jay said. “I would’ve been okay hearing it if it were me. I am okay hearing it. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Claire said. “But part of being a Pritchett combined with our trauma is that Mitchell can’t say it back to you.”
“Can we work on it?” Jay asked his son.
“Yes.” Mitch said.
“Thanks.”
…
“Hey there!” The blood and mud spattered group was spotted by a farmer who was trying to see if the dirt was plantable. Almost.
“Is this the Tucker farm?” Mitch asked.
“Nah, it’s a ways that way.” He pointed. “But you must be the group Cameron’s been raving about. He’s mighty anxious to meet ya.”
They thanked him and went the directed path until they saw a sign that said Tucker. Some people were out and looked a bit guarded, they knew they’d have to be checked for bites. Then Alex tugged Mitch’s shirt and pointed to a man who was entering a barn. Mitch slipped and ran towards the barn.
SNORK
“Ah, Lily, no!” Mitch said, trying to placate the pig quickly.
“You’re fine if you’re not bitten.”
“I’m not. I’m smitten.” Cam whirled around and looked at him in shock. “Cheesy, I know.”
“Lame…so very lame.” Cam said weakly as Mitch approached him. “How’s the future looking?”
“Full of kisses, I predict the first one in three seconds.” Mitch kissed him. Cam felt sparks and moved his hands to Mitch’s head as he kissed back passionately.
“Now that was cheesy.” Cam panted.
“We have a lifetime for it.”
“Absolutely.”
...
May 1st, 2011- One and a half years after the apocalypse started
The community was thriving better than Alex remembered it. An order was restored to Jasper County and its surrounding cities and farmlands. The zombies came in less amounts and any bandits learned quickly that they were not to be messed with. They had schools again, teaching about the world before and about fighting. They couldn’t get in contact with Vietnam early this time because they had no control over anything happening outside of what Alex and Frankie had known. Frankie claimed not to remember if Dylan and Beth had made it, despite saying before that survivors made it and that the only uncertainty had been Dede.
Frankie wasn’t questioned for long since Alex wanted to look for specific people. Sean, Iara, and Bill. She knew where they were in certain points of the apocalypse and sent out trained expedition teams. She partially didn’t like that Gloria and her parents were part of these teams, but they were young, healthy, and able to fight, so they went. Mitch wanted to live life with Cam and chose to help him farm, both of them ended up unofficially adopting Sophie who had been attached to Cam. Grace was one of the academic teacher; Frank helped with farm work; and Jay, Manny, and Luke took over combat instruction. The boys knew they didn’t have to since they weren’t even teens, but they wanted to. Luke had been motivated since the day Alex traveled back in time and Manny wanted to be right there with him. Alex was working with other big brains to get technology up as quickly as possible.
Haley was very lost as to what to do. She didn’t think she could be a teacher and Claire didn’t want her on any expeditions until she was eighteen, which was at the end of the year and it was only the beginning of May. She and Andy spent time together, talking about Dylan and Beth. Haley hadn’t had that much time with Dylan while Andy had more time with Beth. They’d met when they were freshmen in high school and had been dating for four years. Beth went straight into the Coast Guard while Andy tried to figure himself out and became a male nanny before the world ended. He and Haley talked about dating and asked Claire and Phil who gave their blessings and told them that they didn’t really need it.
The expedition was successful in retrieving Sean and Iara, but Bill wasn’t where Alex thought he was. She knew he was a bit older than her and he might feel awkward if he met fourteen year old her and he was twenty. She still looked, though, hoping that maybe he’d be there and she would try to avoid him until she was old enough to flirt with him. It felt odd, technically being older than him in her younger body. Claire admitted she’d feel awkward about the two of them while Alex looked fourteen.
There were a few more places she sent them before they could find him. It turned out that at some point, Gloria and Manny had mounted a distraction for some people to get out and Bill was one of them. He was a bit more beat up, but alive and well and put in one of the neighboring cities. Alex was just hoping to go six years without meeting him so he wouldn’t feel awkward. She felt a bit bad about keeping Frankie from him, but she was expecting him to have disappeared once his timeline was secured.
A couple years later, Frankie was questioned again because he didn’t seem to have aged much if at all. Around that time, Gloria and Pam were expecting. Bo died on a survivor search and routine sweep when some aggressive hunters attacked the group, only half came back. Gloria gave birth to Joe and Pam had Cal soon after. Pam died in childbirth and Cam and Mitch adopted their nephew. Alex was highly suspicious of the timing of this and observed her son casually. He seemed a bit nervous and a little older. She wondered why he suddenly started to get older. Maybe the timeline was catching up to when he disappeared with Alex. She discussed this with other time travel enthusiasts who said it was possible.
A strange light erupted in the road near the Tucker farm one day. People stared at it. It called to the Dunphys, Pritchetts, Delgados, and Cam. They gathered around it along with Sophie, Andy, and Cal and those tending the farm. A figure emerged from it with green eyes and bright orange red hair tied in a bun, the person had an undercut. But what drew attention was both the way they were dressed and the fact that they had pointed ears. The ears were distracting from the odd outfit.
“Are you a time traveler?” Alex asked. “I traveled back in time with my son. Have you come to take us home? I mean, I thought returning was impossible, but you’re here, so…oh my god, sorry, I’ll stop talking so you can talk.”
“It’s alright.” The person said, smiling. “You’ve done wonders here, but things are not as they should be at all. This world was infected and split many times across the multiverse. I am a multiverse traveler, my name is Wren. I’ve come to collect two anomalies, one that infected this world and one that shouldn’t be here.”
“Is…am I the anomaly? Can I say goodbye first?”
“I’ve obtained the first anomaly. You aren’t the other, no. The other is a being who somehow left his world and traveled to this one. I believe he went back in time with you.”
“Frankie’s an anomaly?! I mean, it explains a lot.” Luke said.
“Indeed.” Wren pulled out a device and frowned. “I’ve sent the first anomaly to a friend of mine for safekeeping. Frankie is not here. It appears he’s vanished. He may be seeking refuge in this universe where your family exists, just in another parallel dimension.”
“Frankie didn’t infect this world, did he?” Claire asked.
“No, but was he with your entire group the whole time?” They explained to Wren exactly what happened. “Ah. Well, he could not control or prevent what he couldn’t see. Whatever he told people here, he was guessing. He can’t predict the future he doesn’t actually know. ”
“What do you do with worlds you leave?” Gloria asked.
“It depends on how corrupt it is. If it’s beyond saving, I have no choice but to seal it and let it collapse in on itself. That’s already happened a few times. I have sealed some and allowed them to live as they want.”
“I know it sounds weird because of all the zombies and death and stuff, but…could we keep our dimension?” Jay asked. A few others murmured in agreement.
“Certainly. This means you won’t see Frankie again. He was already an anomaly in your first world. You came across him when you arrived in Missouri.”
“What?” Alex said. “Wait, what does that mean? He shares a body with my son?”
“No, he was never meant to be your son. You were meant to have those two kids in that timeline. Frankie is his own being and we have no idea what his motives are. We just know that he’ll try to go into a different timeline or version of your world.”
“Oh…I’m not upset with him. I just…I wish he talked to me. Could you tell him that I hope he felt like he had someone and that we love him.”
“I shall.”
They bid Wren goodbye and continued to live their lives. Alex moved on, but kept Frankie in her memories and wrote about him.