CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE

SUMMARY: Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

NOTE: OK, here's my story of Chuck and Sarah living a "normal" life. If you've read any of my other "Chuck" stories, you've probably noticed that they are mostly "fluff." In this story, I've tried to do fluff with suspense and some mystery. Did I succeed? Well, read on and let me know with a review.

CHAPTER ONE – MUST BE HEAVEN

"Must be heaven," Chuck Bartowski sighed as he sat up in bed and gazed at the sight he could see through the open doorway of the bathroom in the master bedroom. Sarah, beautiful, blonde, gorgeous Sarah, fresh from the shower, clad only in a towel, and blow drying her hair.

Sarah noticed Chuck watching her from their bed. She smiled at him and shook her head which caused her hair to fly out and then settle back around her head and face making Chuck ponder even more about her beauty and how lucky he was.

"Must be heaven," he repeated as he continued to gaze at his beautiful, blonde, gorgeous wife.

"Thank you," she responded, smiling back at Chuck while putting the blow dryer in the drawer. She then stood there, enjoying his staring and his attention. She let him have the view for a few moments and then moved toward the bed where she patted his leg.

"As much as I love you oogling me, you had better get up and get going. You're going to be late for work," she noted.

"Yeah, you're right," he replied as he got up and stretched. "But I was just thinking about how lucky I am."

Sarah looked inquiringly at him. Seeing that look, Chuck chuckled, moved toward her, put his arms around her and drew close. Gazing directly into her eyes, he told her.

"I am married to the most beautiful, wonderful, fantastic woman on the planet and am living with her in the nicest house, located in the nicest town where I work in a nice job. I don't know how it could be any better than this. But I also know that it wouldn't matter where I was or what I was doing or if I had a great job and a great house or a crappy job and a crappy house – it's all made wonderful being married to you. Getting married to you and being with you was the single most important and fantastic event in my life," he said. And then he leaned in and kissed her.

Sarah immediately clamped her arms around Chuck and passionately returned the kiss. After a few seconds, Chuck started to break away. But Sarah wouldn't have any of that as she held on to him and continued the kiss. Then she pushed him back down on the bed, tossed aside the towel that was wrapped around her body, got on the bed and straddled him. She quickly leaned her face down to his and continued their kissing. Then she stopped and gazed intensely at him.

"I think you ARE going to be late for work," Sarah said sexily as her hands reached down to remove his underwear.

XXXXXXXXXX

A while later, Chuck rushed into the kitchen while putting on his tie.

"Hi daddy!" a dark-haired, bright-eyed girl greeted Chuck from where she sat at the dining room table munching on cereal.

"Hey Sallie. How's our little girl?" Chuck replied warmly and rubbed one hand through her hair. He just got his tie on as Sarah handed him two sacks.

"Your lunch and some breakfast. You'll have to eat the breakfast along the way since we're running late and we have to rush. But I'm not complaining," she said while smiling at him.

Neither am I," Chuck replied as he returned her smile. He glanced at his watch. "If we can get going now, I may make it time," he said. Then he turned to their daughter. "OK Sallie, let's saddle up and ride!"

Sallie squealed and held up her arms to be carried. Chuck set the two bags on the table, grabbed his daughter, positioned her against him with his left arm and then grabbed the lunch bags. "All set here Mrs. Bartowski, what about you?"

"All set here too, Mr. Bartowski," Sarah said as she picked up her purse and indicated with her free hand that they should go.

They walked out the front door, locked it, stepped down the front porch steps, and strolled up to their car. Sarah punched the unlock button on her key chain. The car beeped and Chuck opened the back door and put Sallie into her car seat and secured her in as Sarah got in the car in the driver's seat. He then got in the front passenger seat, buckled up and Sarah, started the car, put it in reverse and they backed out of the driveway of their house, #6 McGoohan Drive.

Chuck gazed out of the window at the rows of houses with well kept and nice-looking lawns and gardens and the blue sky as he munched on the bagels that Sarah had packed for him to eat along the way. He marveled at the beauty, peace, and serenity of the whole town. Portmeirion Village, where they lived, an island community located just off the California coast, accessible from Los Angeles only by ferry and populated by about 1,000 people, was indeed beautiful. That was one reason he and Sarah moved here about five years ago, about a year after they got married. They wanted peace and quiet, they wanted a safe place to raise a family, they wanted nice neighborhoods, and they didn't want crowds.

And Portmeirion Village more than filled all that.

"Must be heaven," Chuck mused.

"What's that?" Sarah asked as she turned the car right at the next corner.

"Oh, I was just day dreaming and thinking about how beautiful and nice this town is and how lucky we are to live here and raise our daughter here."

Sarah looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is nice here. It sure beats the grime and crime and crowds of L.A., doesn't it? We are lucky."

"We sure are," Chuck agreed as he looked back at Sarah and once again, marveled at her beauty and how lucky he also was to be married to someone like her. About seven years ago, he had wandered over to get a snack at the new Orange Orange Yogurt shop which had opened up across the parking lot from where he worked at the BuyMore. Sarah was at the counter serving yogurt and he had been instantly smitten. From then on, he spent every break, every lunch, every spare minute he had visiting the Orange Orange, hoping to see her and getting to know her.

Sarah noticed his frequent visits and was always friendly and talkative with him. If the place happened to be empty during those times, she'd get a yogurt for herself after filling his order and then sit down with him at a table and talk. Sometimes she spotted him walking toward her shop from the BuyMore and by the time he walked through the door, she'd have his usual yogurt order with toppings all ready and waiting for him. Chuck enjoyed the visits with her at Orange Orange Yogurt and eagerly awaited them every work day. Sarah was beautiful, nice to talk to, fun to be with, and he frequently wondered about asking her out on a date. But her beauty also intimidated him. He was a member of the BuyMore Nerd Herd and she was … well … a smoking hot knockout, Chuck thought at the time. So every time he walked over to the Orange Orange determined that today would be the day he'd ask Sarah out, his insecurities and hesitations came out in full force and he didn't do any asking.

He also wondered a lot about whether or not Sarah would be interested in him romantically or if she just thought of him as a friend. There were times when things got so busy at the BuyMore that he was unable to visit the Orange Orange. On those days, Sarah appeared in the store, walked up to the Nerd Herd counter where Chuck was, handed him his usual yogurt order and visited with him while he ate.

Instances like that kept him thinking and hoping that she would be interested in going out with him. But it took him quite a while to work up the courage to ask her out on a date. "Well FINALLY," Sarah immediately replied after he did. "Do you know how long I've been waiting?"

They went out to dinner, hit it off, and were inseparable after that. Everything just seemed so right, so perfect for the two of them. And less than a year later, they married and had been for six years now. Sallie their daughter had been born three years ago. About a year after their wedding, Chuck had decided that he needed to move on from the BuyMore and go into something better. And Portmeirion Village had not only provided them with their new home but his new job.

He now worked at Fulcrumatic, a high tech firm that had the largest building on the island, 12 stories, and was also the community's main employer. If the employed residents of the island didn't work for Fulcrumatic, they more than likely worked at the stores that the island had like the one grocery store, convenience store, restaurants and various shops. The island, fortunately, as far as most residents were concerned, had not been overrun with retail development. If you wanted chain stores and shopping malls, you got in your car, drove to the ferry, headed over to the mainland to do that kind of thing. But why would anyone want to leave the island? Everything anyone wanted was right here on the island, Chuck thought.

After Chuck got the job managing the computer network and the computers at Fulcrumatic, they moved to the island, Sarah quit her job at the Orange Orange and decided to not work any more and stay at home, especially since they planned to have kids soon. Sallie, their daughter, had been born three years ago and Sarah took care of her, the house and anything else she could do. Chuck had asked her many times if she wanted to go back to work but Sarah always replied that she was happy with taking care of her family.

As Sarah pulled into the car into the Fulcrumatic parking lot, Chuck snapped out of his day dreaming and got his mind geared up for the work day ahead. Sarah brought the car to a halt near the walkway leading to the front door.

"OK, don't forget that I have my yoga and scrapbooking classes today. So I'll be out of the house for part of the morning and afternoon. You can reach me by cell. How late do you think you'll be working today?" Sarah asked as she put the car in park, undid her seat belt and leaned over, closer to Chuck.

"I'll probably be done at the regular time today, 5pm. Can you pick me up then?" he asked as he too leaned closer to her.

"Done," she responded and then leaned in for a kiss. Chuck responded eagerly.

"I love you!" he said after they finished the kiss. "Have a good day and see you when you pick me up."

"I love you too! And you have a good day too!" Sarah replied.

Chuck got out of the car and then opened the back passenger side door and leaned inside to kiss their daughter goodbye. "I love you Sallie! You be good, OK?"

"OK daddy! Bye! I love you!"

Chuck waved to his wife and daughter as the car pulled away and as he walked into the Fulcrumatic front door.

"Chuck!" Lois, the secretary/receptionist at the front counter hollered as he walked in.

Chuck strolled over to Lois' desk. "Good morning Lois," he said to the twentish, red-haired co-worker.

"Thank goodness you're here Chuck!" she immediately replied. "Miss Roberts has been calling every couple of minutes wondering where you are and wanting me to send you up to her office as soon as you arrive to fix her computer."

"OK, OK, I'm here and I'll take care of it Lois. Sorry that you got the brunt of all that," Chuck said and headed toward the elevator.

"And when you get done with that, if you have time, could you look at my computer? It's acting up," Lois asked.

Chuck stopped, turned around, and marched back to Lois's desk. He put his lunch bag down. "I'll take care of your computer first," he said and turned the monitor toward him, pulled the keyboard and mouse out and started typing.

"Chuck, you need to get upstairs and take care of Miss Roberts. I can wait."

"Nope. I'll take care of your computer first."

Chuck looked things over. It didn't appear to be anything serious. "OK, I think I can fix this really quick," he said. He clicked with the mouse and typed on the keyboard. Lois' phone rang.

"Good morning and thank you for calling Fulcrumatic. How may I help you?"

"Yes Miss Roberts, Chuck has arrived and he should be headed your way right now. Yes ma'am, yes ma'am." As Lois talked, she made motioning gestures with her hand, urging Chuck to get going right away.

Chuck shook his head and took the phone away from Lois. "Hi Jill. I'm working on Lois' computer and I'll be up there in a few minutes. This shouldn't take long," he said into the phone.

Lois watched as she could hear Jill Roberts talking back to Chuck who held his ground. "If our main receptionist's computer doesn't work, then how is she going to take care of all of the calls that come in and take messages and send people to voicemails and everything else? She is just as important as everybody else. I'm almost done and will be there in a few minutes." And then he hung up.

Lois beamed at Chuck. "Thanks Chuck. That was sweet of you."

"I meant what I said Lois. Your computer is just as important as everyone else's," Chuck said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About 10 minutes later, Chuck stepped off of the elevator onto the 10th floor and walked down the hallway and before he had taken four steps, a voice shrieked.

"CHUCK!"

He turned and found Fulcrumatic executive vice president Jill Roberts walking up to him. The tall, attractive brunette stood close to him and grasped his arm. "Chuck, I need you to fix my computer."

"I know Jill. I was headed your way right now. So if you step aside or lead the way, I can get to your office and fix the computer."

She kept hold of his arm and didn't move. So Chuck started to move around her but her hand grasped tightly onto his arm and stopped him. And then she stepped closer. A little too closely, Chuck thought. He tried to step back but her hand held him firmly in place.

"Chuck, I don't like being kept waiting. My computer needs to be fixed."

"And if you don't let go of me, you'll have to keep waiting," Chuck replied looking down at the hand that grasped his arm.

Jill bit the bottom of her lip and then put her face into his, very close and looked into his eyes. "I have a meeting to go to right now. Please fix my computer and we'll talk later," she said huskily. Then she squeezed his arm, let it go and walked away.

Chuck shook his head, trying to clear it. What was it about Jill Roberts that … that … well, there were a lot of things about Jill Roberts that made him wonder. First, he had the feeling that she was familiar, that he had met her before somewhere. But no matter how much Chuck tried, he couldn't recall where or when he and this Fulcrumatic vice president had been together. Yet, he still had the feeling that Jill was somebody he had known or should know.

And then second, the woman made him nervous. Chuck couldn't figure out why. She was always friendly to him and sometimes Chuck actually thought that she was flirting. In spite of that, Chuck still felt not only nervous around her, but sometimes actually scared. He looked down at where she had gripped his arm. When she had done that, he had almost jumped and squirmed. What did he feel that way about her? he asked himself as he turned and walked down the hallway towards her office to check out her computer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah put the car in drive and pulled out of the Fulcrumatic parking lot and headed toward the park. She had about two hours before her yoga class and decided that she and Sallie could spend it relaxing and playing in the park. She had originally considered going to the beach but then decided that the park might have more advantages for her daughter -- no water to splash in, less sand to get in their shoes and Sallie would also have the park's playground.

About 10 minutes later, she pulled the car into the parking lot near the John Drake Commemorative Park. Sallie, upon seeing where they were, immediately started struggling to get out of her car seat, as Sarah unbuckled and got out of the car.

"Settle down little girl," Sarah told her daughter and opened the back door. She got Sallie out of the car seat, pulled her out of the car and set her on the ground. Sallie immediately dashed off toward the playground. Sarah locked the car with the remote on her key chain and then followed. She sat on a bench and watched Sallie playing on the slide and the jungle gym, dashing from one to other, giggling with her dark hair flying in all directions.

Sarah took all of that in, along with the beautiful park landscaping, the pretty structures and sights surrounding the park, the coastline that she could see off in a distance, and the beautiful blue sky – it was all so pretty and it all felt so wonderful. Her husband was right, she thought. "Must be heaven," she said out loud.

"Mommy!" Sallie yelled.

Sarah's head turned back to her daughter who was now seated on a swing.

"Yes sweetie?" she asked but she already knew what her daughter wanted.

"Push me please!"

Sarah sighed, stood up, and walked over to the swingset.

They played on the swingset for about a half-hour. By 9am, Sarah decided that they needed a treat. So she put Sallie back in the car and they traveled to the island's only coffee and latte bar, which was located near the shore. Sarah got herself a coffee and Sallie a hot chocolate. They sat out on the shop's porch. Sarah once again found herself marveling at the view and then her eyes settled on Sallie, who was drinking – well, more like slurping, Sarah amended with a grin. She looked at Sallie's dark hair which was so like Chuck's and Sallie's blue eyes which were so like hers, and wondered if Chuck would like another child.

When they finished their drinks, Sarah dropped Sallie off at the island's only daycare facility and went to her yoga class. An hour later, she picked Sallie up and they went home to relax and have lunch. They stayed there until about 1:45 and then Sarah dropped Sallie off at daycare again and headed off to her scrapbooking class. Then at 3pm, she left her class, picked up Sallie from daycare and the pair went home.

Sarah put some cartoons on the TV for Sallie and then went into the kitchen to check on dinner. She glanced into the slow cooker pot which had her southwestern chicken going. It looked fine. She checked her watch. Less than two more hours to go, so it would be ready by the time she got Chuck home from work, she thought. She went back into the living room to relax with Sallie.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Quiting time. Chuck waited at the elevator. The bell rang, the door opened, and he stepped in. And found himself face to face with Jill Roberts.

"Hi Chuck," she said with a big grin.

"Hey Jill." Chuck replied as the stepped onto the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator descended.

"I'm glad we're here, alone, Chuck. Have you thought any more about my offer?"

"I told you before, I'm happy doing what I'm doing."

"But you could do and be so much more Chuck. You're not fulfilling your potential," she emphasized.

Something about what she just said got Chuck's attention. Those words sounded familiar. Somebody had said the same thing to him before, somebody important to him. Sarah? Chuck thought. No, it was someone else. But who? He thought about the words that Jill just uttered and an image of a tall brunette with a kind and gentle face came to his mind.

"CHUCK! I'm talking to you," Jill snapped.

"Sorry, my mind drifted off somewhere," Chuck apologized.

"Well as I was saying, you're capable of so much more than fixing computers. I want you to do something better, more worthy of you. And working with me, you can. I can help you so much."

"And have a lot of long workdays, stress, ulcers, no time for the family and fun. I appreciate the offer but no thank you," he answered.

Jill moved closer to him, her face just a few inches from him as she spoke again softly and huskily. "Chuck, you don't have to answer now. Just think about it for a few days? OK?"

"I don't think my answer will be any different."

The rest of the elevator ride was silent. They arrived at the ground floor and Chuck and Jill walked out of the elevator and toward the front door.

"Good night Chuck! Good night Miss Roberts!"

"Good night Lois," both called back.

They stepped outside and Chuck immediately saw the car with Sarah and Sallie. He smiled, waved and started toward them. But then Jill's hand grasped his arm and stopped him. Chuck turned and Jill stepped closer to him.

"Remember Chuck, think about it, think about it some more, OK?" she said as she continued to hold onto his arm.

That uncomfortable feeling came again in Chuck as Jill grasped his arm. Chuck was tired of this and wanted to go home with his wife and daughter and figured that the quickest, easiest way to do that was to just agree and get going. "OK, I'll think about it. Good night," he said and pulled away and walked toward the car.

"Good night Chuck!" Jill called out brightly as he walked away.

Chuck got to the car, opened the door and climbed into the front passenger seat. "Hey Sarah! Hey Sallie!" he greeted happily as he settled in and buckled up. Sallie enthusiastically returned the greeting but Sarah said nothing.

"All set, let's go," Chuck said to Sarah after he got the seat belt hooked up. He turned toward Sarah and found an un-smiling and un-happy looking wife staring at him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?"

"HER, grabbing your arm and making eyes at you," she replied. Chuck thought that Sarah was joking. But when he looked, her face was serious, very serious.

"THAT was nothing, nothing at all," Chuck said.

"Well it sure looked like more than nothing to her. A LOT more!"

"Sarah, it was nothing and we don't need to waste time talking about Jill, who is one of my bosses, and nothing more," Chuck said.

"Oh, so she's JILL now."

"Sarah!"

"Was she flirting with you?" Sarah asked with a frown.

"If she was, it would be meaningless, pointless, and inconsequential to me. I LOVE YOU not her. When you are in a room, all I see, hear and feel is you. Jill can't even compare to you. She doesn't mean anything to me. I don't even like her. OK?"

Chuck looked directly at Sarah as he said those words, trying to emphasize the honesty and sincerity of what he said.

"OK?" he said again.

Sarah's face softened. "OK," she replied.

"Now how about we not let her ruin things and let's take our daughter home, have a nice dinner and a nice evening together?" Chuck suggested.

"OK," she said again. And then she leaned forward and kissed him.

Then she put the car in drive and drove out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't explain it because she hasn't really done anything to me but I just don't like her. I, I … there's something about her, something that … I just don't like her!" Sarah said.

"I know what you mean, I know what you mean," Chuck said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Still standing on the front walkway area of Fulcrumatic, Jill Roberts watched Chuck and Sarah conversing in the car. And as they left, her face turned angry and dark. Anyone walking by and seeing Jill at that moment would think they saw something evil

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah pulled the car into their driveway, put the car in park and shut off the engine. Chuck unbuckled, jumped out of the car and went to the back door and opened it. Sallie held out her arms. "Up, up, up, up, up!" she squealed as she waited for Chuck to unbuckle her from the car seat and pick her up and carry her. Which Chuck did. He walked to the front of the car where Sarah waited. When they reached her, Sarah stuck out a hand and ruffled Sallie's hair. Then she did the same to Chuck's hair.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," she said with a grin. "Well, actually I'm not sorry at all. I like stroking your hair."

"Well enough of that. Come on, let's go inside and eat."

"Sounds good to me."

They walked towards the front porch. As they did, they could see their next door neighbor Fred Bennett mowing his front lawn. He mowed back and forth in straight rows and had just come to the edge of the fence separating their two properties.

"Hi Fred!" Chuck and Sarah greeted him. Fred didn't return the greeting but the Bartowskis were too preoccupied to notice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The southwestern chicken dinner was delicious. All of them enjoyed it and had second helpings. After dinner, they spent the evening relaxing in the living room. Sallie lay on the floor watching television. Chuck sat on one end of the couch reading while Sarah sat on the other end with a card table in front of her so that she could work on some of her crafts. Chuck glanced up from his book and looked at his daughter whose attention was riveted to some cartoons playing on the TV and Sarah who was deep in thought at manipulating some clay. The two people who he loved most in his life brought a smile to his face. And for the umpteenth time today, he was about to utter "Must be heaven!" when he heard something – something that didn't sound right.

He frowned, set his book down, stood up and walked to a front window.

"Is something wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Is Fred still mowing his lawn?" Chuck asked as he looked at her incredulously.

"Of course he's not. He was mowing it when we got home. That was about two hours ago, so he would have finished—"

Sarah stopped talking and looked puzzled. "That is a lawn mower," she noted.

"I know. It suddenly got my attention and I realized that it's been going since we got home," Chuck said. He looked out the window. "Yeah, that's Fred." He put his face closer to the window and cupped his hands around his eyes in effort to get a closer look outside. "He's just standing there with the lawn mower. I wonder if something's wrong," Chuck said as he headed to the front door, opened it and stepped outside. Sarah also got up.

It was dark outside but the streetlights at each end of the block illuminated the area fairly well. As Chuck walked over to the fence which separated their property from Fred's, he could see the man standing near the fence with the lawn mower engine running. Fred seemed to be pushing the mower but oblivious to the fence stopping his progress. And as Chuck got closer, he noticed that Fred's lips were moving. But the noise of the lawn mower drowned out whatever he said.

"Fred? Are you OK?" Chuck called out as he got closer. Fred did not reply.

Chuck leaned over the fence and looked. The lawn mower was right up against the fence and Fred was pushing it but with very little effort. It was if Fred had been mowing in a straight line toward the fence, bumped the mower against the fence, and then just stopped like he was waiting for someone to move the obstruction out of the way.

"Fred? Fred? Are you OK?" Chuck repeated as he looked at his neighbor. Fred continued to stand, staring straight ahead but he didn't seem to see Chuck. Chuck waved his hand near his neighbor's face but Fred seemed not to notice. He called his neighbor's name once, twice, three times. No response or acknowledgement. Something was definitely wrong.

Chuck looked at the lawn mower and spotted a power switch. He leaned over the fence, extended his arm and moved the switch to the off position. The lawn mower sputtered to a stop. Fred still continued to stand there, holding the lawn mower handle bars and speaking. Now Chuck could hear what he said.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real…."

Chuck looked curiously at his neighbor. Fred appeared to be in shock or some kind of trance.

"Fred? Fred? FRED?" Chuck yelled. But Fred continued to stare straight ahead and say the same thing over and over again.

"CHUCK!"

Chuck turned his head toward the front porch of his house and saw Sarah and Sallie standing right outside the doorway, looking out at him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sarah shouted.

"Something's wrong with Fred. I think he's in shock or something. Call the paramedics."

Sarah pulled Sallie inside and shut the door. Chuck looked back at Fred who still stood there repeating his phrase. And he stayed the same as Chuck waited for the paramedics, who arrived in just under five minutes. A man and a woman jumped out of the truck. The woman carried a small suitcase while the man carried a big flashlight. They ran up to Fred's front gate, opened it and dashed toward the man.

"We'll take care of this sir. Go on back inside your home," the male paramedic said.

"His name is Fred Bennett and he–"

"We know who he is sir," the female paramedic said as she set her suitcase down on the ground and begin digging through it. She removed a syringe and medicine bottle. "We'll take good care of him. Why don't you go back inside and relax. We have this under control."

The male paramedic stood right next to Fred and reached down with his hand waiting for the female to hand him something. Which, after a few seconds, she did – the syringe which she had loaded with the liquid from the medicine bottle.

"Well he has been this way since late afternoon," Chuck explained, trying to help. "We came home and he–"

"We know sir," the woman said. "It's not anything serious. Fred Bennett is on special medication and he just forgot to take his regular dose. We'll take good care of him. Don't worry."

The man injected the medicine in Fred's neck. About a minute later, Fred slumped forward and the male caught him. The woman stood up and grabbed his legs. Together, the two paramedics picked up Fred and started toward the truck they came in.

That's funny, Chuck thought, shouldn't they use a stretcher or gurney or something? The female woman turned toward Chuck and faced him directly. "Sir, everything is under control. Fred will be fine. This is all over. Why don't you go back inside," she suggested firmly.

Chuck was about to respond but then he got a full and clear view of the woman's face and something happened. A bunch of images and pictures popped up in his mind. All of which were about the female standing in front of him. He saw her shooting pistols and rifles, he saw her in some kind of uniform, he saw different photographs of her on all kinds of wanted posters, and much more. And throughout all of those images, a name kept appearing – Wendy Wileler, the Red Plague.

And as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Chuck shook his head and found that he was still standing by the fence. The two paramedics and Fred were now over by the truck and preparing to go.

What the heck was all that? Chuck wondered silently. What just happened to me? He walked back inside the house with a feeling that something was wrong.

END CHAPTER ONE