As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Frater, Rhiannon

  Now they were heading at eighty miles per hour toward a possible camp of survivors while a throng of zombies jogged along behind them in an unrelenting pursuit of flesh. Her flesh. And Jason’s. And Jenni’s.

  She glanced at the dog, who looked back at her questioningly. If the zombies wanted Jack or not had yet to be seen, but they wouldn’t get him if she had her way. Jack went back to chewing on some jerky Jason had given him, eyeing Katie suspiciously.

  Slowly, their destination appeared, shimmering out on the horizon before resolving into more detailed images.

  Katie could clearly see the downtown area partially ringed by tall redbrick buildings that seemed out of place in the flatness of the rest of the town. The farm road they were traveling on would lead them straight into the center of town.

  Where were the survivors?

  Time to find out.

  Katie grabbed the CB and flipped it to Channel 9. “Survivors in Ashley Oaks, this is the bright red truck heading your way. We’re a party of three with a dog companion.”

  “Bright Red Truck, what direction are you heading in from? FM 1995 or Route 6?” It was a woman’s voice. Calm. Reassuring.

  “Ashley Oaks, we’re coming in from the west on FM 1995. We’re running low on fuel and have company bringing up the rear. They are probably a few miles back, but they don’t seem to get tired.”

  “We understand. Keep on course and when you reach the wall, get out of the truck and we’ll lift you over.”

  “Wall?” Jenni and Jason said at the same time.

  “We don’t understand,” Katie said with some confusion.

  “You will. Just be ready.” The woman’s voice cut out.

  As they barreled down the road, Katie felt the truck give a little shudder. The needle on the gas gauge now sat below the line.

  “This is going to be close,” Jenni exclaimed.

  “As usual,” Katie responded.

  The tall red buildings, very early 1900s retro in style, loomed larger. The rest of the town zoomed past—a smattering of run-down houses, boarded-up buildings from the 1970s, empty car lots, and abandoned gas stations. Katie estimated that the center of town was maybe four blocks away now. It looked a little intimidating. They could now see that three of the tall buildings hovered over what looked like a construction site. Several large trucks appeared to ring it. On one end, a yellow machine was perched on the bed of an enormous truck that was filled with dirt. The construction vehicle had a long mechanical arm with a large scoop.

  “Where are the zombies?” Jason asked worriedly. “This town has to have some.”

  The truck sputtered once and died.

  They were a block from their destination.

  Katie immediately grabbed the CB mic, but before she could speak, it cackled and a voice said, “We have a distraction going. Run for the corner where we are signaling.”

  “Corner? Corner?” Jenni looked scattered and afraid.

  “Stay calm, Jenni!” Katie spotted a man standing next to the big yellow machine she thought was called an excavator and waving a Texas flag. “There! Follow me!” She grabbed her shotgun, her backpack, and the bag of ammo and leaped out of the truck with Jack right behind her. Jenni followed, struggling with her backpack. Jason hopped out, backpack on.

  “Run,” Katie ordered.

  They ran.

  Katie was in good shape—she and Lydia had gone running every day—but she wasn’t used to running with so much weight. She felt slow and vulnerable, grateful for the comforting heft of the shotgun in her hand. She and her companions raced past empty stores with faded FOR LEASE signs on their ruined doors, past blood splatters on the sidewalk. They ran past empty cars with open doors that told of other people’s terror. They ran across an old redbrick street and aimed for the large yellow arm of the piece of the excavator, which was being extended down toward them.

  “Get in, get in!” a man yelled.

  Katie’s legs felt rubbery after all her time in the truck. Jenni and Jason were huffing behind her.

  “Hurry!”

  Her lungs hurt, her back hurt, everything hurt, but she ran.

  The large scoop of the machine crunched onto the road. Encrusted with dirt, its jagged teeth were somehow welcoming. They ran for it with the screeches of the undead ringing in their ears.

  The same man’s voice boomed out. “Get into it!”

  Katie reached the excavator and whirled about . The zombies were coming around the corner. Jenni lost her footing and tumbled forward, but managed to fall into the clawed scoop. Jason jumped in after her. Katie grabbed the dog and heaved him in.

  The large scoop had already begun to lift with a steady, mechanical whine.

  The zombies were close, and Katie considered firing, but realized she didn’t have time. She half fell, half jumped into the machine, landing on top of Jenni and the others, half-in, half-out of the scoop.

  The world shifted as they rose, and Katie felt sickeningly exposed. She was shivering so violently, she was sure she was going to vomit. The moans of the dead surrounded them when a hand, grisly and bloodied, grabbed one of the dirt-encrusted teeth of the excavator. The scoop arm was barely a few feet above the heads of the crazed zombies.

  The zombie tried to get a better hold while its other hand fumbled at Katie’s foot. Katie was too terrified to move for fear of rolling off the others and into the crowd below. She could only stare in fear at the scrabbling hand.

  Jack solved the problem. He grabbed the groping zombie hand in his teeth and shook his head savagely. The thing lost its grip and fell. The machine lifted faster and higher and swung about. Katie felt herself slipping, and Jason and Jenni grabbed on to her. Then the world tilted again and they were being lowered.

  Katie lost her balance and slid painfully over the teeth of the contraption. Instead of plunging into the undead, she landed on soft soil.

  A man’s hand came down, took hers gently, and helped her to her feet. “You, okay?” he asked.

  Looking up, Katie smiled as she took in his appearance. He was taller than she was and sturdily built, with curly brown hair and the nicest hazel eyes she’d ever seen. He radiated gentle power and kindness. His height and build spoke of a man used to hard work. He seemed oddly familiar to her, and she instantly felt camaraderie with him.

  “Yeah.” She nodded and looked at his hand, which was still clutching hers as he guided her from the excavator. His fingers were caked with dirt and bits of cement. “That was scary.”

  “Only way to get people over the wall,” he answered. “It’s not very comfortable, but it’s the only way for now. I’m Travis.”

  “Katie,” she answered, awkwardly drawing her hand away. Instinctively, she knew Travis was behind the rapid building of this fortress. She was good at reading people, and he had a vibe similar to her father. One of those quietly strong men who inspired people to great things.

  Jenni stood next to her, staring at the handsome man. “Hi, I’m Jenni and this is my son, Jason.”

  Travis greeted them both with a warm handshake. With a smile, he kneeled down to pet Jack. “I saw what you did. You’re a good pup, defending your mama.”

  Jack gave him a doggy grin in response and licked his hand.

  Travis stood again. “Welcome to our little fort. Glad you made it here okay. Ralph let us know what is going on. You are okay, right?”

  “We’re fine. None of us is hurt.” Katie looked around curiously. “Is it safe here?”

  They were in a large enclosed area filled with people working hard to construct a wall around the site.

  “Without a doubt. We don’t have anyone infected with whatever is causing this.”

  “So you know about the bite,” Katie said with relief.

  “Sadly, we do.”

  “So are you in charge?” Jenni blurted out.

  Travis laughed, shaking his head. “No, no. I’m just a guy working on a construction site. Mayor Reyes is running the show. Juan, the foreman, and I have
been giving him some suggestions along the way, but he is the elected official in charge and also the emergency coordinator for the town.”

  “Ah, I see. The wall is impressive. The whole setup is great,” Katie remarked.

  Katie looked past Travis, turning her head to take in her surroundings. She stood at the edge of a spacious construction site that was flanked on two sides by enormous buildings. One was at least ten stories tall and sprawled across one whole side of the site. It was an old-fashioned hotel made out of the red bricks that seemed a signature of the town. The second building was flush against the far side of the hotel and took up most of the rear of the construction area. It, too, was made out of red bricks, but had been whitewashed at some point long ago and painted with an old Coca-Cola advertisement that was now a faded reminder of another era. An old metal sign was raised over the building and read ASHLEY OAKS PICAYUNE NEWS MESSENGER. Storage containers and construction equipment and vehicles were parked along the edge of the truck line near the old newspaper building.

  A narrow, three-story city hall sat across from the newspaper building at the midpoint of the block. Its windows were covered in fancy ironwork and appeared newly refurbished. A beautiful mural adorned the side of the building with an idealized portrayal of the downtown under the words ASHLEY OAKS CITY HALL: HOME OF FRIENDLY PEOPLE. FOUNDED 1867.

  Only two borders of the site were open to the quaint Texas town, and those were cut off with a hurricane fence that had been put in place for construction. Beyond the fence was a ring of construction trucks. Piles of dirt and bags of cement filled the formerly empty spaces beneath the trucks and between the cabs and their loads, forming a secondary wall. There was a third wall made of concrete bricks being constructed within the hurricane fence, running from building to building. Already it connected the city hall to the hotel. The construction workers who had been on the renovation job when the zombies first appeared now seemed to be striving to create a fort the size of a city block within their worksite.

  Katie was staggered by what she saw. The mobile office trailer for the site had apparently been turned into residences—an elderly woman and younger man holding a child emerged from it to gaze at the newcomers. There was a lunch wagon parked in one corner, serving food. A majority of the survivors appeared to be the construction workers, but there were a few women and children sitting around in the shade watching the new arrivals with interest.

  “It’s not a mall,” Jenni sighed with relief.

  Kate realized, much to her surprise, that she felt safe. “This is amazing! You did all of this since yesterday?”

  Travis nodded. “Yep. We really didn’t have much of a choice. Give me a moment, and I’ll show you around.” He turned toward the man who had been running the excavator. “Hey, Juan!”

  “He’s not black,” Katie joked under her breath to Jenni as Travis walked over to Juan to share a word with him.

  “But I’ll kiss him anyway,” Jenni said dreamily.

  Katie lifted an eyebrow at her.

  “Well, you won’t!”

  Kate smiled and shook her head slightly.

  Travis glanced over at them, and Kate had to look away. She felt unnerved by his gaze. Something had happened when she first looked at him. New knowledge had sprung strong and sure into her mind: This was now home. And Travis was going to play a very important role in her future. All her life, Katie had always trusted her instincts about people. She formed quick and firm attachments. It had taken her all of one minute to fall in love with Lydia. She already felt completely attached to Jenni and Jason. They were her new family. Her gut told her that Travis was also important in this new world.

  She looked back and saw him staring at her.

  He knows, too, she thought.

  The wheels of destiny had turned, and a new reality was being spun into existence.

  She looked at Jenni. She could tell that the younger woman was in crush city.

  Jason, meanwhile, was kneeling next to Jack, keeping the excited pet from dashing off. The teenager gazed around at the equipment and the people hard at work. “This is really cool, Mom.”

  “Yeah,” Jenni agreed, relief in her voice. “Really, really cool.”

  Travis smiled at Kate and she smiled back.

  We’re going to fight this war together, Kate thought. You and me, Travis. We’re important, and now that we’re both here, things are going to happen. Do you feel it?

  And by his gaze, she knew he felt it, too.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  1.

  The New World

  Jenni let her backpack fall to the ground with a thunk and shook out her hair to get all the caked mud out of it. They were all pretty dirty from being transported over the wall. There was a flair to the movement, a bit of feminine guile in her smile.

  Katie grinned to herself. Jenni was trying to get Travis’s attention.

  He walked back toward them, dirty, tired, but smiling. “Okay, sorry, things are a little crazy right now. Your arrival really surprised us. We had a truck driver come in a few hours ago, but by now, honestly, we weren’t too sure anyone was left out there alive.”

  “It’s really bad out there. I can’t believe how fast this whole thing spiraled out of control.” Katie tucked her hair behind her ears and looked around the site again. “Are y’all in touch with FEMA or any other agencies?”

  Travis set his hands on his belt and shook his head. “Phones are down. The Walmart truck driver said he saw lines down a few miles from here. Cell phones are dead in the water. We still have cable Internet, but that is spotty as sites go down. We’ve been listening to the emergency broadcast, but nothing makes sense. They don’t seem to have a clue in hell what’s going on.”

  “Zombies,” Jenni said firmly. “It’s zombies.”

  Travis glanced at her, grinning. “Yeah, zombies.”

  Katie looked again at the newly constructed cinder block wall. She couldn’t help but be curious about her surroundings. To finally feel safe and secure behind high walls was a real blessing as far as she was concerned. Being on the road had seriously frayed her nerves, and it felt good to be in an actual community of survivors. “So you did start the wall right away.”

  “About one o’clock yesterday,” Travis said. “We should have the rest up soon.”

  “Were you building all night?”

  “Yep. Had to. We’re short on people since a lot of my crew took off for home. Can’t blame them, really; with all the badness going down, people want to be with their families,” Travis answered sympathetically .

  Katie shivered as she remembered Lydia.

  Travis took hold of her shoulder and rubbed it lightly. “You okay?”

  She knew her eyes were glistening. “Just … We’ve all lost family.”

  “Yeah.” There was a wealth of grief in the word Travis uttered. “My parents…”

  “Jenni lost everyone but her stepson. I lost…” She faltered.

  Travis’s eyes were so warm, so compassionate. “You lost your husband.”

  Katie hesitated. Then, knowing that something was fast developing between her and Travis—some kind of bond … It was best to be honest.

  “My wife.”

  Travis’s gaze dropped for an instant, but his hand did not. He rubbed her arm tenderly, then said, “I’m sorry. She had to be real special to be with you.”

  Even if his words were just his Texan manners, they touched her. They unleashed something deep within her and she covered her mouth, tears springing from her eyes and running down her face. Their gazes met—strong, understanding—and he put his other hand on her other shoulder.

  “It’s so hard to not have her here…,” Katie gasped.

  “But she’d want you to survive,” Travis assured her.

  “I know, but it doesn’t make it any easier,” Katie admitted.

  Katie had been so focused on Travis that she was startled when Jenni wrapped one arm around her waist and leaned against her, offering comfort.
Travis let go and stepped back to let the friends have a moment.

  “I’m so sorry, Katie,” Jenni whispered. “I wish she was here, too.”

  “I’m glad we’re here together.”

  Katie observed that Jenni looked confused by the intense emotions of the last few minutes, and she could guess why. To Jenni, things between men and women were black-and-white—Katie had seen that in Jenni’s behavior. It was all sex and power with Jenni. Travis and Katie clicking on some subliminal level had to be throwing her. She gently tucked a tendril of Jenni’s dark hair back from her friend’s face and smiled tenderly at her. Jenni returned her smile and Katie felt the pain inside lessen.

  Katie looked down at her feet to regain her composure. Finally, she peered up at Travis again. “Thank you for being so kind. I do appreciate it.”

  “We’ve all lost people. It’s going to rough for all of us to move on. We’re all going to have to help each other.” Travis shrugged slightly. “We’ll do what we have to.”

  “Hey, Travis,” a tall Hispanic man said as he joined them. He appeared in his late twenties and had long, curly hair flowing out from beneath his cowboy hat. His dark hair had glints of red, and his eyes were dark green. He was tall and deeply tanned and had the lean-muscled build of someone who did a lot of hard physical labor.

  “Jenni, Katie, Jason, this is Juan. He’s the foreman,” Travis said by way of introduction.

  “Nice to meet ya,” Juan said in his thick Texan accent. “That zombie maid is at it again, Travis.” He pointed, drawing their attention to a window high above them.

  “That’s the old hotel,” Travis explained. “The renovation was just finished recently and they were getting set to open soon.”

  “How do you know she’s a maid?” Katie wondered.

  “How do you know she’s a zombie?” Jenni added, squinting, trying to see where Juan was pointing.

  “Only staff was in the building, so we’re assuming she’s a maid,” Travis answered. “And she has beat her head against that window hard enough to smear it with blood, which seems like a zombie thing to do.”