“Strange, huh?” Katie slowly twisted the cap on her water bottle. “One moment, the world is normal. Pleasant. Everything you’re used to. The next … you’re building a wall.”
“We just don’t have a choice but to keep ourselves safe,” Travis said wearily.
“The mayor doesn’t make it easy, does he?”
“No. But … he’s used to things being a particular way. We all have to adapt. He will, too.” Travis finished eating and pushed the plate away. He returned his thoughtful gaze to Katie and she looked up at him. “We’ve met, haven’t we? Somewhere. A ways back, maybe.”
“Why do you ask?” Katie arched a brow then took a slow sip of water.
“Because I keep feeling like I know you. Your face seems so familiar. The second I saw you, I thought to myself that I knew you, but I just couldn’t remember your name.” Travis laughed, looking a little embarrassed.
“I’ve never been to Ashley Oaks before, so probably not,” Katie said at last.
“I wasn’t always here. Originally, I’m from Houston. That’s where I met Juan. We were working on a building together and became friends. He’s from here and he got me to move out here when I decided I needed a life change. Of course, this was not the life change I was expecting.”
“We went to Houston once in a while to visit Lydia’s family. Maybe we met once, but I don’t remember. Or maybe I just have one of those faces.” She grinned, trying to push any awkwardness away. “You know we blondes all look the same.”
Travis openly studied her face, then shook his head. “I don’t know. But I do know I like your face. And my gut tells me you’re good people.”
Tossing back her head, Katie laughed. “You go by your gut, too, huh?”
“Always have. It hasn’t led me astray yet.”
Katie leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her upturned palm. “It has led me astray a few times, but I’m sure that when it tells me that this is where I need to be, it’s telling me the truth.”
“I’m glad,” Travis said honestly and earnestly. “You’re smart and I like smart people.”
Jack hit Katie like a two-ton truck, diving for the empty plate.
“Hey!” Katie struggled with the big dog, wrestling him away from the plate he was so ardently licking.
“Sorry! Bad, Jack. Come here!” Jason ordered as he entered the dining room with his mother.
Katie managed to get the German shepherd off the table and gave him a fierce look. “Be a good dog!”
Tucking his tail between his legs, Jack walked back to Jason, giving her plaintive looks as he went.
“And on that note, I think I’m off to bed,” Katie said, sliding to her feet.
“I’m tired, too,” Jason said with a long yawn.
“I’m wired! I want to do something!” Jenni said with enthusiasm. “Travis, what can I do?”
“I’m heading out on patrol soon. Want to come along?” He stood up and cleared the table.
“Yes!”
Katie couldn’t help but laugh at Jenni’s perky expression. “You two have fun. C’mon, Jason.”
“Good night, Katie,” Travis called out after her.
A few minutes later, exhaustion hit Katie like a sledgehammer. She almost felt drunk as she sat down on a cot in the small, empty storage room on the top floor of city hall. The old building’s sloped roof made standing up straight a little difficult unless you were in the center of the room. She had a feeling Travis pulled some strings to get them a place inside the building and not camping out in portable buildings that were now dorms. Evidently, the basement of city hall had been designated as a bomb shelter during the commie scare and had still contained loads of cots and musty blankets that were now being used by those taking refuge in the fort.
Katie sat drooping on her cot, watching Jason fix a bed on the floor for Jack, using a blanket he had pinched when no one was watching the supplies.
She desperately wanted a shower, but the first opening on the shower’s sign-in sheet wasn’t until early the next morning. Everyone was using one shower, which was located in the city hall janitor’s office.
Jason slid onto his bed under the small, narrow window. Jenni’s cot was under the slant in the roof, forming an L with Katie’s.
Jack, the zombie-hating dog, examined his bed, circled three times, fussed at the blanket with his paws, circled again, and lay down with a yawn.
“Uh, Katie?”
“Yeah?”
“Um … are you and Jenni gonna hook up?”
Katie double-blinked and said, “Huh?”
“My mom, after my dad divorced her for Jenni, hooked up with this girl for about two weeks. Mom was always going from guy to guy, and that was the only girl, but I was just wondering…” Jason trailed off, seeing Katie’s expression. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s cool.” Katie sighed and ran her hands over her hair, which fell free to her shoulders in soft curls. “Okay, just because I like girls does not mean I’m going to hook up with the nearest unattached girl. In fact, it is my own personal rule not to get involved with straight women. I value myself too much to be someone’s experiment.”
Jason considered this and said, “Yeah. I guess that’s what my mom was doing since my dad was such a jerk to her. She made a big deal out of having a girlfriend and then it was over in weeks. Then she just went from boyfriend to boyfriend until she died in a car accident a few years ago. Some of them were cool, but most were jerks like Dad.” His voice carried a hint of the emotional fallout of his broken home as it quavered slightly.
“Is that when you came to live with Jenni and your dad?”
“Yeah. I didn’t really want to like her. Mom always called her ‘that bitch,’ but she’s really sweet. Kinda goofy. She’s more like an older sister than a mom. I’m really glad you saved her.” Jason sighed and lay on the cot. “I just thought maybe because you’re a lesbian, you two would end up together.”
Katie shook her head. She didn’t feel like hiding who she was anymore just to make someone comfortable. “I’m not a lesbian.”
Jason sat up again and looked at her, shocked. “Huh? But you said—”
“I wanted you to pee.” Katie winked at him. “But the truth is, I’m bisexual. Always have been. I dated guys and girls all through high school and in college. It just happened that the person—” Katie’s voice caught in her throat and she couldn’t talk for a moment. “—I fell in love with and wanted to spend my life with was a woman. It was her: Lydia.” She pulled out the phone and dared to waste a little bit of the battery, flashing the picture to Jason.
“She’s hot,” Jason announced. “Where is she?”
Katie stared at Lydia’s beautiful smile, then snapped the phone shut. “Somewhere out there. One of them.”
Jason winced. “Sorry, Katie.”
“Me, too … me, too.”
“So … uh … you like guys?”
Katie laughed and lay back on the bed. “I’ve had some boyfriends. I was even engaged to a guy.”
“What happened?”
“To my engagement?”
“Yeah.”
“I met Lydia. And that was that. I broke off the engagement. I just knew she was the one. Six years of heaven with someone who is … she was everything I needed.”
“I bet your boyfriend was mad.”
“Um … yeah. But we were together for all the wrong reasons. We worked together and shared ambitions. I think we took that to be more than it was.”
“Oh.”
“I often tell people I’m a lesbian so they’re comfortable.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Well, people like absolutes. And it blows most of their minds to try to think that I could find men and women equally attractive. It just freaks them out. They want me to be one or the other. So, since I was with Lydia, it was just easier to say I was a lesbian.” Katie held the phone against her chest and tried not to cry.
“So you could end up wi
th a guy or a girl?”
“Honestly, Jason, right now, I can’t imagine being with anyone. I just…” She rolled onto her side and faced the wall. “I just miss her.”
Jason was very quiet. Minutes ticked by while Katie’s hot tears flowed. How could she imagine being with anyone ever again?
Lydia … oh … Lydia …
“I just thought if you and Jenni hooked up, you would take good care of her,” Jason finally said softly.
Katie rolled over and gave him a soft smile. “That was a very sweet thing for you to say.”
“Well, you know, if you change your mind—” Jason faltered. “—I mean…”
“I know.” Katie tucked her phone under her pillow, then reached up and flicked off the light. Faintly, she could hear the few zombies moaning out beyond the perimeter. “But, Jason, honestly, right now I just … I loved her. The mere thought of being with anyone else just feels wrong.”
Jason turned his head to look across the small, darkened room. “I know, Katie. I just thought it would be cool if you and Jenni hooked up. You take good care of her. Not like my asshole dad. He was so mean to her.” Jason exhaled slowly. “And you make me feel safe, too. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
Katie smiled at him fondly. “I know. I feel the same way.”
“Do you think it’s safe here? For real?”
Katie looked toward the dark shape of the boy and chose her words carefully. “I think this is about as safe as we can get nowadays. We’ll be okay.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
With a loud yawn, Jason nestled under the covers. “I hope so. I am so tired of being afraid.”
“Me, too,” Katie answered softly as she settled down to sleep. “Me, too.”
3.
Dead Stars in Her Eyes
Jenni wandered along beside Travis, her hands tucked into her jacket pockets. It was cold now that the sun had settled below the horizon. She had finally let her long hair down from her ponytail to flow in the wind. It was a little bit of a ploy to get Travis to admire her, and it seemed to be working by the furtive looks he was casting in her direction. She really liked this tall, handsome, humble man. She was impressed that he warmly greeted everyone they came across. Their walk ended when they climbed on top of a truck to watch the zombies who had survived the slaughter. The undead kept trying to make their way closer to the living, but kept falling over their dead comrades. It was almost comical to see.
“I could shoot them,” Jenni offered.
“No, they’re not much of a threat down there, and we don’t need to draw more of them to us until we are more secure.” Stretching, Travis lifted his trowel-spear, freshly cleaned after the recent battle, over his head. Stirred up, a zombie woman tried to run toward them, fell over the dead bodies, and slammed headfirst into the asphalt.
“That had to hurt,” Jenni said, almost laughing.
“I don’t think they feel pain,” Travis said sadly.
The woman tried to get up, but could not find stable purchase on the bodies around her and kept sliding around in the gore and muck.
“Seriously, I could shoot her,” Jenni said again, somewhat hopefully.
Travis laughed. He rubbed his eyes and sat down in a chair that had been set up on the back of the truck. The truck’s bed was full of earth, and the chair sank down a little under Travis’s weight. Jenni sat down next to him, crossing her legs, recognizing he needed the better view for his job.
“So. Zombies are holed up in the school?”
“Yeah, we think so. We considered having someone drive out there to check, but decided that might give them the incentive they need to break out. Juan noticed that when they can’t see humans, they tend to just mill around. But when they spot living flesh, they go ape shit.” Travis watched the zombie woman writhing around in the guts of her dead comrades. At one point, she tried to eat a bit of intestine, only to spit it out.
Jenni watched the zombified woman as well, with a small smile on her face. Her fingers were itching to draw her gun and blast a hole through the woman’s skull. Something about this zombie’s desperation to get to them—coupled with her bright, candy pink jogging suit and bouffant hairdo—annoyed the ever-loving fuck out of her.
“Most of the ones I’ve seen have been running to eat me. I never see them just standing around.”
“Because we have these barricades, we’ve had a chance to see them kind of ‘at rest,’ just standing there, swaying or milling around, until they spot someone alive. But whenever a group figures out we’re back here, they attack and just keep attacking until we kill them.” He rubbed his chin contemplatively. “Sound sets them off, too. We used a radio to distract some of them once. When you and Katie arrived, we set off a car alarm from the roof of the city hall.”
Jenni drew pictures in the earth with her fingers. “I was wondering how you did that. It seems that each time Katie and I encounter zombies, they are on us in a second. We just run.”
“You and Katie had a rough time out there, didn’t you?”
Jenni made a face as she nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much from yesterday morning on.”
“It wasn’t so bad here. Since most of the townspeople went to the school so early, we really have had limited interaction with the zombies. Honestly, we had completely secured the perimeter before pack of them showed up. I almost feel guilty that I didn’t have to run for my life.”
“Well, it’s no fun, that’s for damn sure. Just consider yourself lucky and don’t feel guilty.” Jenni looked down at what she had written in the earth next to some stick figures: Benji. She quickly rubbed out the word. She just couldn’t think of those little fingers straining … straining …
“You okay?” Travis leaned forward and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Jenni looked up into his face and said simply, “No.”
He pressed his lips together and inclined his head in understanding. “Of course you’re not. Sorry.”
She looked down, her brow furrowing. “Is anyone okay, really? I don’t think I was okay before all this went down. I think I’m actually better now. That doesn’t make sense, I know. My children are … but … something inside me feels stronger.”
“Adversity brings out the best or the worst in people. Perhaps you are just finding strength you didn’t know you had.”
Jenni tilted her head, her dark hair falling softly around her pale face. She considered this, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not sure. I just know that when—” She faltered for a second. “—that when I saw what had happened to my children, the woman who I was just stopped existing. I think a piece of me died. And I came back to life in the truck with Katie. I’m weirdly comfortable in this world. Having Katie and Jason makes me feel solid. Safe. Being here makes me feel that way, too.”
Travis gave her that smile that warmed her to the very depths of her soul. “I’m glad you and Katie and Jason made it here. I’m not sure what will happen next, but I know we’re going to fight.”
“I just want to kill them all. Kill them for killing…” She stopped and looked down at her dirty fingers.
The zombie woman finally reached the truck and banged on the side, moaning and screeching.
“I want to kill her.”
“Then do it,” Travis said, offering her the makeshift spear.
Walking to the edge of the truck, Jenni looked down at the zombie’s bloodied, upturned face and all that damned hair-sprayed blond hair. She felt Travis’s fingers slip under her coat and grab her belt to hold her steady. She cast a grateful look over her shoulder at him and lifted the spear. Her gaze returned to the zombie and narrowed on the dead woman’s face and her glassy, blank eyes. So much like Lloyd’s when he had looked up at her as he stuffed more of Benji’s tender baby flesh into his mouth.
Jenni let out a hiss and slammed the tip of the spear hard into the woman’s eye socket. She felt the flesh giving way, the eye slicing apart like a boiled egg. Jenni sho
ved the trowel down as hard as she could. She felt things giving way, mashing and tearing. She lifted the weapon and thrust it down again. Almost growling, she stabbed the female zombie over and over again until the corpse slid down the side of the truck and lay still.
Jenni took great breaths of the rank, cool air.
Travis gently took the spear away from her and reached out to softly grasp her shoulder. “Better?”
“No. Not really. But it felt good.” Jenni gave him an awkward smile.
“You’re a strange, strange girl in a strange, strange world,” Travis said, and gave her a soothing hug.
Jenni nestled into his arms. It felt delightful to be in the arms of someone kind and well meaning. She didn’t even feel a little afraid of him; she already knew that he wouldn’t try to take advantage of her or hurt her.
After a minute, she sat back down on the dirt and watched another zombie try to walk over his dead comrades. “Sure you don’t want me to shoot him?”
Travis laughed. It was a wonderful sound to her ears.
4.
Breathing Space
When Jenni had finally come to bed, she leaned over and tenderly kissed Katie on the forehead. Katie sleepily opened her eyes to see Jenni lying down on her own cot and had reached out to take her hand. Soon she fell back to sleep, Jenni’s fingers intertwined with hers.
In the morning, she awakened to find Jenni peacefully snoring and Jason sneaking out the door with Jack on his heels. She could smell hot, fresh coffee and pulled on her socks and boots immediately as her stomach let out a hungry growl. Groggily stumbling down the narrow staircase, Katie headed to the community dining room, where people were gathered for coffee and breakfast—probably the last of the leftovers from the fund-raiser dinner.
After snagging a Danish, a breakfast taco, and a hot cup of coffee, Katie found a corner and sat down to enjoy her meal. The townspeople looked at her curiously, but seem locked in their own worlds. Of course, this was their town and it was now dead. They were probably in shock and in mourning and not sure what to think about any of this, including the blonde in the camouflage pants and black tank top.
As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 14
