Jason joined her at the table. Jack was close behind with his ears perked, looking at the boy anxiously for scraps. The teenager seemed a bit moody this morning and Katie didn’t blame him. Being here, being safe, made her feel raw and more vulnerable emotionally. Being on the run, living on the edge of death, was numbing and comforting compared to the quiet when there was time to reflect on all they had endured and lost.
“Mom’s still asleep?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, she seemed really tired.”
“She was out late with that guy,” Jason said darkly.
Katie opened her mouth and found that she didn’t know what to say. Of course he was upset. Jason’s dad was newly dead, and already his stepmom seemed to have her eyes on another man. She took a bite of the Danish; it was close to being stale.
Jason gave the dog a few bits of cold chicken. “Dad was a shithead, but…” He shrugged moodily.
“Yeah,” Katie said, not sure really what she was agreeing to, but Jason nodded back at her and set about eating.
“It would be different if it was you,” he said in a low voice, so no one else could hear. “At least you wouldn’t be replacing Dad.”
Katie reached across the table and touched his cheek. “Jason, I think Jenni is just dealing with things the best way she can. I don’t think you have to worry about anyone replacing your father right now.”
Turning his face away, he shrugged. “Whatever.”
She sighed. They ate in silence. When she finished, Katie gave the boy a brief hug, patted Jack on the head, and headed downstairs.
When she stepped out into the fresh, cool air, she saw that the wall had been completed. Made of concrete, at least two feet thick and ten feet high, the wall stood sturdy and defiant, five feet inside the hurricane fence perimeter.
Hands on hips, she surveyed her surroundings. Above the wall, she could see the tops of the buildings that surrounded their little fort. From her glimpses of them yesterday, she thought most of them had been abandoned long before the zombies arrived, except for the Dollar Store across the street. Inside the little fort, a fairly clear path ran along the edges, except for where some of the bigger machinery was clustered in a corner. Katie remembered seeing the bulldozers and heavy equipment parked outside the wall.
Stretching, she felt the coffee giving her a nice little rush. She felt almost normal for a second. She started to jog at a nice, even pace along the path around the site, darting around the port-a-potties and the lunch wagon and behind the portable office buildings. After a few minutes, she felt her energy increase and her endorphins kick in, and soon she was jogging at a fair clip despite her heavy Doc Martens.
She was on her third circuit around the fort when Travis joined her. He matched her pace easily and said, “Hey.”
“Hey,” she answered with a smile. Glancing at him, she saw that he looked a little groggy. “Late night?”
“Sentry duty until midnight kinda took it out of me. I really need coffee, but they were fresh out, so here I am,” he replied.
“You jog?”
“Every morning,” he admitted, and she noted the natural ease with which he carried himself.
“I used to run every evening with Lydia,” she said, and was instantly tormented by the vision of Lydia attacking her. Her vision blurred with instant tears.
Travis jogged next to her, silent and watchful. He waited until she had control of herself, then said, “Ralph called in early this morning. He wanted to know if we’ll be heading his way today.”
Katie glanced toward Travis. “Are we?”
“I’m seriously worried about the school. They will eventually get out, and when they do, they’ll come here.”
Katie expertly dodged around a trio of construction workers who looked dirty, tired, and nervous. “How far away is the school?”
“Three blocks north.”
“Three blocks!” She was so startled, Katie nearly ran into the wall. Travis grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Yeah. That’s why I’m so nervous. They’ll come straight here, and we’ll be swamped. We will have to be able to better defend ourselves.”
“Plus they don’t sleep. …” Katie shook her head. “Yeah, we need to get the guns here soon. What about food?”
“We’re okay for now, thanks to the fund-raiser and all the canned food from the food drive. Plus the truck that arrived yesterday was heading for a Walmart, and we managed to unload a lot of it before a throng of zombies arrived. We’ve got a lot of canned and boxed food and other supplies. We won’t run out of toilet paper any time soon.” Travis grinned as they started on a fresh circuit of the complex.
“What a relief! I thought we were doomed,” Katie said with mock seriousness.
Travis chuckled and she joined him. They sprinted around the lunch wagon and some people sitting in chairs enjoying the morning.
“But seriously, we have the wall up and food for a while, but we need a solid way to defend ourselves. I think our best shot is the truck you and Jenni came in. It looks tough and fast.”
“We’re out of gas,” Katie reminded him.
“But we have some gasoline here in the fort,” he said. “We just have to get it out to the truck and fill it up.”
“How many zombies are out there now?”
“Six more showed up in the early morning. We’re trying to lure them close enough to kill, but the dead ones keep tripping them up. We’ll have to distract them. Probably with a car alarm like yesterday.”
Katie lifted an eyebrow. “So that’s how you did it?”
“We’re clever that way.” Travis grinned.
“So … someone runs over to the truck with gas canisters, fills the tank, and hauls ass to Ralph’s?” Katie could hear her doubts in her voice.
“Yeah. You and me. The guys trick the zombies into heading for the other side of the fort and we run for it. There’s a gas station ten miles down the road. We fill up the rest of the way there.”
Katie laughed. “Sounds easy.”
Travis’s eyes cast a shy look at her. “Yeah, I’m easy.”
That made Katie laugh even more. “Okay, so you and I run out there and risk our asses to get a load of guns and save the day, huh?”
“Gee, ma’am, when you say it that way, it sounds kinda romantic,” Travis teased her.
Katie rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’m in. But I know Jenni will insist on coming with us.”
“Yeah, she really does like to kill zombies, doesn’t she?”
Katie remembered Jenni running out onto Ralph’s balcony and shooting a zombie just because it looked like her father. “Um … yeah.”
“Think she’s okay, upstairs?” Travis asked meaningfully.
Katie pondered this, recalling Jenni’s near catatonia, then her quick rebound into Linda Hamilton in The Terminator. “No. No, I don’t think so. But I think Jenni had a lot of bad things happen to her in the old world, and I think she’s dealing with what’s happened as best she can. And better than many…”
They stopped outside the city hall, and Katie took time to stretch out her muscles. “I’m due for the shower.”
“I’ll go talk to Juan and Jenni.”
“Juan?”
“Yeah, he’s read the Zombie Survival Handbook a million times. I think he’ll be a great backup.”
“Okay.”
His gaze intense, Travis shifted on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. “If you don’t want to go back out there—”
“I’m in. No worries,” Katie said swiftly. “I’d rather be proactive than not.”
“So we got a plan?”
“We got a plan,” Katie assured him.
His gaze met hers in that way that made her avert her eyes. She felt a little flushed and shifted nervously on her feet.
Travis looked a little flushed, too. “Okay, rendezvous back here in twenty minutes.”
Katie laughed. “I’m a woman. Make it forty.” She turned and ran into the building.
* * *
Travis gazed after her with his expression showing all too clearly he knew she was a woman. Rubbing his chin, he exhaled slowly.
“She’s gay, dude,” Juan said in his thick West Texas accent from behind him.
“Shut up,” Travis said gruffly, turning toward his best friend.
Juan grinned. “You have to pick the single, straight, available girls if you ever plan to get laid, man.”
“Gimme a break, Juan. I’m not even thinking about getting laid,” Travis protested.
“You’re a guy. You expect me to believe that?” Juan flicked the brim of his hat, pushing it back on his head. “She’s hot, but she’s so not even playing the same ball game you are.”
“Why don’t we have a change of subject?” Travis cocked his eyebrow.
“How about your suicide run to get the guns?”
“About that…”
Juan narrowed his eyes. “Let me guess. You volunteered me.”
Travis smiled broadly as he swung his arm around Juan’s bronzed shoulders to lead him away. “You are our zombie expert. So, this zombie handbook you were telling me about—”
“Ah, shit,” Juan muttered.
CHAPTER TEN
1.
Rush of the Dead
They were ready to go. Katie hugged Jason before leaning over to give Jack a kiss. Jenni stood nearby, her dark hair tied up in a high ponytail, a backpack slung over her shoulders. The sun was higher now, and Jenni looked pale but confident. When Katie released him, Jason went to Jenni and hugged her.
“We’ll take good care of each other. I promise,” Katie reassured him.
Jack whined at her, lifting a paw to scrabble at her knee.
“Jack, stay here and take care of Jason, okay?”
The dog looked from Katie to Jason, then walked sullenly to the boy’s side.
It felt strange to leave the dog behind; after all, he had been a constant part of their life for the last two days, but Katie and Jenni agreed it was better to let Jason have the comfort of his company.
The diversion had started. Katie heard the car alarm going off on the other side of the complex. Standing on the roof of city hall were two men, one with binoculars, watching the zombies in the street below. They would not give the all clear signal until the road leading to the red pickup was devoid of the undead.
Katie stood quietly, hands on her hips, sunglasses covering her eyes to keep the morning glare from blinding her. She wore her customary tank top and pants, and Travis wore a T-shirt, jeans, and heavy boots. If she had time, she decided, she’d get some new clothes at Ralph’s. She slung her shotgun over her shoulder as Jenni tucked her revolver into her belt. Eyeing them jealously, Juan shifted his spear. “I cannot wait to have a decent gun.”
Travis grinned. “You’ll have one soon enough. Let’s get moving.”
Travis climbed up to the sentry platform and then shimmied down the ladder first. Katie followed, gripping the rungs tightly with sweaty palms before slipping over the top of the wall and scooting down a second ladder on the other side. The hurricane fence was their next obstacle.
Jenni and Juan joined them with Juan hauling a gas canister in one hand. Together, Katie and Travis moved the ladder to the chain-link fence, climbed up, and dropped down on the other side of the fence.
Katie took a deep breath as she looked back at the fence and the new wall. It had seemed so much safer on the other side. Knowing how close they were now to the undead, she felt her heartbeat speed up.
Jenni dropped down as Juan handed the gas canister over the fence to Travis. Noticing her expression, Jenni gave Katie’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“We’ll kick their asses,” Jenni said determinedly, obviously fighting back her fear.
“Of course.” Katie forced a smile and looked at Travis. The tall man lifted a ladder that was lying on the ground nearby and leaned it against the truck barrier. Once it was steady, he gave them the thumbs-up.
Juan dropped over the fence as Mike, a construction worker, recovered the ladder. Mike was impressive in size. He stood a whole head taller than most people around him and his arms rippled with muscles under his dark skin. His shaved head glistened in the sunlight as he watched the proceedings with a worried expression on his face. Katie couldn’t blame him. She was anxious, too.
“Remember, as soon as we get the signal, head for the truck. Just get in. We’ll cover you,” Travis said.
Jenni nodded. “I got it.”
“No worries,” Juan assured him.
Travis wiped his brow with his hand and looked at Katie. “You ready?”
“Oh, yeah. A little scared, but ready.”
The men on top of city hall gave the all clear signal.
“Time to go,” Travis muttered.
“Good luck,” Juan said, shaking their hands.
Jenni gave them both hard hugs. “Run like the wind.”
“Trust me. I’ll set a new world’s record today,” Katie said with a wry grin.
“Let’s hurry.” Travis turned and headed up the ladder.
Katie followed, trying not to panic. She felt a little dizzy and sweat was trickling down between her shoulder blades. Maybe it was the sun, or the stress, or even both, but she felt light-headed and slightly unreal.
Reaching the top, she heaved herself onto the packed earth in the bed of the construction truck and looked around. The road looked clear. Juan passed the gasoline up to them, and Travis set the can near the edge. No one spoke; the tension lining their faces said it all. Travis dropped over the side of the truck and landed easily in the empty road. Katie handed him the gas can and spear.
Looking around one more time—no zombies in sight—Katie took a deep breath and swung herself over the side of the truck. As she dropped, she caught her forearm on the edge of the truck bed. There was an instant of pain, and Katie took a brief look at her brand-new, nasty scrape, but there was really no time to worry about it.
“Be careful,” Jenni called out to her.
“We’ll be right back with the truck,” Katie promised before running after Travis.
They were halfway down the block, sprinting for the truck, when Katie started to hear footsteps pounding on the brick road behind her.
Jenni screamed, “Katie, there’s one behind you!”
Travis shouted, “Shit!”
Katie ran with her shotgun bouncing against her back and her arms pumping. Travis was a few feet in front of her. Katie started to panic as the stench of decay and death grew stronger and the footsteps got closer. The keening was louder, more hungry, more crazed.
“Duck!” Travis yelled, stopping and then whirling about.
Katie ducked and slipped around him as he lifted his spear. She heard a meaty thwunk and turned to see the spear jammed into the zombie’s mouth. It fell back, twisting on the ground, trying to get up. Katie drew her shotgun as Travis reached for the spear.
“No time,” she said, grabbing his arm. “More might come.”
They both tuned and ran.
The truck loomed large and red before them. For the first time, Katie saw the gore and blood dried on its heavy deer guard. Despite her frantic thoughts, she looked closely to see that there was nothing undead lurking under the heavy truck. Scanning the street beyond their destination, she saw zilch stirring.
She reached the truck and whirled about, shotgun ready. She aimed down the street to cover Travis. She could see Juan and Jenni, still at the construction truck, watching them.
Katie heard a metallic pop as Travis opened the gas tank. Her eyes scanned the street and she reached out and opened the driver’s-side door. Even in their haste, Jenni and Katie had shut the truck’s doors when they fled the evening before. She thrust one hand into her pants pocket, and her fingers closed over the pickup’s keys.
“More are coming!” Jenni shouted. She and Juan motioned frantically, urging their friends to hurry.
“Travis,” Katie said in a strained voice.
�
��I heard them,” Travis tersely answered.
The glug glug glug of the gas being poured into the tank was a welcome sound, but the howls and screeches of the approaching zombies were not. They rounded the corner, a torrent of battered, bloodied, ripe, dead bodies. Katie lifted her shotgun a little higher as she edged into the cab and put the keys in the ignition.
“Travis,” she urged.
“Almost done,” he retorted.
The zombies were closing fast. There were at least a dozen. They were running so fast, their limbs were popping, arms suddenly going limp, legs suddenly dragging. But a good number kept up a steady sprint.
“Travis,” she implored again, “hurry!”
“Fuck it!” He threw away the gas container before it was empty, an arc of clear fluid splashing the brick road. He shoved the gas cap in place and darted around to the passenger side.
Katie yanked her door shut and gunned the engine. It didn’t start.
Travis banged the passenger door shut. “Go! Go! Go!”
“It won’t!”
“Keep trying! It was bone dry.”
Katie kept turning the key and pumping the gas, her eyes on the zombies just a few yards away. The engine caught and roared to life. She shifted gears and floored the gas pedal; the pickup barreled through the zombies and toward the truck barrier, where Jenni and Juan were jumping up and down in excitement on top of the truck, waiting to be picked up.
“Drive fast so the zombies won’t have a chance to catch up, then we get Juan and Jenni and go,” Travis said breathlessly.
Katie nodded.
When they were a block away from the fort, the road ahead rapidly filled with zombies like water filling a basin. All sizes, all ages, rushing toward the truck, howling. The battered, torn bodies of men, women, and children stumbled, staggered, and even sprinted toward them.
Katie smashed her foot down on the brakes. “Oh, God.”
Travis sat silently, watching the flood. “They’re out.”
Katie drew in a shuddering breath. “Yeah.”
At least a hundred zombies were inundating the street between the truck and Jenni. Katie could see Juan pulling Jenni back toward the safety of the fort.
As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 15
