The First Days: As the World Dies (25 page)

2. The Quiet Before The Storm

    

    Katie walked up the stairs to one of the main platforms overlooking the new entry point. The sun was setting and the construction crew was working hard until the last shards of light faded.

    It was coming along quickly, with the construction crew working around the clock. It was rough going and stressful. There had been a few attacks by zombies, but the guards had managed them with no loss of life. As the days wore on and small raiding parties went out into the town (always within a few blocks of the fort) to salvage what they could, a trickle of survivors began to arrive. They were usually pale shadows of the people they had been, near starvation, and sometimes severely dehydrated.

    Belinda, the town librarian, had hunkered down with a stack of medical books and tried hard to make do with the supplies that had come in from the local drugstore and the convenience store. She wanted desperately for them to raid the clinic, but Juan had explained that the clinic was packed to the gills with zombies. If they went into the clinic, it would have to be carefully planned out and loss of life would have to be expected.

    Katie rubbed the tip of her nose and sighed. Her face was slowly healing and now there was just a pale swath of green and purple bruising. Her lip had healed and the soreness was fading. But she still felt battered and bruised from that huge battle. The terror she had felt plus the raw energy of the kills, and shooting that man and just not giving a damn.

    That still haunted her. She had killed him and not cared. At first, she had not been certain why she had found it so easy to pull the trigger, then after her dream, she had understood.

    After someone was bitten, the end result was inevitable. To put them out of their misery quickly and efficiently was not only humane, but also necessary for the safety of all. She knew that, of course, in theory. But the sheer horror of knowing that Lydia was still out there, undead, destroying other lives, was too much to bear if she gave it too much thought.

    Looking over what had been accomplished so far, Katie couldn't help but smile. The outline of the enormous lock system was up. A sturdy, high wall, three feet thick, extended the length of a block and a half. They had blocked both ends of the block to construct the wall with the storage containers and other heavy equipment. They had gone into each empty, abandoned building to make sure it clear. The wall had gone up as fast as they could get it up. The abandoned businesses had not been incorporated into the fort due to their dilapidated condition, but the wall had been built right up against them.

    Travis explained they planned to use the rooftops for sentry duty. Any entrances to the roofs of these buildings had been cemented over. Nothing or no one could get up on top of the buildings or scale the wall. Fire escapes had been dismantled and the parts moved into the fort. Everything that could be used was being salvaged.

    The new gates were being tested. They had been giving the workers some trouble, but it seemed the problem had been solved. The second set of gates would be going up soon inside the long narrow entry point. Already a fence was being constructed to keep guards safe and slow the zombies down in case of infiltration.

    "Looking good, isn't it?" Travis joined her and smiled.

    "Awesome, actually. It almost looks like a castle."

    "Yeah, I can see that," Travis responded with satisfaction.

    The only way into the new area at this point was by long ladders.

    Looking over the new area gave her a sense of hope.

    "It almost feels like we're on top of this," she said.

    "Yeah, almost." He glanced back at the hotel and the many windows shimmering with the fading sunlight. "That's gonna be the big victory."

    "When are we going in?"

    "As soon as the entrance is done. You can see by discoloration of bricks where they bricked up a back entrance of the hotel. We'll go in there. But I'm not comfortable just breaking in and going in. If there are more zombies that we think in there, they could flood the fort as soon as we break open the wall."

    "So, what are you planning?" Katie tilted her head and looked up at the back end of the hotel. Her blond hair billowed around her face in the cool breeze.

    "Build a small wall encapsulating the new doorway and use the old wrought iron gate as the door. When we go in, we'll have the gate locked behind us with guards standing post," Travis answered solemnly.

    Katie sighed and shook her head. "Everything we do comes with such a great risk."

    Travis also sighed and leaned back against the railing. "We have a great opportunity right now to get ourselves secure before we get slammed with a bunch of those things again. I feel them coming, don't you?"

    "Everyday," Katie answered truthfully.

    Travis nodded. "Once the gate is fully operational, we'll extend our search out a few more blocks."

    "We may just lure more back here," Katie warned him.

    "I know, but I have a feeling any survivors out there are quickly running out of time."

    Katie turned her gaze toward the reinforced truck perimeter. It had been built up higher and now spikes rose up before them. If there was a push to get to the trucks, the zombies in the back would end up impaling their comrades in front of them.

    "We need to get into the hotel, too. Things are getting cramped in here.

    We're up to a hundred survivors."

    Travis made a face. "We don't have enough men, Katie. "

    "Then teach the rest of us how to do it. I can probably help build that entrance to the hotel you are talking about."

    Travis studied her and laughed. "Yeah, probably."

    "Jenni is going out on rescue missions. Jason and Curtis are trying to figure out how to make new weapons. Belinda is working hard to become a self-taught doctor. Peggy runs inventory like a general. Give me something to do, Travis." She gave him an intense look. "And stop protecting me."

    He looked startled at her comment. "You got hurt."

    "Yeah, but I'm healing."

    "I just thought…"

    Katie raised an eyebrow.

    Night was settling over the fort and people were lighting lanterns on the tables set up in the "residence" area of the site.

    Travis just stared at her. "Okay, okay, I'm trying to protect you."

    "Why?"

    Rubbing his face, the tall man sighed. "Um…because…look, I need you to help me figure all this out. I can't risk you getting… You've been hurt twice…You…"

    Katie held up her hand. "Okay, obviously, you're being a total girl right now. Just out with it, Travis."

    "I don't want to lose you to those things. Or to some dumbass going after you because you are gay. Yeah, I'm keeping you back from some stuff until you're okay. You did break down the other night; you did get the shit beat out of you. Sorry if I shouldn't be so protective, but I might as well tell you…"

    Katie didn't want to hear his next words. She quickly hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay, okay. But I don't need a big brother. I need to work. To keep busy."

    Travis blushed a little. "Yeah, well." He seemed to consider going on, telling her the truth they were both avoiding.

    "Uh huh. No worries." Katie said briskly and deftly avoided looking at him. Instead she looked toward the new entrance and watched the gates open and close in short jerky movements. "Things are getting better, but more complicated, aren't they?"

    "It's the way of life," Travis decided. He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. "Let's get some dinner."

    "Sounds oh so exciting," Katie joked.

    "Yeah, I hear it’s Dinty Moore beef stew night!"

    "Yummy. Ah, fillet Mignon, I miss you so."

    "Hamburgers…gawd…I miss those," Travis said with a little sigh.

    Katie laughed and they walked down to join the others for dinner.

    

    

3. Promises

    

    Katie glanced up from her meal of Dinty Moore beef stew and freshly baked cornbread to see a very pale and pensive Jenni sit down across from her.

    "What's wrong?"

    Jenni shrugged and used her spoon to poke apart the bits of beef in her stew.

    "Jenni?"

    "It's just not fair, you know? It's not fair that this thing splits up families.

    It's not fair that my kids are dead. It's not fair that your wife is dead. Why can't entire families survive together? Why can't they just make it through as a whole? Why is that so fucking hard?" Jenni finished her rant and shoved a bunch of stew in her mouth and chewed furiously.

    Katie blinked, then slid her hand across the table to gently pat Jenni's free hand. It rested on the table in a tight fist. "What happened?"

    Jenni shoved more food into her mouth and shrugged again. Her eyes were angry and not focused on anything or anyone in particular.

    Katie looked toward the entrance to the dining room to see Peggy talking to a distraught looking man who had his arms draped across the shoulders of a teenage girl and young boy.

    "You rescued a family," Katie said.

    "Half a family. The Mom and the little girl…zombies…or on their way…when we got there." Jenni stabbed a potato with her spoon until it was mush. "They were bit two days ago. If we hadn't gotten there in time the whole family would be dead right now."

    "But you did save some of them and that is something," Katie said softly.

    "Is it? Really?" Jenni covered her face with one hand. "Katie, the only thing I even feel a little good about is that I killed the mother and kid so they aren't out there running around. How fucked up is that?"

    "Honestly, I understand. I wish…I wish I had had the strength to kill the thing that was Lydia so she wouldn't be out there right now. I wish it with all my heart. So be glad you gave that family at least that much," Katie responded in a soft, tortured voice.

    Jenni lowered her head, nodding slightly. "I wish we had put Mikey and Benji to peace. Lloyd…fuck him…but the kids…" She sighed wearily and shoveled more food into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully, then waved her spoon around in the air, and said around her food, "It fucking sucks when death is a gift."

    Katie ran her fingertips over her forehead lightly, then leaned forward to look at Jenni straight on. "I'm not joking, Jenni. It's ripping me apart knowing that Lydia is out there. Lately, it’s almost unbearable."

    Jenni frowned and reached out to grip Katie's hand tightly. "I'm sorry, Katie. I didn't realize. Of course it's eating you up."

    Katie leaned her chin on one hand and just sighed. "Promise me, if I am ever bitten, that you will give me an out."

    Jenni nodded vehemently. "I will. I promise. I will. And you will do the same for me."

    Katie held Jenni's slim hand in hers and smiled at her sadly. "I promise.

    Strange, isn't it? The vow to kill each other has suddenly become sacred."

    "I'm telling you it's a fucked up world!" Jenni shoveled more food into her mouth.

    Katie let go of Jenni's hand slowly and nodded. Her gaze traveled to Travis, who was sitting across the room eating with Mike and Juan. "Yeah, It is. Can you excuse me?"

    "Uh, sure. You okay?"

    "No, not really, but I think that's normal," Katie answered with a small smile.

    "Yeah, tell me about it."

    Katie slid to her feet and carried her dish and glass over to the big plastic bins set up for the dirty dishes. It was looking pretty messy tonight and she was glad her kitchen detail had been the night before when it had been just sandwiches and salad.

    Moving down the hallway, she sought out the room where all the library books had been set up. It had formerly been the record room, but now served its purpose as a small-condensed library. As she suspected, Jason was seated at the table, his food congealing beside him, Jack dozing at his feet, as he flipped through a book on chemical warfare.

    She was relieved to see that he was alone except for the dog.

    Sliding into the chair across from him, she rested her elbows on the table and regarded him thoughtfully. "Jason?"

    "Yeah?" He didn't even look up.

    "I have a favor to ask you," Katie said slowly.

    "Yeah?" He looked up, obviously trying to shift gears in his head. "Huh?"

    "Remember our talk a while back about my sexuality?"

    "Yeah?"

    "You didn't tell anyone I'm bi did you?"

    Jason kind of smiled. "No. I let them all think you and my Mom are doing it. Keeps the guys away from both of you."

    "Oh?" Katie thought about this then laughed. "Okay."

    "Yeah." He shrugged. "It works out better that way. I thought for awhile Juan was gonna try to hook it up with Mom, but he's all about Belinda."

    "Yeah, he seems to be," Katie agreed. "But anyway, I don't want you to tell anyone I'm bi, okay?"

    "Why?"

    "Well, for the reason you stated. I don't really want to deal with guys hitting on me."

    Jason blinked, thinking, then blinked again. "Um…okay…but is this…wait…" He frowned a little. "Why is this important all of the sudden now?"