The truck lurched forward again and made a run toward the gate.
2. Death by Red Truck
The truck vanished as it raced around the block toward the street that led to the gate. It swung back into view and headed toward where the zombies still stood beating against the closed metal gates.
Katie ran along the top of the roof, her eyes watching the truck and its fierce run toward the entrance to the fort. She got into a better position to watch, and held a hand to her brow to shield her eyes.
The red truck slammed into the outer fringe of zombies, wiping out a slew of them in one fell swoop. The brakes were slammed down on and the truck came to a hard stop right before the gate. Nerit reversed and backed up drawing the surviving zombies away from the gate. She drove slowly backward allowing the zombies to nearly catch up before she hit the accelerator and the truck lurched out of their grasp. The truck reversed up the road quite some distance and Katie had a good idea what came next. The red vehicle charged forward straight toward the dead and slammed into crowd. Zombies flew in every direction, bodies bursting apart, pieces of bodies flying across the street as the impact split them apart.
"Shit," was all Travis could manage.
The truck backed up slowly again, the few still staggering zombies trying to follow. The truck sat idling, seeming to wait and when they were within a few feet of its front grill, it leaped forward and knocked them flat. Then the truck reversed hard and ran over the bodies. Then forward again. The zombies were crushed beneath the tires.
The truck backed up, the door opened, and Nerit appeared, standing up on the edge of the cab, leaning one elbow on the door. Her rifle came into view and the last four zombies, stuck in the gate, waved their free limbs at her, growling hungrily. One by one, their heads popped and they collapsed.
Nerit slid back into the truck and slammed the door shut.
Travis drew his walkie-talkie. "Open the gate. It's clear now. We have a visitor."
The red truck drove slowly up the carnage covered road and idled outside the gate as some of the workers hurried to get it open.
Juan stared out at the dead bodies and the gore splattered truck. "Wow."
Katie and Jenni headed toward the stairs. They both knew something was horribly wrong.
Juan looked over at Travis. "Wow."
Travis smiled slightly. "Tough women are sexy, huh?"
Juan looked back. "Shit. I think I want to marry her."
Nerit had arrived.
3. Nerit’s Story
Travis ran behind Jenni and Katie. Both of them were hurrying at top speed. Down the stairs, out the back door, across the site, up onto the platform, across the bridge and down the ladder into the new entry: it was a mad dash the whole way.
The red truck slowly slipped through the gates. Armed guards made sure no zombies managed to get in with it, but Nerit had done a good job clearing the street. The truck's deer guard was slathered in blood and gore and the tires left grimy reddish/black tracks behind it.
Travis watched Katie's expression. It was desperate, sad, fearful, and wary. Katie felt fragile to him now and it terrified him. Though he could see her outward strength, he feared her internal strength was failing her. What was happening or not happening between them seemed minor compared to the haunted look in her eyes.
Jenni clung to Katie's hand, looking scared. Her long black hair caught the morning breeze and streamed behind her. She really was lovely and he was glad Juan had found comfort with her. Belinda was just bad news for him. She was his eternal crush all the way back in kindergarten and Travis had watched Juan be lured in only to be spurned.
Where was he in all this though? Travis wasn't sure. He had a job to do.
He planned to get it done.
He had slid out of bed in the middle of the night to work on some modifications to the new gate system and felt satisfied he had worked out the problems. That work had made him feel solid and good inside, but one look at Katie and that feeling slipped away. He was mad for her and he knew it.
Never had he been in love with any woman as he was in love with her. But at the same time, he wanted just to make sure she was okay. He did not want to cause her anymore pain than she was in, but she had given him hope. Given him more hope than he had dared to dream of.
But now, seeing Nerit's expression as she slid out of her truck, clutching her sniper rifle in one hand and the collar of her dog in the other, Travis could see just how devastating love could be.
Nerit looked pale, her eyes red and swollen. She let go of the dog and held out her arms to the young women who rushed immediately to her.
Holding onto both of them, she let out a soft whimper and Travis' heart broke.
Nerit didn't have to say a word for all of them to know Ralph was gone.
"This isn't good, is it," Juan said from behind Travis.
Travis glanced back at him and shook his head. "No, it’s not."
Thirty minutes later Nerit sat in the council room, a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a fresh cigarette lit and smoldering in the other. Juan had gone to get her cigarettes at her request and he had taken a pack from his sacred stash.
Travis sat down across from her while Jenni and Katie flanked her. Both of the women looked stricken. Nerit looked calm, yet her hands were shaking.
"It happened two days ago," she started then took a long drag on her smoke. "I was bored. I read a lot and had read all the books in our house. So I went across the street to the store. I knew that they carried some paperbacks and magazines so I thought I'd grab some." She rubbed her weary eyes and sighed. "So I went into the grocery store and started collecting reading material. Ralph was on the roof working on our new garden. It felt safe, but I still had my rifle, you know?"
Katie nodded. "I know. We can't take chances."
"No, no, we can't. There are worse things than zombies out there." Nerit sighed. She lowered her head for a moment, then tilted her head, concentrating on some point in the past. "So, I'm looking through the paperback rack and I hear a noise outside. I look and I see a van with four men getting out of it in front of the store. Ralph stands up, calls out, and one of the men tells him to open the door. Ralph says not until he knows that none of them has been bitten. So one of these men…" Nerit faltered, her eyes lowering as she took a deep breath, "One of them shot Ralph."
"Shit," Juan said softly.
Jenni lowered her head and Katie reached out to take Nerit's hand gently.
Nerit gripped Katie's hand so tightly Travis could see that her knuckles were white. "So they shot him and started trying to break in. They broke out the windows and tried to figure out how to pull the bars out of the windows.
But that building is old and strong. They couldn't figure it out. I went to the roof of the grocery store while they did their best to get in." Nerit fell silent as she gathered her strength, then looked up once more. "I made it to the roof and took up position. They did not even look up."
Travis shifted in his chair, picturing the scene oh too clearly in his mind.
Nerit, the former Israeli sniper calmly getting into position: the men below oblivious.
"I could see Ralph slumped over and there was so much blood. I…was going to start to shoot…make the bastards pay…when another man came out of the back of the van. He was dragging a woman by her hair. She was bound and gagged. I could see she was struggling and the man was laughing this horrible laugh. Horrible." Taking a long drag on her cigarette, Nerit paused, clearly trying to keep control of her emotions.
Travis stood up and slowly walked over to the window. He had a feeling the story was only going to get worse and the pain emanating out of Nerit reminded him far too much of the pain he felt flowing out of Katie at times.
Juan sat next to Jenni and put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. Her fingers still rested lightly on Nerit's arm, but she seemed overwhelmed by grief.
"He kept kicking the girl and I was about to put him out of his misery when I saw the girl's face. It was…wild…dead…hungry. Then he said, 'I told you she was bit' and kept kicking her. She was in a horrible state. Her thighs were raw and covered in blood. Her breasts bruised and cut. To me it looked like they raped her until she was dead. But she was alive again or alive as those things are."
Katie looked toward Travis and he sighed. The world was dangerous enough without human predators to add to the mix.
"So," Nerit exhaled slowly. "So they start talking about finding a replacement for her. And how she was the last of the good fucks they had.
That they needed more girls for the rest of the guys back at their camp. So I knew then what to do." Nerit took a long slow drag off her cigarette and her eyes became cool, calm and dangerous. "I had my sniper rifle, so I merely shot off her bonds. I didn't worry about hurting her; she's dead. But with the silencer and those idiots making so much noise, they never heard. I watched her get up and charge them. I watched her get her revenge on the one who had been kicking her. The other men began to panic and some shot at her."
Nerit paused and smiled, "I shot the weapons out of their hands and let her have them. All of them. And when they rose, I put them down, one by one.
And at the end, I gave her, that poor girl, her peace."
They were all speechless. What could they say? Travis was at an utter loss. What Nerit had seen and experienced was beyond anything he had encountered. He felt sick to his stomach and afraid.
"I went across the street, back home. Ralph was alive, just barely. I got him downstairs and laid him on the bed. It was a gut wound and fatal. So I gave him morphine and sat with him, held his hand, until the end." Tears streamed down her face, but her expression was stoic. "I sat with my revolver against his temple and waited. But after his last breath, he didn't stir again. I covered his body with a blanket and closed the door."
"Why didn't you call us?" Katie asked.
"And risk those other men knowing where I was? I didn't dare. I just packed up as much as I could, grabbed the old dog and started out late last night." Nerit stubbed out the cigarette and sighed. "I was afraid to be on the road knowing those bandits are out there."
"We need to make sure we double the guards," Travis said softly.
"I need to finish the gates," Juan said standing up. "We can't take any risks if we have more to worry about than just zombies."
Jenni looked up, tears streaming down her face. "If they'll just shoot an old man without a thought what would they do to us?"
Katie had her arms around Nerit, comforting her. "We need to just make sure we are ready for them if they do show up."
Travis nodded and walked over to Nerit and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Nerit. I liked Ralph."
Nerit smiled at him slightly. "And he liked you. But he did teach us one final important lesson."
"What's that?"
"It's the bite that brings them back. We have nothing to fear from the ones who die naturally." Nerit sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "And for that, I am grateful."
Epilogue
The reality of the new world, in all its brutal and violent glory, had enveloped the Fort. Not only was the threat from without, but also from within. A murder had been committed by one of their own and despite the rigorous investigation instigated by Bill, the murderer was not found.
There was some relief that normal death did not bring about a zombie birth due to the aged population in the Fort. Ralph dying a peaceful death was a comfort to those who knew him in life or over the CB.
Nerit found a place for herself in the Fort relatively quickly. She had one true desire: to keep going. No one stopped her when she immediately found work to do.
Juan and Travis worked tirelessly on the gate system, only taking a few breaks to sleep or eat. The construction crews not only fixed the first gate following Travis' plans, but erected the second gate as well. Incorporating the old newspaper building into the Fort, they soon had a working garage. The only problem with the old offices was the years of filth and grime inside of them. For a long time, the building had sat derelict and to clean it out completely would take weeks or maybe months. It was inhospitable. They needed the hotel.
Meanwhile, Katie, Nerit, Jenni and other volunteers worked hard on construction of a gated entrance that would open to the hotel. Nerit seemed energized by the work and her dog, Tucker, and Jack sat nearby watching it all with great interest. Katie and Jenni threw themselves into the task, working so hard they could barely stand the pain of their aching muscles when they laid down to sleep.
Jason gave up his bed to Nerit and moved into a room with another teenage boy survivor. Jack reluctantly went with him and gave up his spot to Ralph's old hunting dog.
Katie woke up on several nights to see Jenni sneaking out to be with Juan and was happy that at least her friend had found some happiness in this dead and rotting world. She continued to struggle with the ghost of Lydia, feeling guilt for any ounce of happiness she found. The only way to deal with the guilt was limiting her time with Travis and she knew it hurt him. But what else could she do?
The guards maintained their posts watching for zombies and possible human bandits. The world seemed even more dangerous than before and everyone was on edge.