Fighting to Survive (26 page)

“
Thanks,
Nerit,
”
Jason answered.
“
You
know, for listening.
”

She
nodded and walked on, her dog falling into step behind her. Today she
felt stiff and ungainly. Nothing seemed to work just right. It was
hard for her to accept her age when most of the time she did not feel
her years at all, but today she did. That she had sat down alone and
not with the other seniors had been deliberate. This was not a time
for her to give into time, but to fight it. With Mike gone, she had a
role to play.

Approaching the
front desk, she found Peggy typing away on a computer. People still
remained on the Internet where there was still service. The Mayor had
told her that several servers were up because the workers barricaded
themselves into buildings and were trying hard to keep the Internet
up and running-so information could be exchanged between the
surviving scientists. There were forums to contact other survivors,
Peggy often logged onto them to monitor other groups. It was
stressful whenever another group vanished off the list. News was hard
to come by. No one had any idea if there was any semblance of the
government left. The Internet was rife with rumors.

“
Do
you have the duty roster?
”

Peggy
started, then laughed.
“
Gawd,
you gave me a fright. Yeah, right there. I updated it like you
asked.
”

Nerit
checked it over and noted Jimmy was already on watch where she had
assigned him.
“
Excellent.
I
’
ll
make sure to get the updated schedule for the next few days to you as
soon as possible.
”
With Mike and the others dead, the roster would look very different.

“
I
can go ahead and take you off kitchen duty, since you took over for
Mike,
”
Peggy offered.

Nerit
shook her head.
“
No,
no. Cooking is relaxing. Keep me on it.
”

Peggy
shrugged, then cocked her head.
“
Nerit,
I was wondering. Could you show me how to shoot?
”

With
a grin, Nerit answered,
“
Of
course. I
’
m
thinking about making lessons mandatory, not voluntary.
”

With
a little sigh, Peggy bobbed her head in agreement.
“
I
just don
’
t
want to feel so useless or helpless.
”

“
That
seems to be the theme of the day,
”
Nerit answered and strolled away. She was halfway across the lobby
when she saw Curtis.
“
Curtis,
I have something I need to attend to. Mind joining me?
”

Curtis
hesitated.
“
Sure.
What are we dealing with?
”

“
Jimmy.
”

Curtis
frowned.
“
Yeah.
I talked to Travis and Juan about what he pulled yesterday. Juan
wants him pulled from anymore excursions.
”

“
We
need all the people we can use. He just needs to learn a lesson,
”
Nerit answered coolly.

She
entered the elevator and Curtis followed.

“
I
don
’
t
know, Nerit. He
’
s
always been twitchy.
”

“
We
’
re
all twitchy.
”

This brought guffaws
from Curtis.

She raised an
eyebrow at him.

“
You
’
re
the coldest of us, Nerit, a true killing machine. You
’
re
never twitchy.
”

Nerit
shook her head.
“
I
’
m
just well-trained.
”

“
We
don
’
t
need cowards,
”
Curtis said in a low voice.
“
We
don
’
t
need people who will sacrifice others to protect themselves.
”

“
No,
we need well-trained people,
”
Nerit answered in such a way Curtis fell into silence.

Jimmy was up on the
second floor, positioned over the front door. He was sitting on the
windowsill looking over the street with a bored expression on his
face when they entered.

“
Jimmy,
”
Nerit said.

He
looked up, startled, and quickly slid to his feet.
“
Hey,
Nerit.
”

“
Good
morning, Jimmy. How are you?
”

“
Good…good…”
He looked decidedly nervous as his gaze darted between Nerit and
Curtis.

“
Curtis,
can I have the gun you used yesterday to shoot the zombie with the
metal plate in his head?
”

“
Sure,
”
Curtis said, looking confused. He pulled a small .22 from his side
holster.
“
It
’
s
my backup weapon.
”

Nerit nodded,
stepped up to the window, and fired down at the zombie still
languishing on the street lamp below the window. It took four shots,
but the zombie collapsed into final death. Silently, she handed the
weapon back to Curtis.

“
Sometimes,
with small caliber, the bullets glance off hard surfaces. Not just
metal plates, but bone. You just have to keep firing. If you shoot
them through the eye, the bullet will bounce around their brain and
make mush of it. The lesson here, Jimmy, keep firing.
”
Nerit's gaze grew steely.
“
Never
leave anyone behind. If they are bitten shoot them, but if they are
alive cover them. Understood?
”

Jimmy
looked at her sullenly, but nodded.
“
Yeah,
I got it.
”

“
Good.
”
Nerit turned and walked out of the room, her job done.

Curtis
shuffled after her.
“
That
’
s
it?
”

Nerit
turned to face him.
“
That
’
s
it. For now.
”

Curtis
stared at her, then stepped back.
“
Okay.
Fine. Juan and Travis will not like this.
”

“
Then
they can talk to me,
”
Nerit answered. She stepped into the elevator and hit the button.

The
doors closed on Curtis frustrated features, Nerit sagged against the
side of the elevator and sighed.

2. Drawing the
Tower

The elevators slid
open on the sixth floor. Juan and Jenni stepped out, arguing loudly
in Spanish. Jenni was limping as she walked down the hall, her face a
decoration of purple and green bruises. Waving her hand in
frustration, she called Juan a few choice words in Spanish before
knocking on Katie's door.

Juan tried to
comfort Jenni, but she punched his arm, annoyed beyond words with
him. He had ruined a perfectly nice morning by ranting on and on
about how he was going to kick Jimmy's ass. All Jenni had wanted to
do was strip him naked and have lots of sex once Jason had gone down
to breakfast. Juan seemed to only want to devise ways of making Jimmy
miserable.

“
I
just love you, okay, Loca,
”
Juan said, taking hold of her arms and pulling her close.

“
Yeah,
then show me. Don't talk about something that happened yesterday. I'm
alive, okay?
”
Jenni frowned up at him.

Juan's curls fell
around her face as he kissed her. A bit of her anger dissipated. But
she pushed him away anyway and stuck out her tongue at him. Juan
laughed and kissed her cheek.

Katie opened the
bedroom door, clad in a tank top and pajama bottoms. She looked a
little flushed and her skin had a light sheen of water on it. Behind
her, Travis was in jeans, toweling off his chest, his hair still wet
from a shower. Katie's own hair was in wet curls around her face.

“
Damn,
”
Juan said in awe.

Jenni
took a moment to admire Travis' very impressive chest, then looked at
Juan. Lifting her eyebrows, she said,
“
See?
They started off the morning right.
”

Katie
rolled her eyes.
“
What's
up?
”

“
Juan
is having a hissy fit,
”
Jenni answered.

“
I
am not,
”
Juan protested.

Travis
pulled on his shirt and started to button it up.
“
What's
up?
”

“
The
situation with Jimmy,
”
Juan answered.

Travis
made a face and sat on the bed.
“
I
thought we talked about this last night?
”

“
Uh,
we came to no conclusion,
”
Juan answered. He walked in and flopped onto a couch.

Jenni
slid in and eyeballed Katie. Her friend looked back with an innocent
smile that Jenni didn't buy for a moment.

“
Didn't
we agree that Nerit needed to deal with it?
”
Travis asked.

“
No,
we didn't. Curtis was all for finding a way to discipline him.
”

“
I
don't know if we have to go that far,
”
Travis answered, his brow furrowing. He tugged on his socks one by
one.

Jenni noted how very
comfortable he was in Katie's room. Again, she looked at her friend
and gave her a sly smile. Katie responded with a wide-eyed innocent
look.

“
He
almost got Jenni killed!
”
Juan's anger was about to get the best of him again.

Jenni
put her hand on his shoulder, but she could feel his Latin temper
building up to an explosion.
“
He
just freaked.
”

“
And
almost got you killed!
”

“
Well,
it was bizarre with that zombie having that big ol
’
metal
thing in his head!
”

“
Again,
he almost got you killed!
”