Fighting to Survive (28 page)

“
It
doesn
’
t
really matter now, does it?
”
Curtis said darkly.
“
The
government ain
’
t
here anymore as far as we know. But we are.
”

“
I
’
ll
handle the investigation and keep it on the low down or as low as I
can,
”
Bill said.
“
And
I
’
ll
start by questioning Juan.
”

Juan
let out an explosive sigh and threw up his hands.
“
Fine.
It
’
s
not like I have work to do to make us all safe.
”

Jenni
sat down next to him and took his hand.
“
I
’
m
staying with him.
”

Bill
nodded.
“
That
’
s
fine, but the rest of you should go.
”

Manny
said,
“
Okay,
but let me know what you find out.
”

Peggy
stood up and headed out the door, Katie following. Travis hesitated
then followed them out as Curtis and the Mayor also left with grim
expressions on their faces.

The
Mayor drew Curtis aside, whispering,
“
We
need damage control, Curtis. We can
’
t
let this get out.
”

Travis
sighed and walked on, hands in his pockets. Some things never changed
he supposed; once a politician always a politician.

His
face brightened when he saw Katie hanging back in the hallway that
led from the hotel
’
s
offices to the lobby. The fact she was now with him still made him
grin and feel a little overwhelmed. Reaching her, he laid his hand on
her cheek and leaned down to give her a kiss. Her lips were soft and
sweet against his. She slid her arms around his waist and rested
against him.

Apart
from everyone else, they shared a quiet moment of kisses.
“
I
need to get to work.
”

“
I
know. I have to report for lunch duty,
”
Katie murmured against his chest.
“
I'll
see you tonight at the party though.
”

“
Are
we going?
”

Katie
pressed herself up against him and gave him a look he found hard to
resist.
“
I
figured we could go and make an appearance, then sneak away.
”

“
How
about just sneaking away?
”
Travis asked with a grin.

“
After
an appearance at the party,
”
Katie said firmly, but with a wicked gleam in her eye.

“
Okay,
okay,
”
Travis conceded.
“
Anything
you want.
”

“
Good,
”
she answered, and pressed her lips against his.

Travis
slid regretfully out of her grasp and headed out into the
construction site. He gave her one last smile, then slipped out
through the old janitor
’
s
room turned entryway.

With
the
“
civvies
”
now out of the way and tucked into the hotel, the construction site
was being re-organized. The plan now was to set up the third
“
lock
”
in the new vehicle entry to add more protection against the undead,
then they were going to bust through the wall in the back of the old
newspaper building and begin to use it for projects.

Jason
was hanging out near Travis
’
office with Jack. He looked nervous and unsure, his bangs hanging
heavily in his face.

“
Hey
Jason, what
’
s
up?
”

“
I
was wondering if I could talk to you about some ideas,
”
Jason answered.

“
What
kind of ideas?
”

Travis opened the
doors to the portable office relieved that the civilians were now
moved out and that they could once more reclaim it as office space.

“
Stuff
to kill zombies other than just guns and bows and arrows. No one is
really good with the bows and arrows anyway,
”
Jason answered.
“
Well,
except Lenore.
”

Travis
raised an eyebrow.
“
True.
What do you have for me?
”

Jason heaved his
large backpack up onto a chair and began to unpack it onto a cleared
desk. He looked nervous and hesitated a few times before laying down
what looked like carefully organized notes. Each small stack was
fastened with a paper clip and had notes on yellow notepad paper
attached on top. What looked like pages torn out of books and a few
printouts from the Internet made up the rest of the stacks along with
what looked like drawings with crayons.

Travis
sat down and picked up the first one.

“
That
’
s
for a concussion grenade. It would rip off the zombies
’
legs, maybe their arms. If we get lucky, their heads. No fire, since
fire would maybe end up burning us down,
”
Jason said in a rush of words.
“
I
have the main ingredients written out, but I
’
d
need help finding the stuff to put them together.
”

Travis
reviewed the list and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“
I
think these are doable. We may not have everything on the site, but
maybe we can figure it out.
”

Jason
pointed to another stack.
“
This
is for a catapult that would toss over really heavy shit. I got that
from Lord of the Rings. You know, stuff we don
’
t
use to flatten them. We
’
d
have to make sure it was long range so they couldn
’
t
crawl up on the stuff and try to get over the wall.
”

Again,
Travis had to admit it was a decent idea.

Soon
Jason was talking in a torrent of words, pointing things out to
Travis, getting more and more articulate as he went on. Travis found
himself smiling at the boy
’
s
enthusiasm and impressed with his ideas. In many ways, the adults had
been obsessed with just surviving and basic needs. The kids,
obviously, had killing on their minds and had come up with some very
good ideas.

“
Jason,
I think I
’
m
going to hook you up with Roger. He used to teach science in junior
high before he ended up working construction…if memory serves
me.
”

“
Okay,
cool. The other kids have ideas, too. They could definitely help
out.
”

“
Sounds
like a plan,
”
Travis decided.

“
Cool!
”
Jason gathered up his stuff and started stuffing it back into the
backpack. He hesitated, then looked at Travis.
“
Katie
’
s
not gay. She
’
s
bi. You should go for it.
”

Travis
was surprised and a little taken aback.
“
What?
”

“
She
told me not to tell anyone. I think cause she thought you
’
d
hook it up with my Mom. But she
’
s
with Juan and life is short and stuff so you should go for it.
”

Travis
rubbed his brow, bemused, then nodded.
“
Okay.
I will.
”

Jason
heaved his backpack over his shoulder and headed out the door.
“
So
you
’
ll
let Roger know?
”

“
Definitely.
And once we are in the newspaper building, I
’
ll
let you kids clear out some space for your projects. You
’
ll
have to have Roger with you whenever you are working with chemicals.
”

“
Cool.
I can deal,
”
Jason opened the door and stepped out, Jack immediately at his side.

Travis leaned
forward, resting his hands on his head and sighed. Why had he been
foolish enough to think that once they were in the hotel everything
would be fine?

4. Enter the
Empress

Katie added more
water to the instant mashed potatoes she was making and stirred as
vigorously as she could. The kitchen was a bustle of activity with
the lunch crew working diligently to make a decent meal for those
inside the fort from their supplies of boxed and canned food.

After
a rigorous run on the treadmill in the very modern gym on the second
floor, Katie had enjoyed a long shower before reporting to the
kitchen. Rosie, Juan
’
s
mother, ran the kitchen with the efficiency of a woman who had
overlooked the high school cafeteria staff for over twenty years.
Today
’
s
lunch menu was chipped beef with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Since Katie could barely make a sandwich without a recipe, she was
handed the box of potato flakes and put to work.

Rosie
’
s
great joy had been the discovery that the grocery store
’
s
cold storage had remained cold and that some of the frozen meat could
be salvaged. The delicious smell of beef cooking in rich gravy filled
the kitchen and big, flaky buttermilk biscuits were being drawn out
of the ovens to cool on the counters.

Gretchen,
the librarian, had volunteered to make dessert. Big pans of peach
cobbler were making Katie
’
s
stomach growl with hunger.

Frowning
into the bowl, Katie felt pretty sure the potatoes weren
’
t
supposed to look so stiff and hard. She added more hot water and
really began to put her muscles into stirring.

“
Well,
Jimmy was a klutz, but I just can
’
t
see him falling out of the window,
”
Gretchen said to Stacey.

“
But
why would anyone push him?
”
Rosie asked as she began to slide the hot biscuits into a large
basket for the buffet in the dining room.
“
I
can understand that puto Ritchie being killed after what he did to
all those kids, but Jimmy? He was just a little grumpy man.
”