Fighting to Survive (29 page)

Roger
carefully poured a large pan of green beans into one of the buffet
tins.
“
He
fucked up yesterday. He almost got Jenni killed.
”

Katie flinched. She
had been really hoping that he would keep his mouth shut.

“
Really?
”
Rosie
’
s
eyes grew stormy.
“
My
Juan
’
s
Jenni?
”

“
Yeah.
He freaked and pushed Curtis out of the hotel room they were in. Left
her in there with three zombies. That
’
s
why she
’
s
all banged up today. I heard she had to jump from one balcony to
another to escape,
”
Roger answered with all the fervor of a well-practiced gossip.

And people said
women were bad gossips…

Rosie
’
s
explosion of Spanish cuss words, though not really understood,
impressed Katie. She slammed the lid to one of the skillets down and
waved her gravy-covered spoon about like a sword.
“
Then
he deserved to fall out the window!
”

“
Maybe
Juan pushed him,
”
Stacey said softly.

“
Oh,
he wouldn
’
t
do that, would he?
”
Gretchen looked up from where she was spooning cobbler into little
bowls.

Katie looked toward
Rosie, almost afraid of her answer.

“
He
might punch his lights out, but I
’
d
be the one to throw him out the damned window,
”
Rosie responded. Her expression was so intense Katie was pretty sure
that the older woman would have shoved Jimmy out the window if she
had known that his cowardice had almost killed Jenni.

Then
the prosecutor side of her whispered,
Well,
how do you know she didn
’
t
know? This could be an act.

“
Well,
maybe someone did throw him out the window then,
”
Gretchen said in a soft, conspiratorial voice.
“
Like
Ritchie was.
”

“
A
vigilante,
”
Roger said to her.

“
Yeah.
A vigilante.
”
Gretchen took this in and then shook her head.
“
I
don
’
t
think I like that.
”

Stacey
leaned across the counter, snagged a biscuit, and began to pull it
apart. Rich, fragrant steam rose up from its center, making Katie
even hungrier.
“
So
we have to find the vigilante now and do what?
”

“
Thank
him,
”
Rosie said irritably,
“
or
her.
”

“
Or...um…put
them on trial?
”
Gretchen continued to spoon the cobbler out.

Roger
looked at Katie.
“
What
do you think?
”

“
I
think we need to finish lunch and not worry about all of this. Let
Bill deal with finding out what happened, then we
’
ll
go from there,
”
Katie answered as neutrally as possible.

“
But
aren
’
t
you worried?
”
Gretchen asked.
“
Aren
’
t
you worried that someone is just going to start throwing anyone who
upsets them over the wall?
”

Katie
lifted the spoon and let a huge dollop of mashed potato fall back
into the bowl.
“
Yes.
But speculation isn
’
t
going to help Bill solve this any faster.
”

“
My
son didn
’
t
do it,
”
Rosie said firmly.
“
He
may look guilty, but he
’
s
just a very fiery Latino who loves his woman.
”

“
Oh,
aren
’
t
they cute? Juan and Jenni,
”
Gretchen gushed.
“
They
’
re
so cute together.
”

Stacey continued to
eat the biscuit, piece by piece, listening intently.

Roger
dumped more green beans and looked over at them.
“
Well,
he
’
s
the one who has the most reason to do something about Jimmy being a
dumbass.
”

“
I
’
m
her best friend. Maybe I did it,
”
Katie said pointedly.

“
Crazed
lesbian kills girlfriend
’
s
almost killer,
”
a voice said very sarcastically from behind her.
“
Oh,
yeah. I see that.
”

Katie turned to
glare at Shane. He had come in through the side door. His crew had
been sent out to bring back more supplies from the grocery store
freezer since the hotel freezer was now chilled. They had opened up
the loading dock door on the side and were now entering the kitchen
with supplies.

Rosie
waved her hands at him.
“
Don
’
t
go near the food. You
’
re
all sweaty and gross.
”

Shane
just grinned at her.
“
Yeah,
and we smell real funky. Had to kill more of those deadfucks.
”

Rosie
began to put lids over all the food and the others in the kitchen
helped her.

Shane
turned his gaze back to Katie, the hatred in them cold and furious.
“
What
’
s
up, lesbo.
”

He
had hated her since she had to kill his brother after he was bitten
during one of the first major fort battles against the undead. Every
chance he got, he harassed her verbally. She tried to avoid him.

“
Nothing,
dickwad.
”
She moved to dump the potatoes into a serving bin.

“
Fuckin
’
lesbo bitch,
”
Shane hissed.

“
Move!
Don
’
t
mess up my kitchen,
”
Rosie ordered, waving a towel at him.

To avoid Shane,
Katie busied herself carrying the big metal bins out to the buffet
and dropping them into the slots. Already the water that would keep
the food warm was bubbling deep inside the buffet table, steam rising
up to greet her.

It
was five
‘
til
noon and the old folks, as usual, were already lining up. There were
ten officially elderly people who lived in the fort. No one dared
group Nerit in with them. Two walked with canes, one with a walker.
Old Man Watson was just deaf as they come. When he saw her, he smiled
and waved. She smiled and waved right back at him.

Stacey
brought out the big basket of biscuits, which brought a lot of
“
ooohhs
”
and
“
aaaaaahs
”
from the line. Roger arriving with the big bin of chipped beef made
them even more excited. Katie
’
s
somewhat pathetic mashed potatoes and the green beans had them
positively beaming.

“
They
’
re
gonna flip over the cobbler,
”
Stacey whispered to Katie with a grin.

Katie
laughed. When the cobbler was rolled out it sent little waves of
excitement through the now growing line.

It was very
rewarding to watch people happily digging into the food they had
prepared. The construction workers came in to eat while Stacey was
dispatched with lunch boxes for the guards. Mealtime was not the
sheer chaos it once was now that they had a decent facility. There
was plenty of room to spread out and really enjoy the meal.

Katie
was kept busy going back and forth from the kitchen. She kept the
food bins full and made sure there were enough clean plates and
utensils. Jenni and Juan appeared together. They both looked solemn
as they sat in a corner, eating their lunch at a small table. Katie
saw one of the tubs, put out for people to bus their own table, was
full near their table. She slipped over to pick it up and steal a
moment with them.

“
How
did it go with Bill?
”
she asked.

“
I
’
m
his prime suspect,
”
Juan responded grimly.

“
Which
is bullshit. I could have killed Jimmy. Easily,
”
Jenni said with a frown.
“
By
the way, the food is great.
”

“
Thanks.
I did the potatoes,
”
Katie answered, then said,
“
Juan,
I
’
m
sure Bill realized that it wasn
’
t
you.
”

With
a shrug, Juan said,
“
Yeah,
but who else would do it other than Loca? Travis? You? Who?
”

Katie
sighed and heaved the heavy tub up onto her hip.
“
I
’
m
sure other people had motives. Or could have motives.
”

Juan
sighed, then shook his head.
“
It
doesn
’
t
fucking matter, Katie. Not if they want to blame someone. It will end
up me.
”

Rosie
came up just then and Katie hurried off under her stern eye. She
glanced back to see Rosie hugging her son tightly and talking to him
in a low voice. Katie hated to admit it, but Juan was the most likely
suspect. It killed her to think of him doing anything like that. But
then again, she had been furious when she had heard about Jenni being
left in that room. If she had been there when it happened, who knows
what she could have done to Jimmy.

In
the kitchen, she helped rinse off the plates and load them up into
the enormous industrial dishwasher. In between loads, she managed to
eat her lunch in big bites. She was famished and loved every bite.
Finally, the crowd thinned out and they were able to finish clearing
the tables and wash up the rest of the dishes.