Fighting to Survive (32 page)

“
Drive
around to the gate,
”
Jenni yelled down at him.

“…
and
even if you are in cahoots with her, I want you to know that girl
’
s
feet stinks. Once in church she came in and took off her shoes and it
was the worst smell…”

“
Get
off the fucking street! Go around the block to the entrance!
”

Beside her, Katie
fired.

“…
and
though the aliens have negotiations with the Amazons, I cannot
imagine why her feet smelled that bad…”

“
Get
off the fucking street!
”

A zombie came
running around the corner and Jenni lifted her weapon and fired.

From
the balcony of city hall, Peggy yelled,
“
Calhoun,
you old coot, get your ass in here and file a complaint or I
’
m
locking you out.
”

“
I
am a citizen of this great nation and this town and you cannot bar me
from a public area during regular visiting hours…” The
man whipped away on his scooter down Main Street just in time, for
four more zombies came racing up Morris Avenue in pursuit of him.

Jenni
and Katie began to fire as the crazy old man disappeared down the
side street that would lead him to the gate.

“
Just
when you thought it couldn
’
t
get weirder,
”
Jenni giggled.

“
Well,
at least you got your zombies,
”
Katie answered, and fired.

2. Open the Gate
and Let The Insanity In

“
Open
the gate,
”
came the order over the walkie-talkie from Peggy.
“
We
got a survivor coming in!
”

Juan
rushed up the stairs to look down from the sentry tower into the
street below. Sure enough, stinky old Calhoun was heading down the
street on his scooter. Right behind him, and gaining speed, were at
least six zombies. As Juan watched, two more came running around the
far corner, pumping their legs, running fast, screeching.

“
Get
ready! Get ready! We have zombies coming,
”
Juan shouted down to the men below.
“
And
they ain't the slow ones!
”

The
guard beside him took aim and fired. One of the zombies, who was
about to grab Calhoun and drag him off the scooter, went down in a
spray of blood.

Ahead of Calhoun,
the gate opened easily, its mechanism now running smoothly. Guards in
the padlock were already raising their guns, aiming toward the
widening gap.

Juan
lifted his hand, signaling to the man controlling the gate to watch
for his mark.

The
scooter was making hacking noises, plumes of dark smoke erupting from
the back end. A spout of blood and brains erupted from the back of
another zombie
’
s
head. It went down soundlessly.

Now
there were at least three zombies gaining on the old scooter.

“…
and
now I
’
m
being chased by clones and I hold the Mayor directly responsible…”
Crazy Calhoun was shouting as he cruised toward the gates.

Juan
actually wasn
’
t
surprised the crazy old guy was still alive. If anyone was paranoid
enough to survive the zombie apocalypse, it was Calhoun. His property
had a huge fence around it with razor wire at the top. It was also
well known that Calhoun only ate MRE
’
s
and lived in an underground bunker. Why he was venturing into town
was a mystery. Juan couldn
’
t
imagine why Calhoun was coming into town.

The scooter coughed
and sputtered into the padlock. Juan signaled for the gate to be
closed. The guard next to him fired more shots and zombies went
tumbling to the ground.

Just
as the gate was about to close, a female zombie slipped in and
screamed before charging after Calhoun. The back of her head exploded
in a gush of gore and Calhoun turned around and looked at her
sprawled body with contempt.

“…
and
obviously were not cloned from quality people. They
’
re
just insane. And where did all this come from? I do not remember
voting on any city agenda to build a fort in the middle of town. I do
not approve of my taxes going for this facility when we need to deal
with the evil clones epidemic…” Calhoun rattled away.

Juan
crossed his arms over his chest and began to laugh. Life was about to
get much more interesting now that the town crazy had arrived.
Calhoun hated the city government with a passion and always came to
every council meeting. He would always sit in the back, talking away
non-stop as his video camera whirred and recorded every word said by
those on the council. He especially hated Peggy, because she had
refused to marry him years before she had married Cody's now deceased
father.

“…
and
I don
’
t
know who is going to pay for my scooter, but since it was damaged by
me coming all the way into town to file a complaint, I firmly believe
it should be paid for by the Mayor out of his personal funds. And I
will know if it is out of his personal funds because I can attune my
brain to the Internet…”

Juan
looked over the gate toward the road and saw more zombies in route.
His smile faded as he realized Calhoun had managed to lead more
zombies to the fort. With a sigh, he lifted the walkie-talkie.

“
Peggy,
Calhoun is here.
”

“
Yeah,
I know. Feels like old times, huh?
”
Her voice sounded amused yet weary.

Juan
laughed a little.
“
Yeah.
Strangely, yeah.
”

“
...certain
I did not vote on this fort being built…”

3. Purple Dresses

Nerit
walked into the large room used as the
“
store
”
of the fort. Everything salvaged from the town
’
s
various stores was arranged in boxes and plastic bins. Manny and
Peggy had worked hard to organize everything. Every box was labeled.
One long table had small boxes full of personal hygiene products. She
noted the box with the condoms was steadily diminishing. She had
heard Shane mentioning that they were on his shopping list as he had
headed out earlier along with cigarettes and booze. The younger
people of the fort were finding comfort in each other. She could not
blame them.

Snagging a box of
Marlboro Lights, she tucked it into the plastic bag she was using as
a shopping cart and headed to the far side of the room where gloves,
hats and scarves were grouped. She needed a new pair of gloves,
preferably leather.

Coming
around the corner of the aisle, she found Katie on the floor going
through boxes labeled
“
Women
’
s
Dresses
”
.
She looked frustrated as she dug down to the bottom of one of the big
bins.

“
Needing
a new dress?
”
Nerit asked as she began to look through the box of gloves.

“
I
got it into my head that I need one for the party tonight,
”
Katie confessed. Next to her was a very sexy pair of high heels.
“
I
found the shoes, but no dress.
”

Nerit
pulled out a pair of soft leather gloves and began to try them on.
“
Nice
shoes.
”

“
Yeah,
I think they belonged to one of those women that got eaten in the
dining room. I asked Peggy about them and she said they were found
kicked under a table in a hall. She thinks the woman took them off to
run easier. Lucky for me, they fit.
”

Nerit
flexed her hand in the glove and pretended to fire a gun. They were a
little stiff, but leather did tend to soften up and mold to fit.
“
So,
what brought on this need for a new dress?
”

Katie looked up at
her, her expression a little embarrassed, but a glow seeming to
emanate from her face. She looked happy.

Nerit
grinned.
“
Oh,
Travis.
”

Katie
laughed.
“
That
obvious, huh?
”

With
a slight nod, Nerit said,
“
Well,
yes, if someone was paying attention. You
’
ve
played it very low-key. He has been far more obvious.
”

Yanking
another dress out, Katie looked at it, then sighed.

“
This
town wasn
’
t
the hub of fashion,
”
Nerit said.

“
Yeah,
I noticed.
”
Katie pulled out another box and began to look through it.

Nerit slid the
gloves into her bag and walked over to a box filled with Halloween
costumes. It had been part of the overstock in the grocery store that
had been taken in soon after this had all started. She began to look
through the items, her mind twirling ideas around.

“
What
color do you like to wear?
”

“
Purple.
Lydia always liked me in purple or blue,
”
Katie pulled out a plain navy dress several sizes too large for her
frame and sighed.

Drawing
a purple sorceress outfit from the box of costumes, she looked at
Katie.
“
Like
this color?
”

“
I
am not wearing a Halloween costume.
”

“
If
we can locate a sewing kit, I can modify it,
”
Nerit assured her.

Katie
stood up and looked at the dress.
“
Really?
”

Nerit
nodded.
“
Oh,
yes. It won
’
t
be as fancy as anything from Versace, but I can make it work.
”

“
I
’
m
desperate. If you think you can do it, I
’
m
all for it,
”
Katie said with excitement and quickly began to look for sewing
supplies.

Nerit
laid the dress down on the floor and began to turn it this way and
that, thinking hard, ideas flicking in and out of her mind, trying to
figure out what she could do.

“
I
am glad that you are moving on,
”
Nerit said thoughtfully.
“
Letting
go is always hard.
”

“
I
wasn
’
t
sure I could,
”
Katie confessed as she found some small sewing kits in a basket.
“
Honestly,
I still suffer some guilt over moving on from Lydia.
”