Fighting to Survive (41 page)

But her point was
made. That night they returned all the condoms to the supply store.
Bringing a baby into the world was a scary thought, but the reality
was that they had to keep living their lives or the dead would truly
win.

The day of the vote,
Travis held Katie tight as the ballots were counted and announced.
When she closed her eyes and sank back against him, he had kissed her
neck and cuddled her close.

That
night, Shane and Phillip were given a sedan with a full tank of gas,
two rifles with ammo, and a week
’
s
supply of MREs.

“
The
bitch will pay,
”
Shane said to Travis and Juan as he climbed into the driver
’
s
seat.

The
gates opened and the two men, who had caused so much pain, were gone.

“
Good
riddance,
”
Nerit said as the sedan drove away.

“
I
hope the zombies eat them,
”
Jenni said with a fierce look.

“
I
’
m
just glad it's over,
”
Katie sighed.

Travis just stood in
silence and had a terrible feeling that it was not yet over.

2. Vigilante
Justice

Five hours later,
Phillip stumbled up to the far corner of the fort. It was an isolated
point, one that was always manned. Breathless and terrified, he
called up to the guard on watch.

“
Help
me! They are right behind me,
”
he cried out frantically.

“
Where
’
s
your friend?
”
the guard asked.

“
Shane?
I don
’
t
know. Our car broke down and we tried to make it back here. We got
separated when zombies attacked us. Our guns didn
’
t
work. I barely escaped and ran here. Let me in for god
’
s
sake,
”
Phillip said in breathless desperation.

The
guard
’
s
head tilted.
“
I
don
’
t
think so.
”

Philip
looked up at the guard in shock.
“
You
can
’
t
do this. You have no right. You know me. You know I didn
’
t
do anything. It was all Shane!
”

The
guard
’
s
head shook from side to side.
“
Sorry,
but it ends here for you.
”

Slowly,
the truth dawned on Philip.
“
It
’
s
you! You set it up! You killed Jimmy and Ritchie! You rigged our guns
so they wouldn
’
t
work.
”

With
a slow sigh, the guard nodded.
“
Yeah,
I did. You should have died out there with Shane. Good thing you came
to my post.
”
Then the guard
’
s
gun barked and Phillip toppled over, screaming and clutching his leg.
With satisfaction, the guard watched as the zombies finally caught up
with Shane
’
s
sidekick and began to pull him apart, feasting with ravenous hunger.

3. The Aftermath
of the Verdict

The next morning
when Katie came on duty, she looked down to see Philip staring up at
her with one eye.

“
Shit,
”
she said, and pondered putting a bullet through it.
“
Ah,
dammit. Seriously, dammit.
”

Phillip's
horribly mutilated form moaned low in its throat as one badly chewed
arm lifted toward the fort. He was torn in half and his torso was
propped up by one arm. His legs lay nearby. The zombies that had
eaten him wandered around in the street below, not aware of Katie on
top of the wall. As always, the zombies seemed listless and confused
unless they saw their prey.

The Phillip zombie
let out another anguished cry and his undead brethren slowly moved to
where he stood. As Katie lifted her walkie-talkie to her mouth, a
few looked up, saw her, and began to moan.

“
I
’
ve
got Philip outside the wall,
”
she said.

“
He
came back?
”
Peggy
’
s
voice answered in disbelief.

“
Yeah.
But not alive,
”
Katie responded and sighed.

There
was a burst of static, then,
“
Shit.
I
’
ll
let her know.
”

Jenni
bounced up the wood steps to the platform with two breakfast tacos
wrapped in foil in her hands.
“
Hey,
girlfriend, what
’
s
up?
”
Her hair was up in a ponytail and she wore a T-shirt that read
“
Zombie
Killah
”
in red puff paint. The women of the fort had a t-shirt-decorating
party a few nights back. While most of the T-shirts were decorated
with flowers, animals, or cowboy paraphernalia, Jenni
’
s
had fake bullet holes and a nice slogan.

Katie
pointed down into the street.

“
Whoa.
It
’
s
like Ritchie, Part Two,
”
Jenni said, her eyes widening.
“
But
like, grosser. It looks like he was a big ol' wishbone.
”

“
Nice
way to put it,
”
Katie said, and rubbed her nose. The fragrance of the tacos mixing
with the decaying reek of the zombies was not very palatable.

“
He
is seriously chewed up,
”
Jenni set the tacos down and leaned against the wall. This made the
zombies howl and began to beat against the concrete bricks.
“
Gnawed
down to the bone in some places. Wow.
”

Katie slid the new
crossbow Jason had made into position and aimed it downward. It was
a huge contraption that slid on a track along the side of the wall.
It was loaded and ready. The crossbow was already aimed downward. A
small lever let the person firing it adjust the angle. The trigger
always remained in the same position. The sight was rigged up with
mirrors and was very accurate. It was an easy way to kill the
zombies without wasting ammunition. Katie personally thought the
thing was monstrous in size, but it was effective. And it made Jason
very proud that he had designed and built it.

The zombies below
were banging against the wall with their decaying hands, or in some
cases, gnawed stumps. One was moving its arms and legs up and down,
as if it was trying to swim or climb up the concrete wall.

“
Don
’
t
kill the Phillip one. Nerit and Bill are going to want to see that
one,
”
Jenni said as she ate her taco.

Katie
nodded and began to fire down at the other dead creatures. It was
hard to look into those once-human faces and feel anything other than
stark fear. The gapping maws, pale eyes, and decaying flesh were the
stuff of her nightmares. As the crossbow fired, there was a
satisfying
thwank!
as
the bolts slammed through the skulls of the undead beasts below.
Katie gave in to her grim duty and pushed away thoughts of who the
zombies had once been.

“
Let
me see, Katie-girl,
”
Bill said as he lumbered up onto the platform.

Katie slid the
crossbow away and stepped to one side.

Bill
looked down at the dead man in the street below surrounded by his now
truly-dead brethren.
“
Yep.
That
’
s
Phil.
”

“
I
like him better this way,
”
a voice called out from a nearby sentry platform. It was Lenore.

Jenni
gave her the thumbs up.

Lenore nodded.

“
Zombies
definitely had a field day with him,
”
Katie sighed.
“
Any
ideas of what may have gone wrong?
”

“
Maybe
Shane ditched him to lessen his load,
”
Bill said in a low voice.

“
I
would not put that past him. He is such a total shit,
”
Jenni said, and continued munching on her breakfast taco.

The sight of Jenni
eating with that awful smell wafting up from below made Katie
nauseous, but Jenni had a better defense mechanism built into her
brain than most of them. It was probably because she was an abused
wife. Katie knew from experience that abused women developed
extraordinary coping skills to survive their abusive situations.
Jenni was quite adept at disassociating herself. It was probably
both a blessing and a curse at times like these.

Nerit
joined their small group, her sniper rifle held lightly in the crook
of her arm. She glanced over the wall and studied the scene.
“
I
want a closer look at him.
”

“
Me,
too,
”
Bill said.

“
Why?
”
Katie arched an eyebrow at them.
“
He's
obviously undead now.
”

Nerit
pointed to one of the legs.
“
I
want to see that one. Something is wrong with it.
”

“
Well,
it is chewed down like a chicken leg,
”
Jenni commented.

“
The
way the bone is shattered doesn't sit right with me either,
”
Bill said.

“
Put
him down and let's drag him up,
”
Nerit ordered.

Katie dragged the
crossbow back into position. It felt strange to put Phil down one
last time, but somehow right. She fired once and watched his torso
flop backwards.

“
He
so deserved that,
”
Jenni said with satisfaction, and shoved the rest of the taco into
her mouth.

Jenni landed feet
first on the street below Katie's sentry post and raised her pistol
quickly. Bill scrambled down the ladder behind her, his big belly
giving him a little bit of trouble as he went.

The bodies of the
dead zombies were scattered around them, the deadly bolts from the
crossbow having done their job. Jenni knew they were finally, truly
dead, but she couldn't but be afraid. Every time she was outside the
walls, she was terribly aware of her vulnerability.