Fighting to Survive (47 page)

Jenni
sat up and looked at Katie fiercely, her dark eyes burning with raw
emotion.
“
He
wants me to die so I will be in his power again. That is what it
is.
”

Taking
Jenni's hand gently in hers, Katie said softly,
“
Then
don't let him. You have a life here with Juan. We're about as safe
as we can be in this world. You have Jason and Jack. You have
friends. You have so much.
”

“
He
wants to take it away,
”
Jenni whispered, and fresh tears fell.

“
You
can't let him, Jenni. You can't let him have power over you from
beyond death. You're more than he ever imagined. You know that,
right?
”

“
He
said I should die and be with the boys,
”
Jenni said in a low voice.

Katie
could feel the terrible pain in Jenni's voice mingled with an even
more terrible guilt.
“
It's
not your fault, Jenni, that they died.
”

Jenni turned her
head away, deep in thought. Katie could almost see the invisible
walls sliding back up around that train of thought. Jenni couldn't
deal with that right now. Katie could see it. It would wait for
another time.

“
Fuck,
Lloyd,
”
Jenni said at last.
“
Fuck
him. I'm not going down without a fight. Whether it's fighting
zombies or bandits or ghosts, I'm not going down without a fight.
”

Katie
smiled and kissed her cheek.
“
That's
my girl.
”

Jenni's
lips slightly quirked upwards and she raised a trembling hand to wipe
away her tears.
“
But
I don't want Juan to see me like this.
”

“
He
doesn't have to,
”
Katie assured her.
“
Stay
here tonight. He called me. He knew you would come here.
”

“
I'm
that predictable, huh?
”
Jenni laughed.

“
He
knows we're tight. He knows that if you're not with him, you're gonna
be here with me. We're kinda like Thelma and Louise.
”

“
Meets
the zombies,
”
Jenni added with a soggy grin.

Katie
laughed.
“
Yeah.
”

“
I'm
not driving off a cliff with you though,
”
Jenni said firmly.

Katie
embraced the morbid humor that kept them from falling into the
darkest of emotions.
“
But
we can run over zombies together.
”

“
Totally,
”
Jenni agreed. She fell over on her side and tucked her head on a
pillow. She stared at Katie thoughtfully, her tears finally abating.
“
I'm
not crazy. It really is Lloyd's ghost trying to kill me.
”

Katie
lay down and tucked one hand under the pillow Travis' usually slept
on. His scent comforted her.
“
As
long as you don't give into him, you'll be fine.
”

Jenni
rubbed her reddened nose.
“
Sometimes
the first day feels like a hundred years ago. Today it feels
like...today.
”

Katie
gently smoothed Jenni's hair back from her face.
“
I
know.
”

Rolling
over, Jenni hid her swollen eyes and tear-stained face as she fought
to recover herself. Katie draped one arm over her waist. They lay
in silence for a few minutes. It was not a strained silence, but a
comforting one as Jenni regained her composure and her shoulders
relaxed.

Katie
reached over her and switched off the lamp. Jenni sighed in a way
that was reassuring. Katie could feel her friend letting go and
sinking into the drained weakness that came after an emotional storm.
Katie snuggled down behind Jenni again, holding her close.

“
You're
the best friend in the world. The best I've ever had,
”
Jenni whispered.

“
I
love you, Jenni. You're my best friend. I'll always be here for
you.
”

Closing their eyes,
the two friends held each other until, at last, sleep carried them
away.

1. The Dead in
the Night

“
We
have a problem. Let's go!
”

Travis and Eric
looked up to see Curtis rushing toward them. They were standing in
the lobby, studying a map of the town. It was an antique and kept
under glass, but it was surprisingly accurate. The town had not
changed much in seventy years.

“
We
have to go! We have to go!
”
Curtis' young face was flushed under his blond hair. He was
agitated and motioning with both hands.

“
What's
going on?
”
Travis lifted an eyebrow.

“
The
Hackleburg survivors are under attack!
”

“
Shit!
Get Nerit!
”
Travis headed toward the communication center.

“
What
does that mean? Is that zombies? Bandits? What?
”
Eric was flustered as he rushed after Travis. He shoved his glasses
up on his nose and looked as alarmed as Travis felt.

“
In
this crazy world, who knows?
”

They burst into the
center at the same time. Bill was perched over an array of radios.

“
Repeat!
Repeat! I can't make out what you're saying!
”
Bill looked up, his expression one of despair.

“
...got
through...we are fight-...please hur...
”
The sounds of gunshots peppered the woman's voice. She sounded
terrified and static kept overwhelming her voice.
“
...please
hurry! Please hurry! They're...repeat...got in!
”

“
Zombies?
”
Travis asked in a soft voice.

“
I
don't know. I can't make it all out,
”
Bill said in a surprisingly composed voice.

Travis was always
impressed by Bill's ability to handle stressful situations in a calm
manner.

Eric
cocked his head, listening to the frantic woman's garbled message.
“
Are
we really going out there?
”

Bill
looked at Travis.

“
Hey,
I'm not the mayor.
”

“
Not
yet,
”
Bill answered.

Nerit
entered the room, her yellowed silver hair in a braid over one
shoulder and her bathrobe tied tightly at her waist.
“
What
is the situation?
”

“
Hackleburg
is under attack. I can't make out if its zombies or bandits. Sue
just keeps screaming into the microphone that someone got in.
”
Bill rubbed his broad forehead.
“
It
don't sound good.
”

Peggy
rushed in with Curtis behind her. She was in her pajamas and her son
clung to her like a monkey.
“
Hackleburg?
Shit! They have kids in there! That's the one where they are in
the church community center. They had enough food to make it through
another week!
”
She tried to dislodge Cody, but he wouldn't let go. She ended up
snatching up her map and heaving him onto one hip.

“
Show
me,
”
Nerit said to her.

“
They're
here. On the outside of town. They holed up in a church community
center. Twenty-two people are in there. Mostly old folks, women,
and kids. All, but four of the men went back into town to fight the
zombies. They didn't come back alive. Anyway, they didn't have any
vehicles to escape in and they ended up with zombies banging on their
doors. They've held them off by barricading the doors and windows.
They even managed to thin them out a little by dropping things down
on the zombie's heads from the roof. They were saving the ammo just
in case the zombies got in.
”

“
There
have been gunshots going off,
”
Bill said quietly.

Through the static,
they could still hear the woman crying and begging for them to come.

“
We
gotta go get them! Save them!
”
Curtis looked desperately at Nerit.
“
We
gotta go.
”

Travis
sighed. It was decisions like this he did not like making. Did they
sacrifice resources to save other survivors, or did they stay safe
within their walls? His humanity told him one thing, his fear for
those he cared about told him another. He felt conflicted, yet he
knew what he wanted to do. What he felt was truly right.

“
How
far away, Peggy?
”
Travis asked.

“
Twenty-one
miles going southeast.
”
Peggy was trying to sound calm for the sake of her son and her own
nerves, but her eyes were wide with fright.

“
We
have to get them,
”
Eric said.
“
We
have to. If we can, we have to go get the survivors. We have room
and food. We can't let them just...die.
”
His voice shook with emotion. It had not been that long ago that
Eric had been trapped outside the fort and under siege by zombies.

Travis rubbed his
jaw and looked at Nerit, waiting for her to say something. He wanted
to rush out and save the people, but he knew Nerit understood the
actual dynamics of the situation better than he did. Nerit finally
turned her gaze to Travis. Her expression said it all. Travis was
glad for her in that moment. She was quick to decide and quick to
action.

“
We
take two trucks and the bus. We leave immediately. I need you to
get Felix, Ed, Jenni, Katie, Roger, and Juan down here, Bill. Have
them meet me in the Panama Canal,
”
Nerit said in a firm, authoritative voice.

“
Gotcha,
Nerit.
”

The older woman
patted Travis' arm and headed out the door. He immediately followed.

“
What
are the chances we'll find survivors?
”
Travis had to hurry to keep up with her.

“
Slim
to none. But we need to know for sure if it's the zombies or the
bandits attacking them,
”
Nerit responded.

Travis
blinked. He hadn't thought of that.
“
Which
is worse?
”