Fighting to Survive (65 page)

They
left their rooms in the big house and went down to the weird room
Jack wasn't too sure about. For one thing, there were never cookies
inside, but also, it did a weird thing where when the doors shut they
always opened to a different room. He also didn't like the way it
moved. It made his head swim. With a doggy sigh, he walked into the
small room, head down and endured the strange noises.

Happily,
after they left the nasty little room, they made their way to the
dining room. Jack inhaled the rich fragrance of food and felt much
better. As he walked through the room, many people gave him pats on
the head and a few nibbles of bacon. He gave them his biggest grin
and wagged his tail extra hard. Certainly someone had a cookie.

But,
alas, no one did.

With
a certain amount of grumpiness, he wandered over to his dish and was
happy to see someone had put a few pieces of bacon and some of that
good yellow stuff on top of his kibble. Tucker was already at his
bowl, eating slowly since he was an older dog. Jack knew Tucker was
very old and very tired. He liked to sleep a lot, but he enjoyed
Jack's occasional companionship. Tucker swung his head toward Jack
and they touched noses briefly in greeting, then went back to eating.

Jack
gulped down his food, then drank a bit of water. Tucker rubbed
against him as he ambled away and they sniffed each other briefly,
mostly as a courtesy. Licking his muzzle, Jack trotted away,
searching out someone to give him a cookie.

Glancing
back one last time at Jason, he noticed the boy was holding Shelley's
hand under the table. Ah, his human puppy was wanting to mate. Oh,
well. That was okay, but he really needed to be better about cookies.

Jack
strolled down the hallway, looking around for one of his many human
friends to greet and see if they would understand his need for the
sweet goodness that was a cookie. He had loved Halloween when the
human puppies had sneaked him lots of treats. But that was a little
while back and yesterday's turkey was just a memory. He had gotten
lots of hugs with people telling him they were
‘
thankful
’
for him.

Again,
humans were kinda weird at times, but he loved their hugs!

“
...and
they took my Hummer and make me scrub floors and toilets! My nails
are broken and there is not a decent manicurist around here! And you
are doing nothing about this,
”
a woman's voice was shrieking from the stairwell.
“
And
now Travis is mayor and you're nothing!
”

Jack kept walking.
He didn't like the woman who smelled too clean and always kicked him
when no one was looking. He wanted a cookie not a kick.

The very stinky man
was standing in another hall. He was holding up what he called a
camera and talking to himself. Jack thought the man smelled great. He
smelled of chickens, dogs, and yucky stuff. Jack wondered if he could
roll around on top of Calhoun while he slept and get that great scent
on him. But Jenni would probably throw him in the bathtub and give
him a bath like she had when he had managed to roll around on a dead
squirrel before she caught him.

Jack pushed past
Calhoun and looked into the room. Travis was there talking to Pepe's
man. Pepe's man had nice leather shoes that Jack wanted to chew on,
but never got the chance. Peggy was there, too, and Jack looked
around for her puppy. The puppy usually had cookies or candies. But
to his disappointment, there was no human puppy with goodies in his
pockets.

“
...
had just received a grant for community development. We were trying
very hard to improve the city,
”
Peggy was saying.

“
So,
”
Pepe's man said thoughtfully.
“
Most
of the city is on septic tanks or rudimentary sewer systems.
”

“
Exactly.
We didn't start actually zoning of the city until a year ago. It
pissed off a lot of people, that's for sure. And we just started
passing ordinances for new construction.
”

Jack stared at Peggy
as she talked. She must realize he needed a cookie.

Travis
sighed.
“
We're
dealing with an archaic system for the hotel and city hall. We'll
have to come up with something soon. This isn't like a big city with
a network of underground systems. Sewer will become an issue.
”

Pepe's
man frowned as he studied something on the desk.
“
It's
better to start planning now before it is an issue. Now that we have
most of the fort construction mapped out, we need to think long
term.
”

Jack
decided to concentrate on Travis.

I
need a cookie,
Jack thought intently.

Instead,
Travis patted his head and scratched him under his chin.

“
Okay,
so how we are going to make the fort sanitary and functional in the
future? I would suggest that we began immediate inspection of any
buildings we absorb into the fort so we...
”

Jack
gave up and left the office.

Walking into the
lobby, he saw the human puppies playing hard. They were running
around and screaming, but none of them even smelled like cookies.

Jack
sat down, yawned, and looked around.

Katie
walked up to him and leaned down to give him kisses. She wasn't
smelly like the old man, but she smelled like a mother. He kinda
liked it. Smothering him with kisses, she hugged him tight, then
wandered off.

Still,
there was no cookie.

Jack
flopped down and began to chew on one paw, studying his surroundings.
The human puppies may not smell like cookies, but maybe one of them
would go get some. Yes, this was his best bet.

Nerit
walked up to him, knelt down carefully, and patted his head.
“
You're
a good boy, Jack.
”
She smiled and rubbed his ears.

As
she reached into her pocket, his ears perked up and he thumped his
tail.

With
a smile, she slipped him an Oreo cookie and walked off.

Jack
chewed it up, grinning to himself, then gulped it down.

Ah,
now he could enjoy his day.

He
stood up, stretched and headed out into the construction site. Maybe
if he was lucky, they'd let him sit up next to the guard so he could
bark at the loud, stinky dead things.

Yes,
yes, that sounded good.

Too
bad he couldn't roll around on them though...

3. Silent Night

What
had once been dubbed the
“
zombie
corral
”
was now a very nice, walled-in courtyard decorated in a thin film of
fresh snow that glimmered with the reflections of the Christmas
lights strung all over the fort.

Katie leaned against
the rail of the guard post, looking down over the wall where children
were being hustled back in after an impromptu snow fight. The tiny
snowflakes were still falling, but she knew that by morning the snow
would already be melting away. Snow never lasted long in these parts.

November
had been a hard month. Construction had gone into over drive. It had
felt like it had been non-stop until December 16th. They had
reclaimed Main Street, the former zombie corral, and moved the trucks
out to a new perimeter. Bit by bit they were spreading out, making
things more secure.

Travis
was working long hours with Eric to map out their future expanded
fort. At times, Travis looked overwhelmed as he sat deep in thought.
It was a lot to worry about. At times, it consumed him. But every
night, when he held her, she could see that he was happy and at peace
with her.

Katie
looked up. More flakes touched her lips and cheeks. The sky was clear
and beautiful. She sighed at the wonder of it.

Nearby,
down in the street, Bill and Katarina were trying to build a snowman
with Peggy and her son, Cody. It was a peaceful scene. It made Katie
smile. In a few years, Katie and Travis would have a little one to
build a snowman with. If things didn't go to hell...

No,
she couldn't think like that.

A
few weeks ago, the bulldozing of the old buildings across from the
hotel had brought many people up onto the roof to watch. Zombies had
rushed the bulldozers and the snipers had picked them off. The
bulldozer drivers also seemed to have fun running the zombies over.
The cabs had been encased in a protective mesh, so no one was lost,
though there had been a scare when one zombie had dragged a sniper
down off a truck. The sniper had shoved the tip of his rifle through
the zombie's eye and had been rewarded by cheers from the onlookers.

This
was definitely a strange new world.

And
thinking of strange...

Below
her, Calhoun was running around in the snow, his arms outstretched,
his mouth open to catch the snow. Nearby, Eric and Stacey were
running around playing with their little dog, Pepe.

The
survivors in the fort were extending the wall and claiming long
abandoned buildings. Some would be destroyed, others renovated. But
it would take time, and time was a strange, strange beast that did
very weird things.

Lenore
and Ken slipped out of the city hall front doors to join Calhoun in
the snow. They immediately began pelting each other with snowballs.

Nearby,
a sniper took aim and Katie heard the soft pffft sound of it being
fired. She knew that beyond the wall a zombie lay in the snow truly
dead at last.

Travis
joined her, wrapping her tight in his embrace. She snuggled into his
warmth and smiled.

“
Love
you,
”
he whispered, and kissed the top of her head.

“
Love
you,
”
she answered.

Behind her, the
hotel was illuminated. People were still celebrating the turning of
the year. Christmas lights were strung in many of the windows. A
huge, fake Christmas tree, dragged up from the city hall basement
twinkled in the night on the roof of city hall.

Christmas had been
good. The Santa Patrol, made up of all volunteers, had successfully
brought back all the gifts the kids had asked for. Calhoun had
explained that Santa had to rendezvous with the crew away from the
fort due to the messed up clones and aliens. The kids had bought this
hook line and sinker. It had been nerve-wracking to watch the
volunteers leaving just to get stuff for a good Christmas for the
fort's children. The Reverend had prayed over the group before they
left. When all had returned safely, there had been many tears.

Christmas
Eve had been lovely with caroling and a midnight service in the
makeshift church in one of the old conference halls. Katie and Travis
had squeezed in with everyone else and sang all the old carols. It
was at the service that the Reverend announced to everyone that Katie
and Travis were with child. And it was at the service that Travis had
shown her what the Santa Patrol had brought back for her. It was a
silver ring with a cubic zircon, but she didn't care. She had sobbed
like it was a diamond. Clad in jeans and sweaters, they had said
their vows in front of everyone, including Baby Jesus and the Holy
Family tucked into a manger scene in the corner.

“
Couldn't
show it for years in city hall cause of the supreme court,
”
Peggy had said as it had been set up in the makeshift church.
“
I
guess all that is done with now.
”

Now,
snuggled into her husband's arms, Katie watched the serene scene in
the street with a small smile on her face.

“
A
new year,
”
Travis sighed.

“
A
new year,
”
Katie echoed.