Siege (26 page)

“Shit!” Linda pulled out her walkie-talkie. “We have a situation outside the wall. Possible human survivors approaching.”

Moving swiftly, Katarina dropped the spear, raised her rifle and dropped the three zombies staring up at the lights. She then hit the spotlight and it lit up the mist like a beacon.

All around the fort, the spotlights switched on. Katarina cursed as nothing became visible except mist. Hopefully whoever was out there would clearly see them now.

The sun broke the horizon, the sky cracked by rays of yellow and pink. The world began to slide from shades of black to gray. Katarina strained to see into the fog, but could see only a few tree limbs beginning to poke through the thick soup.

In the distance, Katarina could hear the rumble of what sounded like an engine. Linda began to swing the spotlight back and forth.

“See anything, Kat?”

“Not yet, but I hear it.”

The yapping and barking of what sounded like a pack of dogs began. The moans of the zombies seemed to echo hungrily up from the street below.

“Hello!” Katarina called out.

The dogs began to growl down below.

Travis and Katie appeared out of the fog. “What’s going on?”

“Zombies were attacking the wall, but then took off,” Linda answered.

“We think someone alive has to be down there,” Katarina added

“What’s that noise?” Katie asked.

A huge chunk of the mist broke off and floated down the street as the sun’s rays began to slowly penetrate the fog. The area they had cleared of buildings was now visible, as was Bowie street that intersected with Morris.

“I’ll be damned,” Linda whispered.

A huge tractor was slowly coming down Bowie. A strange, cage-like contraption had been welded around the driver’s seat. The tractor was towing a flatbed piled high with chicken coops and pet carriers. Attached to that flatbed was another one piled with several bales of hay. Following the bales of hay at an even, slow walk was a small herd of black and white cows. Weaving in and out of the parade was a large pack of dogs of every size and zombies.

It was almost comical to see the zombies trying to get to the tractor through the herd of cows. The undead seemed utterly oblivious to what these moving obstacles were and would bounce back and forth off of them as they struggled to get to the person driving the tractor. The dogs, even the little Chihuahuas, seemed almost rabid in their hatred of the zombies. They would grab hold of the dead, tearing at them viciously. As the stunned onlookers on the walls of the fort watched, the pack of dogs took down a zombie with primal savagery. When a little terrier walked out of the fray with the thing’s head, Katarina began to laugh.

“Calhoun,” Travis decided.

“And we thought he was dead!” Katie covered her mouth with her hands, giggling.

“Are you sure?” Linda asked, squinting, trying to see the driver.

“That cage thing’s top is covered in foil,” Travis pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, it’s Calhoun.” Linda shook her head. “Old Crazy Calhoun.”

A zombie scrambled up onto the side of the tractor and began to shake the cage. It suddenly stiffened, then tumbled over dead. Another zombie, an elderly woman, tripped and fell over a dog and immediately was trampled by the cows.

“I’m going to start picking off the zombies on the outer edge,” Katarina decided. There were at least a dozen struggling to get past the dogs and cows to Calhoun.

The sun was higher now, the mist rolling back as the grayish light of dawn filled the streets. The old man seated in the cage erected on the trailer was now visible as Calhoun, complete with a foil jumpsuit and cowboy hat. Katarina and Linda began to steadily pick off the zombies as the tractor drew near. Calhoun began to slowly turn in front of the wall before the hotel. He noticed the people up on the wall and slowed down to shout up at them.

“Thems here dairy cows for milk and chickens for eggs. Nobody eats ’em or I keep driving,” he called out.

Katarina could now see the pet carriers tied to the flatbed trailer were filled with cats. They were snarling and hissing and not too happy. Meanwhile, the little dog was still dragging around the zombie head while a bigger dog made attempts to steal it away.

“Okay, Calhoun, just get inside,” Travis shouted back.

With a salute, Calhoun shifted gears and the parade continued. “Leave that nasty ol’ head alone, Pee Wee, and get along little doggie,” Calhoun shouted.

The little black dog heard his master, hesitated, then lifted its leg, peed on the zombie head, then trotted after the rest of the dogs. Katarina thought she would die laughing.

* * * * *

Travis met Calhoun in the courtyard after the old coot successfully managed to get in the gate. The snipers on the walls had picked off the zombies mingling with his herd and all the dogs, cows, chickens, and cats were accounted for to the old man’s satisfaction.

“So you went for your animals,” Travis decided with a wry smile.

“Yep. Realized feeders were about empty,” Calhoun answered.

“I see.”

“Figured we need fresh milk and eggs anyway,” Calhoun decided. “Keeps your brain sharp against the aliens.”

“Yeah, right,” Travis said dubiously, staring at the grizzled old man in the foil jumpsuit.

“’sides, army has been circling my farm. Don’t need them taking my stuff,”

Calhoun said in a dire voice. “I don’t take kindly to martial law. I didn’t vote for that yokel in the White House.”

“I think that yokel is dead,” Travis answered.

“And leading the messed up clone hordes? Their undead master? Damn!

It all makes sense now,” Calhoun decided grimly.

“So you saw the army?”

“Saw their helicopter flying around. Told you them folks were up to no good,” Calhoun said, and gave Travis a hard look.

“Yes, you did.”

“Obeying their Amazonian overlords,” Calhoun sighed. “Well, anyway. I’m back.”

Travis laughed a little and said, “Yes, yes, you are and we’re glad for it. Even though we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with the animals now.” He looked down at a Chihuahua busy sniffing his foot. “We honestly thought Blanche had killed you.”

“That bitch? Hell, no! But she were up to no good right before I left. Did you know she was doing ol’ Shane back in the day? I think she got some men sneaking stuff out to her mansion and shit like that. But I’ve seen her wandering around on the roads, so I guess that plan failed, huh? I think someone dern ate her.”

With a grim expression, Travis nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

“Almost feel bad for them zombies that ate her. Must have been a bad case of indigestion,” Calhoun decided.

2. The Twilight World

Jenni’s head hurt.

Rolling onto her side, she felt her brain swim around in her head before settling at a weird, annoying angle. Bill was snoring loudly in the cot next to her and the soft breathing of the others hummed around her. She couldn’t believe she was in a freaking mall. At least the damn mall music wasn’t on.

Wiping a tear away, she tried to get comfortable, but it wasn’t easy on the hard canvas cot. It was hard for her to believe she was spending another night in this godforsaken place. She missed Juan. Missed him terribly. She missed him with the terrible ache that comes with death or abrupt separation. She knew in her heart he wasn’t dead. Somehow she knew he was alive and waiting for her to go home.

Staring up at the high ceiling, she sighed again. The mall’s emergency lights were still on and it was annoying. She needed pitch-black to sleep. She needed her Juan next to her, warm and slightly snoring. Again, she shifted on the cot and this time rolled over so that her back was to Bill. Next to her, on another cot, was Mikey. He was fast asleep, his sweet face that was slowly transitioning from little boy to teenager made her heart beat faster in its innocence.

No, no, Mikey was dead.

Yet, he lay next to her. He was deeply asleep, his mouth hanging slightly open.

She pressed her eyes closed, then re-opened them.

Mikey was still there.

“You see, Jenni, it wasn’t you I saved that day on the lawn. It was Mikey. He was crying and staring at the house. I saw him and pulled over,” Katie said as she sat down on the edge of Mikey’s cot. She looked thin and a little haggard. Her belly wasn’t swollen with her pregnancy and she looked like a pale shadow of herself.

“No, it was me,” Jenni whispered. “Mikey..Mikey…he was…you know what he was.”

Katie sighed and shook her head. “You shoved him out the door and your husband took you instead. You slammed the door shut and it was Mikey I picked up that day.”

“No, no. I…I…” Jenni sat up sharply. Her head swam fiercely and she had to steady herself. “He turned back to defend me.”

“Mikey told me about his brother, but we didn’t know where to find him. Jason died out there at the camp. We found our way here to where my Dad is,” Katie continued. “I never met you.”

“No, we’re best friends! I…I..Mikey…”

“You never met Juan. I never met Travis. I’ve just been here rotting away with the rest of them, trying to take care of your son and remembering my dead wife.”

“No, no,” Jenni whispered. She sat up and reached toward Katie. “I didn’t push him out the door. I...I...heard him turn back to fight his dad, but I kept running. I...went out the door alone. I didn’t save him.”

“But this is the outcome you believed should have happened. Mikey alive and you dead.” Katie’s image blurred a little and for a moment, Jenni saw another form behind it, but just for a second.

The words were true, yet horrifying. Seeing Katie here, not pregnant, without Travis seemed wrong.

“You’re not Katie,” Jenni whispered. “You’re someone else. Something else.”

“I’m here to tell you the truth,” the form said, now merely a shadow.

“No!” She awoke with a start, gasping, her head feeling like a bobble head. Looking over at the cot next to her, she saw a little girl tucked in with an oversized teddy bear.

Her heart was thudding so hard she could barely stand it. Tears flowed freely as she covered her face with both hands and wept in silence. She hated the mall. Hated it! It made her feel helpless and it made her think of that horrible day. She should have found a way to save her son. But she hadn’t. She had been terrified and had run. She had not once turned back to see if he was behind her.

“It’s about second chances,” a soft voice said. “Do you understand?”

She looked up to see Lydia sitting at the end of the bed.

“It’s about choices made and not made. It’s about what we do with our life and the impact we have on others.”

“I…ran…”

Lydia nodded. “I know.”

“Wasn’t Mikey the one who was supposed to survive? Didn’t I steal his life from him?”

“Right or wrong, you made a choice that day and because of it you had a second chance to find happiness. To save others. To fight to survive with those who love you. To live a new life.”

“With Juan,” Jenni whispered.

“To love and be loved,” Lydia agreed.

“But why are you here telling me this?” Jenni asked.

“Because very soon, Jenni, you are going to have to make that same choice again.”

Jenni shivered so violently, her teeth chattered. She looked up at Lydia.

“I know. I have been feeling it.”

Lydia nodded. “It’s going to be okay. I believe you will make the right choice.”

Jenni smiled with relief, crossing herself. “Thank you for telling me that.”

Lydia gave her a sweet smile. “Jenni, sleep. You need to rest and heal. The wheels are turning faster. Events are moving quickly toward the moment of decision.”

Lying back down, Jenni reached out toward the ghostly woman. “Lydia?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Will I make it back to the fort? To see Juan?”

Lydia gently smiled. “Yes, you will.”

“Then I am not afraid now.”

The ghost’s expression became tinged with sadness. “I know, honey. But you will be.”

Jenni woke up with a start. She was startled to realize she had been dreaming. The mall was full of light and voices drifted around her. The smell of weak coffee and maybe something close to oatmeal wafted in the air. Sitting up slowly, she looked across the store at all the people gathering in line for breakfast.

Running her hands through her long dark hair, she lowered her head and prayed.

3. John Wayne, the Alamo, and the Republic of Texas

“We have cows,” Katie said in a somber tone.

“Yep. We have cows,” Nerit answered.

They stood at the guard post overlooking Main Street looking down into the corral that had been thrown up on a cleared lot near the hotel. Safely ensconced in the fort’s walls, the cows looked rather comfortable with all the attention they were getting. People were lined up around the roped off area trying to pet them while Calhoun proudly strutted among the small herd.

“And cats,” Katie said pointing to a cat walking daintily across the old construction site.

“And dogs,” Nerit added. She gave the Chihuahua trying to mate with her boot a dark look. It just grinned up at her and kept going.

“Did we want him back?” Katie asked scrunching up her nose.

“Unfortunately, I think we did.”

“We’re on crack,” Katie decided.

“Absolutely,” Nerit answered.

* * * * *

“Calhoun, seriously, I want to talk to you,” Travis called out.

“Can’t talk…milking,” Calhoun answered.

Travis climbed over the rope and pushed between two cows that barely acknowledged his presence.

Calhoun was on a short stool milking away. He was still in his foil suit and smelled of sour milk and sweat. Three cats and two dogs sat patiently on the other side of the cow waiting for their master to send a squirt their way.

Travis had been voted as the one to debrief Calhoun since he didn’t trust the “Amazonians.” He was having a rough time getting the old timer to talk to him. Calhoun was definitely on his own agenda.

“Calhoun, seriously, we got to talk,” Travis repeated drawing near. Calhoun looked up at him through the long, crazy threads of his busy eyebrows and said, “You wired?”