Siege (57 page)

“No! No!” She held on tighter, her feet fighting for purchase on the wall, as she looked up and saw Curtis smile. Leaning over her, he looked even more hellish as he tried to pry her hands loose. She managed to get her boot up onto the wall and began to push upwards, but he put his hands on her shoulders and shoved downwards.

“Fuck you!” she screamed.

“It’s okay,” Curtis whispered. “Really. It will be okay. Y’all will be together in the afterlife. You, Travis, the baby, your dead wife...”

“Go to hell,” Katie spat at him.

“Looks like Travis is going first,” Curtis answered, winking. The moans were louder below and Katie screamed.

* * * * *

The elevator doors opened and Peggy blinked.

“What?”

Nerit walked briskly past her, sniper rifle slung over one arm, barrel pointed downwards, as she moved down the hall.

“Nerit?”

The old woman stopped and turned. Her gaze was steely and her face seemed younger somehow.

“You’re...you...”

“I have a job to do,” Nerit answered, walking on.

Peggy backed into the elevator slowly and then hit the button for the ground floor. She had to let the others know Nerit was up and around. To her shock, she suddenly realized she was trembling and very afraid. She wondered if Nerit being up was a good omen or bad.

* * * * *

Nerit reached the room she was looking for and knocked. When there was no answer, she pulled her revolver and took a step back. She fired and a hole was punched very neatly through the door. Reaching through, she unlocked the door, pushed it open and entered.

The air in the room was stale and she rubbed the tip of her nose. This room had no balcony and she frowned. With a shrug, she shattered the window with the butt of her sniper rifle, the glass cascading around her like silvery rain. Grabbing the comforter off the bed, she shoved the musty thing over the window ledge, then dragged a chair over.

Carefully, she climbed onto the chair, then sat down on the ledge, the comforter keeping her safe from the broken glass. Tucking a strand of hair back from her face, she brought the rifle around and smiled slightly. It felt good and solid in her hands.

The wind howled around her as she perched in the window high above the fort below. Her eye became one with the scope and she looked down into her narrow world knowing exactly what she would see.

Travis came into view standing at the base of the wall. She quickly checked on the zombies and saw she still had time. Then her “eye” swept upwards and she saw Katie struggling with Curtis as she tried to hold onto the rail. Unfortunately, he was leaning over her in such a way Nerit could not get a clear shot without endangering Katie.

“One clear shot,” she whispered softly, then realized it was a prayer. “I need one clear shot.”

* * * * *

Juan wiped his brow with a kerchief and tucked it into his back pocket before reaching down to lift a concrete block up onto a cart. There were worries that one of the perimeter buildings needed reinforcement. A crew had been working on its back wall for most of the night.

“Juan! Juan! Where’s Travis and Katie?” Peggy ran toward him, her eyes wide.

Looking around the large old construction site, he shrugged. “I haven’t seen them for awhile. Why?”

“Nerit is up!”

“What?”

“I saw her come out of the elevator on the sixth floor. She looked great!”

Peggy looked more lively than he had seen her in the days since Bill and Dale had died.

“Holy shit! I should have known that old woman was too tough to die,”

Juan declared.

“But the weird thing is she had her sniper rifle,” Peggy continued. “And she looked deadly.”

Juan’s brow furrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

“No clue.”

The wind was loud, blowing hard off the hills and whistling through the fort. Juan turned to feel the air rush over his sweaty face. It felt soothing. Yet, he did not feel soothed.

“Shit, something is wrong, isn’t it?”

He began to walk back toward the hotel feeling grim and afraid. Just then a bulldozer pulled across his way, hauling a load of stuff for a catapult. Forced to go around, he and Peggy ended up going along the old perimeter wall.

“Nothing feels right,” Peggy said shortly. “You know, zombies coming!”

“Yeah, but Nerit being up and armed...” He shook his head as he walked.

“Something is up.”

It was then he heard Jenni’s voice shout “Hey, fuckface” and the whole world changed.

* * * * *

Katie felt her grip slipping and Curtis was smiling madly down at her.

“It’s okay, really. It’s fine, let go.” He kept saying to her. She screamed again, but felt as if the wind tore it from her lips and dissipated it.

“You’re going to die, Katie,” Curtis whispered to her as he pried her fingers loose at last. He leaned far over her, shoving her back from the rail, her fingers of her other hand beginning to slip. “You’re going to fall and die.”

The moans of the zombies were closer now and Travis was swearing at Curtis, his voice full of despair.

“You’re going to die, Katie, just like Jenni did. This is the end of your little Thelma and Louise story. No one can save you,” he said softly.

“Hey, fuckface,” Jenni’s voice said sharply.

Katie caught sight of Jenni standing behind Curtis. She looked real. Solid. When Katie had reached the wall, Jenni had vanished. To see her again, Katie sobbed with relief.

Jerking around, Curtis saw Jenni and his expression was one of utter surprise.

“Why don’t you try fucking with me, asshole?” Jenni taunted. Abruptly letting go of Katie’s hand, Curtis turned as he straightened.

“You’re dead,” Curtis exclaimed.

“So?”

Katie managed to hold onto the rail for a second with her other hand, but the sudden release of her weight by Curtis let gravity grab her and she half-slid, half-fell down the side of the wall.

Jenni’s eyes flicked toward her friend’s falling form, then she stared Curtis straight in the eye as he turned fully to face her.

“Bang,” she said, and grinned.

“Wha-” he managed, then a hole was punched neatly through his brow above his left eye.

He fell slowly to her feet, crumpling like a puppet. Jenni looked up to the sixth floor window and waved to the woman perched there.

* * * * *

Juan reached the catwalk just in time to see Katie fall, Curtis turn toward Jenni, and then die at her feet. Startled, he could barely breathe as he stumbled toward the woman he loved.

Jenni waved to someone in the hotel, then turned to see him.

“Loca,” he whispered.

“Hey, baby,” she answered with a wide smile, then said, “Shit!”

And just like that, she swung her legs over the rail and dropped down below.

* * * * *

Travis lunged to catch her and Katie fell into his arms and sent them both sprawling. Immediately, they both scrambled to their feet to see the zombies moving ever closer to them. There were now maybe twenty moving slowly, but resolutely toward them. Behind those zombies, more staggered into the light in the street beyond. Their twisted, gnarled bodies were grotesque in their decay.

“They’re early,” Katie said.

“Yeah,” Travis answered, holding her close. “Curtis?”

“I think Jenni has him covered.”

Travis looked at her sharply. “Jenni? Huh?”

* * * * *

Nerit saw Jenni wave to her and she smiled briefly, then was on the move again. To get a clear shot of the zombies she had to be in a different location. The fire escape to her left would be perfect. Leaping off the chair, she ran across the room and out into the hallway.

* * * * *

Katie clung to Travis as they both began to shout at the top of their lungs for help. A form fell from above and they both ducked slightly as it landed near them.

It was Jenni. She landed on her feet and flipped her hair back from her face.

“Hey, Travis” she called out.

“Jenni,” Travis whispered in shock.

With a grin, Jenni walked toward the zombies, her long hair flowing in the night wind. She sauntered up to the determined flesh eaters and her laughter drifted into the night.

“What the hell?” Travis managed.

“She’s back...sorta...kinda,” Katie answered.

* * * * *

Jenni’s hair danced around her face as she smiled at the undead approaching her. She understood them now in a way she could not in life. They were desperately sad and terrible, but they were hunger personified and her friends were their chosen meal.

That was simply not acceptable. This was no place for pity or mercy.

“Hey fucktards, why don’t you stop right there and wait for the nice sniper lady to shoot your heads off?” she said, then stepped into the midst of them.

The zombies stopped in mid-step. Slowly, they turned toward her, their hands grasping at her arms, face, and neck. The growled in confusion and hunger. They could not grab their delicious prey.

“Good zombies. Now. Bang.”

The first zombie’s head exploded.

* * * * *

Holding each other tight, Katie and Travis watched as Jenni walked into the center of the approaching zombies and they gathered around her, grabbing at her hungrily. From the wall, Juan and Peggy stood in shock and stared at the form of the woman in a red sweater, hands on her hips, standing the midst of the zombies as Nerit took them down one by one.

“Get the loading dock open and get them in,” Juan said finally.

“The zombies,” Peggy began to protest.

“She’s got them,” Juan answered in awe. “Loca’s got them.”

* * * * *

Anyone who saw it, could barely believe what they witnessed. Others, who were not there, did not believe it at all. But the woman in the red sweater with the long black hair held the zombies at bay as Nerit shot their heads off one by one.

The loading dock doors slid open and heavily armed fort personnel covered the distracted zombies as Katie and Travis ran to safety. The heavy doors clanged shut. Those gathered in the hotel windows and along the wall watched in awe as Jenni walked calmly over the downed monsters, pulling the remaining zombies along with her.

“Jenni!”

She turned at the sound of Juan’s voice, her dark eyes smiling up at him. She lifted her hand and blew him a kiss as the zombies clustered around her.

More were coming now.

Jenni shoved a few out of her way as she walked, but none could grab her. They followed her relentlessly, moaning with aggravation. As Jason and Jack joined the group on the wall, Jenni squatted down and looked at the ground.

“What is she doing?” Peggy asked.

“The explosives,” Juan whispered.

“Go, Mom,” Jason said softly, tears in his eyes.

Jenni activated the hidden dynamite under the dirt and blew the zombies to hell.

As the smoke cleared, nothing moved in the mouth of the alley or beyond. And Jenni, once more, was gone.

1. The Time of Choice

The lobby was packed with people as word of what had happened between Curtis, Travis, and Katie spread throughout the fort. Katie found herself huddled on a couch with Travis, sipping water and trying to keep her hands from shaking. She wasn’t sure what had happened to Curtis’

body, but a few people kept commenting they should throw him over the wall to the zombies.

Kevin sat nearby with Nerit. He looked utterly shocked that she was up, let alone looking so good.

“This is bullshit,” a man declared.

Katie tilted her head to see Ed standing nearby.

“Sorry, folks, but I can’t believe no shit about ghosts. Jenni is dead. End of story. Curtis may have been the Vigilante, but we broke fucking protocol opening the loading dock.”

“Were we supposed to just leave them out there to die?” Peggy exclaimed.

“I’m just saying that this place is going to shit fast,” Ed responded.

“I saw Jenni,” Juan said sharply. “I saw her!”

“So did I,” Peggy exclaimed. She was smoking up a storm and was shaking.

“Ghosts are bullshit and if this is what I can expect when the zombies get here, people busting protocol ‘cause someone is in danger, I’m out of here,” Ed said firmly.

“I saw ghosts, too,” Katarina said from near the elevators. “I saw my Mama until Bill and I got engaged. After Bill died, I saw him.”

Voices began to rise up, some agreeing with Ed.

“Ghosts? Give me a break.”

“People are losing it.”

“How many here saw a ghost tonight?” Nerit’s voice broke through the murmuring.

Silence fell over the lobby, then slowly, nearly a third of the room raised their hands.

“So did I. I saw my dead husband. And he told me what Curtis was trying to do. I saw Jenni, too. Now, I may be an old woman, but that only means I’ve lived longer than most of you and I have seen things I cannot explain. The ghosts were here. They came to guide us. But they have all passed on now and it’s up to us to deal with what happens next.” Nerit’s voice was firm and strong. It was a far departure from her frail appearance when she lay in a coma.

“C’mon,” a voice said nearby. “That’s a bunch of bull. You’re sounding as crazed as those Baptists we threw out.”

“Our leadership seems to be under a lot of stress,” a familiar voice said. The former Mayor stood nearby. He wasn’t doing very well health-wise and looked strained.

“I saw Jenni, too,” Travis finally spoke up. “I saw her clear as day. I saw her turn back the zombies coming for me and my wife. If we have the dead walking the earth, why are ghosts so hard to believe in?”

“If your ghosts are real, why don’t they just come and save us all?”

Katie couldn’t see who all was talking now. The lobby was packed.

“They did what they could to give us a fair chance to fight back. But what happens next is up to us,” Nerit said.

“So did they give you any assurances, huh? That we’ll live?” Peggy asked this, her face quite pale.

“No. They did not.” Nerit stood slowly and her presence seemed to push back those closest to her. “It is up to us if we win or lose. If we live or die.”