The First Days: As the World Dies (20 page)

1. Falling Into The Abyss

    

    Don't let go!" Katie swung over the zombies, her feet kicking as she tried to get back onto the pallet.

    Travis' hand, slick with sweat from the heat and his nerves had an iron tight grip on her wrist. "I won't! Grab onto my arm with your other hand!"

    Katie's body was jolted as the pallet swung about and she screamed.

    The moans and shouts of the zombies below made her tremble with fear.

    People in the Fort where shouting and she could hear Jenni screaming her name.

    Travis was holding on tight to the heavy chain that held the pallet up.

    Bill was holding on for dear life, nearly falling off himself.

    The pallet was swinging crazily from the crane.

    This is it, Katie thought. This is how it ends for me.

    Katie kicked her legs, trying to somehow swim through the air and get a better grip on Travis. Her free hand finally managed to grip his strong, thick wrist. Her fingers barely fit around it. She was gagging on the sheer stench of the dead below and her terror felt as if it was choking her. Travis’ grip on her felt tenuous somehow and he gazed down at her with grim determination.

    The pallet that made up their makeshift elevator continued to throw them off balance. It swung in long loops over the heads of the undead, making them shriek all the more as the humans dangled teasingly from it.

    How had it come to this?

    The drive to the town had been uneventful. Travis had driven the old white truck while Katie had been squeezed in between him and Bill. Laura had sat quietly on Bill's lap, a crocheted purse hanging around her neck.

    Nerit had given it to her and had put the VCR tape and remote control into it.

    Laura had seemed to find this acceptable and had stared out of the windshield all the way to town as her fingers stroked the purse.

    Travis had traveled an alternate route, avoiding the main street into the heart of the town that lead to the fort. They had taken a series of side roads until they came up to the outside of the enormous hotel that's back faced the fort. The improvised wall that kept the zombies corralled had impressed both Travis and Katie. A storage container and sandbags: very ingenious. It was evident that Juan was very clever.

    No zombies had made their appearance as they parked the car. On the road they had seen a few, in the distance, usually running from a farmhouse, but none had appeared in the town. The evacuation to the school had been highly successful.

    The enormous crane, perched over the fort, had been already in movement, its long arm extending toward them. Travis had slid out of the truck and moved to the bed as Bill and Katie covered him, guns drawn. Bill kept one hand on Laura's shoulder as they got ready to return to the Fort.

    "…not fast…enough…" Laura had begun to murmur.

    She had been so silent and it startled them to hear her.

    "She's starting up," Bill had whispered.

    They had worked as quietly as possible, trying not to draw too much attention. By the cries and moans behind the barrier keeping them safe, they had known the zombies were well aware of their presence.

    Travis had climbed up onto the pallet and when the large hook from the crane had descended far enough, he had hooked the pallet onto it.

    "Okay, remember where I told you to stand. It's all about weight distribution to keep us from tipping over," Travis had said.

    Laura had whispered, "…not…fast…enough…"

    Katie had helped Bill get Laura up onto the pallet. Katie had pressed Laura's hands to the ropes Travis had made as hand holds, and Laura had gripped them firmly, despite her continuous blank stare. Katie had taken up her position, slinging her rifle over one shoulder, while Bill and Travis took theirs.

    "Nervous?" Travis had asked.

    "Not at all," Katie had lied.

    The pallet had lifted rather smoothly and when they were high enough to be safe, they had started a long, slow swing over the zombies toward the Fort.

    The stench of them had filled their nostrils, an almost burning sensation, and the screams from below were hellish and chilling. Katie had kept her gaze on the fort and had tried not to look down. Occasionally, she checked on Laura who stood near her, holding the ropes tightly. Her lips had been moving and Katie had barely heard her whisper, "…not fast…enough."

    Bill had looked down and let out a whistle. "Damn. There's a lot of zombies."

    Katie couldn't help herself and she had looked down. It had made her gasp to see how many were beneath her, jumping up and down, swinging their arms, trying in vain to reach them.

    Laura had looked down as well. Her voice had risen in volume. "…not fast…enough…not fast enoughnotfastenoughnotfastenough…"

    "Laura, calm down. Look away," Travis had said firmly.

    "Laura, don't look," Katie had said.

    Then Laura had stopped her fevered muttering and looked at each of them one by one. "We can never be fast enough," she had said clearly.

    And had let go.

    "No!" Katie had made a mad grab for the girl and had caught her hair for just a moment. But gravity grabbed the young woman and dragged her down into the hands of the zombies below.

    But Katie wasn't the only one who had lunged for her. Bill and Travis had reached out in vain and Bill, who was much heavier than all of them, shifted his weight too much and the pallet had leaned to one side and swung in a dangerous arc.

    Katie, already holding on by just one hand, had lost her footing and fallen.

    "Katie!" Travis had grabbed for her.

    She had managed to hold onto the handhold he had created, but she had dangled over the zombies, her weight making the pallet swing even more.

    Bill had almost fallen off trying to regain his footing and sprawled over the top of the supplies, gripping the netting fiercely. Travis hand had found her wrist and hand and had grabbed on.

    And now she hung suspended, as the feeding frenzy below made her feel like throwing up. She could hear the slurping noises, the harsh crunching of bones, and it made her even more desperate to get up onto the pallet.

    "Don't move, don't swing us," Travis ordered her. "I have you. Just hang there."

    Katie stared into his eyes and trusted him.

    Slowly, the pallet stopped its crazy swinging and came to hang over the zombies, slightly listing to one side. Finally, the crane began to move again.

    "I'm slipping," Katie whispered.

    "No, you're not," Travis responded firmly. "I have you."

    Her fingers gripped his wrist tighter. His hand had such a tight hold of her, she felt as if he was crushing her wrist and hand.

    Bill didn't dare move and kept whispering, "Oh shit…oh…shit…she jumped."

    Katie dared to look down and saw the dirt trucks beneath her and some very evil looking black spikes. Beyond that was the fence and, last of all, the concrete wall.

    The pallet began to descend and Katie sobbed with relief.

    "Katie! Katie! Katie!" Jenni's voice wafted up to her.

    Suddenly hands were all over her and for a moment, she had one of Travis' waking nightmares, and she thought they had her. But when Travis let go of her, she fell into Juan's arms. Jenni was next to him, tears on her cheeks, and she grabbed Katie's bruised hands.

    "You made it!"

    Katie felt wet tears flowing down her own face as she nodded and pulled Jenni into a tight hug. Jason threw his arms around both of them in a tight hug and Jack, at her heels, barked for attention.

    Katie kissed both Jenni and Jason on the cheek firmly then hugged them both to her again. It felt delicious to be alive and with them once more.

    Travis swooped down and hugged them all at once in a big bear hug.

    Jenni threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

    "You saved Katie!" Her expression was one of absolute joy.

    Travis shook his head. "Nah, she saved herself. She had such a tight hold of me, I think she broke my wrist."

    Jason didn't smile at Travis, but he hugged Katie again and whispered,

    "I'm so glad you're back.

    Katie grinned at him and kissed his cheek again. She was amused when he blushed.

    Juan walked up to them and looked toward the pallet. "Okay, I gotta ask.

    Did anyone get any smokes?"

    There was a pause before Katie burst into laughter. She felt overwhelmed with emotions. Happiness, sadness, fear, relief, remorse, guilt all mingled together. But she let her relief override all of them and she flung her arms around Juan and kissed his cheek.

    "What? What? Why are all of you women crazy? I just want my smokes,"

    Juan protested.

    Travis just shook his head, his arm slung around Jenni's shoulders. "One track mind…one track mind."

    Katie slung her arm around Travis' waist and gave him a sideways hug.

    "Thanks, by the way."

    Travis kissed the top of her head. "Sorry, but I'm not going to let you die."

    "Good," Jenni said happily and grabbed Katie's hand.

    "Seriously," Juan said again. "Did anyone grab some smokes?"

    

    

2. Dead of Night

    

    Night finally descended, pushing back the heat, and letting the cool evening breeze waft into the fort. It would have been even more welcomed if it hadn't brought the stench of the dead in with it.

    Travis stood out in the middle of the construction site, drinking a soda, and surveying the property with Juan. Juan had done a good job of getting it a bit more organized, even creating one corner specifically as a living area.

    The lunch wagon, two portable office buildings, and a variety of chairs and tables had been arranged on what remained of the old building's foundation.

    Blue tarps were made into makeshift tents. Everything that could be useful had been organized in another area. Building materials, tools, machinery, anything at all that could be used to defend the fort was neatly organized in another corner. It was all about imagination and making do at this point.

    Travis had been damn impressed with the spiked perimeter. He had never thought of breaking down the wrought iron fence for something like that.

    "I figure this. We got people still out there alive. Curtis has been talking to them every day on the CB. If we could actually make a "safe" not crazy ass way to get into the fort, we could have more people in here," Juan said to him.

    "Yeah, but do we have the resources?"

    Juan shrugged. "Who knows? We just gotta figure it out as we go. This is the new Eden, dude, whether we like it or not."

    Travis looked around the site glumly and sighed. "Yeah, dammit. Just how the hell are we supposed to save the world?"

    Juan shrugged. "Not the whole world. Just what little we can carve out of it for ourselves."

    Travis motioned to the back of the hotel. "I want to get in there. There is plenty of room in there for everyone and it would be helluva lot more comfortable than trailers and cots."

    Juan nodded. "That will be a big undertaking. At least they hadn't officially opened yet and there was only training staff the first day. Maybe twenty people? But with the guns we can clear them out easier."

    Travis sighed. "I'd like to avoid guns at all costs. It will probably draw more of the zombie's attention. Katie grabbed some crossbows and archery stuff back at Ralph's, but we'll definitely need to practice a lot with those before we use them. Same with the guns."

    "You know, it's really sissy of you not to like guns."

    Travis gave Juan a look. "Yeah, well, I had staunch Democratic parents who were former hippies."

    "Well, "give peace a chance" will get your ass kicked now days. Well, more like eaten," Juan reminded him.

    "Yeah," Travis rubbed his forehead. "Yeah. The rules are all different."

    "Except the lesbian rule. Lesbians are still hot," Juan decided.

    "Especially those two."

    Travis looked to where Juan was pointing and was surprised to see Katie and Jenni standing out on the back steps of city hall. Katie was in a tank top and shorts and Jenni was in an over-sized man's shirt that went down to her knees. They were animatedly talking and laughing. It was very late, so they probably couldn't sleep. The day had been tiring, but invigorating at the same time. Travis and Katie returning with Bill had been seen as a victory in the fort.

    "Katie is a lesbian, but I don't think-"

    "No, no, dude, they are together. Everyone knows it." Juan grinned and nudged him with his elbow. "Too bad they don't like guys. Maybe they'd invite one of us to have fun, you know, if they liked the ol' man meat"

    Travis gave Juan a long look. "Man meat?"

    Juan grinned. "But I wouldn't mind watching, even if I couldn't touch.

    Travis' brow furrowed with confusion. "I'm pretty sure that Jenni-"

    "Nope, she likes the chicas. I heard it on good authority."

    "Well, damn," Travis said, his voice edged with disappointment.

    "Yeah," Juan said, but was obviously daydreaming about something highly pornographic.

    Katie and Jenni started the long walk toward them, both of them barefoot he noted. Katie looked better than she had for days and it made him feel good. He really liked her. She was a hot lesbian buddy, he thought. And Jenni, well, she was just crazy and precious all rolled into one.