Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)(11)

It was an emotion they were too well acquainted with in this new world.





2. Packing Up and Moving On

“It still smells like zombie in here,” Stacey muttered under her breath. The too-slim younger woman made a face and rubbed her pert nose.

“Zombie and bleach,” Katie amended with a wry grin.

“Sounds like a drink almost.” Stacey laughed and puffed air up at her flyaway bangs. She was busy packing up the contents of a shelf laden with boxed dinners and cans of soup.

“In some freaky bar down on 6th Street in good ol' Austin, Texas.” Katie grinned at the thought and continued clearing the shelf. Sweat was trickling down her back and beaded her forehead. The store had been without air conditioning for weeks. At some point the breaker had been tripped. Now the air conditioner was humming loudly as it worked hard to cool the store down.

Stacey smiled ruefully. “The good ol' days.”

Katie's smile faded. “Yeah. The days of yore.”

“In the B.Z.”

“Before Zombie?” Katie arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Stacey answered. She taped the box shut and scrounged around for the black marker they were using to mark the contents of the boxes on the outside flap.

Katie laughed slightly and shook her head. She was dressed in shorts and a tank top, trying not to let the heat get to her. Stacey was dressed similarly and her toothpick legs made Katie wince. Stacey and Eric had almost starved to death as they took refuge on the water tower. Though they had been on the edge of town, they had not been able to brave the zombie hordes to make it to the fort. Jenni, Bill, Felix and Ed had saved them from certain death.

It was nearly two in the afternoon and they had been working since the area had been declared clear. Katie's legs were aching and her arms felt bruised, but they needed to get the area clear. The faster they were done, the sooner they could make the area safe. Once it was secure, they could seriously consider going into the hotel.

“Sometimes it doesn't feel real. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday I was a coach at an elementary school refereeing dodge ball and hoping the bullies didn't kill the nerds,” Stacey said in a soft voice.

“I know the feeling,” Katie answered as she taped her box closed. “It just...changed so fast. One second the world was normal and the next it was all wrong.”

“And one second people you loved were alive and the next...” Stacey shook her head, as if to shake the bad thoughts from her mind. “At least here we're safe, or at least as safe as it gets.”

Katie shoved her box onto the pallet behind her and exhaled slowly. She felt winded and her face was flushed. Nearby she could hear Eric and Travis talking in low voices about the security of the back doors. Already any window to the abandoned buildings were being bricked up. She understood the fears Travis and Juan had about the small gate built to enter the hotel holding back any large amount of zombies. Part of her thought they were overly paranoid, yet she knew in this world that no one could truly be careful enough.

Stacey glanced toward Eric and Travis as they walked by them. The men were talking earnestly and gesturing around them. Stacey looked at Katie and Katie quirked her eyebrow upward.

“When they talk shop, I have no idea what they are saying,” Stacey confessed.

“You and me both,” Katie agreed. She wiped more sweat from her face. She was wearing gloves to prevent cutting her hands. They felt obscenely warm.

Stacey sighed and looked back at Katie. “Don't get me wrong. I'm glad Eric is involved with fort business, but sometimes I just wish...” She let out another long sigh. “You know, sometimes I wish we could just relax, for a moment, and be glad we're with each other and safe. But it's always about scrambling to be safer, scrambling to survive, scrambling to anticipate every little thing that could go wrong.”

“I've been thinking about that lately,” Katie confessed. “That maybe we'll never know real peace ever again. You know that feeling that the world is safe and sane. That we can get up in the morning and there will be food on the table, a job to go to, a loved one to curl up with at night. That the world humanity has created is secure.” She was thinking of Lydia and their beautiful home again. She blinked her eyes hard to fight back tears.

“I guess if that's true, then any little bit of happiness we find, we should just hold onto it.” Stacey looked toward Eric. Katie knew from what Stacey had told her that they had fallen slowly in love with each other as they struggled to survive. “I guess, maybe, just being here with him alive is enough.”

Katie found herself looking toward Travis. “Maybe,” she said at last. “Maybe.” She quickly began to fill the next box, shoving cans into neat stacks inside.

Stacey lifted her box onto the pallet behind them and reached for another box stacked nearby.

“Hey,” Travis said from behind them.

Katie turned around and looked up into his face as he leaned over them. Stacey sat back on her butt and let out a long, tired breath.

“You two have been in here long enough. Why don’t you finish up your boxes then take a break?”

Katie nodded her head. Stacey looked relieved.

“Thanks, Travis,” Stacey said and swept as much of the remaining casserole boxes into the box with one stroke of her arm. “Done!”