Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)(87)

Curtis sighed and nodded. “I just feel like we should be trying to be safe inside and not going out there.”

Travis shook his head. “We may not want to admit it, but we are building a new world here. We need good, solid people to help us continue it. We need some of those people out there. One is an RN, another is an electrician.”

“We have no choice, but to get them,” Katie said firmly.

Curtis was staring at Travis intently. “What if people die going out there?”

“We are all taking risks,” Bill answered for Travis. “To do what is right.”

“Protecting the good of society is what we are trained to do. It is what comes first to our minds. Protecting our own should be a priority.” Curtis shook his head.

“We bring them in,” Travis said. “Because they are our own.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Curtis just sighed.

Nerit waved to the zombies rabidly growling and jostling each other below. “Target practice for Jason and his crew. Don't they have some new weapons to try out?”

“Herding zombies,” Curtis chuckled to himself. “What will those dumb f*ck bandits think of next?”

Katie turned to Nerit. “Well, it was nice of the bandits to send us targets.”

Nerit gave Katie a sly smile. “Oh, yes. It gives me a little more insight into their leaders mind.” She slipped past Katie and down the stairs.

“Okay, is it just me, or is she one scary old woman?” Bill blinked his eyes rapidly, his hands on his hips.

“The scariest,” Curtis said somberly. “She scares me shitless.” He followed Nerit down the stairs.

“Glad she's on our side,” Katie added, and followed.

Bill looked over at the zombies. “Yeah, me, too.”





2. And So It Begins Again

Peggy studied her little map with all its highlighted spots she had laid out on the front desk in the lobby. She drew an x through one of the bright yellow circles. They had lost contact with one of the survivor groups. She had finally given up hope this morning after a third day of no response. It could be the zombies, or it could be the bandits. There was no way of truly knowing.

Looking up, she saw the newest additions to the fort, three little kids, running around the lobby with her son, playing what looked like a superhero game. The new family had broken her heart when they had arrived, reeking to high heaven and absolutely terrified. When the wife had seen their new suite in the hotel, she had burst into tears. At their first meal, the children had kept stuffing their faces until the youngest had thrown up. It had grown too easy to forget just how good those in the fort had it compared to those stuck in tiny pockets out in the hostile world.

Nerit glanced over at the children, then back down at the map. “Five locations. Which is the most desperate?”

Travis was at her side, staring down at the map as well. He was certain to be the new mayor, despite Steven Mann's dirty politicking. Manny was a fading leader as he struggled with health problems. People automatically deferred to Travis now. The vote was the last step to making his ascension to the fort leader official.

“Sadler Farm. It's a family and a few workers. They've been holed up in the main house since the second day of the outbreak. It's an old stone house with storm windows, shutters and doors. Originally, they declined joining us. They felt they had it under control. Considering how far out they are, you would think they would be safe, but a wave of the dead arrived about ten days ago. They're just about out of ammo now and they are low on food. For awhile, they told me they had come and gone from the house to the garden and the chicken coops with no issue. Then one day the zombies hit in force and they lost two men and ended up barely holding them off.”

Nerit nodded stoically. “The RN is where?”

“Bowie High School in Raymond,” Peggy answered. “She has two teachers and four kids with her. Two are hers. She was at the school giving flu shots on the first day. The school was evacuated, but they remained behind deliberately.”

“Why?” Nerit's gaze was curious.

Peggy laughed a little. “She watches horror movies and saw one of the walking dead and was pretty sure it was a zombie. Then she noticed bites on some of the people being put on the buses. So she and the others hid and waited until everyone had been shipped off to a rescue center, then barricaded themselves inside the school. It's a very small school, so it wasn't that hard.”

Nerit smiled wryly. “Horror movies...odd how they became a guideline for survival.”

Katie joined them, dressed in hunting gear. She leaned into Travis and he slung an arm around her shoulders. A tender kiss followed, Peggy grinned.

Peggy loved seeing them together. Her own marriage had been rocky and never very romantic. She knew she was a sucker for country love songs and soap operas. She couldn't help it. But this was the real thing. She could see it. Feel it. Travis and Katie had found real, true love. She was happy for them. She just wished it would one day happen to her. Of course, in this dead world, what were the chances of that?

“So these are the last two groups?” Travis pondered over the map.

“One more. A family trapped in a trailer. Again, doing okay until a recent mob of zombies arrived a few days ago. They were also holdouts, but they have not been doing so well. They're just bullheaded country folk, but they now need us to go get them.” Peggy tapped the map and stared up at Nerit and Travis.