Siege (As the World Dies #3)(107)

Stacey looked up from the ledger she was studying and lifted her eyebrows. “It is?”

“It’s been one month since the new people arrived. It was the first part of February.” Peggy was busy making a homemade calendar on the back of a used piece of paper.

“We missed Valentine’s Day,” Stacey said in awe. “Wow.” “I bet the men didn’t mind that,” Peggy grumbled.



“I guess we’ve all been so busy, we all forgot.” Stacey marked off a few items on her ledger then reached for the next form in her pile.

“Strange. Zombies rise and we’re still doing paperwork.” Lenore knocked lightly on the door to the office where Peggy and Stacey were working. “I’m heading out to help the shopping crew. I took twenty more bolts. They’re looking low.”

Stacey reached out and Lenore handed her a slip of paper. “I’ll let Jason and his crew know they need to make more.”

“Thanks.”



“How are you doing, Lenore?” Peggy began to number her calendar.

“A girl can only cry so much over a boy,” Lenore answered.

“Gotcha.” Peggy looked up at Lenore. “That handsome Kevin Reynolds is single.”

“You do realize that just because you put a black woman and a black man in the same room, it don’t mean they’re gonna hook up right?” Lenore scowled.

“I was just saying-”

“Crazy ass white people,” Lenore rolled her eyes.

“You’d make cute babies,” Stacey offered helpfully. Lenore just growled and stalked off.

“What got into her?” Peggy arched an eyebrow.

Stacey shrugged and updated her ledger again. “We’re getting low on sweet peas.”



“We’re getting low on everything. Hopefully, all this damn shopping in town will help.” Peggy finished her calendar and circled the present date. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“What is it?” “It’s been a year. Today.” Peggy laid a trembling hand over her heart. “It’s been a year ago today since it all went down into zombie hell.”



“Should we tell people?” Stacey’s face had drained of blood beneath her ever present tan. “I don’t know. Would it do any good?” Peggy looked down at the calendar again. “It seems so much longer.”



“It’s Spring, too.” Stacey sat back in her chair, her fingers playing with the tip of her ponytail.

“A year.” Peggy thought of all that had happened and was amazed. “A year.”





2. Spring Shopping

The house was at least seventy years old. The paint was peeling off the front porch and the screen door hung limply from the one hinge keeping it in place. Spring had brought fresh blooms to the plants nestled in pots in the window boxes and along the front path. Fresh green blades of grass were pressing up through the cracks in the walk up to the house.

Heavy boots moved slowly and almost silently up the sidewalk. Six figures garbed in camouflage headed toward the house. Each soldier moved with agility that comes with endless hours of training and experience. All of them wore heavy gloves, helmets and imposing gas masks. Speaking only with hand signals, they moved smoothly up to the front door. Two soldiers peered in through the front windows then signaled to the leader. He nodded and made a motion. Another soldier immediately kicked in the front door.

They flowed into the house, moving swiftly, their weapons held ready.



The living room was devoid of life. A dog lay near the front door. It was emaciated and long dead. It had never made it out of the house. Moving on, they cleared the dining room then a kitchen. Every door was opened, with soldiers at the ready. Finally, they began down the narrow hallway to the bedrooms. The leader motioned to everyone to be as silent as possible. The first bedroom door opened on a neat room with everything in its place. The closet door was opened, the bed checked under, but nothing stirred. The next room was more chaotic and there were signs of a struggle. But again, nothing lurched out of the shadows.

The next room was also a bedroom and a corpse lay near the door. Its head was bashed in and a heavy lamp lay nearby, the base of it caked with dried blood. Again, the room was quickly checked and then one last door remained.

One soldier leaned over and gently turned the knob. The door swung open and revealed a narrow little bathroom. A woman stood in the shower. She growled and lunged forward, but one hand was tied firmly to the shower head by a towel and she struggled to get free. Either she had tied herself to the shower before she died or someone else had done it. Snapping her teeth at them, she again lunged forward, but only managed to trip and slide downward. Trying to get up, she pulled hard on her restrained arm. Bones cracked and ligaments snapped and it was clear she would pull free of her arm to get to them.

One soldier moved forward and shot her in the head.



It was over.

The house was secured.

“It’s clear. Get the shoppers in here,” Kevin’s voice said from within one of the gas masks.





*

The door of the moving truck slid up and a soldier motioned to the men and women huddled inside.

Pulling off her mask, Bette said, “The house is clear and the perimeter is secure. Get in and get out as fast as possible.”