Siege (As the World Dies #3)(112)

Standing with her hands resting on her swollen belly, she looked toward Juan. His ponytail was falling into his face and he kept flipping it back. He seemed intent on not looking up and slowly Katie realized he was crying as he worked.

Refusing to cry, refusing the release it might bring her, she walked determinedly into the fort. She wasn’t ready yet. She couldn’t do it. Despite the changes in the world around her she couldn’t let go of Jenni. Not yet.



She just couldn’t.





3. While You Were Sleeping


Walking light-footed across the floor, Ruben moved toward Charlie. The younger man was seated in a window, hunting rifle slung across his lap, staring down over the darkened street. They were holed up in a small town museum and night was settling firmly over the land. Only the full moon gave any light to the room.

Behind them the Senator was fast asleep on a World War II cot in a recreation of a bunker. She was snoring loudly. “Charlie,” Ruben said softly, barely a whisper.



Charlie looked at him slowly. The boy’s face was pinched and a little gray. The food they had salvaged two days before had been bad. They were all a little shaky still. “Wazzup?”

Ruben crouched down next to the nineteen year old. He had eight years on the boy, but he felt old and fatherly toward the younger man.

“Time to go,” he whispered.

Charlie looked slowly toward the Senator, then back at Ruben. “Gonna wake her?”

“No.” The word was said softly, firmly and with conviction.



“Okay,” Charlie answered, slowly sliding off the windowsill. He stood on still shaky legs and took a deep breath. “Is it right? To leave her?” His voice was soft, but the emotion was thick.

“I listened in on her last conversation with Central,” Ruben said oh so quietly. “Everything she’s been saying is bullshit. They aren’t telling her to find a safe location for pickup. They’re telling her they ain’t gonna get us.”

Charlie pressed his lips firmly together and in the moonlight his eyes glistened with tears. He was an East Texas bayou boy. All he wanted to do was get home to the swamps. Ruben was from south San Antonio. He wanted to go home, too, but he knew that there was nothing left. Central had given Charlie hope and Ruben had just killed it. He felt like a shit doing it, but they had made enough mistakes.

“We left those people in the mall…” Charlie whispered, his voice catching. “We saw the smoke. But we kept going…”

“I know. We f*cked up,” Ruben said softly. Charlie lowered his eyes, then nodded. “Yeah.”



“Look, kid, we stay with her, we die. You saw what she did to Raleigh. She’ll do it to us. We’re her f*cking bodyguards. She doesn’t give a shit about us,” Ruben said firmly.

Charlie sighed, then picked up his backpack very quietly. “I know. I just wanted to go home.” Ruben nodded and grabbed the boy firmly by the back of the neck and pressed his forehead to the boy’s. Behind them the Senator snored loudly. “I’m gonna get you to a safe place. I promise.”

“The fort?”

Ruben sighed. “No. We f*cked up like the devil and we’re cast out of paradise. We gotta find another place.”



The younger man looked fragile in the light. Like a ten year old. He reminded Ruben of his younger brother and it hurt like hell. Without another word, they crept across the floor, careful not to make noise, then stealthily down the stairs. The zombie infestation was minimal in this town, but they carefully looked out the windows before unbolting the door. Stepping out into the cool spring air, they moved toward the truck.



A zombie lurched out from the shadows, uttering a low moan startling both of them. Its rotting hands reached for them as its yellowed teeth champed together. Ruben stepped forward it and firmly cold-cocked it with his rifle. It fell to the ground, still moaning. Ruben brought the rifle butt down again and silenced the fiend. Charlie slipped into the driver’s seat of the truck and flung his bag in the back. It held a few possessions, but mostly ammo for the hunting rifle he had picked up a few towns back.



Ruben also slid into the truck and shut the passenger door. “Where are we going?”

Ruben stared down the silent street. A few zombies staggered through the gloom, washed gray by the moonlight.

“West.”



Charlie nodded. “Okay.” The truck roared to life and moved down the road a block before the headlights flipped on. It moved faster, zombies bouncing off its grill, then it turned a corner and was gone.



Meanwhile, the Senator snored on.





Chapter 25





1. A Beautiful Day Gone Wrong





Travis glanced out of the helicopter window down into the lush hill country and slightly smiled. It was beautiful now that spring was fully spread over the land. Trees were radiant in their coats of leaves and the wild grass flowed like rich green water over the hills. Cows ambled down country roads while deer frolicked among the overgrown orchards. A few horses were racing across a field with wild glee, free of human restraints.

“Beautiful, huh?” Kevin grinned over at him. “A gorgeous April day.”

Travis nodded and adjusted his headset slightly. It was uncomfortable but it was the only way to hear anyone above the roar of the helicopter. “I wish Katie could see it. That the world is still alive.”