Siege (As the World Dies #3)(144)

This area of the wall was tucked between the hotel and another building across Main street. It was basically a dead end alleyway next to the huge wall that encircled the front of the hotel. It had been decided to leave access to the loading dock off the kitchens. The loading doors were heavily reinforced and they had added an additional entry with metal doors to thwart any breach. As another measure, a catapult had been built right next to the wall. It had a shorter range than the ones built along the wall and was intended to smash any zombies entering the alleyway leading up to the wall.

Looking to one side, Travis could see the the large pile of junk collected to load onto the catapult. It was mostly broken TVs and other large appliances. It was a very impressive stack. Strange how the most common household items could be transformed into weapons. Standing in the warm night air, he was awed at how peaceful the world felt. After days of hard work and desperate planning, it seemed as if the world was enveloped in chaos. Yet here he stood feeling the comfort of the warm night. Nothing in the world made sense to him anymore other than Katie and the baby.



He heard a step on the catwalk and turned to see Curtis moving through the darkness toward him. “Hey, Curtis,” he said.



“Oh, Travis! Hi,” the younger man said awkwardly. Looking around swiftly, Curtis shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “I..uh...”

“Katie’s asleep, Curtis. She’s real tired with all the hard work and the baby is tiring her out. I told her I would come out and offer you a sounding board. I know this is a really rough time for you.”

Curtis looked extremely uncomfortable as he drew near. “Yeah. It is. I guess for everyone. I just--today was rough. I thought Katie could give me some good advice. I didn’t know who else to go to. With Bill...you know...”

“I know,” Travis answered. “It has hit all of us profoundly.”

“Really?” Curtis said. “You seem not to be affected by too much going on around us.” Travis looked up sharply at the tone in Curtis’ voice. It was an odd inflection on top of an odd comment. “Of course, I’m affected.”

“Oh,” Curtis answered. “I guess you’re just good at hiding things. I’m, you know, just too emotional.”

“We’re just different people,” Travis answered with a wry smile. “We just deal with things differently.”



“Yeah,” Curtis said slowly. ” Yeah, we do.”





*

Katie slept restlessly.

She dreamed of Lydia. She dreamed of the first days. She dreamed of the oncoming zombies. She dreamed of her child. She dreamed of Travis. She dreamed of Jenni.

It was one of those horrible nightmares where you dream you wake up and the world is dark and frightening. In her dream, she sat up in the bed, the covers falling around her waist. Instinctively, she knew she was not alone and looked around the darkened room, trying to see into every shadow.



Her heart began to beat harder as she heard a soft noise near the corner of the blackened room. She stretched out her hand to turn on the lamp. Again she heard a noise, like a footstep or a shuffle, and her fingers strained to find the knob to turn on the lamp. Breathing harshly, she leaned sideways off the bed, trying to find the lamp on the stand next to it. Desperate to fill the room with light, she groped blindly in the darkness as her heart beat harshly in her ears.

Her fingers found the tiny knob and she began to turn it just as something grabbed her wrist. With a scream of fright, she twisted the knob and light flooded the room.



Jenni stood over her, gripping her arm tightly, her dead eyes staring at her intently. Her sickly pale skin and dark hair were wet with water.

Katie screamed in terror...

...and woke up. Jenni still leaned over her, holding her arm, staring down at her. Katie screamed again, this time with the terror of knowing she was awake.

The apparition of her friend screamed, too, letting go of her arm, jumping back and whirling around. Jenni’s long black hair fanned out around her as she twisted this way and that as Katie continued to scream.



“What? What?” Jenni looked around the room with her large dark eyes. “What?” “You! You...you...you...you’re dead!”



“Oh, that! Oh, I know that.”

“I dreamed you were a zombie!” Katie rambled from where she was curled up against the headboard staring at Jenni in shock and fear. “Oh, God. I’m not!” She she did look very alive. Her skin was pale, but pink, her eyes dark and brilliant. Her long dark hair fell over her red sweater in silky long tresses. Laughing, she slid onto the bed. “You’re such a stupid dork.”



Katie blinked then swallowed hard. “You’re dead,” Katie repeated.

“Yeah. I know that.” Jenni laughed. “It was so dramatic, wasn’t it?”

“But you’re here,” Katie said, not blinking, just staring. “And this isn’t a dream?” “Not a dream. I’m here. Only for a short time. I’ve been saving up all my energy just to push through tonight. Not too easy to do.” Jenni looked around the room, then back at Katie. “I’ve always been nearby, but I was waiting.” Leaning over, she checked the clock, looked satisfied, and sat back.

“Jenni, oh, God, Jenni!” Katie suddenly realized she truly wasn’t dreaming, She flung her arms around Jenni and felt flesh and blood in her grasp. Clutching her best friend tight, she burst into tears.