Siege (As the World Dies #3)(24)

“Her name is Charlotte, right?”

“Yeah.” Jenni lifted the big bag, shooing Katie away. “You’re pregnant. No heavy lifting.”

“Yes, Mom,” Katie said, rolling her eyes. “I swear, between you and Travis, I don’t know how I am allowed out of bed.”

“You’re just lucky we don’t use those shackles on you!”

Jenni looked out the window to see the Reverend Thomas pulling up to the front of the building on a power mower with a large cart attached to the back. The cart was loaded up with sacked lunches. Jenni liked the Reverend. He was always smiling and laughing. Plus, his sermons were actually good and not at all boring.

“People need God in times like these,” he had said to her at lunch one day. “We’re in the new Eden...just got more than that damn snake to deal with.”

Jenni yanked her gloves off and tossed them onto a pile of cleaning supplies. “Let’s go eat. I’m hungry and need a break.”

“Sounds good,” Katie answered. “I’m pretty tired, too.” She rubbed her swelling belly absently and chunked her gloves into a corner.

Together, they trudged down the narrow staircase. The fading black and white pictures of old movies stars were strangely comforting. Jenni blew a kiss at Cary Grant as they passed his photo. She tried not to think about the fact that Hollywood was now gone and movies were now relics of the past. Maybe someday humanity would get control of the world again, and new movies would fill old theaters.

Outside, the workers gathered around the cart. They were cleaning their faces and hands with damp hand towels. Jenni grabbed one from a laundry basked and pressed the moist cloth to her face. It felt amazing and refreshing. After cleaning her face, she ran it over her hands and arms, already feeling much better.

Katie tossed her used one into another basket for the dirty towels. “That felt good, but I’m dying for a shower.”



Jenni nodded and draped the towel over the back of her neck to cool her down. She was starved and when the Reverend Thomas handed her a lunch bag, she clutched it gratefully. “Thank you!”



“You’re welcome. Make sure to drink plenty of water.” He motioned to the cooler packed with water bottles.

Sitting on the curb next to Katie, she eagerly tore into the her lunch bag. Jenni bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich hungrily while Katie gulped down a bottle of water. “Oh God, when did water start tasting so good!” Katie grinned and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.



“When peanut butter and jelly started tasting like manna from heaven,” Jenni answered. “Everything just tastes better now days.” Three of the new people joined the group. The older woman looked like one of the artist-types that used to inhabit South Austin with her long flowing hair and funky way of putting clothes together. Rune was with her and a tall, massive guy with chops on his cheeks and long dark hair.

“Hey, Rune!” she waved, smiling and munching on her sandwich.

“Hey, Jenni. Good to see ya,” Rune answered, sitting on the curb.



“They got you working?” “Volunteered. Figured I might as well stay a short spell.”



Maddie gratefully accepted a lunch and bottle of water from the Reverend and found a place to sit with her big friend.

“Rune gave me a ride into town the other day. His bike is very cool,” Jenni said to Katie. “I heard that. Nice to meet you, Rune. I’m Katie.”

“Good to meet you, Katie.”



Jenni liked his smile and thought he seemed pretty nice. As he tore into his sandwich, she happily chewed on her own. She was hoping she could get another ride on his bike if the good weather kept up. Charlotte came over, sat down next to them, and started to eat slowly. She looked very thoughtful, her hand straying to the pocket where she kept her notes. She was a rather plain woman with mousy hair and a bland face. But her brown eyes were keen and her gaze intense.



“How are you today, Charlotte?” the Reverend asked as he handed out water bottles. “Figuring it out still, Padre,” Charlotte answered.



“Figuring what out?” Jenni asked. “The zombies. I’ve been studying them,” Charlotte answered around a mouthful of food.



“Yeah, we noticed that,” Katie said as she pulled the crusts off her sandwich. “Jenni said you were up on the roof watching some.” Jenni snagged the crusts and shoved them in her mouth.

Charlotte swallowed a bit of sandwich and drank a little water. “I’m trying to figure out how they tick. We have to know our enemy after all.”



“True words for a sad time,” the Reverend agreed. He continued to hand out water and bagged lunches as more workers arrived for lunch. “Notice anything?” Rune asked.

“Well,” Charlotte hesitated, then bobbed her head. “I noticed a few things. I’m planning to put it all into a report for the council, but basically there are a few fundamentals. The first one is that they are decaying very slowly. The regular process of decay is just not happening: the bloat of the body as the gases inside build up, rigor mortis, et cetra. I really expected there to be some exploding zombies. But not one.”

“Exploding?” Jenni blinked.