Siege (As the World Dies #3)(66)

“They have that in here,” Bruce said softly. “The elderly and sick fill the last vehicles.” “The expendable population,” the Senator explained. “We have to protect the healthy and the young.”



Kevin nodded, then said, “I see.”

“This fort is more of a godsend than we originally realized. Instead of maintaining the mall and the fort, we can merely take over the fort,” the Senator said with a grin. “It will be a civilized environment that we can nurture and grow into something the President will be proud of.”

Kevin nodded again. “Very well. When do I leave to negotiate?” The Senator leaned across the table toward him. “I knew you would understand. Contact them in the morning. Make arrangements to see them tomorrow afternoon.”



“Excellent, excellent,” the Major General said. Kevin forced himself to keep his expression as neutral as possible.



Bruce Kiel muttered “Fuck this,” stood up and left.

“He may be a problem,” Raleigh sighed. “I’ll deal with him,” the Senator said. “We’re old friends.”

“He’ll come around,” the Major General said firmly. “They all will. It’s a new age. A new America.”

Kevin looked at the proposal, flipping slowly through it. Land of the Free seemed not included in this new America.



He had no choice. He would do what needed to be done to protect the American people.





Chapter 14





1. The Return of the Living Dead and More





The morning was quite cold with a thick mist covering the ground. The fort was completely enshrouded in fog and the fading darkness of the new day. “Hate it when it’s like this,” Katarina muttered as she stood watch on the wall.



“Should clear up once the sun is fully out,” Linda, her partner on the watch, answered her.

“Just makes me nervous,” Katarina sighed. “...if it was really her, then it means she’s not trapped in a rotting corpse out there...” Katie’s voice trailed out of the mist.

Katarina felt the floor beneath her quiver as the joggers approached. The extensive catwalk that had been built around the interior of the walled in fort was finally finished.



Katie and Travis emerged from the mist, huffing and puffing, jogging at an even stride. “I don’t know if I believe in ghosts,” Travis answered his wife.

Everyone nodded a hello to one another as the joggers shot by.

“Look, we live in a zombie infested world...I think that ghosts are not that far a stretch anymore...” Katie answered then they were gone.



Katarina returned her gaze out over the mist. She couldn’t see into the street and field beyond the hotel. It was so very thick. She wasn’t sure what Katie and Travis were talking about, but on a morning like this she didn’t want to think about zombies and ghosts. She had a rough enough time dealing with her mother’s ghost glowering at her at the worst times. Already, her skin was pricking and she didn’t dare look behind her.

“This is the kinda thing that goes down in horror movies right before the monsters show up,” Katarina muttered and lit up a cigarette. Linda laughed. “Oh, c’mon, you’re not going to get all spooked out by some mist?”



Katarina gave Linda her coldest eye and she laughed in response.

“Zombies exist. I think we have the major spook factor covered, huh?” The Christmas lights blinked on and off, tiny halos of red and green light illuminating the mist.

“Something isn’t right. I feel it,” Katarina finally answered.

Linda glanced into the mist. “Yeah, I feel it now, too.”



Almost as if on cue, the mist parted and at least a dozen zombies staggered into view. Decayed and gruesome, they reached toward the fort wall with low, rumbling moans. Once again, Katarina was grateful for the wall. “Not too bad a group.”



“Bullets or spears?” “Save the ammo,” Katarina decided.



They both grabbed their long spears that were screwed into extensions to ensure their reach. Katarina braced herself against the railing and slid her spear into position. The first group of zombies looked up and froze at the sight of the lights. They stared with wide glazed eyes, their mouths gaping open as they reached upwards toward the lights. Some of the zombies behind them seemed to be more aggressive and shoved past the ones staring and began to beat against the wall.



Katarina took a breath, ignoring the stench, and began to aim, shoving the spear downwards as hard she could. She killed three of the creatures before a fourth managed to grab the spear. Releasing it instantly, she didn’t fight the creature for it.

Whirling about, she reached for another one.

“Katarina, they’re pulling back!” Leaning over the rail, she could see most of the zombies turning slowly back into the mist leaving only three behind staring at the Christmas lights



Katarina stared in shock, blinking, then whispered, “Someone is alive down there. That is the only thing that would make them back off.”

“Shit!” Linda pulled out her walkie-talkie. “We have a situation outside the wall. Possible human survivors approaching.”