Siege (As the World Dies #3)(68)

“I think that yokel is dead,” Travis answered.

“And leading the messed up clone hordes? Their undead master? Damn! It all makes sense now,” Calhoun decided grimly.



“So you saw the army?” “Saw their helicopter flying around. Told you them folks were up to no good,” Calhoun said, and gave Travis a hard look.



“Yes, you did.”

“Obeying their Amazonian overlords,” Calhoun sighed. “Well, anyway. I’m back.” Travis laughed a little and said, “Yes, yes, you are and we’re glad for it. Even though we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with the animals now.” He looked down at a Chihuahua busy sniffing his foot. “We honestly thought Blanche had killed you.”



“That bitch? Hell, no! But she were up to no good right before I left. Did you know she was doing ol’ Shane back in the day? I think she got some men sneaking stuff out to her mansion and shit like that. But I’ve seen her wandering around on the roads, so I guess that plan failed, huh? I think someone dern ate her.” With a grim expression, Travis nodded. “Yeah, probably.”



“Almost feel bad for them zombies that ate her. Must have been a bad case of indigestion,” Calhoun decided.





2. The Twilight World

Jenni’s head hurt.

Rolling onto her side, she felt her brain swim around in her head before settling at a weird, annoying angle. Bill was snoring loudly in the cot next to her and the soft breathing of the others hummed around her. She couldn’t believe she was in a freaking mall. At least the damn mall music wasn’t on.



Wiping a tear away, she tried to get comfortable, but it wasn’t easy on the hard canvas cot. It was hard for her to believe she was spending another night in this godforsaken place. She missed Juan. Missed him terribly. She missed him with the terrible ache that comes with death or abrupt separation. She knew in her heart he wasn’t dead. Somehow she knew he was alive and waiting for her to go home. Staring up at the high ceiling, she sighed again. The mall’s emergency lights were still on and it was annoying. She needed pitch-black to sleep. She needed her Juan next to her, warm and slightly snoring. Again, she shifted on the cot and this time rolled over so that her back was to Bill.

Next to her, on another cot, was Mikey. He was fast asleep, his sweet face that was slowly transitioning from little boy to teenager made her heart beat faster in its innocence.



No, no, Mikey was dead. Yet, he lay next to her. He was deeply asleep, his mouth hanging slightly open.

She pressed her eyes closed, then re-opened them.



Mikey was still there.

“You see, Jenni, it wasn’t you I saved that day on the lawn. It was Mikey. He was crying and staring at the house. I saw him and pulled over,” Katie said as she sat down on the edge of Mikey’s cot. She looked thin and a little haggard. Her belly wasn’t swollen with her pregnancy and she looked like a pale shadow of herself.

“No, it was me,” Jenni whispered. “Mikey..Mikey…he was…you know what he was.” Katie sighed and shook her head. “You shoved him out the door and your husband took you instead. You slammed the door shut and it was Mikey I picked up that day.”



“No, no. I…I…” Jenni sat up sharply. Her head swam fiercely and she had to steady herself. “He turned back to defend me.”

“Mikey told me about his brother, but we didn’t know where to find him. Jason died out there at the camp. We found our way here to where my Dad is,” Katie continued. “I never met you.”

“No, we’re best friends! I…I..Mikey…”

“You never met Juan. I never met Travis. I’ve just been here rotting away with the rest of them, trying to take care of your son and remembering my dead wife.”

“No, no,” Jenni whispered. She sat up and reached toward Katie. “I didn’t push him out the door. I...I...heard him turn back to fight his dad, but I kept running. I...went out the door alone. I didn’t save him.”

“But this is the outcome you believed should have happened. Mikey alive and you dead.” Katie’s image blurred a little and for a moment, Jenni saw another form behind it, but just for a second. The words were true, yet horrifying. Seeing Katie here, not pregnant, without Travis seemed wrong.



“You’re not Katie,” Jenni whispered. “You’re someone else. Something else.”

“I’m here to tell you the truth,” the form said, now merely a shadow. “No!” She awoke with a start, gasping, her head feeling like a bobble head. Looking over at the cot next to her, she saw a little girl tucked in with an oversized teddy bear.

Her heart was thudding so hard she could barely stand it. Tears flowed freely as she covered her face with both hands and wept in silence.

She hated the mall. Hated it! It made her feel helpless and it made her think of that horrible day. She should have found a way to save her son. But she hadn’t. She had been terrified and had run. She had not once turned back to see if he was behind her.

“It’s about second chances,” a soft voice said. “Do you understand?”



She looked up to see Lydia sitting at the end of the bed. “It’s about choices made and not made. It’s about what we do with our life and the impact we have on others.”