The First Days (As the World Dies #1)(23)

But the…zombies," she slightly laughed at the word "the zombies rushed toward the door and we realized very quickly we couldn't go inside. We ran back here and locked ourselves in. At first we thought the people were infected with some strange virus, like the news said, but one of them came up behind the hunting store and was chewed down to the bone. There was hardly anything left of him. There was no way in heaven he could be that badly damaged and walking. He saw us through the window and began to beat on it. That is when we decided to head back upstairs and figure out exactly what was going on around us. That is when we saw our own neighbors forcing themselves into people's homes and attacking them. We took some out from a distance, but…" Nerit shook her head. "We've been killing our neighbors all day. And had no choice."

Jenni took another bite of the cheesecake and the rich flavor distracted her thoughts for a few precious moments. "Does it bother you to kill them?"

Nerit stood up, stretched and headed toward the teakettle. It was beginning to whistle. "The real question is do we have a choice?"

"It doesn't bother me to kill them," Jenni confessed. "Not at all."

The older woman poured the hot water into a cup and moved to set it down in front of Jenni. "It doesn't bother me either."

The hot water was letting off a small plume of steam and Jenni waved her hand through it. It felt good against her skin. The cold spring night was pressing against the windows and she could feel a chill in her bones. The warmth from the hot water was a soothing sensation. Dumping too much sugar into the tea, Jenni tried hard not to think too deeply about anything other than rescuing Jason in the morning.

Nerit sipped some tea and eyed Jenni thoughtfully. "It's a good thing, you know."

"What is?" Katie padded into the room looking bleary eyed. Jack was at her heels yawning and looking for the nearest food bowl.

"Being able to kill them," Nerit answered.

Spotting the teakettle, Katie headed over to it.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jenni dumped in more sugar for good measure.

"Nightmares," Katie confessed. "But I guess we better get used to them."

"Get used to all of it," Jenni agreed. Her friend looked pale and tired.

They both needed to rest, but the sound of the zombies was dragging on all of them.

"You don't think it will be stopped, do you?" Katie slid into a chair, a mug in her hand.

Nerit shook her head and reached out for a pack of cigarettes sitting on the table. "No. It's too late. They didn't do what they needed to do in the beginning."

"Which was?" Katie shoved her blond curls out of her face.

"Kill everyone bitten," Jenni answered. She leaned her head on Katie's shoulder and sighed softly. "Everyone bitten should have been killed right away. Lloyd was bitten. The emergency room gave him some shots and told him to make a follow up appointment with his doctor."

Nerit lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly. She leaned over and flipped on an air filter next to the table to suck up the second hand smoke. "The authorities told all the wounded to go to the hospitals and rescue centers.

They accelerated the infection rate."

"They still don't get it." Ralph walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.

Clad in pajamas and an old robe, he looked frail. "Anyone saying zombies or end of the world is getting mocked. Got CDC taking back some of what they said and still telling people to go to rescue centers. Got major cities burning all over the States and they still can't figure it out."

"Where is the President? What does he say?" Katie drank her tea without any sugar and that made Jenni wince.

"In East Texas on a hunting trip," Ralph answered and slid into a chair.

"News is all confusing now. They're telling half-truths. Lots of bull shit. Got one guy on last night saying it’s a strain of Ebola."

Jenni rolled her eyes and sat back up. Katie snagged her plate and dragged the uneaten cheesecake over to her. Jenni didn't mind. She couldn't eat now that she was thinking of all they had endured. All they would endure.

Nerit shook her head and took another drag off her cigarette. "So that's it."

"Yep. Lost the local feed already," Ralph said with a nod of his head.

Jenni laid her head down on her folded arms on the table and stared at the old man thoughtfully. He reached out and patted her head lightly and it comforted her.

"It really is the end," Katie said.

They all knew it, but hearing the words again helped it sink in that much more. To accept it was to be empowered. Jenni understood that and she knew the people at the table understood it, too. To survive meant to kill and to fight.





Chapter 5





1. Into the Breach





The hammering on the back windows was annoying, but Katie tried to block out the sound. The number of undead outside the building had grown during the night and they were insistently banging on the windows. The sound wore on the survivor's nerves, but they tried to ignore the undead as they gathered to brainstorm for a good plan to save Jenni's stepson.

Ralph spread out a map on a table in the back room downstairs along with a calculator and a notepad covered in equations. Nerit leaned against the wall nearby with her hands tucked into her jean pockets. Her yellowish white hair was pinned up on top of her head today and her green eyes looked sharp and intense.