The First Days (As the World Dies #1)(51)

"It may not be safe, Katie," Travis said, his hand on her back, a comforting gesture, yet she knew he was ready to yank her back inside.

"Okay, “ she said, and threw up all that remained in her stomach. She slammed the door shut and wiped her mouth off with a kerchief Travis handed her.

Travis drew near her, his hand on her face, then her neck. He saw her wounded forearm. "Katie, what is this?"

"Scrape. I caught it on the truck when we jumped down."

He looked at it and nodded. He poured water over it and found a napkin in the cup holder to cover it. "Just a scrape?"

"I would tell you. I don't want to be one of those things," she answered softly.

Travis smiled at her so sadly and said, "I know. But you're scaring me."

Weakly, she took hold of his wrist and forced a smile onto her lips. "I'm sure it’s nothing. Just something I ate."

Then she passed out onto his lap.

Dimly, she was aware of being carried. She heard Nerit and Ralph's voices. Another voice-the policeman, she thought-was also talking.

"I'm afraid," Travis said at some point.

They put her into a very cold bath, someone's hands keeping her head above water. She tried to talk, but felt too weak.

"She wasn't bit. That's not a bite," Ralph's voice said firmly.

"But there was zombie blood and guts all over that truck," Travis said and she heard a catch in his voice. "What if…"

Katie's head swam and her body felt so hot.

"Katie," a voice insisted.

She opened her eyes to see Lydia kneeling next to the tub, her gaze very concerned.

"Lydia," she whispered.

"It'll be okay. I'm here. I'll be with you," Lydia said softly, reassuring her, kissing her brow and holding her up in the cold bath.

Katie smiled at her feverishly. "Then it's all going to be okay." She sank back down into unconsciousness.

Travis knelt beside the tub, holding her up, tears in his eyes.





Chapter 11





1. Other Voices





Juan sat in a chair in the Mayor's office, slumped down, hands folded on his flat stomach, twiddling his thumbs, and seriously considering going and smacking Jenni a few times. Yeah, she was hot. Way hotter than the blond chick, but she had been a f*cking annoyance ever since Travis and the blond had rode into the sunset together.

It had only gotten worse when Jenni heard that Katie was very sick and Travis was worried the zombie blood and guts on the trucks lining the perimeter had contaminated her. Jenni had become downright hysterical at that news.

"I have to go to her! I have to! I'm her best friend, don't you see! We're sisters now!"

Juan had to pry Jenni's fingers off the Mayor's shirt and had helped Jason carry her out of the communication center so that they could actually hear what Travis was saying over the CB. Jenni had fallen apart completely as soon as they laid her down on her cot. As far as he knew, she was still there with her son watching over her.

He studied his thumb for a moment. He had accidentally chopped the tip off on another construction site years ago. Every once and awhile it would start throbbing. He often looked at its mutilated nail and gnarled skin when he was nervous. He was a nail biter by nature, and that deformed, bizarre half nail called to him.

Just as he stuck the tip of his finger in his mouth, he was delivered a deft smack across the back of his head.

"Don't do that. You look like a baby." His mother, Rosario, Rosie for short, stood in the doorway next to him. She was a very tiny woman with dark gray hair and very pale amber eyes. They were very sad eyes, the eyes of a woman who had lost her husband just recently to cancer.

"Sorry, Mom."

"Where's the Mayor? I have that list for him."

"Not sure. He told me to wait here."

Rosie sighed and held the clipboard tightly to her chest. Juan had lived in the small town all his life. Well, except for the two years he had lived in Houston with his "big, black, beautiful" wife, Candace. But that marriage had failed when he had moved back home to be with his dad in his final years of life. Candace couldn't take the small town living and he couldn't blame her.

They parted friends and he still talked to her every other day.

Candace…where was she? Was she okay?

He took off his cowboy hat and ran a hand over his hair to smooth it. It was long and curly and the heat had it frizzing terribly. He shoved the hat back on and frowned.

"I have the list of all the people in the fort just like the Mayor asked,"

Rosie said and sat down next to him.

"Let me see." He took the clipboard and read over the names. Since he both worked on the site and was from the town, he knew just about everyone on the list. Forty-two names, including Travis and Katie, who technically weren't in the fort anymore. Fifteen construction workers, five city workers, That left twenty civilians, mostly family members of local construction workers or the city workers. Well, excluding Chuck the truck driver and Jenni and Jason. And the dog.

He liked the dog.

"It's sad we don't have more people here," he sighed and handed it back.

"Well, the way I see it, people went to where they thought it was safe and where they could stay with their families. My family was here, so I came here."