The First Days (As the World Dies #1)(90)

It was then that Belinda made her appearance, climbing down the ladder, tears streaming down her face. Katie saw Jenni quickly back away from Juan and Juan looked up expectantly.

But Belinda ran to Mike, flung her arms around him, and they clung to each other. Travis even looked surprised. Juan's expression was beyond words.

Katie watched as Jenni walked up to Juan and put her hand lightly on his shoulder.

But there was no time to really understand what was going on, because the fort was victorious once more and cheers were going up. People came swarming over the bridge to climb down the ladders to great their heroes.

Travis accepted their hugs and handshakes, smacks on the back, and even a kiss on the cheek or two, but he finally managed to make it up to Katie on the wall.

Grabbing her close, he kissed her lips lightly. "I'm not giving up, okay?

I'm going to wait."

Katie was in tears and nodded and hugged him tightly back. "It may be a long time. Maybe not ever."

Travis laughed and smiled down at her. "I can wait…"

The image of Lydia flickered in her mind's eye and Katie closed her eyes and hugged Travis tight.

"I can wait, Katie," a voice said. And she wasn't sure if it was Lydia or Travis and she was afraid.





Chapter 19





1. Twists and Turns





Jenni followed Juan through the throng of celebrants and up out of the new entryway. Mike and a few other workers were busy hacking off the limbs of the zombies who had managed to push an arm or a leg through the gates as it closed. Juan wasn't talking and Jenni knew why.

Belinda rushing to Mike had startled everyone. She had briefly seen Travis and Katie embracing and in that moment had realized what Juan had told her was true. The tall, handsome man with the sad eyes was in love with her best friend.

It didn't bother her, though. Her crush on Travis had long faded. The more she hung out with him, the more she realized she just saw him as a guy friend. For awhile she had flirted with him outrageously and he had obviously enjoyed it, but he had never noticed or taken her cues that she was ready to be ravished. Now she was glad he had been oblivious. Being tangled up with Travis would have only complicated everything.

Of course it was complicated enough because Katie was gay. She felt pretty bad that Travis was setting himself up for a world of hurt.

Of course, Juan was feeling that hurt all too clearly right now.

"Juan?"

"Loca, I'm not in the mood," Juan answered briskly as he headed down into the fort.

"I was just going to say how sorry-"

Juan turned toward her, pointing at her with a fierce look on his face.

"Don't."

Jenni nodded. "Okay."

Juan turned on the very muddy, gory heels of his cowboy boots and headed straight for the city hall. Peggy was there talking to the two newcomers. Curtis was there as well. Things already looked strained and heated and Juan marched right up to the young man and punched him square in his greasy face.

"Whoa, Juan!"

Curtis grabbed Juan and Jenni quickly stepped forward just in case the spaced out looking girl did anything. But she only stood there; looking mildly bemused by it all, swaying back and forth.

The boy slowly rose up, fastened his eyes on Juan and just said, "That hurt."

"You went into the f*cking clinic!"

"Hey, we were in need of…medicinal treatment," the boy answered.

His eyes were so red they looked as if the blood vessels had ruptured in them and his skin looked clammy. Jenni realized the reason for all the anger.

She was looking at two very strung out young people who had probably gone into the clinic looking for their next high.

"Meth is not medicine, f*cker," Juan spat furiously, trying to squirm away from Curtis.

Peggy looked at Jenni and whispered, "You're looking at the local crystal meth dealer."

Jenni nodded and frowned a bit more. "I think we may need Bill, too."

Peggy looked at Curtis, who looked far too young and nervous. "You're right." She rushed off to find Bill.

"Where's the rest of your posse, huh? Where are they?" Juan's voice was close to fury.

"Dead, dude. It was bad. Real bad," the boy answered.

The girl began to giggle.

Curtis pushed Juan behind him. "Ritchie, you went to the clinic for drugs and you got your friends eaten, huh?"

Ritchie frowned and shook his head. "It's not like that, man. We needed medicine. Carrie got bit and we needed medicine."

Everyone immediately looked at the girl. She was busy staring at outdoor light bulb over Curtis' head.

"Those things kept trying to get into the 7-11 we were shacking up in. It got real crazy."

"Which 7-11?" Curtis raised an eyebrow.

"You know, the one over by the McGee place. There was a lot of those things there."

The girl giggled again, swaying on her feet, and covered her mouth with her hand. There was a distinct bite visible. It was swollen and puss filled.

Jenni put her hand on Juan's arm, trying to calm him. But Juan was nowhere near calm when he said, "Yeah, so how did you get out? Where is Sergio?"

Ritchie rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yeah, well. We drew straws and someone lost and that someone had to run out the side door and draw them away."