“Slim to none. But we need to know for sure if it's the zombies or the bandits attacking them,” Nerit responded.
Travis blinked. He hadn't thought of that. “Which is worse?”
“I haven't figured that out yet,” Nerit answered with a grim look on her face. “Let's get moving.”
Travis took a deep breath, then followed her. He tried to push back his fear, but his stomach kept coiling into a tight knot. As he walked away from the communication center, he heard the woman's screams distorted by the static.
2. Into the Darkness
Jenni and Katie were asleep when Bill called.
“Will this day ever fuckin' end?” Jenni groused at him.
But once they heard what was up, they had scrambled out the door as fast as they could. Strapping on their holsters and making sure they were fully armed as they went, they were both struggling to shake off sleep and get focused.
“I hate shit like this,” Jenni grumbled.
“You and me both.”
Katie shoved the wrought iron gate door open to let them out into the old construction site. It squealed open and they stepped out into the humid night.
“I'm so ready to stomp some zombie ass. I'm so sick of this shit.
So sick of people dying,” Jenni bitched. She braided her hair as she walked.
“We're going to need to try to get all those survivors in here soon,”
Katie answered. “Now that we have room and food.”
Jenni shoved pins into her braid to keep it on top of her head.
“Fuckin' zombies.” She wanted them all dead. Chopped up, mashed up, dead.
They climbed up the ladder and over to the padlock. Juan stood near the ladder talking to a few of his men as they prepared to let the vehicles out of the fort. The sight of him made Jenni's heart beat a little faster. He glanced over at her from under his cowboy hat and winked. She smiled back at him. Just like that, their fight was forgotten.
“Hey, Loca,” he said, and they shared a soft kiss.
Her arms felt good around his waist and she rested her head against his shoulder. “I'm heading out.”
“Yeah, I heard. My own little zombie killin' loca.” Juan ruffled the fine strands of hair at the base of her neck and kissed her forehead.
“Come back.”
“I will. Katie's driving and she's a psycho bitch behind the wheel.”
Katie grinned at this.
“Yeah, but you get all loca, Loca.”
“Only in a good way,” Jenni answered flirtatiously.
Juan laughed and kissed her again.
Jenni felt better now. Everything felt more solid. Lloyd's specter seemed like a bad dream.
Ed drove the small bus out of the newspaper building garage. The bright lights blinded Jenni for a second. She raised her hand to shield her eyes. She could make out Nerit and Felix already tucked inside.
Bill motioned for Katie to grab Nerit's red Ram 1500 truck. Katie looked like a badass. She had her rifle slung over her shoulder, a bowie knife tucked into a sheath at her waist and her pistol in its holster on her hip.
“I better get my ass in gear. We got people to save and zombies to kill,” Jenni said.
Juan touched her cheek and kissed her one last time. “Hurry back.”
Jenni smiled. “If Jason wakes up before I'm back, tell him I love him.” She hurried past Roger and Katarina as they climbed into another truck. Travis was already there, sharing a moment with Katie.
Travis would take care of Katie no matter what. That made Jenni feel secure. Her own mortality felt fragile. It made her think about the ones she loved and who would take care of them if she was gone.
Katie would be safe with Travis. But Juan…
She looked back toward the tall Mexican-American with the gorgeous green eyes and knew she would never leave him. Even if she died, she would watch over him. She couldn’t imagine their love ending even with death.
“Let's go, children!” Nerit's voice was a hard bark in the night.
Jenni slung herself up into her old seat and strapped herself in.
Slamming the door shut, she gave Juan the thumbs up.
Katie shared a few more soft kisses with Travis then slid into the driver's seat.
“Take care, you two,” Travis said, his worry puckering the flesh between his eyebrows.“We're Wonder Woman and Super Girl,” Jenni chided him.
“Sheesh.”
“We'll be back for breakfast,” Katie assured him.
Travis forced a smile and shut the door.
“Men are such worriers,” Jenni grumbled.
Katie laughed. “Yeah. We're just heading out into the deadlands.
No reason to worry.” She turned on the truck and it roared to life.
“Piece of freakin' cake,” Jenni declared.
“Of course. Absolutely!” Katie placed her slightly-shaking hands on the steering wheel, guiding the truck out of the garage.
Jenni could feel the adrenaline rush. It had her trembling, but she embraced it. That surge reminded her that she was alive. Heading out into the dead world was always terrifying, but she trusted the people she was with. It would be okay.
Katarina and Ralph were in another big truck, this one black. They were the first into the lock system. The bus followed. Jenni and Katie followed last in Nerit's red truck.
It felt strangely good to be back in the old truck. Anxious to get out there and see who they could save, Jenni drummed her hands on the dashboard. Jenni missed Jack sitting in the back seat like he had during the first days after the outbreak.
“You're so wired,” Katie remarked.
“I just want to get going.” Jenni pouted.
“Obviously.”
The big gates slid open. Katie drove the truck into the first lock.
Jenni looked out the window at the tall cement block wall beside her.
She craned her head to look up and waved at a sentry standing post.
Nerit's voice cackled over the CB. “Katarina knows the way. She's leading. Watch out for deer and cows. Some of the fences are down now. Don't drive too closely together in case anything happens. The town is heavily infested, so we are keeping to the outskirts and heading straight for the church. We don't stay around any longer than we have to.”
“Gotcha,” Roger's voice said through the static.
Jenni snatched up the mouthpiece. “We're good.”
The final gate opened up. The silent, dark street opened up before them. Only the lights from the fort illuminated the night. The darkened world seemed bleak and forlorn.
“Here we go,” Katie said.
“Yeah. Again.”
The two vehicles were waiting for them. Now that the red truck was clear, Katarina took off at top speed in the black truck. The bus followed. Katie shifted gears. The red truck followed last in line.
The drive through the countryside was strangely exhilarating. The cold stars in the velvet darkness above were brilliant. The waning moon was a glowing a Cheshire Cat smile. In the dark fields, washed with moonlight, cows slumbered and deer wandered. Occasionally, birds took flight from the tall trees as they were startled awake by the passing vehicles.
Jenni glanced over at Katie, studying her friend's features in the glow of the dashboard. “You scared?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Shitless. Not of the zombies though. I'm scared those people are all dead.” Bill's debrief over the phone had been quick, simple and to the point.
“Me, too.” Katie swept her hand over her hair. “There's no rest from this stuff. Just when we start to feel a little comfortable, something goes down again.”
Jenni propped her feet up on the dashboard and glowered at the bus in front of them. “Seriously, zombies should take a vacation from eating us. Let us unwind. Refresh ourselves before we have to shoot their heads off in the next round.”
“If only life were that simple,” Katie commiserated.
“And if it's the bandits, I'm shooting their balls off.”
The CB cackled to life. “We're getting close. Katarina, you and Roger cover the north end of the parking lot. Katie, you and Jenni cover the south. Ed will pull up in the center and we'll see how the situation is going down. Everyone be alert,” Nerit's voice ordered.
Jenni slid her gun out of its holster and rested it on her thigh. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up. She took a deep breath.
“This isn't good,” Katarina's voice said a minute later.
Katie drove the red truck after the others and followed a curve in the road. A building tucked behind an old whitewashed church came into view. It was a rectangular building made with aluminum siding.
It had only a few windows set high on the walls. The gravel parking lot was empty except for the walking dead feasting on the freshly dead or dying.
“Dammit!” Jenni slammed her fist into the dashboard.
Katie grabbed up the CB mouthpiece. “Nerit, what do we do?”
Katarina's voice cackled through. “If we start firing, the zombies will come from the town.”
“That's too many to kill by hand,” Jenni whispered. “We have to shoot them.”