Fighting to Survive (48 page)

“
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.
”