Fighting to Survive (56 page)

Calhoun
looked at her suspiciously from beneath his scraggly eyebrows, then
slowly tilted his head.
“
Okay.
I'm listening.
”

As Peggy listened to
Nerit's plan slowly unfurl, she felt her fear began to subside.
Perhaps, it would all work out okay after all.

Travis handed Katie
a beer and slid into the chair next to her. She was sitting with her
feet hooked up on the balcony rail, her lean legs looking tan and fit
in the waning sunlight. Dinner was sitting nice and filling in their
bellies. Sitting out on their balcony seemed like the right way to
end an evening.

Travis stretched out
his legs in front of him and stared at his bare feet. They ached,
just like the rest of him.

Katie
tapped her beer against his and took a swig.
“
Jenni's
okay now. I called Juan while you were in the shower.
”

He
looked toward her.
“
She
took it hard, huh?
”

Katie
pulled on her shorts a little, still trying to get comfortable.
“
Yeah.
Once she saw Jason, it was a little better. I think she understood
why she flipped out so bad after awhile.
”

“
She's
still not talking about the boys, huh?
”

“
Sometimes
I wonder if she ever will. I feel so bad for her. She says she sees
Lloyd every day now, out of the corner of her eye, or standing in the
shadows. She's ignoring those visions. That's good, but she's not
dealing with any of it.
”

“
We're
all fucked in the head cause of all this,
”
Travis decided.
“
I've
been hearing a few things around the fort.
”

“
Like
what?
”

“
People
seeing ghosts, for one. Or hearing their voices.
”

Katie
nodded.
“
Me,
too.
”

“
You
dream of Lydia.
”

“
I
miss Lydia,
”
Katie reminded him, then slightly shrugged.
“
But
I do have to admit that, sometimes, in my dreams, I feel her
presence. Or at least I think I do. Most of my dreams about her are
just like flashes of memory or something along those lines. But,
sometimes, I dream about her and she feels...real.
”

Travis'
brow puckered as he considered this.
“
I
can't say I do believe in ghosts exactly. But considering that we
got the living dead running around, I can't really discount stuff
either. Maybe Jenni's asshole husband really is haunting her, trying
to finish what he started. I don't know. But I do know that until
she deals with what happened with those boys, he's gonna be able to
get to her. Ghost or not.
”

Katie
sighed and ran a hand over her blond curls.
“
Yep.
I agree. Do you see ghosts? Dream them?
”

Travis
shook his head.
“
No.
But I wasn't exactly close to anyone when it went down. My parents
died in a car crash a few years back. I don't have siblings. My
fiancée and I were over. Being in Ashley Oaks to help with
the restoration was my new beginning in life. Juan was the one who
got me out here. He was the one person in my life giving me any sort
of grounding, I guess you could say.
”

“
You're
kinda like Jenni that way. This whole thing going down gave you a
new lease on life, too.
”

“
It
gave me you,
”
Travis answered, taking her hand. He looked at her. His emotions
were very close to the surface. It was never easy at the fort.
There was always hard work to be done and problems to sort out. He
spent long hours planning with Eric and Juan on the fort expansion,
long hours with Nerit on fort defenses, long hours with Peggy and
Bill on the internal workings of the fort. He wasn't officially
mayor yet, but everyone was acting like he was. Some nights he was
so exhausted all he wanted to do was lay in Katie's arms and listen
to her breathe.

She
ran her fingers over his.
“
Did
you know that today is the first day of August?
”

Travis
laughed and shook his head.
“
No.
No, I didn't. Hell, we missed the Fourth of July, didn't we?
”

“
Uh
huh.
”
Katie looked toward the Texas flag in the distance, most likely over
the library. There was a huge one that flew over city hall.

“
We
can't miss out on other holidays. That's not right,
”
Travis decided. He held her hand as he lifted his beer with his
other.

“
Halloween,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. Once we handle the bandits,
maybe we can start looking forward to those.
”

“
We
should have enough food to get through the winter and beyond. The
hunters are bringing in plenty of venison and beef right now. We got
that garden planted. Things should be okay. The well is good, got
generators the ready for back up, firewood in case of power
outages-
”

“
Travis.
”

“
Huh?
”

“
Stop.
”

He blinked.

“
Stop.
It's okay. Just let it go. Just relax.
”
She motioned toward the hills and the approaching night.
“
Enjoy
the view, enjoy the moment, the here and now. You've done all you
can for today.
”

Travis
nodded. He tried to shove it all away. It took about a minute for
his pulse rate to drop and for his tense body to relax. When he
finally opened his eyes, he saw the first stars appearing. It was
beautiful.

“
What
would I do without you?
”

“
Let's
not find out,
”
Katie answered.

She slid out of her
chair and snuggled onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and
relaxed even more as she stretched her legs over his and got
comfortable. Travis kissed her brow and relished the feel of her in
his arms. All he wanted to do was protect her and their home, but he
had to remember that he needed to just relax and enjoy the fact that
she was safe.

I'm
going to marry you,
he thought, and pressed his lips against her cheek. When the time
was right, he was going to marry her. And it would be the happiest
moment of his life.

All
they had to do was get through the next few days, defeat the bandits,
and buckle down for the coming fall and winter.

“
Stop
thinking about work,
”
she chided.

“
What?
”

“
You
got all tense again.
”
Katie laughed.

“
Dammit,
”
Travis muttered.

“
Okay.
There is only one thing that will get your mind off work. I'm going
to have to get naked,
”
Katie said, and slid off his lap.

Travis
grinned.
“
Can
I come along?
”

“
You
better.
”
Katie slipped into their bedroom.

Travis
scrambled after her.

1. The Countdown
Begins

The morning of the
big day arrived. They were done waiting for the bandits to come to
them. They were going to lure them out.

Nerit was standing
with Peggy when Travis and Katie walked through the lobby together.
They were dressed and ready to go. Holding hands, they looked
pensive, but ready.

“
We're
heading out to the shop, Nerit,
”
Travis said.

Nerit
nodded tersely.
“
And
you have the vault combination?
”

Travis
bobbed his head and said,
“
Yeah.
I have it.
”
He looked at Nerit with compassion, but seemed reluctant to say
much.

Peggy marveled at
Nerit's way of dealing with things. With her husband dead of a
gunshot, Nerit had collected all the ammunition and stuffed it into
an old bank vault in the shop. Next, she had stacked the better
firepower in as well until she could fit no more, then shoved the
door shut and twirled the combination lock. What she had left in the
cases were .22's with no ammunition. Peggy would have just run,
terrified of the bandits. Nerit's straight thinking in the midst of
her personal tragedy had made things a little safer for them all.

Nerit
looked down for a long moment, then finally said,
“
Please,
don't disturb him.
”

“
We
won't,
”
Katie responded, and kissed Nerit's cheek.

Nerit
gave her a small smile, then it slipped away as she looked determined
once more.
“
Thank
you,
”
she said.

“
We'll
see you when we get back,
”
Travis said to both of them.

Katie
gave a little wave, then they walked off, hand in hand.

Peggy sighed
wistfully and Nerit raised an eyebrow.

“
I
can't help it. Young love!
”
Peggy blushed and pretended to scrutinize her map.

“
And
soon a baby,
”
Nerit sighed.

“
She's
pregnant?
”
Peggy blinked rapidly with surprise.

“
I
don't think she knows yet,
”
Nerit answered. She leaned over the map and studied it.

“
Really?
”
Peggy thought about how long it took her to realize her own
pregnancy. Cody had sneaked up on her.
“
She
has the glow, huh?
”

Nerit gave a curt
nod.

“
But
she shouldn't be going out if--
”

“
We
all take risks. All of us,
”
Nerit answered coolly.
“
Even
living here is a risk. We never know what tomorrow may bring or the
next hour or minute.
”

Peggy started to
protest, then looked at the bricked-up windows and doors. Nerit was
right. Nothing was really safe. It was all just varying degrees of
it.

In
the beginning of all of it, she had really thought the army would
come and save everyone, that big trucks would drive up and everyone
would get on board, that they would go off to some top secret
underground fortress. But it had never happened. She remembered how
silly she had thought their truck perimeter was in the beginning and
how she had rolled her eyes at the wall.
The
army will come soon
,
she had thought over and over again. Now she realized the wisdom of
them defending themselves and making it safe for everyone taking
refuge in the construction site.