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He changed the subject. “Have you been vaccinated? We heard they’re manufacturing as fast as they can but there’s still a shortage.”

“
A pharmaceutical company’s what started this thing in the first place with their fucking ‘cure’ for the A7 virus.” Daylon snorted and stared out his window. “I’m not going to be a guinea pig for some new drug that’s supposed to halt the blood mutation. I don’t trust any of it.”

I understood. After living through the collapse of the world, it was hard to have faith in any organization claiming to know the answers, but I’d still take the vaccine if I could. I didn’t want to take a chance I’d somehow been infected even though I’d never been bitten. If the new vaccine ensured I wouldn’t become a zombie when I died, I was all over that.

Brian stopped the truck in front of a county administration building, as square and dull as the meetings that likely took place inside it. Daylon and I got out of the vehicle.

“
Be polite,” I whispered to him before the townies joined us. “Show some respect and kiss ass if you have to.”

He glared at me, his dark eyes snapping. “I know how to handle myself.”

Brian, Mike and the gate guard marched us into a wide foyer. Several doors opened off the central area. We climbed a staircase to find a series of offices on the second floor. I drew a breath before they ushered us into the council’s meeting room. I felt like I was about to meet the great Oz and have my wish granted—although where I’d picture if I clicked my heels and asked to go home was beyond me.

In the meeting room, there were a few windows, some framed nature prints on the walls and a shelf of books. Two women and two men sat at one end of a conference table. A red-headed woman was fixing a cup of coffee on a little table in the corner. The lady at the head of the table rose to greet us. She had graying hair and a serene expression but calculating eyes.

“
Please, sit down.” She gestured to the other chairs at the table.

Brian surprised me by pulling out my seat. An old fashioned gentleman. Who knew they still existed? I smiled at him as I sat. He looked embarrassed and turned to face the council members.

“
Fes and I checked on the Wilkins farm. Everybody’s okay and they plan to start harvesting. We took down two targets at the dump. One was Mary Jackson. The other was a stranger.”

“
That’s six out-of-towners in the past week.” The red-haired woman set her coffee mug on the table and sat. “Where are they coming from? Is this a new wave?”

The leader quelled her with a look then focused on us. “I’m Janice Myers, the interim town council president. I understand you wish sanctuary for the night. I’m sure you’ll understand if we’re reluctant to allow strangers into our town.”

“
A few people in our group are older and there’s a child. We’ve been on the road for days and my people are worn out. They need a solid night’s rest then we’ll be on our way.” Daylon could be diplomatic after all. He presented his case with no trace of his usual disdain, but I could feel the tension simmering under the surface. He wasn’t a man who liked appeasing petty dictators and as pleasant as this Myers woman appeared to be, I got the vibe that she ran things in this town with an iron fist.

I smiled and leaned over the table to offer my hand. “My name’s Ashleigh. This is Daylon. We promise not to be any trouble. No wild parties, I swear. We’ll keep the music turned down and lights out by ten.”

Myers looked at me for a moment before taking my hand. She gave a firm politician’s shake before letting go, but her small smile never reached her eyes. My teasing didn’t put her at ease. She didn’t like me. As a matter of fact, the woman reminded me of a vice principal who used to ride me about wasting my potential before she finally expelled me from school. Guess I had my own problems with authority just like Daylon.

Myers resumed her seat at the head of the table as if it was a throne and she, a queen. “How are things out there on the road? Have you seen signs of improvement? We hear about vaccinations, the army exterminating zombies and government aide becoming available, but it’s hard to tell what’s true and what isn’t.”

Daylon leaned back in his chair, legs stretched out before him to let our hosts know he was at ease and not in a hurry to go anywhere. “From what we’ve seen, it’s mostly local people getting organized. The government doesn’t have as much control as reports make it sound. The army gains ground then loses it again. This thing isn’t over yet and winter’s gonna be tough, which is why we’re heading south.”

The red-haired woman frowned. “I don’t know why they can’t mow them down with machine guns or drop a few bombs. The undead aren’t fast or unkillable. These boys do it.” She gestured to Brian and Mike who stood near the door since there weren’t enough chairs at the table.

“
Sheer numbers make them hard to exterminate,” a white-haired man who looked like Santa Claus said. “Military bases got overrun. The armed forces were the first to receive the faulty A7 vaccine. Half the damn zombies out there probably come from army bases.”

“
But there are some remnants of the military supposedly regrouping,” Red Hair insisted. “The point is they need to take drastic action
now
, even if civilians get in the way.”

“
Nancy, you’d be the one complaining about civil rights if they started bombing populated areas. You can’t have it both ways,” Santa said.

“
We’ve had this discussion too many times.” Myers crisply interrupted. “We have no control over what the military is doing or should have done. What we
can
control is what goes on in Durbinville.”

She turned her attention to Daylon and me. “I’m sorry to refuse your request, but we can’t take a chance on letting strangers into town. We don’t know if any of you is infected.”

Daylon leaned forward, looming closer to Myers. He was a big man and his dark eyes were intimidating when he focused them on you. I cringed as he turned The Stare on Myers. She wasn’t the type of woman who’d crumble. He’d only piss her off and we wouldn’t get what we wanted.

“
There’s nobody sick in our group,” he lied.

The councilwoman eyed him coolly. “Most farmhouses in the area are empty. You might find shelter at one of them.”

“
All we want is a night someplace we don’t have to worry about posting guards, where there’s running water and electricity. We’d be happy to do some work for you in payment,” I spoke up.

Brian stepped away from the wall and approached the table. “There empty houses on either side of my parents’ house, and a few of them could stay with me. I’ve got extra rooms. I’ll look after them.”

Myers paused, her lips pursed as she considered. “I suppose if you’re willing to do some work for your bed and board it might be a satisfactory exchange. There are a number of tasks we need accomplished. I won’t lie to you. They’re not pleasant chores. Do any of your people have skills that might be useful? Perhaps a plumber among you?”

The direction she was headed, I imagined she’d have us swabbing out sewer drains or something, but I grinned like crazy. “We’re hard workers.”

“
Richard is an electrician,” Daylon added.

The councilwoman nodded as if that decided it. “In that case, I think we have an arrangement.” As an afterthought, she addressed the rest of the council. “That is if all of you agree.”

The other four murmured an agreement, although the redhead, Nancy, appeared doubtful at the prospect of allowing outsiders in town.

“
Brian, thank you for hosting them,” Myers continued. “I’ll let the ladies know and they’ll bring over extra food. And I’ll stop by later with your work assignment. I need to talk to a few people first.”

As I rose to leave, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d be enjoying a warm bed and maybe even a bath tonight. Life didn’t get sweeter than that. I flashed a smile at Brian. His offer had weighed in our favor and I was deeply grateful. In fact, I wouldn’t mind showing him how grateful a bit later that evening since I was pretty sure I’d be spending the night at his place. I liked his quiet, steady manner and the shy smile that occasionally flitted across his wide mouth. He was kinda cute in a nerdy way and I was kinda horny—a good combination.

* * * * *

Chapter Three

The motorcycles roared into town drawing people to the streets as if it was a parade. We’d had a few stray motorists pass through town in the months since disaster hit, but nothing to compare with this. After Janice greeted the strangers at the front gate, giving her blessing, the cyclists followed me and Fes in the truck to my street. Two groups of six people each took over the adjacent houses and four roomed with me.

I’d gotten used to solitude in the weeks after my parents died so it was strange to have extra people there. While some families had moved into the protection of the stockade, others had left town or been killed so there were still some unoccupied houses. We were supposed to share living space so as not to waste resources, but I’d ignored the council’s recommendation and continued to live alone. Now my home was invaded by strangers.

Daylon strode inside as if it was his house and took over the living room, tossing his duffel near the couch. “I’ll sleep downstairs in case one of my people needs me. The others can take the bedrooms.” The proprietary way he said “my people” reminded me of Janice. Those two had a lot in common.

I offered the couple, Jake and Maureen, my parents’ room which I could hardly stand to enter. Although I’d cleaned up after the attack, it still smelled like blood to me. I usually kept the door closed and pretended the room didn’t exist.

I showed Ashleigh to the guest room which my mom had done up like some bed and breakfast with lots of lace and ruffles. She dropped her bag on the bed then walked across the hall and looked into my room. “This where you sleep?”

“
Uh, yeah.” I looked at the dirty clothes on the floor and the unmade bed and wished I’d opened the window to air the room. It kind of smelled like a zoo cage.

Ashleigh walked over to the posters on the wall, unchanged in the years since I’d left home. She regarded the images so long it made me squirm. “Pretty.”

“
Computer-generated fractals,” I explained succinctly and forced myself not to babble about the geometric principle fractals represented. Math nerd was not a quality I wanted to display right now. And I wished I’d done something, anything, to change this bedroom from a shrine to my youth but redecorating had hardly been a top priority over the past few months.

“
I like them. You could get lost looking into them. Remember those Magic Eye posters? I used to love those things.”

She surprised a smile out of me. I could picture her as a girl searching for unicorns in a field of flowers. Then she turned toward me and the image of a little girl was blown by the seductive look in her heavy-lidded eyes. I figured it was my imagination that her charisma was directed at me. Ashleigh was simply the kind of woman who oozed sex appeal without trying, maybe without even being aware of it.

I went to the bookcase where I found an old Magic Eye book sandwiched in between a Neil Gaiman and a stack of mangas.

Ashleigh took it from me with a smile and flipped through the pages. “Fun. I haven’t seen one of these in years. So, is this the house you grew up in? My mom and I never lived anyplace for more than a couple of years at most. When we moved to new towns, I used to make up stuff about myself to sound cooler than I was.”

I considered the luxury of reinventing yourself in a new place. “Living in this town there wasn’t any escaping your past. If a kid happened to eat too many strawberry gummy dinosaurs and puke red in second grade in front of the whole class, nobody ever forgot it.”

She sucked in a breath between her teeth. “Ouch. You were
that
kid.”

“
I was that kid. Growing up in Durbinville pretty much sucked, but at least knew I wasn’t going to be here forever. After high school, I went to Caltech. I would’ve graduated this year.”

“
What field?” Ashleigh sat on the edge of my bed then leaned back on her elbows. Pretty girl reclining on my unmade bed—a hard image to ignore.

“
Physics with a focus on group theory and probabilities.”

Her pale blue eyes caught the light and sparkled. “And what exactly does that mean?”

I sat down on the bed beside her to show she didn’t make me uncomfortable. “That I can understand esoteric equations and calculate probabilities of any given situation on paper. Useful knowledge in the old world but not very practical now. I’d have been better off learning plumbing.”