Fighting to Survive (25 page)

The
zombie staggered back, lost its form, and disappeared. The true Lydia
stepped out of the darkness and drew near the bed. She looked whole
and beautiful, her smile as wonderful as always. This spirit was
different from the other. It was full of Lydia's wonderful essence.
Katie could feel love radiating out of her.

"You finally
let go of your guilt," Lydia whispered.

"I
wish I could have saved you," Katie said in a voice that was
ragged with emotion.

Lydia
swept Katie's curls back from her face with a delicate hand. "It
was not meant to be. I died minutes after you left. I was in the
driveway when they rushed me."

Katie
whimpered and clutched Lydia's hand tightly. Drawing it to her lips,
she kissed it. "I'm so sorry, babe."

"My
thoughts were of you, Katie. I prayed you would escape. I prayed
you would live. I passed over to this side wanting you to go on. You
know I
’
m
happy, baby. I never would want you to be alone. We were so happy
together. No one can ever take that from us,
”
Lydia said in her soothing tones as she held Katie
’
s
hand.

“
I
love you, I never wanted to be without you,
”
Katie said, tears in her eyes.

“
And
I love you,
”
Lydia answered with the gentlest of smiles.
“
Be
happy, Katie. Be happy and live your life.
”

“
Lydia,
”
she sobbed, desperately missing her.

Lydia kissed her
lips, then drew back and disappeared.

Katie
awoke with a start, her hand flying to her mouth. She could almost
feel the softness of Lydia
’
s
lips on her own. The sun was higher in the sky. Light was pouring
through the slit in the curtains.

Beside
her, Travis was on his elbow looking down at her. He looked worried
and he slid his hand over her hair tenderly.
“
Are
you okay?
”

“
I
dreamed of Lydia,
”
she answered truthfully.

Travis
nodded, his brow furrowed.
“
I
know. You said her name.
”

Katie
rubbed her brow and took a deep breath.
“
It
was odd. It was like she was really here. Not like my other dreams.
I really felt her here, with me. It's so odd.
”

Travis
stroked her arm.
“
She's
a part of you, Katie. Of course she's going to haunt you in some
way.
”

She
could see the tension in him, his worry and his fear she would push
him away.
“
You
don
’
t
have to compete with her ghost,
”
Katie assured him.

“
I
don
’
t?
”
Travis
’
voice was strained.
“
Are
you sure?
”

Katie
smiled and took his face between her hands.
“
I
’
m
sure. I
’
m
very, very sure. If for no other reason than I know she would want me
to be happy, to live my life, to not be afraid or sad.
”

Sighing with relief,
Travis wrapped his arms around her. She nestled into them, and for
the first time in a very long time, felt at peace.

1. Shuffling the
Deck

Nerit's morning
started as simply as her night had ended. Sliding off the bed, she
opened up the curtains to take in the first rays of dawn and check
the street for zombies. She noted a few wandering around and mentally
made a note to deal with them later. Then she took a long hot shower
that helped loosen up her stiff joints and spent all of five minutes
combing and braiding her long hair, applying a bit of mascara to her
lashes and some lip gloss to her lips. It was the only makeup she
ever felt she needed.

Dressed
in olive green jeans, hunting boots and a green T-shirt under Ralph's
jacket, she made her way down to the dining room for an early
breakfast. The room looked nothing like the scene of bloody chaos of
the day before. Under the ornate rug had been a very pretty but faded
tile floor that a few volunteers had spent all night moping and
polishing. Now it gleamed under the chandelier lights.

Old
Man Watson and several of the other elderly people were gathered at
one table, eating their oatmeal and toast. He smiled at her warmly as
she passed and gave her a little wave. His hearing aid had stopped
working soon after the zombies first appeared and she suspected he
had no clue what was going on most of the time. He just seemed happy
to sit and watch people talk and read the old newspapers out under a
tarp on the construction site that had been raised up to give people
shade.

As
Tucker, her old dog, wandered in behind her for his breakfast, the
old man reached out to pat his head and call him a good dog.

The
early morning breakfast crew laid out breakfast on a buffet table.
Oatmeal, toast, eggs from a mix, and dry cereal with large chilled
mugs of powdered milk greeted her. She served herself a bit of
oatmeal and eggs and sighed as she poured out the thin milk. She
missed whole milk and fresh eggs. A glass of orange juice topped off
her breakfast. She sat down at a nearby table.

Her
old dog went over to one of several food bowls put out for the dogs
and started to eat, looking just as weary in his bones as she did.

“
Can
I sit here?
”
a voice asked.

Nerit
looked up to see Jason and smiled warmly.
“
Of
course!
”

Jason sat down, a
cloud of sullen teenager angst, and stabbed his spoon at his enormous
bowl of cold cereal.

Jack
strolled over to join Nerit's dog at the doggy bowls, Jason sighed.

“
Juan
lives with us now,
”
he said out of the blue.

“
Yes,
I know. I heard,
”
Nerit answered. She spooned some oatmeal into her mouth.

Jason
sighed a little more dramatically.
“
I
don't understand why.
”

“
Well,
your Mother is doing what many people are doing right now, living her
life in a kind of desperate rush. Death could come at any time. When
you know that, you want to grab life and enjoy it before it ends,
”
Nerit explained.
“
I
think you will be seeing many people doing just that. Especially now
that we have what feels like a safe and comfortable home.
”

Jason
frowned a bit as he chewed his cereal.
“
I
guess. It just feels weird. They talk in Spanish to each other a lot
and I feel left out.
”

“
Ah,
”
Nerit said, understanding.
“
Well,
why don't you ask them to teach you Spanish or at least translate so
you don't feel left out?
”

Jason
shrugged again, then said,
“
It
just feels so different now. I don't like how it keeps changing.
”

“
Neither
do I, but we have to do our best.
”

Jason
hoisted his large backpack up onto the table. He pulled out a book
and some notebooks.
“
Well,
I've been working on weapons ideas to keep my mind off of...you
know...stuff and to make myself useful.
”

“
Really?
Like what?
”

Jason
opened up a notebook to show her his notes and illustrations.
“
We
really can't use fire in the fort. It's way too dangerous. We could
end up setting our own stuff on fire. Burning down the hotel would
not be good. But outside the fort, we could make some sort of
firetrap. I was looking into making concussion grenades to rip the
zombies apart and maybe doing some stuff with shrapnel to rip up
their bodies. I noticed the more fucked...um...messed up ones are
slower. Easier to kill.
”

“
Yes,
yes, they are,
”
Nerit agreed.

“
Shelley's
little brother came up with a lawnmower-woodchipper-type machine to
chew them up.
”
Jason showed Nerit the crayon illustration complete with zombies
getting ripped apart by a large lawn mower.
“
It
got me thinking. We could take apart some lawnmowers and use the
engines and blades. Not sure how yet, but working on it.
”

Nerit
looked over the drawings and the notes.
“
Very
good ideas.
”

“
Yeah,
but not sure how to do some of it.
”

“
Maybe
Juan could help you, or Travis.
”

Jason
peered at her from under his bangs.
“
I
guess so. I just don't think they'll listen to me.
”

Nerit
laughed a little. She had forgotten how absolutely moody teenage boys
could be.
“
Oh,
I think they will. We need all the clever ideas we can get to survive
this.
”

“
Maybe.
I just think it
’
s
cool that you know what you gotta do. I want to help, but I'm just a
kid. I have ideas, but...
”

“
Jason,
I really do think they will listen to you. You're a smart boy with
clever ideas. That is better than an old woman who only knows how to
shoot a gun.
”

“
Maybe,
but you can shoot the eyes out of a fly. I just come up with ideas
and don
’
t
know how to make them work right.
”
Jason shoved his heavy bangs out of his face and frowned more.

“
Well,
”
Nerit said slowly,
“
that
is why you should talk to Juan and Travis. I think they will be able
to help you figure it all out.
”

Jason
fidgeted with his notes, then finally agreed.
“
Yeah,
I guess. I
’
m
just used to older guys not listening to me. My Dad never gave a
rat
’
s
ass what I thought or said.
”

Nerit
took a long sip of her orange juice, pondering her response.
“
Well,
Jason, I think you need to do what your mother is doing. Make this a
new life.
”

Jason
stared at her, then ducked his head down.
“
Yeah.
I guess.
”
Shoveling more cereal into his mouth, he looked up at her through his
bangs. She could tell he was considering her words.

Nerit
stood up, stretching her still stiff body, and picked up her rifle.
“
I
will see you later, Jason. I need to get to work.
”