Fighting to Survive (64 page)

“
Ever
think we missed something? Something important?
”

She
lifted an eyebrow, then shrugged.
“
No.
”

Bill
frowned.
“
How
can you be so sure?
”

“
Well,
”
Katarina said, kneeling down.
“
We
have all worked pretty damn hard to do everything we can do. At this
point, we have covered everything possible. But...
”
she shrugged again
“
Something
impossible may happen. We just have to do what we can. So I don't
worry about it.
”

With
a slow sigh, Bill reached down to his side for another beer.
“
The
bandits sure weren't what we thought, eh?
”

“
Always
go with the worse case scenario,
”
Katarina answered.

“
Nerit's
advice?
”

Katarina nodded.

Bill
popped open the can, then said,
“
Well,
then, I guess we're doing okay considering what has gone down.
”

“
We're
alive,
”
she agreed.
“
That's
saying a lot.
”

With
a laugh, Bill nodded.
“
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
”
He stood up, his knees creaking.
“
I'm
going to take this and go to bed now.
”

“
Good
night, Bill.
”
Katarina moved on, her gaze returning to the perimeter.

He
trudged down the stairs, anxious all at once to sleep and not deal
with reality. Maybe...maybe...if he was lucky...he would dream of
Doreen and their wonderful day in Venice...

And maybe, just this
once time, he wouldn't dream of everyone around him turning into
zombies chasing him and Doreen into the ocean.

It
would be nice
,
he thought. Very nice.

2. Together Time

Jenni sat in her
bed, the covers pooling around her waist, her long hair falling over
her bare breasts. Beside her, Juan was sleeping soundly, one arm
thrown over his head. She had woken up after a particularly bad
nightmare. She could feel its terrible tendrils still infecting her
mind. Staring out the window at the stars, she tried to reclaim her
mind and her life from the ghosts of her nightmares.

Rubbing her nose,
she took a deep breath.

The
bandits were beaten. The zombies were beyond the walls of the fort.
Juan was her lover. Jason was alive and safe. Katie and Travis were
happy together. Life as a whole was good...until she slept.

Sliding
out of the bed, she walked naked to the window and laid her hands on
the warm glass. Down in the street, Lloyd was staring up at her.
His torn face was twisted into a deadly smile.

Jenni
took a deep breath, then let it slip from between her full lips. She
reached deep down inside and pulled on her strength and love. Her
anger was useless against Lloyd.

“
Lloyd,
”
she whispered.

Come
die with us
,.

“
You
are not the beginning or the end of me.
”

His smile faded.

“
I'll
die when I choose. And I know one thing for sure, I'm not going
where you are.
”

His
smile disappeared.

“
Fuck
you, Lloyd. I don't need you to be afraid of anymore. You're not
the biggest or the baddest monster in my world.
”
Jenni flipped him off and turned away from the window.

There
were worse things in this world to fear than the stupid ghost of her
dead, asshole husband, and there were wonderful things to enjoy and
love. Jenni didn't have the patience to be afraid anymore and ruin
her new life.

Sliding into the
bed, she ran her hand over Juan's chest. He stirred slightly.
Taking her hand, he drew her into his arms and she settled down
against his body.

“
What's
wrong?
”
he asked.

Jenni
slung her arm over his waist and draped one leg over his.
“
Nothing,
”
she answered truthfully.
“
It
just took me awhile to figure that out.
”

Juan was too sleepy
to understand so he just kissed her forehead.

When
Jenni fell asleep, she wasn't afraid anymore. She wouldn't give
Lloyd anymore of her life.

She
was done with him.

3. The Time of
Beginnings

Katie stared at the
little stick, squinting in disbelief. She checked the box again,
then sat back on the edge of the bathtub and exhaled slowly.

Despite all the
insanity of their life, despite the dead world, despite all the
terror, this was a choice they had made together. They had decided
to live a new life and embrace it fully. In their strangely
accelerated world where there was really no time to mourn, but only
time to fight to live, this had been a distinct possibility they had
embraced.

“
Travis!
”
She pulled the rayon robe tighter around her body and held the stick
in one hand as she crossed her legs.

The
door opened and he peered in at her. He must have fallen asleep
while she showered. He looked a little bleary-eyed. He was clad in
his pajama bottoms only and his hair was mussed.

She held up her
announcement and he padded into the bathroom to squint at it. It
took a few seconds for it to register in his mind.

“
For
real?
”

Katie
lifted her eyebrows and nodded.
“
Oh,
yeah.
”

Travis
let out a wild laugh and dragged her to her feet.
“
Amazing!
”

Katie
began to laugh and tossed the stick into the trash.
“
Yeah!
We are! We've just made our life a helluvalot more complicated.
”

“
I'll
take it!
”
Travis gathered her close and kissed her.

Happiness
and fear were jumbled up inside of her mind, but Katie embraced those
feelings. In a world full of death, life was something to embrace.

She kissed Travis
and felt the first of her tears on her cheeks.

Joyously,
Travis clutched her tightly. And together they laughed with delight.

4. Time of the
Dead

Katarina watched the
zombies beating against the wall with cold eyes. She knew there were
plans in the morning to destroy them and clear the area around the
fort. She would be sleeping at that time. She was fine with that.
She had done enough killing to last her for awhile.

The deadlands beyond
the fort were dark and full of mystery. She had no idea what lurked
out there and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. There was enough
weirdness in her world as it was. Zombies and the ghost of her
mother were enough to make her on edge.

She
wasn't too sure what to think of the ghost. It didn't speak to her,
just stared at her with disapproval. At first she thought she was
dreaming, but she was seeing her mother's stern angry face more and
more often. She had overhead other people talking about dreaming of
dead ones or thinking they saw them in darkened corners of their
room. Maybe it was just paranoia. Or maybe there were ghosts.

The
dead now outnumbered the living. How did that affect the world
beyond the obvious? Maybe the dead weren't just walking and hunting
the living, but haunting them.

Katarina
rubbed her eyes and looked over her shoulder. Her mother stood in
the shadows, near the doorway.

“
You're
not really here,
”
Katarina said.

The
ghost remained.

Shaking her head,
Katarina looked back toward the street and the zombies.

“
So,
if hell is full and the dead are walking the earth, Mr. Romero, where
are their souls?
”
Maybe she should ask the Reverend.

In
silence, Katarina watched the moaning dead and ignored the ghost of
her mother lingering over her shoulder.

She had too much
work to do to bother with the dead anymore than she had to.

“
Fuck
the dead,
”
she whispered.
“
This
is our world.
”

1. The Seasons

Fall lived up to its
reputation as a time of harvest as the occupants of the fort loaded
up on as much supplies as possible. With the area around the fort
pretty much clear of zombies, they worked as hard as they could
preparing their winter stores. The hunters brought back venison,
fowl and beef to fill the hotel freezer. Every bit of food was
carefully cataloged and menus were prepared well in advance of the
cold weather.

Halloween came and
went. Despite the obvious reality of monsters in the world, the
handful of kids in the fort had fun dressing up and trick or treating
through the hotel. Everyone stuffed themselves on candy and a
pumpkin patch that Ed knew about allowed Jack-o'-lanterns to be
placed on the fort walls. These seemed to disturb the few zombies
that did appear during the holiday. The teenagers had fun pelting the
dead with them.

Thanksgiving
was surprisingly joyful. Wild turkeys ended up on the menu and
pumpkin pie was a wonderful delicacy that everyone enjoyed. As
December approached, the world seemed remarkably peaceful, despite
the occasional zombie.

It
began to feel like the fort was truly secure, that a true victory
had been won over the dead.

2. The Good
Things in Life

Jack, the German
Shepherd, wanted a cookie.

Lying on the floor,
watching Jason on the phone, he wondered if the boy could see the
sheer hunger that loomed in his eyes, hunger for a cookie.

Jason
was talking and talking and talking...

Jack
yawned, his sharp teeth flashing in the early morning light. He
couldn't understand why his boy was always talking on that stupid
phone with Shelley. Shelley lived just a few doors down. In fact,
Jack could hear her voice quite well from her room without the phone.

Girls
were loud.

Jack
whimpered a little and was rewarded, not with a cookie, but a pat on
the head.

Jason
finally hung up and walked out of their very untidy bedroom, into the
small living room. Jack followed, head down and tail limp, trying to
show Jason how desperately he needed a cookie. He could hear Jenni
and Juan snoring in the other room. They had been wrestling a lot
last night and despite his doggy whimpers and his scratching on the
door, they had not let him in to play.

Jason
leaned down and hugged him tight, kissing his head and nuzzling him.
Jack forgot his cookie for a moment, enjoying the love he received
from his boy. He loved his boy very much, but sometimes it was hard
taking care of him.