As the World Dies (17 page)

    The woman dressed in jeans, a red sweater, and a hunting jacket stood up and waved to them. "We're coming to get you! Hang tight. We can't hit them through the tree branches, so we're gonna rush them!"

    Eric would never forget the sight that followed. Three men and the woman exited the bus and fearlessly charged into the clearing. The woman, dark hair braided and pinned to the top of her head, came first. She shot a zombie point blank in the face and immediately turned to fire at the next one charging at her.

    Meanwhile, a big teddy bear of a man with a round face dressed in what looked kind of like a sheriff’s uniform, opened fire with a shotgun blasting the nearby zombies clear off their feet.

    A young black man wearing a loud red and yellow tracksuit had two revolvers in his hands. With one of the toughest looks on his face Eric had ever seen, he systematically fired at the zombies near the bottom of the ladder.

    "I do not appreciate your behavior," the tracksuit guy said in quite precise tones and shot the head off one of the female zombies.

    The last guy, a wizened old guy in a hunting jacket, stood at the edge of the clearing and fired at the zombies rushing at him.

    "Jenni," the black guy called out. "Behind you!"

    The woman jerked around as a zombie rushed her out of the trees. She was in the middle of reloading. "Shit!" She dropped to her knees just as the zombie slammed into her and it flipped over her into the mud. Jumping up, she pulled out a machete and slammed it down hard into its head splitting it open.

    "Felix, to your left," the bigger guy shouted.

    Felix turned smoothly and nailed a child zombie moving toward him. "Got it, Bill!"

    Eric watched in amazement as Jenni rushed after the zombie stuck in the ladder and began hacking away at it with her machete. Bill and Felix and the unnamed man continued to fire. It was more infested than Eric had imagined as zombies continued to come out of the trees.

    Jenni finished hacking the zombie to pieces and looked up at them. "Climb down now! Hurry!"

    Immediately, Eric and Stacey obeyed her, not bothering to grab anything other than Pepe, the revolver, and the shotgun.

    "Ed, cover the east side," Jenni ordered and ran back to grab her gun. She quickly reloaded it then fired two shots into the head of a zombie crawling toward her.

    The wizened old hunter nodded and reloaded smoothly before continuing to fire.

    Felix and Bill covered the north and west side as Jenni watched the south. The group had obviously worked together before and moved seamlessly as a team.

    Eric couldn't climb down fast enough and he felt Pepe trembling against his chest in excitement. The little dog even managed to get out a few weak barks. The gunshots continued below and Jenni motioned for them to hurry. Jenni shoved and kicked at the dead zombie and chopped away at its hand until it dropped off the ladder.

    "Gawddamn, fucking, no good, stupid shit eating…” she swore as she kicked it away from her.

    "Jenni don't like zombies, Bill. Did you know that?" Felix grinned and reloaded one of his guns quickly.

    "You know. I heard that," Bill answered. "Rumor is she may even hate them."

    "Fuck you both," Jenni said with a grin and kicked the zombie's hand away.

    There were fewer zombies rushing into the clearing now, but in the distance, they could hear the screech of more coming.

    "Hurry up! We haven't cleared this part of town!" Jenni stepped around the ladder and blew the head off a legless zombie trying to untangle itself from a bush.

    Eric finally reached the bottom rungs and leaped down the last few feet. Stacey dropped down beside of him and clutched his hand.

    Their four rescuers surrounded them quickly. It was easier to pick off the zombies now that they had some distance between them and the undead. Eric held Stacey's hand tightly and cuddled Pepe close.

    "Move toward the bus, keep close, don't panic," Jenni ordered.

    "Never fear! Super Jenni is here,” Felix assured Eric.

    "Felix, I'm gonna kick your ass," Jenni promised him.

    "Bring it!"

    "My money's on Jenni," Bill decided.

    Ed scowled. "Let's get focused and get out of here, kids."

    "Gonna get my ass kicked Jennikillingzombiekungfu-style," Felix singsonged playfully.

    "I am so not going to give into your sick fantasy," Jenni assured him, but she was grinning.

    "I'm gonna tell Juan," Bill teased.

    "He knows she's his loca. None of us has a chance with the zombie killing machine anymore," Felix decided with a dramatic sigh.

    "Like you ever did," Jenni laughed. "Besides, I just rescued your ass last week."

    "Enough joking!" Ed looked terse. "Get in the damn bus!"

    Eric actually liked the joking. It showed him that the group was confident and sure of what they were doing. The guns continued to fire around them: zombies of all sizes, shapes falling. Their rescuers reached the bus and the doors opened. Eric pushed Stacey in first then followed her.

    The driver was a woman with lots of bushy red hair and there were only two other passengers on board. One was a surly looking black girl in possibly her late teens and the other was a very effeminate young man.

    "Took you bitches long enough," the young man decided.

    "Ken, behave," the girl beside him drawled.

    "I'm just kidding, Lenore. Sheesh. Welcome on board the Zombie Rescumobile. I'm Ken and this is my bestest girl, Lenore."

    The girl rolled her eyes.

    "Eric and Stacey," Eric said as he slid into a seat next to Stacey.

    "We just got rescued, too. Though, not as dramatically as you guys. It was like a movie out there," Ken said and was obviously impressed.

    The doors shut behind their rescuers and Eric jumped as several zombies reached the bus and began to bang on the side. There was no way that he and Stacey would have survived. He felt immense relief that they had been rescued and he squeezed Stacey's hand tighter.

    "Katarina, let's roll," Ed ordered the driver.

    "You got it," she answered and shifted gears.

    Jenni slid into the seat in front of Eric and Stacey and smiled at them. "Glad we found you guys. It was a fluke. Katarina took a wrong turn and we saw the big 'help' on the tower."

    Eric sighed with relief and reached out to touch Jenni's arm. "You have no idea how grateful we are."

    A shadow passed over Jenni's expression for a second then she took Eric's hand and squeezed it. "I was rescued once. I do know. I'm glad we found you." She quickly slid out of the seat again and returned to the front of the bus as it rumbled on down the road leaving the zombies and the water tower behind.

    Stacey laid her head on Eric's shoulder and sighed softly. Pepe yawned dramatically and snuggled deeper into his jacket. Feeling relief like he had never experienced before, Eric relaxed and enjoyed the drive to the fort.

    They were safe at last.

    The Fort was nothing like Eric had imagined, but it was still wonderful. The makeshift lock system that was under construction that let the vehicles entering and leaving the Fort move through a series of paddocks was clever, but obviously still needing work.

    When the bus reached the interior of the Fort, Jenni quickly disembarked and leaped onto a tall Hispanic man that was waiting for her. She was carried off in his arms, both of them talking in Spanish, and Eric couldn't help but smile at their affection.

    Bill and Felix escorted them along with Lenore and Ken to city hall where they were given a lunch of vegetable soup, fresh cornbread, and jello. Nothing had ever tasted so good to Eric. He was relieved to see Pepe eating some soft dog food and slurping down water. Stacey was quiet and ate quickly, but he could understand her apprehension.

    They would have died this morning if not for their rescue. They had been so close to the edge of death and now they were safe. It was both a shock and a relief to be at the Fort and they were both trying to adjust. People kept stopping by to say hello and Eric was touched by the warmth and friendliness of the Fort's inhabitants.

    It was Peggy that assigned them their new living quarters and had them bumped in line for shower that was in the basement of the janitor's office in city hall.

    "Peggy? It's me! Eric!" He had stared at the woman in shock.

    "Oh, Lord. I thought you were dead when you never logged back on!"

    They had embraced tightly for a few moments and Eric felt tears in his eyes.

    He was separated from Stacey for awhile. Peggy lead her away to find clothes and take a shower. Eric was lead by Bill to meet with Travis, the architect behind the Fort construction, and Juan, the head of construction. Both of them were excited to hear he was an engineer and shared some of their plans with him. Eric was amazed at how quickly he absorbed what was going on and made a few suggestions that both Travis and Juan were impressed with.

    Finally, he was able to go take a shower. Nothing had ever felt so wonderful in his life despite the dank surroundings of the janitor’s office and the plumbing banging away in the wall. He dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that Peggy had put aside for him. He had been told a Wal-Mart truck had joined the Fort on the first day and its inventory had helped the Fort significantly. His new clothes were from that stock and he felt awkward in his new Wrangler jeans. It was a far departure from his old khaki pants and button down shirts.

    It was like moving through a dream as he walked through the construction site that was neatly organized into living areas and work areas. Travis had shown him the plans to go into the hotel looming over the site and he looked over to where they were building a small wall and gate against the back of the hotel. They were going to have to break through the wall to get into the hotel and fear of zombies on the inside had inspired Travis to build a gated entry just in case of trouble.

    He slipped into his new home; a tent made of blue tarp, and found Stacey lying on a cot with Pepe. They were both sound asleep and he sat across from them on his own cot and watched them. Both were peaceful in their slumber and he felt relieved that they were both safe and with him. Later, he fell asleep and when he awoke, he found Stacey and Pepe gone.

    By evening he had met the people behind the names he had heard from Peggy. Katie was a warm, generous person with beautiful blond curls and a wide smile. She had met him in the lunch line and he liked her immediately. Travis joined them at their table and they spent most of the time talking about construction. Katie stuck around and Travis seemed pleased with this. Eric wondered if everyone in the Fort was finding connections with each other and he couldn't really blame them. This new deadly world forced everyone to move on and embrace what they had left in life. He had found himself doing that very thing for the last few weeks.

    Stacey and Pepe kept appearing in his peripheral vision, but he kept being distracted by Travis, the Mayor, Juan and Peggy. They pulled him into their planning session that afternoon and he loved the feeling of being back at work and part of the greater picture.

    The sun was setting when he finally made it back to the tent. Stacey and Pepe were not there and he felt lonely without them. Sitting on the cot, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

    In one short day, his whole world had changed again. He was safe in the Fort. Pepe was going to be okay. Stacey was still alive. They had made it. But he felt lonely without them near him and he sat in silence in the blue tent that was bigger, but just as makeshift as the old one on the water tower.

    "You're popular," Stacey said from the entry.

    She stepped in and let the flap fall back behind her. Pepe bounced over to Eric and wagged his tail. Already he looked so much better.

    "They're picking my brain for the construction of the Fort defenses," he answered her as he plucked Pepe off the ground to pet him.

    She looked at him with an expression that was hard to fathom. Dressed in a white summer dress, her short straight hair falling to her shoulders, she looked pretty, fresh, and young. She folded her arms over her breasts and sighed a little.

    "Is something wrong?"

    She shrugged her bony shoulders and then shook her head. "I'm glad to be here, but it feels weird now."

    "Weird?" He looked up at her curiously, but he thought he understood.

    "It was just us out there. You, me, Pepe. We felt like a little family or something. But here…"

    Eric set Pepe aside and stood up. "Stacey…"

    "Look, I know I'm like six years younger than you. I probably seem very stupid and young compared to Brandy. And I know you were taking care of me because you're a good guy. You don't have to share-"