Siege (23 page)

Ed and Linda walked toward them briskly. Both looked grim and Katie wondered if they were the ones that checked on Blanche.

“What did you find?” Travis looked nervous.

“A Mercedes packed to the gills with supplies on the side of the road. Ray busted the axle trying to off road it. Maybe he was trying to avoid being seen by Curtis and Katarina yesterday,” Ed answered.

“And what looked like maybe the remains of Ray on the doorstep of the mansion. Gunshot wound to what was left of his head.” Linda shivered.

“There were a few zombies milling around still. Front door was open. Zombies on the inside. We didn’t go in.”

“We didn’t stick around. No sign of life and once the zombies get you in their sights, they get all feisty,” Ed added.

“Think she got away?” Katie wasn’t sure if she wanted Blanche still alive out there or not. She wasn’t very happy about the choice that had been made the day before, but at the same time it was hard to find sympathy for Blanche.

Ed shook his head. “Nope.” His keen eyes looked toward Travis. “Nope. I think she’s dead.”

Travis squirmed under his gaze and Nerit shrugged.

Linda shook her head. “I don’t feel bad for the bitch. She shot my cousin. Killed two men, including her husband.”

“Justice has got to be fair for everyone or it ain’t justice,” Ed said in terse voice.

“Hey! Hey, Travis! Nerit! There is word the army is coming to rescue us,”

a man said running up to them.

Katie couldn’t remember his name, but knew he had survived with his son in a farmhouse not too far out of town.

“No, they took two of our people,” Travis answered, struggling to keep the edge from his tired voice. He and Ed were still locking gazes.

“Are they coming for the rest of us?” The man looked excited, but anxious.

“They took two of our people and we don’t know what that means,” Nerit answered truthfully.

“Yeah, but they are coming to rescue us, right? They know we’re here now. Our people will tell them where to come to get us. Right?”

A crowd was beginning to form around them as the word spread. Katie clung to Travis, feeling his body leaning heavily against hers. He was so tired and she knew he was not in the mindset to deal with yet another crisis.

“Travis, is it true?” This was Belinda, Juan’s former crush, and she looked hopeful.

“We don’t know. We just know that the military took two of our people. It could mean anything,” Travis responded.

“But if it’s the army, that means we’re saved!” This from an older black woman, clutching her hands together. Her expression was rapturous.

“Where would they take us?” Travis asked the fast growing crowd.

“A place safer than what we got here,” Belinda said, and the people around her nodded.

“This may be bad,” Peggy pointed out. “What if their base isn’t as nice as this. We have a good thing here.”

“Besides, maybe it’s not the army at all. Just rogues. Deserters,” the Reverend added.

Things were becoming very agitated now. Voices swelled as arguments broke out. Some people seemed almost desperate to believe this was good news while others looked dubious.

Katie was one of the doubters. She couldn’t see how someone taking Jenni could possibly be a good thing.

Nerit held up a hand and things quieted somewhat. “The truth is, we do not know the situation. We do not know why Jenni and the others were taken. We just know for sure that they were and that it was most likely a faction of the military.”

“We shouldn’t get overly excited yet,” Travis added. “We’re not sure what this means for the fort.”

“But they’ll rescue us,” someone said persistently. It was Janice, a local. Her face was flushed and anxious. “They kept saying on the radio they would save us!”

“Save us how?” Travis asked her point blank.

“Take us to where it’s safe,” Janice answered.

“But it’s safe here,” Katarina said, stepping out of the crowd. “It’s safe where we are.”

“But they’ll have real weapons. Real ways of defending us,” another voice said from the back.

Katie noticed it was the newer people who clung to this idea of a rescue more tightly than the townsfolk. Also, the people from larger towns or cities seemed to immediately embrace the idea of the army coming to the rescue.

“What is true is that we don’t know what is happening yet,” Travis said in a loud voice. “And that is where it stands.”

Pulling Katie with him, he moved into the manager’s office, Nerit following.

“I don’t like how this feels,” Travis said grimly, leaning his hands on his desk.

“Until we know what is going on, we need to keep people calm,” Nerit said.

Picking up the phone, Travis dialed Peggy’s line. “Gather the council, please.”

“They’re going to go ape shit,” Katie decided. “The idea of being rescued is going to have people completely nuts.” She leaned against Travis, comforted by the gentle touch of his fingers through her hair and down her neck.

Peggy slipped in the door followed by Curtis. Katarina entered, standing in for Bill. Eric arrived last, wearing his usual khakis and a sweater. He ran a hand over his dark hair as he sat in a chair.

There was a moment of tense silence as they realized how many of the council was missing. Jenni, Juan, Bill...Katie even missed Calhoun whipping out his camcorder.

“Rumor is that the army is coming to rescue us,” Eric said, starting the conversation.

“We’re really not sure what the military wants,” Nerit answered, and quickly filled him in on the details.

Curtis looked tense, sitting near Katarina. “Can we trust them? Right before it all went to hell they were killing people left and right in the streets.”

“Killing infected people,” Katie corrected.

“We don’t even know if it’s the real military,” Katarina pointed out. “What if it’s just a bunch of AWOL guys like the Reverend said?”

“And acting like gods,” Curtis chimed in.

Travis nodded solemnly as he leaned back against the desk. “That is my fear.”

“Or they could be men and women doing their job and rescuing civilians,”

Nerit interjected.

“I can’t see how their fort could be better than this,” Katarina said defensively.

“Maybe it’s the Madison Rescue Center,” Peggy said finally. “They’ve been looping the same message since all this started to stay in our homes and they would eventually rescue us.”

Glancing toward Peggy, Katie pursed her lips. “Madison? Oh, yeah. I remember that. Jenni and I were told by some soldiers in a convoy to go to Madison.”

“Where is Madison?” Eric adjusted his glasses on his face. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a small city near here. ‘Bout seventy-five miles or more to the northeast.” Curtis was staring at his hands as he rotated a statue of Lincoln on the table next to him with his fingers.

“We don’t go in that direction because of the mass amounts of zombies in some of those towns, right?” Eric looked around the room. “So going that way is dangerous.”

“We never had no one calling in from that area, either.” Peggy shook her head. “It got ugly out that way according to what we heard on the radio. When we lost our phones, there was speculation it was because of that area going dark.”

“What was so special about Madison? Why did they send people there?”

Katie had wondered on the first day of the rising why they were directed toward an area with a denser population. “Is there an army base there?”

“There’s no base there.” Curtis stopped fiddling with the small statue.

“There ain’t nothing there that is that special.”

“Yeah, but there had to be some sort of rescue center if they sent us there,”

Katie said.

“There is a convention center there. And a mall.” Katarina flinched.

“Damn. A mall. Just like the movies.”

“There is a message on the emergency broadcast system. It repeats over and over again, but I figured they were all dead long ago,” Peggy admitted.

“I did, too. Overrun like the rest of the rescue centers,” Katie agreed. “We never thought about it twice after we decided not to go there.”

“But they may be still there. Still operational.” Eric looked thoughtful as he considered this prospect. “Perhaps they have established a safe haven just like we have.”

“And,” Nerit said, “that would make them close enough to have taken our people.”

“So what do we do?” Eric asked.

“Try to contact them?” Katie offered.

“We’ve been monitoring the airways. I never heard a thing,” Curtis said in a soft, angry voice.

“Military channels are not accessible to civilians,” Nerit pointed out. Her expression was stoic, but her eyes were fierce, bright, and thoughtful.

“Besides, the closest military anything around these parts is about two hundred miles away. That National Guard base.” Peggy shook her head.

“Why should we even think about them? Once all the shit hit the fan and no one showed up, we took care of ourselves.”

“But a military presence is obviously out there,” Travis finally said. “And they have our people. So what do we do now?”

“Maybe we should start sending out a message of our own,” Katie suggested. “Requesting the return of our people. They must be monitoring us.”

“If that’s true,” Travis sighed. “I gotta ask why they didn’t come knocking before?”

“Too many questions, no answers.” Katie ran a hand over her hair.

“Back when the world had order and things worked properly, we may have found each other much more quickly. But if they are operating on channels that we are not and vice versa...” Nerit slightly shook her head.

“We can’t apply normal world expectations to the situations we are experiencing now. This new presence in our lives is not a known quantity and we don’t know what it will hold for us.”

“They’re the United States military. Sworn to serve and protect. Why should we fear them?” Eric looked up and stared at Nerit. “They’re our people.”

“I think we should start asking for our people back,” Peggy said. “Maybe now that they know we’re here, they’ll be listening for us. Looking for us. And we can start talking like civilized people instead of freaking out.”

With an angry sound, Curtis rose to his feet. “If Lenore had not blown the plan at the hospital and opened fire--”

“That is a moot point now,” Travis snapped. “Jenni and whoever else survived are in the hands of the military and we cannot be going off second guessing what Lenore did!”

“We cannot afford fuckups that cost us our people, Travis!” Curtis shouted.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Katie said, stepping toward Curtis. “I love Jenni! And this is killing me, but Lenore did what I would have done in her place. I would have saved my best friend.”

“Back down,” Katarina said in a low voice.

Curtis shot her a fierce look, but her gaze was so cold, so chilling, he visibly shrank away from her.

“We’re off topic. This isn’t about Lenore,” Eric said in a firm voice.

“I say we send the messages,” Nerit said after a beat. “Because if they have our people, they have a reason behind it. Let’s start talking.”

Katie felt tears threatening as she bobbed her head in agreement. “Yes, please, let’s do that. Let’s bring Jenni home.”

Eric nodded. “I agree.”

“We gotta find out what is going on out there. I say send out an invite.”

Katarina pushed her heavy red hair out of her face. “Won’t do us no good worrying and not doing.”

“I ain’t got no issue calling them up and asking them to give us our people back,” Peggy declared. “I am so sick of this bullshit.”

Travis took a deep breath. “Then let’s do it.”

1. The Mall, Zombies, and the Alamo

Damn lot of zombies
, Bill thought.

After an hour of listening to the Major General carry on about building a new tomorrow, a greater America, protecting the native soil, and on and on, he had finally escorted Bill up onto the roof of the mall.

“What do you think?” the Major General asked, sweeping his hand out in front of him.

Bill took in the white wall that surrounded the mall, the blockades over the entrances, the cars, buses, and a combination of army, marine and national guard vehicles of every shape and color. Every entrance into the mall parking lot was heavily fortified with multiple guards on duty. But beyond the wall…

Zombies…a whole lot of zombies...

“We can eradicate them,” the Major General said in a decisive voice.

“Or just get eaten,” Bill added.

The Major General frowned.

“It’s happened before,” Bill said. “In at least two movies. Malls, just bad…

bad news..”

“I’m not sure what you are talking about, but I can assure you, we can overcome the undead scourge,” the Major General declared. Bill wasn’t too sure. It looked like a lot of Madison was outside the walls. He glanced over the mall defenses, then back over toward the throng of zombies.

Yep, that was a whole lot of zombies…

Damn.

Now, he knew how the people in the Alamo felt.

Shit. He hoped he died well. For a moment, he wondered if the Major General, who spoke with a thick East Coast accent, would understand if he told him “You can go to hell --I’m going to Texas.” He was tempted to paraphrase Davy Crockett’s famous words to “You can go to hell--I’m going to the fort.”

Damn.

Whole lot of zombies...

“Once we take control of the fort, you will see that we can make things a lot better for everyone. The Senator has a definitive plan on how to build a new society on the ashes of the old one. The military forces will take over the security of the fort so your people can get out into the fields and start preparing for a new future.”

Bill squinted at the guy and wondered if he realized what the hell he was saying. “You want us out in the fields. Growing crops?”

“And expanding the fort. Getting a cattle ranch secured. Everything that will be needed to create a new tomorrow. We can work out assignments for the men and create a schedule for the women.”

“Schedule?”

“Yes. Which ones will help with the fort household and which ones will have children.”