Siege (58 page)

“That side door was opened up,” Ed said again. “After there was explicit orders to keep it closed.”

“That was my call,” Juan said. “To save Travis and Katie.”

“No offense to them, but if we go around breaking all the rules for the popular folks, we’re all gonna die,” Ed continued.

Gretchen, former librarian and always an outspoken woman, stepped next to Ed. “He’s right. We’ve all been following along behind the leaders of this fort. Doing what you said. Even when we disagreed because we all wanted this to work. But would that door have been opened for me?”

Angry murmurs grew loud until Nerit held up her hand. “Juan did what he felt was right. Whether you agree or not, the choice was made.”

“You know, the Baptists hightailed it out of here talking about God’s judgment. Now you’re talking about ghosts. Anyone noticed that the gay people around here have kinda been dying?” a male voice called out from the back.

Bette looked sharply toward the person who spoke and Katie saw Linda take hold of her arm.

“You have no right,” Lenore suddenly shouted. “No right to say that. Ken gave his life for all of us!”

The Reverend took hold of her arm and drew her back. Comforting her, he said, “Many have given their lives for all of us.”

Travis stood up and towered over everyone. Katie held onto his hand and he rubbed her fingers gently with his thumb. “This isn’t a time to fall apart.”

“The ghosts came to warn us! To tell us to fight!” Katarina sounded close to hysterics. “Bill says the veil is thin and that is why he could come to me. He said we gotta fight and we can’t lose.”

“What the mighty hell is this damn veil?” It was the same man who had made the comment about the gay people. Katie finally recognized him as someone from the mall. His name was Art or something like that. He was a former councilman of another town.

“It’s what lays between the physical realm and spiritual realm,” a woman’s voice said. It was Maddie Goode. “The veil is what keeps the worlds from bleeding over.”

“Witch stuff, huh?”

“No, real stuff. Plus, a New Moon tonight. The veil is very, very thin.”

Goode lifted her tiny chin and looked defiantly at Art.

The Reverend cleared his throat. “God does send messengers. We must remember that.”

“She’s talking witch stuff,” another woman said. “Everyone knows she’s one of those Wiccans.”

“Just because she’s from another religion, does not mean her belief is not accurate in some form,” Rune spoke up for Maddie.

She gave him a tight hug, but looked wary of the people glaring at her. This comment did not sit well with many gathered in the lobby. The long festering resentments were flowing to the surface very quickly. Friends and family members were arguing with each other. The stress was overwhelming. Everyone was on edge. Everyone was afraid.

“Maybe the Baptists had it right. Maybe it isn’t safe here,” Art said at last.

“If we can’t trust our leadership to look out for all of us.”

“They’ve been excluding us a lot lately. They tossed out Blanche without a vote!” someone shouted from the back.

Travis winced and shook his head. “We made a choice at the time-”

“You cut us out of that decision,” Ed said sharply.

Kevin moved to stand with Nerit. “Everyone standing here knows how hard it has been on those we voted into leadership roles. They’ve suffered losses just like the rest of us.”

“Maybe looking out for our own best interests is the way to go,” Ed decided at last.

“I don’t understand where this is coming from,” Travis protested. “This fort is doing damn good right now.”

“A lot of us are tired of not feeling we have a choice about what goes on,”

Gretchen said. “No offense, Travis, but it’s damn hard in this world to give our lives over to other people.”

Ed nodded slowly. “Don’t mean nothing personal. I may be a might angry, but I’m damn scared. What happens if something goes wrong out there and someone opens a gate or a door they shouldn’t. I dunno if I can trust y’all”

Katarina looked at Ed, her expression was full of pain. “Bill died trying to protect this fort.”

“I know that, Katarina. I know that. But...I don’t like feeling like I’m not in control of my own life. Gimme a truck and some ammo. I’m more willing to take a chance out there on my own at this point.”

Silence fell over the room. Then slowly people began to whisper among themselves. Katie could feel Travis’ hand trembling and she knew he was hurt and trying to hold his temper. It was hard not to be trusted after all they had worked to achieve.

“Let them go,” Eric said from near the front desk. “Let whoever wants to leave the fort take what they need and go.”

“We can’t hold them here,” Kevin added.

“We need them here. Everyone has a role to play in the upcoming battle,”

Juan protested. “Everyone has assignments!”

“Some of us don’t want to be here for it,” a man near Juan snapped. More voices rumbled through the vast room, disagreeing and agreeing.

“We can do it without them,” Jason called out.

Jack immediately woofed in agreement.

Peggy stood smoking her cigarette, looking pale. Katie tried to reach out to her, but Peggy turned and walked away through the crowd.

“Very well. If you want to go while the going is good, go. We got extra vehicles out there. But you’re on your own once you’re gone,” Travis finally said.

Ed nodded. “That’s fair.”

Nerit looked around the room thoughtfully. Katie noticed Kevin’s hand was resting on her back in a gesture that seemed more for his comfort than for hers.

“If you are going, you must go tonight,” Nerit finally said.

“Why is that?” Gretchen asked. There was an edge to her voice, but it sounded more like frustration than anger.

“The zombies arrive in the morning. At 9:20, the first zombies will cross over the first line.”

“And how do you know this?” Art asked sharply.

“Ralph told me. The zombies arrive early. Tomorrow. The battle is tomorrow. If you’re going to leave, you need to leave now,” Nerit said in a firm, strong voice.

“And why are we supposed to believe this?” a voice Katie didn’t recognize called out.

“Because she knows what she’s talking about.” Calhoun moved through the crowd. He looked haggard and held a tape recorder in his hand. “I’ve been taking care of the communication center, monitoring for alien transmissions. Got this instead.” He held up a tape recorder and hit PLAY.

“If anyone can hear us, we were trying to get back to the fort, but we can’t get through. There are thousands of zombies near the junction of 16 and 1456. They’re everywhere. We had to make a run for it. We’re going to have to head back to the Baptist Encampment. Hello? Can you hear me?

This is Milo and Susan. We were trying to head back but they’re everywhere.”

Katie tried to remember the junction they were talking about and realized quite quickly it was close to town.

“I gotcha,” Calhoun’s voice said on the tape. “You head back to the crazy Baptists and stay low. Make sure their demon-possessed leader don’t do nothing stupid. We’ll fight off the zombie clones and let you know when it’s clear.”

“Thanks, Calhoun. Just thought I ’d give ya heads up,” the voice answered, then Calhoun hit STOP.

The silence was, as they say, deafening.

“We leave tonight then,” Ed said.

“Can I go with you?” a voice called out.

It was Belinda. Juan’s one time crush and Mike’s widow. She pushed through the people to Ed’s side. “I want to go, too.”

Juan lowered his eyes and his mother squeezed his arm gently.

“Okay. You can come. Let’s roll within the hour,” Ed said. Then the room was full of people arguing and crying.

Chaos filled the lobby and Katie put down her head and wept.
2. Sweet Sorrow

The paddock was full of people as Durangos were loaded up with carefully doled out ammunition and MREs. Jugs of water were rolled up to each vehicle and loaded. Bags of clothes and personal effects were tossed into the trucks. A small pink backpack full of toys was packed into a back seat. Families gathered around departing members, in some cases still fighting bitterly, with others it was a tearful farewell.

Ed strode through the throng to his designated vehicle with Belinda in his wake. Gretchen stood nearby with a few other people and her gaze followed the old hunter. If she had designs on going with Ed, they were shot down by Belinda joining him. Ed’s sons were already in the backseat arguing over something, holding their shotguns.

Travis and Juan leaned against a nearby pallet loaded with bricks watching sadly. Six vehicles were leaving. Twenty-three people in all. A young woman picked up her six year old daughter and pushed her into the back seat of a nearby truck, buckling her in, while two men climbed into the front of the Durango. Travis remembered her name was Cindy and he smiled slightly at her as she gave him a sad look. Then, determinedly, she circled the vehicle and climbed in.

“They’re probably all going to die,” Juan said finally.

“Yeah, but it’s their choice.”

Ed saw to Belinda getting safely into his vehicle, then walked back to the two men. His grizzled face was worn and his eyes tired, but his jaw was set firmly. As he drew near, he thrust out his hand.

“Boys, it’s been good,” he said.

Travis didn’t hesitate to take his hand and clasp it tightly. “We’ll miss you.”

“We did good here, but gotta move on,” Ed said.

Travis gave Ed’s hand one firm shake, then stepped back. Juan stepped forward to grip the older man’s hand tightly.

“Take care, man,” Juan said.

“I will. I’ll take care of Belinda, too. This place has been good and bad for all of us. Hope you guys make it through tomorrow okay.”

“We will,” Travis said firmly. “We will.”

Ed nodded once. “Good luck.”

“Same to you,” Juan answered.

With one more nod, Ed set his thin lips into a line and walked back to the Durango. Around him, other people followed his lead and climbed into their vehicles as well.

Juan lifted a walkie-talkie to his lips. “Clear?”

“All clear,” a voice cackled back.

“Then open the gates,” he ordered.

Travis exhaled slowly as the massive doors opened. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Peggy sobbing as she watched Gretchen leave. A few people were still pleading with those in the Durangos to stay as the long line slowly began to roll out of the fort.

“This shit sucks,” Juan finally muttered.

“Can’t be helped,” a voice said beside them.

They turned to see Rune standing near them.

“What do you mean?” Travis asked.

“Look, Dude, no offense, but you’re still a city boy at heart and you don’t quite get it at times. Texans stick together as long as there is a common enemy. That will get fucked up if two things happen: religion; or you feel you’re at the mercy of someone else. Things go fine around here most of the time cause we got those dead folks trying to eat us. But right now, people are feeling mighty powerless and they’re gonna either fight or run. Those folks...God bless ’em...they’re running.” Rune grinned, showing all his teeth. “Don’t matter what they say. They’re scared and they don’t have no gawdamn control, so they’re outta here. I say let em go.” He turned and waved to the very last Durango leaving through the gate. Travis shook his head. “Well. No point keeping them here anyway.”

“They’re a bunch of ingrates,” Peggy said joining them. She was still crying and her face was swollen.

Juan watched as the gate begin to close. “Ed’s freaking out about us opening the loading dock? Well, I’d be freaking worried that he’d pull something stupid like run away in the middle of it. Better now than later.”

“Amen,” Rune said. He then reached out to greet Calhoun as the old man approached.

“Okay, the pussies are gone and the real soldiers are left. So, I gotta know a few things real quick.”

“What is it, Calhoun?” Travis smiled slightly at the sight of the older man. He was wearing some sort of weird hat with what looked like a miniature satellite dish on top. It was made out of foil and odds and ends.

“Is your wife going to have the Amazons come help us tomorrow?”

Travis grinned a little, then shook his head. “No, they’re keeping put on Paradise Island.”

Calhoun abruptly frowned.

Travis lifted his eyebrows realizing he said something wrong.

“They don’t live on Paradise Island. Don’t your wife tell you nothing?”

With one last scornful look, Calhoun stalked off muttering about Amazons not helping out like decent women should.

“Oops,” Juan laughed.

Travis shook his head again, looking bemused.

Manny Reyes, the former mayor, walked up slowly.

“Hey, Manny, how you doing?” Peggy asked, dabbing her eyes. Juan gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Hey, Manny.”

The man had not been seen often as he grew weaker and weaker. Charlotte believed he had severely blocked arteries. He was often pale and short of breath. He was taking aspirin, but it was hard on him without a proper diet for his heart or any way to remove the blockage that was slowly taking his life.

“I’m fine,” Manny said in a breathy voice. “I came down to say goodbye to a few friends.”

“Yeah,” Travis said slowly. “Guess they didn’t care for our leadership.” He looked up at Manny cautiously, not sure if Manny took his removal from the mayor’s office personally or not. The man had become ill nearly immediately after Travis and the council rose to power.

“Let me tell you something. It doesn’t matter if they were happy or not. In the end, you can only do your best. People will agree with you. People will disagree with you. For every person who hates you, there is someone who loves you.” Manny sat down on a box and rested his hands on his knees. Rune nodded his head in agreement.

“Well, we’re doing our best,” Travis said after a beat. “I guess we gotta be okay with that.”

“You do. And, the council has gotten things done I never could have. I never could have done all this or even thought of it.” He waved a hand indicating the high walls and the fort in general, smiling slightly. “I know you guys did your best by us. Whether we make it through tomorrow or not, know that you have my support. You guys gave me one more good year of life.”