Stretching out, she felt the coffee giving her a nice little rush, and she felt almost normal for a second. She started to jog at a nice even clip over the packed earth of the site, darting around port-a-potties, the lunch wagon, and behind the portable office buildings. After a few minutes, she felt her energy increase and her endorphins kick in and soon she was jogging at a fair clip despite her heavy Doc Martens.
She was on her third circuit around the fort when Travis dropped in beside her. He matched her pace easily and said, "Hey."
"Hey," she answered with a smile.
He looked a little groggy.
"Late night?"
"Sentry duty until midnight kinda took it out of me. I really need coffee, but they were fresh out and making a new pot when I went to grab a cup," he answered.
"You jog?"
"Every morning," he answered, and she noted the natural ease in which he carried himself.
"I used to run every morning with Lydia," she said, and was instantly tormented by the vision of Lydia running at her. She shook her head and looked away from him, tears abruptly in her eyes.
Travis jogged next to her, silent, yet watchful. He waited until she had control of herself, then said, "Ralph called in this morning before we were up.
He wanted to know if we'll be heading his way today."
Katie glanced toward Travis. "Are we?"
"I'm seriously worried about the school. It is an older building. They will eventually get out and when they do, they'll come here."
Katie expertly dodged around a few people who were standing and talking. All three were construction workers, looking dirty, tired, and nervous.
"How far away is the school?"
"Three blocks North of here."
"Three blocks!" She was so startled, Katie nearly ran into the wall.
Travis grabbed her arm and guided her back on her now worn jogging path.
"Yeah. That's why I'm so nervous. They'll come straight here and we'll be swamped. We will have to better defend ourselves. They have numbers on their side."
"Plus they don't sleep…" Katie shook her head. "Yeah, we need to get the guns here soon. What about food?"
"We're okay for now thanks to the fund raiser and all the canned food from the food drive. The truck driver that arrived yesterday was in a WalMart truck, and we managed to unload a lot of that into the city hall before a throng of zombies arrived. A lot of canned and boxed food and other supplies.
We're not running out of toilet paper any time soon." Travis grinned and they started on their next circuit around the complex.
"Oh, gawd! What a relief! I thought we were doomed" Katie said with mock seriousness.
Travis laughed and she joined him. They sprinted around the lunch wagon and some people sitting in chairs enjoying the morning.
"But seriously, we have the wall up, food for awhile at least, but we need a solid way to defend ourselves. I was looking around the area today and I think our best shot is the truck you and Jenni came in."
"We're out of gas though," Katie pointed out.
"But we have some gasoline on reserve here in the fort," he said, using the term that the inhabitants were already using. "We just have to get it out to the truck and fill it up."
"How many zombies are out there now?"
Travis sighed a bit as he ran. "Six more showed up in the early morning.
We're trying to lure them closer to kill them, but the dead ones keep tripping them up. We'll have to distract them. Probably with a car alarm like yesterday."
Katie lifted an eyebrow. "So that's how you did it?"
"We're clever that way," Travis grinned.
"So. Someone runs over to the truck with the gas canisters, pours them into the tank, and hauls ass to get the guns?" Katie's voice sounded doubtful.
"Yeah. You and me. We're running right now. Hardly winded. The guys trick the zombies to the other side of the fort and we run for it. There is a gas station ten miles down the road. We fill up there."
Katie laughed. "Sounds easy."
Travis' eyes cast a shy glance at her. "Yeah, I'm easy."
That made Katie laugh even more. "Okay, so you and I run out there, I assume you with a spear, me with my gun, get the truck, ride to the nearest gas station, fill up the truck, haul ass over to Ralph's hunting shop, grab a bunch of guns and make it back here by nightfall."
"Gee, ma'am, when you say it that way it sounds kinda romantic," Travis teased her.
Katie rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm in. But Jenni will insist on coming with us. I know it."
"Yeah, she really does like to kill zombies, doesn't she?"
Katie remembered Jenni running out onto Ralph's balcony and shooting a zombie just because it looked like her father. "Um…yeah."
"Think she's okay upstairs?" Travis asked softly.
Katie pondered this, recalling Jenni's near catatonia, then her quick rebound into Linda Hamilton in Terminator. "No. No, I don't think so. But I think she is probably dealing with this better than us. I think Jenni had a lot of bad things happen to her in the old world."
"So the new world is maybe a relief," Travis said sadly.
"Yeah."
They stopped outside of the back steps to city hall and Katie took the time to stretch out her muscles. "I'm due for the shower."
"Okay. I'll talk to Juan and Jenni next. I figure they can go with us."
"Juan?"
"Yeah, he's read the Zombie Survival Handbook a million times. I think he'll be a great backup."
"Okay. And Jenni and I can carry our guns and take you to Ralph's."
Travis nodded his head, his gaze intense. He shifted on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest slowly. "If you don't want to go back out there-"
"I'm in. No worries," Katie said quickly. "I'd rather be proactive than not."
"So we got a plan?"
"We got a plan," Katie assured him.
His gaze met hers in that way that made her avert her eyes. She suddenly felt a little flushed and she shifted nervously on her feet.
"Okay, five minutes until my turn in the shower," she said with a glance at her watch.
Travis nodded and looked a little flushed, too. "Okay, rendezvous back here in twenty minutes."
Katie laughed. "I'm a girl. Make it forty." She turned and ran into the building.
Travis gazed after her with his expression showing all too clearly he knew she was a girl.
"She's gay, dude," Juan said in his thick West Texas accent from behind him.
"Shut up," Travis said gruffly, then swung his arm around Juan's bronzed shoulders to lead him away. "So, this zombie handbook you were telling me about…”
Chapter 10
1. Rush of the Dead
Katie stood next to the ladder leading over the wall, hugging Jason before leaning over to give Jack a kiss. Jenni stood nearby, her dark hair tied up in a high ponytail, a backpack slung over her shoulders. The sun was higher now and Jenni looked pale, but confident.
After hugging Katie, Jason moved back to Jenni and hugged her again.
"We'll take good care of each other. I promise," Katie assured him.
Jack whined at her, lifting a paw to scrabble at her knee.
"Jack, stay here and take care of Jason, okay?"
The dog looked from Katie to Jason, then walked sullenly to the boy's side.
It felt strange to leave the dog behind after he had been such a constant part of their life the last two days, but Katie and Jenni both agreed it was time to let him stay behind and let Jason have the comfort of his company.
A car alarm was going off over and over again on the other side of the complex. Standing on the roof of city hall were two men, one with binoculars, watching the zombies in the street below. It was agreed they would not give the all clear signal until the road leading to the truck was devoid of the undead.
Katie stood quietly, hands on her hips, sunglasses covering her eyes to keep the sun's morning glare from blinding her. She wore the same old tank top and pants (and made a mental note to pick up more clothes at Ralph's) and Travis wore a T-shirt, jeans, and heavy boots.
Juan shifted his spear. "I cannot wait to have a decent gun."
Travis grinned. "You'll have one soon enough. Let's get moving."
Travis climbed the ladder first. Katie followed, gripping the rungs tightly with sweaty palms before slipping over the top of the wall and scooting down the ladder on the other side. The hurricane fence was their next obstacle.
Once Jenni and Juan joined them, they moved the ladder over to the chain-link fence, climbed it, and dropped down on the other side of the fence.
Katie took a deep breath as she looked back over the fence and new wall.
It seemed so much safer on the other side. Knowing how close they were now to the undead, she felt her heartbeat speed up.
Jenni dropped down as Juan waited on the other side. Noticing her expression, Jenni gave Katie's hand a reassuring squeeze.