As The World Dies - Siege Part 57

A huge military truck rolled in crammed full of more razor wire and other supplies.

"Bette doing better?"

"Her arm is seriously messed up. They aren't sure how much use she'll have when it heals." Linda tucked her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and furrowed her brow. "And things feel weird now with us. I dunno why. I just..."

Juan looked down at her, his arms crossed over his chest. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno" Linda shrugged. "Like I keep feeling I should have died back there and now when I'm around Bette it feels f.u.c.ked up. I love her. But it's like..."

Juan reached out and gently rubbed her shoulder. "It's okay, Linda. It was rough out there."

"Lenore and I are the only survivors of the run to the hospital, Juan,"

Linda said softly. "Felix, Dale, Ken, Bill, Roger, Jenni...all gone now. Only Lenore and I are still here."

Juan winced at the mention of the hospital run. It had saved his life, but he had lost Jenni because of it. "Linda, that is just how this f.u.c.ked up world works. Don't let it get you down."

"Hey, I got no regrets about going there. That medicine and stuff is helping a lot of people. It helped you. But it freaks me out. I seriously feel I should have died out there." Linda's gaze was intense.

"Is that why you keep going out there?"

"Yeah." Linda admitted. "Yeah."

"Zombie in the hold!"

Juan and Linda's heads both jerked up. The inner gate was still closed.

Above them on the walls, two people were trying to aim at something down in the holding area.

Running up the stairs, Juan reached back to grip her hand and despite herself, Linda felt comforted by it. Reaching the top, they looked down to see a woman in a red sweater moving swiftly around the truck, banging on it with slim hands. Long black hair obscured her face, but her growls revealed her true nature.

"She dropped off the back of the truck when it got into the lock," one of the guards shouted.

"Put her down," someone shouted.

Juan felt like he couldn't breathe. Something about the figure reminded him of Jenni. The sweater, the long dark hair, the slim build. Beside him, Linda squeezed his hand.

"It's not her. Katie put her down. It's not her," Linda's voice whispered.

A sniper finally got a good shot and the creature's head exploded, then it fell back. Despite the shot through its forehead, its face was still reasonably intact. It bore no resemblance to Jenni whatsoever.

"It's okay," Linda said once more.

Juan nodded slowly then turned and took his cousin into his arms and held her tight. "We're both okay. You're supposed to be here. Don't think about being dead. You got Bette. Don't forget that. It's okay."

They clung to each other as the all-clear signal was given. The large inner doors opened and the truck rolled on leaving the dead zombie alone in the lock.

3. Family Way It was sheer chaos in the suite. Three little kids were scampering around screaming and laughing as they were chased around by Juan. Troy was only in his undies while Margie was in her nightgown with her hair soaking wet. Holly was half-way into her pajamas sporting the topless look.

"Okay, now be nice to Daddy One and do what I say," Juan ordered.

Margie managed a feat worthy of an Olympic gymnast to get over the sofa and looked at him. "No!"

Holly and Troy stopped on the other side of the sofa and laughed like little hyenas.

Juan frowned and put on his most authoritative voice. "Get your PJs on or you are all in big trouble."

The three h.e.l.lions looked at each other, then took off running again, laughing like the evil little fiends they were.

Clutching Holly's top in one hand, Juan pursued them, finding it d.a.m.n hard to catch the little ones. Troy was especially good at evasive maneuvers. Juan couldn't help but think he'd make a great football player.

Despite his frustration with them, he knew most of this was them craving his attention. He had been gone all day working on the fort defenses and when he had come home, his beleaguered mother and grandmother had quickly dumped the kids off on him.

"They need their father. We're done," Rosie had said as she rolled her mother to out of the room. With that he had been on his own with the little terrors.

"Holly! Freeze!"

To his surprise she froze in her tracks, giving him her big-eyed look of surprise. Slowly, he approached her, holding her pajama top in his grip, readying to put it over her head. Just when he got close, she took off again.

"Dammit!"

"You said a bad word!" Troy popped up from behind the recliner. "I'm gonna tell."

"Yeah? Who are you going to tell?" Juan asked.

"G.o.d," Troy responded.

Well, Juan thought, at least Troy didn't waste time with the middleman, but went straight to the top.

The door opened behind him and he turned to see Jason walk in. Covered in dirt and grime and reeking of gasoline, the teenager shut the door, then leaned back against it.

"Is there hot water left?" Jason asked eying Margie's soaking wet hair.

"Hey, kid," Juan said, ignoring the little scamps rus.h.i.+ng around him, trying to egg him into a game of catch again.

"Hi, Dad," Jason answered. He disengaged from the door and walked over to hug Juan. He was stopped by the trio of terror leaping on him. Clinging to him like monkeys, the three began to talk his head off and Jason slowly smiled from beneath his long hair.

Juan walked slowly toward the kids. "You're just in time for the nightly roundup."

"Yeah?" Jason looked down at the little ones yammering away at him, then grabbed all three of them up in his arms.

Ma.s.sive squeals of delight followed. Juan managed to snag Holly and get her top over her head.

"Ha!" Juan chucked her onto the sofa. "Stay there or no cookies tomorrow."

Holly immediately froze and sat wide-eyed in false innocence.

Grabbing a towel off a stool, he wrapped it around Margie's hair and knotted it on top of her head. Tossing her onto to the sofa, he muttered the same threat and was rewarded with another frozen child.

Troy tried the squirm and kick maneuver but Jason reduced him to giggles by tickling him. Juan somehow managed to get his pajamas on despite all the wrestling. Then Troy was also chucked onto the sofa and joined his sisters.

"Now! In this family, we behave. Or no cookies," Juan said.

Jack looked up from where he was trying to sleep on the recliner with a look of horror in his doggy eyes.

"Understood?" Juan asked.

The little heads nodded, then Holly yawned.

"Okay, now to bed. And no more horsing around," Juan said firmly.

Forming a short line, the kids all came up to kiss and hug him and Jason, then trekked to their bedroom pretending to be the best little kids he'd ever seen.

"And I better not hear any talking in there," Juan added.

Jason giggled and sat down at the bar. Popping open a can of soda, he yawned long and hard.

"Hard work out there today, huh?"

"Yeah. Got the fire traps set though. Had some trouble at first, but we sorted it out. Had a zombie creep up on us and try to bite Calhoun's arm, but his jacket didn't let the bite go through. Got a s.h.i.+tty a.s.s bruise though.

It must have been in some rubble from a house or something. It was weird."

Juan sat at the bar and rubbed his brow. "We got a lot of stuff rigged up, too. Not too sure about the tar and cement traps, but we gotta try. I think the tiger traps will do okay until they fill up."

"It's all crazy, you know. I keep thinking about Mom coming and saving me from that camp and now I'm here. The world seemed so small then.

And now... it's still small, but it feels bigger. I dunno I have been feeling like we're not just fighting for us but for the world." Jason sighed and rested his chin on his hand.

"There is a lot at stake. We can't pretend there isn't, ya know. We just gotta buckle down and do what we can. And next time we'll be better prepared and ready to deal with all of this." Juan rubbed Jason's shoulder gently. "You're doing a good job, Jason. I'm proud of you."

Jason looked toward him in surprise, then slowly smiled. "Thanks, Dad.

That means a lot."

"All of this has been a lot for a kid your age. But you're not a kid anymore, Jason, you're a man and I'm d.a.m.n proud of you."

Jason grinned even more. "Yeah, well, I kinda had to grow up fast." He looked toward the partially open door behind which the three kids were tucked into their beds. "I don't want them to lose their innocence. They should get to be kids."

With a sigh, Juan nodded. "Yeah. I know. But we're all changed now. All of this bulls.h.i.+t with the zombies has changed everyone."

"What is bulls.h.i.+t?" a small voice said from behind the recliner.

"Holly, get to bed," Juan ordered without turning around.

With a little giggle, the little girl ducked back into her room.

Jason and Juan looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

* * * * * Travis rubbed his face, feeling the stubble scrubbing at his palms. With a sigh, he drank more of lukewarm coffee. Standing outside the hotel, he looked up at the perimeter wall. Catapults, mounted crossbows, and other inventive weapons decorated the top.

Nearby, Curtis and Linda were in a deep conversation. He was trying not to pay attention, but Linda was obviously crying. Curtis looked close to it as well. It was easy to figure out what was going on. The police officer had been sulking ever since Linda and Bette had become a couple.

"Look," Linda's voice raised in the warm night air. "There is no going back. Okay? Maybe if Bette hadn't shown up maybe things would be different. But she is here and in my life, so let it be! Let it go! I can't do this anymore!"

The few people still working on the defenses nearby all pretended not to hear her words. They also tried not to watch her run into the hotel or notice Curtis' stricken expression.

Travis looked away. Sipping his coffee once more, he started up the stairs to check on the defenses at the gated entrance.

* * * * * Katie stirred in her sleep. The room she shared with Travis was dark except for some light seeping through the curtains from the security lights on the perimeter wall. Exhausted from the day, she had taken a hot bath and gone to bed.

In her mind's eye, she saw visions of her future baby, her father, Travis and even her long dead mother. She dreamed of playing in a field of flowers with her family and making a wreath to put around Travis' neck. It was a pleasant dream and she smiled in her sleep.

In her dream, she looked up to see the meadow that led up to the walls of the fort, standing strong and proud over the countryside. It gleamed golden and she lifted her hand to wave to the people on the walls. Then suddenly she was standing on the wall looking down at her family in the field below.

Slowly, the sky darkened and night came.

Worriedly, she strained to see her family, but it was so dark she could not see. Then, out of the darkness, came the moans of thousands of zombies.

Waking with a start, Katie pressed her hand to chest to feel the rapid beat of her frightened heart. A knock on the door made her jump and she slid her hands through her hair.

"Okay, calm down," she whispered. Sliding out of the bed, she moved slowly toward the door. Her stomach felt heavy and she cupped her hands under it as she walked.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Katie, it's Curtis," a very sad voice called out.

Opening the door, she peered out to see the young man's swollen and tear-stained face.

"Curtis, are you okay?"

"I need to talk to you, okay? I need advice."

"Okay, come in," she said.

"No. No. Not here. I need fresh air. I'm just..." He shook his head. "I can't talk about it here. Meet me up on the wall on the corner of Morris and Main in like fifteen minutes?"

He looked so sad and pathetic, Katie couldn't refuse. "Okay. I'll get dressed and meet you there."

"Okay," he said with a sigh. "Just don't tell anyone okay? I'm way embarra.s.sed about what is happening and I don't want people talking."

Katie nodded. "Okay, hon. I understand."

Curtis tucked his hands into pockets and lowered his red face. "Thanks, Katie. You're a good woman."

"Thanks, Curtis. I'll see you in fifteen."

"Okay." He looked at her sheepishly, then walked away, his head down.