Running down the stairs, Katie ran into a few other people, all men, who were also on their way out to help fortify the guards. There was a surprising lack of women in the fort and it had taken her awhile to realize this. Most of the women were older and married. It saddened her, but made her feel that she needed to prove herself and pull her own weight.
Juan stood near the back door instructing everyone where to go. One by one, the men spread out to take up positions. Katie found herself to be the last one Juan paid attention to.
"Travis wants us to meet him up on the balcony," Juan said. He looked very tense.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Hey, Loca, we're wanted upstairs," Juan said to Jenni with an evil glint in his eye.
"Bite me, redneck," Jenni answered and made a face at him.
Juan made chomping noises at her.
"I'm so out of this," Katie said, and hurried back into the building and up the stairs.
"Redneck."
"Loca."
"Redneck."
"Loca."
"Redneck."
"Mucha loca."
"Redneck," Jenni said again as they followed Katie up the stairs.
"Are you calling me a hick spic?" Juan asked in his thick West Texas twang.
"No! I'm calling you just a plain ol' hick!"
"Oh, I am so out of this one," Katie said firmly, and walked down the hallway toward the balcony.
Juan laughed and Jenni smacked him.
Katie could tell they were tussling by all the noise behind her, but she decided not to pay attention. It has been clear since she had returned that Jenni and Juan were locked in a highly adversarial battle of the wills.
Stepping carefully onto the rickety balcony, she found Travis looking over the zombies. Because all the guards were visible to the crowd, the zombies were fairly evenly dispersed along the perimeter.
"I don't see a weak spot," Travis said to her.
Katie looked over the perimeter slowly, studying it. "Me neither."
"I'm telling you, they've gotten smart," Juan said, his tone suddenly quite serious.
Jenni timidly stepped out and surveyed the crowd below. "They're just doing what they always do."
"Yeah, but somehow, five managed to get over the trucks." Travis shook his head. "I don't get it."
Katie's gaze swept over the crowd slowly. Something was amiss. She swept her gaze over them again, then saw what it was. All the zombies were going crazy trying to get to the guards, but one zombie, toward the back, was just studying the trucks and the barriers that kept it from its meal of warm flesh. It's just kept swinging its head back and forth.
"Some are thinking, "Katie said softly. She pointed and they all looked out.
"Shit, she's right," Travis grunted with disgust.
The zombie moved slowly to one side to let a small crowd of children through to bang on one of the trucks. It was one of the more stripped down zombies; not much was left on its bones. It's skull-like head once more turned to look at the perimeter.
Kate slipped the safety off her rifle.
The zombie moved resolutely toward one particular truck. It was a large truck full of dirt with cement bags packed tightly under it and between the cab of the truck and the load. It pushed its way toward the crowd, reached up and started trying to open the door.
"Gawddammit!" Juan's voice was almost feral. "Fucking shit! These things are breaking all the gawddamn rules!"
Katie slung her rifle off her shoulder and raised it.
"Katie?" Travis said softly.
"Can't afford for a smart one to survive," Katie answered.
Her finger began to close on the trigger, then she hesitated.
"Travis…"
The zombie, its broken body barely able to stand, gave up the door. It staggered to one side and began to claw at the sandbags, as if to get purchase to lift itself up. Around its neck hung a crocheted purse.
"Yeah?"
"I think that's Laura," Katie whispered.
"Shit.""Who's Laura?" Jenni asked.
Katie took aim again, sighting the remains of the girl carefully.
The zombie that had been Laura managed to get a good grip and started to pull itself up.
Katie shot it through the head and it fell back.
The zombies ignored the shot and continued to bang on the trucks.
"They're getting smarter," Katie said softly.
Travis looked ill and nodded. "Yeah."
"We have the ammo. It's time to kill them all."
Jenni blinked. "Yeah! They're all corralled! Easy pickings!"
"We can't-" Travis started, but stopped himself. "Okay. In the morning."
"We shouldn't waste all that ammo," Juan muttered.
"It's not wasting it if we are securing our perimeter and our safety,"
Katie answered.
"It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel," Travis sighed.
Jenni had one of the biggest grins on her face Katie had ever seen.
"Yeah, it'll be fun."
"You are so loca," Juan declared.
"Oh, yeah, hick spic?"
"I am so not a part of this," Katie declared and slipped past them into the hall.
She felt Travis following her, and when they were far enough from the arguing two, she turned toward him. His face was a mask of pain and uncertainty. "We have to do this."
Travis nodded. He said softly, "Once we start firing those guns, we may bring more."
"Do you want to risk more of those things figuring out how to get past the trucks?"
Travis sighed. "Yeah, I know. In theory, the spikes could slow a lot of them down. The Hurricane fence would probably stand for a little while, but then they'd be up against the wall."
Katie nodded her face tense. "We cannot afford to lose ground to them."
She felt it to her bones that if the zombies ever breached the first perimeter, things would not go well for them, despite the security of the wall. They needed to gain ground, not lose it.
Travis looked back at Jenni and Juan who were now cursing each other out in Spanish. He blinked. Jenni knew Spanish?
Katie glanced back down the hall then grinned. "Kinda like kindergarten flirting, huh?"
"Uh, you're not jealous?"
Katie snorted. "Yeah, right. Like I'd be jealous of Juan." She gave him a bemused look. But her stomach was coiled into knots. She was horribly afraid. There seemed to never be time for peace.
Travis gave her a decidedly goofy look. "Yeah, well, anyway, let's start planning what we're doing. I guess I'll wake the Mayor."
She reached out and touched his arm. "Travis, it’s a war. We have to fight."
He sighed and said. "The thing about war is that there are always causalities."
Katie felt a chill flow down her spine and she glanced toward Jenni. She felt her stomach tighten and she looked back at Travis. "But we have no choice."
"Yeah, I know," he answered sadly They stood in silence for a long moment and Katie looked toward the still arguing Juan and Jenni. "We better get the Mayor…"
Chapter 15
1. The Killing Grounds
Jenni flipped Juan off discreetly behind Katie's back, then found a place to sit down in the Mayor's office. The Mayor looked weary and overwhelmed with the news of the zombies climbing over the trucks. Tobias' death had weighed heavily on him and he looked haggard.
Curtis looked a little better than he had. It was as if he was finding his role to play in this world and growing comfortable with it. Jenni thought he was cute in a little boy sort of way. Jason and Curtis often hung out, talking, and just being guys. It made Jenni happy. Jason needed a friend, considering all he had lost.
Jenni, meanwhile, was glowing with happiness over what she had gained. Katie was back and she was just ecstatic over that fact. And of course, Travis was back, too. And that made her girlishly giggly with delight. She couldn't help it. He was such an incredible guy.
She phased in and out of the conversation that followed. It really didn't interest her except when they talked about killing the zombies. She was surprised there were opposing voices to the plan. Juan was worried about running out of ammunition if they used so much right off the bat. The Mayor was worried about riling up the zombies even more. Jenni rolled her eyes during some of the discussion and Katie leaned over and took her hand.
Jenni knew it was the "behave" signal, so she tried not to give snarky looks. It wasn't all that easy.
The debate went back and forth. Katie was adamant about wiping out the zombie horde before it got any bigger and they got any smarter. Jenni thought she was making the most sense. Travis was conflicted about the whole gun issue and argued that maybe they should try to find an alternate way to wipe out the zombies. Jenni considered smacking him upside the head.
Juan sat near her and kept muttering in Spanish. Jenni muttered right back at him. Soon they were discreetly swearing at each other. The crux of the argument was that Jenni was a bloodthirsty psycho and that Juan was too stupid to understand guns were made to be fired.