Travis looked calm, but Juan could tell he was upset by the set of his jaw.

“We're just doing our best to keep them all safe and in sanitary conditions. We're damn lucky the power is still on. ”

“It's that new hydroelectric power station they built a few years back. I betcha anything. ”

“But for how long will it stay operational? ” Travis lifted his sunglasses, rubbing his eyes before setting them back into place.

“I guess it doesn't matter. Right now, we get a secure location for them while we go into the hotel, then we claim it, and go on from there. ”

“And hope the bandits don't show up, ” Juan added.

“Let ’s not even talk about those bastards right now.”

Juan shrugged. He supposed now wasn't the time to talk about the marauders who killed Nerit's husband. There was fear that they were still more out there. It probably wasn't time to bring up the vigilante in the fort, the one who had thrown someone over the wall, bound and gagged with duct tape, to feed the zombies. Yeah, the victim was the local drug dealer and the scum of the earth, but someone had taken justice into their own hands. That fact put everyone on edge.

“Just another day in zombie land, ” Juan said with a wide grin.

“Gotta love it.”

Travis chucked.

“Yeah, ain't it grand?”

2. Waiting

Despite herself, Katie slept a few more hours in the small room she shared with Nerit. When she awakened, Nerit was gone. Yawning, she pulled on her shoes and headed to the community dining room.

Katie poured more milk onto her cereal, staring at the watery milk filling in around the flakes. She was slowly getting used to the powdered milk. It didn't taste bad; it just looked off. Picking up her spoon, she dug into the corn flakes, wishing there were a banana to add.

The salvage team from the grocery store had brought back tons of food in cardboard boxes, cans, and bags, but the fruit had all gone bad.

Rosie, Juan's mother, had salvaged seeds from the rotten fruit to be planted in a garden she was planning with Peggy, the city secretary.

Katie hoped it was successful; she missed fruit desperately.

With a sigh, she reached out and picked up her small paper cup of vitamins that everyone was required to take in the morning. She downed it with orange juice made from a powdered mix.

Jenni crashed into the chair across from her. “We're heading in!”

“Huh?”

Jenni gulped down her vitamins dry. “Dollar Store. We're heading in.” Jenni poured Fruit Loops into a bowl and reached for the pitcher of milk. “Travis says I can go in with Ed, Bill, and Felix.”

Katie tried not to frown, but it came automatically.

“Oh, c'mon. You volunteered to go into the hotel. You and I have more experience with zombies than most of these guys. You know, from when we were out on the road. You so cannot get into my face for volunteering for this. It's probably empty!”

“I just worry,” Katie admitted.

Jenni snorted. “You're such a mom.”

“I just had a bad night last night. I worry about the ones I love.”

“You love someone other than me?” Jenni widened her eyes playfully. “Oh, wow. I have competition for best friend? I'll cut 'em!”

Despite herself, Katie laughed. “Yeah, I'm so sure you can take Nerit down. Or Jason. Or Old Man Watson. Or…” She faltered at Travis.

Jenni crunched her cereal. “You're such a dork.”

“Thanks, I needed that.” Katie shoveled more cereal into her mouth.

“I had a rough night, too. Fucking nightmares.”

Katie waited for Jenni to go on, but, as usual, she didn't.

“So, I'm going to take this ax in that Ed got from the grocery store.

I've been practicing using it and I like it so much better than the spears.

It has this really great energy when you swing it.” Jenni added more cereal to her bowl. “I'm going to have such a great sugar high off this stuff.”

“Pure carbs. We seriously need more protein in our diets,” Katie said in a serious tone. The salvaged meat from the grocery store freezer wouldn't last much longer. It was part of dinner only. Lunch was usually stuff from cans.

Jenni wrinkled her nose. “Whatever. So, the new ax-”

Katie listened to Jenni prattle on about her newest weapon with amusement. It was a very Jenni thing to do. As of late, her friend avoided talking about the past or anything to do with the life she had lost. Katie marveled at Jenni's ability to move on, but at the same time wondered if all the things she was ignoring would one day catch up with her.

Jason, Jenni's stepson, and Jack, his ever-faithful German Shepherd companion, joined them. Katie and Jenni both hugged the teenager and showered the dog with attention before they settled down at their table. Jason's bangs were long. He tended to stare at the world through the brown, straggly strands, but he was a smart kid, a good kid. Katie was glad they had been able to rescue him from the camp he had been attending during the first days of the outbreak.

“I was talking to Roger, that science teacher, and he says my plans for a catapult are really good. Think if I talk to Juan he could get me the stuff to make it?” Jason picked out Grape Nuts from the boxes on the table, which impressed Katie, until he drowned the little nuggets in sugar and milk.

“Yeah. He would totally do that. But probably not until we get the hotel under our control. He's all obsessed with getting us in.” Jenni slurped down the sugary milk in her bowl.

Jason frowned, then shrugged. “I'm just trying to help out.”

“Don't take it personal. The guys are all obsessed with getting us into the hotel. The City Hall's air conditioner is not that great and some of the older people will suffer if the heat gets any worse.” Katie rubbed the boy's back to reassure him.

“Yeah, but we're not building enough defenses. What if a bunch of them show up? Or the bandit guys? Or…” He shrugged. “Whatever.

I'm just a kid.”

“And a moody one,” Jenni teased.

“Mom!”

Jenni leaned over the table to hug and kiss him relentlessly. Jason tried to fight her off at first, then started laughing. Satisfied, Jenni slid back into her chair.

“Gawd, Mom,” Jason said, his cheeks flushed.

Katie grinned and tucked back into her breakfast. Suddenly, she didn't feel so down or so alone. It was a good feeling.

3. Going In

“Go in, secure the front. Jenni and Bill, you take right. Me and Felix, we'll take left. Do not fire your weapon unless you have to and only if you are sure everyone else is clear. We don't need friendly fire in there,” Ed said firmly. He was a scrawny, grizzled guy in his late fifties. A local, he was a tough Texan who had run a small farm on the outskirts of town. His peach groves were the only fruit they had any hope of bringing into the fort, but the salvage team had yet to get out that far. There were plans to head out there in a week's time.

Felix, a good-looking young man from the Houston area, stood with his makeshift spear in one hand. He had modified it to have two deadly ends and he often practiced with it. Jenni thought his skin was amazing. He was so black, his skin gleamed purple in the sunlight.

He dressed like a thug, but when he spoke, you quickly realized he was much more than he appeared to be. He was the son of white parents who had adopted him from Africa and had been raised in an affluent part of Houston. He had been a student at the University of Texas when things had all gone to hell. He had barely made it out of Austin alive. Felix didn't talk about it, but Jenni got the impression he was torn between many different worlds.

Bill looked toward the store from their perch on the wall. “I can't see there being anyone in there if they haven't shown up at the front door.” He hitched his belt a little higher and looked somber.

Ed shrugged. “In this world, can't be too sure about nothing.”

“Amen,” Jenni agreed, and lifted her ax up. “And I'm ready to choppy, choppy.”

“You're one crazy bitch,” Felix chided with a grin.

“Uh huh. Your point is?”

Felix held up one hand and twirled a finger around to indicate she was loopy.

Jenni grinned.

The road was blocked off on both ends by the huge storage containers and cement bags. Snipers, including Nerit, stood on the corners of the fort wall ready to shoot any approaching zombies. What the small team had to worry about was inside the Dollar Store and abandoned shops.

“We all know Jenni is batshit crazy, but it's okay. She's good at killing the gawddamn zombies,” Ed said with a wry grin. “So let's go in and see how things are cooking in there.”

Jenni looked down into the fort and saw all the people staring up at them. She waved to Katie and Jason. Juan was up on the far wall and she blew him a kiss. He caught it and pretended to smack it onto his ass. She laughed.

Ed headed down the ladder first, followed by Felix, then Bill, and finally Jenni. She jumped down the last few rungs and landed on the hot road. The entire downtown area was paved in red bricks. A few blades of grass were sticking up around the edges, but otherwise it was in good condition.