by Kate L. Mary
Everyone nodded, but I could tell that, like me, the weight of what could happen was already weighing on them. I didn’t like the idea of having to be judge, jury, and executioner, but I also knew the reality of this new world. There was a chance Ernie wouldn’t give us a choice, and when that time came, we were going to have to make some very hard decisions.
The others left, leaving Kellan and me alone in the holding cell. The door wasn’t shut, and I wasn’t about to bring it up, because in my mind there was no reason for this to happen. Three other people had witnessed the attack, and we all knew that man had been crazy, not infected. Still, I got why Kellan was doing this, and if he was determined, then I was going to support him.
I also had no intention of leaving him alone in this cold cell.
“Kind of feels like karma after locking Harper in here,” Kellan said.
“You did what you thought was right, just like you always do.” I laced my fingers through his, staring out our entwined hands. Compared to his brown skin, my looked pale, especially under the harsh lights in the cell. “That’s why you’re a good leader. You don’t just think about yourself when you make decisions.”
“No.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, grinning at me over our entwined fingers. “I think about you, and then I think about everyone else. I’m not nearly as selfless as you want to believe I am.”
“You’re more selfless than most people. I know that.”
“If you say so,” he replied.
We stopped talking when the pounding of feet on the stairs echoed through the cement hall. I held my breath, knowing it was going to be Bill and Ernie and anticipating a confrontation. I still wanted to punch the asshole. My blood boiled just thinking about the way he’d pulled a gun on Kellan.
The men appeared at the bottom of the stairs, just visible through the open doorway. They were talking quietly, Bill’s expression serious. I could only see the back of Ernie’s head, but he was nodding. Hopefully, he was agreeing to stop being such a prick.
They stood there for a second before Bill looked up, and when his eyes met mine, he startled. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” Kellan said.
Ernie turned—he’d managed to piece his glasses back together somehow—and like Bill, he seemed shocked to find us sitting there. “You’re in the holding cell.”
I had to bite back a smart-ass comment about how observant he was.
“I want to do whatever’s best for the group,” Kellan said. “If it eases everyone’s worry for me to spend the night in here, I’m okay with it.”
Ernie frowned, but only for a second, and then his expression eased. “Look, about what happened up there. I may have gotten carried away. I just—” His gaze moved to the floor. “I got scared, okay?”
“That’s a totally normal reaction,” Kellan said, but his voice was cold. Like me, he wasn’t buying Ernie’s penitent attitude. “Next time, though, you should take a couple deep breaths before you decide to pull a gun.”
The other man’s mouth scrunched up, and he didn’t lift his gaze from the floor when he nodded.
“I hope there are no hard feelings,” Bill said.
“No real harm done,” Kellan replied.
I said nothing.
Ernie looked up, and when his eyes narrowed on me, he frowned. “You’re not planning to stay here with him, are you?”
“I’m not leaving him alone in a cell just because you’re scared,” I snapped.
Behind his taped—and now crooked—frames, his eyes rolled. “Don’t you think that’s a big risk to take?”
“First of all, no, because I was there and saw the guy. Secondly, I’m immune, so if he turns, I’m going to be okay.”
“Assuming you can fight him off,” Ernie grumbled under his breath.
Bill exhaled, and the next words out of his mouth pushed away any hope I’d had about him laying down the law. “I’m going to head down and see if Jessica needs any help cooking up that fish. I’ll be sure you two get some when it’s ready.”
“Thanks, Bill,” Kellan said.
“Sure thing.”
Bill headed down the hall with Ernie trailing after him.
Kellan and I stayed silent until they were out of sight.
“You didn’t buy that, did you?” I asked.
“No,” Kellan said, “but it could mean he’s decided to try to get along with everyone.”
I thought he was being overly optimistic but said nothing. Only time would tell.
22
It was early when Cade showed up at the holding cell to let us out, and the industrial hall was quiet, the lights dimmed the way they usually were overnight. Behind him stood Ernie and Scott, silently watching as he checked Kellan’s wound, took his temperature, and looked him over for any other symptoms. There were none, of course.
“You feeling okay?” Cade asked once he’d done his exam.
“The bite hurts like hell, and my neck is a little sore thanks to this bed hog,” Kellan jerked his head toward me, “but that’s it.”
Cade got to his feet, turning to face the two men in the hall. “He looks good. His fever is normal, not too high and not too low, and he isn’t showing any signs of lethargy. He ate everything we brought him.” Cade motioned to the plate from last night, sitting on the floor beside the bed. “His appetite hasn’t changed. He doesn’t check any of the boxes, so in my medical opinion, I’d say he’s okay.”
Scott nodded, his expression unreadable. “Sounds good.”
Next to him, Ernie’s mouth pressed into a frown.
“So I’m okay to get out of here?” Kellan asked.
Cade didn’t look at the other men when he said, “Yup.”
“Good.” Kellan stood, pulling me with him.
Ernie’s cold eyes followed us as we passed, and my scalp prickled despite myself. The guy wasn’t happy with the outcome, but we’d have to wait and see what he’d do about it. Hopefully, he decided to embrace the comfort we’d given him by allowing him into the shelter and fall in line.
It was still early, so it wasn’t a surprise to find the common area nearly empty. Only Bill was present, reading a book with little Tiana curled up at his side, her head resting on his shoulder.
He lowered the book when he saw us and smiled. “Glad to see you.”
“Glad to be out of that room,” Kellan replied.
“Sorry that had to happen, but you’re a good man for putting up with it.”
Kellan paused, my hand still in his, before saying, “I get it, I do, and I want everyone to be comfortable, but that means we shouldn’t have to worry about someone pulling a gun on us.”
“Ernie and I talked, and he knows he overreacted.” Bill’s voice was level and unconcerned. “He’s just used to calling most of the shots, and this is going to take some adjustment, but he’s a team player. I promise. You’ll see.”
“I’m trusting you on this, Bill,” Kellan replied. “The last thing I want is for any of us to be in danger.”
“I know.” Bill looked at Tiana, his expression serious. “If he causes more problems, we’ll talk about it again. But for now, I have to take him at his word, and he’s assured me it won’t happen again.”
Kellan let out a long sigh. “Okay.”
Bill gave us a tight smile before turning back to the book.
We moved on, heading down the stairs side by side, our steps pounding through the empty halls.
“You think it’s going to be okay?” I asked as we passed the clinic and classroom.
“No.”
Kellan’s bluntness surprised me, which was something that rarely happened.
“Really?”
“It could be weeks, maybe months, but I think eventually Ernie is going to cross a line, and we’re going to have a tough decision to make. But I doubt Bill will be in on it.”
“You really think he’ll bow out and leave it up to us?”
“I do.” When we reached our floor, Kellan paused o
utside our door and turned to face me. “I don’t blame him for not wanting to be the bad guy, I even get it. I don’t like having to kill people, and I sure as hell never thought I’d have to do it, but I’d rather be involved in the process than have to live with a decision I didn’t agree with. You know what I mean?”
“I do,” I said quietly.
Kellan’s expression was serious, reminding me of how he acted when we left the shelter, almost like he’d flipped that little switch in his head so he could deal with this Ernie situation.
I lifted myself up on my toes and kissed him. “Let’s take a shower.”
Like magic, the switch flipped again, and his brown eyes lit up. “That’s an offer I’d never refuse.”
He kissed my neck while fumbling with the doorknob, and I let out a giggle. Seconds later, we were stumbling into our condo, our lips locked, our hands already working on our clothes.
I was in the process of pulling my damp hair back into a ponytail, my fingers moving through it to work out any knots and smooth it down, when Kellan and I stepped into the hallway later that morning. Cade was coming down the stairs, his steps fast and the serious expression on his face telling us something wasn’t right before he’d even opened his mouth.
He came to a stop a foot in front of us, panting. “There are at least twice as many as there were earlier.”
“Zombies?” Kellan was already moving for the stairs.
“Yeah,” Cade huffed out, turning so he could head back up.
No longer caring about how it looked, I slid the ponytail holder over the chunk of hair in my hand and twisted it, making sure it was secure before taking off after them.
The three of us charged up the stairs like a pack of wild dogs was hot on our trail. When we passed through the common room, the tension was palpable, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Up in the industrial hall, several people had gathered outside the control room. They moved aside at our approach, and inside, we found Bill and Blake staring at the screens, while behind them Emma stood gnawing on her bottom lip, her brown eyes swimming with worry.
“How many?” Kellan asked when he stopped next to Blake.
“Forty.” Blake panned the camera around, giving us a better look at what was happening on the surface. “Maybe more. They’ve been stumbling in every few minutes. It’s crazy, man. Scott and Ernie went out this morning to do some hunting, and there was only one. This has all been in the last few hours.”
Behind the horde, a good distance from the fence, sat the yellow truck. There were a few zombies surrounding it, but most were still trying to get to the goats. Scott and Ernie must have turned the engine off as soon as they saw the horde.
“Damn.” Kellan blew out a long breath, his body as tense as it had been those first few days after Bill’s people arrived. “This makes me nervous.”
“As it should.” Bill tapped his index finger against one of the bottom screens. “Especially with the way that fence is wobbling.”
He was right. The onslaught of zombies two months ago had taken a toll on the fence, and under the weight of this new horde, the metal looked like it was struggling to stay up.
“We can’t wait,” I said. “We need to get out there right now and take care of it before that fence gives.”
“You don’t think it’s Andrew, do you?” Cade asked, looking back and forth between Kellan and Bill. “We let our guard down when the zombies stopped coming, but this new horde… Maybe he hasn’t forgotten us. Maybe he dragged them here hoping they’ll destroy the fence.”
“I don’t see what that would do.” Kellan shook his head, frowning. “He still wouldn’t get into the shelter, and if he wanted to destroy the fence, he could drive a truck through it. Plus, it’s been two months. We’ve been up there nearly every day taking care of the goats, and we’ve gone out to hunt and fish. He could have hit us other times. This has to be something else.”
“Either way,” Bill turned his back to the screens and looked the group over, “we need to get people armed and up there before that fence gives. The sooner, the better.”
“I’ll get the others,” Diane, who was in the hall, called before running off.
It didn’t take long for everyone to gather in the hallway outside the control room, and once we were all there, we headed up. Despite the hordes from weeks ago, nothing about this felt routine, and on the plus side, I was getting plenty of practice killing zombies, which was something I’d been pushing for years. Even better, Kellan had stopped nagging me to stay behind.
When we reached the surface, the combined sounds of the goats bleating, the dead moaning, and the rattle of the fence greeted us. The morning was sweltering and bright, the sun beating down like it was trying to scorch the very ground we stood on. It was days like this that made me feel bad for everyone living in the nearby settlements. With no electricity, there was no way for them to cool off, and when the temperature exceeded a hundred degrees, it wasn’t uncommon for people to die of heatstroke. The elderly, especially, were susceptible.
The truck was still sitting a good thirty feet away, and the doors stayed shut as we headed for the fence. We started our normal routine of stabbing the zombies through the holes in the chain link, but it wasn’t long before I realized we were going to have go out sooner than usual. Not only were more of the dead hanging back, but the bodies soon began to pile up, making it difficult for the remaining zombies to get close.
“We need to go out,” I called over the frenzied moans of the dead.
Kellan swore and shook his head even though he was already moving to the gate, and the rest of our group—panting from exertion—looked even less enthusiastic at the prospect.
My clothes clung to my slick skin as if holding on for dear life, and I lifted my shirt, peeling the fabric from my stomach in a futile attempt to cool off. It did nothing, though, because the air was too hot and the sun too bright. There would be no relief until we were back inside and wrapped in the cool, manufactured air of the shelter.
“Get ready,” Kellan called.
The rattle of metal on metal clinked through the air as he pulled the chain free, and outside the fence, the dead were already on the move. Kellan shoved the gate open and rushed out, with Bill and Cade and Blake right on his heels, and the rest of us followed, armed and ready.
Finally, the men in the truck climbed out, and to my relief—and a little surprise—they jogged over to join us. The sun glinted off Ernie’s lenses, making it impossible to see his eyes, but I remembered the cold way he’d stared at us this morning, and the animosity I felt toward him bubbled up. I worked hard to push it down, though, and focused instead on the dead.
Kellan slammed his knife into the head of a zombie, while all around me people grunted and the dead moaned. A few dots of red showed through the bandage on his forearm, and my heart beat harder when I thought about the bite. It wasn’t the type of bite that would kill him, but it was an all too real reminder of the danger he was facing right now.
These zombies were fresh, and fast, and they had reflexes that allowed them to respond better, to move out of the way, and even charge faster. Their milky eyes seemed to study our movements, analyzing the situation and searching for a way to take us out, and it was unnerving enough to have me rattled.
“This is a pretty advanced strain!” I called as I ducked under the swinging arm of a zombie, moving so I was behind him.
He growled and tried to turn, but I slammed my shoulder into his back, sending him stumbling forward. His feet tripped over a body, and he fell, landing on his stomach and giving me the perfect chance to pounce. I threw myself on top of his decaying back, sitting on my knees as he squirmed, and shoved the blade of my knife through the back of his neck and up into his brain.
“Yeah,” Kellan replied between pants.
He ripped his blade out of a zombie’s head as I did the same with the one under me, and we both turned to face the rest of our group. Only three zombies were still on their feet, but befor
e we’d even had a chance to move to help, they were down and we were left standing amongst the rotting corpses, gasping for breath and drenched in sweat.
Behind me, Bill let out a low whistle. “That’s not good.”
I turned to find the fence bowed in, a huge section of it leaning at a forty-five-degree angle.
“Shit,” Kellan muttered. “Even a few zombies could destroy the fence now.”
“We’re going to have to fix it,” Cade said.
“Which means making a run into Altus as soon as possible.” Kellan turned his back to the fence and scanned the bodies littering the ground. “This could buy us some time.”
“How’s that?” Ernie asked in a tone that dripped with both doubt and bitterness.
“In Altus, they line the bodies up outside the gate to deter hordes, and it seems to be working,” Kellan replied without even looking the other man’s way. “So, in theory, if we leave these bodies here until we can get the supplies to reinforce the fence, it could keep the dead away.”
“Or at least encourage them to go to another part of the fence,” I piped in. “A section that’s not quite as weak.”
“Yeah.” Bill was nodding, his gaze moving over the dead as well. “Wouldn’t want to keep them here for long, though. It could attract other animals.”
Kellan’s gaze moved back to the fence, or more specifically, to the gap under it. “Yeah.”
With the chain link bowed forward, the bottom had lifted several inches off the ground, leaving an opening. It wasn’t big enough to worry about the goats getting out, but it was possible an animal could sneak under. A coyote, especially, which would leave our animals vulnerable, and us in turn.
“We’ll need to take the truck.” Kellan looked around before focusing on Bill. “And we should get a decent sized group together in case we run into trouble.”
Bill nodded as he studied the fence. “If we’re headed out anyway, I’d like to swing by the base.”
“I understand,” Kellan said, “but with that fence leaning the way it is, I’d hate to be out too long.”
“I get that,” Bill said in a slow, calculated tone, his gaze moving from the fence to the shelter. “This is important, Kellan. It’s been two months since the fire, and we need to see what’s left. My people lost everything that night.”