"There are still more, trapped inside houses."
"And outside," Juan said and the truck bounced as they ran over a legless zombie.
Jenni giggled a little.
"Yer really a sick chica," Juan said, and his voice seemed to be tinged with appreciation.
"Yep. Pretty much." She flashed her biggest smile at him.
"Too bad yer gay. I might actually ask your sick ass out."
Jenni rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I'm so not gay."
"Ah, c'mon. Everyone knows about you and Katie." Juan made a really obscene gesture with his mouth.
Jenni immediately flipped him off. "Not gay."
"Yep."
"Nope."
"Yep."
"Nope."
"Yep."
"Love the penis, I can assure you," Jenni said and wagged an eyebrow.
Juan nearly drove into a car. "Shit, girl!"
"I do! I was a married woman! I love men. Not you, other men, but I love men."
"So you and Katie aren't..." Juan made another obscene gesture and Jenni smacked him.
"No!"
"Oh." He sounded rather disappointed.
"I kinda like Travis, honestly."
Juan blinked. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, I think he's got a hard on for your former girlfriend."
Jenni blinked. "Huh?"
"Yeah. Katie. Though I'm sure he thinks you are a fine piece of ass. Loca, but fine."
Jenni frowned a little. "Katie is gay. She is the gay one."
Juan shrugged. "Travis just...he's always confused about women. You should go for him. He'd enjoy your locaness."
Jenni smacked Juan again. "Get out! Really?" She smiled at the thought of being even a little alluring to Travis.
"Uh, yeah. Stop hitting me. I'm driving." Juan pointed to the road.
"Oh, yeah." Jenni was grinning hard now. "Well, Katie is gay, so he has to know that isn't going to happen. So, maybe he'll look my way. I need makeup. And maybe a cute top." Jenni thought for a moment. "Think we'll get to kill zombies?"
"Your mind just goes all over the place, doesn't it?"
"Pretty much."
Juan pulled into a nearly empty parking lot outside of what had probably been a very "modern" building in the Seventies, but could now be safely classified as an atrocity of architecture. Only two cars were in the parking lot.
Across the street was a nice park. There were no houses nearby, so it was easy to look around and see that the area was pretty clear of danger.
"Just keep smart, Loca."
Jenni nodded and slid out of the truck. She flicked the safety off her rifle and walked slowly toward the main entrance.
The first obstacle to their expedition was in plain view once they got close enough. The library had a set of glass double doors with a small foyer between them. Trapped inside of them was an old man, dead, hungry, and beating on the interior door. It was kind of funny that he still clung to his library book.
"He wants in," Jenni observed.
"Possible survivors."
"That's what I'm thinking."
Juan walked over and peered past the old man. "Can't see anything but a card catalog up against the door."
"Survivors then."
"Maybe. If they had food in there."
The old man became aware of them and turned. He hissed when he saw them and instantly started banging on the door to the outside. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked and slowly opened under his weight.
"Shit."
"Fuck."
"Shoot it, Loca."
Jenni waited until the man managed to stagger outside and fired one shot, neatly taking off the top of his head and shattering the glass door behind him.
Juan looked down at the zombie's book. "Better Sex After 60," he said.
"No!"
"Yeah."
Jenni looked. She broke into wild laughter. "Oh, shit. That is funny. He probably got here early to turn it in before his buddies saw him.
They became aware of three anxious faces looking at them over the top of the card catalog. They were drawn, a little pinched, but live faces. The heavy piece of library furniture was pushed out of the way and a woman unlocked the inner door.
"Oh, thank God! Juan!"
"Belinda!"
Juan hugged the woman tightly and slipped into the library. "Everyone okay?"
Jenni sized up Belinda. She had long black hair, amber eyes, and a tiny frame. She was obviously Hispanic and very pretty. The other woman was older, blond, and very short and stout. The third person was a young teenage girl with red hair and a spray of freckles across her nose.
"Thank God someone came for us," the blond woman exclaimed.
"Gretchen, good to see you alive."
"Same here, Juan," the stout woman answered.
Belinda locked the door behind them. "We've been here since it started."
"We were almost out of food," the teenager said.
"We're here now," Jenni said with a smile. She felt a little weird about Belinda, but liked feeling like the rescuer.
"Oh, Lord, we've been eating snacks out of the vending machines. We're almost out," Gretchen said.
"We got locked in when Mr. Marsters showed up with a bad bite. He said someone bit him as he was stopped at a stoplight. We tried to help him, but he died," Belinda explained.
"We had heard about them coming back and we took no chances and were carrying him out when he did come back," Gretchen added.
"We almost didn't get away from him. He tripped and fell and that is when we managed to lock the door," Belinda finished.
Jenni studied her a bit longer. She was fairly sure that librarians were not supposed to be attractive or sexy.
Juan quickly explained about the fort, the situation, and all they had endured. Gretchen kept clasping her hands and saying, "Dear sweet Jesus." The teenager just seemed dazed. Belinda kept hugging Juan, which really annoyed Jenni.
Jenni wasn't sure she liked any of them.
"So there are no doctors or nurses in the fort?" Gretchen asked in horror after Juan was done with his story.
"Nope. Clinic got wiped out right away. That's why we need books," Juan answered.
Belinda clasped her hands over her mouth and tears welled in her eyes. She shook it off and said, "Okay. Give us the list."
Juan rummaged around in the pocket of his worn jeans and pulled it out.
Belinda took it and immediately scanned it.
"Okay, we'll divide it up, load up the book carts, and get out of here," Belinda said.
Jenni tried not to frown at her. Who had put her in charge anyway?
But being the good sport she was, Jenni trudged along behind Gretchen, pushing a book cart while it got loaded up with what looked like a bunch of really boring books. Juan went with Belinda and the teenager collected all the remaining candy from the vending machine.
Jenni was almost disappointed when they got out to the truck and there were no zombies in sight. She was feeling edgy and irritable and wanted to shoot something.
They all squeezed into the truck. Belinda sat next to Juan with the teenager on her lap. Gretchen squeezed in next and Jenni ended up crammed in last, almost on top of Gretchen.
The trip back was even more boring than the trip out. Again she saw some zombies trapped in houses, beating on windows, but none broke out. She thought of Mikey, sighed, and felt even more like shooting stuff.
Back at the fort, the ladies were helped up over their defenses and into the construction site while Juan loaded up the old pallet Travis had built with the books while Jenni and others stood watch.
Finally, she went over the wall, Juan behind her.
"Well, Loca, we're safe and sound."
"Big fucking deal."
Juan looked at her and frowned. "What?"
Jenni just wrinkled her nose at him.
"What?"
"I didn't get to kill anything on the way back. At all!"
Jua
n started to laugh. "Yeah, but you're back and okay. So you can go flirt with Travis."
Jenni considered this for a moment, but it didn't seem quite as alluring as before. "Oh, yeah. I guess I could."
"Time to come out of the straight closet, chica." Juan mussed up her hair with one hand and strode off to join Belinda.
Jenni just scowled after him. She stomped her foot once and stormed off to pout.
Chapter 17
1. The Terrible World
Jenni walked out of the new gate cautiously, her rifle in her hands, safety off, ready to fire. Bill walked with her, also sweeping his gaze over the abandoned street. Curtis was right behind them, looking very nervous. This was his first time out of the fort and he was already sweating profusely.
Jenni had been asked to accompany the former cops on a search and rescue expedition. Either Juan had talked up her skills and craziness to grandiose proportions or her actions in the fort had made her seem crazy, yet competent. Or maybe it was a combination of both. But it did amuse her that they wanted her to tag along, because they knew she had no issue about killing the zombies. Unfortunately, there were those who did seem to have issues with killing their former townspeople. Already on one rescue mission, someone's aversion to killing their zombified grandmother had resulted in one death.
The construction workers attempted to shut the gate behind them, but there were a lot of teeth jarring screeches and a lot of swearing. Juan had told Jenni that there had been some issues with the gate and obviously this was true. Hopefully, they would have it fixed by the time they got back.
Despite her efforts to not be annoyed, Jenni was having trouble dealing with Juan. It was all about Belinda and she hated it bothered her so much. It became clear that Juan's real reason for the library excursion was to hopefully save Belinda. And since she was one of the town's librarians, everyone knew her, which annoyed Jenni to no end. Since Belinda had arrived, they dynamics had changed again. Juan was constantly acting like a total idiot around Belinda, trying to act all smooth and sophisticated and if Jenni even tried to pop a joke in his direction, he'd get annoyed. Though she was utterly loath to admit it, she missed their banter.
She strode quickly toward the mini-bus they had begun to use during the rescue missions. The fort population was slowly growing and the number of men and women was slowly evening out. There were at least a dozen children now and Peggy's son had plenty of other kids to play with. At times Jenni felt annoyed with their presence. It was hard to see other children alive and well when hers had died so quickly.
Fate had been cruel to so many, but spared others.
"Keep it short and sweet,” Bill said.
"We're going to stir up the captive natives again," Curtis sighed.
"Let them bust out. We'll shoot them and not have to deal with them later," Jenni said with a grin.
Bill shook his head. "Such a blood-thirsty woman. You PMSing again, Jenni?"
Pushing the door open to the mini-bus, Jenni turned to the two men. "Yeah. Be afraid, be very afraid."
Curtis legitimately looked a little afraid, but Bill just laughed and lugged his girth up the stairs and into the driver's seat.
Warily, Curtis slid past Jenni and sat in the front seat. "Juan tells stories about you."
Jenni shut the doors and smiled back at Curtis. "Ah, really? I didn't know he still talked about me since his girlfriend showed up."
Curtis shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "Uh…well..,he calls you Loca."
Jenni wagged an eyebrow and held on, staying on the steps of the bus as it rolled forward.
Bill just chuckled good-naturedly. "Well, I think Jenni is a little girl who's a killer shot and if she's loca, I can deal with that."
Jenni smiled. "Thanks, Bill."
Bill was always nice to her. Ever since he had arrived with Katie and Travis, he had been somewhat low-key. He had gone through the same thing as she and Katie had. Being outsiders to the townsfolk who had known each other all their lives, it had been hard to find their niche. Only now were they starting to feel as if they were actually part of the community. Bill had started volunteering to get to know people better and now a lot of the fort's population knew him by name.
The mini-bus slowly crawled down the street toward one of the residential neighborhoods bordering the downtown area. It drove past a burned out gasoline station, abandoned restaurants, the old cinema that had closed its doors long ago, and a car lot that stood empty of cars. It turned at the first block of the neighborhood of small early 20th century homes. Most were in good repair, but a few had fallen to the elements and leaned dangerously to one side, or had collapsed altogether.
Bill drove very slowly; giving anyone whom was alive enough time to come to a window or doorway. Of course, this meant the undead were hearing the steady hum of the engine as well. A few appeared at windows. Jenni had gone through this before. Sometimes the zombies broke out, sometimes they didn't. If they did break out, a bullet to the head settled the situation. So far the bus had never been swarmed.
"No one alive on this street, it looks like, "Curtis said softly.
"Yeah." Bill answered sadly. He turned a corner and they started down another street.
Jenni watched the shrubbery and the houses with equal interest. Once she had seen half a man stuck in a hedge. She had wondered if he had tried to hide and had been pulled out and eaten. So far, she didn't see any zombies outside of the houses, which was a relief. There was a great fear in the fort that more swarms of zombies would converge on them. Jenni listened to all the arguments, but had no opinion. Maybe zombies would just start moving in one direction and happen upon the town. Maybe there was a real danger of them migrating toward areas of the living. Did it really matter? In the end, they just had to be prepared.
"That looks like a situation," Curtis said suddenly. He pointed to a house up ahead. Two zombies were rushing across the street toward a house where four others were banging on windows. The front door was in shambles and it looked like a piece of furniture had been shoved up against it. The second floor window was open and a teenage girl was waving her arms.
Bill slowed to a stop and the bus idled as they all stared at the situation. So far the zombies had not noticed them. They continued to assault the house, screeching up at the girl who was so desperate to signal the bus.
"Kill em all," Jenni said after a beat.
"No choice if we are going to rescue her," Bill agreed.
"Take the ones on the left," Jenni told Curtis. "I'll get the ones on the right."
"I'll cover you both," Bill added.
Curtis took a deep breath. "Okay." He nervously fingered his service revolver. He nodded grimly to himself and stood up. "Okay."
Jenni opened the door and stepped out cautiously. All the undead activity seemed to be centered at the house. Curtis walked beside her and they took up positions near the bus so they could retreat quickly. She looked out at Bill, who had the driver's side window open and his gun ready.
"Ready?"
"Sure," Curtis said softly.
Jenni lifted the rifle and sighted the most dangerous looking zombie. It was a fully intact male. She fired and made him headless. Immediately she swung toward the next one as she heard Curtis firing as well. A faceless woman was turning to head off the porch. The bullet Jenni fired slammed through the woman's forehead and sheered off the top of her head. Curtis was firing next to her, his shots a little too wild as his nerves got the best of him. One of the zombies he shot, went down on a useless leg, but continued to crawl toward them.
"Shoot em in da head!" Jenni's finger closed on the trigger again and another zombie fell, its brain flopping out of its head onto the sidewalk.
Curtis took a deep breath, steadied his hands, and fired quickly. This time his aim was more sure and Jenni was relieved as his shots found their proper targets and the zombies fell.
"Watch out! Behind you!"
Jenni whirled around to see an old woman, shambling toward h
er. To her amusement and horror, the woman had a strangle hold on a living cat. The cat had been systematically eating the woman's arm probably since she had died. It looked skinny and bedraggled. She almost burst out laughing, but instead took aim and took out the dead cat lady. It dropped to the street, still twitching, the cat squealing and trying to get free. Jenni walked over and leaned down. As she pried the old woman's dead and decaying fingers off the cat, the cat gave her a few swats with its claws, but managed only to get her jacket. The fingers finally released the angry feline and it rushed off with an angry little house cat roar.
"Now that was fucked up," Jenni said to Curtis with a grin. Her expression grew grim as she saw what emerged from the house.
The teenage girl was first, followed by a man that was apparently her father. He was carrying a little girl in his arms, heavily wrapped up in a blanket. A young boy followed his mother. The mother was pale, gray and sickly looking.
"Thank God! Thank God," the man exclaimed. "We were hoping someone would find us! We ran out of food two days ago!"
The mother stumbled a little and her little boy helped her stand up straight.
"My wife and daughter need immediate medical attention," the man continued.
Curtis looked at Jenni and they both sighed.
"When were they bitten?" Jenni asked.
"What?" The man didn't register her words. "What?"
"When were they bitten," Curtis asked. "They aren't doing too well. We can tell they were bitten."
"Yesterday. The front door was broke into and two got into the house. Daddy killed them, but they got Mom and Angie before we stop them. But it's just small bites. It was a little kid who jumped on both of them. Nothing major. Just little teeth marks," the oldest daughter said.
Curtis sighed softly and Jenni looked down at her boots for a moment.
"Well, that was enough," she said finally. "And they are both as good as dead. We can't take them with us."
"What do you mean? You can't leave them here!" The man's face flushed red and fierce. "They need a doctor!"
"There are no doctors alive in this town," Curtis said softly. "And there is no cure for the bite. They're as good as dead and we can't take them with us. It's dangerous for all of us."
As The World Dies: The First Days-A Zombie Trilogy Page 24