As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Frater, Rhiannon

  The first three floors had no windows, but farther up, glass caught the rays of the setting sun, glimmering purple and pink. Near the top floor, the shape of a woman battered herself against a window.

  “Oh, wow,” Jason said, transfixed. “She is really messing herself up good.”

  “She breaks out of that window, she’s coming straight down,” Juan observed. “Right straight down on us.

  “Maybe she’ll land on her damn head,” Jenni mused. “I’d like to see her head bust open.”

  “Feeling a little hostile there, Mom?” Jason arched an eyebrow under his thick fringe of bangs.

  “I kinda hate zombies.” Jenni shrugged.

  Juan looked toward her, his arms folded over his muscled chest. “They do bring out the hate, don’t they?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Jenni muttered.

  Katie narrowed her eyes as she observed the scene above her. “That window is cracked.”

  “She’s been working on it since sometime last night. Bet she went to hide up there after being ripped up.” Travis shook his head. “Poor thing.”

  Jenni stepped closer to Travis. “What if there are more up there?”

  “Then it’ll be raining zombies,” Juan said with a chuckle. “And I hope they all bust their damn heads open when they land.”

  At that moment, the maid finally broke the tempered glass just enough to get her hand through. While those below watched in horror, she worked at the opening with her fingers until she pushed herself all the way out. It was a long, almost graceful fall, with her blond hair streaming behind her and her pink bloodstained dress billowing up around her waist. She landed feet first on the hard-packed soil a few feet away. Every bone in her legs shattered as she crumpled to the ground. Unable to get up, she systematically crawled toward the spectators.

  Juan sighed. Snatching up a shovel, he started to walk toward her.

  Katie cocked her shotgun.

  “No. No guns. The sound will bring more zombies,” Travis said.

  “Good point.”

  Katie tried to look away from the scene taking place before her, but couldn’t. A few people gasped, and a woman hurried her child away as Juan drew near the growling zombie.

  “Get it done,” Travis called out.

  Juan nonchalantly drove the shovel through the head of the zombified maid, and the drama was over.

  “We need to build a catapult and just toss them over,” Juan muttered as he motioned to another man to dispose of the body. “Ditch it over the wall.”

  Travis chuckled grimly. “We just may.”

  Jenni grinned. “Use them as cannonballs against the rest of the damn zombies.”

  Juan regarded Jenni appreciatively. “Now, that would be fun.”

  Jenni hovered near Katie’s side, blushing slightly. Jason was right behind her, holding on to her arm and Jack’s collar.

  “I’m kinda hungry, Mom,” Jason whispered to Jenni.

  “Got anything to eat around here?” Katie asked, overhearing.

  “As a matter of fact, there was supposed to be a fund-raiser last night for the local volunteer fire department. There’s so much food up in the community dining hall, you’re gonna feel like you’re in heaven,” Travis answered.

  “Thank God,” Jenni said with relief.

  “So we’re staying?” Jason asked. “We’re not heading back to the hunting store?”

  Katie looked at him and then at Jenni. Jenni smiled at her, her gaze flicking to Travis, then back to Katie. It was obvious that Jenni was enamored of Travis. That didn’t really surprise Katie. Jenni seemed inclined to look for a strong male figure to protect her. They had joked about finding a Romero-type hero, but Katie could tell that Jenni really did crave one. Katie suspected Travis was now firmly assigned to that role in Jenni’s mind.

  “Yeah, we’re staying,” Katie decided. “At least for now.”

  “Good. Because we need you here. I feel it,” Travis said. He put one arm around Jenni and the other around Jason. “Now, let’s get you fed.”

  Katie didn’t think Jenni could get any redder or any more giddy. She followed the little group toward the city hall, glancing back once to see the dead zombie being loaded onto the arm of the excavator to be dumped back among her own kind.

  “Besides,” Katie mused. “How the hell would we get out of here?”

  2.

  Through a Door Softly

  Jenni felt special, walking with Travis’s arm around her shoulders. His voice was like fine leather against her skin, and she felt herself blushing even hotter. She hoped Travis didn’t notice. She most definitely hoped Jason didn’t. Behind her, Katie walked briskly, holding her shotgun in one hand and her backpack in the other.

  “Wait, Travis! I almost forgot. There are zombies following us here. We told the person on the CB. It’ll probably take a little while for them to get here,” Katie said urgently.

  “Crap. Okay. We can deal with that,” Travis answered, releasing his hold on Jenni and Jason. He turned and signaled to Juan.

  Juan tucked his thumbs into his work belt, sauntered over, and looked at Travis expectantly.

  “There are more zombies on the way. Get the harnesses ready,” Travis said. “I’m heading in to get them fed, then talk to Mayor Reyes about the incoming zombies. We might as well prepare.”

  “They finally bust out of the damn school?” Juan asked.

  “Nope. This is a different group. They followed our new friends,” Travis answered.

  “Great. It’s not like we don’t have enough of them out there as it is.” Juan groused. “Are you sure? Where’d you pick ’em up?” He stared at Katie pointedly.

  “Emorton was overrun. It looked like the whole town was turned. They aren’t too messed up, so they’re fast,” Katie answered.

  Juan shook his head. “We lost a man keeping them off the perimeter before.”

  “We’ve learned from our mistakes. We need to keep them thinned out or we’ll get overrun.” Travis patted Juan’s shoulder. “We can handle it.”

  “You better get the mayor on board,” Juan urged. “You know how he likes to be included in the planning.”

  “What are you going to do?” Katie asked. “What are the harnesses?”

  “We’re going to secure some men with safety lines. When the zombies come up against the outer perimeter, we stand above them on the trucks and stab down through their skulls with spears we made and shovels, jumble up their brains. We took out around a dozen that way before we lost a man the last time. But we didn’t have the safety lines the first time out,” Travis said, his voice tinged with sorrow.

  Juan looked up at the darkening sky. “Good thing we got the lights set up. And if the grid goes down, we’re on backup power. …” He exhaled with exasperation. “This is a fucked-up situation.”

  “Just get some men ready and hooked up.”

  “It’s like we’re dangling bait in front of the zombies, Travis,” Juan protested gruffly.

  “They’re gonna come anyway,” Travis answered. “First sign of trouble, we yank our people back.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Shit.” Juan sighed heavily. “Okay. I’m on it.”

  The men’s conversation made Jenni feel anxious and she could tell by the look on his face that Jason was unnerved. Katie, in contrast, seemed comforted, and Jenni realized it was because Katie felt that at last someone had a working plan of action.

  Travis clapped Juan on the shoulder. “Keep me informed.”

  “You got it, Travis,” Juan replied in a resigned tone and walked off.

  Travis turned to finish escorting the newcomers into city hall, but instead of resuming his comforting embrace, he lightly touched Katie’s arm. “I want to hear about what’s up with you. How did you end up here?” He opened the door for them.

  “Sure, but let’s eat first.” Katie gave him a slight smile. “We’re seriously hungry.”

  Jenni hung back for a second to watch Juan order several men away from the construction
of the wall, then followed Katie and Travis inside. She felt moody all of a sudden and wasn’t sure why. She trudged up the stairs behind the others, struggling not to spiral into a bad mood. The first whiff of fried chicken helped push her dark thoughts away as her stomach grumbled with anticipation.

  As Travis had promised, there was more than enough food in the community dining room, which was on the second floor of city hall. There were a few people piling food onto their plates and they took the time to smile at the newcomers. Jenni returned their smiles while checking out the potluck dishes. All the best of Texan fare was laid out on several tables. Someone had recently heated up some of the food, judging by the fragrant steam that rose off the chicken, fajitas, enchiladas, and macaroni and cheese. There was plenty of cold potato salad and variety of pasta salads. Jenni and Jason almost ran to the table and started loading up plates.

  “I’m dying of hunger,” Jenni declared.

  “You and me both, Mom,” Jason agreed, feeding Jack a little bit of chicken skin. “And Jack, too.”

  “Y’all help yourselves,” an older woman with dark hair streaked with silver said as she set out a steaming pile of tortillas. “And welcome to Ashley Oaks.”

  “Thank you. It’s good to be here,” Jenni said, plucking one of the tortillas up with the tips of her fingers.

  “If you need anything, let us know. Peggy is the city secretary, and she’ll make sure you’re settled in. I’m Rosie.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Jenni said, trying to shake hands and balance her plate at the same time. She nudged Jason, hoping he would get the hint and greet the woman, and he extended a greasy hand. “Jason!”

  “Eating, Mom,” he said defensively, chewing on some fried chicken.

  “It’s okay. I have a son, too,” Rosie said with a wink. “They’re always eating at his age.” The kindly woman returned to arranging the food as a few construction workers appeared, sweaty and dirty, looking for dinner.

  Katie hung back, talking animatedly to Travis, her shotgun still in her hand. Feeling disgruntled again, Jenni tried to adjust to their environment and not feel resentful of the burgeoning friendship between Katie and Travis. She sat down at a long folding table, like those she’d seen at social functions in church while she was growing up, with a plate full of down-home cooking. Beside Jenni, Jason was already halfway through his plateful of chicken, and a warm weight on her foot told her Jack had taken up station under the table, where he probably could find all sorts of good scraps.

  Katie and Travis were talking swiftly, voices melding seamlessly as Katie finally filled a plate with warm food. When they’d first arrived, Jenni had been convinced that Katie and Travis knew each other from before. There had been a look of recognition in Travis’s eyes when he took Katie’s hand to help her to her feet. But neither one of them said, Oh, hey it’s you! or anything remotely like that.

  So maybe they had just met.

  But it felt as if some sort of invisible box had sprung up around them, locking everyone else out.

  Jenni did not like that.

  She definitely liked Travis. He had such a strong presence and sweet eyes. And she had already caught him giving her that special look men have for women they find attractive. She knew Katie was no threat in that regard, even though Katie had the kind of looks men gravitated to. Katie was gay. Pure and simple.

  But Katie was her new best friend. Her sister. She was uncomfortable with Katie drawing close to anyone else. Travis just appearing and clicking with Katie was making Jenni a little nuts. She felt unbalanced and kept trying to get Katie to at least look at her. She felt needy, selfish, and a little embarrassed. It was foolish to feel this way. After all, Katie had risked her life to help Jenni save Jason, and she’d promised to look after Jenni and her son.

  Jenni stabbed at her congealing potato salad and glanced at Katie again. Katie made her feel safe. She needed to feel safe.

  “So the first priority is the wall,” Katie was saying as she sat down at the table.

  “Exactly,” Travis replied. “Then we’ll secure the two buildings that border us so we can inhabit them as well.”

  “Walling off all the ground floor windows would be a start,” Katie suggested.

  Travis nodded. “And we have the bricks for it. Since the service entrance is on the side of the hotel and there is no entrance on the side that faces us, we’ll have to bust through a wall.” Travis was drawing on a piece of paper, more doodling than anything, but clearly enthralled by Katie’s input.

  “You’ll have to clear the building,” Katie said. “Do you have guns?”

  “Our only surviving police officer still has his weapon. We used our tools to kill off any zombies that attacked while we were constructing the outer perimeter. A solid blow to the head and they go down.”

  “We could get more guns,” Jenni said softly.

  They both looked at her and she blushed.

  “You mean back at Ralph’s?” Katie asked.

  Travis frowned a little. “My family moved to Houston from England when I was a toddler. They were very anti-gun and we’ve done all right so far with our shovels. But…”

  Katie laid her revolver on the table in front of him. “Soon this will be the answer. It’s fast and more efficient if you’ve got good aim.”

  Jenni rolled up some chicken inside a tortilla as she bobbed her head in agreement with Katie. “Well, yeah, I mean, I know you said that thing about the gunfire drawing the zombies, but one day, they are just gonna show up. And they’re gonna make it real hard on us.”

  Travis sighed, leaning back in his chair. “So your friend Ralph has weapons? He just told us he was the mayor of a small town.”

  “He is, but he also owns a pretty big hunting and camping store,” Jenni answered.

  Travis rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

  “It wouldn’t hurt to talk to him. Besides, I just realized we need to let him know we’re okay.” Katie looked at Jenni and winced.

  “Ralph must be worried sick,” Jenni said. She felt a little better now that she was part of the conversation.

  Katie turned to Travis. “I know you’re in charge here—”

  “The mayor—”

  “I know you’re in charge here,” Katie repeated, “and I’d like to suggest that maybe you should arrange with Ralph to pick up some weapons. If you can clear out the lot of the zombies out there right now, maybe we can head over to Ralph’s.”

  Travis looked at Katie, his gaze steady and thoughtful. “Yeah, you got a good idea there. We got about twenty of those things out there now, not counting the ones you said were coming.”

  “Then we can’t waste time,” Katie suggested.

  Travis exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I think it’s time to go talk to the mayor and get hold of your friend.”

  Katie had barely eaten anything, but she stood up as Travis did.

  Jenni pushed her plate away quickly and got to her feet, saying. “I’ll come with you.”

  “I’m still hungry,” Jason said firmly, shoving some fajitas in his mouth.

  Jack seemed to agree with this declaration as he licked his chops.

  Jenni said, “Keep the dog with you,” and hurried around the table to follow close behind Katie and Travis, desperate to be included.

  Downstairs, they entered a large room that was sectioned off into cubicles. The city secretary and a little boy who was probably her son were setting up a bed behind her desk. The woman and little boy looked remarkably alike, from their coloring to the tense expressions on their faces. The little boy shrank behind his mother, regarding Jenni suspiciously.

  Jenni felt a lump rise up in her throat and she struggled not to think about her dead children.

  “You the new girls, huh?” the woman said as she folded a blanket. “I’m Peggy. The city secretary.” Her brown hair was a little mussed up and her face looked weary, but her eyes were bright and curious as she regarded them.

  Jenni thrust her hand out, trying to push back
her nervousness. “I’m Jenni. My friend is Katie.”

  “Good to meet you,” Katie said with a smile.

  “Peggy has been keeping up with the emergency response center,” Travis said. “She’s been invaluable.”

  “I don’t know about that. The phones going down have been a real kick in our balls,” Peggy groused. “Lie down, sugar,” she said to her son, but he only whined and held on to her tighter.

  “We’re going to talk to the mayor for a few. He’s in his office, right?” Travis motioned to a door nearby.

  “He hasn’t budged from his computer all night. It’s the most work I’ve ever seen him do.” Peggy shrugged. “Not much to see out there anymore. I’m sure Manny would love the company. Tobias has been sulking around and not much help.”

  “Tobias is the city manager,” Travis explained quickly.

  Jenni stared at the little boy at Peggy’s side, her eyes beginning to burn with unshed tears. Her fingers trembled as she thought about her own little ones. Katie took her hand and squeezed it, and Jenni looked at her gratefully.

  “C’mon,” Travis said, noticing Jenni’s discomfort. “Let’s talk to the mayor.” After striding over to the door to the mayor’s office, he rapped once then opened it.

  “As communication with Europe has ceased, there is no word on how far the plague has spread. The CDC, still operating in a slowly burning Atlanta, continues to issue guidelines for destroying the reanimates—,” a voice said from inside the office.

  It took Jenni a second to realize it was a broadcast.

  Travis waved them inside. Jenni and Katie scooted into the small office. The mayor sat behind his desk, listening to the emergency broadcasting channel.

  The mayor saw them and turned off the radio. “Travis, who are our new friends?”

  “Jenni and Katie, this is Mayor Manny Reyes. Mr. Mayor, this is Katie and Jenni. Jenni’s son and his dog are still enjoying supper.”

  “Very good to meet you, ladies,” Mayor Reyes said warmly, standing and extending his hand in greeting. He was an older man with broad shoulders and a beer gut poking out over his belt buckle. His dark hair was skimmed back from his receding hairline, and he had an open, friendly face.