Siege (As the World Dies 3)

“Me, too. ”

“If I had still been living in Houston, I would be eating someone’s nose right now,” Nerit decided.

“Weird how it worked, huh? If you made it through the first day, it got easier somehow. ”

“The initial shock of it all wears off and the survival instinct kicks in. ”

Katarina ran a hand over her hair, then sighed. “It almost feels like this is normal. Ya know? Like this is just how life is. ”

“This is how life just is now. The old way is just that…old. Gone. Lost. ”

“And now people are hitching up and having babies…”

Nerit bobbed her head. “And expanding our home…planting gardens…”

“Falling in love…”

With a tilt of her head, Nerit regarded Katarina. “You like Bill. ”

“He’s nice,” Katarina said after a moment. “I did like…I do like…he is just nice. ”

“Nice is good. Ralph was nice. ” Nerit suddenly stiffened, looking ahead.

“The next turn pull over!”

The Hummer came to a slow stop just after a curve on the country road. A few cows were walking down the road. Deer were strolling casually across the meadow and, somewhere in the distance, a bird was calling out. The mist was now just wisps along the ground.

Ralph’s truck was smashed firmly into a fence post. Its deer guard took most of the damage and Nerit was fairly certain it would drive. But both doors were wide open and it was obvious the truck was empty.

“Shit,” Curtis said sleepily, straightening up. “This isn’t good. ”

Dale woke up in mid-snore and sputtered a few incoherent words before saying, “Hey, cows. ”

“They must have got out when the truck took the fence down,” Katarina said.

Nerit ignored the cows and stared at the truck thoughtfully. “Get out slowly. Cover all sides. I doubt there is any activity out here, but be on guard. Let me examine the area around the truck. ”

“You got it,” Dale said, stuffing the rest of a stale, cold donut he had fished out of his pocket into his mouth.

Katarina slid out of the truck, holding her gun easily in her hands. Curtis stumbled out and worked a crick out of his leg as Dale strode in a slow circle keeping his eye on the cows.

“Them’s good eating,” he said finally.

“Keep to the objective,” Nerit responded.

Moving toward the truck, she squinted a little, focusing her gaze. With a little groan, she squatted down to look at some shoe prints in the mud.

Curtis joined her, looking perplexed.

“Jenni was in cowboy boots. So was Bill. ”

“Roger was in sneakers,” Curtis added to Nerit’s comment. “So was Felix. ”

“What do these look like to you?” Nerit motioned to the footprints.

“Honestly? Combat boots. ”

“Exactly. ” Nerit stood up slowly, feeling her hips and back protesting, and moved to the truck. Gazing inside, she saw the dried blood, sticky in the humidity of the morning, smeared along the passenger side.