Somehow, it had been easier with Lydia because they had each other to help them through the hard times. They understood what the other woman was going through. Katie remembered one woman screaming at her and Lydia at a gay pride parade that there was no way they loved each other like a straight man and woman loved each other.
Lydia had just laughed and said, “Yeah, true. Less beard burn!” Katie had nearly fallen over laughing and Lydia had waltzed her around, then kissed her.
Travis was trying so hard, but he didn’t really know what it was like to know that a good portion of the old world population hated you simply because you looked at your own sex and saw no is
sue with loving them. As a bisexual woman, Katie had struggled with both the gay and straight community at times, when they had been trying to force her to decide. She let her heart decide when it came to both Lydia and Travis. She was very aware, as was Travis, that if not for the zombie holocaust, she would still be with Lydia.
Loving Travis was the same, yet different. How she could explain that to any of the people giving her strange looks? So she didn’t say anything except, “Travis and I are together and I would never cheat on him with Shane or anyone else. ” She was torn between feeling like she was betraying her relationship with Lydia and feeling that she was preserving its sanctity by not going into details about her past.
But the rumors continued and Blanche dragged her name through the dirt. She heard the woman’s mocking words ringing in her ears.
She saw the condemning stares from a few. The scary old Southern Baptist woman named Mary especially took to saying nasty things around Katie. She just tried to ignore it all.
Yet at the same time, she had the sweet hugs of her supporters. Old Man Watson went out of his way to stand up and hug her tight. Nerit, of course, was unwavering. Jenni was almost psychotic in her defense.
Every night, she went to bed with Travis’ arms around her waist as his chest fit snuggly against her back. He had surprised her with a cell phone charger he had found somewhere and plugged in her cell phone when she wasn’t looking. One night, she had slipped into bed and looked over to see Lydia’s picture smiling out at her. She had almost cried at the sight and looked up to see Travis smiling sheepishly from the bathroom. Running across the room, she had flung her arms around his neck and clung to him while clasping the phone in her hand.
He understood more than she gave him credit for, perhaps.
“It scares me sometimes,” he whispered in her ear one night, “to realize that, if not for all this shit going down, I would never have found you. And I know you would be happy without me, since you would be with her, but I don’t know what would have happened to me.
Would I have found happiness somewhere else?”
Katie had held him close and stroked his hair. “We have to live with what is, not what could have been. ”
He reached out and snagged the cell phone. “She was really beautiful, Katie. I like her smile and her eyes. She looks really kind. ”
“She was amazing. I loved her,” Katie said in a soft voice. “And you are amazing and I love you. ”
Travis smiled. “Oh, I know. I’m not afraid of Lydia’s memory. I just want her to know I’m going to take good care of you. ”
Katie gave him a loving smile and kissed him. “She knows. I know it. ”
A day before the vote, the little pink stick said she wasn’t pregnant.
Katie was relieved, considering what an idiot she had been drinking the night of the party. But at the same time, she had felt a pang of disappointment. When she showed Travis, he had sighed. She could see he shared the same feelings. They had stood in silence, pondering it for a long moment, then he had kissed her lips lightly and said, “Eh, one day. ”
“I’m thirty-six,” Katie had said.
“I’m thirty-two,” Travis answered. Then he had mussed her hair.
“No fair looking younger than me. ”
But her point was made. That night they returned all the condoms to the supply store. Bringing a baby into the world was a scary thought, but the reality was that they had to keep living their lives or the dead would truly win.
The day of the vote, Travis held Katie tight as the ballots were counted and announced. When she closed her eyes and sank back against him, he had kissed her neck and cuddled her close.
That night, Shane and Phillip were given a sedan with a full tank of gas, two rifles with ammo, and a week’s supply of MREs.
“The bitch will pay,” Shane said to Travis and Juan as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
The gates opened and the two men, who had caused so much pain, were gone.
“Good riddance,” Nerit said as the sedan drove away.
“I hope the zombies eat them,” Jenni said with a fierce look.
“I’m just glad it's over,” Katie sighed.