The First Days (As the World Dies 1)

of this. He was not the sort of man to send others to do something he wouldn't do himself.

It was as if his presence on top of the truck was a sign, all the men began to squat down and ram their weapons down as hard as they could on the heads of the dead below. Katie could see the shovels busting open heads as the trowel-ended spears were driven through the eye sockets in upturned faces. Some of the zombies managed to grab the weapons and those wielding them immediately let go and were handed a new one. She wondered if the man that had been lost in the earlier battle had tried to fight with a zombie for his weapon. In this new world you had to learn fast to survive.

In the first few minutes, the construction workers took out at least ten zombies. The crush of the other zombies against their now truly dead comrades became greater, holding up dead. This made the men reach out further to actually hit one of the living undead. One man lost his footing altogether and swung out over the crowd. Juan shouted and immediately his towline was drawn up and back. Zombies tried to grab his feet, but the man was swung to safety.

"Shit," someone said nearby and Katie couldn't agree more.

Her eyes continuously strayed to Travis. He had a greater reach and seemed to be driving his shovel down with a strange, staccato rhythm.

"He is kicking so much ass," Jason said from behind her.

Even Jack had managed to wedge himself between people to get a view out the window. He let out a series of low growls.

Travis yelled something and all the men backed away. Then that great mechanical arm came swinging over their heads, loaded up with what looked like bags filled with dirt or maybe cement. Travis made several motions with his hand, guiding the driver of the machine to just the perfect spot, then made a downward stroke with his arm. The driver released the load of heavy bags right into the center of the remaining throng. Most of the zombies were effectively crushed.

Out of the original throng of thirty zombies, maybe five staggered about, falling over their dead comrades.

Travis made another motion and the men retreated down their ladders, picked up the ladders, walked to the wall, rested the ladders against the wall, and scrambled up and over into the construction site. Once the ladders were back over the walls and everyone was safe, cheers erupted throughout the complex.

Katie turned to Jenni and saw her face was very flushed and excited.

"He's amazing!" Jenni giggled and hugged Katie.

Katie hugged Jenni to her and said, "Yep, he is. "

And Travis, at that very moment, looked up at the window they were in, his gaze meeting Katie's, and smiled.

2. Another Moment

Exhaustion hit Katie like a sledgehammer. She almost felt drunk as she finally lay down on the cot set up for her in a small empty storage room on the fourth floor of city hall. The old building's sloped roof made standing up straight a little difficult unless you were in the center of the room. She had a feeling Travis had pulled some strings to get them a place inside the building and not camping out in portable buildings that were now dorms. Evidently the basement of city hall had long ago been set up as a bomb shelter during the Commie scare and loads of cots and musty blankets were brought up for those taking refuge in "the fort".

Jenni had seemed wired and very awake after the zombie attack. After they had talked to Ralph on the CB and he agreed to provide weapons to the fort if they could figure out how to pick them up, Jenni had slipped out with Travis to follow him around on the complex. He had asked Katie, but she was far too tired and had begged off. Now she sat on her cot watching Jason fix a bed on the floor for Jack using a blanket he had pinched when no one was watching the supplies.

She had managed to take off her boots and socks and now sat in her olive green hunting pants and her black tank top. She desperately wanted a shower, but there was a sign in sheet to use the only shower located in the city hall janitor's office. She had a slot for the early morning.

Jason looked up at her and slid onto the bed under the small narrow window. Jenni's cot was against the slant in the roof, forming an L with Katie's.

Jack, the zombie hating dog, examined his bed, circled three times, fussed at it with his paws, circled again, and lay down with a yawn.

"Uh, Katie?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…are you and Jenni gonna hook up?"

Katie double-blinked and said, "Huh?"

"My Mom, after my Dad divorced her for Jenni, hooked up with this girl for about two weeks. Mom was always going from guy to guy and that was the only girl, but I was just wondering…" Jason trailed off seeing Katie's expression. "Sorry. "

"No, it’s cool. " Katie sighed and ran her hands over her hair, which fell free to her shoulders in soft curls. "Okay, just because I like girls does not mean I'm going to hook up with the nearest girl. In fact, it is my own personal rule not to get involved with straight women. I value myself too much to be someone's experiment. "

Jason considered this and said, "Yeah. I guess that is what my Mom was doing since my Dad was such a jerk to her. She made a big deal out of having a girlfriend then it was over in weeks. Then she just went from boyfriend to boyfriend until she died in a car accident a few years ago. "

"Is that when you came to live with Jenni?"

"Yeah. I didn't really want to like her. Mom always called her "that bitch", but she's really sweet. Kinda goofy. She's kinda like an older sister. I'm really glad you saved her," Jason sighed and lay on the cot. "I just thought maybe because you're a lesbian you two would end up together. "

Katie laughed and shook her head. "I'm not a lesbian. "