The First Days (As the World Dies 1)

"Three blocks North of here. "

"Three blocks!" She was so startled, Katie nearly ran into the wall.

Travis grabbed her arm and guided her back on her now worn jogging path.

"Yeah. That's why I'm so nervous. They'll come straight here and we'll be swamped. We will have to better defend ourselves. They have numbers on their side. "

"Plus they don't sleep…" Katie shook her head. "Yeah, we need to get the guns here soon. What about food?"

"We're okay for now thanks to the fund raiser and all the canned food from the food drive. The truck driver that arrived yesterday was in a WalMart truck, and we managed to unload a lot of that into the city hall before a throng of zombies arrived. A lot of canned and boxed food and other supplies.

We're not running out of toilet paper any time soon. " Travis grinned and they started on their next circuit around the complex.

"Oh, gawd! What a relief! I thought we were doomed" Katie said with mock seriousness.

Travis laughed and she joined him. They sprinted around the lunch wagon and some people sitting in chairs enjoying the morning.

"But seriously, we have the wall up, food for awhile at least, but we need a solid way to defend ourselves. I was looking around the area today and I think our best shot is the truck you and Jenni came in. "

"We're out of gas though," Katie pointed out.

"But we have some gasoline on reserve here in the fort," he said, using the term that the inhabitants were already using. "We just have to get it out to the truck and fill it up. "

"How many zombies are out there now?"

Travis sighed a bit as he ran. "Six more showed up in the early morning.

We're trying to lure them closer to kill them, but the dead ones keep tripping them up. We'll have to distract them. Probably with a car alarm like yesterday. "

Katie lifted an eyebrow. "So that's how you did it?"

"We're clever that way," Travis grinned.

"So. Someone runs over to the truck with the gas canisters, pours them into the tank, and hauls ass to get the guns?" Katie's voice sounded doubtful.

"Yeah. You and me. We're running right now. Hardly winded. The guys trick the zombies to the other side of the fort and we run for it. There is a gas station ten miles down the road. We fill up there. "

Katie laughed. "Sounds easy. "

Travis' eyes cast a shy glance at her. "Yeah, I'm easy. "

That made Katie laugh even more. "Okay, so you and I run out there, I assume you with a spear, me with my gun, get the truck, ride to the nearest gas station, fill up the truck, haul ass over to Ralph's hunting shop, grab a bunch of guns and make it back here by nightfall. "

"Gee, ma'am, when you say it that way it sounds kinda romantic," Travis teased her.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm in. But Jenni will insist on coming with us. I know it. "

"Yeah, she really does like to kill zombies, doesn't she?"

Katie remembered Jenni running out onto Ralph's balcony and shooting a zombie just because it looked like her father. "Um…yeah. "

"Think she's okay upstairs?" Travis asked softly.

Katie pondered this, recalling Jenni's near catatonia, then her quick rebound into Linda Hamilton in Terminator. "No. No, I don't think so. But I think she is probably dealing with this better than us. I think Jenni had a lot of bad things happen to her in the old world. "

"So the new world is maybe a relief," Travis said sadly.

"Yeah. "