Tobias flinched and said, "Now, son, maybe you shouldn't be in here. "
"He's in this, too, Toby," Rosie said softly. "You can't shield a child from this. "
Peggy snuggled her son up to her and kissed him on the forehead. He continued to cry softly, his tiny body shivering.
Curtis sat in the corner, hunched in on himself with his arms folded high on his chest. "Let's get back on topic. We need the guns. We can't keep killing them with spears. "
"Yeah, blades aren't much help with these kinds of zombies," Juan said grimly. "The handbook did not have these running zombies in it. This is a whole other ballgame, but the basics are the same. We need to make this place as safe as possible and think before we act. We missed out on the whole being prepared thing, so we gotta do the best we can now. "
"How do we figure out how to get Travis back in, that is the question," the Mayor said softly.
"Travis suggested we find out what everyone's skills are and figure out how to use them," Rosie said. "Maybe someone on this list has the experience we need to figure that out. "
"Like someone has experience with zombies," Curtis muttered.
"The infected people out there deserve better than to be murdered and run down. I do not think murder should be an option to any plan we implement," Tobias declared. "We have been murderers for days now. "
"They are not infected!" Curtis voice almost sounded shrill. "They are eating people, Tobias!"
Tobias' eyes were swimming with tears, but he fought to keep his voice steady. "My family needs help. Not to be butchered!"
"They were already butchered! They are dead!" Curtis' face seemed younger now that he seemed close to cracking.
Juan stood up and tried to break some of the tension. "Look. We got construction equipment. We got that much. Now we need to get creative. "
"Build a corral," the little one said.
Juan looked at him for a second. "Huh, kid?"
"His name is Cody," Peggy said softly.
"Build a corral. Like I do with my Lego's. When Daddy and I…" He started to blubber, but pushed on, "played with my cowboys and my Lego's, we built corrals for the cows. "
The Mayor looked at Juan. "A corral?"
"Fuck me," Juan said and took a step back.
"Juan!"
"Sorry, Mom. I think we can actually do that…yeah…from the mouth of babes…from the mouth of babes!"
Juan didn't even wait to talk this out. He just headed out the door.
Loca was standing near the door, spying of course.
"I want to help," Jenni said, her big dark eyes so beautiful and so nuts.
"No. "
"I can help!" She rushed after him.
"You're loca. "
"Maybe, but I can still help. I have to help!"
She grabbed his arm and they stared at each other for a long moment.
She was nuts, yeah, but she looked determined.