Siege (As the World Dies 3) - Page 192
“So many lived. Trust yourself. Trust what you have learned. Trust Travis and the others. You are all strong. ”
“Please wake up, Nerit. Wake up,” he insisted.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yes. Yes. I am. ”
She reached out and her hand gripped his chin. Leaning very close to him, her eyes seemed to burn with light. “Then you must understand that you must go on and win this battle. The fort must survive and this world must go on. This is Eden and the snake attacks from without. Do not let it in. ”
Kevin struggled to speak, then he nodded. “I won’t let it in. I will go on. ”
Nerit smiled and dropped her hand. “Do not give into despair now, Kevin.
It is not the time nor the place. ” She slid to her feet and Kevin rose with her.
“Nerit,” he said, taking her arm.
“Shh,” Nerit answered.
“I just want to say-”
“Shh,” she said again and laid a finger on his lips.
Kevin pulled her close and stared into those brilliant eyes. “Nerit, if only-”
He woke up with a start. The hand resting in his felt too cool to his touch and he panicked. Sleepily, he searched for Nerit’s pulse. Tears filled his eyes as he tried to find it, his fingers trembling.
“Nerit, please, don’t go,” he whispered fervently to the older woman resting on her bed.
Then he found it. That steady, faint little pulse in her wrist.
“Oh, God,” he whispered and fell back in his chair.
Before him, Nerit slept on.
2. The Winds of War
“Bring it in! Keep moving,” Juan called out as the fort gates yawned open to let in more supplies.
For the last two days large trucks with heavily armed contingents had been raiding every supply store within a hundred miles in the opposite direction of the zombie horde. The fort seemed to be bursting at the seams with all the new stacks of wood, cement bags, razor wire and various other building materials.
Outside the walls, small Bobcat construction vehicles were busy clearing away the last of the brush from around the fort. In the distance large bulldozers stacked the remains of houses and trees into high barriers.
Volunteer workers toiled endlessly outside the fort on a variety of traps.
Large signs were posted all around the fort, directing people as to where not to go.
As one of the trucks rumbled past Juan, his cousin, Linda, leaped down off the back and walked over to him. She had been persistent about going out on the salvaging runs despite the protests of her family.
“How’s it going out there?”
“Couple of zombies. Nothing major,” Linda answered Juan.
Juan nodded, his cowboy hat perched far back on his head. “Mom was going nuts with you being out there again. Bette didn’t seem too happy either. ”
“Can’t stop working just cause of the other day,” Linda answered crossly.
“Yeah, I know. ” Juan sighed, shrugging. “You know Mom. And Grandma ain’t much better. ”
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