Suddenly, a man ran into the glare of the headlights. Waving his arms, he was covered in sweat and breathing hard.

“I have a feeling we now know what is drawing them here,” Jenni said. “I think they're chasing him!”

One of the girls peeked around Bill's chair. “That's the bad man!

That's the one that opened up the door and took us away!”

“A bandit!” Katie slammed on the brakes.

“No, leave him. Fuck him!” Jenni said.

“We can't leave him,” Bill protested.

Katie looked at Bill. “He did this! He did this!”

Bill looked torn for a second, then said, “We can't risk it. Leave him.”

Katie looked like she wanted to run him over, but instead hit the accelerator and the truck roared backwards. The man screamed in anguish as the truck roared away, leaving him to the zombies.

Once Katie cleared the other vehicles, she turned the truck around, switched gears, and headed back down the road.

Jenni looked at the two girls huddled beside her. They were both trembling and staring at her with wide eyes.

“Tell me what happened,” she said in a gentle voice.

3. The Devils in the Darkness

“So then the fuckers show up saying they're there to rescue the people, that they were there to evacuate them to a safe place,” Jenni explained to the group gathered in the city council room in city hall.

It was all the usual suspects; Nerit, Juan, Travis, Manny, Peggy, Katie, Bill, and Curtis.

“How many were there?” Travis asked.

“Four,” Nerit responded. “They cleared out some of the zombies when they arrived, then forced their way inside. They used a crowbar to get the doors open.”

“The bandits didn't even wait for the people inside to let them in.

They just immediately broke in,” Katie added. “Said they were on a tight schedule or some horseshit like that.”

“When Esmerelda, the woman that was in charge, said she would call Peggy at the fort for confirmation, they shot her,” Jenni continued.

“They grabbed some of the girls and held them hostage while they ransacked the place. Every time a zombie wandered in, the guys would shoot the zombie. But it was getting crazier. They loaded the young women and girls into their vehicles and left the older women, elderly and the boys. The vehicle we found went off the road when one of the remaining survivors opened fire on it. A tire was blown out and it went into the ditch. The bandits took off on foot, but left the girls behind for the zombies.”

Nerit shook her head and lit another cigarette. “Animals.”

“Bastards don't deserve to live,” Curtis growled.

Nerit sighed and finished the story. “Since the survivors had limited ammunition and the doors were wrecked, it was only a matter of time before they were over run. Lily had hid in the bathroom with her little boy when the bandits first arrived. She barricaded the bathroom door when she heard the screams starting as the zombies got in. From inside the facility, they were the only survivors. We found them because two zombies were still beating on the bathroom door.”

“So four people survived out of all the people who had been living there safely,” Travis said at last.

Peggy sat nearby, her face drained of blood. Travis felt for her. He knew she considered all the survivors she spoke to via the radio her friends. Manny had his head down and was rubbing the top of his head. Juan looked pissed off. Curtis looked sick and Bill looked weary.

“Yes,” Nerit finally said. “But at least six females were taken from there. And their fates are unknown.”

“Bandits,” Travis decided.

“Yes. The bandits,” Nerit said.

“Let's start bringing them in,” Travis decided. “Any survivors we can reach now safely, let's bring them in.”

“You're not Mayor yet,” Manny said in a low, tired voice.

“Then what do you want to do?” Travis asked pointedly.

“Bring them in,” Manny said with a weak smile. “Bring them in.”

“I will get with Peggy and figure out which ones are viable to bring in now. Some are a distance away. Others are heavily surrounded by the zombie infestation.” Nerit's expression was grim.

“We can only do what we can,” Travis said. It was something all of them said at times like these, but it was the truth. Katie lay her hand over his. He held it tightly. “Bring in as many as you can. We'll plan for the rest. We need to be careful.” He hesitated. “I don't think the bandits knew we were here before, but Esmeralda mentioned us. The bandits may come looking for us now.”

The somber expressions at the table said it all. Life had just got a lot more complicated.

Chapter 15

1. The Others

Three weeks slid by. The fort was kept busy as they prepared to take in more survivors. But as plans were drawn up to bring in more people, Travis found himself consumed with making sure any new additions were secure. This meant meetings with Juan and Eric as they poured over every option before them.

Groups headed out to hunt, salvage, and bring back any supplies they could lay their hands on. Construction workers made sure they had enough building supplies as new expansions were planned and repairs were made.

They brought in many of the small groups closest to the town. Nerit made plans to recover the ones at farther distances. All the groups were warned that when the fort people came for them, they would be notified well in advance and to be on the lookout for the bandits.

Things seemed calm out on the deadlands except for the wandering zombies, until one day…

***

Jenni walked briskly across the roof of the old newspaper-building with a rifle in her hand. Wearing a red tank top, cowboy hat, and jeans, her shoulders and arms were deeply tanned. She had suffered a nasty sunburn the week before, but some aloe vera had done the trick and now she had a great tan.

Nearby Jason and his crew of teenagers, along with Roger, practiced with their new enormous slingshot. They were firing off coffee cans filled with earth at a bundle of zombies staggering on the street out in front of the hotel. Every time they managed to nail one, they would cheer.

So far the slingshot and concussion grenades had been their best creations. Now they were trying to combine the two. Jenni thought it looked like more fun than she was having, but then again, being on guard duty meant she was able to hang out with her hot man.

Jenni's cheeks were reddened and her eyes bright as she walked up to Juan and handed him a thermos of ice tea. He smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her lips, then took several painful gulps of the cold brew.

“It's hot here,” he complained, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

She laughed and kissed him again. “Wussy. We can always strip naked to cool off.”

“On duty,” he said regretfully. “Later though…” With a smile, he kissed her quickly and settled back into his chair.

She took her place in the chair next to him. They both stared out over the town toward the hills. It was almost like sitting out on a porch on a nice lazy Sunday, except for the intense heat, the gusts of wind, and the zombies.

“They are so going to vote in Travis as mayor,” Jenni decided.

“He's gonna be pissed,” Juan responded.

“They love his calm demeanor and peacemaking skills. Plus, they know you got his back and won't let him be too soft. Your hard-line stance has everyone cheering.”

“The ‘do your damn work or take a hike’ stance? I'm an asshole.”

Juan shrugged.

“Yeah, but it kinda makes sense. Except for the really old people like Old Man Watson and the disabled and kids.”

“I just liked it when people were doing stuff to help out and nobody had to yell at them.” Juan drank more tea and grimaced. “We got into this damn hotel and it was like everyone went soft and stupid. Travis complains about it all the damn time. I don't blame him.”

“Well, nobody is going to vote for Mr. Mann, that's for damn sure.

His bitch-wife pisses everyone off.” Jenni lifted her rifle and began to survey the town through the scope.

“They're both flaming assholes.” Juan watched the teenagers lob another coffee can down the street. It flattened a zombie.

“I was surprised that the Manns just didn't back Manny for mayor again.”

Juan snorted. “They want the direct power now, babe, instead of pulling someone else’s string. They want to be able to tell everyone what to do for their ‘own good’ and make sure that the social classes are restored. Must be hell for them to be forced to work.”

“Yeah, Blanche tends to just stand there and pretend to be doing something when she’s on duty.” Jenni slowly scanned the section of town they were watching over. “It’s so damn annoying. She told Katie that she was too delicate for hard work.”

Juan shook his head and looked toward the towering hotel. “Yeah, my ass she’s too delicate. She teeters around in those high heels all the damn time. I’m sure that takes some work balancing on them. And her helmet head hair? How long does that take to shellac?”