Travis was at her side, staring down at the map as well. He was certain to be the new mayor, despite Steven Mann's dirty politicking.

Manny was a fading leader as he struggled with health problems.

People automatically deferred to Travis now. The vote was the last step to making his ascension to the fort leader official.

“Sadler Farm. It's a family and a few workers. They've been holed up in the main house since the second day of the outbreak. It's an old stone house with storm windows, shutters and doors. Originally, they declined joining us. They felt they had it under control. Considering how far out they are, you would think they would be safe, but a wave of the dead arrived about ten days ago. They're just about out of ammo now and they are low on food. For awhile, they told me they had come and gone from the house to the garden and the chicken coops with no issue. Then one day the zombies hit in force and they lost two men and ended up barely holding them off.”

Nerit nodded stoically. “The RN is where?”

“Bowie High School in Raymond,” Peggy answered. “She has two teachers and four kids with her. Two are hers. She was at the school giving flu shots on the first day. The school was evacuated, but they remained behind deliberately.”

“Why?” Nerit's gaze was curious.

Peggy laughed a little. “She watches horror movies and saw one of the walking dead and was pretty sure it was a zombie. Then she noticed bites on some of the people being put on the buses. So she and the others hid and waited until everyone had been shipped off to a rescue center, then barricaded themselves inside the school. It's a very small school, so it wasn't that hard.”

Nerit smiled wryly. “Horror movies…odd how they became a guideline for survival.”

Katie joined them, dressed in hunting gear. She leaned into Travis and he slung an arm around her shoulders. A tender kiss followed, Peggy grinned.

Peggy loved seeing them together. Her own marriage had been rocky and never very romantic. She knew she was a sucker for country love songs and soap operas. She couldn't help it. But this was the real thing. She could see it. Feel it. Travis and Katie had found real, true love. She was happy for them. She just wished it would one day happen to her. Of course, in this dead world, what were the chances of that? “So these are the last two groups?” Travis pondered over the map.

“One more. A family trapped in a trailer. Again, doing okay until a recent mob of zombies arrived a few days ago. They were also holdouts, but they have not been doing so well. They're just bullheaded country folk, but they now need us to go get them.” Peggy tapped the map and stared up at Nerit and Travis.

Nerit was deep in thought, her finger tracing over the various points on the map.

“Who is out there right now?” Travis leaned against the counter and stared up at Peggy.

She really liked his style. He always gave his full attention to her and valued her opinion. It wasn't like how she had to bust heads with Manny constantly.

“Ed is out with his group protecting the harvesting of his peach groves right now,” Peggy answered. “He took Lenore with him.”

“Lenore?” Travis blinked.

“I felt she was ready,” Nerit muttered as she studied the map.

“Jenni is out on a scavenging run with Curtis, Katarina, Felix and Dylan,” Katie added. “They're due back soon.”

“Dylan? We sent Dylan out? Isn't he a bit young?” Travis arched an eyebrow.

“He just turned eighteen. We have men in the military that age…or at least we did,” Nerit pointed out.

“And no one out on the field is reporting anything odd? No bandits?” Travis lifted his eyebrows.

“No, just those waves of zombies showing up. Kinda like they do here. I think that's the bandits,” Peggy answered.

“I agree with that assessment.” Nerit began to write notes down on a pad of paper.

“You don't think they've decided maybe we're too big to take on?”

Katie asked.

“I think they're trying to figure out what to do with us,” Travis answered.

“Agreed.” Nerit leaned over the map and studied it. “Waiting for a time to strike.”

Ken rushed down the hall from the communication center and leaped behind the counter. Hugging Peggy, he startled her.

“Oh, my gawd! You will not believe my news!”

Travis slightly smiled. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah! Ed called in from where they are getting all those delicious peaches!”

“So the good news is we're having peach cobbler?” Katie queried teasingly.

Ken gave her a dark look. “I'm building this up. You're cramping my style! Shush, you!”

“Spill it, Ken.” Peggy was about to smack him upside the head.

“My girl, Lenore, my bestest girl, is safe and on her way back with mission numero uno under her belt. That's the first part. Second part, Ed's boys were there!”

“No shit?” Peggy was stunned. Ed rarely spoke of the three sons that were somewhere out on the deadlands. When he did, it was often when he was drunk. The boys were all Ed had left in the world after his wife, Edna, had died. All three had been away at school on the first day. Peggy knew Ed had hopes they were still alive, but this was amazing news. “Seriously. The boys were all alive?”

“Yep! They fought their way back to Ed's farm and holed up there!

They thought their Daddy was dead until they saw him in the peach groves with the team!” Ken danced around. “Lenore is trying to find out if any of them are gay.”

“I swear to God, all you think about is finding a boyfriend,” Peggy groused.

“Like you don't?”

“Hey, my sex life, or lack thereof, ain't your business.” Peggy shook her pen in his face.

“Hard up, aren't you?”

“I'm gonna kick your ass, Ken.”

Katie smirked. “My money is on Peggy if they throw down.”

Travis shook his head as he laughed. “Ken looks kinda vicious.”

Ken playfully snarled at him. “Okay, good news time is over! Back to the communication center!” He bounced back down the hall.

“I'm gonna choke him. I swear to God, I will,” Peggy muttered.

Nerit looked up from her map, seeming impervious to Ken's exploits. “I think I see how we need to handle this. What we need to do. They're after resources: food, guns, drugs, and women. We're going to need to lure them out. I think I know how.” She tapped the map with one finger.

Peggy leaned over and looked at where she was pointing. “Nerit, that's where you're from. No one is there.”

“The gun store is there,” Nerit said calmly.

Travis shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “You said the weapons are in the safe. They can't get in there.”

“Nope. They can't. But we're going to need those weapons. That ammunition. We've put off going out there.” Nerit looked very pale, but calm. “We should have gone before.” She pulled out her keys and handed them to Travis. “It's the round gold key and silver square one to get into the store. I will give you the safe combination.”

Everyone gathering around the map looked uncomfortable. An excursion to the gun store to reclaim the last of the gun stock and ammunition had long been on the list of things to do, but they had found other stockpiles to keep them well armed.

Peggy shifted on her feet, feeling uncomfortable with where this was going.

Travis slid the keys into his pocket. “We didn't really need to go until now, you know. ”

“We didn't go because of Ralph,” Nerit said simply. “And we have no time for such sentimentality anymore.”

Travis reached out and rubbed her shoulder gently. “We'll be respectful.”

“I know,” Nerit answered.

Katie slipped an arm around the older woman's waist. Nerit, surprisingly, leaned against her for comfort.

“If we head to the store and make a production of it, that will pull them out. And we can use it as a diversion to get the last of our survivors in,” Nerit said in a slightly quavering voice. “We need to pull them out. Get them to confront us.”

“So we can get into a fight with the bandits?” Peggy looked at her incredulously.

“No, so we can show them they can't beat us,” Nerit answered grimly.

Travis looked at Nerit long and hard, then slowly nodded. “I get where you are going with this.”

“We'll work out the details, but I have the general plan already in my head,” Nerit answered.

Jenni exploded into the lobby of the hotel. Her fury was livid in her eyes and her skin was flushed. “Where the hell is Bill?”

“Communication center,” Peggy said, and pointed down the hall.

“He's training Ken.”

“What's going on?” Katie stepped toward Jenni.

“Fucktard got Dylan killed!” She pointed behind her, trembling with rage.

Curtis came into view, his head down, looking pale. “Jenni, I didn't mean to-”