Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale: A Short Story From the As The World Dies Universe (As The World Dies Untold Tales Book 4) (8 page)

Jenni attempted to escape with Katie, but Juan caught her arm. Staring down at her, he rubbed her arm. “You’re covered in guts. Can’t kiss you, but I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks,” Jenni said, giving him a coy smile. “After my shower, I expect some love coming my way.”

Juan laughed. “Any time,
Loca
.”

Jenni definitely enjoyed her sexual romps with Juan and knew she was falling for him. It was scary, yet wonderful at the same time. With a flirtatious smile, she climbed down off the sentry platform and headed for the outdoor showers Juan had constructed a week before.

The footfalls behind Jenni made her heart sink. Weaving through the blue tarp tents and shanties made of wood pallets, she walked toward city hall and the shower stalls. Nerit kept pace behind her.

When she reached the shower curtain over the doorway, Jenni whirled about. “Get this over with. Lecture me.”

Nerit exhaled. “Jenni...”

“No. Just do it. Let’s get it over with. Let me guess how this goes. ‘Jenni, you shouldn’t be so impulsive. Jenni, you should check with me first. Jenni, don’t be so dumb.’”

“How about ‘Jenni, don’t throw your life away’?” Nerit’s gray eyes were so piercing, Jenni felt skewered.

“I’m not,” Jenni answered at last.

“This is not a conversation I want to have with you because I’m not even sure you’re going to hear my words, but I can’t just let you continue this way without trying to speak sense into you. I know I’m not Katie. She’s the only one you really listen to, but could you at least give me a moment of your attention?”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Jenni said, “Okay. I’m listening.”

“We all have regrets. We all wish we’d done something different in those horrible moments when we were faced with the hard choices.”

...fleeing the bedroom where Benji was nothing more than meat...

“I know you suffer every day, Jenni. You may not talk about it, maybe not even to Katie, but you do. You’re haunted just as much as the rest of us. You live with the guilt that you’re alive and those you loved are not.”

...the front door shutting and Mikey isn’t with her...

“I understand that you want revenge against the zombies. You want to save others so they don’t suffer what you have.”

...the tiny fingers under the door...

“And, in the end, it’s your life to do with as you please.”

...falling off the porch, terrified, alone, nowhere to go...

“If you are going to let go of this life and embrace death, then I ask of you two things.”

...the white truck on the lawn...

“Jenni, don’t throw your life away foolishly and without thought. And don’t risk Katie’s life, too. You know she’ll always be there to save you.”

...Katie on the lawn holding the rifle. “Get in the truck!”...

“Jenni? Did you hear me?”

Nodding mutely, Jenni felt tears in her eyes. Nerit was right. Jenni had ignored Katie’s admonitions. Looking back over the night’s events, Jenni realized that her spurt down the road hadn’t really changed events. The zombies Katie and Jenni had killed before the rest of the people from the fort had arrived wouldn’t have been enough to get into the truck. Alan and Rob had still died. If Jenni had listened to the warnings and advice of others, the risks to her and others would’ve diminished. In the end, they were lucky no one from the fort had died.

“Jenni, you’re a very brave young woman. You’re also fragile as glass and strong as steel. You’re loved and needed. Remember that.” Nerit stepped back and gestured toward the shower. “I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Thanks, Nerit,” Jenni said, the words hard to speak. She hated being wrong. She hated others being right.

“One day, we may all have to make that hard choice again. Don’t make it come sooner than it needs to.” A whisper of a smile flitted over Nerit’s lips, then she strode away.

Pushing back the shower curtain, Jenni stared into the shower stall. It was circular, enclosed on all sides by blue tarp, and the roof was made of chicken wire and plastic sheeting. Juan had rigged up a hot water heater, so the water was lukewarm rather than cold. She turned it on and waited for it to warm before stepping fully clothed under the shower head. As the spray hit her face, she started to cry.

Chapter 11

Julie was dozing on a rollaway bed tucked into one of the small offices in city hall that served as a clinic. The baby was tucked into the crook of her arm while nursing, and the little boy was asleep against her back. Bathed, fed, and medicated, they all looked much better.

“Fever broke,” Peggy whispered to Katie. “Just took some flu meds to break it. All three should be better soon.”

The two women stood just outside the doorway peering in.

“I thought the baby wasn’t hers,” Katie said in a lowered voice.

“She’s her wet nurse.” Peggy fidgeted with the end of her ponytail with her slim fingers. “Julie’s baby and husband died in the first days. Alice’s mama died, so Julie took over feeding her.”

With a sigh, Katie leaned against the doorjamb. “That’s really awful.”

Peggy, the scrawny city secretary with a big attitude, shook her head sadly. “The world is all sorts of fucked up, huh?”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

“She told me awful things about what she saw out on the roads,” Peggy continued, her voice trembling. “What they did to that little boy’s twin.”

“Not everyone is bad people. Look at us.”

“Yeah, I know. But it only takes one to destroy paradise. Ask Eve.” Lapsing into a disquieting silence, Peggy stared at the woman and two kids.

“We’re safe here,” Katie said, guessing that Peggy might be scared for her little boy, Cody.

“Yeah, but for how long?”

Not having an answer, Katie reluctantly pushed off the doorway and strolled into the room. Julie stirred, her gaze shifting immediately to the doorway. She straightaway seemed to grasp the truth, and tears formed in her eyes. Holding the worn leather wallet, Katie timidly approached the woman.

“Is he one of them?”

Katie quickly wagged her head in the negative.

“But he’s dead?”

“He was bitten. Rob was already dead.” Katie gently set the wallet in Julie’s hand.

“Did you...help him?”

Katie nodded. “I did.”

Julie’s lips twisted, and her throat convulsed as she swallowed several times. Finally, she managed to croak, “Thank you.”

“He was consoled by the fact that you take such good care of his kids.” It was hard to speak with a band of emotion wrapped around her chest squeezing it tight.

“And I’ll keep on,” Julie vowed, more to the heavens than to Katie.

“He said you were a very good friend to him.”

“He was like my brother,” Julie admitted. “So sweet. So kind.”

“I’m really sorry for your loss.” The words felt so empty.

“We’ve all lost so much.” Julie’s fingers traced over the baby suckling on her nipple. “But we’re not all lost, are we? This place exists. So there has to be hope, right?”

“Absolutely,” Katie answered.

Pressing the wallet to her chest, Julie nodded. “Then that will have to do.”

With no more words to say, Katie departed, heading to the showers to clean up. She heard Peggy, Yolanda, and the mayor speaking in his office but kept walking. She didn’t want to get caught in a conversation.

Travis stepped through the back door just as she reached the exit. Seeing her expression, he hesitated. “You okay?”

“No,” Katie answered truthfully.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. It’s just hard sometimes. This world. This way of life.”

“I know.” Travis nervously shuffled his feet, averting his eyes. “But you make it a better place, you know. What you’re doing. Helping others.”

A smile slid across her pink lips. “Travis, so do you. You’re a big reason we’re all alive.”

“I’m not a hero.”

“Yes, you are.” Just gazing at him made Katie’s heart beat faster, and the guilt it brought was almost unbearable. Katie wanted to find peace with Travis but wasn’t sure how to do that yet.

“Maybe we’re all heroes then,” Travis decided.

Remembering the stolen pistol, she tugged it out and presented it to him. He awkwardly took it from her, still clearly not comfortable with firearms. They stood in self-conscious silence, the air filled with the promise of things left unsaid. At last, he gave her a light pat on the shoulder, muttered “good night,” and ambled on.

The outdoor shower was still steamy from someone using it when Katie stepped inside. She took a borderline cold shower in her clothes before peeling them off. Each person on duty left a change of clothes in bags piled in plastic storage containers to wear after showers. After dressing in a pair of leggings, a tank top, and sneakers, she hung her clothes on the laundry line next to Jenni’s. She sat her boots next to Jenni’s cowboy boots to dry out, then hurried into city hall, hoping to avoid everyone.

Much to her relief, she made it to the room she shared with Jenni without anyone spotting her. She expected the room to be empty since Nerit was still prowling the walls, but Jenni was sitting on her cot in the dark.

“Hey,” Katie said, closing the door behind her and leaving the light off to give Jenni some privacy.

A sniffle from the gloom indicated Jenni was crying. Katie had anticipated the fallout of the night to be tears, so she wasn’t surprised. Recognizing that she needed to wait for Jenni to say something, Katie perched on her bed and waited. Jenni noisily dragged her cot across the room and shoved it against Katie’s. In the dim glow from the moon outside, Katie saw Jenni plop onto her bed, facing her.

“I feel like I’m living on borrowed time,” Jenni blurted out.

Katie didn’t feel the same way, but she could understand why Jenni felt that way. She remained silent, waiting.

“I don’t want to die, Katie. I don’t. I want to live. But I just can’t stop doing what I can to save other people. I have to fight.”

“I know.”

“I’m not going to just stupidly throw my life away. I’m
not
.”

That was a relief to hear, but Katie didn’t say that. “Good. I want you to stick around.”

“If I do die one day, it will be because it’s time. Or it will be the right thing to do. Or both. I think.”

Love filled Katie’s heart as she leaned forward in the dark to press her forehead to Jenni’s. “You’re so brave.”

“I’d die for you, you know.”

“Jenni...” In this new world, family was created out of strangers, and the morning Katie had saved Jenni, she had found a sister.

“I would. In a heartbeat. If you could live and be happy, I would die for you.” She gripped Katie’s hands in her own.

Though Katie hadn’t really considered what she’d do if Jenni were in danger of dying, it dawned on her that she would put her life at risk for her. “I feel the same.”

“No. You’re not allowed to die,” Jenni said fervently, the press of her brow against Katie’s almost painful.

“Then neither are you!”

“Okay,” Jenni said, almost sounding relieved. “Okay. Good.”

Taking Jenni’s face in her hands, Katie pressed a long kiss to the top of her head. Her hair smelled like lavender, and it was a wonderful scent after a night of death. “Love you, Jenni.”

“I love you, Katie. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

“And you’re mine.” With a sigh, Katie fell back on her bed, her sore arms and back protesting every movement.

Jenni flopped down on her cot with a loud thump. “Are we going to be okay?”

Staring into the darkness pooling on the ceiling, Katie pondered the question. “One day.”

Jenni’s fingers found Katie’s in the dark. “We’re Thelma and Louise...”

“...versus the zombies,” Katie finished.

“Those fuckers are doomed.”

Hands clasped, the two women broke into peals of laughter.