Jenni snorted. “You're such a mom. ”
“I just had a bad night last night. I worry about the ones I love. ”
“You love someone other than me?” Jenni widened her eyes playfully. “Oh, wow. I have competition for best friend? I'll cut 'em!”
Despite herself, Katie laughed. “Yeah, I'm so sure you can take Nerit down. Or Jason. Or Old Man Watson. Or…” She faltered at Travis.
Jenni crunched her cereal. “You're such a dork. ”
“Thanks, I needed that. ” Katie shoveled more cereal into her mouth.
“I had a rough night, too. Fucking nightmares. ”
Katie waited for Jenni to go on, but, as usual, she didn't.
“So, I'm going to take this ax in that Ed got from the grocery store.
I've been practicing using it and I like it so much better than the spears.
It has this really great energy when you swing it. ” Jenni added more cereal to her bowl. “I'm going to have such a great sugar high off this stuff. ”
“Pure carbs. We seriously need more protein in our diets,” Katie said in a serious tone. The salvaged meat from the grocery store freezer wouldn't last much longer. It was part of dinner only. Lunch was usually stuff from cans.
Jenni wrinkled her nose. “Whatever. So, the new ax-”
Katie listened to Jenni prattle on about her newest weapon with amusement. It was a very Jenni thing to do. As of late, her friend avoided talking about the past or anything to do with the life she had lost. Katie marveled at Jenni's ability to move on, but at the same time wondered if all the things she was ignoring would one day catch up with her.
Jason, Jenni's stepson, and Jack, his ever-faithful German Shepherd companion, joined them. Katie and Jenni both hugged the teenager and showered the dog with attention before they settled down at their table. Jason's bangs were long. He tended to stare at the world through the brown, straggly strands, but he was a smart kid, a good kid. Katie was glad they had been able to rescue him from the camp he had been attending during the first days of the outbreak.
“I was talking to Roger, that science teacher, and he says my plans for a catapult are really good. Think if I talk to Juan he could get me the stuff to make it?” Jason picked out Grape Nuts from the boxes on the table, which impressed Katie, until he drowned the little nuggets in sugar and milk.
“Yeah. He would totally do that. But probably not until we get the hotel under our control. He's all obsessed with getting us in. ” Jenni slurped down the sugary milk in her bowl.
Jason frowned, then shrugged. “I'm just trying to help out. ”
“Don't take it personal. The guys are all obsessed with getting us into the hotel. The City Hall's air conditioner is not that great and some of the older people will suffer if the heat gets any worse. ” Katie rubbed the boy's back to reassure him.
“Yeah, but we're not building enough defenses. What if a bunch of them show up? Or the bandit guys? Or…” He shrugged. “Whatever.
I'm just a kid. ”
“And a moody one,” Jenni teased.
“Mom!”
Jenni leaned over the table to hug and kiss him relentlessly. Jason tried to fight her off at first, then started laughing. Satisfied, Jenni slid back into her chair.
“Gawd, Mom,” Jason said, his cheeks flushed.
Katie grinned and tucked back into her breakfast. Suddenly, she didn't feel so down or so alone. It was a good feeling.
3. Going In
“Go in, secure the front. Jenni and Bill, you take right. Me and Felix, we'll take left. Do not fire your weapon unless you have to and only if you are sure everyone else is clear. We don't need friendly fire in there,” Ed said firmly. He was a scrawny, grizzled guy in his late fifties. A local, he was a tough Texan who had run a small farm on the outskirts of town. His peach groves were the only fruit they had any hope of bringing into the fort, but the salvage team had yet to get out that far. There were plans to head out there in a week's time.
Felix, a good-looking young man from the Houston area, stood with his makeshift spear in one hand. He had modified it to have two deadly ends and he often practiced with it. Jenni thought his skin was amazing. He was so black, his skin gleamed purple in the sunlight.
He dressed like a thug, but when he spoke, you quickly realized he was much more than he appeared to be. He was the son of white parents who had adopted him from Africa and had been raised in an affluent part of Houston. He had been a student at the University of Texas when things had all gone to hell. He had barely made it out of Austin alive. Felix didn't talk about it, but Jenni got the impression he was torn between many different worlds.