Bill laughed and handed the Mic over to Katie. Travis couldn't help but laugh a little, imagining Jenni virtually climbing over Curtis to get to the microphone.
"And it's me, Jenni. I'm okay. It was just the flu. "
"Oh, thank God!" And Jenni broke down crying and her sobs were loud over the speakers. "I was so scared! So scared! But we're going to find a way to get you back in and you'll be safe here!"
Katie smiled and winked at Travis. "I know, Jenni. I know. And I know you were looking after me in your own way. I felt it. We'll come home. I promise. Soon. "
Travis could see tears in Katie's eyes and turned away. He felt emotional and unsteady on his feet. Nerit and Ralph were in the doorway now and Katie reached out to them and they both grabbed her hand.
The most radiant smile he had ever seen on any woman's face lit up Katie's features and he felt almost as if he was basking in it.
For the first time since the world had slid sideways into hell, he felt a moment of happiness, and it felt delicious.
Chapter 12
1. Dancing for the Dead
Two days later, the excitement in the fort was a tangible, electric force sweeping through all the survivors. It seemed as if everyone was drawn outside, into the morning sunlight, to watch what had been dubbed "Operation Little Doggy".
Even Old Man Watson came out and sat in a plastic chair in the sun to watch. He was their oldest survivor at ninety-three and he had ended up at city hall only because he had come in to pay his water bill when the zombies had arrived. His arms were covered in tattoos from his Navy days and he mostly sat around and just smiled at everyone. It took Jenni a while to realize he couldn't hear hardly at all. She went out of her way to talk very loudly to him and explain the plan to him.
He had patted her on the head and said, "You give em hell, kid. "
Jenni had been the first person to sign up on the volunteer sheet for Operation Little Doggy. Jason was second. They were both determined to help in the project that would bring Katie and Travis home safely with their load of guns and supplies. Everyone else in the Fort was more concerned about Travis returning with the guns than they were about Katie. It annoyed Jenni, but she understood these people didn't know Katie like she did. Also, the more she listened to the townsfolk talk about Travis, the more evident it was that when he had moved to the town to help with the reconstruction of the downtown area, he had caused an immediate stir.
"Movie star looks, nice as can be, volunteering down at the senior center," Peggy had said to Jenni as they had washed dishes the night before.
Everyone had to do his or her part and Jenni didn't mind. "Caused an immediate stir. All the ladies, old and young, had mad crushes on him. And honestly, I don't think he noticed. He's nursing a broken heart. He told me his fiancee left him when he gave up his high paying job as a architect and went back to construction. "
Jenni had absorbed that, considered it, and tucked it away for later. She had seen Travis' subtle charisma in action and she had been very much affected by it. Weirdly, she thought Katie was, too. But she had seen something in his eyes when he gazed at her and she felt pretty confident in it.
Time would tell all things, of course.
Now she stood next to Jason, clad in the same outfit she had left Ralph's in. It had been washed numerous times and now had a softness to it that she found comforting. Jason had told Jack to stay with Old Man Watson so he could help with his volunteer crew and now the German Shepherd sat faithfully next to the old man getting his ears scratched.
"Okay, the cement is mixed on the other side," Juan said, approaching the groups of volunteers. "Just do what we told you and make it quick. We don't want to give these zombies any ideas. Try to keep low and out of view. "
Jenni and Jason quickly scaled the ladder over the cement wall and down the other side. The Hurricane fence was easy to scale and she dropped over the oth
er side easily. Jason dropped down second. The other members of their team, six in all, started the process of handing over long wicked spikes over the wall and fence using a conveyor belt system. Another man, Mike, a tall black man, also dropped over the fence.
The day before a crew of the construction workers had worked long and hard with sledgehammers creating deep gouges in the sidewalk that divided the fence from the line of trucks. Now, Mike helped lower a large spike into the ground and Jenni and Jason held it into position. Freshly made cement was then poured into the deep hole around the bottom of the spike.
It seemed easy enough at first, but as the morning wore on, Jenni grew tired. The spikes were bits of the old wrought iron fence the construction crew had torn down. They were heavy and, after awhile, her muscles began to ache. But the spikes had been something Juan had insisted upon. If the zombies became "climbing" zombies, Juan wanted something waiting for them they tried to drop down. The spikes were staggered in such a way that you had duck low and around them to get safely through. Anyone jumping down from on top the trucks would be impaled. Her little team moved quickly, but it was still exhausting and she was covered with sweat. What made it harder was the sheer, nasty stench of the dead just on the other side of the ring of trucks. Their moans and screeches indicated they were stirred up, sensing warm flesh nearby.
Jason's hair hung in wet, long strands in his eyes and he looked at her and blew them up out of his eyes. "Eh, maybe I do need a haircut. "
She giggled and they helped maneuver another spike into place.
Soon the forest of spikes was ready; all of them angled at a deadly slant to capture anyone attempting to jump down. It would likely not kill the zombies, but it would slow them down.
Finally, they clambered back into the fortress and got a round of applause. The storage containers that had lined the back of the old building with the faded advertisement on it were now rigged with chains as a harness.
Juan walked toward Jenni and the rest of the crews and said, "Okay, so far so good. "
Jenni giggled and pulled off her heavy gloves. 'Piece of cake. "
"So far, Loca, but we have more to do. " He walked past her and up onto to the stairs that led up to a sentry post in the corner of their makeshift fortress. He looked out over the crowd of zombies and turned around to motion to the crane operator high above them.