Mike appeared beside her and climbed down as fast as he could.
Running to join the others, he grabbed a wood plank from a pile of lumber.
Avoiding the grasping hands of the dead, he let it fall against the zombies, who grabbed onto it, to either push it away or pull it away.
"Good idea," Juan said. And he put the tip of the shovel against the board on the top as Travis pushed on the bottom. Instead of soft bodies that gave way, the shovels pushed against the hard firm surface of the plank and it gave the men adequate leverage. Mike and Jenni joined them and using the board as a shield, they shoved the zombies back through the gap. The gate shuddered and leaped closed. The men barely got the shovels out of the way in time.
Katie sighed with relief and lowered the rifle. A few arms, hands and feet were sticking out from between the closed gates. Some were even moving.
Jenni picked up a shoved and began hacking at the limbs, severing them, blood flying, until Juan pulled her back. Jenni flung her arms around him and they both staggered backwards, then fell into a heap. Travis and Mike high-fived and Travis smiled up at Katie.
"See, Katie. Easy. "
Katie laughed and ran a hand over her forehead, feeling the thick sweat slick on her fingers.
"You're fucking crazy, Loca," Juan teased Jenni as he helped her to her feet.
"I kept your ass alive!"
"Yeah, so, what, I owe you?"
"Yep!"
Juan pulled out his wallet and thumbed through some now obsolete bills. "How about a buck. "
Jenni smacked him and they ended up in a shoving war.
It was then that Belinda made her appearance, climbing down the ladder, tears streaming down her face. Katie saw Jenni quickly back away from Juan and Juan looked up expectantly.
But Belinda ran to Mike, flung her arms around him, and they clung to each other. Travis even looked surprised. Juan's expression was beyond words.
Katie watched as Jenni walked up to Juan and put her hand lightly on his shoulder.
But there was no time to really understand what was going on, because the fort was victorious once more and cheers were going up. People came swarming over the bridge to climb down the ladders to great their heroes.
Travis accepted their hugs and handshakes, smacks on the back, and even a kiss on the cheek or two, but he finally managed to make it up to Katie on the wall.
Grabbing her close, he kissed her lips lightly. "I'm not giving up, okay?
I'm going to wait. "
Katie was in tears and nodded and hugged him tightly back. "It may be a long time. Maybe not ever. "
Travis laughed and smiled down at her. "I can wait…"
The image of Lydia flickered in her mind's eye and Katie closed her eyes and hugged Travis tight.
"I can wait, Katie," a voice said. And she wasn't sure if it was Lydia or Travis and she was afraid.
Chapter 19
1. Twists and Turns
Jenni followed Juan through the throng of celebrants and up
out of the new entryway. Mike and a few other workers were busy hacking off the limbs of the zombies who had managed to push an arm or a leg through the gates as it closed. Juan wasn't talking and Jenni knew why.
Belinda rushing to Mike had startled everyone. She had briefly seen Travis and Katie embracing and in that moment had realized what Juan had told her was true. The tall, handsome man with the sad eyes was in love with her best friend.