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She had a tendency to act first, think later. Her rabid hatred of the undead often spurred her to insane acts of heroics.

“I just wish you didn’t take so many chances,” he said at last.

“Well, zombies need to be killed or they munch on us. ” Her voice was soft, almost petulant. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. ”

“You mean a loca going loca,” Juan corrected.

“It works, doesn’t it? Zombies die. I come home to you. ”

“I just worry. ”

“I’m not going to die without a fight,” Jenni assured him.

“I don’t want you to die. ”

“I’m not gonna!”

“Says the loca. ”

They reached the fenced in area where the weapons were being cleaned and where Charlotte was attending to any wounded. A bite was deadly.

Everyone knew that, but they had two instances where someone had tried to hide their wound only to turn after entering the paddock. It was frustrating to have to implement additional measures to keep the fort safe, but they had no choice. Two armed guards stood watch as Charlotte finished bandaging up a newcomer. A pistol was tucked into the holster on her hip as an extra precaution.

Juan plopped Jenni down onto a lawn chair and stared down at her bloody appearance. “Seriously, you couldn’t shoot them in the head before they reached you?”

“Well, I was trying, but they were kinda fast. And then it just got all crazy. ” A dark and frightening emotion shadowed her expression and then it disappeared.

With a sigh, Juan sat next to her, taking off his cowboy hat. Slouching down in his chair, he pondered demanding to know what had happened out there. Jenni had her moments when it was clear that the grief she felt over the loss of her children was overwhelming her, but he could not say anything when this happened. His beloved tended not to speak of the past at all. Occasionally a snippet or two of information would leak out about her life as an abused trophy wife and mother, but it was never on purpose. It was always worse when she saw something out in the deadlands that reminded her of her children, but she had been handling those situations better of late.

Jenni flipped her hair over one shoulder and stared at him. He had a feeling she knew he was holding his tongue.

“What?” He finally said.

“It was a kid. She got bit. The new guy on the bike had to kill her. I saw the light go out of her eyes. I saw the hunger come into them. ”

His eyebrows flew up.

“I’ve never seen that before,” Jenni continued. “The life goes out. It was so clear. I could see it. Like a curtain falling over her spark. Then bam.

Here comes the hungry zombie. ” Shaking her head, she pulled the ax off her back and tossed it onto the ground.

“Fucking scary, huh?” Juan muttered.

Nodding mutely, Jenni slumped down in the chair. Nearby, Charlotte was examining the older, Indian woman. Jenni motioned toward them. “It was her grandkid. It sucked. ” Jenni thought for a long moment, swinging her legs back and forth. “I don’t want that to happen to me. ”

Juan was silent, knowing better than to say a word. It could shut her up and cut him off if he said the wrong thing.

“I don’t want you or anyone else to see the light go out in my eyes and the crazy hungry zombie look come into them. ”

“Jenni, that’s not gonna-”

“You can’t say that!” Jenni pointed at him, her voice vehement. “You cannot say that! You don’t know. None of us know. Bob died today. I’m sure he didn’t go out there thinking he was gonna bite it. ”

“Okay, okay. You’re right. None of us can know. You just gotta be extra careful when you go out there. ”

“I want a bullet right here-” Jenni pointed to her forehead. “-if it ever goes down that way. I want it fast. I don’t want to be one of those things. I don’t want the light in my eyes to go out and for the hungry zombie to take over. ”

Juan stared into her dark, luminous eyes, tinged with the Jenni madness that made him crazy for her and love her more than he thought possible.