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Slowly, resolutely, the undead wandered into the west toward the fort.

Chapter 26

1. The Dead Are Coming

Rune was impressed by the changes in the fort as he drove up the country road. It looked more like a fort than ever before.

“They have catapults,” he murmured, impressed.

They would need them.

A lot of the outskirts of the town had been razzed to the ground. The debris was gone and Rune bet the people in the fort were using it as building supplies or weapons. The road he traveled on had new roadsigns. They were clear directions on how to safely approach the fort.

Rune noted some nasty looking traps along the way. The zombies couldn’t read or think, so he could see how the traps could be very effective.

When he finally reached the gated entrance, he was immediately

let in by the guards who recognized him. He was exhausted and hungry, but he needed to let the fort leaders know what was going on. Ken and Lenore were the ones who began to check him out for bites and it was good to see familiar faces.

“Can you let the Big Boss and Nerit know I need to speak to them right away?” Rune asked Lenore.

“Sure thing,” she answered and pulled out her walkie-talkie.

“Is Dale still around? And Maddie?”

“Yeah, they’re still here,” Ken answered, his smile brightening at the mention of Dale. “It’s been kinda rough since you left. A lot of people died. But a lot of people also came to join us. ”

“Fort grew in other ways, too. ” Rune motioned with his head toward an outgoing helicopter.

“You have no idea,” Ken answered.

“Go on in, Rune. They’ll meet you in Travis’ office,” Lenore instructed.

“Thanks. See you guys around. ”

Despite all the changes to the fort, Rune found his way back into the old familiar territory of the hotel. There were definitely new people around and when Maddie spotted him, he got an enormous hug. Politely disengaging from her, he hurried past Peggy and Eric discussing something about the front doors. Bill and Curtis greeted him as they exited the communication center and Dale gave him thumbs up from where he was playing with some little kids.

It was strange to be among the living after being around the dead for so long. But what was even stranger was the disconcerting lack of ghosts.

Before, the fort had seemed full of spirits. Now, he didn’t sense any. But then again, the deadlands had been strangely quiet of spirits as well.

Something had changed. Some event had allowed the spirits to start moving on again. Maybe it was the fort. Or something else. But the energy around him was changing.

Travis greeted him warmly when he entered the office. “Hey, Rune. Good to have you back. ”

“Good to be here. Nerit, like your hair. Looks good. ” He shook both their hands and Nerit looked pleased with the mention of her new hairstyle.

“What do you have to tell us, Rune? Lenore made it sound urgent. ”

Travis sat on the edge of his desk as Nerit took a chair.

Rune remained standing and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, it must have been my tone. I’ve been riding most of last night and today trying to get here. I need to warn you about something big. ”

His smile fading, Travis said, “Go on. ”

“I woke up last night. Got woke up last night. Jenni was there. She told me that I needed to come warn you. Needed to get moving. ”

“Jenni?”