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The hysterical note in Curtis’ voice was sharp and desperate and Bill reached out to calm his fellow officer. Curtis avoided him and glared intently at Greta.

“Number of miles divided by their walking speed. Rough estimate,” Greta said regarding him coolly.

“So we plan. Today. All day if we have to, how we are going to deal with this,” Travis said.

Eric nodded solemnly. “Agreed. Before we terrify the rest of the people. ”

“They’re going to be terrified anyway,” Peggy scoffed.

“Let’s try to give them less to be terrified of then,” Kevin said with a small smile in her direction.

Juan shook his head, his curls bouncing. “This is not going to be easy.

Getting rid of that many of the dead. We’re talking a total siege. ”

“We’ll deal with it,” Nerit said firmly. “We have no other choice. ”

Katie’s fingers were trembling in Travis’ grip and he leaned over and kissed her cheek gently.

Juan rubbed his brow and whispered, “We got kids and kids on the way.

We gotta do this. We can’t afford to lose all we fucking gained. ”

“Then we do this,” Nerit said again. “We deal with it. ”

Kevin sat down at the table, his expression pensive but determined. “Then let’s do it. ”

With that declaration, Eric rolled out the schematic of the fort and they began to plan. All except one. Curtis slipped out and ran down the hall. He did not stop until he reached the roof of city hall and it was there that he sobbed until he collapsed.

No one came to soothe him.

Chapter 27

1. Judgment Day

Travis had never been so scared in his life. He had faced many terrifying events in the last year, but this had to be the worst.

The entire dining room was crammed with the residents of the fort. They were crowded around tables, lined up against the walls, filling up the aisles, their voices a loud rumble in the large room. No one knew, except a small handful, what the meeting was about and the room was filled with old and young and a small herd of dogs sitting around Calhoun.

The Reverend had brought in the PA system from his brand new church on Main Street and Travis tapped the microphone lightly. The thick booming sound that filled the room made everyone look up sharply.

He swallowed hard and glanced at Katie. She graced him with a slight, but encouraging smile. The tension in her face made him want to hug her, but he had a job to do. As Mayor he had ended up the spokesman for the council and now he stood before an anxious group of people staring up at him intently.

“Okay, let’s get started,” he said, his amplified voice startling him. He cleared his throat again, then took a deep breath. “Well, as you know, we’ve been working to make this a safe place for all of us. I want to thank everyone for their hard work out in the gardens, the fields, the ranch and on construction. And, oh yeah, the grub patrol. Last nights biscuits were awesome. ”

There was a smattering of applause and Rosie smiled at him from where she sat with Juan, his children and her mother, Guadalupe.

“But, that’s not why we’re here. We’re here for another reason and not a good one. ” He flinched as people began to look frightened. Katie’s hand rested on his arm and she gave it an encouraging squeeze.

“What’s going on, Travis?” someone yelled from the back of the room.

Other voices chimed as the faces in the crowd grew grave with concern.

“I’m going to be straight with you. Things have taken a turn for the worse,” Travis said.

“And it ain’t the toilet paper supply running low again,” Peggy drawled, folding her arms grumpily across her chest.

This drew a bit of laughter and broke a little of the tension.