Page 182

“You’re really sick, you know,” Ken chided flirtatiously.

“Yeah, I know,” Dale answered, winking. “And that’s why you like me. ”

Ken blushed deeply.

* * * * * In Bill and Katarina’s Durango, they too had listened in silence, their fingers intertwined. It was far too easy to imagine themselves in the place of the two women. The thought of losing each other was too much to bear.

At last, when they knew that the women were rescued, they hugged each other tightly.

“I love you, Bill,” Katarina whispered.

“I love you, Kit-Kat,” he answered, giving her a gruff kiss.

“Durango Two, prepare to depart,” Kevin’s voice said through the radio static.

“That’s us, honey,” Bill said, kissing her one more time. He ran his hand over her long red braid then sat back in the driver’s seat and steadied his nerves. Shifting into drive, he looked up at the helicopter drifting into view. “Let’s hope it goes better for us. ”

“I’m praying something awfully fierce,” Katarina answered softly. “But if it’s our time, I just pray that the Good Lord gives us time to do what we need to. ”

With sadness in his eyes, Bill nodded.

“Durango Two, depart,” Kevin said.

* * * * * “We almost lost Bette and Linda,” Travis said to Katie and Juan as they entered the communication center. “But they’re okay. ”

“Shit,” Juan uttered. “How?”

“Runners. Sounds like they ended up with more than they expected and there were some miscalculations. They’re on the helicopter now. A little battered, but okay. ” Travis ran his hands over his hair and then rubbed his face. “They’re okay. ”

“And they got a lot of zombies to go off in the right direction away from us,” Peggy added from her post before the radios. “So that’s good. ”

“So the plan is working. ” Katie sat down in a chair and ran her hand gently over her large stomach.

“So far,” Travis agreed.

“Shit,”Juan said again. He was perched on the edge of a table. “I told my crazy ass cousin not to go. ”

“You couldn’t stop her from going with Bette,” Katie reminded him.

“Yeah, I know,” Juan answered. He sighed and rubbed his day old stubble.

“Who’s the bait now?”

“Bill and Katarina,” Peggy replied. One of her well-manicured hands rested against the ear piece of her headset. “They just got the word to move ahead. ”

Katie silently reached out to Travis and he took her hand. Giving her a small encouraging smile, he squeezed her fingers.

“Bill knows those roads. He’ll be fine,” Travis assured her.

Katie gave him a hopeful, yet solemn look.

* * * * * Don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t sceam. . . Katarina’s mantra repeated in her head in rapid succession.

The Durango idled at the next crossroads waiting for the lumbering zombies to grow closer. There were so many of the hungry dead. They clogged up the road, filled the ditches and extended into the trees.

Despite the air conditioner being set to recycle the air in the Durango, the stench was growing unbearable.

Thousands of outstretched hands reached toward their vehicle as the zombies marched toward them. They were gray and somewhat blackened by the sun. Their bristled hair stood up around their heads in the humidity and heat. Their clothes were almost unrecognizable as they clung to their decomposing flesh.