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“Hey, Manny, how you doing?” Peggy asked, dabbing her eyes.

Juan gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Hey, Manny. ”

The man had not been seen often as he grew weaker and weaker.

Charlotte believed he had severely blocked arteries. He was often pale and short of breath. He was taking aspirin, but it was hard on him without a proper diet for his heart or any way to remove the blockage that was slowly taking his life.

“I’m fine,” Manny said in a breathy voice. “I came down to say goodbye to a few friends. ”

“Yeah,” Travis said slowly. “Guess they didn’t care for our leadership. ” He looked up at Manny cautiously, not sure if Manny took his removal from the mayor’s office personally or not. The man had become ill nearly immediately after Travis and the council rose to power.

“Let me tell you something. It doesn’t matter if they were happy or not. In the end, you can only do your best. People will agree with you. People will disagree with you. For every person who hates you, there is someone who loves you. ” Manny sat down on a box and rested his hands on his knees.

Rune nodded his head in agreement.

“Well, we’re doing our best,” Travis said after a beat. “I guess we gotta be okay with that. ”

“You do. And, the council has gotten things done I never could have. I never could have done all this or even thought of it. ” He waved a hand indicating the high walls and the fort in general, smiling slightly. “I know you guys did your best by us. Whether we make it through tomorrow or not, know that you have my support. You guys gave me one more good year of life. ”

Travis smiled at the man and took his words to heart. “I think we all got one more year of good life. Those things out there, they didn’t get what we got. A chance to be happy despite it all going to hell. ”

Juan looked away emotionally. “We’ll win this. We gotta. We don’t have what we used to. . . a whole world to feel free in, but we got this fort and our families. ”

The old mayor inclined his head. “Worth fighting for, isn’t it?”

“Damn straight,” Rune declared.

“Do you think we can win?” Peggy looked at Travis, sniffling loudly.

“I think so. We’re gonna try. ”

“But we don’t know for sure, do we?”

“Peggy, I promise you, we will do our very best for everyone in this fort. ”

“I don’t want to get eaten by those things. I don’t want my boy to get eaten by those things. I want you to promise me we’ll live through tomorrow,”

Peggy exclaimed, jabbing her finger into Travis’ chest.

He gripped her arms firmly and looked down at her with compassion. “I promise you we will do our very best. ”

With an agonized cry, Peggy pulled away and ran off.

Manny gazed after her solemnly. “She’s a good woman, but she’s endured a lot. I hate to see her cry. ”

Juan crossed his arms and looked over the fort slowly. “We’re ready as we can be. But I can’t make no promises. ”

“None of us can, Juan,” Travis decided. “None of us can. ”

“There’s only one solution to it, man. ”

“What’s that, Rune?”

“Kill the zombies,” Rune answered, grinning.

* * * * * That night, when Travis laid down to sleep for as many hours as he could, he wrapped his wife up in his arms, and held her tight. Katie, feeling his arms, rolled over and pressed her head to his chest to hear his heart beat.

Between them was the swollen lump of her belly that housed their unborn child. After a few sweet kisses, they nestled down to try to sleep, content in each others arms.