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“Dammit,” she said, sighing as she conceded his point.

Travis grabbed her and kissed her firmly, then motioned for them to lower him. Drawing his gun, in one hand, he took a deep breath and almost choked on the acrid smoke. This day was already off to a great freaking start.

* * * * * Jason came to slowly. Coughing on the thick smoke, he struggled to roll over. As he fell onto his back, a man lurched out of the smoke and fell to his knees. The dead gnarled face instantly moved to bury itself into his soft flesh. Jason raised the gun in his hand to the man’s temple and fired.

The zombie fell over.

Blinking his eyes, Jason sat up. Jack hurtled out of the thick black wisps and nearly landed on him as he barked angrily into the smoke. Jason almost called out for Calhoun, then thought better of it. The zombies would find him faster if he called out. Holding onto Jack’s collar, he pulled himself up to his feet and stood, feeling quite wobbly. Slowly, he realized he would look a lot like the zombies in his present battered condition. Jack would be his best defense against being wrongly identified. Leaning over he whispered to the dog, “Find Calhoun” and held on.

Jack looked up at him with his clear brown eyes and Jason could see the concern in their depths. Jack seemed to think this foolhardy, but obediently began to lead him slowly through the hot, acrid air and dark smoke.

A low moan near him made Jason jump and he twisted around. Jack growled low in his throat and Jason raised his gun in the direction of the moan. The stench of decaying burning flesh filled his nostrils and he stared into the smoke in terror.

A woman suddenly lurched out of the mist and Jason instinctively pulled the trigger. She fell back a few feet, snarled, then started forward again.

He fired again, this time the bullet punching through her forehead. The zombie fell back without a sound.

He took a deep breath to try to steady his nerves and began to cough. A groan behind him startled him and he spun around in time to see a burned zombie right on him. It growled low as it seized his shoulders.

Jack was instantly tearing at the creature as Jason brought the gun up and fired through the creature’s head. Another one staggered toward him and he aimed at it.

Jack shoved hard into his legs, knocking him sideways just as the new zombie revealed himself to actually be a living Calhoun.

“Damn clones,” Calhoun muttered as grabbed Jason’s arm to help him up.

“They’re all around. We gotta back up toward the wall. ”

Together, the dog at their side, they moved toward the wall.

“Where is your gun?” Jason whispered.

“No clue. Got the living bejeezus knocked out of me by that explosion,”

Calhoun answered.

The dark smoke began to dissipate as the fires began to burn down. They moved a little faster as more and more figures materialized out of the haze.

“This ain’t good, boy,” Calhoun decided.

Another explosion near the opening made the zombies howl and more body parts rained do

wn on them. The roar of a motorcycle filled their ears as Rune returned to the fort.

“That crazy hippie,” Calhoun muttered as he grabbed Jason tight as the motorcycle drew close to them.

Rune looked a bit bedraggled and was covered in soot. His shotgun was across his lap and he motioned to them. “Get on. ”

Calhoun shoved Jason onto the bike, then managed to squeeze his skinny butt on. Jason grabbed hold of Rune as Calhoun grabbed hold of both of them. Jason wasn’t sure what smelled worse: the zombies or Calhoun.

“Sorry, boy, you gotta run back,” Rune said to Jack, then hauled ass toward the elevator at top speed. They dodged around zombies at a breathtaking speed.

Jason looked behind him to see Jack running as fast as he could with a big doggy grin on his face. He supposed a motorcycle was almost as good as a car when it came to chasing.

The smoky haze was continuing to clear. More zombies were pushing through the opening. The motorcycle reached the elevator just as Travis reached the ground.

“Rune!”

“Hey, dude. Wazzup?”