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He could still remember how it thrashed under his foot after he had knocked it flat on its back and pinned it so he could get a good shot at its head. It was one of the worst moments o

f his life.

With a weary sigh, Bill concentrated on the road. He could see a few zombies moving through the dried brush. They seemed disoriented and sluggish. Charlotte was right. They were slowing down as the elements got to them. That didn’t keep them from being fiercely terrifying if they got close to you.

Glancing in the rear view mirror, he could see Jenni leaning her head against the window, staring blankly.

He felt for her. All too clearly, he understood her distress and why she had to be part of the rescue group. It was just something she had to do. He would have done the same for his wife.

Once more, he had to admit to himself that just living had been hard when his wife had passed. He was just back to work and on patrol when that dead little boy banged on his patrol car window. He had almost given in and let the zombie take him, but then he had started to worry about Ralph and Nerit and that had been the end of that. Those two had been friends through thick and thin with his wife’s illness, and he had to make sure they were okay.

Now he was glad he had made his way to them. He had found some incredible friends in the fort. They made this life worth living.

Behind him Felix let out a snort in his sleep and Bill smiled to himself.

“Check that out,” Roger said.

Bill glanced over to see a commercial plane rammed into the side of a barn. There was no sign of life or unlife.

“Bet they’re trapped in there,” Roger went on. “What a way to go. ”

“I’m sure jets went down all over the world. I heard, right before the TV went black, that the planes over DFW were going down into neighborhoods. Just dropping right out of the sky,” Bill said.

“So many ways to die,” Jenni said with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Bill answered, and they all fell silent again.

They passed an overturned car. Inside a figure was flailing around. They drove on.

A figure darted out in front of the moving truck behind them and it was immediately flattened.

How easy it was to kill them now. So very easy.

Katarina again came to mind. He had seen her right before they had left.

She had been walking into the hotel as he exited.

“Good luck,”she had said.

“Thanks,” he had answered grimly.

“Come back, okay?”

“Try to,” he said, then hesitated. He wasn’t sure where he had gotten his nerve, but he had actually said, “Hey, Katarina, want to have a drink with me when I get back?”

She had smiled and said, “Yes, that sounds nice. ”

Then she had walked on and so had he.

He kept thinking of that moment. He wanted to survive, go back to the fort and have a drink with her. He was ashamed to admit it, but he wondered what her hair smelled like. He hoped he would find out. Maybe someday, if she could ignore his plain looks and beer belly.

He turned the wheel and the truck slowed down as they hit the outskirts of their destination. Closed restaurants, gas stations, and a truck company lined this road. Then, up ahead, the two story modern hospital that served this town and several others loomed over an old laundromat. It was small, but that didn’t mean shit in this world.

The truck came to a stop.

Jenni leaned forward. “Looks like fun. ”

Just inside the glass doors, two zombies in wheelchairs clawed at the glass.