Bill was already poised to respond quickly to every threat. He slowly rotated as he walked, taking in all that was around him.

Nerit reached the camper first. She walked slowly, each step carefully measured. Travis was right behind her, looking far more at ease with a gun in his hands than anyone had ever seen him before. He looked alert and ready.

Gazing into the back of the camper, Nerit said, “One dead. Young female. Broken neck.”

Bill sighed sadly behind them. “Probably the best thing for the poor kid.”

Nerit began to slowly descend toward the truck, the roots of the trees providing a natural staircase for her to use. She hesitated, then slowly squatted down where she stood.

“Two male bodies at the bottom of the gorge. Both bound, gagged, appeared to have been raped, then shot execution style in the back of the head,” her voice said with no emotion.

Bill frowned and motioned to Jenni. “Follow me down. I want to get a closer look.”

Nerit held her position as the other two made their way to the bodies. Travis kept a watch on the road with a troubled expression on his face.

Bill took his time examining the bodies and moving around the crime scene. Scrutinizing every detail, he slowly came to some terrible conclusions. With a sigh, he motioned to Jenni and they both struggled to get back up to the road.

“What do you think?”

“Honestly, Nerit, I think they were punished for failing. It's very methodical. Very intense. It feels…angry.”

Nerit nodded. “The young girl, the loss of an asset: the loss of the truck, another asset. But worse, I think they weren't supposed to attack anyone from the fort. They were watching us. Probably trying to determine our strengths and our weaknesses. Maybe even determining their approach. Either they would have attempted to deceive us into letting them in or would have just launched a surprise attack. But now the element of surprise is gone.”

“This is what you were thinking the first night,” Travis said after a beat.

Nerit nodded. “I just needed the proof.”

“So now what?” Bill followed the others toward the truck.

“We return to waiting. Keep alert. They will wait now. Wait until they feel we are vulnerable. We are at stalemate.” Nerit opened up the door to the Hummer and slid in.

Jenni looked back down the road at figures lumbering toward them.

The zombies were far off, but coming. She slid in as well. “Great. This sucks. One more thing to worry about.”

Bill slammed his door shut as Travis climbed into the front seat.

“Nothing is easy now, is it?”

“No, not at all,” Travis answered grimly. “Not at all.”

Chapter 16

1. And a Move is Made

A wave of zombies hit the fort two days later. One of the guards explained that she had been leaning over to pick up her thermos when she heard a growl. Looking down, she saw a zombie turn the corner and began to beat on the trucks making up the first perimeter. She had raised her gun to pick him off when suddenly thirty zombies rounded the corner and began to rabidly attack the perimeter.

“Good for sniper practice,” Nerit said when she was informed. She lit a cigarette and walked out to view the newcomers.

Travis and Curtis stood side by side on a guard platform watching the crowd.

“Not from this town,” Curtis told Nerit. “I don't recognize them.”

“Think they are migrating?” Travis asked.

“Maybe following food,” Nerit said thoughtfully.

Bill yawned as he joined them and looked out. “Well…shit.”

“Understatement,” Travis said with a smile. Katie slipped up behind him and slid her arm around his waist. Turning, he kissed her forehead.

“Gawd, the reek of them,” Katie murmured.

“Looks like farm workers,” Bill decided. “Clothes are pretty screwed up, but looks like farm workers.”

“Could be from anywhere,” Curtis added.

Nerit pointed to one of the male zombies. “A WalMart worker.

Where is the nearest WalMart?”

“Lemme think. About an hour south of here,” Curtis answered.

“Migrating,” Travis sighed.

“Maybe someone corralled them toward us,” Nerit said in a thoughtful tone.

“When Jenni and I were on the road, a crowd of zombies chased us and just kept following the road we escaped on. When we came back, they were still pursuing us on that road,” Katie said to Nerit.

“Someone would just have to give them a little lure in the right direction.”

“In our direction,” Curtis snorted. “Great.”

“Think the bandits are that smart?” Travis wondered aloud.

Bill shook his head. “Who knows? There are different breeds out in this area. It's remote. Country mentality is strong outside the towns. A lot of hardheaded, old-time mindsets.”

“Women are property?” Katie was thinking of the girl Katarina and Bill had seen tied up in the back of the truck that had nearly run them down.

“You can beat your wife as long as it’s on the county courthouse steps with a stick no thicker than her thumb,” Curtis said softly. “Old country law that never got erased from the books.”

Bill nodded. “Assholes live everywhere. Just in the countryside, they got more privacy and more leeway. Makes a lot of stuff easier.”

“We still have some pockets of survivors to pick up, right?” Katie put her hands on her hips and tilted her head toward Travis.

“At least eight. We've been picking them up in order of proximity or if their supplies are low. We're also trying to send in double teams.

Ones to rescue, others to get supplies from the stores. Winter is still months away, but we have to be ready.” Travis stared down at the rabid crowd below. “We got a few groups that got bad infestations around them, too.”

“I think we need to bring them in as soon as we can,”Nerit said.

“Each time out, change tactics. They're watching us. Let them stay confused.”

“I hate to be the devil's advocate, but maybe we should sit tight,”

Curtis said softly. “We got our own to take care of.”

Nerit gave him a long look. “They are our own. We've been in contact with them for quite some time.”

Curtis sighed and nodded. “I just feel like we should be trying to be safe inside and not going out there.”

Travis shook his head. “We may not want to admit it, but we are building a new world here. We need good, solid people to help us continue it. We need some of those people out there. One is an RN, another is an electrician.”

“We have no choice, but to get them,” Katie said firmly.

Curtis was staring at Travis intently. “What if people die going out there?”

“We are all taking risks,” Bill answered for Travis. “To do what is right.”

“Protecting the good of society is what we are trained to do. It is what comes first to our minds. Protecting our own should be a priority.” Curtis shook his head.

“We bring them in,” Travis said. “Because they are our own.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Curtis just sighed.

Nerit waved to the zombies rabidly growling and jostling each other below. “Target practice for Jason and his crew. Don't they have some new weapons to try out?”

“Herding zombies,” Curtis chuckled to himself. “What will those dumb fuck bandits think of next?”

Katie turned to Nerit. “Well, it was nice of the bandits to send us targets.”

Nerit gave Katie a sly smile. “Oh, yes. It gives me a little more insight into their leaders mind.” She slipped past Katie and down the stairs.

“Okay, is it just me, or is she one scary old woman?” Bill blinked his eyes rapidly, his hands on his hips.

“The scariest,” Curtis said somberly. “She scares me shitless.” He followed Nerit down the stairs.

“Glad she's on our side,” Katie added, and followed.

Bill looked over at the zombies. “Yeah, me, too.”

2. And So It Begins Again

Peggy studied her little map with all its highlighted spots she had laid out on the front desk in the lobby. She drew an x through one of the bright yellow circles. They had lost contact with one of the survivor groups. She had finally given up hope this morning after a third day of no response. It could be the zombies, or it could be the bandits. There was no way of truly knowing.

Looking up, she saw the newest additions to the fort, three little kids, running around the lobby with her son, playing what looked like a superhero game. The new family had broken her heart when they had arrived, reeking to high heaven and absolutely terrified. When the wife had seen their new suite in the hotel, she had burst into tears. At their first meal, the children had kept stuffing their faces until the youngest had thrown up. It had grown too easy to forget just how good those in the fort had it compared to those stuck in tiny pockets out in the hostile world.

Nerit glanced over at the children, then back down at the map.

“Five locations. Which is the most desperate?”