I promise there is going to be a lot of zombie action starting next chapter.
Katie woke up with a soft moan. She found herself in an unfamiliar but warm room. "Hey great you're up!" Ryan was sitting in the chair next to the bed. "You've been out for hours."
Katie looked at Ryan and started to laugh. "What are you laughing at?" Ryan asked seriously.
"What is that?" Katie pointed to his nose still chuckling. Ryan reached up and touched his nose gently where the cotton was sticking out of his nostril. "They told me to keep it even after the bleeding stopped okay." Ryan complained and pulled it out. "She got me good."
"I tried to warn you." Katie offered falling back onto the pillows.
"Well, it doesn't matter now. Nick told me what happened after I fell." Ryan sighed.
Katie jumped up again. "Hey what happened to those zombies? Are they still out there?" Ryan stood up and followed Katie outside. "I don't know Nick and some others went to check. Are you sure you should be walking around?"
"I want to go. And why are we in one of the apartments?" Katie walked down the hall looking into the rooms as she headed towards the stairs. "Where are Stephen and Karen?"
"We are using it as the hospital. And Katylin and Stephen are fine they were coming to see you but now you're leaving so they'll be visiting an empty room." Ryan followed her the whole way until they were downstairs in the lobby.
"How many are dead?" Katie asked quietly before opening the doors. Ryan looked on the ground for a minute. "We're still not sure. There are still some bodies out there." Katie took a breath and the opened the door and stepped out. It was day but there was still a heavy cloud cover everything was cold and damp. Katie stepped over red stains in the road and grass.
Slowly they passed by the town center. "Oh man and I thought it looked bad at night." Katie sighed and looked around. Some workers were piling up dead bodies into two piles one for the towns people and one for the guards. The military jeep was totaled and looked like someone had rammed it into a building at top speed. Davy barked and bounded towards them. "Hey boy!" Ryan bent down to stroke his fur.
"Way to go Davy you did well." Katie smiled and hugged the dog. He licked her face happily. "We did it kid! Liberation has come!" Derrick shouted from the other end of the center. Katie looked up grimly. "At what cost?" she whispered to Ryan. "Come on I want to get to the wall."
Katie Ryan and Davy walked to the gates. Nick, Tony, and Chris were standing on top looking down on something. Tony looked like he was arguing with Nick.
"Hey what's going on?!" Ryan shouted as Katie climbed up the ladder.
"They are trying to kill my mom!" Tony shouted back.
"Damnit Tony she is not your mom anymore!" Nick said back. "Katie what are you doing out of bed?" he said when Katie peered over the wall next to him. A group of twenty or so zombies were staring back at her trying to break through the cement. "Your mom is down there?" Katie asked looking at Tony. Something slammed into the wall further down when Katie looked she saw it was Mother now a zombie running full speed into the wall.
"Oh my God!" Katie revolted. Mother stopped at looked at her. One of her eyes was completely dug out leaving an empty black hole surrounded by dried blood and saliva. Her innards were sliding out of the gaping hole in her stomach and dragging along in the dirt. Flesh hung limply from her cheek showing only bone and dead muscle. Mother roared and ran into the wall again.
"Just shoot them!" Ryan pulled out his gun.
"That's what we were trying to do." Chris grunted. "Then he comes along," he jutted a thumb towards Tony "And decides to get all emotional."
"Which one is you mom Tony?" Katie asked.
"Mother." Tony said blandly.
"No I mean which one is your mom?" Katie asked again.
"That woman there!" Tony pointed towards Mother.
"I don't understand." Katie was confused and looked to Ryan for support. "Mother is-she's your mom?"
"She gave birth to me alright." Tony shrugged.
"But you don't look anything like her!" Ryan pointed out.
"Yeah, I think that's a good thing." Tony answered.
"We need to put her down. We need to put them all down." Nick said. Chris started firing rounds into the faces of the zombies below.
"I don't care about them just don't shoot my mom." Tony scratched his head.
"Oh shit look at her go!" Ryan shouted. Mother was running away from the wall faster than anything human. "Where is she going?" Tony leaned over. Chris stopped shooting to aim after her. "I can't get a shot off she's too far."
"Good." Tony sighed. "But look at the other ones they are leaving too." Sure enough the other zombies turned around and stumbled after Mother who was already becoming a speck in the distance.
Chris and Ryan finished shooting them all before they got far at all. "There must be someone else out there." Katie whispered.
"Well she's there problem now." Chris put up his gun. Ryan nodded in agreement. "Good riddance."
"If there is somebody out there we have to help them." Katie looked at the three men. "What if they are stranded?"
"And what if they are outlaws or a rouge gang?" Nick said. "There is nothing out there for miles. No one could survive out there."
"We survived." Katie pointed to Ryan.
"There is something out there." Stephen, Rachel and Katylin had climbed onto the wall.
"Stephen!" Katie hugged him and then Karen. "I'm glad you guys are okay."
"I'm glad you're alright too. We went by your room but they said you left." Stephen said. "It was a hell of a night."
"What were you saying?" Ryan interrupted.
"There is a local college about fifteen miles west of here." Stephen sighed. "Mrs. Wilson told me about it."
"See that's the direction Mother ran! There must be some survivors there." Katie said.
"Yeah, it's a technical school. But it's been years since the outbreak they'd all be dead by now, if not from the zombies from starvation and thirst." Nick sighed.
"I don't care I still want to go and check it out." Stephen said. "Just give me a car and I'll go."
"Son you are not going out there." Chris looked at him funny. "No one has left this fort since it started and it didn't turn out well for the first person to do so."
"Listen I need to get to the college." Stephen said again. "I will go by myself if I have to."
"Stephen why do you want to go out there so bad?" Katie asked trying to study his eyes.
"Mr. Wilson is dead. He was killed last night back in the town center." Stephen looked down at his feet.
"Look Steph-" Ryan reached out for his arm but Stephen jerked it back. "I promised him I'd take care of his wife and she wants to see her son. He went to college there and I'm going to find him."
"Don't be crazy!" Nick butted in.
"Go talk to Mrs. Wilson about being crazy." Stephen's body started to shake. "Try telling a woman that her loving husband of over 30 years is dead and talk about going crazy. Now I will say this again. I am going out there so get me a car or get out of my way."
There was a long pause on the wall. "I'll go with you." Katie said. "Me too." Karen looked like she could not believe she had volunteered herself.
"Guess that means I'll have to come along as well." Ryan sighed. "Yes I guess it does." Katie smiled.