Jenni was so fascinated by what the man was saying, she almost didn’t see the zombie run around the corner. But her reflexes were fast and sure and she shot a nice hole through its head and sent it sprawling.

“…and that’s what I’m talking about. Now they are everywhere! I am going to write to the President of the United States even if he is in league with the aliens to let him know of the blatant abuse of the use of taxes on this cloning program…”

“You need to get the hell off the street right now,” Jenni yelled at him.

“The slow ones are closing in,” Katie pointed out. She took aim and waited for them to be in range.

“…and I have my video recorder and I will record any meeting that is associated with my complaint because I know that Peggy does alter the minutes to suit her Amazonian agenda…”

“Drive around to the gate,” Jenni yelled down at him.

“…and even if you are in cahoots with her, I want you to know that girl’s feet stinks. Once in church she came in and took off her shoes and it was the worst smell…”

“Get off the fucking street! Go around the block to the entrance!”

Beside her, Katie fired.

“…and though the aliens have negotiations with the Amazons, I cannot imagine why her feet smelled that bad…”

“Get off the fucking street!”

A zombie came running around the corner and Jenni lifted her weapon and fired.

From the balcony of city hall, Peggy yelled, “Calhoun, you old coot, get your ass in here and file a complaint or I’m locking you out.”

“I am a citizen of this great nation and this town and you cannot bar me from a public area during regular visiting hours…” The man whipped away on his scooter down Main Street just in time, for four more zombies came racing up Morris Avenue in pursuit of him.

Jenni and Katie began to fire as the crazy old man disappeared down the side street that would lead him to the gate.

“Just when you thought it couldn’t get weirder,” Jenni giggled.

“Well, at least you got your zombies,” Katie answered, and fired.

2. Open the Gate and Let The Insanity In

“Open the gate,” came the order over the walkie-talkie from Peggy.

“We got a survivor coming in!”

Juan rushed up the stairs to look down from the sentry tower into the street below. Sure enough, stinky old Calhoun was heading down the street on his scooter. Right behind him, and gaining speed, were at least six zombies. As Juan watched, two more came running around the far corner, pumping their legs, running fast, screeching.

“Get ready! Get ready! We have zombies coming,” Juan shouted down to the men below. “And they ain't the slow ones!”

The guard beside him took aim and fired. One of the zombies, who was about to grab Calhoun and drag him off the scooter, went down in a spray of blood.

Ahead of Calhoun, the gate opened easily, its mechanism now running smoothly. Guards in the padlock were already raising their guns, aiming toward the widening gap.

Juan lifted his hand, signaling to the man controlling the gate to watch for his mark.

The scooter was making hacking noises, plumes of dark smoke erupting from the back end. A spout of blood and brains erupted from the back of another zombie’s head. It went down soundlessly.

Now there were at least three zombies gaining on the old scooter.

“…and now I’m being chased by clones and I hold the Mayor directly responsible…” Crazy Calhoun was shouting as he cruised toward the gates.

Juan actually wasn’t surprised the crazy old guy was still alive. If anyone was paranoid enough to survive the zombie apocalypse, it was Calhoun. His property had a huge fence around it with razor wire at the top. It was also well known that Calhoun only ate MRE’s and lived in an underground bunker. Why he was venturing into town was a mystery. Juan couldn’t imagine why Calhoun was coming into town.

The scooter coughed and sputtered into the padlock. Juan signaled for the gate to be closed. The guard next to him fired more shots and zombies went tumbling to the ground.

Just as the gate was about to close, a female zombie slipped in and screamed before charging after Calhoun. The back of her head exploded in a gush of gore and Calhoun turned around and looked at her sprawled body with contempt.

“…and obviously were not cloned from quality people. They’re just insane. And where did all this come from? I do not remember voting on any city agenda to build a fort in the middle of town. I do not approve of my taxes going for this facility when we need to deal with the evil clones epidemic…” Calhoun rattled away.

Juan crossed his arms over his chest and began to laugh. Life was about to get much more interesting now that the town crazy had arrived. Calhoun hated the city government with a passion and always came to every council meeting. He would always sit in the back, talking away non-stop as his video camera whirred and recorded every word said by those on the council. He especially hated Peggy, because she had refused to marry him years before she had married Cody's now deceased father.

“…and I don’t know who is going to pay for my scooter, but since it was damaged by me coming all the way into town to file a complaint, I firmly believe it should be paid for by the Mayor out of his personal funds. And I will know if it is out of his personal funds because I can attune my brain to the Internet…”

Juan looked over the gate toward the road and saw more zombies in route. His smile faded as he realized Calhoun had managed to lead more zombies to the fort. With a sigh, he lifted the walkie-talkie.

“Peggy, Calhoun is here.”

“Yeah, I know. Feels like old times, huh?” Her voice sounded amused yet weary.

Juan laughed a little. “Yeah. Strangely, yeah.”

“…certain I did not vote on this fort being built…”

3. Purple Dresses

Nerit walked into the large room used as the “store” of the fort.

Everything salvaged from the town’s various stores was arranged in boxes and plastic bins. Manny and Peggy had worked hard to organize everything. Every box was labeled. One long table had small boxes full of personal hygiene products. She noted the box with the condoms was steadily diminishing. She had heard Shane mentioning that they were on his shopping list as he had headed out earlier along with cigarettes and booze. The younger people of the fort were finding comfort in each other. She could not blame them.

Snagging a box of Marlboro Lights, she tucked it into the plastic bag she was using as a shopping cart and headed to the far side of the room where gloves, hats and scarves were grouped. She needed a new pair of gloves, preferably leather.

Coming around the corner of the aisle, she found Katie on the floor going through boxes labeled “Women’s Dresses”. She looked frustrated as she dug down to the bottom of one of the big bins.

“Needing a new dress?” Nerit asked as she began to look through the box of gloves.

“I got it into my head that I need one for the party tonight,” Katie confessed. Next to her was a very sexy pair of high heels. “I found the shoes, but no dress.”

Nerit pulled out a pair of soft leather gloves and began to try them on. “Nice shoes.”

“Yeah, I think they belonged to one of those women that got eaten in the dining room. I asked Peggy about them and she said they were found kicked under a table in a hall. She thinks the woman took them off to run easier. Lucky for me, they fit.”

Nerit flexed her hand in the glove and pretended to fire a gun. They were a little stiff, but leather did tend to soften up and mold to fit. “So, what brought on this need for a new dress?”

Katie looked up at her, her expression a little embarrassed, but a glow seeming to emanate from her face. She looked happy.

Nerit grinned. “Oh, Travis.”

Katie laughed. “That obvious, huh?”

With a slight nod, Nerit said, “Well, yes, if someone was paying attention. You’ve played it very low-key. He has been far more obvious.”

Yanking another dress out, Katie looked at it, then sighed.

“This town wasn’t the hub of fashion,” Nerit said.

“Yeah, I noticed.” Katie pulled out another box and began to look through it.

Nerit slid the gloves into her bag and walked over to a box filled with Halloween costumes. It had been part of the overstock in the grocery store that had been taken in soon after this had all started. She began to look through the items, her mind twirling ideas around.

“What color do you like to wear?”

“Purple. Lydia always liked me in purple or blue,” Katie pulled out a plain navy dress several sizes too large for her frame and sighed.

Drawing a purple sorceress outfit from the box of costumes, she looked at Katie. “Like this color?”

“I am not wearing a Halloween costume.”

“If we can locate a sewing kit, I can modify it,” Nerit assured her.

Katie stood up and looked at the dress. “Really?”

Nerit nodded. “Oh, yes. It won’t be as fancy as anything from Versace, but I can make it work.”