Before them, the feast continued. The zombies did not seem to even notice the three vehicles-idling just a short distance away.

Nerit's voice finally sounded through the static. “We're going to make sure that if anyone is still alive in there that they have a chance.

Kill the ones eating and on the ground dying. Make it fast.” Nerit continued with her instructions, her voice calm and steady.

Jenni listened to the directions, her finger flicking on and off the safety on her gun. Katie exhaled slowly and gripped the steering wheel even tighter with her hands.

“This really fuckin' sucks,” Jenni said under her breath.

“We do what we can and let the rest of it go. Otherwise, we'll go batshit crazy,” Katie answered.

Jenni nodded.

Nerit's voice gave the word and Katie followed the other vehicles into the parking lot. Using the big metal beasts as weapons, they ran over the zombies devouring the people they had come to rescue. The big bus did a good job of flattening the disgusting creatures that were so greedily consuming the dying. Katie aimed for any it missed.

After four rotations through the parking lot, if anything was still moving, it was doing so feebly. Jenni shoved her door open and jumped out. She pulled her ax out of the truck and headed toward the nearest twitching zombie. Heaving the ax over her head, she brought it down hard on its skull. Katie followed behind, holding a spear and doing the same duties. The squashed and mangled zombies were barely mobile now and basically lay on the ground, their spasm obvious in the glow of the headlights.

Jenni dispatched the still-moving zombies swiftly. She had no time to deal with them and had no desire to see Lloyd try to make an appearance. She felt back to her new, normal self. She wasn't going to let his ghost fuck with her anymore. Of that, she was certain.

Once their grisly task was done, the group from the fort stood stoically among the dead. Jenni tried not to notice the old people and children among the bodies.

“Ed, Felix, Bill and I are going in. Roger, Katarina, Jenni and Katie, you stay out here and keep watch. If we call for you, come quick,” Nerit ordered.

Jenni began to protest, not wanting to be left out of the mission inside, but one look at Katie's expression and she clamped her mouth shut. Jenni could not easily define what she saw in Katie's eyes, but it made her bond to her best friend feel tighter. Maybe Katie needed her.

Katarina stood nearby, her red hair coiled on top of her head, staring toward the town. The grisly remains at her feet were ignored.

Jenni didn't know the quiet woman very well, but in that moment, she reminded her of Nerit. There was a calm coldness to her that Jenni admired. She felt hot and emotional inside in contrast. She couldn't bear to look down and see the twisted remains of the dead and know that they were too late.

The smell was terrible. Jenni's eyes watered as she stepped away from a cluster of bodies. A group of zombies had been greedily eating one of the larger women when they arrived. Jenni had briefly wondered if the woman had been fat or pregnant, but the thought made her feel unbalanced, so she shoved it away.

“I hate this shit,” Roger said in a low voice. “I really, really do.”

“Something is going on over there,” Katarina said suddenly. “I see headlights. I think a vehicle went down in a ditch over there.”

“Binoculars are in the bus,” Roger said, and hurried to retrieve them.

Katie stood nearby, watching the road and their surroundings. “Is anyone alive?”

Katarina shrugged. “Can't tell. Something is moving. I can see a shape moving in front of the lights.”

Jenni strained to see down the road, but from where she stood it wasn't clear what Katarina was looking at.

Roger returned and handed off the binoculars to Katarina.

She immediately raised them and studied the scene.

“Zombies. Trying to get into a truck that is definitely nose down in a ditch.”

Jenni took a few steps toward the road.

“Jenni! We can't leave,” Katie called out.

Jenni made a face and stomped her foot. “C'mon. Someone is probably alive over there.”

“We have to provide Nerit and the others backup,” Katarina reminded her.

“Ugh!” Jenni felt frustrated by her inability to act and go rescue whoever was stranded down the road. She stomped her foot again for good measure.

Gunshots sounded from inside. Everyone froze. There was a long silence, then Nerit and the others emerged with a young woman and a small boy. Seeing the carnage in the parking lot, the woman grabbed up the boy and pressed his face against her neck to hide his view.

“They were in a bathroom with the door barricaded. They are the only survivors,” Nerit said to the others.

Felix quickly escorted the woman to the bus while Bill took the time to examine the double doors leading into the community center.

“Nerit, we got a vehicle up the road with zombies around it. I count six zombies,” Katarina explained quickly. “Could be survivors in the truck. But we're gonna have to shoot the zombies.”

“That'll get the town zombies moving our way,” Nerit said thoughtfully.

“We gotta go save them,” Jenni protested.

“I'm with Jenni. We have to save anyone we can,” Katie agreed.

Bill walked toward them, his expression dark. “I agree. Let's do it.”

“The road is narrow. Take one of the trucks, but make sure you are facing away from the town. We'll stay here and provide as much cover as we can, but make it quick,” Nerit said firmly. “The longer we are here, the more dangerous it is.”

Katie headed toward the red truck. “C'mon, Jenni. We'll do this.”

Bill jogged after Jenni as she headed back to join Katie. “I'm coming with you. There weren't no vehicles left with the survivors.

We don't know who is in that truck.”

Jenni slid into the back seat, while Bill got into the passenger seat.

Katie shifted gears and slowly drove up the road.

“Maybe they'll rush the truck so we can run them over,” Katie mused.

“We're never that lucky,” Bill answered.

As they drew closer to the stranded vehicle, they could see that it was lodged firmly in deep ditch nose first. The hood was smashed up against the cracked windshield on the right side and only the left headlight remained shining into the night. The zombies were pounding on the windows, obviously trying to get into the cab. Inside, two young girls were screaming in terror.

“I'll take the two on the left.” Bill said, gripping his rifle tightly.

“I can get the ones on the other side. The two on the windshield are not going to be easy. We'll have to get all the way out for those,”

Katie decided.

“We need to make this fast,” Jenni agreed.

Katie stopped the truck, Bill did a silent countdown with his fingers.

At three, they both flung open their doors. Jenni scrambled over Bill's seat and dropped into the road. She darted past Bill and aimed at one of the zombies rearing back off the windshield to screech at the new flesh. She fired. The zombie jerked back and fell into the tall grass.

Bill and Katie picked off the other zombies as the remaining zombie, trying to pry its way through the shattered windshield, ignored the attack. The two girls screaming inside disappeared from view as they took cover. Jenni aimed and fired again. The last zombie tumbled over the hood and disappeared from view.

“Get them fast,” Katie shouted at Bill. “We've got company coming!”

Jenni looked up the road to see zombies materializing out of the darkness of the trees onto the moon drenched road. “Fuck!”

Bill waded into the tall grass, his form illuminated by the red truck's headlights, his gun and gaze aimed downward, wary of anything lurking there. Jenni kept him covered as Katie stood ready to jump into the truck and drive them out of here.

One of the girls popped up and shoved the truck door open. Bill reached for her and she jumped into his arms. Another girl, younger than the first, also dove into his arms. He clutched them tightly.

Jenni watched the terrain around him. “Hurry, Bill. Hurry!”

Bill hurried out of the grass and onto the road. He glanced over his shoulder at the moaning forms drawing ever closer. Katie rushed over to him and grabbed one of the girls. Together, they hustled them into the truck as Jenni continued to keep her gun trained on the zombies closing in.

Katie slammed the driver's door shut as Jenni and Bill squeezed in beside her. Bill yanked the door shut as Jenni scrambled into the back with the two girls.

“Are either of you bit?” she asked, and felt like a bitch doing it.

“No! No!”

One girl was blond with huge blue eyes. The younger one was Hispanic with the darkest eyes Jenni had ever seen.

The zombies were closer now. Their mutilated forms were slow, but relentless as they stumbled down the country road.

“What drew them here?” Bill wondered. “Couldn't be the gunfire this fast.”

“Don't know. Don't care,” Katie answered, and shifted the truck into reverse. Looking over her shoulder, she began to drive backwards toward the church parking lot. The other two vehicles waited for them.