Katie sobbed with joy and clung to her best friend. "Oh, Jenni. I've missed you so much."

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm here now. I'm here to save you and Travis just like I promised." Jenni drew back and touched Katie's check very gently.

"What do you mean?" Katie demanded, hearing the seriousness in Jenni's tone.

Jenni glanced at the clock again, her fingers gripping Katie's hand. It was beginning to not feel as real as it first had. "It's almost time. c.r.a.p. I forgot what time was like. It's different on the other side where all time is the same: past, present, future." She sighed softly. "I thought I had more time."

"Jenni, what do you mean?"

"I'm here to save you and Travis," Jenni replied. "Cause if I don't, tonight you're both going to die."

* * * * * "Everyone deals with stress differently," Travis said uneasily.

"Yeah, I know. I just, you know, being a cop and all, I just see how things are going seriously wrong and I want to set it right."

"I know what you mean." Travis watched Curtis thoughtfully.

"I see people doing s.h.i.tty things to other people and I just want to tell them that they need to shape up and get with the program. This is the law.

You gotta obey it. You know, I believe in order. But lately..." Curtis shook his head. "I can't even find order in my own d.a.m.ned life."

Tucking his hands into his jean pockets, Travis bobbed his head slowly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We're all just doing our best."

"But people keep on dying, Travis, don't they?"

Measuring his words carefully, Travis answered, "This world is dominated by death, Curtis. The living got a rough time of it."

"Yeah, yeah," Curtis agreed. "But sometimes, you know, the living make it harder on the rest of the living."

Travis tried to keep his face neutral, but he felt his body beginning to tense.

"How many people are gonna die, Travis? I don't mean when those f.u.c.king zombies get here. But tonight? Tomorrow? The suicides haven't even started yet, you know? But they will. Bill warned me about them.

Gawdd.a.m.n lucky it ain't like those old zombie movies where you just die and you're a zombie else we'd be s.h.i.t out of luck fast."

Standing in silence, Travis looked at the younger man, studying the policeman's tense posture and flushed face with growing anxiety. "We're doing what we can, Curtis."

"Yeah, yeah, we are. Right. Saving people. Bringing them here. Taking a f.u.c.king stand against religious people who just don't agree with us. But maybe they were right, Travis. Did you think of that? Your girl got all right and straight," Curtis laughed sarcastically. "But my girl went all queer when you got the mall folks here. They are corrupters and sinners!

Do you even give a s.h.i.t about that?"

"Linda and Bette-"

"And you say their names together like they f.u.c.king belong together. They don't! Linda, my Linda, was okay before those s.h.i.tbags from the mall got here. And that n.i.g.g.e.r-"

"Hey!" Travis voice was harsh. "Don't go there."

Curtis glared evenly at Travis. "This is the country, city boy. We talk different out here though you may not like it. And why the h.e.l.l is an outsider our leader anyway?"

"Curtis, I'm one of many who make decisions around-"

"You blew into town all fancy and handsome. All the girls got all crazy about you right away. Making a big deal out of you and your fancy ways.

Then all this s.h.i.t hits and you're the f.u.c.king king? If the Mayor wasn't such a p.u.s.s.y and rolled over for you, we may have had a little more f.u.c.king luck with keeping our f.u.c.king senses and taking care of our own before dragging every f.u.c.king f.a.ggot, raghead, n.i.g.g.e.r-"

The punch was hard, fierce, and caught Curtis in mid-sentence. It knocked him back a few feet and stunned him. Shrouded in shadows, the younger man slowly brought his hand up to his face, feeling the quickly swelling flesh beneath his fingers.

Trying to keep calm, Travis said softly, "You're freaking out, Curtis. You need to calm the h.e.l.l down right now. I'll drag your a.s.s down to the clinic and sedate you if I have to."

In the darkness, the younger man stood in silence then slowly, methodically stepped into the light. "Try it,"he said in a low whisper and a knife glittered in the starlight.

* * * * * "What do you mean?" Katie demanded, her eyes widening. "Explain, Jenni!"

Jenni tilted her head, looking at the alarm clock. Grabbing it up, she studied the numbers then c.o.c.ked her head again, as if remembering something. "Oh, f.u.c.k, I was always late when I was alive."

"Jenni, you're scaring me," Katie whispered.

"Get your jeans on!" Jenni flung them at Katie and whirled around, her long hair fanning out around her. "s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t! I got the time f.u.c.ked up in my head. I was thinking of Nerit's time, not Travis'!"

Fumbling with her jeans, Katie struggled into them, nearly tripping as she tried to also shove her feet into her jogging shoes. "Jenni, you're scaring the h.e.l.l out of me! What is going on?"

"Curtis is about to kill Travis! We have to hurry or he'll do it!" Jenni grabbed at Katie's hand. Their fingers did not touch, but pa.s.sed through each other. "Oh, d.a.m.n! I'm already fading!"

"Jenni, what do you mean Curtis will kill Travis?" Katie felt as if she couldn't breathe as she tied her shoes.

"Come with me! Hurry! I'm sorry, Katie. I got the times wrong!" Jenni waved at her best friend again, her body seeming not as solid as before.

"C'mon! We have to save Travis!"

"What do you mean Nerit's time? Jenni, what is happening?" Katie raced after her friend throwing open the bedroom door that Jenni simply ran through. She followed Jenni into the hallway. "Jenni, what do you mean?"

* * * * * "Nerit," a voice whispered softly.

Standing on the sh.o.r.es of the Red Sea, Nerit turned slowly. Raising her hand to shield her eyes, she looked for the source of the soft voice.

"Nerit, come to my voice," it came again softly.

Turning completely around, she looked into the horizon as the sun blazed down on her. Her long blond hair whipped around her face and she could feel the sand and salt tucked into the creases of her uniform and rubbing against her skin.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Here. Come here." The voice was behind her on the waves.

Stepping into the water slowly, she felt disoriented and afraid. Behind her the wind howled.

"Come deeper into the water, Nerit," the voice called out again. "Come to my voice."

"Ralph?"

Now in water up to her waist, she felt the warm water lapping up around her hands as she held them out at her sides.

The howl of the wind was louder now, almost screaming in her ears.

"Don't look behind you, Nerit, just come here," Ralph's voice persisted.

Slowly, despite his words, Nerit turned. Behind her the sh.o.r.e was filled with the undead, screaming, howling, reaching toward her. A few were daring to enter the water behind her.

Then a hand reached out of the water, grabbed her and dragged her down into the salty depths.

In the tiny clinic room, Nerit's eyes opened from her nightmare. Her fingers trembling against her heaving chest, she tried to focus her eyes and take a deep breath. It hurt at first, then the pain in her chest lessened and she pressed her hand to her forehead.

The I.V. was an annoying pain in her wrist, but she ignored it as she caught sight of Kevin asleep in a chair near the door.

"Kevin?"

She was sure the voice in her dream had been Ralph, but now she wasn't so sure.

Slowly, Ralph stepped out of the shadows near the bed and sat down in the chair closest to her. He smiled softly at her and reached out to take the hand still clutching the bed covers.

"Nerit, you're okay. You're awake. It was hard to get you back. You were so far gone."

"Ralph," she whispered, laying her other hand over his. "I can feel your hand."

"Only for a little bit, hon," he answered, giving her a small smile.

"Am I dreaming?"

"No, hon. You're awake. Out of the coma. Lots of prayers were going up for you, you know," Ralph said with a wink.

"What's happening?" Nerit asked slowly, cautiously.

Looking sad, Ralph sighed and squeezed her hand. "What happens next is gonna be hard. Not to my liking. Probably not to yours. But how it is."

"Ralph, you're frightening me," Nerit whispered. She felt groggy and unsure of the world around her. The dreams of Israel had been so vivid they had felt real to her.

"Sometimes, Nerit, we gotta sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. We gotta do the hard job. The thing that hurts most." Ralph sighed softly.

"Lots of prayers for you, like I said. Lots of fear here. Lots of need."

"Ralph, please, I know I have cancer, I know--" She dreaded that he was here to take her for good.

"Not no more, Nerit. It's gone. I wanted you home. With me." He looked so heartrendingly sad and Nerit squeezed his hand tightly. "But, you got an extension. You got more time. They need you here. They need who you are and what you can do. I even prayed myself for you to stay here."

"Ralph, I'll always love you and-" The sense of relief she felt was overwhelming. To not die of cancer, to fight on for the fort, it was all she wanted, yet; she felt so sad to not be with him.

"I know, Nerit. But your place is here. And this changes everything for the fort. Time is not set in stone. Some of us on the other side realized that.

We saw it all: Past, Present, Future. We knew what could happen and we...we found a place in time to try to change how it comes out. Not saying it's going to turn out okay, but you guys got a better chance now."

"I don't understand, Ralph," Nerit said softly.

With a sad, weary sigh, her dead husband said, "There are points in time that the future hinges on. A moment when it can all go one way or the other. This is one of those times. Some of us have worked hard to see that this swings in a way that will let the living win."

Slowly, achingly, Nerit sat up. She could feel herself growing stronger in mind, body and spirit and her eyes became more sharply focused. "I see."

"I've seen two futures, Nerit. I hope, pray that..." He hesitated and slowly stood up. "I hope that the world lives on beyond tomorrow."

"Ralph," she said softly. She looked at him evenly. "Tell me what to do."

With a short nod of his head, Ralph said, "That's my girl. This is what you gotta do..."

* * * * * "Curtis," Travis said in a low, soft voice. "You don't want to do this."

"No, actually I do." Curtis took one step forward. His young face was very calm, his eyes hard, and his jaw set. He was more self-a.s.sured, c.o.c.kier than usual. He moved with confidence that made him only seem deadlier.

"What purpose will it serve to kill me?" Travis asked, watching the knife warily. His body was tense, ready to evade any attack. His heart was thundering in his ears.

"I'm not going to kill you, Travis. Just help you along." Curtis smiled slowly. "You know, originally, I wanted to ditch Katie over the wall. Let you see how it feels to lose the woman you love. But I am okay with this.

You dying works fine."

The cold manner in which Curtis spoke of throwing his wife over the wall had Travis speechless with horror. He took a long breath to calm himself.

He needed to think clearly, not emotionally. Stepping back, Travis could feel the catwalk sway slightly. Looking around him, he realized how perfectly isolated they were. Curtis had picked one of the best places in the entire fort for an attack.

"Who knows? Maybe your lesbo wife will hook up with Bette and return my girl to me. That could work. Maybe." Curtis moved forward in a slow relentless pace.

"Curtis, think about what you are saying. You're speaking about murder,"

Travis said in a measured voice. "You don't want to do this."

"Why not? I've done it before. I got rid of the people you wouldn't. I took care of the fort when you wouldn't. Yeah, yeah, you all blamed Blanche, but she was a stupid wh.o.r.e. I took care of this fort when you wouldn't. I did what was necessary!"

"You're the Vigilante," Travis said slowly, the shock of his words making him feel a little numb.

"Yeah, Travis, took you long enough. You're dumber than I thought."

Curtis laughed. "You're all so busy just trying to be goody goody and make the world great by talking and talking, but I am the doer. I do what needs to be done." The young man's face was full of cold, raw anger. "I am the law around here, whether you want to admit it or not. I am the only real cop left standing around here. I took care of our people while you just talked and talked and talked."

"I'm not the only one making decisions around here," Travis started.

"No, you're not. But you got more influence than you deserve to have.

You're an outsider, Travis. You don't belong here. But ever since you blew into town, everyone has acted like you're some great wonderful messiah.

All the girls were blabbing on about you and all the guys wanting to be your buddy. But you ain't all that. You're a city slicker that came out here to play country. And your city slicker ways ain't doing us no d.a.m.n good."