"Go, Mom," Jason said softly, tears in his eyes.

Jenni activated the hidden dynamite under the dirt and blew the zombies to h.e.l.l.

As the smoke cleared, nothing moved in the mouth of the alley or beyond.

And Jenni, once more, was gone.

Chapter 32.

1. The Time of Choice The lobby was packed with people as word of what had happened between Curtis, Travis, and Katie spread throughout the fort. Katie found herself huddled on a couch with Travis, sipping water and trying to keep her hands from shaking. She wasn't sure what had happened to Curtis' body, but a few people kept commenting they should throw him over the wall to the zombies.

Kevin sat nearby with Nerit. He looked utterly shocked that she was up, let alone looking so good.

"This is bulls.h.i.t," a man declared.

Katie tilted her head to see Ed standing nearby.

"Sorry, folks, but I can't believe no s.h.i.t about ghosts. Jenni is dead. End of story. Curtis may have been the Vigilante, but we broke f.u.c.king protocol opening the loading dock."

"Were we supposed to just leave them out there to die?" Peggy exclaimed.

"I'm just saying that this place is going to s.h.i.t fast," Ed responded.

"I saw Jenni," Juan said sharply. "I saw her!"

"So did I," Peggy exclaimed. She was smoking up a storm and was shaking.

"Ghosts are bulls.h.i.t and if this is what I can expect when the zombies get here, people busting protocol 'cause someone is in danger, I'm out of here," Ed said firmly.

"I saw ghosts, too," Katarina said from near the elevators. "I saw my Mama until Bill and I got engaged. After Bill died, I saw him."

Voices began to rise up, some agreeing with Ed.

"Ghosts? Give me a break."

"People are losing it."

"How many here saw a ghost tonight?" Nerit's voice broke through the murmuring.

Silence fell over the lobby, then slowly, nearly a third of the room raised their hands.

"So did I. I saw my dead husband. And he told me what Curtis was trying to do. I saw Jenni, too. Now, I may be an old woman, but that only means I've lived longer than most of you and I have seen things I cannot explain.

The ghosts were here. They came to guide us. But they have all pa.s.sed on now and it's up to us to deal with what happens next." Nerit's voice was firm and strong. It was a far departure from her frail appearance when she lay in a coma.

"C'mon," a voice said nearby. "That's a bunch of bull. You're sounding as crazed as those Baptists we threw out."

"Our leadership seems to be under a lot of stress," a familiar voice said.

The former Mayor stood nearby. He wasn't doing very well health-wise and looked strained.

"I saw Jenni, too," Travis finally spoke up. "I saw her clear as day. I saw her turn back the zombies coming for me and my wife. If we have the dead walking the earth, why are ghosts so hard to believe in?"

"If your ghosts are real, why don't they just come and save us all?"

Katie couldn't see who all was talking now. The lobby was packed.

"They did what they could to give us a fair chance to fight back. But what happens next is up to us," Nerit said.

"So did they give you any a.s.surances, huh? That we'll live?" Peggy asked this, her face quite pale.

"No. They did not." Nerit stood slowly and her presence seemed to push back those closest to her. "It is up to us if we win or lose. If we live or die."

"That side door was opened up," Ed said again. "After there was explicit orders to keep it closed."

"That was my call," Juan said. "To save Travis and Katie."

"No offense to them, but if we go around breaking all the rules for the popular folks, we're all gonna die," Ed continued.

Gretchen, former librarian and always an outspoken woman, stepped next to Ed. "He's right. We've all been following along behind the leaders of this fort. Doing what you said. Even when we disagreed because we all wanted this to work. But would that door have been opened for me?"

Angry murmurs grew loud until Nerit held up her hand. "Juan did what he felt was right. Whether you agree or not, the choice was made."

"You know, the Baptists hightailed it out of here talking about G.o.d's judgment. Now you're talking about ghosts. Anyone noticed that the gay people around here have kinda been dying?" a male voice called out from the back.

Bette looked sharply toward the person who spoke and Katie saw Linda take hold of her arm.

"You have no right," Lenore suddenly shouted. "No right to say that. Ken gave his life for all of us!"

The Reverend took hold of her arm and drew her back. Comforting her, he said, "Many have given their lives for all of us."

Travis stood up and towered over everyone. Katie held onto his hand and he rubbed her fingers gently with his thumb. "This isn't a time to fall apart."

"The ghosts came to warn us! To tell us to fight!" Katarina sounded close to hysterics. "Bill says the veil is thin and that is why he could come to me.

He said we gotta fight and we can't lose."

"What the mighty h.e.l.l is this d.a.m.n veil?" It was the same man who had made the comment about the gay people. Katie finally recognized him as someone from the mall. His name was Art or something like that. He was a former councilman of another town.

"It's what lays between the physical realm and spiritual realm," a woman's voice said. It was Maddie Goode. "The veil is what keeps the worlds from bleeding over."

"Witch stuff, huh?"

"No, real stuff. Plus, a New Moon tonight. The veil is very, very thin."

Goode lifted her tiny chin and looked defiantly at Art.

The Reverend cleared his throat. "G.o.d does send messengers. We must remember that."

"She's talking witch stuff," another woman said. "Everyone knows she's one of those Wiccans."

"Just because she's from another religion, does not mean her belief is not accurate in some form," Rune spoke up for Maddie.

She gave him a tight hug, but looked wary of the people glaring at her.

This comment did not sit well with many gathered in the lobby.

The long festering resentments were flowing to the surface very quickly.

Friends and family members were arguing with each other. The stress was overwhelming. Everyone was on edge. Everyone was afraid.

"Maybe the Baptists had it right. Maybe it isn't safe here," Art said at last.

"If we can't trust our leadership to look out for all of us."

"They've been excluding us a lot lately. They tossed out Blanche without a vote!" someone shouted from the back.

Travis winced and shook his head. "We made a choice at the time-"

"You cut us out of that decision," Ed said sharply.

Kevin moved to stand with Nerit. "Everyone standing here knows how hard it has been on those we voted into leadership roles. They've suffered losses just like the rest of us."

"Maybe looking out for our own best interests is the way to go," Ed decided at last.

"I don't understand where this is coming from," Travis protested. "This fort is doing d.a.m.n good right now."

"A lot of us are tired of not feeling we have a choice about what goes on,"

Gretchen said. "No offense, Travis, but it's d.a.m.n hard in this world to give our lives over to other people."

Ed nodded slowly. "Don't mean nothing personal. I may be a might angry, but I'm d.a.m.n scared. What happens if something goes wrong out there and someone opens a gate or a door they shouldn't. I dunno if I can trust y'all"

Katarina looked at Ed, her expression was full of pain. "Bill died trying to protect this fort."

"I know that, Katarina. I know that. But...I don't like feeling like I'm not in control of my own life. Gimme a truck and some ammo. I'm more willing to take a chance out there on my own at this point."

Silence fell over the room. Then slowly people began to whisper among themselves. Katie could feel Travis' hand trembling and she knew he was hurt and trying to hold his temper. It was hard not to be trusted after all they had worked to achieve.

"Let them go," Eric said from near the front desk. "Let whoever wants to leave the fort take what they need and go."

"We can't hold them here," Kevin added.

"We need them here. Everyone has a role to play in the upcoming battle,"

Juan protested. "Everyone has a.s.signments!"

"Some of us don't want to be here for it," a man near Juan snapped.

More voices rumbled through the vast room, disagreeing and agreeing.

"We can do it without them," Jason called out.

Jack immediately woofed in agreement.

Peggy stood smoking her cigarette, looking pale. Katie tried to reach out to her, but Peggy turned and walked away through the crowd.

"Very well. If you want to go while the going is good, go. We got extra vehicles out there. But you're on your own once you're gone," Travis finally said.

Ed nodded. "That's fair."

Nerit looked around the room thoughtfully. Katie noticed Kevin's hand was resting on her back in a gesture that seemed more for his comfort than for hers.

"If you are going, you must go tonight," Nerit finally said.

"Why is that?" Gretchen asked. There was an edge to her voice, but it sounded more like frustration than anger.

"The zombies arrive in the morning. At 9:20, the first zombies will cross over the first line."

"And how do you know this?" Art asked sharply.

"Ralph told me. The zombies arrive early. Tomorrow. The battle is tomorrow. If you're going to leave, you need to leave now," Nerit said in a firm, strong voice.

"And why are we supposed to believe this?" a voice Katie didn't recognize called out.

"Because she knows what she's talking about." Calhoun moved through the crowd. He looked haggard and held a tape recorder in his hand. "I've been taking care of the communication center, monitoring for alien transmissions. Got this instead." He held up a tape recorder and hit PLAY.

"If anyone can hear us, we were trying to get back to the fort, but we can't get through. There are thousands of zombies near the junction of 16 and 1456. They're everywhere. We had to make a run for it. We're going to have to head back to the Baptist Encampment. h.e.l.lo? Can you hear me?

This is Milo and Susan. We were trying to head back but they're everywhere."

Katie tried to remember the junction they were talking about and realized quite quickly it was close to town.

"I gotcha," Calhoun's voice said on the tape. "You head back to the crazy Baptists and stay low. Make sure their demon-possessed leader don't do nothing stupid. We'll fight off the zombie clones and let you know when it's clear."

"Thanks, Calhoun. Just thought I 'd give ya heads up," the voice answered, then Calhoun hit STOP.

The silence was, as they say, deafening.

"We leave tonight then," Ed said.

"Can I go with you?" a voice called out.