"Is this about Travis?" Jason's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're not clearing the way for my Mom are you?"
Katie winced and slightly nodded.
Jason frowned even more and sat back in his chair.
"Jason, your Mom likes him and he's such a great guy-"
"Then you go for it! You like guys!"
Katie shushed him and made a face. "I don't want to. I can't. Lydia…"
"Lydia is dead. "
Katie felt her jaw set with anger, but she reminded herself sternly that she was dealing with a teenage boy. "Yes, she is. But, I am nowhere near being ready to be with anyone else: male or female. "
Jason looked at her angrily. "So why is my Mom ready? Why is she ready, Katie? You tell me!"
Looking down, she sighed. "Because, by the time it all went to hell, your Mom was already wanting to move on. You know what your Dad did. She wanted to be free. "
Jason furiously wiped a tear away. "I know. But why does she want to move on from my brothers? Why isn't it good enough to be my Mo
m?"
Startled by his outburst, she hesitated, then said, "She wants to be your Mom, Jason. You mean the world to her. But she has a right to find happiness beyond just that one role. The way you find happiness beyond being her son. " Katie tapped the book with one hand, then pointed to Jack.
Jason frowned even more. "Yeah, but…"
Katie lifted an eyebrow.
"I'm not replacing anyone with these things. "
"Neither is she. Who did she replace with me?"
Jason lowered his head and then slowly looked up at her. "No one. " He sighed. "Okay, fine. I won't tell Travis or anyone else that you like guys too. "
He did his best pouty teenager look.
Katie smiled at him softly. "Thank you. "
"Yeah…yeah…yeah…" Jason said moodily.
Sliding to her feet, she smiled at him and went in search of Travis.
Chapter 18
1. When Truths Are Revealed No One Is Safe
The low hum of the gate opening was joined in harmony by a steady squeal. Huge lights had been rigged up over the new area of the fort and a team was diligently working into the night on resolving the issues with the gate. The new area was still cut off from the rest of the fort and only accessible by long ladders placed up on the wall and a small platform that bridged the two walls.
As Katie walked across the site, she could hear Juan's voice rising over the din. She knew he was working long hours to get the first gate working properly before the second gate went up. It was dangerous work and stress levels were high. Occasionally, a zombie would try to attack the construction workers. The sharp-eyed former hunters on sentry duty would take them down. As more and more people flooded into their tiny fort, it was evident that space was fast becoming an issue and the taking of the hotel was the talk of everyone at dinner. Things were moving forward because they had to.
Travis was on watch at the far side of the fort, far away from the construction of the gate. Shrouded in the darkness on his tiny watch platform, he was gazing out at the now empty main street where so many zombies had met brutal deaths in their first real victory against the undead.
Since that first big battle with the zombie horde, the main street had been eerily empty. The moans were fast becoming a distant memory and a thick layer of dirt had covered the smell of death and decay. As spring took a firmer hold, grass and wildflowers had taken root out on the main street and Katie suspected it would soon look like a little field in the country.
But the terror of that crowd of zombies moaning and screeching in their desperation to reach the living had burned deeply into the psyche of those in the fort. It had been decided that they had to keep the zombies from forming in a horde outside the fort. Ideas were running rampant in the fort on how to keep this from happening, but after the almost disaster of the mass slaughter when the zombies had breached the perimeter, every idea was being heavily scrutinized.
Katie strode up the stairs to Travis' side and he gave her a small smile.