“This is bad, Nerit. Martin recognized the zombie that chased them to the ladder. He says it was Ed’s oldest, Eddie.”
“Shit,” Katarina moaned.
Emma felt distinctly out of place as this news rocked the people gathered around her.
Nerit squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “It was Ed’s choice to leave. We couldn’t have made him or the others stay if we wanted to.”
“Belinda,” Juan said, pain and grief infusing the name. “She went with them.”
Recognizing that Emma was out of the loop, Nerit turned to her. Taking off her sunglasses, she revealed keen gray eyes with a hint of green at the center. “Before the horde came through, there was an incident where one of the main entrances was opened to let people inside. This was after the order had been given that we were locked in. No one in or out. Our lead hunter, Ed, was upset by this development. So were a few others. They banded together and demanded that they be given vehicles and weapons so they could take their lives into their own hands and not depend on the Fort for safety.”
“Damn fool idea,” Katarina muttered.
“They left here? This is a fortress. Literally. I can’t...” Emma faltered seeing Juan’s devastated expression.
“In times of war, people make choices we may not always agree with. They decided to leave, and it looks like they ran into trouble,” Nerit said.
“We need to send out a rescue team right away,” Juan said with great urgency. “We need to act now.”
Katarina and Nerit glanced at each other with troubled expressions, but it was Nerit who spoke up.
“If Eddie is a runner, chances are it won’t be a rescue.”
Juan whipped off his cowboy hat and anxiously ran his fingers through his damp curls. “Nerit, we can’t know that until we see the runners and verify it’s Ed’s people. Even if some of the runners are from his group, that doesn’t mean there aren’t survivors of whatever shit went down out there. We have to make sure.”
“After we deal with the runners and save our people, Juan.”
The following stare down was one Emma already knew Juan was going to lose in spite of his desperation. In the short time she’d been around Nerit, it was abundantly obvious that she was respected and a strong leader.
Juan was the first to break. He averted his eyes, tucked his hat back on his head, and resignedly asked, “So what do we do?”
Katarina pulled out a tattered hand-drawn map of the fort, cleared some half-full water bottles from a folding tray, and spread it out on flat surface. “Maybe we should lift the order for quiet. Noise might draw the runners to the wall on our north side since that area is closest to where Martin’s people were when attacked. There aren’t any traps there, so we’ll have to shoot or spear ‘em.”
Nerit studied Katarina’s map, her forehead furrowed with concentration. A thoughtful silence followed for a few seconds. “I don’t want to put our people in unnecessary danger. The sound of gunfire might pull zombies to our location. If we have any vestiges of the horde in the city limits, we have to be careful since we have so many teams outside the wall. That would complicate everything.”
“So spears then,” Katarina said. “Pike them from above.”
Juan shook his head. “Spears aren’t going to work on the northern wall. We built it higher because it’s on a hill, remember? We didn’t want the zombies bunching up at the base of the wall and building a ramp, so we added a few feet to the top. Spears won’t reach. Plus, we got two crews in that area. None of those buildings are secured and aren’t safe. We don’t want to put them in more danger.”
Emma peeked at the map. There was a lot more to the Fort than she’d realized.
“We can send out a pied piper,” Katarina suggested. “Pull the runners away from where we have our people hiding and lure the zombies out of town.”
Nerit crossed her arms and wedged the knuckles of one hand under her chin, clearly giving Katarina’s recommendation some thought before answering. “I would say at any other time that might be viable, but the horde could have stragglers. Venturing close to the city limits could be deadly for anyone we send out that far.”
“That fuckin’ zombie horde is screwin’ up everything,” Katarina groused.
Nerit glanced at Juan. “What do you suggest?”
“We got some defenses set up that weren’t triggered when the horde passed through. I say take the running zombies out with what we’ve already got rigged. That way we won’t use ammo and attract any stragglers in our direction.” Juan pointed to a spot on the map. “Right there is our best shot. That area was totally missed by the horde.”
“The west end of Main Street,” Nerit said.
“That’s where a lot of our traps are untouched by the horde. We have several fire and razor wire traps that weren’t tripped. They won’t make a lot of noise.”
Katarina shuddered. “Only one zombie was dumb enough to go through there. Jason’s razor wire traps are brutal. She was legit in pieces.”
Juan took off his cowboy hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. “My boy is thorough in his designs. We could eliminate quite a few of them-if not all-with the traps.”