“Thanks. See you guys around.”
Despite all the changes to the fort, Rune found his way back into the old familiar territory of the hotel. There were definitely new people around and when Maddie spotted him, he got an enormous hug. Politely disengaging from her, he hurried past Peggy and Eric discussing something about the front doors. Bill and Curtis greeted him as they exited the communication center and Dale gave him thumbs up from where he was playing with some little kids.
It was strange to be among the living after being around the dead for so long. But what was even stranger was the disconcerting lack of ghosts. Before, the fort had seemed full of spirits. Now, he didn’t sense any. But then again, the deadlands had been strangely quiet of spirits as well. Something had changed. Some event had allowed the spirits to start moving on again. Maybe it was the fort. Or something else. But the energy around him was changing.
Travis greeted him warmly when he entered the office. “Hey, Rune. Good to have you back.” “Good to be here. Nerit, like your hair. Looks good.” He shook both their hands and Nerit looked pleased with the mention of her new hairstyle.
“What do you have to tell us, Rune? Lenore made it sound urgent.” Travis sat on the edge of his desk as Nerit took a chair.
Rune remained standing and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, it must have been my tone. I’ve been riding most of last night and today trying to get here. I need to warn you about something big.”
His smile fading, Travis said, “Go on.”
“I woke up last night. Got woke up last night. Jenni was there. She told me that I needed to come warn you. Needed to get moving.”
“Jenni?” “Yeah,” Rune answered, then exhaled as he shrugged. “I see the dead.”
“How do you know she’s dead?” Nerit tilted her head.
“Because I saw her last night in the hunters blind where I was sleeping. She was a spirit. She’s dead. And she told me that there is a whole mess of zombies heading this way. She told me to get my own ass moving. Sure enough, I saw a mess of zombies like I’ve never seen coming out of the valley.”
Travis looked at Nerit, his expression troubled, and obviously unsure of what to say. “If you think I’m nuts for thinking I saw Jenni, I get that. But you gotta go check it out for yourselves. I saw some helicopters out there. Send one of them.”
“We need to check it out, Travis.” Nerit stood up slowly. “We have to see if what he is saying is accurate.” “They’re heading straight for the fort. It will take them a lot longer to get here cause they’re going over every hill, through every forest, every pasture along the way. But they’re coming.” Rune would have felt resentful if not for the fact he was used to people doubting his abilities. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned Jenni.
“We’ll send one of the helicopters and check it out,” Travis assured him. “Welcome back, Rune.”
“And I did see Jenni,” Rune declared. “I did.”
“I don’t doubt it. The dead don’t seem to stay dead in this world anymore.” Travis smiled ruefully. “Let’s talk to Kevin, Nerit, and get this ball rolling.” Satisfied, Rune finally let himself relax and fell into a nearby chair. With relief, he listened to Nerit calling for the helicopter pilot and someone named Kevin. He would tell them where to look, then find a hot plate of food, and a place to sleep.
Despite the terror of the night before and the coming dangers, Rune was glad to be back at the fort. It was like coming home.
2. Family Life
Juan wasn’t real sure he could deal with this.
It was almost too much.
His stomach was clenched in a tight little ball and his heart felt fluttery. He felt dizzy for a moment.
Slowly, he lowered the tiny pink panties with the bows on them into the dresser drawer.
Jack lay on the bed next to the trash bags full of clothes and toys Juan was unpacking. The dog was trying to edge his way toward a stuffed bear. Jack was doing his best innocent look while being very sneaky.
“My bear,” Juan’s new son said to the dog and grabbed the teddy bear.
Jack whined and looked as pathetic as possible. The kids were moving into the suite he had shared with Jenni and Jason. It had been a sad little home for him and Jason and the ever-faithful Jack, but now it was filled with laughter and loud little voices. Jason sat on the bed opposite him, smiling from beneath his thick bangs, as Margie talked his head off. Holly, the middle child, was busy stuffing her toys into the shelf in the side table, talking to each one as she transferred them to their new home.
“Bad dog,” the little boy chided Jack. “Troy, don’t be mean to Jack,” Margie scolded her brother, then went on talking to Jason in her rapid, little-girl speak.
I’m a father, Juan thought. I have four kids. And a dog. How did this happen?
Oh..yeah...
Jenni.
With a wry smile he folded up some tiny jeans and placed them in the drawer. Troy leaned over and pressed his forehead to Jack’s brow and was given a sloppy lick in response. Troy laughed and crawled onto the bed and promptly tackled the dog. The tussle that ensued had Juan half-annoyed, half-amused as he tried to get the clothes tucked away.
A knock on the door startled all of them and Holly screamed, “I’ll get it!” and ran out of the room. A minute later, Travis walked in behind the little one, looking confused.
“Uh, you have kids,” Travis said to Juan and eyed his friend thoughtfully.
“Yes, yes, I do. I took over custody from Peggy,” Juan said with a sheepish, yet proud grin. “Daddy One,” Troy said and pointed at Juan. He was now lying on the bed cuddling his teddy bear and using Jack as a pillow.
Travis chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Well, fatherhood suits you. You beat me to the punch.”
“Yeah,” Juan said with a grin. “Weird how that happened. But it’s good. It feels right.” He looked down at the little Spider-man shirt in his hands. “Peggy did a good job trying to take care of them, but they feel like mine. It felt like it was time to bring them home.” Travis smiled and nodded. “I think I understand.”
Juan relaxed a little and tucked more clothes into a second drawer. “You have that look. That something is up.”
Travis sighed and rubbed his brow. “We need you at a meeting in thirty minutes. I didn’t realize you had such a huge life change and I hate to bug you right now, but this is urgent.” “About the stinky people?” Holly asked as she leaned against the bed and played with a battered Barbie.
“Yeah, the stinky people,” Travis answered.
“I don’t like them,” Troy said in a soft voice.
“They killed our mom and dad,” Margie added.
“They killed a lot of people,” Travis said softly. “But we need Daddy One to come help us make plans to get rid of them.”