“I have to hand it to Bette—this should work well for us.” Catherine looked around while she spoke to Dylan.  Off in the distance, beyond the fences, she spotted two of the infected. She nodded in their direction. Dylan looked as well, and they exchanged a surprised look when the zombies turned on their heel and walked away in the opposite direction.

“Are they afraid of us?” Dylan walked a few steps toward the place where the infected were walking away.

Catherine had a bad feeling about it, but she shrugged. They walked slowly back to the group, wondering about this latest behavioral trait of the infected. Alice and Lara joined them, followed by Jenny and Shane. They agreed to meet later that evening, after the group had settled in and guards were assigned.

“Ok, folks, we’re going to have to reinforce some of this fencing—we’re a large group now, and those things are going to be coming from a farther distance to meet us.” Alice stood on her Chopper like she’d seen Jack Nicholson do in Easy Rider, while she addressed the group. She nearly fell, and was caught by Lara who rolled her eyes at Alice’s total lack of seriousness as a leader. The taller woman held her girlfriend in her arms, giggling and nuzzling her neck, while the rest of the group moved on toward seemingly more pressing tasks.

Kit gave a tour of the grounds, helping with decisions around barricades and new fences. She had a large underground storage space—a last option for any time that the infected might overrun the house itself—which ran beneath the house and across the yard. There, they found an incredible supply of water, food, and weapons. Kit was a cool woman, if slightly paranoid.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” Kit’s words and look were scathing when one of the young people accused her of being a very worried person in the previous life, before infection.

The ‘last option’ wouldn’t hold all 100 people, but it would hold a baby and enough adults to give her some version of a future.

Bette led Helena to the main house, taking with her the blankets and other items they had retrieved from the old farm house. She settled Helena into a makeshift bed, using some of the pine lots and blankets.