“Damn straight. So you’ll be okay with us just calling you Gideon now.”
One side of his mouth quirks. “I suspect that conspiring to overthrow this town should put us on a first-name basis.”
A thought occurs to me, and embarrassment flushes my face. “Wait, so when I was telling you all that mess about Kate being a lady and being taken in by the mayor and being booted by his wife—”
“I knew it was a lie. I still exchange letters with my mother regularly. But you were so enamored of your story that it seemed a shame to tell you.” He grins, and I groan.
“Let’s change the subject. Data, big news, and so forth?”
Gideon adjusts his spectacles and stands once again. “Yes, of course.” He moves across the room to the map with the colored pins, his limp more pronounced than usual. “So, for the past two years I’ve been cataloging the makeup of the undead beyond the outer wall. Last night isn’t the first time a large group has been able to breach it. The sheriff’s wife was killed in a similar attack. Hence my extreme dissatisfaction with the sheriff, the pastor, and the inability of this blasted town to electrify the fences.”
Katherine shoots me a questioning look and I shake my head. I can catch her up later.
Gideon continues. “The attacks are increasing. The number of undead in this part of the prairie? Also increasing. The type of attire the undead wear can sometimes lend clues as to their origin, and I’ve seen undead that wear the furs of the northern trappers, the uniforms of Mississippi militia . . . Somehow, the dead are coming from all over the continent and congregating in places like this.”
I stare at Gideon, a warm feeling suffusing my chest. He’s so smart that it’s downright distracting. “How do you think they’re doing it?”
“I’m not completely sure. An entomologist in France, Jean-Henri Fabre, has written about how male insects are attracted to females. He believes there’s some kind of undetectable scent or signaling compound that insects use to talk to one another, like the way bees know to swarm to protect a nest. I think the dead can communicate in a similar way, that’s undetectable to us.”
“So, you think they’re signaling to all of their friends, even ones miles away, that there’s food here?”
Gideon nods. “It would also explain the behavior we saw last night. And their tendency, more and more common, to join up into a horde, as they clearly have in Baltimore County. It’s instinct.”
“Have you told the sheriff?” Katherine asks, her voice filled with the same despair I feel. “What does he think?”
Gideon runs his hand through his dark hair, mussing it. “Oh, I’ve told him. I don’t believe he understands the danger. He thinks the undead are just wandering aimlessly, that the patrols will be able to handle any limited attempts to break through the defenses, even after last night. He simply cannot fathom a pack of the size that I’m predicting. The group last night was just a warning; the packs beyond the walls will number in the thousands soon, and it’s only a matter of time before they try to breach again. I’ve been working on some advanced munitions for the patrols to use, but the sheriff still refuses to arm the Negroes in town. We’re going to need every man, woman, and child carrying if we’re going to defend ourselves from the undead.”
“Even that isn’t going to save the town,” I say. “Unless you can build a shambler-destroying machine, it’s just a matter of time before Summerland is overrun. We need to evacuate before another horde comes through.”
Katherine lets out a shocked sound. “And go where?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. But we’re sitting ducks in the middle of the prairie here, waiting for all the shamblers in the Midwest to hear the call.”
“I think Jane’s right,” Gideon says. “The problem is that the sheriff and the preacher see Summerland as a safe haven, as do many of the other families. It won’t be easy to convince them to leave.”
My eyes meet Katherine’s, and I know that she’s thinking the same thing I am.
The only way we’re going to get anyone out of here, including ourselves, is if the sheriff is taken care of.
I’m not certain what else to say. Your silence these past few months has convinced me that either you are deceased, or I have earned your vexation. Just know that no matter how long it takes until you return to Rose Hill, you will always have a place here.
Chapter 35In Which Trouble Comes to Call
After a sad lunch of stale bread, cheese, and a few berries grown in the lab by Gideon, Katherine and I set out toward her home. Just a couple miles past Katherine’s house is the site of last night’s battle. The sheriff claims the breach in the defenses has been repaired, but with the horde that Gideon described on the way, I want to see for myself. Katherine and I can use the time to lay our plans for the sheriff.
We’ve only gone a little ways when I glance over at Katherine and see that she looks a bit peaked. It’s hot out and the sun is making its presence known in a significant way. I’m sweating under my dress, which is still a mess from last night, and I know that Katherine must be suffering as well, especially since she’s wearing at least three petticoats.
“You going to be able to walk the whole way?”
We’ve cleared the last of the town proper and have reached the dusty road that leads to the barrier fences. Katherine glares at me but says nothing, a thin sheen of perspiration shining on her skin.
“Are you wearing a corset?”
“Dammit, Jane, what is your obsession with me and my undergarments? I’m fine, all right?”
I clamp my mouth shut, because I’ve never heard Katherine swear before, so I know her temper is short. The sound of a wagon
