“Michelle,” the larger woman said with a friendly smile.
“I’m Romy.” The dark-skinned woman was decidedly less friendly.
Trust issues.
“Thank you, Michelle and Romy, for helping out with this. This is Emily.” He pointed at the small Englishwoman. “You guys clear the fence starting at the gate and work your way past the parking lot.” He motioned towards the spots as he talked. “If you’re all clear, then start heading down that fence towards the rear of the school.”
Turning to the entire group, John addressed them again.
“We need to cover the entire perimeter of fencing in case any zombies approach from other directions.”
He received nods in return.
“Joe, Bill and Nat, I’d like the three of you to check the perimeter, starting at the corner where the street meets the fence. Work your way down the fence and across the back portion of the school grounds. Be careful when you get to the small, wooded section. I believe a fence runs through there as well, but that was never verified. If any of you run into trouble, then get back to the school entrance. This will be our fallback position. Any questions?”
There were none, so the teams moved out. Within thirty seconds, the first shots shattered the silence of the morning.
Chapter 20
Q
Fuck those dudes. Q looked around the library as the first shots rang outside.
And fuck being stuck in here with a bunch of women.
I should have volunteered when that Jack dude showed up. Q regretted ignoring the guy when he came in and asked for a couple of people to be lookouts. The truth was, he was still pouting about how he got treated downstairs and promptly ignored the call for volunteers. The black kid and the Latino girl ended up going with Jack.
Q looked over at the group again.
I guess there is one guy. That Steve kid who showed up with that fox, Tammy.
He nonchalantly checked her out as she sat with all the other women.
Yeah, she is a sweet piece of ass.
He moved a bit closer so he could get a better view and started to hear more of their conversation. Apparently, they had gone through a round of introductions.
“The thing that I don’t understand is how some people were immune. What was it that kept us from getting the Syndrome?” Tammy asked the people around the table.
Sarah surprised everybody when she spoke up. Q only remembered her name because of her husband getting wasted. He felt sorry for her.
“I think I had the Syndrome. But the day after John and Mel came over it went away.”
Nancy filled the newcomers in. “John is the guy with the prosthetic. He is ex-army. So is his wife, Melissa. She’s the one who got shot. She is in the clinic, downstairs.”
“OK, thanks Nancy. So, Sarah, what changed for you? Was it something you ate?” Tammy continued.
“Yeah. As a matter of fact, I do think it was something I ate. Apples.” She was silent for a moment as she remembered. “It was ... strange. John and Mel got this gift basket from a local farmer. The basket they brought over contained some cider and a bunch of apples. They got it a few days before all these things started happening. Craig—”
Sarah had to take a couple of breaths after mentioning her deceased husband.
“Sorry.”
She looked around apologetically, receiving several supportive comments in return.
“Craig, Jack and I were all experiencing the first symptoms of HAPS,” she went on. “We cooked up those apples with a ham for supper. We all shared that cider as well, and by the next morning all three of us were suddenly feeling fine. I remember thinking that was strange.”
“Oh, my God,” Rachel exclaimed. Everybody turned to her. “Did they get that basket from the Jeffersons?” She leaned forward with an intense look in her eyes.
Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask John or Mel—”
In her excitement, Rachel interrupted her. “Their daughter delivered a basket of apples, cider and pies to our animal clinic, about a week before the animals started getting sick.”
Q staggered.
Holy fuck. The apples!
He took another step forward, catching the attention of the group.
“The Jeffersons’s farm? ... The one out by Winchester?”
Rachel looked confused at first, but then nodded. “Yeah that’s them. Joe used to treat their animals every once in a while.”
“No way.” Q turned introspective for a long moment. Then realized that everyone was watching him. “You’re not going to believe this...”
Chapter 21
Quentin’s Story
October 16, 12:45 P.M.
School is for losers.
Most of the kids in his school had no idea what they were going to be when they grew up or had some grand illusion of being a famous movie actor or playing professional basketball. The ones who did know talked about being doctors and lawyers and shit. Q had no respect for those kids. Who would willingly sign up to be slaves to the system?
Not Q. He knew what his future held, and he didn’t need a high-school education to achieve it. Q was going to make it. The problem was that nobody else seemed to understand that.
Certainly not Mom and Dad.
They were always all over his business. Not a day went by without them asking about school in some way.
“How was school today? What mark did you get on that test you did last week? Why did we get a call from the school today?” His parents put way too much pressure on him.
It wasn’t fair.
Disgusted, Q kicked a small rock down the street. The rock bounced
