“No. The air will.” she replied and stepped in front of the door.
“Sure, it will.” he said and reached out to push her aside.
He stumbled and nearly tripped over his own feet when his hand passed right through her and he was thrown off balance. He recovered and stared.
“You’re a hologram?” he asked, amazed at how real she looked.
He slowly extended a finger to touch her.
It passed through her arm as if it wasn’t there.
Then it was.
Solid like a chunk of steel and wrapped around his hand tight as a glove and unmoving as a building. He pulled. She didn’t budge, not even the slightest hair. She was as solid as a mountain and his hand was trapped.
“Let go.” he said and pulled harder to jerk her off her feet.
She was unmoved, rooted to the floor. He put a foot on each of her knees, grabbed his wrist and strained with all his might. He might as well have been trying to lift a tank. Suddenly he was falling backward, she had turned to air again. He looked up from the floor, examined his hand and asked.
“What are you?”
“I am your protector.” she said. “Your questions might be answered in seventeen earth days, once Scarlet has awoken. Until then, I do not have mission parameters. You are not supposed to be here. I cannot divulge information to unauthorized entities. Jessie sent you here for a reason although I do not understand why. If Scarlet allows you permission to query the database, you will be granted full access.”
Jessie stood, starting to get annoyed.
“I’m Jessie.” he said. “I grant myself permission. Where is the database?”
“You’re not Jessie.” she said simply and clicked a lock on the door. “Your food is getting cold.”
Afterword
This concludes the story of Jessie and Scarlet in the Zombie Road world. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. There are still a few loose ends but most of them have been tied up. There will always be unanswered questions about people and things when the characters inhabit such a huge world but I have tried to complete story arcs without leaving too many dangling threads. Hopefully, you can close this book and be satisfied with a conclusion of sorts.
The first three books told the tale of the outbreak, the journey to safety and building the walled city.
The second three books explored the rebuilding of the nation, eliminating most of its enemies and the doomed love affair of two special teenagers.
The world is recovering, cities are flourishing, the undead are withering away. The boy got the girl, the good guys won and the mad men who arose from the ruins have been dealt with.
Yah! I love happy endings.
Jessie the Traveler is stuck in this world with no way out. He was always a loner and a little crotchety, I’m sure he’ll carry on as he once was, doing Road Angel stuff. He didn’t get the girl but in a way he did. He knows she’s safe and with someone he trusts. Himself.
Winter is coming but they will be prepared.
Elections are soon, too. When November rolls around, Gunny will finally be able to step down as acting president and someone else can take over. Someone duly elected.
He’ll probably retire, tinker on old cars and fish. Maybe start a distillery. After he signs an executive order making it legal, of course.
The Tower is still being standoffish but they may have a change of heart and decide to share knowledge.
I imagine Griz will make an honest woman out of the good Sheriff and have a fancy church wedding. She’s Catholic after all.
Tombstone, Cascade, the Island and dozens of other communities will flourish now that they don’t have madmen trying to kill them. Trade routes have been established, Airplanes are in use again and the Hell Drivers can get any part anywhere in a day or less or delivery is free.
The central States are becoming a civilized and genteel nation.
What’s next? Lawyers, taxes and politicians?
Maybe Gunny will sign an executive order against those before he leaves office.
The future is so bright, they gotta wear shades.
If you are through with the people and places you’ve met along the way, read no farther. I have unanswered questions and if you keep reading, they may become your unanswered questions also.
The Anubis cult was completely obliterated. Except for the labs under the hospital but no one knows about those. Right?
Casey was left busted up and bit, trapped in a gully with zombies tumbling down from above. I’m pretty sure there is no way he can survive that, this isn’t a Friday the 13th story where the bad guy comes back to life every time.
We’re don’t know exactly where or when Jessie and Scarlet wound up. They have a protector, though. She (it?) will keep them safe so life should be worry free and easy. Except for the guys the other Jessie made enemies with. He seemed fairly certain they held grudges. But surely, young Jessie can just explain he’s not the same guy, they’ll understand. Just a simple misunderstanding. Really, fellas. I’m not him.
He and Scarlet will probably settle down to a simple, quiet life. Maybe open an accounting office or something.
The ancient Jessie sounds like he had a hard time finding them, like he’d been searching for millennia and when he finally did get to her, he let her go. He was probably just kidding about living for thousands of years. Nobody is that old. His story would probably be boring.
The Tower is guarding its technology and secrets closely. Who knows what kind of mutated super soldiers they might come up with using Scarlets tainted blood? Or what they’ll do with that time machine.
Why was Sandy gaining so much weight?
Whatever became of all those kids living with the animals?
That is one of the few questions I can answer. There is a separate series about those kids called the Feral Children. It tells their story from the beginning.
I have been working with another very
