As The World Dies - Siege Part 26

Lydia laughed. "Don't worry, Travis. Life goes on for the living. I know that. I would never want to hold her back from loving again. From living. I will always love her and I just want her happy."

"But," Travis rubbed his brow, wincing with embarra.s.sment. "I'm a guy."

"Yes, you are." She laughed with delight.

Travis continued to grimace.

Lydia's hand reached toward him, but she didn't quite touch him. "It's all right, Travis. The heart loves without boundaries. It is the mind that can trap the heart with cages constructed by society's rules. Katie always had a beautiful open heart."

Travis forced a smile, feeling nervous. "Why am I dreaming about you, Lydia?" He understood he was asleep and this was all a dream, but somehow it felt important. It felt amazingly real.

Lydia's smile faded a little and she sat back, crossing her legs. "Travis, you need to understand something important. I'm here to give you a message."

"About Katie?"

"About you." She tilted her head and gazed at him with a serenity that was both comforting and disconcerting.

"Oh?"

Leaning forward, her eyes gazed steadily into his. "You need to understand that the world has changed. The veil between the living and the dead is very thin now. The worlds have blurred and nothing is as it was. Many have died and will die as the world tries to regain balance of some sort. The dead are all around you. Not just the empty sh.e.l.ls that are trying to kill you, but the spirits of those trapped by the ma.s.sive upheaval that took place when the dead seized the world from the living.

"Like you," he said softly.

She nodded. "Yes. I have yet to move on. But soon the world will find a new balance and I will."

"I'm so sorry about what happened to you, Lydia."

"Being a good Samaritan sometimes gets you killed. Trust me. I know." A shadow of pain flitted over her features, then she swept it away with a wave of her hand. "This is something you need to learn."

"What are you saying?" He narrowed his eyes.

"You want to save everyone, Travis, and help all of them be safe. But this world is not safe. Nothing is as it was. Very soon you will fully understand the sheer fruitlessness of trying to control everything around you. You will need to make choices for yourself, Katie and the baby. Others will make choices for themselves as well. These choices may lead to life or to death."

Frowning a little, Travis looked down at his wife, then up at Lydia. "They are my priority, Lydia. Katie and the baby."

"Are they?"

He swallowed hard, remembering how anxious he had been to risk his own life to try to help Juan. Tears filled his eyes and he looked up at Lydia. His voice caught in his throat and he said, "You're right. I just want to help everyone."

Lydia smiled at him tenderly. "I know. I know. But it is time for you to begin to let go of all the reins you have been holding and concentrate on your family. Soon, very soon, everyone will have to make choices for themselves. You, Katie, and everyone around you."

"And they may die," Travis said in an agonized voice.

"Travis, what you need to understand is that people will make choices for themselves. And sometimes, the right choice, the good choice, will lead to their death."

The truth of this statement startled him. "Who will die?"

Lydia tilted her head and looked at Katie for a long tender moment. "She will need you."

"Who will die, Lydia?"

"I can't tell you."

"Tell me! I don't care if you are a dream."

Lydia hesitated. "The future isn't set yet. It is constantly changing, evolving based on what people choose."

"But you know something. Who is going to die?"

Lydia sighed, then said, "Not Juan."

"Not Juan?"

"No, he is going to be all right. The operation was a success," Lydia said softly, then suddenly she was gone and Charlotte was standing over him.

"Did you hear me, Travis? Juan is going to be all right. We got the bullet and he is stable. I think he will be all right." Charlotte repeated.

Katie sat up groggily and when she heard Charlotte's words, she leaped up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Charlotte! You saved him!"

"Oh, thank G.o.d!" Rosie wailed.

Then everyone was crying and hugging each other.

Travis felt relieved, but strangely disconnected from all around him. His dream still felt tangible and, despite himself, he looked around for Lydia.

Katie threw her arms around him, kissing his cheek. "Love you."

"Love you," he answered, his gaze still sweeping over the lobby.

"You look a little strange," Katie decided.

"I had a weird dream."

"Yeah, me, too. I dreamed you and Lydia were talking while I slept," Katie said with a little shrug. "Strange, huh?"

3. A New America Kevin walked briskly along the walkway leading to the mall's offices. The Major General had sent for him and he had an ominous feeling about this meeting. Down below, he could see people moving about, talking in groups, or moving to their a.s.signed duties. Already he could see one group of people was.h.i.+ng the gla.s.s of the window displays. In an effort to keep people from going stir crazy, all sorts of ridiculous ch.o.r.es had been thought up for the populace. The fear and stagnation in the mall was terrible. He felt it pus.h.i.+ng on him everyday.

Sliding his hand over the stubble on the top of his head, he tried to focus himself the best he could. He could see the Senator's entourage on their way across the bridge from Foley's and knew this meeting was not going to be one bit pleasant.

Kevin knew that he would have to keep his tongue in check. It was hard to do with the increasingly inflammatory comments being made by those in power. It was obvious to him that the people in Central had no compa.s.sion to those outside their walls. What had once been the American populace were now merely commodities to be divvied up into neat little categories.

A group of short, dark skinned men were being herded toward the outside doors as he drew near the offices. He hesitated as he watched the indigenous men group tightly together, obviously afraid. For some obscene reason, the migrant workers were forced to work on the mall's landscaping. Supposedly, it was to keep them busy, but no other people in the mall were forced to go outside and endure the blood curdling moans of the undead.

Frowning, he turned and moved down the short hall that would deliver him into the Major General's office. The men on guard gave him sharp salutes and opened the door for him. Walking in, he felt everyone's eyes on him. He had originally been the senior officer in charge of the mall until the Senator had shown up with the Major General. They were constantly suspicious of him and he did his best to make them feel he was a faithful drone.

"Kevin, thank you for joining us," the Senator said with a brilliant smile.

She was heavily made up as usual with her blond hair forming a big bubble around her head.

"Senator," he said in a soft voice.

"Sit down and let's begin," the Major General said.

Kevin sat down and looked down at the stapled sheets of paper before him. He flipped through it and saw a heading that read "Distribution of Human a.s.sets."

"I spoke with Central last night," the Senator began, her grin wide. "And they were very excited about the photos of the fort I sent them. And what is truly wonderful is that they have accepted my proposal to relocate the populace of the Madison Mall Rescue Center to our newly named Fort Bowie Work Center."

Kevin blinked blandly and glanced around the table. The Major General looked impressed. Bruce Kiel was scribbling on the proposal in front of him. The Senator's eagle-eyed, sharp tongued, cunning campaign manager, Raleigh Tullos looked smug.

"So they don't expect us to maintain the mall anymore?" the Major General asked.

Kevin realized in that moment how much of a puppet his commanding officer was.

"Exactly. Upon further examination of the photos I realized the hotel in the shots is the same hotel my sister and her husband were financing for restoration. It is a luxurious hotel that harkens back to the beginning of the last century. There is plenty of room for us to settle in there. We can secure the Governor's Suite immediately and use all its resources to provide us a safe and civilized home," the Senator said with relish.

"What of the people living in the hotel?" Kevin asked.

The Senator looked toward him with her shrewd blue eyes. Her smile remained plastered on her face. "They have obviously cleared other buildings. If we bring the cots from the mall with us, there will be sufficient room for the working force."

"Working force?"

"Why, yes," Raleigh said smoothly. "The Senator pointed out to the President that it is time for the people of America to return to their values.

Hard work has always been a part of that. Together we must build a new America. This fort is near cattle ranches and farms. Using the military as guards, we will help the people start building a new world."

"We can begin supplying Central with fresh meat and vegetables in a matter of months," the Senator said with a wink.

Bruce Kiel was making notes on the proposal. "And what is this estimated birth rate gibberish?"

The Senator's fake warm smile was frozen on her face as she shuffled her papers. "We must begin to breed if we expect to survive."

"Isn't it the American way to have babies when you want them?" Bruce Kiel looked up, his expression quite dour.

The Senator laughed a little and Raleigh leaned past her to speak. "We are in a new world, Mr. Kiel. If we intend to survive the undead uprising, then we must have a future generation ready and willing to a.s.sist us."

Kevin flipped through the proposal as fast as he could, scanning it. He found the estimated birth rate data as well as the breakdown of ages among the surviving women in the mall. Women over forty-five were to be part of the regular workforce, since they were not considered optimal breeding age. Women thirty-five to forty-four would be given a six month window to become pregnant, or they, too, would be sent out into the fields. Women, married or single, were expected to produce one child per year. Scanning further he was horrified to see what looked like a formula that estimated an acceptable loss of life to productivity ratio.

"You're talking about these people as if they are cattle," Bruce said in a low voice.

Again, the Senator laughed, flas.h.i.+ng her beautiful smile. "Bruce, please.

I'm being realistic. We all must be realistic. The days of freedom of choice are over. The people must look to us to guide them or we are doomed."

"How do we intend to convince the people living in the fort to turn it over to us?" Kevin looked up from the data. He felt sick to his stomach.

"They are Americans. They will do what their President asks them," the Senator answered. "Besides, there is no clear indication of resistance from them. They are calling us every hour asking for the return of their people and have not uttered one threat."

"That is true," Raleigh agreed. "They may initially resist, but when they see our overwhelming firepower, they will concede."

The Major General cleared his throat and shook his head. "We may have more resistance than you antic.i.p.ate. Bill from the fort said-"

"Bill from the fort is one man. We must speak with the leaders. The leaders will see that it is in their best interests to turn over the fort," the Senator said smoothly.

Kevin sighed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "When are you going to start negotiations with them to turn over control of the fort?"

"We're going to let them wait just a bit longer," the Senator answered.

"They need to see we are the ones in power."

"You do realize that evacuating this mall will be dangerous and the loss of life may be high," Kevin said.

"I saw the evacuation plan. The charges go off, the barricade comes down and as the zombies flee the fire as many vehicles as possible break their ranks," Raleigh responded.

"Also in that evacuation plan it is stated that those in the last vehicles are at risk of being overwhelmed by the undead hordes as the fires die out and the zombies close ranks again," Kevin said.

"They have that in here," Bruce said softly. "The elderly and sick fill the last vehicles."

"The expendable population," the Senator explained. "We have to protect the healthy and the young."

Kevin nodded, then said, "I see."

"This fort is more of a G.o.dsend than we originally realized. Instead of maintaining the mall and the fort, we can merely take over the fort," the Senator said with a grin. "It will be a civilized environment that we can nurture and grow into something the President will be proud of."

Kevin nodded again. "Very well. When do I leave to negotiate?"

The Senator leaned across the table toward him. "I knew you would understand. Contact them in the morning. Make arrangements to see them tomorrow afternoon."

"Excellent, excellent," the Major General said.

Kevin forced himself to keep his expression as neutral as possible.

Bruce Kiel muttered "f.u.c.k this," stood up and left.

"He may be a problem," Raleigh sighed.

"I'll deal with him," the Senator said. "We're old friends."

"He'll come around," the Major General said firmly. "They all will. It's a new age. A new America."

Kevin looked at the proposal, flipping slowly through it. Land of the Free seemed not included in this new America.

He had no choice. He would do what needed to be done to protect the American people.

Chapter 14.