with a suddenness that almost caused Selina to trip. He brought one hand up to shield his eyes against the setting sun. Selina watched him as he almost looked to slip into some sort of trance. His steps were slow and practically seemed like an afterthought.
He spun around so quick that it actually startled Selina. “Get back and tell everybody to meet in the gymnasium. And I mean everybody!”
“Jody what—” she started, but he cut her off.
“Now…and hurry!”
Selina wanted to ask questions, but she turned and ran. She glanced over her shoulder once and saw Jody climbing up on one of the watch towers. Whatever it was, he was obviously the only person who saw anything, because the person on duty up in the tower was visibly shrugging and throwing up his arms in the universal “I don’t know” gesture.
The first person she ran into was George Rosamilia. “We need to get everybody gathered up, and I would suggest that we have them grab their gear. I didn’t see anything, but Jody was visibly concerned.”
“Where was he?” George asked with genuine worry.
“West perimeter…I think tower five.”
“That’s strange…” George muttered, his voice trailing off.
Selina waited patiently, but when it looked like the big man was going to stay lost in his thoughts, she gave him a nudge. “Why is that so strange?”
“Danny left with a team about two hours ago. He didn’t say why…but they headed west.”
“So maybe we should stop standing here talking and get everybody gathered up,” Selina prompted.
George snapped out of it. “I will take the houses, you get over to the apartments, and then whoever gets done first hit the dorms. Make sure you tell Joe to get his old butt over to the a rmory.”
Selina took off at a run. She was developing a really bad feeling in her gut. The last time she’d had one like this was just before the Army had shown up in Bald Knob.
Twen ty minutes later, she was filing in with the last of the current residents of what was once known as Cash, Arkansas…but had recently been renamed “Hope” after a public vote.
The sounds of nervous conversation rippled through the room and echoed off the walls seeming much louder than it a ctually was in reality. Selina made her way to George who was standing on the small stage that they used every time there was a need to address the general public.
Looking out over the people who were gathered, she was reminded of a scene from the movie The Stand when all the citizens of Boulder had come together. She had never been much of a Molly Ringwald fan, but seeing her as Fran managed to change her opinion. She briefly wondered who would play her if she were just a character in a book that got made into a movie. She had been told that she looked like a young Kirstie Alley from her days on Cheers .
“Folks, can I get everybody to have a seat,” George a nnounced, bringing the impromptu meeting to order.
A hush fell over the room and Selina came up to be next to George after he motioned insistently for her to do so. She had never actually been up in front of the group. Usually it was George or one of the men like Joe who had been around for de cades in this little one-stoplight town.
“Okay, I am going to make this short and sweet…earlier t oday, Danny and a few of the guys went to investigate what looked like a puff of smoke to our west…”
Selina gave a sideways glance. She had not heard of any such thing. At least she now had the mystery solved as to why Jody had taken her on that walk. He had tried to make it seem random, but she’d known the whole time that something was up. That made her wonder why he had felt the need to keep a secret from her; as far as she knew, they were a team. That meant no secrets.
“…and it seems that we may be in for a bit of a fight. The problem is, this is not just a zombie horde or something like that. This is a group of people that we believe mean us harm.”
That sent a new murmur
He spun around so quick that it actually startled Selina. “Get back and tell everybody to meet in the gymnasium. And I mean everybody!”
“Jody what—” she started, but he cut her off.
“Now…and hurry!”
Selina wanted to ask questions, but she turned and ran. She glanced over her shoulder once and saw Jody climbing up on one of the watch towers. Whatever it was, he was obviously the only person who saw anything, because the person on duty up in the tower was visibly shrugging and throwing up his arms in the universal “I don’t know” gesture.
The first person she ran into was George Rosamilia. “We need to get everybody gathered up, and I would suggest that we have them grab their gear. I didn’t see anything, but Jody was visibly concerned.”
“Where was he?” George asked with genuine worry.
“West perimeter…I think tower five.”
“That’s strange…” George muttered, his voice trailing off.
Selina waited patiently, but when it looked like the big man was going to stay lost in his thoughts, she gave him a nudge. “Why is that so strange?”
“Danny left with a team about two hours ago. He didn’t say why…but they headed west.”
“So maybe we should stop standing here talking and get everybody gathered up,” Selina prompted.
George snapped out of it. “I will take the houses, you get over to the apartments, and then whoever gets done first hit the dorms. Make sure you tell Joe to get his old butt over to the a rmory.”
Selina took off at a run. She was developing a really bad feeling in her gut. The last time she’d had one like this was just before the Army had shown up in Bald Knob.
Twen ty minutes later, she was filing in with the last of the current residents of what was once known as Cash, Arkansas…but had recently been renamed “Hope” after a public vote.
The sounds of nervous conversation rippled through the room and echoed off the walls seeming much louder than it a ctually was in reality. Selina made her way to George who was standing on the small stage that they used every time there was a need to address the general public.
Looking out over the people who were gathered, she was reminded of a scene from the movie The Stand when all the citizens of Boulder had come together. She had never been much of a Molly Ringwald fan, but seeing her as Fran managed to change her opinion. She briefly wondered who would play her if she were just a character in a book that got made into a movie. She had been told that she looked like a young Kirstie Alley from her days on Cheers .
“Folks, can I get everybody to have a seat,” George a nnounced, bringing the impromptu meeting to order.
A hush fell over the room and Selina came up to be next to George after he motioned insistently for her to do so. She had never actually been up in front of the group. Usually it was George or one of the men like Joe who had been around for de cades in this little one-stoplight town.
“Okay, I am going to make this short and sweet…earlier t oday, Danny and a few of the guys went to investigate what looked like a puff of smoke to our west…”
Selina gave a sideways glance. She had not heard of any such thing. At least she now had the mystery solved as to why Jody had taken her on that walk. He had tried to make it seem random, but she’d known the whole time that something was up. That made her wonder why he had felt the need to keep a secret from her; as far as she knew, they were a team. That meant no secrets.
“…and it seems that we may be in for a bit of a fight. The problem is, this is not just a zombie horde or something like that. This is a group of people that we believe mean us harm.”
That sent a new murmur
Similar Books
