Dead: Winter by TW Brown Page B

check, Sanchez,” Jon snapped, sounding instantly like the military leader. “We can debate this without the language in front of the girls.”
    “So they can stomp around in the woods with zombies, but you don’t want them hearing profanity?” I asked with a sarcastic laugh.
    “I think we need to put it to a vote.” Dr. Zahn stepped into the center of the room, taking both of the confused and now apparently frightened girls under each arm. “We have always been at least a limited democracy, so let’s have a group decision on this right now. All in favor of allowing Thalia and Emily to accompany Jake and Jesus when they are working on maintaining the perimeter raise your hands. I watched as hands went up around the room. Fiona was working on the panels, but it wouldn’t matter. Nickie’s was the only hand that stayed down besides mine.
    “I guess you guys win,” I sighed.
     
    
     
    “Just past the small trailer park.” Billy held out the bag. He and Brad had returned an hour ago and had both been cleared by Dr. Zahn. They’d been gone for eleven days.
    “And Ian brought you to this place?” I took the bag and peeked inside. The dress was shimmering and the color of rubies. I glanced around to ensure Emily was nowhere to be found before pulling it out and taking a look.
    “He said he remembered seeing it on his last run. He wanted to give it to Emily for her birthday.”
    “And Brad put him down?” I was still digesting the news. I hadn’t held out any hope that he would be immune. Like he had said, we already had one of ours get that lucky, the chances of it happening again were slim.
    “As soon as his eyes closed. He never came back as one of them for even a second.”
    “You say he took almost four days to finally go?”
    “Yeah,” Billy said with a nod, “but his eyes had the tracers by the first morning.”
    I didn’t know how to feel. Ian had been part of the group almost since the beginning. I knew that loss was something much more common these days, and goodness knows we’d lost our share, but this one was a bit more personal. And I think the worst part for me was that I hadn’t been able to say goodbye. I was sick of the lack of closure. Just once, couldn’t somebody die of old age?
    Was that even possible anymore? I wondered.
    I shook off as much of the melancholy as I could and returned my attention to the dress. “A bit big?” I held it up to my body and tried to imagine how tall Emily was when she stood next to me.
    “Sunshine has it covered.”
    “Outstanding.”
    Billy opened his small hip pack and produced two more objects. I stared at them for a second before meeting his gaze. “I found these in a pawn shop. Brad doesn’t even know. I figure you can decide for yourself on this.”
    I took the pair of tiny handguns and was immediately struck by how small they were. Both had two barrels and came with a tiny leather holster.
    “Derringer Snake Slayer pistols,” Billy said, and then grinned sheepishly. “That’s what the box said anyways.”
    “How powerful?”
    “Uses the .410 shot shell so it has some leeway, but considering that both girls are becoming pretty fair shots…”
    “Incoming!” Jake’s voice bellowed from the watch tower. I shoved the pistols in my coat pocket and followed Billy out of the picnic area.
    As I reached the stairs that climbed the hill on the backside of our communal home, I saw Nickie helping her friend to her feet. Christina was recovering nicely it seemed.
    “We got a dozen inbound,” Jon said in lieu of a greeting when he saw me.
    “And?” I shouldered the M4/A3 that he handed me.
    “Looks like they are heavily armed.”
    I saw Jesus and Jamie slip out the back door I’d just come through. They would duck into the woods and set up crossfire positions with sniper rifles that had scopes on them larger than the telephoto lens I’d had for one of my old thirty-five millimeter cameras.
    I checked my safety out of habit and waved up