Seeking Sanctuary (Walkers) by Zelda Davis-Lindsey

Monster but figured Mikey kept a tight rein on him and he'd show up when I least wanted him to. 
                  I finally figured out we were in southern Colorado, heading north.  I can't begin to describe how happy that made me.  If we kept up this pace we should be able to spend tomorrow night somewhere cooler.  Ken entered my mind then and announced his impending arrival at the same time the boys above did.  He'd found a small airfield close by and was using the fuel shamelessly.  He said he was almost disappointed it had no hippo.  He slipped the image of the hippo eating in the fenced in area we had spent the night in.  I smiled and relayed the image to George, Lacy and Mason.  I don't know why but that hippo bugged the hell out of Ken. I might ask him about that later.
                  We had several pheasants roasting on the fire when the guys returned with a truck to haul the weapons.  The smell was wonderful so it didn't take long for the truck to be loaded and dinner eaten.  We decided to stay the night and security was set up while Joe wrapped my aching ankle.   “You've got to rest this foot, JD. It'll keep getting worse if you don't.  You can sit a few of these adventures out for a change. The guys can handle them without you.”  I started to make a comment but Mason gave me the 'look'.  I wasn't going to say anything bad but I guess what I had to say wouldn't have made any difference anyway so I shrugged it off and settled against the back of the seat.  I grinned at Mason, patted Joe on the shoulder and sipped from my bottle.  We'll just have to wait and see.
                  “Keep it elevated as much as possible and try to stay off it for a couple of days.  If you need anything for pain, I have some Tylenol but I don't want to give you anything stronger unless absolutely necessary.”
                  “Okay, Joe, I'll be a good girl.”
                  “I'll just bring you your dinner so you won't have to walk on that foot.”  Mason said.  I just shook my head and thought about tomorrow and how much closer we were to home.  I had had enough of zombie hunting for a few days.
                  The next day was a breeze although I was keyed up just waiting for something awful to happen.  Call me paranoid. I couldn't believe the luck we had.  Before we knew it we were in Wyoming, driving hell bent down the road.  Occasionally we'd see or hear Kens plane but otherwise we just drove.  Except for when we stopped to eat or fuel up or take care of other business.  Bodily functions continued regardless of the danger.  We had more kids to contend with so that was a lesson we seemed to have to learn every day.  It was late in the second trouble free day that the new set of problems presented themselves.  I was hoping we'd make it through two whole days but it wasn't meant to be.
                  Ken had been telling me about a settlement he saw from the air.  It was in a valley surrounded by tall mountains and almost inaccessible.  We thought good for them, I hope they do okay when someone shot Ken from the air.  Well, his plane was hit by a missile of some kind and I watched, horrified as his plane, wobbling and spitting and sputtering landed hard.  It bounced along the ground close to the road we were on, hopping over brush and barely missing trees and gullies before it hit something and flipped over.  The dust was choking and for several terrifying minutes I couldn't reach Ken by mind or see him in the debris.  I saw several people running his direction and started there myself but Mason grabbed my arm.
                  “You stay here.  Don't forget your foot.”  With that said he disappeared into the choking dust.
                  “Stay.  Sit.”  Like I'm a dog, I thought. I'll be damned if I was gonna sit here with a sprained ankle when Ken could be