SHTF (NOLA Zombie Book 0) by Gillian Zane Page B

neck back and forth scanning the area. Anyone who was walking along the street, out on their porch, or in the cars around us could be infected and a possible threat.
    I accepted the call and brought it to my ear.
    "Romeo," Zach said gruffly when I answered.
    "James," I replied.
    "I just watched a man eat a fucking old lady. He sat there and chomped on her in the middle of the street." Zach's voice didn't convey the stress that his words were hinting at, but I knew it was there.
    "You should see Costco, it's like an all you can eat buffet." I regretted my words when Alicia started to sniffle next to me. I patted her knee awkwardly. I was never very good with the "children present" restraint.
    "I'm official freaked the fuck out. I'm assuming since you've been at Costco you didn't go straight to the compound. What's your ETA?"
    "One hour, if everything goes as planned."
    "Good. I'm rounding up a few stragglers. I have Kirk, Tillman, and Martinez with me. We're at the uptown office. Have you spoken to Miller? Do you know where the fuck he is? Looks like he was here, but left, I can't believe he would leave, he knows protocol for FUBAR situations." Blake Miller, the M in MJ Security and notorious loose cannon. He was the instinct and Zach was the logic. Zach always said if we were playing poker, Miller was playing blackjack. But there was no denying that Blake Miller always led you right and had your well-being in mind. I would follow him to the ends of the Earth. He had saved my ass too many times to count. I just wouldn't want to be his partner, or the guy that wanted him to play by the rules.
    "Haven't seen him since I left the office Friday morning," I said honestly.
    "Dammit, I want to head to the compound, but I'm not going until I get a lock on Miller. I can't find Ito either, and Graff's team is still in Mexico, I don't even know what to do with that. If this infection reaches critical mass they'll close the borders. Baby checked in this morning, she's heading in too, so that's one less grunt to worry about," he sighed and I heard the voices of the other men in the background.
    "It'll be fine, James, just head to the compound when you're ready. I'll meet you there. We have a better communication system there anyway. Grab Miller, I'm sure he's at his house. He's probably fighting with his wife on what to pack. Bet you the bitch has him all strung out."
    "You're right. Fuck, I don't want to be holed up with Clara for God knows how long." I laughed at his honesty, none of us liked Blake's wife. Well, maybe Martinez, but he liked everyone. "Look, I've noticed cell phones are starting to get spotty, check in when you get to the compound. I'll be on channel three if you can't get a signal."
    "Will do," I said.
    "And Romeo," he said, worry in his voice, "Be safe. We've been through some shit together, hell, I thought I'd seen it all. But this is a new level of FUBAR."
    "Oohrah, James. You too." I hung up the phone and looked over at my sister who was clutching her scratched arm. James was right. We had seen some shit during our time in the Marines, some really screwed up shit, but seeing a man get his intestines chomped on by a shopper at Costco was fucked up beyond all recognition.

Sixteen

The Enemy
    " W E'RE sitting ducks here ," Hank said nervously, peering out the window at all the traffic. We were at a standstill. "I was going to take it through City Park, but Carrolton is all backed up. I'm going to get on the interstate," Hank said making a hard right and cutting off the car next to him to pull onto the ramp that read ‘ To Slidell’ .
    Interstates weren't always the best place to be in a time of crisis. I didn't know if this was a good idea. I had an intrinsic fear of being locked down on an exit ramp, nowhere to go but over.
    "It might be worse," I warned, but it was too late. He was committed. He got onto the Slidell onramp and executed a very aggressive merge to get us heading east. The interstate widened and