Verge of Extinction (Apex Predator Book 3) by Glyn Gardner Page B

a true friend.  It gave her a sense of peace, even if it was fleeting.  She tried to smile at her friends.  “I’ll be ok,” she told them.  “I…  I just…”  She dropped her gaze and strode slowly away.
    SSgt Brown motioned for Roy to follow.  His heart was heavy also.  He had always considered Mike to be a friend.  He was a good shot and had turned out to be a competent zombie killer.  He also knew that Mike had been a stabilizing force for Jen.  SSgt Brown had recognized very early on that Jen was volatile.  She was quick to anger and became disheartened very easily.  Without Mike, he wasn’t sure how stable she would be.
     
    Sgt Procell was slowly circling a few hundred yards off shore as Jackson slammed on the Jeep’s brakes.  It took him only a moment to see the group and bring the boat to the shoreline.  He noticed immediately that Mike was missing.  The others remained silent as they loaded the medical supplies onto the boat.  A knot had formed in his stomach.  He wanted to know the details, but knew better than to ask in front of Jen.  He would find out from SSgt Brown later that evening.
     
    A dozen people met them on the dock when they arrived back on the Island.  The crowd immediately began unloading the medical supplies and hauling them to the clinic.  No one noticed Jen as she slowly walked to hers and Mike’s room.
    She quietly shut the door and lay down on her sleeping bag.  Curling into a tight ball, she began to sob.  Soon she was crying uncontrollably.  Her body shuddered with each tear.  She couldn’t think.  She couldn’t breathe.  Her chest was so tight; it felt as if it would burst with every breath she took.
    She wasn’t prepared for this.  During this entire ordeal, she had never once worried about Mike.  He had always been there.  He had always been calm and collected.  He’d never once done anything to cause her to worry.  She had just known that he would survive this.  He’d always come through rough spots without trouble.  He was the ultimate survivor.  And now he was gone and she was alone.  The thought brought on another flood of tears and convulsions.
    She had no idea how long she’d been on the floor when the door opened and shut.  It was so quiet.  The light that filled the room and then receded again was the only sign that the door had moved.  Suddenly a body slid behind her.  She tensed at the tender touch as small arms wrapped around her.
    She could feel the small early pubescent breasts on her back.  The arms were much smaller than hers.  She knew at once it was Theresa.  The girl didn’t speak.  She just held Jen as a mother would hold a child.  Soon, Jen could feel the girl’s own body begin to shudder.  She too was crying for Mike.  She too felt pain at his passing.  Somehow, this made Jen feel a little better.  Something about knowing others shared in her pain lessened it just a bit.
     
    “I’m telling you,” a woman’s voice screamed from the Bishop’s office.  He stood quietly listening.  “I don’t know anything about plumbing or fire hoses or things like that!”
    “Ms. Hebert,” the Bishop said quietly.  “Have you ever heard of a camp follower?”
                  The woman gasped audibly.  “I will have you know, sir, that I am no prostitute!”  SSgt Brown heard a chair creak loudly as someone shifted their position.
    “Ma’am, I assume you are an educated woman. Would I be right in that assumption?”
                  “Yes,” she replied angrily.  “I am a lawyer….”
    “Good,” he cut her off.  “Then you will understand that I was not calling you a prostitute.  I will give you a small history lesson for free.”  Again the chair moaned under someone’s shifting weight.  “During the American Revolution there were a large number of soldier’s wives and other women who followed the army around.  They did things like: laundry, mend clothes, cook,