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"Just answer them truthfully and calmly This is a different world, Jenni

We don’t knoorks yet"

Jenni felt her first pang of fear, then nodded and got out of the truck

Katie stood next to the truck, as relaxed as possible as the black soldier approached her He motioned for Jenni to join Katie and they stood side by side, the for jacket and a housewife in flip-flops, her nightgown and bathrobe Looking back and forth between theether?"

Jenni nodded and Katie answered, "Yes"

"Did you come from the city?"

"Yes," they chorused

"Are either one of you bit?"

"No, no," Katie answered

Jenni whispered, "No"

Without warning, he began to run his hands gruffly over their li to see if there was a response

Jennie started to protest, but Katie gave her a look that silenced her

Jenni becauns ready

They’ll shoot us if we are bitten, she thought

She endured the rough, large hands on her body

"No signs of wounds!"

Jenni knew for sure that they would have been shot if they had shown any signs of having been bitten The soldiers visibly relaxed

"Head to the town of Madison There’s a FEMA rescue center there It’ll be secure" He looked into the cab to see Jack staring at him intently With a s’s head "Reo there"

Katie e, then said, "Yes, Lieutenant Reynolds"

He nodded to them briefly and walked back to his vehicle

As the jeep sped past them to rejoin the convoy, Katie shook her head

"They’re heading into the city," sheto Madison?"

Katie shook her head "No I think we’re better off on our own

Soht"

Jenni nodded, her black hair whipping around her face The as blowing hot and fierce

Katie stood with her hands on her hips and shook her head "No, definitely not going to Madison We’re heading out to get your stepson Then we’ll see e can figure out I don’t like the idea of us being all herded into one spot with only FEMA to protect us We need to find ree"

Once back in the truck, they started down the road again They had a plan now and Jenni was relieved The world seemed a little more bearable now

A few miles down the road they sao vehicles pulled over onto the shoulder Bodies surrounded both of the cars Young and old were strewn about, bullet holes torn through them A few had obviously run for it, but hadn’t ic scene, Jenni recognized the girl froas station smock

Half her head had been bloay

Katie didn’t say a word as she turned onto an even narrower back road

"I guess," Jenni said after a moment, "one of thes Yet to Coh the windshield and the steady hum of the road It was nearly one o’clock in the afternoon and they had been sloinding deeper into the Texas wilds

So would have to hug the shoulder and slon considerably Herds of cows, peach groves, and empty fields were all they saw for miles Occasionally there was a house in the distance, but they didn’t even consider trying to pull off the road Out in the country, people were barricading themselves in as the cities went to hell

"What do you think is going on?" Jenni’s voice sounded raw

To preserve their gas the best they could, they had finally turned off the air conditioner The wind blowing through the cab arht in their noses and throats