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"And chaos could follow It could get dangerous real fast," Eric agreed

Katie took a deep breath Her father was alive and trapped She wanted him here, with her She wanted to see him meet Travis and love him as he had once loved Lydia She wanted to see her father hold her child in his arms She wanted Jenni and Bill hoave birth She wanted her fao and speak with her," Katie said at last

"What?" Travis looked at her startled

"I was a prosecutor and leader of the debate teae I can be very persuasive I will speak to the Senator and Major General andas they are willing to work hard to keep this place safe and a decent place to live"

"Katie," Travis whispered

"I can do it I can make her and her supporters at least see the possibility

So that there won’t be bloodshed or death I may personally despise the woman, trust me, I know her, but if this is all that remains of the American dreaive her the option to see the truth Besides, if the President is really, truly alive in East Texas, then ure out what the hell happened and what the future holds"

Everyone was staring at her, taking in her words

"The Senator did ask otiations for the turnover," Kevin said finally

Katie felt her jaw set and knew her eyes were deterued her into corners before I had the displeasure ofher atued her into a corner on that subject,"

Katie said in a low, terse voice "I can face her again"

This comment elicited raised eyebrows and looks of curiosity, but Katie didn’t care

Travis kissed her teainst her skin and she looked up into his eyes He so, too" He immediately turned and pointed at Nerit "And you are not stopping ree with you This tihtly His body was tense and she kneanted to argue with her, but she loved that he respected her enough not to

"So if the Senator says yes and there is a horde of zoet the people out?" Curtis was looking very unco on and his foot was rapidly tapping the floor

"Airlift We got three other helicopters other thanan abandoned co We cleared out the zoularly," Kevin explained "It will take a lot of trips, but it would be the safest We do have explosives on all the gates out of the ood chance of the last part of the convoy being overrun"

"We can coordinate and figure out how toas the helicopters don’t pull in any zoular pickups out to the helicopters to pick up the people"

"Sounds like a plan," Travis said in a low voice " A workable, needs to be fine-tuned plan"

The tension in the room had dissipated and now there was a sense of tentative ca everyone here, Katie knew that, but they could do it And perhaps they could use the Senator’s contacts within the East Texas coently as she leaned into him She loved him so much, but it was tireat need to go to the mall She wanted to see what had happened there and see her father She wanted to bring hiht of both of them trapped there et to planning then," Nerit decided

Kevin nodded "Absolutely"

Calhoun burst into the roo his camera With a scream that made Katie jump, Calhoun raced toward Kevin, his hands stretched out

Valerie swung her rifle out from under her chair, rose easily to her feet, and nailed the old man with a sharp crack to the forehead Calhoun fell back, blood running down his face, the ca to the floor Thomas aimed his revolver at Calhoun’s head and everyone heard the safety snap off

Everyone began shouting as chaos erupted

Nerit cal Calhoun "Stand down"

"It’s a fucking zombie," Thomas shouted at her

"damn clones…" Calhoun un pointed at Tho zombie," Valerie protested