“Fuckin’ lesbo bitch,” Shane hissed.

“Move! Don’t mess up my kitchen,” Rosie ordered, waving a towel at him.

To avoid Shane, Katie busied herself carrying the big metal bins out to the buffet and dropping them into the slots. Already the water that would keep the food warm was bubbling deep inside the buffet table, steam rising up to greet her.

It was five ‘til noon and the old folks, as usual, were already lining up. There were ten officially elderly people who lived in the fort. No one dared group Nerit in with them. Two walked with canes, one with a walker. Old Man Watson was just deaf as they come. When he saw her, he smiled and waved. She smiled and waved right back at him.

Stacey brought out the big basket of biscuits, which brought a lot of “ooohhs” and “aaaaaahs” from the line. Roger arriving with the big bin of chipped beef made them even more excited. Katie’s somewhat pathetic mashed potatoes and the green beans had them positively beaming.

“They’re gonna flip over the cobbler,” Stacey whispered to Katie with a grin.

Katie laughed. When the cobbler was rolled out it sent little waves of excitement through the now growing line.

It was very rewarding to watch people happily digging into the food they had prepared. The construction workers came in to eat while Stacey was dispatched with lunch boxes for the guards. Mealtime was not the sheer chaos it once was now that they had a decent facility.

There was plenty of room to spread out and really enjoy the meal.

Katie was kept busy going back and forth from the kitchen. She kept the food bins full and made sure there were enough clean plates and utensils. Jenni and Juan appeared together. They both looked solemn as they sat in a corner, eating their lunch at a small table. Katie saw one of the tubs, put out for people to bus their own table, was full near their table. She slipped over to pick it up and steal a moment with them.

“How did it go with Bill?” she asked.

“I’m his prime suspect,” Juan responded grimly.

“Which is bullshit. I could have killed Jimmy. Easily,” Jenni said with a frown. “By the way, the food is great.”

“Thanks. I did the potatoes,” Katie answered, then said, “Juan, I’m sure Bill realized that it wasn’t you.”

With a shrug, Juan said, “Yeah, but who else would do it other than Loca? Travis? You? Who?”

Katie sighed and heaved the heavy tub up onto her hip. “I’m sure other people had motives. Or could have motives.”

Juan sighed, then shook his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter, Katie.

Not if they want to blame someone. It will end up me.”

Rosie came up just then and Katie hurried off under her stern eye.

She glanced back to see Rosie hugging her son tightly and talking to him in a low voice. Katie hated to admit it, but Juan was the most likely suspect. It killed her to think of him doing anything like that.

But then again, she had been furious when she had heard about Jenni being left in that room. If she had been there when it happened, who knows what she could have done to Jimmy.

In the kitchen, she helped rinse off the plates and load them up into the enormous industrial dishwasher. In between loads, she managed to eat her lunch in big bites. She was famished and loved every bite.

Finally, the crowd thinned out and they were able to finish clearing the tables and wash up the rest of the dishes.

“Did anyone see Travis?” she asked as she began the process of storing the leftovers in Tupperware containers.

“No, can’t say I did,” Rosie answered.

Stacey glopped some mashed potatoes into a plastic container and shook her head. “Eric said Travis was busy working on something in his office and he said he’d eat later.”

Katie frowned a little. “Any idea what he is working on?”

Stacey thought for a second then nodded. “Eric said when he went by with Pepe, Travis was studying some stuff Jason had left off for him to look at. Plans for weapons or something like that.”

“Well, since we’re pretty much done here, I’m going to take some leftovers to him then,” Katie decided.

With a nod of her head, Rosie handed her a clean plate. “Go take care of that boy. If it wasn’t for him, none of us would be here right now.”

Smiling slightly at this, Katie took the plate and quickly served what she hoped was man-size portions for Travis.

Stacey was eating some cobbler now. She was gaining weight and looking better than she had when she had first arrived at the fort. For being so small, she ate more than someone would expect. “What do you mean, Rosie?”

“Travis is the one that had the trucks made into a wall to protect us.

That is why the zombies never got in,” Rosie answered.

“Thank God for that or we wouldn’t have had anywhere to go,”

Stacey said thoughtfully. “Weird how things work out.”

“Plus, he is very good looking. If only I were younger,” Rosie said with a wink.

A secretive smile broke out on Katie’s face as she covered the plate with foil.

“Oh, yes!” Gretchen’s voice affirmed. “Isn’t he handsome? I remember when he moved to town and all the girls would just stare at him. I always thought he had a thing for Brenda.” Gretchen’s voice got soft, then she said, “Poor Brenda. Did they ever figure out how to get her body down?”

“I think they’re gonna use a hook on the end of a broom to drag her off the anti-suicide net,” Roger answered. “No one is going to want to see her up there during the party.”

“She was always so sweet,” Gretchen sighed. “Always checking out romance novels from the library and waiting for Prince Charming to come.”

“That’s really sad,” Stacey said softly.

“Yeah, when Travis came to town, she thought he was the one. She told me all about him when she was checking out her books. It’s sad how he found her body.” Gretchen shook her head. “It’s a sad world.”

Stacey picked up another biscuit and slowly pulled it apart. “At least some of us are still alive.”

“Thank God for that!” Rosie exclaimed, and yanked open the huge refrigerator to store the leftovers away.

Listening to the conversation, Katie could only feel sad for the young woman who had been so enamored with Travis. It was yet another painful reminder of all the dreams and hopes that had died with so many on the first days.

Katie slipped out of the kitchen and headed out into the construction site. It seemed so empty without all the people milling around. It looked more like a construction site now and less like a refugee camp.

She shrugged her shoulders under the thin straps of her tank top and hurried toward the portable building that housed Travis’ office.

Moving up to the door, she knocked and waited for an answer.

Her smile broadened on her face as she realized how much she was anticipating seeing Travis. Now that she had actually allowed herself to embrace her feelings for him, she was actually getting butterflies in her stomach. She felt girlie and silly, but was enjoying it all the same.

She hadn’t felt this way since she had first met Lydia. That memory was bittersweet, but too sweet to be denied. After her initial meeting with Lydia, she had been so hyper she had danced around her apartment for an hour. And when Lydia had called to ask her out, she had jumped on her bed with excitement.

Now she felt that way all over again about Travis. It was shocking, yet very good at the same time. He was as much an amazing a man as Lydia had been an amazing woman.

Travis opened the door, looking very serious, but as soon as he rested eyes on her, a smile spread on his lips.

“Lunch?” She lifted the plate for him to see.

“Yeah, sure. Bring it in,” he said, stepping back to let her enter. “I was just working on some plans to make the new entry more secure.”

Slipping past him, Katie moved toward his office. “How’s it going?”

“Okay. I just get real paranoid that those things are going to get in and I start second guessing what we are doing,” Travis said following her down the hall.

Laying the plate on a desk, she turned to look at him. “I think we’re all a little paranoid about those things.”

“Yeah, but after yesterday I admit my paranoia is a little worse,”

Travis said with a grimace. “I just…” He sighed and sat on the edge of the desk, his hands in his jean pockets. “I just feel like I need to work harder on coming up with good ideas to keep us all safe.” He looked toward her. “Keeping you safe.”

Katie gave him a soft smile as she moved into his arms and laid her hands on the sides of his neck. His hands were warm against her skin as he slid them under her top to rest on her waist. “Well, you’re doing a great job so far keeping us all safe. I know a lot of us are very, very grateful to you.”

Travis looked almost sheepish as he looked up at her. “Yeah, well, just trying…”

“And doing a good job,” she answered. She stroked the curls on the nape of his neck. She could see the stress lines around his eyes and brow fade as he smiled up at her.