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licked his lips, tasted warm blood, and
grinned.
    He paced as he waited for her report. Not that it
mattered. This would be their new home no matter what she found. His glance
turned to the road the truck took.
    They would be friendly. They would trade goods
and services. They would show they were to be trusted, to be allies. And then ...
    The cleansings would begin.

Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Rule #3    Men aren’t the simple creatures we
think they are. Some have depth and layers and a way to worm their way through
your carefully built walls. Always be on guard, walls are there for a reason.
     
     
     
    Michelle stood on the scaffolding at the front
gate. Dylan jumped up and down as the blue pickup truck came down the road. She
put her hand on his shaking shoulder. “Please stop that. I don’t want to have
you break an arm or leg.”
    “Fine,” he muttered, still hoping from foot to
foot.
    As the truck reached the red line on the road,
they slowed and gave two short beeps and one long one of the horn. She took a
deep breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as the tightness in her chest
eased. The signal let the compound know they were friendlies and they could
safely open the gate.
    Teddy jumped out of the bed of the truck as soon
as it braked to a stop in front of the compound. For an instance, he wore a
serious look on his face. His gaze shot upward to her and Dylan on the wall and
a smile appeared. Like a mask, it covered the sadness she had been sure she saw
in his eyes just a second before.
    The gate slid open silently on well-oiled tracks.
Dylan rushed down the stairs and ran to the big man. Teddy scooped him up and
threw him in the air. The child’s laughter floated on the air. Michelle walked
down the stairs and halted to a stop in front of the man with the boy in his
arms.
    “How did it go?”
    For a second, the smile slipped and she felt she
saw the real man behind the fake grin he showed everyone. All too soon it was
plastered on his face again.
    “Oh, you know. No problem for the King of
Pittsburg.”
    “Dylan,” she said to the child. “The girls are
waiting for you. You’re on lunch cleanup today.”
    “Oh, man,” he whined, wiggling out of Mr.
Ridgewood’s arms and racing to the kitchen area of the compound without a
good-bye.
    “Just like a man—whining and bitching about a
little chore,” Teddy joked.
    She wasn’t buying it. Her hand reached for his arm
and squeezed. “Was it that bad?”
    He looked down at her and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
His lips tightened as he fought to keep the ever-present smile. The smile lost
and his eyes darkened as he looked away.
    “You don’t need my problems, Mrs. Greggs. You got
enough on your plate. Those four boys are a handful and a half as my momma
would say, along with everything else you do for this camp.”
    She pulled him to a pair of chairs in the corner,
away from the bustling group crowding around the rest of the group that had
just returned, waiting to hear about the latest zombie scuffle. Teddy would
tell her what happened, or Emily would later with info she got from Seth. The
long worried faces of all didn’t promise any good news. But news from those who
went outside was all she got. It wasn’t like there was newspaper delivery
anymore or even TMZ.
    As usual, he waited until she sat before he took a
seat as well. His hand reached for hers and she squeezed his fingers and waited
for him to talk—or not. She could talk with Emily later if it came to that.
    A harsh cough brought her attention back to Mr.
Ridgewood. The words tumbled out like a broken dam, a trickle at first until he
rushed through them as if to purge his heart and soul of ugliness.
    Was there anything unusual?” she prompted as his
words turned to mumbles and indecipherable ramblings.
    “No. Some skinbags walking around a parking lot.
Then we heard knocking.”
    He looked away and she reached and cradled his
hand between her two. His skin radiated heat through her