Chapter 19

"Crack!"

"Crack, crack!" came the report from the rifle held lazily in her grasp. The female figure, standing 5'8" sat on a chair atop the vehicle as it traveled lazily down the highway. Absently going around stranded, broken down cars and trucks. She sat atop the swiveling chair, a baseball cap on her head shading her eyes from the sun. she wore black shorts that left her long slim legs bare along with a white tank-top. Her tan was coming along nicely since leaving the newly constructed city. She even took the last hour of travel atop the motor vehicle completely in the bare to insure that it remained even. Now though, since it was just past noon, she perched on top taking shots at any zombies that came within her sights.

"Crack!" that last one gave her a total of 128 kills. She thought it was funny that it still counted as a kill when they were already dead.

"Jen, will you please come down? We will arrive within the hour," a female asked sticking her head through the trap door that led down into the vehicle. Jennifer felt the RV come to a stop so didn't bother to reply, simply flicked the switch on her weapon to safety and stood unwaveringly following the other woman inside.

"We're all here now," Erica King said once she heard the light thump that signaled her jump down.

Jennifer watched as the woman took a seat at what stood as the dinning room table. There were four chairs in total. Large lush chairs that swiveled completely around to make it easier for them to sit and stand. The table was a large one that easily could fit six. When not in use it folded over itself and they used it as a work desk. A large view screen sat inside the wall currently displaying an overhead view of the campus these survivors had chosen to be their home. Robert, Erica's husband sat in one chair his back to her, looking intently at the overall layout of the property. He was a rather handsome fellow tall and slim with a strong gait. His wife stood just a few inches shorter but her body could only be described as petite if you imagined another 15 to 20lbs on her frame.

She locked eyes with the final member of their small party. A rather tall fellow, solidly built but not bulging. His blue eyes stared back at her. He'd attempted to speak to her that first day but she was still in a bit of a flux on what she should do. Since then she spent nearly every minute of the day on the roof. Shooting zombies as they traveled. He hadn't approached her since but she could see the longing he held for her. She didn't understand what it was in the beginning, not until she saw that same look staring back at her in the mirror one morning as she thought of Yessana.

Once the realization hit, her confusion skyrocketed. Yessana had spoken of having feelings for both her and John Reddington. John has shown obvious signs of his affection for both Yessana and herself. Jennifer could even admit now that she did indeed have very strong feelings for Yessana. But John? Did she feel that way for him? Could she feel that way about any man after what happened to her?

She shelved those thoughts before they could have a chance to affect her. John changed seats, moving to the chair closer to the wall, an obvious gesture that he wished her to take a seat. She walked over and almost took it but decided at the last minute to lean against the refrigerator that stood directly across from the table. She tried her best not to show how bothered she was when she saw the look of hurt and disappointment on his face.

"This is the main gate here," Robert began doing his best to ignore the byplay he'd just witnessed. He pointed to a spot on the screen. Most of the people are located in the buildings along University Avenue. As we had, they've converted nearly every class room into living spaces. The leadership seems to be housed separately in these two buildings on the corner of University Avenue and Luther Drive. The head guy in charge, who we still haven't been able to figure out what his name is lives in the old Chancellor's house." During all this he'd pointed at each corresponding location.

Erica continued at this point. "They're farming on every square inch of grass that is there. They even have their own sub-power station that is still receiving current from a hydro-plant that amazingly is still in operation. Once I realized they still had power I sent a probe to investigate the plant. It's running at full capacity miraculously as it stands because it is failing from neglect. The fact that is is running at all and hasn't overloaded is a miracle in and of itself. Almost half the city is being powered by this one plant even though the surrounding city is deserted. Obviously they are living on borrowed time because it would seem that no one knows how to operate it."

"So what does that mean for us?" John Reddington asked.

"It means," Jennifer said pushing herself off the fridge to place her hands on the table so that she could get a closer look at the screen. "That even though they may have everything they need, it won't last." she looked down at John and noticed that though his eyes were focus on her they were NOT focused on her face. She felt the blood rising up her chest and enter her cheeks. She chose not to say anything though or make any motions that she'd notice. She did chuckle to herself after taking a rather deep breath causing her chest to expand nicely at the way he licked his lips in anticipation of a meal.

"What is that?" she asked pointing at the lower right corner of the screen. John reluctantly followed where she was pointing but not without taking one last look at her valley.

He leaned closer to see the small words that were displayed below each building naming them. "Oh shit," he moaned with a look of woe on his face.

"What?" asked Robert.

"It's a National guard Armory. That means they have automatic weapons and who knows what else."

"We all have weapons John," Erica said not seeing a problem with this information.

"That is true, but people I DON'T know, with FULL automatic weapons bothers me." John said.

"Why?"

"Just one word, Jake." John could see the recognition dawn on her face.

"Good point. But what do we do?" she asked next.

"We go on as planned. We go in, you give your presentation and we leave. It's that simple."

"Hahaha ... when you put it that way it does sound simple."

"How long till we get there?" Jennifer asked noticing that where John's gaze had returned to. She didn't understand why but the obvious hunger he seemed to hold for her turned her on greatly.

"About an hour," Erica said doing her best to ignore where John was looking.

"Then I'm going back up top if there's nothing else to talk about?" she asked looking at Erica and Robert.

"Uh ... no. That's all we just wanted to go over the information we've gathered."

"OK."

An hour later The RV left the highway and drove the seven blocks to reach Montgomery Street. It took a little longer to reach because of all the cars that were 'parked' in the middle of the road. The Silver RV finally arrived at what stood as the main gates. They'd noticed several leather clad individuals walking the parameter of the fence. M16's held in their hands. Some of the men took off running at the site of the shiny new vehicle as it moved by.

There was a group of 15 men waiting for them when they stopped. They were all wearing denim jeans and leather jackets which made no sense in this heat. Several of the automatic weapons were pointed at them as the foursome stepped out of the RV. Two carrying both sidearms and rifles that perfectly resembled the M16's the men were carrying. The other carried nothing but what looked like laptops.

Jennifer decided it would be in their best interest to change into her combat suit before they reached the freeway exit. When John saw her make a move to her locker that rose from below through the floor after the foldaway couch was put away, he did the same. He was brought up short when after pressing in her combination her locker opened she began to remove her clothing right there. He couldn't help it as he stood there as she'd pulled the shirt off over her head. Giving him a tantalizing glimpse of her charms. She removed a sports bra, pulling a clean one on that once again blocked his view.

Just as he thought the show was over and was about to continue on to his own locker, her thumbs hooked into the waist band of her shorts. He froze mid step, breath held firmly afraid that if he moved or made even a peep she'd stop what he hoped she'd do. And like a dream come true she began. She pushed khaki shorts down her firm legs revealing the fact that she was wearing nothing underneath. She bent over, legs straight and slightly separated as she continued to push them all the way to her ankles, revealing her previously hidden charms for his eyes to devour.

Jennifer knew that John was looking at her. She could see his reflection in the mirror hanging on her locker door. She didn't understand it, but the knowledge that she held that much power over the lust of someone else turned her on greatly. She could even feel herself getting wet. Quickly throwing her shorts into the locker she pulled on a pair of very unflattering white cotton panties.

John watched as she pulled on her underwear and instantly fell in love with the way her backside looked in them. He watched as she quickly began to dress. Socks, shirt then pants. She began lacing her boots and looked at him as if she'd just realized he was there.

"Are you OK?" she asked innocently. The slight twitch at the corner of her mouth told him all he needed to know. She'd known he'd been watching and hadn't done anything to stop him.

He smiled as he nodded in answer. In fact he was sure she'd given him that unobstructed view of her charms intentionally. Thinking that two could play that game he continued to his locker and began to undress himself.

His clothes were removed promptly, thrown in a pile at the bottom of his locker. He also felt no embarrassment when he lowered his underwear showing her exactly what the show she'd given him had done. She stood at that point, making no pretense at subterfuge. She stared avidly at his manhood finally realizing that she was in fact attracted to him. "Maybe ... maybe we should talk," she said having to forcefully drag her eyes from his groin to look him in the eye.

"As soon as we're done here," John replied picking up a clean pair of underwear and pulling them on. They were uncomfortable and a little tight but that would go away. He hoped. She nodded in acknowledgment and finished getting dressed. Once finished they helped the other tighten their pullover vests that could protect them from just about any type of firearm these people could hold.

They shared one last look for each other before they pushed all personal thoughts to the side and adopted the military mindset they'd been trained to have.

The silver and black RV had been traveling South on 65. They were coming up on the exit for Montgomery Alabama. This would be the first major stop on this trip. Scans showed that there were over 2000 people here. Centralized at Troy university. Like Derrick's group they'd taken refuge on campus and analysis has shown that they too have built a fence round the property. They couldn't get a probe close enough to see the inner workings for fear of discovery but they did show video of numerous people using the previous grounds for farming. Scavenger groups roared out on motorcycles daily looking for anything they could find useful.

They quickly came to a stop just outside the gates of Troy University.

"What do you want?" one man asked stepping forward past the others. He was a tall man, easily towering over their group at 6' 6" weighing in at what Jennifer assumed had to be close to 300lbs. He seemed to be built of nothing but heavily corded muscle. His jeans were loose fitting, and his leather jacket looked practically new. He had the beginnings of a beard and mustache that were just starting to cover his lips. He looked to be in his early to mid thirties. His blue eyes stared at them coldly with not a little confusion. Jennifer suspected the sight of them coming out of an RV that looked like it had just came off the assembly line unnerved him a little.

"We are here to speak with whomever is in charge sir. Would that be you?" Erica said stepping forward taking the lead.

"Yeah, that's me. But we're not taking in any stragglers." He was looking worriedly at the rifles Jennifer and John were carrying. They'd taken a relaxed position standing to each side of the married couple. He also noticed the strange looking body armor the two wore. It didn't look like anything that could stop the rounds from the M16's but it still worried him.