Free The Last Town (Book 2): Preparing For The Dead by Stephen Knight Page B

document some more. “So, uh, you’re basically talking about digging several trenches around the town and erecting steel plank walls topped with concertina wire. And inside the town, you’re talking about erecting additional defenses, so that different parts of the town can be isolated from each other. You’re also talking about building tunnels and bunkers and what have you. Installing underground fuel tanks for gas, diesel, propane, natural gas … all of that.”
    “Again, correct.”
    Aguilar barked out a laugh. “This is ridiculous! You want to tear up the entire town ? For what reason? We have police to protect us, and Inyo County has more!” He slapped his binder closed and laughed again. “You’re crazy, Corbett. You’ve got paranoid dementia.”
    Norton spoke before Corbett could respond. “Hey, Hector? Just to get this out of the way—fuck you. Like usual, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I flew all over Los Angeles today, from the Pacific Coast to Burbank. That place is falling apart. I watched zombies try and take down a bunch of firemen. I saw all sorts of disasters in the making. From the news, we know that pretty much every major city that accepts international traffic is taking it right in the shorts. New York City is down for the count. Boston. Miami. Makes sense, because this thing has been tearing through Europe and Asia for weeks now. The government’s been playing it down, trying to keep the peace, keep everyone calm, keep everyone compliant. Well guess what? They fucked up. They fucked up so bad that whatever it was that made most of Europe go dark is here . Right now, it’s making itself a nice little home in the US of A, and going from what I’ve seen, we’re going to be on our own pretty soon. So you don’t want to deal with it, you stupid Mexican fuck? That’s awesome. Get the fuck out of here and let the rest of us get to work, okay?”
    Everyone gawked at him, including Hector, whose eyes were wide and bright behind his glasses. Even Corbett and his Marine pals looked impressed. Norton found he was standing on his feet, and he hadn’t just spoken the last few lines, he had shouted them, firing them across the room like they were bullets. He was angry, and he didn’t quite know why. And bubbling away beneath the anger was fear. He knew where that came from. He had glimpsed perhaps only the tiniest glimmer of the hell that was building outside Single Tree, and that had been enough. Gary Norton was a believer. The zombie apocalypse was coming, just as Barry Corbett had said.
    “Uh, thanks for the support, Norton,” Corbett said finally. “Really, you should try out for a cheerleader squad or something.”
    “I’ve never been so offended in my life,” Hector said, his voice barely a gasp. “You vile, racist little man—”
    “Oh, Hector, he’s right. Just shut the fuck up,” Gemma Washington said. “Let’s hear what Corbett has to say. You’ll get your turn, don’t worry.”
    Corbett nodded to her. “Thank you, ma’am.” He turned to Norton. “Like I said earlier, I’m in charge of agitating at the moment. Got everything off your chest?”
    Norton sank back into his seat, mortally embarrassed by his outburst. “Yeah. Yeah. I apologize for that.”
    “No need to apologize, Norton. You’ve got it all on the ball, and you’ve seen more of this than we have.” Corbett turned back to the town council. “Okay. Getting back to it. Yes, Aguilar, I might be overreacting. But I don’t think so. We’ve seen a good share of civilization drop off the map, and now it’s here, all around home plate. We have to start making preparations. I’ve been doing a lot of legwork, and I’ve been talking to a lot of people all over the country. Non-military government services are failing. The markets are collapsing. Transportation is grinding to a halt—we already know that air travel is no longer available, which means that people aren’t going to be able to