Free Alive and Fighting: New in Town by Cole Connelly Page A

there…shit, well I guess about twenty years. My dad brought me there when I was two." Amy recalled, wincing as Travis got back to the tattoo.
                  "Where were you before that? Rushmore, Heartland maybe?" Travis questioned, beginning on the first hammer.
                  "Here actually, or well, a bit further west. Used to live off Bluebonnet. I think that area's called the Mall District now, passed through it on the way in." Amy answered, stilled for a moment by thought.
                  "So you must be Pre-fect then?" Travis figured, detailing the handle.
                  "Yep, I don't remember it, but when things got rough my parents picked up sticks and headed west, figured Texas would be safer." Amy told, reminiscing slightly.
                  "Was it? I haven't been out of Blood Oak since day one. I was eight when it all hit the fan. This is all I've known…so how's the zombie problem out in the west Texas desert?" Travis asked with curiosity, still working on the first hammer.
                  "Not awful, the zombies you'd see were bad news, but they were scarce. The real threat was how quickly people started turning on one another. Towns rose and fell in a matter of months. The longest run I saw was Third Dallas and that only lasted three years. What about here?" Amy asked, eager to compare her past to her future.
                  "Coasters say we got off easy on our zombie problem, but that we're primitive…buncha shit if you ask me. Just because we're called tribes doesn’t mean we're tribal. Shit we've been a relatively unified Blood Oak for over sixteen years…Also most coasters don't live long enough to realize how big an issue Zeroes are." Travis explained, touching up the hammer.
                  "I'm sorry, but Coasters? Who are they, a tribe?" Amy inquired, overcome by all the information.
                  "My apologies, people from the east coast, The Coast Graveyard. You see, the coast was way more densely populated when the infection hit so they have more zombies that are constantly killing off, and being killed by survivors. Without a stable zombie population, their zombies never mature into zeroes. So instead of massive swarms of zombies like they have on the east coast, we have smaller numbers of zombies, but they’re better organized, because here they take direction and orders from a Zero. Which, in my opinion is much worse, am I right?" Travis asked, looking up to Amy for confirmation.
                  "Honestly I couldn’t tell you. People have thrown that word around ever since I crossed through from Texas, but I still don't know what Zero means." Amy admitted, eliciting a chuckle from Travis.
                  "Heh heh, Well I can definitely fill in the blanks for you. A 'Zero' is shorthand for what we call Patient Zeroes. Pretty much after a zombie has been 'Alive' for long enough they start…changing, some gain strength, some agility…they all get smarter… Can't tell you how it works, only that it's bad news. The way the zombies' minds work is usually a weakness, the fewer of them there are together, the dumber they are, but if a Zero shows up, all the other Zed start attacking as a cohesive unit, they fight longer, and with more cunning. Hear me?" Travis asked, taking a moment from his work.
                  "Kind of…Back in Alamo we never really saw more than three or four zombies at a time together, granted those few usually took entire settlements down with them…" Amy replied, cringing with the memories.
                  "I guess it's six to one, half dozen to the other then. Basically, think of the Zero like a queen bee or an alpha male in a wolf pack. If a Zero shows up, the fight is probably lost…We're just lucky enough that these last few years our Zero has been relatively reclusive. Word to the wise though, don’t go