Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies by Jo Lee Auburne Page B

family back at camp. There would be no need to do it immediately, but there were important things to consider that they would have to come to a decision about—like, with each trip to town, Amanda was finding it increasingly difficult to find gasoline. The raiders back in town had divided the town up into rival quadrants, warring for the remaining supplies. Amanda made sure to steer clear of gas stations in particular because those had all been laid claim to. She had been siphoning gas from other vehicles for months, but eventually, the gas stations would run dry for the raiders, and they would move on to the remaining vehicles. One day, there would be no more gasoline to be found.
    The location of their current camp was isolated and secure. So far, they had not encountered a single creeper or raider, but they were sixty-five miles from the source of their supplies.
    Additionally, their situation was complicated by lack of proper shelter from the elements. Their group could not go on indefinitely having to run to town so often, nor should they continue on with having only a couple of tarps for shelter, sleeping on the ground, and disposing of their waste in a pit that they had dug. It didn’t seem like a long-term way to live.
    Currently, they had been running to town once a week. Each time, they would return with about 110 gallons of water. There were six of them, plus two, now that she was including the dogs. In the summertime, that amount of water, with a lot of rationing, lasted them just a week. There were no clothes washing, very little body washing, and the constant fear of running out of water, which this time of year meant certain death.
    Options for repairing vehicles, even with a mechanic in their midst, were limited. This was their second truck in four months. Suitable vehicles weren’t terribly hard to come by; the problem was that being sixty-five miles away from the supplies that they needed so often left a lot of questions about breaking down and becoming stranded along the 130-mile round-trip journey.
    Amanda was not comfortable continuing on blindly in their quest for survival without addressing these questions and finding some suitable solutions for them.
    She had left for town at sunrise and had planned to be back between three or four at the latest. And now her arrival time would be closer to eight in the evening.
    Amanda stopped the truck at what they all referred to as “The Trench.” The Trench was a natural occurrence, where the earth had collapsed. It was about four feet wide and five feet deep. It was the other reason that their camp was such a safe place of refuge. She exited the truck, leaving the driver’s door open, trotted to the back of the truck, and rolled up the cargo net, stashing it behind the large metal water drum.
    To cross The Trench, she had two twelve-foot, two-by-eight wooden planks that she would set down in line with the truck tires to make it possible for the truck to cross the gap. The Trench made it improbable for a vehicle to happen across the sight and actually be able to cross it. Also, any creepers that might be wandering through the area down the wash would also become stuck, unable to climb out. Their camp was another mile down the wash and located up a hill where they could overlook a lot of the desert floor around them, especially if they climbed up on one of the three large boulders that were nestled around their living quarters.
    There was only one way in and out of their location. This fact made it more defensible, but it would be infinitely worse for them should raiders or creepers breech The Trench and descend upon them. They lived day to day hoping that this would not happen.
    Amanda grabbed one of the planks, and because they were heavy, she would only place one at a time.
    Red was barking. She felt like he wasn’t the type of dog to be barking for no reason. Amanda rested the plank, one end on the bed of the truck, the other on the ground. She had her