Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 8): August by Dave Rowlands Page A

it was time to leave.  Well, one more day, so Jester can tag what he wants the Scavenger Squad to come in and carry out first.
     
    “If it really is that safe, why don't I just go and do it now, by myself?”  Jester asked me.  I told him that no matter what the rest of the group says, all the Dead in the world could be dead now but there was no way I was going to let him out on his own.  Scout backed me up, saying that just because they have scoured the entire centre top to bottom, clobbering any Dead that they found into oblivion, that didn't necessarily mean that there wasn't a couple lurking around somewhere.  “Or, on the other hand,”  He faked a yawn.  “Fuck it, I'm too tired.  Let's all go tomorrow!”  With an impish grin, he settled down next to Apocalypse Dog, who accepted the company and attention as any good dog would.

August 12 th Year 1 A.Z.
    morning
    Jester ended up tagging every single electrical item in the entire fucking complex, it seemed to me, whether or not it was still intact.  He was, he said, more than competent at scavenging useful components from destroyed items, and might well be able to get half of the broken stuff working anyway as a result.  Sure enough, there were a few Dead lurking around, easily dispatched of course, but Jester soon learned that he would have been doomed had he come out last night to perform his task.  Though I never strayed more than a few paces from Apocalypse Girl's side this time, we performed a thorough double- and triple-check of the shopping complex, just to be as certain as we could be that it was safe for the Scavenger Squads.
     
    Twist was visibly shaken by the idea of going outside for the first time in many long months, though in the end she was the first of us to set foot outside, as we exited through the car park.  She shivered somewhat, saying that it felt colder than it should have for the time of year.  Smiling sadly, Apocalypse Girl just told her to be thankful she'd had a roof over her head during the real Winter.  The cold weather we happen to be experiencing now, that's just a hold-over from then, she explained.
     
    Butler added that, had it not been for the Queen, not many in Adelaide would have had decent shelter, so Twist was doubly fortunate.  Sighing, she said she supposed she was lucky, glancing back at the shopping centre sadly.
     
    noon
    The Queen was waiting for us.  Hair a mess, clothing wrinkled and rumpled, she appeared to have not slept in days.  As we emerged, triumphant, from the shadowy depths of the car park, she ran towards us, paying no heed to the shouted warning from her guards.  Throwing her arms around me, she exclaimed with excitement “I knew you could do it!  I haven't slept all week, I figured you could wander out at any time and I wanted to be there when you did.”  Resting her head against my chest, she muttered “My new Sheriff...”
     
    An instant later she was off, giving orders to Butler that we should all be taken back to the Palace, fed and bathed appropriately, and that he should arrange for the Scavenger Squads to move in and clear out everything that has been tagged as well as a whole heap of stuff that hadn't been, but might be useful.  Gritting his teeth into a polite smile, Butler simply told her that he would take care of it, leading the rest of us away.
     
    After a good long bath shared with Apocalypse Girl, complete with celebratory champagne, we feasted on roast lamb, raising further suspicions about the possibility of another underground facility somewhere beneath Adelaide.  Twist, though she was technically not a member of the Cleansing Squad she was treated as one of us, sat next to Machete and ate as if she had never seen real food before.  After a moment, it occurred to me that we were all doing exactly that.  Fucking Deathwish and his fucking baked beans!
     
    Apocalypse Girl, at one point during our meal, leaned in close to me.  “I am getting a bad feeling about