by K E O'Connor
I paused. Maybe she was upset about losing her cat. I’d be devastated if I lost Stool, even though he wasn’t my dog. I looked at the plate of muffins. I’d never paid a social call to Nancy before. Still, everybody needed someone to lean on when they were unhappy about something.
I walked to her bright red front door and knocked loudly. Scuffling came from inside, so waited a moment. No one came to open the door.
I tried again.
There were more noises, but still no one came. Maybe it was the cat I could hear. She’d returned home safely after all and hadn’t been a victim of the rabid zombie.
I bent and opened the letterbox. The hallway was gloomy. I couldn’t make out anybody inside. “Nancy? It’s Cassie March. I wanted to see if you’d found your cat.”
There was silence, as if the inside of the house had paused, waiting to see what I’d do next.
I flipped the letterbox shut. I could try around the back of Nancy’s house. A narrow alleyway ran behind it, and there were long gardens in these properties. It was a rare thing to have a big garden in this part of the country. Most of us had to make do with tiny courtyards in exchange for the stunning beach on our doorsteps.
As tempting as it was to leave the muffins and go, I had nothing else to do, other than collapse on my couch at home.
I made my way to the gate that led in to Nancy’s back garden. I jiggled the handle of the gate a few times and it opened, the hinges creaking as if it didn’t get used much.
Closing the gate behind me, I walked under a small grapevine. We were lucky to have a warm enough climate to grow grapes and make Cornish wine. It was delicious.
I passed an ornate pond, with large Koi Carp opening and closing their mouths as my shadow fell over them. There was a small area for wildflowers and a neat lawn, with several pergolas, healthy looking potted shrubs, and a patio area. To the left was a small stone outbuilding, most likely used to store garden equipment.
I peered through a downstairs window into a vast, expensive kitchen with granite work surfaces and black tiles on the floor. There was no sign of Nancy or her cat. I reached the back door and tapped on a pane of glass. “Nancy? It’s Cassie.”
After a few seconds, rapid footsteps approached. Nancy flung open the door. “What are you doing in my garden?”
I took a step back, startled by her unkempt appearance. Normally, Nancy was the picture of business efficiency. I noticed a smear of what looked like strawberry jelly on her wrinkled skirt, and her dark hair was unwashed and hung limply around her narrow face.
“I wanted to check up on you. Make sure you got your cat back.”
“My cat?” Nancy blinked a few times. “Oh, she’s come home.”
“That’s good news,” I said. “I’d hoped to see you at the Spring Fling.”
“Why did you want to see me there?” Nancy asked. “What do you want?”
“To make sure everything is okay with you. I haven’t seen you around town much and thought you might be missing your cat.”
“Everything’s fine.” A crash sounded behind Nancy, and her face paled.
“Have you got company?” I peered around the door to see who had made the noise.
“No! I mean, yes.” Nancy pushed the door toward me. “I can’t talk now.”
My nerves jangled, warning me to get out of there. “Is there anything I can help with?”
“You can help by leaving. I’m busy.” She pressed her weight against the door, but I kept my hand on it and forced back.
“Are you in trouble?” Worry gnawed in my stomach. “You don’t seem yourself.”
“There’ll be trouble if you don’t leave this instant,” Nancy snapped. “Please, you can’t be here.” Desperation crept into her words as she leaned against the door.
“I brought you muffins,” I said. “We can have them with some tea.”
“Keep your stupid muffins.” Nancy slammed the door, nearly catching my fingers in it as she did so.
I stumbled back a few steps, hurried to the kitchen window and peered inside. My blood ran cold. I blinked several times.
Inside was a small female zombie, her blue knee-length dress was covered in what looked like dried blood. As her gray bloodshot eyes met mine, she snarled. She was only a child, no more than ten years old.
I backed away from the window. That wasn’t a placid zombie. A scream came from inside the house, and indecision tore through me.
Nancy was being attacked. I had to help, but if I went inside, I’d get bitten. I fought for a few seconds as devastating memories threatened to overwhelm me. It was all too much. I should get help.
I took a step toward the gate. I couldn’t leave Nancy alone with a rabid zombie. I threw the muffins to the ground and ran toward the house.
As I did so, the kitchen window shattered. The zombie flew through and hit the ground.
Chapter 24
For a second, neither of us moved.
The child zombie snarled and growled as she stared at me. Then she lunged.
I dashed backward, tripping over my own feet as I did so. I couldn’t let her get hold of me.
“Daisy, don’t hurt Cassie.” Nancy stood framed in the doorway, her hand to her mouth as she watched the zombie stalk toward me.
“You know this zombie?” I gasped, my attention fixed on the child in front of me. Her fingers were curled into loose fists, dirt and most probably dried blood visible underneath her fingernails.
Nancy took a couple of steps into the garden. “Yes. And please don’t tell anybody what you’ve seen.” She held what looked like a dog leash in one hand, the kind with thick metal links.
“This must be the zombie who killed the tourist. Why wouldn’t I tell anybody about her? How did she get in to your house?”
“She’s my... daughter,” Nancy said, the words choking out of her.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know Nancy had a daughter. “She’s a rabid zombie.”
“I don’t care. She’s still my daughter,” Nancy said. “I keep her under control.”
I looked at the leash in Nancy’s hand, and my stomach tightened. “By keeping her chained up like an animal?”
“She’s safe and content.” Nancy slowly approached us. “We’ve had a few problems recently, but we’re dealing with them.”
Daisy snarled at her in warning, her gaze flicking between the two of us, as if deciding which one to attack first.
“No rabid zombie is ever safe,” I said quietly. “You should get back inside the house while you can. Get help.”
“I was training her. Daisy’s getting better,” Nancy said, ignoring me.
“How are you training her?”
“I’m teaching her new instructions,” Nancy said. “Daisy, sit.” It sounded as if she was trying to get a dog to obey a command.
Daisy ignored her mom and took a step toward me. We only had seconds before she decided which one of us to bite.
“Nancy, get back inside and call the police,” I whispered.
“They can’t know she’s here,” Nancy said. “They’ll take her away.”
“They need to,” I said. “She’s dangerous.”
As if to demonstrate my point, Daisy lunged. I dashed to the base of a tree and grabbed a low-hanging branch, swinging myself up and out of Daisy’s reach. It wouldn’t keep her away forever, but it gave me a few minutes to figure a way out of this without anybody getting hurt.
My explosion of speed provoked Daisy into action. She raced after me, grabbing at my legs as I sat on the branch. She jumped and lunged, desperate to make me her next meal.
“Daisy, please, come to Mommy,” Nancy said.
“Get inside the house before she bites you,” I yelled.
“She’s never bitten me.” Nancy’s tone was petulant. “She’ll never hurt me.”
I noticed the dark red smear on Nancy’s skirt again. That wasn’t strawberry jelly. “She doesn’t know you. Daisy won’t remember you’re her mom. She’ll
simply see you as a food source.”
“That’s not true,” Nancy said. “I keep her restrained when we’re together. She doesn’t hurt me.”
“Because she can’t hurt you if you chain her up,” I said. “Where have you been hiding her?”
“She’s either in my basement or in the outbuilding over there.” Nancy pointed to the building on the other side of the garden.
“Why did you let her out?”
“I didn’t. She got loose. She’s so strong,” Nancy breathed out. “I locked myself in the house until she left the garden. I thought she’d leave town, but then there was the incident with the tourist. I knew I had to find Daisy before she harmed anybody else.”
“You were looking for your daughter and not a cat when I found you in the alleyway.” I tried to tuck my feet underneath me to avoid being grabbed by Daisy and nearly slipped from the branch.
“Yes,” Nancy sobbed. “You can’t tell anybody about this. I can fix this.”
“Someone’s dead,” I said. “You can’t keep Daisy in the house with you. She will kill you.”
“I can make her right again,” Nancy said. “There must be a way for me to keep her. She’s my only child.”
“She’s not your child,” I said. “Not anymore. You lost her the day she turned. You must realize that.” Despite the terror flooding my veins, I had a twinge of sympathy for Nancy. It made sense now why she was so sharp. It must be torture to keep this secret, knowing she had a lethal killer inside her house and having to manage on her own every day, not able to accept that her daughter was gone.
“Daisy,” Nancy said, an authoritative tone in her voice. “Come away from Cassie.”
The sound of Nancy’s raised voice made Daisy’s head snapped toward her. She growled and lunged at her mom.
Nancy shrieked and turned toward the house. She made it five steps before Daisy was on top of her, her small fingers scrabbling at the back of her jacket as she tried to pin Nancy down.
Nancy rolled over, knocking Daisy away, and jumped to her feet. She backed toward the house, her eyes wide and her hands held out as if trying to placate her daughter.
“Daisy, please, I’m your mom.” A sob choked out of Nancy as she hit the wall of the house.
Daisy stalked toward her, her teeth bared, and pounced.
I hurled myself to the ground and ran toward Nancy and Daisy, hearing the snap of Daisy’s teeth as she tried to bite her mom. I grabbed Daisy’s narrow shoulders and pulled her away.
“Get inside the house,” I shouted to Nancy.
Daisy whirled and grabbed at me, her skinny, dirty fingers latching onto the sleeve of my jacket before I pulled it away.
“Get inside,” I shouted again. “Call the police.”
Nancy’s face was ghost-white as she fled from the garden and slammed the door behind her.
I was alone with only a rabid zombie for company. I backed away slowly, knowing that sudden movement would only excite Daisy into action.
Daisy growled and stalked toward me, her hands held out, grasping the air as if she could imagine me in her clutches as she took her first bite. A trail of drool slid from her mouth.
I reached the outbuilding and tugged on the handle of the door. It wouldn’t budge. I tried again. It was locked. My heart sank. There was nowhere else to hide. I wouldn’t make it back to the tree. Daisy was fast.
Daisy lunged again. I swung my purse to fend her off, the contents falling out as I did so. Several of my homemade trinkets scattered to the ground in a sparkling arc around me.
Daisy hesitated, her gaze going to the trinkets. Her snarling intensified, and she hissed at me. She didn’t like the trinkets.
I scrabbled inside my purse and pulled out another one. I held it in front of me. Maybe the way they sparkled in the waning sunlight hurt Daisy’s eyes. Whatever the reason, the trinkets made her back away.
“Daisy, I don’t know if you can hear me, or if anything I’m saying is making sense.” My voice wobbled as I spoke. “You don’t have to harm me. We can help you.” And we would, by putting her out of her misery. There was no safe way for rabid zombies to live among us. The best thing for everybody was if we captured them, contained them, and destroyed them.
It didn’t feel good knowing that I wanted this zombie put down. She was a child and had barely lived a life before she’d been turned. It didn’t seem fair. The virus wasn’t. It didn’t discriminate between age, gender, or race.
Daisy growled, her attention on the trinkets around me. I hoped that Nancy had called the police and wasn’t hoping for a miracle and expecting me to bring her daughter in for afternoon tea and to play dress up together.
It wouldn’t hurt to get backup, just in case Nancy wasn’t going to help. My phone was on the grass by my foot.
I slowly inched down, still holding the trinket in front of me.
Daisy watched my every move.
I lifted the phone to my ear and speed dialed Archer.
“Are you calling to tell me you want to carry on where—”
“I’ve found the rabid zombie,” I whispered, cutting Archer off.
Archer was silent for half a second. “Where are you?”
“Nancy Atherton’s garden.”
“Are you safe?” His tone was alert and focused.
“Definitely not.”
“Do not move.”
“I’m trying not to.” My hand trembled so violently that I almost dropped the phone.
“We’re on our way.”
As Archer spoke, Daisy jumped at me. She knocked the phone from my hand and snaked her cold fingers around my wrist.
Other than my racing heartbeat, everything slowed. I watched Daisy pull my hand toward her open mouth. Her teeth sank into my flesh, the skin threatening to tear.
“Daisy, please,” I said. “If there’s any part of you left in there, don’t do this. Fight your urges.” I didn’t know if reasoning with her would do any good, but I had to try.
A look of what I could only guess was primal pleasure crossed Daisy’s face. I didn’t dare move for fear she’d bite down.
My whole body grew clammy, and I shook. For the moment, she enjoyed simply sucking on my arm. It was like a giant leech had attached to me.
A muffled sob came from inside the house. I glanced over to see Nancy watching from the open back door.
“I’m so sorry. I never wanted this to happen. She’s my baby. I couldn’t have her destroyed.”
I understood, but those words didn’t comfort me, given the fact I was about to die.
“I use this to restrain her.” Nancy hurled a net toward me, where it fell a few feet away. “If you get free, you can restrain her in that.”
If only it were that simple. I looked longingly at the net that lay out of reach and useless.
I took in what would most likely be one of my last lungfuls of air in deep, shaky breaths. “Daisy, please stop.”
Daisy made a strange gargling sound in the back of her throat. Then she did as I asked. She stopped.
She dropped her hold on my arm and spat on the ground as if she’d just tasted something unpleasant.
I didn’t hesitate. I shoved Daisy backward as hard as I could, making her stumble into the net. I grabbed the edge and rolled her in it before she had time to move. I pinned her down, her face on the grass as I lay on top of her.
The gate at the end of the garden slammed open. Nick and Stool charged through. Nick had his gun drawn. Stool was snarling so fiercely that for a second, I thought he was going to attack me.
Nick’s eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. He ran over, his gun pointed at Daisy.
“Don’t shoot!” I covered Daisy with my body. “Everything’s under control.”
Chapter 25
“Are you hurt?” Nick’s eyes flicked from me to Daisy.
“No, just terrified,” I said. “This is Daisy. Nancy’s daughter.”
Nick’s gaze shifted to where Nancy stood by the house. �
��Your daughter’s a rabid zombie?”
Nancy wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded.
His eyes narrowed. “We need to have words.”
Nancy gave a whimper in response, her hand over her mouth.
Daisy’s snarl snapped Nick’s attention back to me. He bent, grabbed the edges of the net and twisted them together, preventing Daisy from escaping. “Climb off her. Make sure she doesn’t bite you.”
I rolled away and jumped to my feet, my knees shaking so badly I had to grab Stool to stop from falling over. He leaned his weight into my hand as if trying to help.
I looked away as Nick drew his Taser and fired at Daisy. Even though she was a rabid zombie, and wouldn’t hesitate in eating her way through Zee Town, I still saw the child that once was.
My heart went out to Nancy as her pale, strained face watched her daughter go limp.
Once Daisy was quiet, Nick strode toward me. He wrapped me in a tight hug. “I thought you were gone.”
I gave a strangled gasp. His embrace was so tight I could barely breathe. “How did you know I was here?”
“Archer contacted me. He told me you’d called him and where you were,” Nick said. “I was a minute down the road.”
“I’m glad you got here so quickly.” Nick’s hands tightened on my back, and I leaned against him, my body wanting to collapse in shock. “I’m fine. I haven’t been hurt.”
“This time,” Nick muttered. “When will you learn not to mess around in dangerous situations?”
I gave a shaky laugh. “Probably never. Although, this time, I wasn’t deliberately poking around.”
He pulled away and gazed into my eyes. “Please, stop doing this. You’re making me age prematurely with all the worrying I do about you.” He looked at my mouth.
For a second, it looked like Nick was going to kiss me. Did I want that? Right now, the only thing I could focus on was that I wasn’t a zombie happy meal. The almost kiss would have to go on hold and be mulled over at a later date.
The gate banged open for a second time. Archer, Buzzard, and Magpie charged through.
Nick stepped away from me, his serious police face slipping into place as he walked over to Archer.