Zee Town Paranormal Cozy Mystery - Complete Series Omnibus: Books 1 - 6

by K E O'Connor

  “That will be all for now.” Captain Page dismissed us with a wave of his hand. “Report at the desk for your assignments. Good luck out there tonight and stay safe.” It was his standard sign-off at the end of every briefing.

  Katie hopped from her seat, downing what must have been her fifth cup of coffee of the evening. “Let’s saddle up, partner. I have a feeling we’ll have some rabid zombies to hunt tonight.”

  I twisted my neck from side to side, relieving the tension I felt. “After last night, I want a simple patrol, with not a zombie in sight.”

  “Now you’ve said that, you know they’ll give us the rabid nest,” Katie said as she waited for me by the briefing room’s entrance. “We’re good at what we do. Why would they send anybody else out to do the job?”

  “They’ll never let some tiny little blonde thing like you into a rabid nest,” Scott said, his meaty hands gripping to his biceps as he stalked over to Katie. “They leave that work to the real men.”

  “Point me in their direction,” Katie said with a sly smile. “I’ll see if they’re interested in the job.”

  Scott stepped into Katie’s space and glared down at her.

  I eased a hand onto his shoulder and dug my fingers into his muscle. Scott was solid, standing at over six feet tall, and enjoyed intimidating people he considered smaller and weaker than him. He didn’t know Katie that well if he thought she’d be intimidated by his bulk.

  I lowered my voice. “You want to step back, before she does you real harm. I’ve seen Katie in action. She doesn’t miss her targets.”

  “And there’s a whole lot of target that’ll be easy to hit.” Katie’s glare was as fierce as Scott’s.

  Scott jabbed Katie hard with a finger. “Stay out of my way, little girl. If you get yourself in trouble with the zombies out there, I won’t waste my time coming to save you.”

  “I can save myself,” Katie snarled.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said to her. I’d tangled with Scott before. He fought dirty, and I needed Katie in top fighting form—especially if her guess was right and we’d be going up against a rabid nest.

  “Whatever. He’s not worth wasting my energy on.” Katie shoved Scott out of her way and stomped to the assignment desk.

  “What’s she like?” Scott grinned at me, his eyes on Katie as she walked away.

  “She’s a good partner,” I said, not missing the underlying meaning in his words.

  “I heard she’s a real spitfire.”

  My fists clenched. “She is when it comes to zombies.”

  “Are the two of you, you know?” Scott asked.

  This time, it was my turn to shove Scott. He hit the door with a thud.

  “Keep your mouth shut about my partner. She’s nothing to do with you. Katie’s a great officer. You’d be wise to make friends with her.”

  “Why’s that?” Scott sneered.

  “Katie’s not going to be with us grunts for long. When she’s up in the ranks looking down at us and making decisions over our future, do you think she’ll forget that you tried to intimidate her?”

  “I’m not scared of her,” Scott said, glowering at me.

  “You should be,” I said. “She’s better than both of us combined, and she’d take you down in a heartbeat.”

  “Nick,” Katie said. Her face was pale and her jaw tight. “We’ve got the rabid nest.”

  Chapter 4

  A hollow ache sat behind my eyes. The previous night on rabid patrol duty had sapped my energy almost to breaking point. We’d found the rabid zombie nest and dispatched six zombies, but several had got away.

  We were out again, darkness sucking up the few remaining wisps of light as I scanned the area. Katie was by my side, her gun drawn.

  “Have you given any more thought to that Zee Town?” Katie muttered, her gaze fixed straight ahead.

  “It doesn’t interest me. I can’t see it working,” I said.

  “It is interesting, though,” Katie said. “The idea we could live alongside placid zombies.”

  “It’s creepy and weird.”

  “You’ve said it yourself, placid zombies may have some of their humanity left,” Katie said. “What if we could live alongside them? It would be a huge bonus to the police. No need for lengthy assessment procedures and no need to round them up. If we knew the placids were safe, we could integrate them with humans. Maybe even get some working with the police.”

  I snorted a laugh, not able to envisage zombies keeping order and arming them with Tasers and guns. “Are you planning to sign up for the trial if you find it so appealing?”

  “Not a chance,” Katie said with a grin. “My ambitions run higher than settling in some tiny coastal town and holding hands with zombies.”

  That was true. I also knew Katie was more than capable of getting to the top of the police ranks if she wanted to. “So, why the interest?”

  She was silent for a beat. “The position might suit you.”

  “You think my future’s stuck in the back of beyond playing nice with zombies?”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” Katie said. “It’s just that, well, you’ve been through a lot. Losing Melanie and your family gone. I figured you might want a quieter life, a life that doesn’t involve living on fear and adrenaline. I hate to say it, but you’ve been looking a little tired recently.”

  “We both look tired. So we should. Double shifts are exhausting,” I said. “Now, focus on the job at hand. Let’s round up these remaining rabids and get out of dodge while we’re still alive.”

  “Yes, sir,” Katie said, and fell silent.

  I paused as I heard a noise down an alleyway to my right. “This way.”

  We crept along the alleyway, keeping to the shadows, our guns raised as the noise intensified.

  I pointed ahead and then left, showing that the sound was coming from around the corner.

  Katie nodded and flanked me as I inched forward.

  I turned the corner, my gun raised.

  “Don’t shoot me,” a weak male voice quavered. Underneath a pile of cardboard boxes lay a man, his straggly beard and watery blue eyes put his age anywhere from forty to sixty.

  I lowered my gun. “You shouldn’t be out here. We’ve had reports of rabids in the area.”

  “They won’t touch me,” the man said, looking up at me with resignation in his eyes. “I’ve been bitten. They don’t like me now.”

  I looked at Katie and shook my head. That wasn’t possible. Once you were bitten by a rabid zombie, you usually turned into one of them.

  “You should get yourself to the homelessness shelter on Crabtree Avenue,” Katie said. “They’re usually full, but you could be in luck and get a bed for the night and maybe a decent meal and a bath.”

  “I’m fine here,” the man said. “Nobody troubles me, especially not the zombies.”

  There was no point in debating with him. Some people preferred to live outside and not risk getting trapped in enclosed spaces with zombies.

  I also preferred being outdoors. There were more opportunities to hide and plenty of spaces to run to if you ever got in trouble with the rabids.

  After checking the rest of the alleyway, we retreated to the main road and continued our search.

  “What that guy said about being bitten and getting immunity from zombies,” Katie said. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

  I waved her comment away. “It’s nonsense. A myth. People pander to that rubbish in the hope that if they ever get bitten, they might survive. I was part of a security detail for a bunch of scientists when I first joined the team. They were looking into the rumor. They found nothing.”

  “It’s still being studied,” Katie said. “They’ve even got a few candidates they’re running tests on who got bitten by a rabid zombie and survived.”

  “I don’t believe that,” I said. “Once the rabid form of the virus is in your system, your odds of staying human are bad.”

  “Not ev
eryone changes. Some people seem to be immune,” Katie said. “We’ve all got the virus in our heads, it’s just that it impacts us differently.”

  “No amount of testing and theorizing will solve this mess.”

  “So, you’re an expert on genetic mutations?” Katie quirked an eyebrow at me. “And here I was thinking I had a bull-headed zombie hunter as a partner.”

  I smirked and rolled my shoulders. “You do have one of those. I’m being logical. There’s no point in giving people false hope about rabid zombies.”

  “It’s an idea,” Katie said. “I’m not giving up on a cure being found just yet.”

  I raised a fist, signaling silence. Katie stilled.

  A shuffling sound drifted from a nearby building.

  I indicated the location to Katie as we moved forward, our guns drawn again.

  “Rabids?” Katie whispered.

  “Could be,” I said. “Stay alert.” She always did, I didn’t need to tell her that, but it was instinct. We had to have our wits about us if we encountered a nest of rabids.

  The noise stopped and started again in a different location.

  I focused on the source of the noise, which came from ground level off to our right. A black bag of garbage moved and a furry nose emerged. It was a dog.

  We lowered our guns. Animals didn’t turn into zombies. They were, rather sadly, a food source for the rabids, though.

  “Hey! Isn’t that the dog you fed the other night?” Katie moved toward the black and tan dog, who peered at us.

  “I think it is. Be careful,” I said. “You don’t know how friendly he is.”

  “He looks half-starved to me,” Katie said. “Have you got another one of those protein bars you can spare?”

  “Why don’t you use your protein bar?”

  “Because I’m a growing girl. I need all the food I can get.” Katie flexed her arm muscles.

  I pulled out a protein bar from my pocket and broke it into pieces.

  The dog pricked his ears and walked toward me, his ribs visible beneath the short fur.

  I dropped the pieces of protein bar on the ground. “Here you go. That might keep you going for another night or two. Best you don’t hang around here, the rabids will see you as a tasty snack if they catch your scent.” Animals weren’t a rabid zombie’s first choice of food. It was humans first, second and third on the menu. If they were desperate, they’d eat any warm-blooded animal.

  The dog took five seconds to eat the food and sat down, gazing up at me, licking his nose as if expecting another round.

  “That’s your lot from me. Turn those puppy dog eyes on my partner if you want anything else,” I said to the dog.

  “No way,” Katie said. “This one is all you. If he follows you home, you’ve only got yourself to blame.”

  I reached out and let the dog sniff my fingers. He gave them a tentative lick. “Let’s finish this patrol. We’ve got four more buildings to search, then we can move to the next area.” I patted the dog on the head and walked away, Katie by my side.

  I turned and saw the dog following us. I held out a hand to him. “No, you stay. It’s not safe for you to be with us.”

  “That’s sweet. You’ve made a friend,” Katie said.

  “Stay,” I ordered the dog.

  After a few seconds, he gave a whine but sat on his haunches.

  I walked backward for a couple of steps to check he wasn’t following us before turning my attention to the patrol.

  “Where to first?” Katie asked.

  “The supermarket and then the dress shop opposite,” I said.

  “Great. I need a new dress,” Katie said. “And maybe a cute scarf to accent the stark black of my uniform.”

  I shook my head. “I doubt there’ll be any balls to wear it to this year. There’s no point in getting anything fancy.”

  “You never know,” Katie said. “If Brad’s working, maybe Scott will take me out. He seems fond of me.”

  I grinned. “He’s intimidated by you.”

  Katie wrinkled her nose. “I know. He should be. The guy’s a jerk.”

  I pulled open the door of the supermarket and was hit in the chest by a rabid zombie.

  Chapter 5

  The impact of the zombie had me flying. I crashed to the ground, my head bouncing off the sidewalk, cushioned by my headgear.

  My heart raced as adrenaline pumped through me. I pulled down the visor to cover my face and prevent the snarling zombie making contact with any flesh.

  He was large, and from the unhealthy smell, he’d been a rabid for some time. His eyes were the usual flat gray and bloodshot and he had pale blotchy skin.

  The zombie snapped his teeth in my face, before grabbing my arm and biting down. The Kevlar uniform prevented him from causing immediate damage. Even so, I felt how strong his jaw was. If he worked on the material for long enough, he’d get through.

  Despite being in such close quarters, I aimed my weapon and fired, blasting the zombie away.

  I jumped to my feet and looked around for Katie, spotting her ten feet away. My gut clenched. Three zombies surrounded her. They were too close to her to risk me firing.

  I raced over and disabled one with my Taser.

  Katie downed a second with her weapon.

  “Watch your back,” she shouted as she faced off with the final zombie. “More rabids on your six.”

  I twisted, gun raised, as four more rabid zombies rushed out of the store. They were followed a few seconds later by another three. “We need to move off the street. We’re too exposed.”

  “The church,” Katie shouted. “We can hole up there. It might be easier to pick them off if we can get a good vantage point.”

  “Let’s go.” I watched as Katie dispatched the zombie with lethal precision before we pelted across the street toward the church, the remaining zombies on our heels.

  We raced through the churchyard. I sent up a silent prayer to whichever god might be listening, hoping that the doors weren’t locked. If they were, we’d just backed ourselves into a corner.

  Thankfully, one door stood ajar. We pushed through, Katie in front, sending up a shower of dust as she dashed inside.

  “Check the interior to make sure it’s safe,” I said. “I’ll deal with the door.”

  Katie nodded, switching on the high beam flashlight on her helmet and scanning the interior of the church, the light flicking efficiently from side to side.

  My heart pounded as I pulled a heavy desk across the doors. There didn’t seem any way of locking the thick wooden doors of the church.

  As sweat dripped down my face, I could hear the zombies racing across the gravel pathway. They were too close.

  “Help me with these benches,” I said. “We can use them as wedges against the door.”

  Katie hurried toward me. “There’s no sign of anyone inside. I’ve only done a sweep of the ground level.” She grabbed the end of the bench and between us we used it as a wedge to jam the door shut.

  The timing was perfect. Just as we forced the bench into place, several zombies impacted on the outside of the door.

  I jumped away. “Did you spot any other entrances?”

  “There’s a small door at the back. It’s locked. Best we reinforce that, too. It didn’t look too sturdy.” Katie eyed the main door cautiously. “We need to find a way to take them out.”

  I nodded. “They won’t give up now they know we’re in here. Let’s get this place secured and get up somewhere high.”

  We spent a few minutes searching the ground floor of the church before jamming a couple of benches against the only back door. It was a small place of worship with a dozen movable pews, a small altar, and a tiny kitchen. Most of the stained glass had gone from the windows, but they were high enough up to make it difficult for the zombies to get through.

  Dust shot up my nose as I moved aside a bundle of pamphlets, and I resisted the urge to sneeze. It seemed the place hadn’t been used for some time. It was likely aba
ndoned when the uprising took place.

  “I found a route upstairs.” Katie gestured over her shoulder with a thumb. “Through that back room. It’s a tight fit, but some old stone steps take us up. We’ll have to go up one at a time.”

  “I’ll go first.” I moved toward her.

  “You don’t always need to protect me,” Katie said with a frown. “I can look out for myself.”

  “I saw what you did to those zombies out there.” But I could see that Katie’s eyes were a little too wide, and the color had drained from her cheeks. Despite her tough exterior, I never forgot how new she was to the job and how frightening rabid zombies were to everybody, me included. “Follow me up. That’s an order.”

  Katie nodded.

  I walked through the low-ceilinged back room to a flight of stone steps that twisted up into a deep blackness that had me hesitating.

  “Are you sure you want to go first?” Katie whispered.

  “No, but let’s get on with it.” I checked the bullets in my gun and made my way up the cold steps.

  Halfway up, there was a balcony that looked down over the church pews. Another dozen steps and we hit a door. I eased it open and stepped out into the cool night air.

  Once we were outside, we did a scan of the rooftop. We were alone.

  Katie gestured at the edge of the roof. “Watch your step around here. Some tiles are missing and the wood underneath isn’t too solid.”

  I tested the exposed beam I stood on and felt it bend under my weight. “What can you see below?”

  “They’re still out there,” she muttered, peering over the edge. “I see six of them. They’re crowded around the main door.”

  “How’s your aim from this far away?” I sighted the zombies through my gun. Even I would have trouble making an accurate hit from this distance.

  “I’m happy to give it a go,” Katie said. “I got a gold medal for my shooting range skills when I was a teenager.”

  That didn’t surprise me. “Let’s hope your skills aren’t rusty. I’m going to check around the back. Ten zombies made it out of that store. We downed three, but I don’t want any creeping in another way and catching us out.”