by K E O'Connor
I could guess who’d started that. Scott Temple, hoping to be rid of Katie and me. I swallowed my anger. He may be half-right in his bet. I was desperate for news about Katie. It had been almost two hours. The team had still not reported in from the church.
“I placed money on you getting back alive.” Derek sat at the table and exhaled smoke around. “You’re made of tough stuff.”
I growled out a laugh. “Kevlar runs through my veins.”
Derek nodded. “And I hear you recruited a new partner.”
I eased myself into a seat opposite Derek. “We got some help at the church. This street dog latched onto me and came to my defense when the zombies arrived. He attacked the one that took me down.”
“And lost a leg,” Derek said. “Nasty business. I spoke to Carla a while ago. She said the dog’s heart gave out a couple of times.”
“He didn’t make it?” I tensed in my seat. “Carla hasn’t been in to tell me what’s going on.”
“He made it. That mutt is tougher than you. Carla’s too busy saving his life to worry about you.” Derek grunted. “His wounds are patched up, and she’s stopped the bleeding.”
“That’s good to know.” The painful tension eased from my shoulders.
“If he recovers, and Katie doesn’t make it back, you could replace her with the dog.”
I shot Derek an evil glare. “Don’t even joke about that. Katie will be fine. She’s too good a member of this team to lose.”
“You won’t find me arguing about that.” Derek stubbed out his cigarette in an empty drink can and stood up. “I need to get back to work. There are other teams out there to monitor.”
“How many are still out?” A bone weary tiredness descended on me. There never seemed to be an end in sight for our patrolling and hunting. Worst of all, it didn’t get us anywhere.
“Another five still to report in.” Derek patted me on the shoulder with a nicotine scented hand. “You did a good job tonight. There’s one less rabid nest for us to worry about.”
I nodded and watched as Derek left the room. The door had only just shut before it was pushed open again. Carla entered, her white lab coat looking crumpled and her dark blonde hair swept messily from her narrow face.
“What’s the news on the dog?” I asked as she poured herself a coffee and added two sugars.
“Give me a second,” Carla said, her voice gravelly. “This is my fifteenth hour of work. If this super-strength sludge doesn’t give me a kick start, all hope is lost.” She drained her mug in two long swallows and grimaced.
“Well?” I couldn’t wait any longer. “What news about the dog?”
Carla’s smile was weary. “He’s in okay shape considering he looks like a stray. He’s got some old injuries, several scars and a couple of bite marks from what were most probably zombie attacks. The front leg was totally lost. He’s weak from lack of blood and food, but I’ve given him plenty of fluids, cleaned him up, and given him more vaccinations and injections than he’s ever had in his short life.”
I shuddered at the mention of his lost limb. “Do you know how old he is?”
“It’s hard to tell given I’m a doctor not a vet, but his teeth are in decent condition. There’s only a little wear on them. I’d say young.” Carla leaned against the table. “His feet are in bad shape, suggesting he’s spent a lot of time outside. He may have been born on the streets and grown up learning how to survive against the rabids.”
“How do you rate his chance of survival?”
“Good. The wound isn’t infected. Providing he responds to the antibiotics and other drugs I’ve given him, gets plenty of rest, lots of fluids, and a decent feed, he’ll be fine.” She let out a sigh and tipped her head to look at the ceiling. “Adjusting to life on three limbs as a stray dog, though, that’s going to be the hard thing. I wonder whether it would be kinder to put him to sleep. Once he’s out on the streets alone, he’ll be easy prey. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s picked up immediately and turned into a zombie meal once we let him loose.”
I slapped my hand on the table, making the empty cans on the top rattle. “No! There’s no way he’s being put to sleep. If you think he’ll survive this, I owe it to him to give him a decent chance at life.”
“He’s a disabled dog, Nick.” Carla tilted her head down to look at me. “Maybe he won’t be able to get around with three legs. The shock of tonight could still kill him.”
My stomach tightened at the thought of losing him. “That dog stood by my side on the church roof and fought with me. He could have run between the zombie’s legs and fled, saving his own hide. He didn’t have to be there. He didn’t have to attack the zombie. In fact, I jumped out of the way and the zombie grabbed the dog. In a way, he saved me.”
Carla smiled. “He’s a cute enough dog, that’s for sure. He didn’t bite me once throughout all the procedures. In fact, on one occasion, he tried to lick my hand. It was like he was telling me that it was all right. Although I was hurting him, he understood what I was doing.”
“He’s a good dog.” I swiped my fingers over my eyes, exhaustion making my emotions spike.
“I had a dog when I was a kid. I understand why you want to keep him around,” Carla said. “I’ll do my best for him, but on one condition.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Which is?”
“You need to rest as well. You don’t fight off a rabid zombie nest without needing down time afterwards.” She held out a pill.
“What’s that?”
“Something to knock you out. If you’re worrying about Katie and this dog, you won’t rest. Take this, get some sleep, and recover. The next time you open your eyes, thing will look better.”
I scowled at the pill. A part of me wanted to zone out for a while. Tonight had been a nightmare.
“Nick, take the pill. I insist.”
I sighed and opened my palm. “Thanks, Carla. Rest sounds great. Is there any chance I can see the dog before I go under?”
“I was going to bring him in here,” Carla said. “I’ve had word that another team has some injuries. I need to scrub down the medical room so it isn’t contaminated. This is the quietest place for him. You can keep an eye on him in here if you like.”
“Sure, we’ll stay in the break room. I can crash here.” I eyed the couch. It looked like the most comfortable place in the world.
“I’ll get him onto a trolley and bring him through,” Carla said. “Make a bed in the corner for him with some couch cushions.”
As she left the room, I did as instructed, throwing two cushions on the floor and covering them with an old blanket off the back of the couch.
A few minutes later, she returned with the dog on a trolley. He was covered with a heat pad. “Are you up to helping move him?” she asked.
I nodded, ignoring the ache in my ankle and the leaden feeling in my muscles. Between us, we eased the dog onto the floor.
He seemed fast asleep, his breathing slow and steady and curled onto one side, an enormous bandage wrapped around his middle.
“Have you taken your meds?” Carla asked.
I dry swallowed the pill. “Happy now?”
“Ecstatic. I’ll leave him in your capable hands.” Carla gave my arm a squeeze before leaving the room.
My gaze rested on the dog as he slept in the corner. I bent and ran a hand along his spine. My fingers traced prominent rib bones and old scars. This dog had seen more than his fair share of battles.
My vision blurred with tiredness as I stood, the couch beckoning as I staggered toward it. I’d close my eyes for ten minutes, have a quick nap, and then see if there was an update on Katie.
Chapter 9
Fingers brushing across my cheeks roused me from my sleep. I blinked my eyes open, my hand reaching for my discarded weapon.
“Relax, I’m not going to bite you.” Katie crouched by the side of the couch, her weary gaze on me.
“You’re back! And you’re alive!” I sat up so fast my head spun.
I grabbed hold of her arm to make sure this wasn’t a dream.
A crooked grin shifted across Katie’s face. “There’s no need to sound so surprised. You seem to have forgotten that I’m good at what I do.” The smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Are you hurt?” I couldn’t see any injuries on her.
“A sore back, a cracked rib, a couple of nasty gashes on my legs. Other than that, everything works fine,” Katie said. “And you? I heard from Control that you arrived at the base looking a little worse for wear. That’s not surprising given what happened to you.” Her gaze shifted over me.
“I busted up my ankle pretty good,” I said. “My head aches like I’ve been hit by a club, and I imagine there’ll be some impressive bruises on my back from falling through the roof.”
Katie nodded and sat back on her heels. “I saw you go. I watched you pitch straight through the roof.” Her voice cracked, and she looked away.
“I don’t remember much about it,” I said. “My gun stopped working. I pulled my baton, but the roof gave way. What happened after that?”
“The zombie that was attacking you tried to follow but that crazy dog,” she pointed behind her into the corner, “he wouldn’t let him go. He kept going after him, trying to tear him apart. He seemed to be doing a good job, but the zombie got him in a stranglehold and, well, you’ve seen what the results of that were.”
“What about you?” I asked. “Did you finish off the zombies?”
“I got the two that were on me,” Katie said. “Then another one charged through the door. He smashed into me and we flew off the church roof together. He punched into me like a freight train. There was nothing I could do.”
I blinked a couple of times. “And you’re still alive?”
“Zombies are quite soft when you land on them.” Katie tried for a smile, but I could see her jaw wobbling.
I took hold of both of her hands and squeezed hard. “We made it. We got rid of a nest of rabid zombies.”
Katie smiled as a single tear tracked down one dirty cheek. “We did. But there will be plenty more.”
“And there will be plenty more of us to get rid of them,” I said.
She nodded and swallowed. “Two more teams were lost tonight.”
My blood chilled. “I didn’t know.”
“Eight dead. Two bitten and under observation,” Katie said.
I shook my head. “We know what we’re signing up for when we take on this job.” Still, my stomach felt sick at the loss of all those lives.
“It makes you wonder, though, when will it end? When will we finally have the streets to ourselves and be safe again?”
“They’re improving,” I said. “Think back to a few years ago. You couldn’t even go outside without risking being attacked. We’re heading in the right direction.” Although I tried to convince Katie that things were getting better, I had days when I wondered if this was as good as it got. If we’d have to spend our lives patrolling, hunting down zombies, and always living on high alert. It wasn’t a life that offered a long and happy outlook.
“I was still in school when it started,” Katie said. “It’s a bit of a blur. I remember spending a lot of time in armored school buses, surrounded by sweaty men in uniform who would shout at us if we broke their rules.”
“I can’t imagine you ever breaking a rule,” I said.
“I had my moments.” She scrubbed a hand over her face. “So, what next?”
“We get cleaned up, have a couple of days to rest, and get back out there,” I said.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to keep doing?” Katie asked, her gaze on the floor.
“Of course. It’s what we’re here for,” I said. “Why, are you having doubts about this role?”
“No. I mean, I want to stay in the police. I’ve learned so much in the few months we’ve worked together,” Katie said. “You’ve shown me how difficult it is out there and how we need better resources and more people to speed up the process of getting this country back to normal.”
“We do what we can with what we have,” I said, my thoughts briefly going to the gun that jammed and almost cost me my life.
“We need more resources,” Katie said. “How can we establish order with guns that fail and bite gear that only survives five bites before you’re at risk?”
I shrugged. “The powers that be say there’s a funding shortage—that we’ve got everything we need to do the job.” I didn’t get involved in the political wrangling that went on over where the money should be allocated and whether we got our fair share. My role was on the streets. It always had been.
“It needs to change,” Katie said. “And, well, I’ve got the opportunity to do that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You have?”
“I hadn’t expected to get offered an opportunity like this for years. I got a call last week from the Chief Superintendent.” She shot me a guilty look.
“Don’t keep me in suspense. What does he want with some fresh-faced college kid who didn’t know which way to hold a gun when we first met?”
She grinned at me. “The Superintendent’s offering me a sergeant’s role with special duties overseeing resources for the teams on the ground. It’s a step in the right direction toward becoming an inspector and eventually an assistant commissioner. Imagine what I can do once I get into a commissioning role. I can cut through the red tape, get the resources out there and on the ground that our teams need. Better guns, much better suits that don’t make you lose five pounds of sweat every time you wear them, radios that don’t break. That’s just for starters.”
This was what Katie really longed to do, but I knew she wanted to prove herself in the eyes of the patrol teams. She needed to show she wasn’t just another official with no clue how bad things could get. She’d done that many times over.
“I can’t imagine someone better for that role. You’ll whip the lazy pencil pushers into shape in no time.”
“That’s what I plan to do,” Katie said. “I’ve seen what it’s like out there. I know what you need to make this work. And I think, if I push hard enough, we can make a massive difference and change things for the better. We will finally put down the rabid zombies.”
“When do you leave?” I asked.
Katie chewed on her bottom lip. “I haven’t said yes, yet.”
“But you are going to?” I asked. “You cannot miss this opportunity.”
“What about you?” Katie asked. “We’re a team. I don’t want to let you down. You still have plenty to teach me.”
“You’ve learned all you can from me,” I said. “And you’ll be letting me down if you don’t take this position. I want to see you covered in medals, in one of those fancy uniforms the commissioners always get to wear, making things good for us grunts on the ground.”
“If you really don’t mind, I’d love to take the position.”
“Then do it,” I said. “Besides, I’ve already got a new partner lined up.”
Katie frowned. “You were thinking of replacing me?”
I pointed behind her. “If he makes it through, he’s coming home with me. That dog saved my life.”
Katie moved to sit next to me on the couch and looked at the dog. “I was surprised to see him here. When I saw what that zombie did, I was convinced he was dead.” She looked away for a few seconds before shaking her head.
“I need someone tough by my side in this job. He proved himself tonight. Why not a partner with fur?”
“And how long are you planning on staying in this job?” Katie asked. “I know you’ve always worked the streets, but...”
“Go on, what were you going to say? You don’t think I’m up to the job?”
“No, it’s not that,” Katie said. “Recently, I’ve been wondering if you’ve lost your passion.”
“How could I not be passionate about night shifts, hunting out zombies, and avoiding being eaten?”
She thumped me with her hand. “You know that’s not wha
t I mean.”
“I never want to leave the police.” I scrubbed at the stubble on my chin. “I went into training straight out of college and haven’t looked back. This is all I know how to do.”
“But the violence and uncertainty we face every time we go on night patrols,” Katie said. “You can’t love that.”
I ran my fingers through my hair a few times. She was right, spending every night living off adrenaline was exhausting. I’d make a fatal error one day. That would be it for me—no more police, no more me, no more life.
“There are alternatives,” Katie said quietly.
“I’m not like you,” I said. “I’m not meant for a life behind a desk.”
“Neither am I,” Katie shot back sharply. “I promise you this. I won’t turn into one of those stuffed shirts that lose sight of the real world.”
“I know you’ll be different,” I said. “You have ambition and vision for what we could achieve that surpasses anyone who’s already at the top. I need to be active and out in the community, helping people when they most need it.”
“I was thinking of something a little different for you. Something that will keep you alive and mean you get a decent night of sleep now and again.” Katie’s gaze moved to the bulletin board in the break room.
I squinted over and let out a laugh as I saw what she was looking at. “You mean that strange experiment they’re doing in the south west?”
“It’s called Zee Town,” Katie said. “I had a look online, and it’s successful. Humans and placid zombies do live side-by-side. Some of the businesses are planning to employ zombies, and give them benefits and wages. There’s even a shelter established for the zombies who arrive and have no one to look after them. They’ve also got a specialist doctor joining. She’s some kind of expert on zombie physiology and their mental faculties. Plus, they plan to host year round events to draw in the public and demonstrate how well the town works. It sounds interesting.”
“Why are you selling this to me?” I asked. “What makes you think I’ll be good at that?”
“Because you’re amazing at what you do,” Katie said. “You’re efficient and thorough and hard-working—”