Zombie Patrol (Walking Plague Trilogy 1)

“Joe is my brother. This is Jack. You came here because you are sick, remember?”

His arms dropped and I released my grip. He stumbled, caught the wall. He turned to face me. His eyes were glazed, lost. He blinked once, twice. “Jack?”

“Yes.”

“I was trying to sleep. I couldn’t. I don’t know why I’m standing here...”

“It’s okay,” I said. I flipped the knife over, hid it behind my forearm. My heart was hammering hard enough to pound in my ears. Mike continued bracing himself against the wall. His eyes weren’t right. They were wild. Like one of the animals at the zoo. I continued gripping the knife. “What made you sick, Mike?”

“The meteor.”

“What meteor?”

“It landed...we saw it fall...we shouldn’t have touched it. God, I’m thirsty. I feel so sick. I’m dying. I know it. I can feel it.”

Alarm rang through me. I’m a simple man. A park ranger. A father. A good friend to many. I didn’t know much about things that fell from the sky...or what they could do to a person. Unless my brother and his friend were babbling incoherently about the exact same thing, then I suspected something very alarming was happening...and it was happening to my own flesh and blood. My brother. And I hadn’t a clue what to do about it—or for him.

But one thing was certain. I needed to get Mike away from my daughter’s room, and secured in his own. I put a tentative hand on his shoulder. The guy was burning hot. I coaxed him back down the hall. He went willingly enough, stumbling often.

“Get some rest.”

“I can’t sleep. I...I can’t think either.”

I guided him into the room, led him to the bed. “Just relax,” I said calmly. “You’ll feel better in the morning.”

Mike turned to face me. “You think so?”

I lied again. Some Native Americans believe it’s okay to lie to protect yourself. I didn’t see any fault with that logic now. “Yes, I know so.”

I sat him on the bed and inched toward the door. “You just relax,” I said again.

He stared at me blankly. Too blankly. There was that old joke that the lights are on but nobody’s home. That was exactly what I saw in his expression. The hair on my neck stood on end, and I shivered. I shut the door, fetched the key and locked him securely within.

My sick and deranged prisoner.

* * *

I returned to Anna. By now, she’d worked herself into a frantic state. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”

I paced inside her room, thinking fast. I had to contain these two, my brother and his friend. I didn’t know how incoherent they were, but I couldn’t take any chances. My first concern was Anna. Always Anna. I had to be sure she was safe.

I forced myself to calm down. I stopped next to her bed and had her climb over next to me. “Baby, you know something is wrong, right?”

“I think so.”

“I think something might be very, very wrong with your uncle.”

Despite her strength, and her maturity, tears sprang from her eyes. She loved her Uncle Joe.

I hugged her tight as she struggled through her emotions. I said, “I need for you to be safe, baby.”

“What about you?” she said through the tears.

“I’ll be okay. You know me. I’m always okay.”

“But Daddy...”

“Hush, angel. I’m the father here.”

Anna did hush as I ran my fingers through her hair. That always calmed her. I pulled my cell out of my pocket. Dialed.

“Brice here,” came the sleepy, slightly irritated reply.

“Brice, this is Jack.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve got another wildcat.”

“No. I need a favor from you.”

“Carter, it better be good.”

I motioned for Anna to get dressed. “Can I bring Anna over to sleep there?”

Anna looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was. “No! I want to stay with you.”

I ignored her as Brice came fully awake. After all, I had never asked him for anything. “Here? Sure. Hey, is everything okay, Jack?”

I remembered my brother’s words: Jack, I have to tell you something. But you can’t tell anyone. It’s a secret. I considered, and figured it was best to keep Brice out of it. “Everything’s all right,” I answered smoothly, “I just have to help out a friend, that’s all. I don’t want Anna to be here alone.”

“You need any help, Carter? The wife is here; Anna will be fine.”

Anna was dressed. I next pointed to her laptop and backpack. “No, no. I just have to leave for a while. I may not be in tomorrow. Sorry. I need to take a personal day.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever taken a day off in the last ten years,” Brice’s voice had a touch of concern. “Take all the time you need.”

“Thanks,” I replied. “See you in a few.”

* * *

On the drive to Brice’s place, I told Anna not to mention anything at all about her uncle and his friend visiting or being sick.

“Why?”

If I had a dime for every time Anna asked why, I’d be stinking rich. I said, “Because, darlin’, you know Uncle Joe is in the military. Something happened to make him sick. Top secret, I think. Our secret.”

“But what happened?”

“I’ll tell you later. For now, can I trust you to keep this to yourself?”

“Of course,” she answered, perhaps a little too easily.

“Not even your friends, okay?”

“Daddy, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Keep the secret. Okay?” I pressed.

“Fine.”

We pulled into Brice’s driveway. “Look, baby. I promise I will tell you when I know more myself. Right now, I’ve got to get back home and figure out how to best help Uncle Joe and his friend, Mike. And I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

We sat looking at each other for a minute. I thought of how much she reminded me of her mother. Smart, beautiful, inquisitive. Her mother, of course, was presently living in Portugal. Her mother, of course, had dumped me for her rich boss.

I shook my head all over again. Who the hell leaves their own daughter behind? What the hell had I been thinking? Truthfully, I had no idea my ex-wife had been selfish, although the signs had been there, I suppose. Mostly, she had never connected with Anna. Not like I had. Anna was thoroughly a Daddy’s girl.

Brice’s front porch light came on.