by Ivan Turner
He looked at her momentarily, blinking once and then twice.
"Who's missing?" she asked Albert.
"Mayfield," he answered.
"How?" she asked. "How did he get out?"
Albert shrugged.
One of the guards informed that the door was open. There was no sign of forced exit. By all indications, it appeared as if someone had let him out.
Something inside of her shriveled. Of all of the zombies in the Zoo, Todd was the most dangerous. Luco had seen him feed hundreds of times and each time left her cold. He didn't just blindly attack the animals. He stalked them, cornered them, and took them with minimal force. She looked over at the dead guard.
Albert, seeming to read her mind, said, "The cause of death is a broken neck. The other injuries all seem to be post mortem."
Of course. Otherwise, he would have turned.
"Did you see this, Rudy?" Luco asked. "Were you here?"
He nodded.
"Are you hurt? Did Todd bite you?"
He shook his head.
More mystery. Why would Todd attack the guard and not Ludlow? She had never seen a zombie discriminate between victims before. In fact, zombies tended to take bites out of multiple sources if they were available. None of this made sense. Then something else occurred to her.
"Why is he naked?" she asked, indicating the guard.
Albert shrugged.
"He needed the clothes," Ludlow said.
She looked at him. "Who? Todd?"
He nodded.
"Rudy, are you telling me that Todd broke that man's neck, stripped him, fed off of him, then dressed in his clothes, and walked out the door?"
Ludlow nodded.
"How, Rudy? How could he do that? How did he even get out?"
Ludlow looked at her directly, pain in his eyes. "It must have been me…I must have let him out."
She was about to ask why he would do such a thing when there came a cry from down the corridor. Every guard in the vicinity raised his or her rifle. But there was no trouble. The woman who'd gone down to investigate was calling for Dr. Luco. She got off of her knees and jogged to the end of the hallway.
"What is it?" she asked.
The guard pointed into a cell. It was one of the very last cells in the Zoo and still resembled its original design. It also housed their oldest tenant.
Luco looked inside. Zoe Koplowitz was standing close to the glass but not pushing up against it. Her hands were at her sides and her chin was up. But it was the eyes that had really caught the guard's attention. Instead of staring blankly at nothing, they looked directly at her. Her mouth moved once, but they couldn't hear anything through the glass. Luco looked once at the guard who looked right back at her.
Reaching forward, Luco thumbed the intercom. "Zoe?"
The zombie's head turned and the eyes focused on Luco.
"Can you hear me?"
It opened its mouth and a small choking sound issued forth.
"What's she doing?" the guard asked. "Is she trying to talk?"
"Zoe?" Luco repeated.
The little girl zombie made the choking sound again and then again. Finally, it seemed as if her throat cleared and she drew in breath.
Luco took a step back in shock. "Zoe," she whispered.
"Mommy?" came the zombie's reply. "Are you my mommy?"
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So ends the penultimate chapter of Series 1 of Zombies! For all of you hardcore zombies fans out there, have no fear. Next month's final episode is chocked full of moaning, stumbling, George Romero zombies. For Abby and Martin Benjamin, Shawn Rudd, and Denise Luco and Lance Naughton, the nightmare hits a crescendo as the invisible army of zombies is unleashed upon the city of New York.
For Anthony Heron, it's just a quiet evening at home with the family.
Please join me for State of Emergency, the final episode of Zombies! Series 1.
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Be sure to check out what happens when the Jury starts punishing people for their crimes in past lives and sets their sites on a rabbi who is believed to have been Adolf Hitler in The Book of Revelations, available for all your reading devices from all of your ebook stores.
For an epic (and involuntary) journey through time at a breakneck pace, join Mathew Cristian as he narrates his adventures as a Forty Leaper. Forty Leap is available for all your reading devices from all of your ebook stores. Read the first half for free.
