by K E O'Connor
I gritted my teeth. “I got them. I’m fine. I just need a break from this place.”
Jen pulled back, her eyes wide. “A break from us? Are we really so awful?”
I sighed. It was so good to see her. I wanted to tell Jen everything, but it was too difficult.
Selina, Laura, and Stool walked in next.
Both women hugged me, and Stool licked my hand.
Everyone needed to stop being so nice to me. My mind was made up. I was leaving.
Nick was the last to arrive. His expression was tight as he nodded at me and remained by the door as if expecting me to run out at any second.
I opened my mouth to ask them what was going on, but Selina raised a hand.
“Before you yell too much at Archer and Nick, I always said there was no need to keep this quiet. You’re a healthy functioning human. You have a unique medical history, but that’s it.”
My eyes narrowed at Selina. “Who knows? How many people have you told?”
Selina lifted her chin. “I was the only one to know until Archer did his digging. Then he told Nick. Nick came to me after you threw him out of your cottage. I made the decision to tell Jen and Laura.”
“That’s my confidential information,” I said.
Jen touched my arm. “We don’t mind. You’ve always been a little different to everyone else. That’s what we love about you, Cassie.”
I blinked away tears. That wasn’t the point. I didn’t want people to think I was weird or different. “I just want to fit in.”
Laura wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “And you do. You fit in perfectly in Zee Town. I’ve had strong words with Archer about what he did.” She glared at Archer, and he had the sense to look shamefaced. “Cassie, we love having you here. We don’t care what happened in your past. In fact, I’m glad you were turned into a zombie. It’s made you into the incredible woman you are today. Zee Town wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you. You’ve always looked out for the zombies. Your natural affinity with them is what makes this place incredible. You’ve made this place succeed.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I just want to be normal. I want to run fun events for people and enjoy myself. I don’t want anyone to see me as different.”
“What’s wrong with different?” Jen asked. “Different is awesome. Look at Stool; most people would write him off because he’s only got three legs. He stands out; he’s different. He’s also amazing.”
“And he’s really missed you,” Nick said. “He’s been sitting by the door every day pining to go out. He wanted to see you.”
I looked at Stool’s sad face, and my chin wobbled. “I’ve seen him sitting outside the cottage.”
“And look at Archer,” Jen said.
“What about me?” Archer straightened up.
Jen raised her eyebrows. “Archer’s hardly normal. Look at the size of him, and he can slip in and out of the shadows like some sort of ninja. That man is not human.”
I smirked as I looked at Archer. “There is something off about him.”
Archer snorted. “I’m one-of-a-kind.”
“And then there’s Selina with her unhealthy obsession with all things dead,” Jen said.
Selina scowled. “That is a part of my job.”
“Sure, a very big, twisted part of your job that you focus on with relish,” Jen said. “And what about Laura and her weird obsession with making themed foods?”
“Everyone loves my themed food,” Laura said, “especially my green doughnuts.”
I shook my head. “That’s not weird.”
“Sure it is. Green glazed doughnuts and muffins with a brain-style filling,” Jen said. “And then there’s me. I spend most of my time re-attaching parts to zombies and painting over their decaying bits. I love doing that. Cassie, we’re all odd. None of us would fit in anywhere else. We all have things about us that the rest of the world would write off as bizarre. Not here. Not in Zee Town where everyone is a bit weird. Living here makes weird normal.”
“I don’t want people to know I’m weird.” I narrowed my eyes at Archer. “No one needed to know.”
“I get it. You’re angry at Archer and Nick for poking around.” Jen tucked my hair behind my ears. “You don’t want people knowing, and that’s fine, but we need you to know that we still love you. We want you to stay. You can’t leave Zee Town. You are Zee Town. You’re what makes this place so amazing.”
Laura’s grip tightened around my shoulders. “Jen’s right. We’re all a little odd, and we want our odd, wonderful friend to stay. We won’t force you, and if you really want to, Archer will open the gate and let you leave, but I hope you don’t.”
I blew out a breath. “I am mad with you, Archer.”
“I’m sorry,” Archer said. “I’m hard-wired to investigate unusual things.”
“So, now I’m an unusual thing?”
He winced. “No, you’re a wonderful, beautiful, amazing woman. You saw straight through me and turned me down flat. By the way, I’ve asked Beth out, and she said yes. She seems nice. You have a good choice in potential girlfriends for me.”
I shook my head. “I’m thrilled for you.”
“And I promise, if you stay, no more prodding. I don’t care if you were a secret serial killer in a past life. To me, you’re just plain old Cassie March.”
My mouth twisted to the side. If I was in Archer’s shoes, I’d probably have done exactly the same thing. If there was a mystery, I had to solve it. It would take me awhile to forgive him, but I’d probably get there.
“Please stay,” Selina said. “You make my life so entertaining. I love watching you and Nick fight with each other and try to be the first to solve a mystery. If you leave, I’ll just have to put up with Nick being grumpy and trying to boss me around.”
“I never boss,” Nick said. “I give guided instructions when I’m working on a case with you.”
“You bark orders,” Selina said. “Cassie, you have to stay. Somebody has to keep Nick in line.”
Nick’s shoulders looked set so tight he was about to break. I patted Laura’s hand and stepped out of her arm. “I’d like a minute alone with you.” I nodded at Nick as I headed out the door.
He followed behind me, and the door shut. I turned to face him. “Do you think I should stay?”
“Yes. Don’t leave Zee Town.” He reached out a hand.
“If I stay, you can’t treat me any differently. I’m not a zombie. I’m safe to be around.”
Nick’s hand remained held out. “I know that. And it doesn’t change anything between us.”
My heart raced. “There’s an us?”
“Cassie, for goodness sake! I’ve been chasing after you all this time. Every time I get close, you shove me away. Any other man would have walked away and accepted he had no chance with you.”
“Why haven’t you walked away? Why put up with me poking around in your investigations and making your life tricky? That can’t make you happy.”
Nick stepped closer and grabbed my hand. “It shouldn’t, but it does. I guess that makes me weird, too. You’re smart, determined, and funny. You never let go of something until you’ve solved the problem. Plus, you’re cute. You make me laugh and keep me on my toes. And you love Stool. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Even though I’m part zombie?”
“It might be fun to date the zombie queen of Zee Town.” His smile was crooked. “Cassie, I like you. I like you a lot. Your friends are right. You make the town what it is. You make it a special place. If you walk through those gates now, then it’s all over for us. Not you and me, but the whole town.”
“You’re exaggerating,” I said. “Zee Town will stay as it is. I don’t have as much influence as you think.”
“Look over your shoulder,” Nick said.
I dropped his hand and turned. I stepped back and bumped into Nick. Hundreds of zombies stood there. “What are they doing?”
“They’re her
e for you,” Nick said. “They don’t want you to go. You’re a part of their lives. You’re what makes their town a safe and special haven. I bet, if you walk through those gates, they’ll try to follow you. Imagine the chaos that’ll cause.”
I stared opened-mouthed at the zombies.
“Stay. We all want you to, especially me.” Nick turned me by the shoulder until I faced him. “I really want to try this dating thing with you. We don’t have anything to hide now.”
“You really want to date me?” My heart skipped a beat. “After everything you know? After everything I’ve done to annoy you?”
“Even more so,” Nick said. “Stay, Cassie March. Stay and make these zombies happy. Stay and make me happy.”
My breath came out shaky as Nick lowered his head and his lips brushed mine.
“What do you say? Want to give this a go?” he asked.
I swallowed. “You mean, staying in Zee Town?”
Nick grinned. “That and staying with me. We could be great together.”
“Can I still investigate murders if I’m your girlfriend?”
His smile faded. “We’ll talk about that.”
“I’m always going to want to help,” I said.
“And I’m always going to want to stop you,” Nick said.
The office door cracked open. Stool barged out and lumbered toward us. He wedged himself between our legs, his head swiveling to look at us in turn.
“Have you killed each other yet?” Selina yelled.
I laughed. “We’re working on it.”
“Is it safe to come out?” Laura poked her head around the door.
Nick turned to me and raised his eyebrows. “What will it be?”
I looked from him to Stool and then to the open office door where everyone stood. I turned and looked at the zombies.
After all this time, my secret was out, and my friends still loved me. To them, I was no different. I’d been scared for such a long time, and I had no reason to be.
I looked back up at Nick and grinned. “Okay, I’m in. Let’s give this a go.”
He hugged me, and Stool barked happily as he pranced around us with Asadi.
I shook my head as I watched everyone crowd around, talking and laughing.
Archer gave me a brief hug. “The muffins are on me for the rest of my life. Sorry I caused you so much grief.”
I nodded. “I’ll hold you to that offer.”
Nick tucked an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into his embrace, no longer fighting my feelings for him. This was weird, exciting, and amazing.
I was surrounded by my friends, by the people I loved, and the zombies I was so protective of. They would remain safe for as long as I was here. And I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.
I was excited for the future of Zee Town. I was nervously happy about my future with Nick. It would be a great future. There would be more murders, there would be many more fights, but I was content. I was exactly where I needed to be. I was home.
BOOK 6(ish)
A PREQUEL NOVELLA FROM THE LOVEABLY GRUMPY NICK’S POINT OF VIEW
WHERE ZEE TOWN ALL BEGAN AND HOW STOOL LOST HIS LEG
DANGEROUS TAILS
K.E. O’CONNOR
Chapter 1
I wiped sweat from my brow with the back of my Kevlar glove. “One day, they’ll invent bite gear that doesn’t make you sweat like you’re in a sauna.”
I saw a flash of my partner’s—Katie Jenkins—teeth in the gloom. “It’s the fear sweats. It gets to the best of us when we’re creeping about in the dark.”
Adjusting my grip on the gun, I nodded. Katie was right. I might be a year out of specialist training, but these night patrols still chilled my blood. You never knew when you might stumble across a hungry, rabid zombie. The problem with that was they were always hungry and always out of control.
“Are you telling me that after all this time, you’re still afraid of the dark?” I asked Katie, keeping my voice low.
That earned me a quiet chuckle. “Not the dark. I’ve never had a problem with that. It’s what’s lurking in the shadows that gets to me.”
“I hear you.” The radio attached to my vest clicked twice, signaling that Control was trying to reach me. I adjusted the volume two notches and double-clicked. We kept the sound down on our radios so we didn’t alert any zombies of our presence.
“Officer Nick Morton, this is Control. Come in,” crackled out a male voice.
“Control. I read you,” I said.
“If they ask us to bring back milk again, I’m handing in my notice,” Katie said.
“There are reports of placid zombies on Manor Road. We need you and Officer Jenkins to collect and transport them to the containment unit.”
I grimaced. Manor Road used to be a quaint street in the South Oxfordshire town we patrolled. The zombie uprising had devastated Watlington. An unusually large percentage of the population had turned into rabid zombies and now rampaged through the area, destroying everything in sight, humans included.
“It’s out of our area,” Katie muttered. “Get them to send someone else.”
I sighed and glanced at her, before responding. “That’s over ten miles from our present location. We’d have to travel through an uncontrolled zone. Check the team by the train station.” It was worth a shot, and I didn’t want to make the journey. We’d risk encountering rabid zombie nests, terrified humans with weapons, and dangerously clogged roads.
“Negative. That team is down.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds, an ache growing behind them thanks to a combination of lack of sleep and too many late nights. “Any fatalities?”
“Details unknown.”
Katie hissed out a breath. “That means they’re dead. I knew some guys in that team. I even dated Mario for a couple of months. They were good men.”
She was right. I’d trained alongside Mario in zombie hand-to-hand combat. Losing that team would be a massive blow to morale.
“Officer Morton, confirm you can dispatch immediately to Manor Road.”
Control sounded tetchy tonight. I gritted my teeth, but there was no point in arguing. We were already shorthanded, and with more officers down, we’d have to spread ourselves thin to get the job done. And the job wasn’t pleasant. It was a combination of rounding up placid zombies and taking them to assessment centers and culling rabid zombies. There were still far too many of those for my liking.
“Nick,” Katie said. “As much as I hate the order, we’d better get over there. Control won’t be happy if you pull radio silence.”
I nodded in the gloom. “Control, confirm immediate transfer to Manor Road. Will radio when we arrive and have assessed the situation.” I waited for confirmation from Control before muting my radio.
“Let’s get to the van and move out.” Katie backed up the alley we’d been in.
“Affirmative,” I said, scanning the alleyway.
“Affirmative? Did they teach you that big word in cop school?” Katie asked.
“Of course. Didn’t they teach it to you? Oh, I forgot, you never made it to cop school. You took the genius route into this wonderful career option.”
“The police need clever people, wise guy. And what could I say? They begged on their knees for me to take the job,” Katie said. “After they’d doubled the original salary offer and given me all the extra benefits a woman could dream of, I couldn’t turn them down.”
I shot her a smile. Katie was whip smart and had recently finished a Ph.D. in Criminal Psychology before joining the force. And although I hassled her because she hadn’t spent six months in training like I had, in the three months we’d been partnered, Katie had proven herself. She’d even insisted on taking a lower ranked position so she could get hands-on experience of life on the beat. I knew Katie would shoot up the ranks into Serious Crimes, or whatever division she wanted, when her time with me was over.
As we approached our van, I slowed. A skinny black and tan dog sat
by the driver’s side door, its short fur dirty and smeared with what looked like dried blood.
The dog gave me a wary look as I drew near, but I kept my gun by my side. It was common to see animals abandoned when people had fled as they attempted to escape the rabid uprising. Some people took their animals with them, but many had been so panicked that they’d abandoned everything, sometimes even their families. This wouldn’t be the last time I saw a starving dog on the streets.
“You’ve got a new friend,” Katie said, her brown eyes looking tired despite the smile on her face.
“I’ve no time to make new friends.” I made a shooing gesture with my hands, hoping it would scare the dog off.
He remained sitting by the van door, his dark gaze intent on me.
“Maybe he wants to do a ride along with us.” Katie walked around to the passenger side of the van. “Get the doors open. I’ll plot the route to Manor Road to avoid as many rabid zombie nests as possible.”
I clicked the locks open on the van, and Katie slid inside. “Come on, dog. You need to get out of the way. Don’t make me Taser you.” I never would. I’d grown up with dogs and wished I had room for one in my life. With the crazy shift patterns I worked, and the fact I was rarely home for more than a few hours to grab sleep and food, it meant a dog was out of the question.
I reached inside my Kevlar vest and extracted a protein bar. The police issued them as standard food when we were out on patrol, giving us energy and keeping us full while we cleared the streets of the remaining zombies. It was a shame they tasted like mashed up cardboard and overly sweet apple.
“Would you like some of this?” I opened the wrapper.
The dog’s gaze fixed on it.
“By the looks of you, you haven’t had a decent meal for some time.” I threw a piece of the bar to the dog.
He let it drop to the ground, before giving it a sniff and gobbling it up.
Katie tapped on the window of the van and pointed at her wristwatch.
“Time to go,” I said to the dog.
He remained in his spot by the van. I broke apart two more pieces of the protein bar and threw them farther along the street. The dog looked from me to the food, as if chastising me for making him move. The food won out, and he hauled himself up and scurried over to his meal.
