Zoey and the Zombies (A Mondamin Court Adventure)

Chapter Six #1

Day Five

Miami, Florida

It was days like this one that made Alecia wish she wasn't on staff at one of the busiest mayoral offices in the country.

"Mr. Hernandez," she said, fighting the impulse to rub her temples, "I appreciate your concerns and the union's concerns. All I can say is that I assure you when the crisis has passed, we will compensate the officers appropriately." And God only knew what it's going to take to wrangle that out of the city's beleaguered budget.

"Some of my men have been in the field for double shifts, for several days in a row."

"And they will continue to be," a voice said from behind them. Alecia looked up, and Martin Hernandez glanced over his shoulder. Police Chief Halverson closed the door behind him and came over to Alecia's desk.

"I hate to break rank with you, Marty," he said as he sank into a seat beside Martin. "I've always been a big supporter of the union, you know that. But this crisis trumps everything. These men took an oath to protect and defend, and they will continue to do so."

"Double shifts? For how long?"

"Triple shifts, for as long as need be," the chief barked.

"Triple?"

"I've called in every officer on the force," he said. "And every reserve I have. Nearly one hundred fifty deaths in less than a week. God! And that's not even the worst of it."

"What's going on?" Alecia asked.

The chief let out a weary sigh. "Let the mayor know that we'll be meeting in an hour."

"Who all is going to be there?" Alecia asked, pulling up the mayor's calendar on her computer.

"All the bigwigs," he said. "The governor, the CDC, the National Guard."

The CDC?

"What's going on?" Hernandez asked.

"I shouldn't be telling you this," the chief said as he leaned in. "And this doesn't go past this room, understand?"

They both nodded.

"We know what happened to the bodies from the morgue. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better."

Des Moines, Iowa

Santiago Martinez had his car running when Philip left his house for school the next morning. The beat-up station wagon was packed full of Martinez family members: his wife, his grandma, and three kids. Santiago himself was locking up the front door. He was a short, muscular man in his late forties. He waved at Philip.

They met on the sidewalk. Santiago held out his house key. "Do me a favor, Philip," he said. "Hold on to this. In case we don't come back."

"You're leaving?" Philip asked, stunned.

"Colimo, Mexico," Santiago said. "Got family down there."

Philip nodded. "Seems sudden," he observed.

Santiago gave a barked laugh. "Too crazy in America right now, you know."

"Yeah, but that's in Miami, not around here," Philip said.

"No, it's all over Florida, and spreading. Besides people are starting to panic. They'll start acting crazy around here, too, before long. I am getting out while the getting's good. When it's all over, we come back. Okay?"

"Yeah, good luck," Philip said, pocketing the house key. "Safe journey."

A deep sense of foreboding fell over Philip as he watched Santiago's car pull out of the driveway. He didn't know the man well, but he seemed pretty levelheaded. If he was worried enough to rush off back to Mexico, maybe Philip should be a little worried too.

He shook his head. He didn't have time to worry. He had a busy day coming up at school. He headed back to his own driveway and car.