Have I mentioned how much I hate waiting, inaction, and attempting to go about my daily life while people I cared about were missing? Not to mention my wife and son being in danger. It did help, I suppose, knowing the sheriff was close by. But if I said I'd actually worried less, since we'd all moved into his place, I'd have been lying.
I'd tried taking family leave, but explaining to my boss that a Zombie I'd helped kill years ago was now kidnapping people, and therefore I needed to take some time off to protect my family, hadn't gone over as well as I thought it would. I'd been informed, in a polite but disinterested manner, that unless there had been a confirmed death in the family, I was expected to be at work on time, or I would be looking for new employment.
I'd been tempted to tell them to shove it, but Lilly had—as always—been the voice of reason. She'd reminded me that we couldn't let the kidnappers win. If we gave in to fear and let them ruin our lives, it wouldn't matter who else disappeared. He'd win. Part of keeping that from happening was making sure we had a life to go back to when it was all over. And a job was a necessary part of that. So, I kept dragging myself to work. But I promised myself, as soon as I had the chance, I'd be looking for something new. They'd lost my loyalty.
All through the rest of the week, and the weekend as well, nothing happened. We tried to keep up a familiar routine at my father-in-law's house, in order to provide Les with some stability. Then Monday morning, after having worked all day Saturday to make up for the time I'd already taken off to help search for Melanie and Rob, I got ready to head back to work again. Lilly got up with me so we could have a few minutes to ourselves. The sheriff usually didn't get up for another hour or so, since he'd been working crazy hours since this whole thing started. And it was good that he slept—he needed to take a break soon or he was going to make himself sick.
Lilly and I chatted while I packed my lunch, then I kissed her good-bye and headed out the door. I gave her my word that I'd talk to her dad later that night and try to convince him to take a few hours off from the case. His deputies could run things for a day. I doubted he'd listen, because I knew I wouldn't in his position. Plus, Lilly had inherited his stubborn streak, so I knew it well. Still, I promised anyway. Seems I'd never quite figured out how to tell her no.
I was halfway through my morning routine, checking time cards and doing paperwork, when I got called down to the mine. I grabbed my hardhat, thinking a walk might do me good.
At the higher altitude of the mines, the air was crisp and cool and smelled like snow. Hopefully, even if did start snowing here, it would miss Osborne. Poor driving conditions would only make the investigation that much harder, and lord knows we needed all the breaks we could get right now.
"What's the problem?" I asked my second-in-command, a stocky guy named Albert. He looked nervous and that was never good.
"We got two no-shows," he said, falling in step beside me. "Said things are going on down in Osborne and they didn't want to leave their families."
"Okay," I said, still puzzled. "Why am I out here for that?"
"You're not," Albert said. "You're out here for this."
He motioned for me to follow him into the mouth of the cave.
The smell hit me first, then I saw it — the mangled remains of a deer. A piece of its neck was missing and it was covered in blood. The smell of rotting meat filled the air, and I gagged a little, but I didn't retch. It took a moment for my eyes to fully adjust to the dim light, but I wished they hadn't. Now I could see more detail . . . the maggots, the tongue lolling from one side of its mouth, and the dead eyes that seemed to stare into my soul.
