Zombies! (Episode 7): Conflicts of Interest (13 page)

Waving to the officer, she walked into the building and started up the stairs. She saw the cruiser’s lights go on as it pulled away.

As Abby took the stairs, one at a time, she felt the fatigue grow inside of her. It was as if each step drained not only her physical strength but her strength of will as well. Halfway up, she remembered Peter and Melissa and pulled out her phone. She tried to call Peter but he didn’t pick up. She didn’t have a number for Melissa. In fact, she wasn’t even sure that Melissa had a cell phone. Well, it was too late to do anything about it. She sent Heron another text, asking him to be on the lookout for them, and then almost completed her journey up to the front door.

Martin was standing there leaning against the door frame. “I saw the police car's lights,” he said. "Where've you been?"

She stood three steps down, just staring up at him. She couldn't bear the look in his eyes, the accusing tone of his voice. Sometimes, Martin seemed a shell of the man she’d married. Responsibility and unemployment had taken its toll on him. But she knew that he had just learned to reserve his strength. And he was as strong as ever. He was the most solid and reliable person she had ever known. Their marriage had brought her a stability that she had always craved without even realizing it. Their arguments in the past had been superficial, but this… She had lied to him. She had shut him out. She had turned her back on him. And where it had landed her? He’d been right about everything. She couldn’t defeat her demons by facing them in this way. She was kidding herself.

She and Peter both.

And this realization took the very last of her resolve and crushed it beneath its heel. She collapsed in a heap right there on the stairs and began to sob into the worn carpet. Martin didn’t hesitate. He went to her side, sat on the steps with her and enfolded her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and said
there, there, love
over and over again.

If it weren’t for Martin's forgiveness, Abby Benjamin might have been lost that night. Through it all, she had known that she had walked out on him and understood that she deserved it if she lost him forever. But she hadn’t. He was there for her. He would always be there for her. So that night, while everyone else around her fell apart, Abby Benjamin was saved.

***

At some point during the night, while the police were cleaning out the inside of the warehouse and taking statements from the remnants of the crowd, and collecting the bodies of the zombies that had found their way around the front, the body of John Arrick jerked once and came to life. Mindless, driven by nothing more than a need to feed, it lurched to its feet, swayed for a moment, and then wandered away in search of its first meal of human flesh.

***

Next month, Smith and Naughton intervene on behalf of the crumbling Anthony Heron. But while the lieutenant is taking a few days off and regrouping with his family, the zombies are pressing ever harder toward their final domination of New York City. Visit the best and worst parts of the city next month in
Zombies! Episode 8: The Good, the Bad, and the Zombie

***

If you like these books, please show your appreciation and make them known to others by
reviewing
them. A few stars and a couple of kind words puts them in the spotlight.

Spread the infection! If you like this series, please recommend it to friends and family and other lovers of zombie stories. Writers put words on paper, but readers bring those words to life.

Have questions or comments for the author? Send me an email at
[email protected]
. You can also look me up on facebook or start following me on twitter. Your comments are always welcome!

***

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.