Nina put me in the front seat, because there wasn't anywhere else we could go besides the jeep to sit down comfortably. At least it was a lot more plush than the headstone was. I knew I couldn't actually feel it with my legs; but, when I ran my hands down my legs to smooth out my pants, I felt the creases and crevasses that the headstone had left indented in the skin and muscles on the back of my legs.

Carlos was the first to break the silence. “What do you think they're talking about over there?”

I had to look up at him to answer him. “Honestly, I don't care.”

That was the truth. Most of the time, I would stay within earshot, just so I could overhear anything that might be important. These last few weeks have been so draining on me, both emotionally and physically, that I didn't have the energy to waste trying to listen. I didn't need more unnecessary crap running around in my head, either. Before Nina could scold me for not paying attention, I told her my reasons.

“Hey, I agree.” Nina said with a smile as she leaned against the jeep next to the open door. “In fact, you would probably have had a lot less trouble over the years if you hadn't been eavesdropping on private conversations.”

“Maybe.” I smiled back at her.

I turned my head to see Jillian scanning the surrounding area with those bodyguard eyes and searching for the next threat. I nodded my head to her and she came over to me. Before I could ask her if she had noticed anything out of the ordinary, the group around Alfred Anders decided they had all the information they needed and were done with the zombie. One of them waved at us to get our attention.

With a small signal from me, Nina picked me up and took me back to the graveside. I sighed mentally, because she completely forgot to keep up the wheelchair pretense to save my dignity. My two bodyguards flanked us and as we reached the grave, I heard the trailing end of Thomas and Alfred's conversation.

“...wonderful, wonderful. It's good to know that you've done so well for yourself.” Alfred said and pat Thomas' shoulder. “You make sure that you get some kids into the picture soon. I sorely regret only having the one child before I died.”

“I will, sir. Thank you.” Thomas said and then turned to me. “Thank you as well, Mr. Drake. It's been such an honor meeting my ancestor, and it was you who made it possible.” He said with a smile. “I've already transferred the balance of your payment to your account.”

“You're welcome.” I said, glad that he actually got his money's worth. “I assume you have no further business to discuss?”

“Correct. If you would kindly return Alfred to his slumber, our deal will be concluded as well.”

I barely managed to not stare at him. Most clients would beat feet out of the cemetery as quickly as possible as soon as they were done with the zombie; but, Thomas seemed to want a front row seat to the ‘clean up' part. I had Nina sit me back on the tombstone so I could finish the ritual.

As soon as my butt hit the stone, I felt it. Like a small electric shock that went up my spine, I knew that there was another ritual being performed somewhere in this graveyard. Of course, now I wondered what kind of ritual it was. It felt like someone was trying to raise the dead, and yet, it was different somehow. I couldn't explain why it was different, just that it was. I was about to put it out of my mind when the feeling disappeared.

I gave myself a small shake to put my mind back on track.

Alfred looked at me with eyes full of regret. “I don't suppose...”

“I'm sorry.” I said and I really was. “I can't let you roam around freely. There are too many things that could possibly go wrong if you stayed. Rotting would be a big one, not to mention the legal implications if you decided to try to exercise legal rights to resume your empire.”

“Rotting?” Alfred's face paled slightly and he had a pained look in his eyes. “Very well. Put me back.”

I had Carlos pick up my chest and hold it for me. I took out an urn that was full of grey dust. “Ashes to ashes.” I said, grabbed a small handful, and tossed it on Alfred. I had Nina pass me a handful of dirt, and I threw it on Alfred. “Dust to dust.”

Alfred didn't flinch or move as I used my sacred blade to cut his wrist slightly, then I rubbed the blade in the slowly moving blood. I took the bloody blade and stuck it into my palm where I had cut it before.

“I return thee to thy grave and I reclaim the power I lent to you.” I said and I could almost see the slight glow leave his body and flow back into me. That was new. I thought, slightly surprised.

Alfred's eyes lost their alive luster and returned to their empty look. He didn't have to lay down like all of the other times I had laid a zombie to rest, either. He just lowered down into the ground, as if he was on an elevator, and the earth just sucked him right in. The ground was almost eager to get him back.

In all my years of doing this, I haven't seen or felt anything like that. I've felt the earth hungry for power and blood, which happens a lot more than you think it does; but, it was the first time it wanted something that had already been buried in it. The ground rippled a bit more to smooth itself out, then it settled down. You couldn't tell that anything at all had happened here, let alone a ritual zombie raising. Even the ritual circle and the blood had all been absorbed.

With the show over, Thomas nodded to me and he and his entourage left. Carlos and Nina gathered my zombie raising gear up and I packed it up in the proper spots in the wooden chest. I had learned a long time ago that if you took care of your things, they took care of you. Most people didn't realize that philosophy applied to everything in a person's life, and not just physical items.

Nina carried me back to the jeep and I called the police to ask what they wanted me to do with the ghoul bodies. Of course, it was late at night and I didn't get a real person. The message said to dispose of them with fire. If that wasn't possible, I was to tie them up and give the location to the local fire station and they would come out to take care of it when they could.

“Does anyone want to have a nice bonfire using ghoul logs?” I asked and Jillian and Carlos let out barks of laughter. “I'll take that as a yes.” I said and left a message about the incident and that it was handled. I got to sit there and watch as the three of them cleared an area and piled the ghoul bodies up. I offered up a bit of gas from the jeep and Carlos quickly siphoned out a small amount and dosed the pile. A lit match later, the entire pile was completely engulfed in flames.

“Holy shit!” Carlos laughed and came back over to the jeep. “Can you feel that heat? It's like an inferno!”

“If it keeps up, there won't be anything left.” Jillian said, then she gave me a knowing look.

“Yeah, I've seen one alive that was set on fire, too.” I said. “If you had any doubt that magic was involved, it took the ghoul almost thirty minutes to burn down enough to stop moving.”

Jillian nodded. “Now tell them the bad part.”

I looked at Carlos and Nina and saw their surprised faces. “The one I saw had set fire to a dozen houses by the time the fire finally claimed it.”

“I was in a suburb.” Jillian said. “Some idiot thought it would be funny to set fire to one before he killed it.”

“No.” Carlos said and shook his head.

“We got the people out.” Jillian said. “It was all we could do.” She sighed. “No one wanted to go near the creature while it was freaking out and shedding parts of itself to try and put the fire out.”

I held a hand out to her and she took it, despite her being my bodyguard. Sometimes, you just needed a hand to hold onto when remembering awful things. We waited for the bodies to burn themselves out, which took a little while. Carlos went over and kicked at the ashes to make sure there wasn't anything still burning and nodded.

After that, they piled into the jeep with me to head home. Thankfully, the silence that followed during the drive back to my place wasn't strained or unnerving. I wasn't much for small talk anyway; but, that didn't mean I didn't want to listen to it occasionally. Tonight, I had no problem just listening to the silence.

When we reached the house, Jillian and Carlos left in their own cars and Nina took me into the house. We discovered that it was completely empty and it hadn't been like that in a while. Natalie would be working like a dog, or were-cat as the case may be, for quite some time and for the next few nights. The same could be said for Mikki, since she also needed to make up her hours. I felt bad that I was the cause of it, though.

“My love.” Nina said and I looked up at her face. “We would do that and more for you.”

I couldn't stop my sigh and she bent over to kiss me.

“I'm going to help you for the next little while and you are not going to complain.”

I opened my mouth to complain about that statement and she flashed me her teeth.

“Don't make me bite you.”

I closed my mouth and then smiled. “What if I only half-complained?”

Nina laughed a laugh of a woman that was going to get what she wanted, then she took me into the bathroom. She helped me wash myself in the tub and helped me change for bed.

“Natalie would have cuddled me more.” I whispered to her as she put me under the covers.

“I know.” Nina said with a smile. “I wanted you to complain about it.” She whispered and climbed onto the bed and nuzzled my neck. “My love.”

I felt the sharpness of her teeth in my neck and I hugged her close, to let her know that I wanted her to feed. She had agreed years ago to never try to play mind games with me, so it always hurt when she fed. That was also why I always let her do it when she wanted it. Neither of us hid what we were from each other, neither the good nor the bad.

“Do you... want to... stay over?” I asked as sleep tried to claim me. Being on a bit of a power high was draining in its own right.

“I don't want to crowd out your kittens when they come home.” Nina said.

“They're staying out... at work.” I said. “Please.”

“I will stay with you forever, my love.” Nina whispered and licked my neck to clean off the blood and showed that there were no longer any holes there.

“Thanks.” I said with a lopsided grin.

Nina propped herself up on her elbow to look at my face. “You're supposed to be grateful that I'm so devoted.”

“Uh huh.” I said and closed my eyes.

“Don't you dare go to sleep without thanking me properly!” Nina said and poked my chest with a fingertip.

“Oops.” I said and tried to let sleep claim me.

“David!” Nina said. “DAVID!”

“I can't hear you. I'm asleep.” I whispered.

“You...” Nina said and then I felt her lips on mine. “Sleep well, my love.”

“I will with you here.” I said, and knew that it was true. With that last thought, I fell asleep.

I kind of woke up when the bed shifting slightly and I saw Nina standing up and talking to Mikki. I blinked my eyes and I had a warm body next to mine and I hugged it. I blinked again and another one was beside me, so I hugged it, too.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the telephone rang. The ringer was surprisingly loud in the quiet room and Mikki left my embrace to pick it up, I assumed to tell the person off and to slam the phone down. That wasn't what happened, however.

“WHAT did you say?” Mikki almost shrieked into the telephone.

“Who is it, Mikki?” I asked.

“Could you repeat that?” Mikki asked.

“I asked you who is on the phone.” I repeated.

Mikki covered the phone with a hand and whispered to me. “Not you, David. I was talking to Luke.” She said and put the phone back to her ear. “No! Absolutely not!”

_______________

You have a story changing decision to make. Will you let Mikki handle this call and go back to sleep or will you let your curiosity get the better of you and find out what's going on?

A) Let Mikki decide what's best for you. B) Be more than the half of a man that you are.

What the hell kind of options are those? I asked myself. Jesus Christ. I looked at the timer and I had thirty seconds this time. Okay, this is going to change the story somehow. What should I do?

I wasted twenty seconds thinking about what Luke could be calling me about. When ten seconds were left, another prompt appeared.

Warning: There are severe consequences to this decision.

Well, fuck. I thought. All of this for a goddamn phone call? I shook my head. I need to know what's going on. B it is.

_______________

I sighed and forced myself awake. “Let me speak to him.” I said and reached for the phone.

Mikki looked like she was going to defy me, then she thought better of it and handed me the phone.

I gave her a reassuring smile as I put my free hand on her back. “Hi, Luke. What's up?”

“What do you mean, 'What's up'?” Luke almost yelled. “Where have you been? The moon?”

I was pretty sure that was meant as a rhetorical question; but, I answered it anyway. “I was out raising a zombie earlier tonight and have been home in bed ever since.” I explained. “Tell me what's going on.”

“You haven't seen the news yet?” Luke asked, surprised. “Turn on your TV, right now!”

“Natalie, turn on the television.” I said to my other now awake bed partner. “What channel, Luke?”

“It doesn't matter.” Luke almost laughed. “Just pick one and watch.”

“Put it on channel twelve. The news should be on in a little while.” I said, then was surprised that we didn't have to wait a little while for the news. According to the announcer, they had been on the air for the better part of three hours, ever since the first report of the dead coming to life had come into the studio.

*

“... We now join our Field Correspondent Sally Wallace at the scene of the latest incident. Sally?” The news anchor said and his image was replaced by a pretty blonde woman.

“Thanks, John. Yes, we are here at the waterfront where a large group of zombies are attacking innocent bystanders... and are eating them! Oh, my God!” Sally exclaimed, then she whispered. “Turn the camera and show it, Ed.”

The camera panned around and showed the gruesome scene, then it zoomed in.

“There we can see several of them pulling apart what looks like a human leg! It's horrible! How can this be happening? Where are the... oh! Here they come!” Sally said in relief and the camera zoomed out. “The police are finally on the scene! Those brave men are risking their lives...”

“There's a woman there, too.” Ed said.

“Shut up, Ed.” Sally whispered, then spoke normally. “Brave men and women are trying to save the people! What a noble profession to be in...”

“Hey! You! The one with the camera! Just what the hell do you think you're doing out here?” One of the police said loudly. “Are you trying to get killed? They're everywhere! Our squad is spread thin enough without having to save your skinny behind from stupidity!” He ran over to them and pushed the camera off of the zombies. “Get out of here before I haul you in! Move!”

The camera cut off and the news anchor came back on.

“That was the scene just moments ago where the police had the situation well in hand. Now, for those of you that have just tuned in, the dead now walk the earth! Contrary to popular belief, these zombies are no different from the ones we have all seen in the movies. They are slow moving and can be disabled by either destroying the brain or severing the head from the body. I repeat...”

*

“Oh, God.” I whispered, almost in a prayer.

Both Natalie and Mikki agreed with me.

I held the receiver tightly as I explained to them and Luke why the news was wrong in a certain respect. “They ARE different from the movies. They can be slow moving normally; but, if someone told them to, namely the people that raised them from the grave... or if they are flesh-eaters like the ones they just showed on television... they can move very fast to catch anything that moves.”

“Goddamn.” Luke said.

“Remember, they don't have what normal people have in their heads to stop them from hurting themselves.” I said. “The worst mistake is that you can't just cut off the head. It doesn't always work that way. If the necromancer is strong enough, you can chop up a zombie into little pieces and it will still come after you, because the flesh is animated, not just the brain.”

“Are you kidding me?” Luke asked, shoked.

“Hitting them in the head with bullets, bats and blunt objects can work, because there's a possibly to remove the controller's influence. You can't depend on that, though. Fire is the best way to make sure they're finished, except that you may make a ton of firebugs that will light the whole city on fire.” I said, remembering the bonfire back at the graveyard and the stories Jillian and I shared. “Luke, you have to call the news stations and let them know.”

“Thanks, David. I will.” Luke said. “Are you heading out? That's why I called, by the way. The mayor sent out a call for every necromancer and practitioner of the dead to go out and help the police with their expertise.”

“Yeah, I am.” I said without hesitation. “Bye, Luke.”

The look on Mikki's face when I said that showed just as much disappointment as it did fear. There was no way I was going to let the city fall to the dead, not if I had any say in the matter. Even though I'm crippled, I did have a say in the matter. I called Jillian right away to come with me and to bring anyone else who had experience and would be willing to help.

I put on all of my vampire hunting regalia, which was mostly a biker outfit. I had thick leather pants and a thick leather coat on, thick leather straps over my wrists and my neck to protect the vital areas, and two long knives with one in each of my boots. I had my normal handgun in the holster on my lap, with blessed bullets no less, and my backup weapon right beside it. I couldn't wear either of them while sitting in a wheelchair, so I had to carry them.

I also had two shotguns, one regular and one sawed-off. The second one was highly illegal, because it had been modified for maximum dispersal. I also had all of the extra clips and ammo that I could carry. With the wheelchair as a conveyance, it essentially gave me a mobile reloading platform. I added as much ammo and backup clips as I could. It was quite a lot.

Jillian showed up at the house twenty minutes after my call and she wore almost the same clothes as I did. She was also alone. Apparently, being potentially torn apart limb from limb and devoured, wasn't high on the other were-cats 'I need to do this' list. I mentioned my thoughts to Jillian and she just laughed.

“There's no way I'm staying home and letting this shit go down, not when there's something I can do about it.” Jillian said, then for dramatic effect, cocked her shotgun. She caught the ejected shell and reloaded it.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” I said with a grin.

“Keep it in your pants, Romeo.” Jillian said. “We've got some exterminating to do.”

“I was just...”

“We can talk about it later.” Jillian said and gathered up her weapons. Her choices were a bit more exotic than mine, and it ended with an M-16 rifle.

After a very brief and hurtful argument, Natalie stayed at home to protect it and Mikki got to drive Jillian and myself into danger. We took my jeep, since it could take us, my wheelchair, and all of our guns and ammo without any fuss or crowding. Jillian was in the back seat and adjusted the sights on her M-16 rifle, then she made sure that it was loaded and the barrel was clear.

I hoped that we didn't have to shoot all of the zombies. Yeah, I know it was a faint hope; but, if they were flesh-eaters, then the only way to properly dispose of them was to slow them down and then burn them, usually by cutting them into pieces. Once a zombie consumes living flesh, it has a tendency to break the power ties it had to its summoner and becomes 'free'. Free to do as it pleased, namely eat as much human flesh as it could. Thankfully, Jillian had a spare machete for Mikki to use, in case they got too close.

With that comforting thought, we drove off into the night to face the zombie horde.