After a few moments of silence, Sanchez spoke again. “What about all the stragglers? God knows there's a ton of them out there.”

Oh, right. I forgot about them. I thought. “Hold on for a minute.” I said and reached out with my power like I was in a graveyard. Every zombie around me straightened up and gave me their full attention. They felt the power as much as I did and they responded by adding their own feelings to mine. Them wanting me to do it was just as surprising to me as their 'aliveness' was.

I was starting to reel from the intensity and pushed out all of the extra power I had gathered. It went out and out, just like it had that first night I had done it by accident with the were-cats. I only intended to cover the downtown area and I ended up covering pretty much the whole city and even parts of the suburbs. I could feel the zombies scattered all over the place, and their numbers shocked me.

There were over a thousand of them!

Several graveyards worth of them were roaming all over the city. The thing was, I knew that if I concentrated, I could pick out individual zombies to command... or I could tell the whole group to do anything I wanted. There was only the little problem of about two hundred and forty of them that I could feel and couldn't control, no matter how much I concentrated on them and the power I tried to exert on them.

They must have been the ones that had killed already and eaten the flesh of their victims. I shifted my concentration to where the flesh eaters were and commanded the ones I could control, that were in close proximity to them, to crush the flesh eaters into paste and to carry that along with them. I 'watched' as the zombies did as I said and they made sure that there was nothing left to bother civilians. After that, I commanded the remaining dead to come to me as fast as they could with extra emphasis on not hurting anyone.

“I've taken care of it.” I said. “I can't tell you where the flesh eaters attacked civilians, since it would take too long to describe each of the scenes. There's... a lot.” I said sadly. “I can take you there to each one personally when I'm done.”

Sanchez was unusually quiet and I assumed that he was digesting what I had said. “I was going to ask you how you've taken care of it; but, I really don't want to know, do I?”

It was my turn to be unusually quiet. It wasn't unheard of to use a zombie to kill, since people seemed to think that they could get away with it if they used a dead body to commit a crime. I didn't want to admit to what I had just done, because even though I had only destroyed the flesh-eaters and saved their future victims, it established that I could kill humans if I wanted to.

“Okay, I'll take your silence as a no.” Sanchez said. “I've gotta go, David. The zombies are all gone from around here. The medics have patched up Stanton pretty good and are loading him onto a gurney now.”

I heard him shout a few orders, then he got back on the phone.

“Get those things out of here and take care of them before the National Guard shows up.” Sanchez said. “That's an official order from the chief of police, by the way.” He said with a chuckle. “Don't forget to call.”

He hung up without saying goodbye, not that I expected him to. I looked around and all I could see were zombies. Zombies everywhere. A sea of rotting bodies floated around me and I didn't feel adrift or lost. It was a new experience for me, to say the least.

I was still being held in the center of them and with my blood still flowing a bit from my cuts and scrapes, I did my best to rotate them around and flung even more of my blood and felt it touch more of them. The rush of power from them was unlike anything I have felt before, because each one added to the circuit I had created, added even more power and gave me a bigger rush.

Once again, I pushed out a pulse of power and touched every zombie. This time I concentrated on where they came from, rather than on the zombies themselves. My expanded necromancer ability flowed through buildings, houses, trees, and then it touched the graveyards. I turned my ability towards the zombies and felt each of them, then felt that most of them were from the cemeteries whose graves were undisturbed and completely empty in the outskirts of the city. I sent a mental command to my immediate zombie escort to take me there and told the rest to follow us, also with emphasis on not hurting anyone else.

The people were shocked to see a mass of zombies march in order down the street. I hadn't really planned it that way. My mind just automatically made them move in a more efficient manner. The funny thing was, if they had been regenerated more and given modern army clothing, it really would look like regiments of an army marching by.

My zombie army made its way though the city towards the outlying cemeteries where I could hopefully put these poor souls back. I knew that they didn't really have souls, since that part of whatever made up a person usually moved on after a few days. It was just my own personal belief that the souls of the dead knew that there was somebody fooling around with their earthly remains. Don't ask me why I think that, though. I don't know why. I just do.

It took the better part of two hours to get to the closest cemetery. I figured I could put to rest a good portion of the army. Maybe a fourth of them, because these old graveyards could hold a lot of graves. I had my escort put me down on the ground and I didn't exactly know what to do next, since I didn't have my wooden chest that was still in the back of the jeep.

Goddammit. I should have had one of them bring it. I thought as I looked up at the zombies. They really were reflecting my emotions, because I could see a few dozen faces looking down at me that were full of worry and fear. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the dirt below me and just like I had at the graveyard with Alfred Anders, I could 'taste' the graves and the zombies that it needed to fill those empty graves.

It took me a little while to filter down and single out the zombies of this graveyard in my head, then I commanded the ones that didn't belong in this cemetery to wait, while the ones that did belong here gathered around me. I opened my eyes a few minutes later and the zombies had shambled around and got into position like I had asked.

The blood had stopped flowing a while ago from the cuts and scrapes on my hands and wrists. Since I needed fresh blood, I drew out the knife in my left boot. I glanced down at the multitude of scrapes and figured that one more wasn't going to make too much difference. I told the zombie next to me to lift me up and sit me on its shoulder. After that, the mass of them moved into the center of the cemetery.

I took off my leather jacket and tossed it aside, then used the knife as I drew a short and not too deep gash across my forearm. After a small squeeze, it swelled up with blood. I dipped my knife in it and spoke the ritual words as I started to sprinkle blood over the two hundred and fifteen zombies around me. I had them move around to get them all and finally managed to touch the last one with blood.

I pictured in my head the largest ritual circle I had ever imagined. It covered the entire graveyard and I felt relief when just half of the blood ritual had managed to snap it closed and completed it. The pure and unadulterated power surge that unleashed, flooded through me and I was lost to it as my essence spread out over the zombie horde. The feeling of the graves, the dead encompassing all I could see, and it almost sucked me in completely.

_______________

You have a choice to make. Will you choose wisely or choose poorly?

A) Revel in the power and become more than you ever were. B) Don't do that.

What kind of choice is that? I asked myself and a five second timer appeared. Shit! B! I chose B!

_______________

I suddenly had the feeling of living flesh collapsing under my hands as I crushed it. Something's wrong. It's not supposed to feel like this. I frowned, then I realized what it was. There was someone alive in here! I thought in surprise. NO! STOP! I commanded... and it didn't work. I wasn't a necromancer commanding the mass of dead right then. I was the mass of dead.

I tried to push the power away and gather my essence back, so I could concentrate more, and it was a bit too much for me. I was being carried away on a wave of sensations beyond my control. I could still feel the flesh in my hands and I heard a scream in the distance. Instead of commanding them like before, I concentrated on just opening my hands and sent the feeling of letting go through the zombie horde.

To my relief, I felt every zombie open their hands. The screaming lessened and I finally started to come back to myself and settled back inside my own head. I remembered that I was in a graveyard and trying to put to rest several hundred dead.

Yes, that's what I was supposed to do. I thought and mentally commanded them to grab a handful of dirt to hit themselves with it. “Dust to dust. Go back. Go to your resting place.” I said and used my power to urge them to do it. “Lay down and be no more.” I commanded. “Sleep, and be free of this undeath.”

The zombies moved out to their own graves, picked up dirt and tossed it on themselves, then they laid down on the dirt and sunk into the ground as the earth swallowed them up. It only took a few moments. The entire graveyard was now completely empty of zombies and they were finally at rest. I felt a little drained from the blood loss and invigorated from the power rush at the same time.

Now that everything seemed to be quiet, I could hear a small pious mewling in the distance. I was alone where I now sat on the ground and I didn't have a wheelchair, not that I could use it where I was, anyway. I had put to rest a good portion of my original escort of zombies, with the remainder too far away at the outside of the cemetery, which meant I didn't have any real means of movement.

Dammit. I thought and took out a handkerchief and managed to tie off a tourniquet over my ritual cut on my arm to stem the bleeding. I had to see who it was that I could hear, so I listened closely for several moments and pinpointed the sound to my right. I put on my discarded leather jacket to protect my arms from the very stupid thing I was about to do. I started to pull myself along the ground with my damaged hands.

This was so stupid of me. I thought as I crawled without the use of my legs. I managed to cut my hand on a sharp rock less than a minute later. Shit! I hissed and stopped for a moment, then sighed. I should have kept at least one zombie near me for movement.

I kept going and dragged myself across the graveyard. It was almost ten minutes later when I discovered something that shocked me. Among the headstones twenty feet away, I saw Jillian hunched over against a tombstone and she was holding her chest. I quickly pulled myself over to her, damaging my hands even more, and propped myself up on the tombstone beside her.

“What the hell... are you doing here?” I asked and tried to catch my breath. I need to exercise more.

“You... told Mikki... she had to... stay. Not me.” Jillian said between short and quick breaths.

She sounds like she's having a hard time breathing. I thought. It's more than likely she has a couple of broken ribs and maybe a punctured lung. I looked at her arm and saw it was at a bad angle. “You could have been killed following me! What were you thinking?”

“Saw... you... faint. Losing control. Zombies started... breaking things... fighting. I tried... to get... to you.” Jillian said and her face was apologetic and defiant at the same time.

If she hadn't been here, I probably would have been dead... or worse, been instrumental in another zombie rampage. “You're just as stupid as I am, then.”

Jillian laughed for a second and then coughed. “UUGGGHHH!” She moaned in pain and held her chest.

“No, don't hug yourself.” I said and leaned in close. “I'm sorry for making you laugh.”

“S'okay.” Jillian said and looked into my eyes. “It was... pretty funny.”

“You risked your life for me and saved me.” I whispered and moved some of her hair off of her face. “You made me come back to myself.”

“I...” Jillian heard the serious tone in my voice and she saw the look in my eyes. “Don't you dare.”

“I'm sorry.” I said and kissed her for several moments. “Thank you.”

Jillian's face was a little red. “Bastard.” She whispered. “I said we would talk about this later.”

“Did you?” I asked with a smile.

“Smug bastard.” Jillian said and shook her head.

I took out my cell phone and was surprised it wasn't smashed, considering everything that happened since the last time I tried to use it. Jillian looked just as surprised as I called Sanchez and told him what had happened and where Jillian was.

“Get the EMTs to her as soon as possible.” I said and hung up. “They're on their way, so just hold on.” I said to her. “Please don't die on me, Jillian.” I caressed her face. “You're one of the only friends I have that understands me... most of the time.”

Jillian tried to laugh but coughed up some blood instead. It definitely sounded like a punctured lung. “Don't... make me... laugh. Only hurts... when I laugh.” She said and gave me an inquisitive look. “I wasn't sure... you considered me... your friend.”

“Of course you are. I've known you almost as long as I've known Mikki.” I said. “I don't know why you always seem to want to help guard me, though. I mean, I've been a real ass the last while. Why would you want to protect my ass?” I asked. “Wait! That's it! You like my ass!”

Jillian laughed and coughed at the same time. “For... fuck's sake. Stop making me... laugh.”

“Hey, you cursed.” I said and gave her a smile. “Wait until I tell your mom. Boy, is she going to be shocked.”

“Not likely.” Jillian said and smiled back. “Where do you think I learned it from?”

“Ha! Now I really want to talk to her.” I responded and then we both heard the sirens approaching, way off in the distance. I was about to pull myself up onto a headstone to wait for them when Jillian grabbed my arm and shook me.

“What about... the zombies?” Jillian asked.

“Oh, shit.” I said. There were still a good eight hundred zombies on the street, where I had told them to stand while I put their fellows in the ground. “I'll have to take them out of here.”

“But...”

“Don't worry, I won't do so many the next time.” I said and gave her a brief kiss. “Thank you for helping me with this one, Jillian. I won't make the same mistake twice.” I rolled onto my belly and started to crawl as fast as I could towards the cemetery entrance.

“David!” Jillian said loudly and then she coughed.

I ignored her shout and crawled as fast as I could. I started to feel the same power pull as I got closer to the mass of dead that was out on the street. Come to me. I commanded and three of them that were closest to me quickly came over to me. I told them to pick me up, just as two police cars and an ambulance appeared and screeched to a stop in front of the horde.

Get me over there. I thought and the three zombies carried me over to the mass of dead. I heard gunshots as the police got out of their cars and opened fire on the wall of dead between them and the cemetery. Now that I was close enough to them, I didn't want a repeat of what happened to Stanton, getting his arm ripped off, so I pushed my power out and called to all of the zombies. Thankfully, they all turned to face me and turned their backs on the police.

Come. Come to me. I thought to them and they all moved away from the cops and towards me. Thankfully, the police stopped firing as the threat moved away from them. I waved to Jillian as I led my dwindling army of the dead to the next cemetery and I thought I saw her shaking her head at me.

When I got to the next cemetery, luckily there were only about a hundred corpses to put to rest. My wound was still open, so I refreshed the knife and continued performing the same ritual to put them to rest. I worked on and on, throughout the night, and ordering the dead to go to their graves at each graveyard. I didn't stop until well into the next morning.

I was so tired and drained of blood that when I finally put the last of my escorts into the ground, I hadn't noticed that it had been daylight for the last few hours. The sun had been shining brightly in the sky and I had used my power like it was still the middle of the night. I didn't have any doubts whatsoever about it not working.

My watch was covered in dried blood, my own unfortunately, and I scraped it off to check the time. It was ten thirty in the morning and I was more than a little surprised that I was still conscious. I reached into my pocket for my phone and called Sanchez. I let him know that the zombies were all dealt with and were back in their graves. He had already hung up when I tried to tell him that I was okay.

I chuckled and then sighed at who I had to call next. Mikki was so furious with me for leaving her the way I did, that I didn't get a word in edgewise for at least fifteen minutes. I apologized profusely, told her about Jillian and her saving me, then said that I was sorry a dozen more times before she let me talk enough to tell her where I was. I had barely spoken the location when I blacked out.

“David.” A woman's irritated voice said and shook me. “DAVID!”

“Huh? What?” I opened my eyes and saw Mikki leaning over me.

“I'm not going to ask you how you can sleep somewhere like this.” Mikki said and carefully picked me up. Apparently, I had sprawled out on the ground next to a small mound of dirt that was beside a headstone. My left arm had quite a few more freshly healing cuts on it from all of the rituals I had performed the night before. I hugged her as tightly as my sore arm could manage and she stood there with me in her arms. I wasn't sure how long we held each other. All I knew was that when I eased my grip from around her neck, we both had tears in our eyes.

Mikki looked at me and paid no attention to the flowing tears that were on my own face. She couldn't know, would never know, that it wasn't tears of pain that she saw. They were tears of loss. So many dead, so many living dead that I had touched with my own blood and bound to me, were still there. I could feel them, because the ritual to put them to rest, wasn't quite properly completed. Even though it had worked and I had put them to rest, they would always be with me.

I also swore to never raise those particular zombies again.

During the drive home, Mikki told me that the city looked like a war zone and that if she hadn't known any better, she would have sworn that the place had been abandoned years ago. We had to drive through town to get to my place anyway, so I didn't have to ask her to describe it or to show me. When I finally got to see first hand what she had meant, I agreed with her. The place was a complete mess.

I had told the zombies to come to me as quickly as possible and without hurting anyone; but, I had no clue what the dead might do with only ‘not hurting anyone' as the sole boundary for their behavior. The dead could do a lot of damage, apparently.

The zombie horde had moved like a dreadnought throughout the city streets, wrecking abandoned cars, phone booths, newsstands, and anything else that wasn't immovable. They trampled trashcans, mailboxes, doghouses, gardens, bushes, and everything else that was in their way. They had poured through the city like water through a storm drain and destroyed property like it was nothing.

To everyone's surprise, not a single person was hurt during the mass exodus. According to eyewitness reports, as quickly as the zombies had been seen, they were gone. No one could ever recall seeing anything move so fast.

Next time I think I'll be a little more specific in my commands to hundreds of zombies. I thought with amusement, then I stopped that thought in its tracks. I remembered the feeling of almost losing myself in the mass of the dead and shook my head. No. Nope. I don't want that to ever happen again.

We just passed the city limits on the other side of town when we heard a siren coming from behind us. Mikki pulled over right away and instead of passing us, the car following us pulled over behind us.

Sanchez got out and came over to my side of the jeep, so I rolled my window down and he saw the state I was in. “I don't know what the hell you did, David. You've pretty much saved the entire population of the city tonight.” He shook his head in disbelief. “The mayor might have given you a medal for it if you hadn't wrecked the center of town doing it.”

I held my mouth closed for a second, then I laughed. “I don't want a medal.” I said. “In fact, I'm not really sure if anyone should know what I've done here tonight.”

“Wait... you mean to tell me that you risked your life out here, even though you're in a wheelchair, saved close to a hundred thousand people, and you don't want any credit for it?”

“You're a smart one.” I said sarcastically.

Sanchez laughed. “I figured you'd say that.” He said, then adopted a serious look. “Now, do you have any bright ideas about what I'm supposed to tell the press?”

“Tell them that the police were out in full force last night and that they kicked ass to save their lives. The city is safe again, thanks to the brave men and women in blue.”

“Good one.” Sanchez nodded and I knew he was probably going to use that statement, word for word. “Any thoughts on why?”

“Because you're a crack team of supernatural experts?” I said teasingly.

“Not about that, smart-ass. I meant why they attacked... or better yet, where they came from.”

“Well, I can honestly tell you that they were from almost all of the graveyards that surround the city. That's why there were so many. As to why it happened...” I shrugged my shoulders. I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that I thought all of this was happening because of me. The zombies, the murders, the kidnappings... wait. The kidnappings. I thought. They don't fit the pattern.

The vampires that had been taken, hadn't hurt me, so they aren't a part of it. For some reason, I had a feeling that they were connected somehow. I didn't know how or why. The only unfortunate thing was that I was pretty sure I knew what happened to the missing were-cat. He was the sacrifice used to bring life to the dead.

“Jillian is fine by the way, if three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken arm is ‘fine'.” Sanchez said. “One of the EMTs was someone she knew and he took care of her.” He reached out and pat my arm. “Anyway, thanks for everything. God knows where we would be right now if you hadn't been here to deal with it.”

I was thinking the exact same thing, then Sanchez nodded to me and Mikki and went back to his car. What would have happened? Would the zombies have eaten everyone in town or would they have just wandered around until someone set them on fire? I thought, then a few more questions popped into my head and they didn't have any answers, either.

Sanchez pulled an illegal u-turn behind us and drove away in the direction that he came from, back towards the now nearly deserted and wrecked downtown.