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“You’re a real piece of work, Vesta.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“No, you shut up.”

“Why do I have to do all the work, and you just sit there ordering me around?”

“Because I’m a cat and you’re a human. That’s how it works!”

Shaking her head, Vesta walked up to the door and held her badge against the security scanner. A voice sounded through the intercom.“Forget something, Brimley?”

“Uh, yeah—my lunchbox,” said Vesta, deepening her voice. When Clarice gave her a look that said, ‘Lunchbox? Are you kidding me?’ she gave her a ‘Shut up’ gesture in return.

The door buzzed, and she was in. Clarice hesitated for a moment, then followed her inside.

“Now what, genius?” asked Gran.

“They’ll be somewhere in the play section,” said Clarice. “Which is in the south part of the building.” When Vesta simply stared at her, she said, “Oh, just follow me!”

“You don’t have to be so rude about it,” said Vesta as she followed the ratty little cat.

“If you think this is rude, you haven’t heard me when I’m going good,” said Clarice.

“I don’t think I’ll stick around for that, thank you very much.”

“Through here,” said Clarice, and swept into a corridor that forked off the main thoroughfare. Soon they were in a different section of the building, and as Vesta glanced in through windowed doors, she could see different playrooms where pets were performing tricks.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“Beats me,” said Clarice. “I wouldn’t want to be seen dead in a place like this.”

“And yet here you are.”

“That’s because your cats have always been good to me, so I figure I owe them.”

Finally Vesta glanced in through a door and lo and behold: Max and the others were all seated on bean bags, casually watching a movie! The only thing missing was popcorn!

She carefully opened the door and peered in.“Psst!” she said. “You guys!”

“Gran!” they cried, and hopped down from the bean bags. On the screen the movieThe Secret Life of Pets was playing. Weird.

“I’ve come to save you!” said Vesta. “And I’ve brought my own guide!”

“Peek-a-boo,” said Clarice, poking her head in.

“Clarice!” said Max. “It’s so great to see you!”

“What’s going on here?” said a deep sonorous voice behind Vesta, and when she turned she found herself staring into the face of a white-bearded man.

His name tag read‘Fred Peppard—President and Founder.’

Chapter 34

“When this is all over that Pulitzer is ours,” said Jonah. “No doubt about it.”

“I very much doubt that,” said Libby. “Besides, we need to survive this thing first.”

“Oh, we’re fine,” said Jonah. “Plenty of food and supplies, and the longer this lasts, the more attention we will get. Do you realize we’re the only reporters inside the quarantined zone? This is our chance, Libby! Our big break! After this, we’ll have our pick of assignments. Just likethat reporter fromDie Hard. That Richard Thornburg.”

“You do realize that Dick Thornburg wasn’t exactly the most favorite character in the movie, right? He got his lights punched out by Holly Gennero for a reason. Twice!”

Libby and Jonah had managed, through some twist of fate, to stay out of the hands of the military when they were rounding up all of Hampton Cove’s citizens. They’d seen the takeover as it was happening, and had even managed to film big chunks of it, safely hidden in the bushes near Town Square. They’d seen how the zombies were shot and dragged off, and had gasped in shock, just like America would gasp in shock when they saw the images. All they needed to do now was smuggle that same shocking footage out of the town somehow. The military had, unfortunately, cut off all communications: no internet, no cell phones, no nothing. Lucky for them they had a key to the Poole place, and had been able to get at their stash of food and could even sleep in their own bed that night, while the citizenry slept in bunk beds in the makeshift military encampment.

“How long is this going to take, you think?” asked Libby as she handed the camera back to her colleague. They were staking out the camp now, and had even seen glimpses of their hostess Odelia Poole, and her mother Marge, behind the barbed-wire fence.

“Could be weeks or months,” said Jonah. “Who knows? Unless all of these people suddenly start turning into zombies, too, in which case they’ll go for a mass termination.”

Libby gulped.“You mean…”

“Yeah, mass killings, mass graves. And we’ll be right here filming the whole thing.”

“I’m not sure I even want to be here when that happens,” she said. She liked the Pooles, and had enjoyed their hospitality and their friendship. She even felt for them, what with their peculiar grandmother and her fertility obsession. And now this.

“We’re not here to judge, Libby,” said Jonah as he shoved a piece of gum into his mouth. “We’re simply here to observe and report. The eyes of the world will soon be on this town, unless they catch us, too. If that happens, no one will ever know, and the military will be able to carry out their plans with absolute impunity.”