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She took a seat behind her desk and booted up the computer, then proceeded to play Solitaire for half an hour, after which time she was bored out of her skull again, and decided that if Tex couldn’t be bothered to show up for work, she didn’t have to, either.

So she grabbed her coat and purse and walked out again.

The day was sunny and bright, and a little stroll through town would do her good. She could do some shopping and then return home for another nap. Doc Clam had told her she needed to nap a lot, as those hormone cocktails were some heavy-duty stuff.

But as she reached Main Street she was surprised to find all the shops closed, and not a single person on the streets.

Huh. Creepy. Had someone decided to close down the town and neglected to tell her?

And then she saw it: a military vehicle had been parked in the middle of Main Street, and a soldier now descended. He was pointing a rifle in her direction, and said,“Zombie, desist!”

“What did you just call me?” she demanded heatedly.

“Frank, I found another zombie!” he yelled to what she assumed was his buddy.

“Well, just shoot it and get it over with it,” a voice sounded from inside the Humvee.

The soldier then aimed, and actually pulled the trigger!

She felt a projectile pass by her left ear, and shook her fist.“Hey, are you nuts? Aim that toy gun at some other joker, will you?”

“The zombie is still walking, Frank. I repeat, the zombie is still walking.”

“That’s because you shoot for shit. Let me have a whack at it,” said the disembodied voice, and then a second soldier appeared, also holding a rifle. He aimed at her, and shot!

Another projectile whizzed past her right ear, and this time she thought that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to make a run for it.

So run she did!

Chapter 29

When Odelia arrived at the camp, she was surprised to find that there were already hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people present. She saw tents, large and small, she saw soldiers patrolling everywhere, and she saw people she recognized as Hampton Covians standing huddled together, talking amongst themselves, and clearly wondering what was going on, same as she was. And just as she got out of the truck and was escorted past the fence and into the camp, another truck arrived, and her mom got off!

“Mom!” she cried, and joined her mother, who looked confused and disoriented.

“What’shappening?” asked Marge.

“Thank you so much, young man,” said Mrs. Samson as she was helped off the truck by a soldier.

“This has probably something to do with the zombie thing,” said Odelia. “The army must have decided to put the entire town in quarantine.”

“But why? We’re not zombies.”

“They don’t know that, do they? And besides, with every virus there’s an incubation period where you’re not really sick yet, even though you already have the disease.”

“I don’t feel sick,” said Mrs. Samson. “In fact I’ve never felt better in my life.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel sick either,” said Marge. “And I haven’t even been in contact with any zombies.”

“No, but I have, and you’ve been in contact with me, so potentially we could both have been infected.”

“I wasn’t infected,” said Mrs. Samson. “I would remember if a zombie had his way with me.”

“So why bring us here?” asked Marge. “Why not simply tell us all to stay home and not leave the house?”

“They have a better chance of containing the disease this way,” said Odelia. “And I’ll bet they will have rounded up the zombies, too, and put them in a different camp.”

“Yeah, I saw how they shot the zombies with tranquilizer guns,” said Marge.

“See? I think it will all be fine, Mom. They know what they’re doing,” said Odelia, as she hugged her mom. “This is all a little scary, but it won’t be long before we’re home again.”

“I don’t want to go home,” said Mrs. Samson, glancing at the soldiers. “I like it here.”

More trucks arrived at the entrance to the camp, and one of the people getting off was Chase. Odelia smiled as he walked up to her, and they hugged. She noticed Mayor Butterwick had been picked up, too, and wondered where the rest of her family could be.

“So they got you, too, huh?” said Odelia.

“Yeah, a little surprising, as I’m supposed to be chief of police now.”

“I guess civilian rank doesn’t have any meaning anymore,” said Marge.

“They probably declared a state of emergency,” said Chase, “and took over the entire town to prevent the disease—if that’s what this is—from spreading any further.”

“Have you seen Tex?” asked Marge now. “Or Alec? Or my mother?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” said Chase.

“I tried to call Dad but he didn’t pick up. And then they took away my phone.”

“Same thing here,” Chase grunted.

“I’m worried about my cats,” said Odelia now. “They’re still in that Peppard Pet Food place, and I promised to visit them tomorrow, but I don’t think this will be over by tomorrow.”

“No, I doubt it,” said Chase. “I have a feeling we might be here for a couple of days or even weeks.”