Zombies! (Episode 10): State of Emergency Read Online Free PDF Page A

Then he went back down to the street and lit a cigarette.
     
    Alicia hated it that he had started smoking again. Of course, she had every right to hate it. He tried to keep it from her as much as possible. He'd take a couple of extra minutes after a run to smoke a cigarette. He'd go down to the corner store a bit more often. In essence, he was smoking at opportune times and Alicia was pretending that she didn't know about it. It wasn't a recipe for a healthy marriage, but that wouldn't really matter in a few months.
     
    For a while, he just stood there in the snow, taking in smoke, blowing it out. He looked up and down the street. There was no one about. There was no traffic. The snow was piling up pretty quickly, the daylight grayed by the clouds. Suddenly he noticed a face in the living room window across the street. A man, Indian by the looks of it, with a small mustache was staring out at him. He looked young but it was difficult to tell through the glass. He stared at Heron for a while, then looked up and down the street the same as he had. Finally, his eyes came back to rest on the retired lieutenant. Heron looked back unashamedly, just smoking his cigarette. Finally, the face disappeared from the window, but the front door shortly opened. Out came the man. He was definitely Indian. The skin of his face was dark brown. He wore a long black coat and grey leather gloves. The coat was open and Heron could see a light sweater and some jeans. He had been right about the man’s youth. Even the mustache didn’t appear to have grown in properly just yet.
     
    “Good afternoon,” Heron greeted.
     
    The man smiled. “Hello. I saw you standing there and became curious.” His accent was somewhat Hindi but sounded more English.
     
    Confused, Heron asked him why.
     
    “Well, I recognize you from the television.”
     
    “Oh,” Heron said.
     
    “You are the police lieutenant? The one who runs the zombie unit? Are we in danger?”
     
    Now Heron began to understand and he began to laugh. His laughter completely confused the poor man. “I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I live here.”
     
    The man looked up at the house behind Heron and then back at Heron. Once recovered from his initial shock, he said, “I apologize. I had no idea we had such notoriety in the neighborhood. With what’s happened, I would have expected you to be working.”
     
    Heron threw away his cigarette. “I retired. It’s someone else’s job now.”
     
    “Retired?”
     
    Heron nodded. “Police work can get to you easily enough. When you pile zombies on top of it, it gets to you that much quicker.”
     
    “I see.” The man sounded dubious.
     
    Heron extended a hand and introduced himself.
     
    “Pleasure,” the man said. “I am Satyadarshi…Satya.”
     
    “Are you worried, Satya?”
     
    “About zombies?” He nodded. “Of course.”
     
    “Well don’t be. I worked the unit long enough to know that they’ll put this down before the night’s out. The snow might slow them down a little but it’s hardly the end of the world.”
     
    Satya give him a cautious smile. “For my family’s sake, I hope so.”
     
    “You look pretty young to have a family.”
     
    “I am twenty eight. My wife and I have one son. He is seven.”
     
    “What’s his name?”
     
    “Namdev. He is a musician, my son.”
     
    “I’ve got a five year old daughter, Mellie.”
     
    Satya was nodding. “Yes, of course. I’ve met your wife. Elisa?”
     
    “Alicia.”
     
    Satya added a smile to his nodding. “My wife is Banni.”
     
    “Why don’t you bring them across the way after dinner?” Heron invited. “We’ve got some ice cream and donuts in the house. Alicia makes great coffee. Say around seven?”
     
    “That would be nice. I think we might also feel safer.”
     
    Heron waved a hand dismissively. “I told you. There’s nothing to worry about here. The snow will be tough on the zombies, too. I’d be very surprised if any of