Zombies! (Episode 6): Barriers Collapse Read Online Free PDF Page B

sandwich arrived, she stared at for a bit, picked at it for a bit, and just let her mind wander. Before she knew it, forty minutes had gone by and most of the sandwich was still on her plate.
     
    "Hello, Abby."
     
    Looking up, she saw John Arrick. Arrick was a high school teacher that had, not too long ago, been a regular at the gym. "How are you, John. I haven't seen you in a while."
     
    "No," he admitted. "I've kind of lost my taste for the gym. Without Suzanna…" He let the sentence hang, seeming to drift off in thought. Suzanna had become infected with the zombie plague and died as a result. Arrick had been with her when she'd turned and had had to fight her off. The twist to the story is that she did actually bite him and he also caught the plague. But unlike one hundred percent of the other victims, John Arrick's body had miraculously fought off the infection. Of course, Abby didn't know about any of that. To her he was just a pleasant, if sad man who had been a regular customer.
     
    They were silent for a while, Abby sitting in front of her sandwich and Arrick just standing there.
     
    "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked her.
     
    "By all means," she said. "I'll have to go in a bit, though. I have an appointment."
     
    He nodded, knowing that she wasn't lying just by the way she said. The waitress came over and he ordered a sandwich. It was a modification of what Abby had ordered, and he never ordered anything else.
     
    "I'm not stalking you," he said, his Scottish accent barely noticeable.
     
    She smiled. "I didn't think you were."
     
    "I only work a few blocks from here and I used to come here after the gym sometimes. I was in the mood for a sandwich."
     
    "John, why would you think I'd be upset by your company?"
     
    He shrugged. "It's just that, when I saw you, I thought of Suzanna."
     
    "You miss her," she said, but he shrugged his shoulders again.
     
    "I don't really," he said. "I know it sounds terrible and I wish she hadn't died, but I don't think we were going to last much longer."
     
    "I'm sorry to hear that," Abby said, although it really didn't matter much to her. Though she'd gotten along with Suzanna just about as well as anyone could, they'd hardly been friends. The same went for Arrick. He was, of course, much more amicable than Suzanna had ever been, but their paths crossed at the gym and only the gym.
     
    "Did you know that she was seeing someone else?" Arrick asked suddenly.
     
    "Um, I…"
     
    He waved his hand dismissively. "You knew. I don't blame you for not saying anything. In fact, I respect your ability to keep to your business. It was Larry, wasn't it?"
     
    Abby nodded.
     
    "Abby, do you know how he died?"
     
    She nodded again, leaning forward. "He was a zombie, John. He was the first."
     
    During their investigation into the death of Larry Koplowitz, Abby had met detectives Stemmy and Heron. After her involvement in the incident at Sisters of Charity Hospital , she had become friendly with Anthony Heron. He had told her all about Larry. The Health Department had even closed the gym for a few days while they investigated the link between it and the zombie infection.
     
    "So Suzanna got it from him," Arrick mused.
     
    "I'm not sure about that," Abby said. "Larry was dead a month when Suzanna became really sick."
     
    Arrick thought about it for another moment, then decided it didn't really matter where she'd gotten it.
     
    "It's just lucky that you didn't get it," Abby continued. "You were tested, weren't you?"
     
    "Of course," he lied. "Picture of health, I am."
     
    "Well that's a relief." She took a bite of her now cold sandwich and flagged over the waitress. It was just about 6:00 and she didn't want to be late.
     
    "Where are you off to, then?" Arrick asked innocently.
     
    Abby weighed her answers. "There's a group of people who are concerned about what the zombie rights people are doing."
     
    "Lot of nuts, they are."
     
    The waitress put down both Abby's check