214

You search through your contacts in your smartphone and spot a number for Bud Taylor. You dial, half expecting the line to be dead, but you hear a dial tone. As you dial, you wonder if anyone will answer. You haven't spoken to Bud Taylor in a few days, and now is a good time to check on your neighbor.

"Hello?" says a deep though feminine voice.

"Mrs. Taylor?"

"Victor Zombie?" Billie says, her voice returning to the normal higher tone. "Sorry about the trickery just then. I wanted to make sure you weren't dangerous."

"I don't think the infected would call first," you say.

"Of course not, but you could be, like, a guy pretending to be a deputy sheriff who's parked nearby and wants to 'check on the security of my house' just to get inside and rob me. Anyway, how are you? And I hate calling them 'infected' or 'zombies.'"