Journal of the Undead (Book 1): Littleville Uprising by S.G. Lee

sick leave.
    Raines’ wife, Carla, had been kind enough to take a container of her famous chicken soup and a bulk-sized package of Nyquil over to Kepler’s apartment, but that was over a week ago. She’d said the kid looked pretty bad off but he’d insisted it would pass in a few days.
    Guilt nagged at Interim Chief Raines; it had been far too long since he’d seen his partner. He was supposed to be looking out for the rookie. Finding a few spare minutes, he decided to drive to Kepler’s apartment. Raines had barely made it out of the parking lot before a call came in.
    “What now?” he sighed.
    Since there was no one else available, Raines confirmed he was on the way. With lights flashing and the siren blaring, he raced to the latest calamity.
    A typically quiet residential area was bustling with activity. The flu had spread so rapidly that the Board of Education decided to close school until the threat had passed. As Raines entered the development, a group of school children romping in a nearby yard shrieked. At first glance, it appeared the kids were playing and enjoying their impromptu vacation. As he pulled the cruiser closer, he spotted the blood and reevaluated the situation. The flashing lights frightened some of the children so they ran.
    “Freeze!”
    Unlike hardened criminals, most of the children actually obeyed. The only exception was a pair of youngsters who had an older boy pinned down. Raines stepped in to pull the bloodied kids apart and, by lifting them by the scruffs of their necks, he was able to catch a glimpse of the boy underneath.
    As a seasoned professional, he had been confident he had seen it all, but the fury unleashed by such small children surprised him. The preteen sobbing on the ground looked like he had been skinned alive.
    The two kids in his arms thrashed and squirmed, still trying to reach their victim. News reports about bath salt abusers had flooded the airwaves and Raines had personally apprehended a few, but young children weren’t typically drug addicts. It was beyond his scope of reasoning that they were literally eating someone alive.
    “Okay, I want you kids to get your parents and bring them here, right now!” His official police business voice sent the children scurrying. After placing the two attackers in the backseat of his cruiser, Officer Raines called for ambulances which—considering the circumstances—arrived quickly.
    The EMTs loaded the victim and his parents into one ambulance. The bloody attackers were restrained and strapped to litters before being loaded into another ambulance. As expected, many of the parents insisted on having their lawyers present before their children were questioned. He mandated a time for the youths, guardians, and lawyers to come to the station to give statements. Once all had been dealt with, Raines left the scene hoping he’d actually get to check on his partner this time.
    ***
    Managing to arrive at his partner’s home with no new calls to respond to, he knocked on Kepler’s door and waited for a response. When none came, he knocked again, louder. Raines pressed his ear against the door and listened closely. Thinking he heard a crash inside the apartment, he forced his way inside. The air inside Kepler’s dank apartment was stagnant and a putrid stench assaulted his senses.
    “Hey, Kepler! You okay, kid?”
    Blinking, he tried to adapt his eyes to the darkness caused by the light-blocking shades throughout the apartment. A wheezing groan accompanied by the sound of shuffling feet came from the bedroom and Raines assumed the rookie was coming out to greet him. In the dark, he could barely see the outline of his partner staggering toward him. Kepler tripped over the cord to his laptop, scattering dirty dishes and used tissues as he landed face down on the coffee table. Officer Raines clicked on the lamp then reached out to help his friend. What reached back was definitely not his partner.
    The gray-green pallor of Kepler’s