Undead Much by Stacey Jay

That’s all I can tell for sure.”
      I sighed and tried to hide my disappointment. For a second there, I’d thought Cliff was going to tell me something I didn’t know, but it was just the same old thing. “Yeah, I know. I’m like a supercharged Settler of the Dead. Rare and weird and scary.”
      He smiled and his thumb ran lightly over the top of my hand. “I don’t think you’re weird or scary. Maybe a little rare, but in a good way. I certainly feel better than I did half an hour ago. I was so drained, but talking to you… well, it’s just good.”
      For a second energy jumped between us, an awareness that, had I not had a boyfriend and had Cliff not been dead, I would have called attraction. My entire body buzzed and my head spun dizzily. It was a cross between the low-blood-sugar feeling I get when I skip breakfast and the seconds right after I pull away from Ethan’s kisses, which was more than disturbing enough to make me yank my hand away from Cliff ’s.
      “Come on, we’ve got to get you back to your crypt,” I said, jumping to my feet when the dizziness passed. “Maybe I didn’t seal your grave right last time. I can’t remember doing anything different, but it was late and-”
      “No, it’s cool. I’ll show myself back,” he said, standing beside me. “You did everything fine. I could feel your mojo big-time, but my body wouldn’t do what you were telling it to do. I’m not ready to rest. I’ve got something I have to do.”
      “I’m supposed to help you with that, you know, help you complete your unfinished business. That’s sort of my job.”
      “Not this time.” He smiled. “I think this time it’s my job to help you. I saw you in the woods the other day. The others almost killed you.”
      The brown eyes I’d thought I’d seen right after I’d hit my head. It had been Cliff. “You were spying on me?” I asked, backing away a few steps, thinking about the weird feeling I’d had at the hospital. “Have you been following me?”
      “No. Well… maybe,” he said. “But I’m not the only one. You’ve got a living tail too. Don’t look now, but that beige car down the street isn’t empty.”
      “Crap.” I closed my eyes, not needing to look at the car to guess who was inside. Settlers’ Affairs had someone watching me. Beige was, after all, their signature color. “Great, now we really have to go.” I turned and headed down the sidewalk, knowing my SA watchers would start to get suspicious if it took much longer to put Cliff to rest.
      “Fine. But please believe me,” he said, hurrying after me. “I would never hurt you. I only want to help.”
      “Thanks, but really, I don’t need help.” Well, I did, but not from an Unsettled. “The best thing you could do for me is to go back to your grave and try to rest in peace. Believe me, I’m in enough trouble already, and if the Enforcers or anyone from Settlers’ Affairs sees any more weird zombies hanging around-”
      “Zombie. Wow, it’s really weird hearing that word and knowing someone is talking about me.” His voice was soft and that ghost of a smile still on his face, but I could tell I’d hurt his feelings.
      “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
      “No, it’s cool. I’m a zombie, guess I better get used to it,” he said, a hint of anger in his eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I’m worthless. There’s something I need to do and I’m going to do it, and nothing anyone says is going to stop me. Not even you, Megan Berry.”
      He turned around and raced off the sidewalk and through my neighbor’s yard, headed toward the cemetery. I yelled his name as he left, but all he did was wave.
      For a second I thought about really going after him, but decided against it after peeking around to see that the beige car hadn’t moved from its position a few blocks away. Didn’t look like they planned on following me to make sure I Settled Cliff even though I