Zombies! Episode 3.6: Choosing Sides

By Ivan Turner

The health cards were bad enough. They stripped people of privacy and freedom. Now, the quarantine order has come down. The islands have been refurbished and anyone with the plague has been ordered to relocate. But there are those who will not go willingly.

Captain Deigh has had a change of heart. When the newly formed Division of Infectious Defense comes with warrants for the quarantine of several of her officers, she chooses to stand in solidarity with them. These officers gave up their health in service to the public and they would not have their freedoms stripped from them as a reward.

After three years of isolation, Abby is not ready to allow them to come and take away her husband. They can't have him. Docile no more, Abby calls the only person she knows who can help her. But is it enough to keep Martin from the islands?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ivan Turner
• Release date: Mar 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370526550

Ivan Turner

A child of the movies, I was always consumed by fantastic stories told by others and translated into adventures to be retold by me through the action figure medium. As I grew older, I put the action figures away and moved into the realm of role playing. Though I never outgrew role playing, I certainly don't have the time for it anymore. Since I was eleven years old, I've been pouring almost every ounce of creative energy I have into writing.I graduated college in 1993 with a degree in computer science. I tried my hand at programming for a couple of years and found it pretty unsatisfying. I later became a partner at a comic book store, where I spent several years. Though it wasn't a financial success, the experience I gained from running the store and the people that I met (many of whom I'm still in touch with today) was priceless. After leaving the store, I settled into a career of teaching. I still teach at a public high school in New York. Ironically, I've picked up computer programming again, which is what I mostly teach.I've been writing the whole time.I released my first book electronically in 2010. Forty Leap was a turning point for me in both style and story building. The Book of Revelations, which was written earlier but released later, was sort of a midway point between the writer I was and the writer I've become. I experimented with a very odd style and a story that employed diverse characters and controversial situations.In September 2010, I released the first installment of Zombies! Zombies! has been a tremendous success for me that came very close to being made into a television series. Since Zombies!, I have written a five part miniseries called Castes and have been working on developing tabletops games, the first of which, ApocalypZe, was published in early 2014.Now, 6 years later, a 3rd Zombies! series is due to be released in September of 2016.

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Zombies! Episode 3.6: Choosing Sides

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2016 by Ivan Turner

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The people and events in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

Special thanks to Chris Hanson for his brilliant cover artwork.

Table of Contents

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Afterword

Other Books By Ivan Turner

Chapter I

The order came down on February 1st. It was cold out, but about to get colder still. Technically, winter had arrived more than a month before, but that was just in nature. This was a winter that had come straight up from hell. It had arrived in an untimely fashion and would last well beyond its requisite three months.

Leaning back in her chair, still very much the head of the NYPD Undead Unit, Captain Deigh read the email for the fifth time and considered her options. No matter how many times she did so, they always seemed to be the same.

Just above that email, there was one from the Department. Lieutenant Rollins had filed for disciplinary action against her. The complaint stated that she had harbored a single, thinking zombie in isolation without turning it over to the proper authorities. The complaint was flimsy at best. The email was over a week old and she hadn't heard anything about it. When it had first come, her impulse was to hang it up and retire. She didn't need this shit. The more she thought about it, though, the more she realized that she wasn't ready. There was too much to do. The matter of Michael’s death was still unresolved. She knew who was responsible, but hadn't yet made any headway against them. Circumstances kept getting in the way. Guillermo’s death was one. Lily’s life had been another. Now, with the new orders, she realized that there was absolutely nowhere she could go. The police force needed her more than ever.

Printing the email, she pulled the sheet from the bin and read it again. No change. The email was the same. Her options were the same. It was time to stop stalling.

Standing up, she marched out of her office and straight down the hallway to Rollins’ office. They hadn't had much to say to each other in the last week. When she had advocated for Lily, getting her the help she needed instead of destroying her for what she had become, he had turned on her. Since then, she had been communicating all of the assignments through Bache, who still had the decency to show her the respect her position demanded. What he said about her behind her back, she didn't want to know.

When she reached Rollins’ office, she went in without knocking. Unsurprised, he made a couple of final clicks on the mouse and looked up from his computer.

Throwing the paper onto his desk, she stood back and let him read it. She could see what it meant to him, could see the color rising from his neck into his cheeks. There were few things that got under Rollins’ skin. He was more level headed than anyone she had ever met. He was not prone to righteous rage. He was a man of few words. This, however.... This got to him.

Before I refuse to comply, I need to know that I have you on my side.

He looked at her over the printout. "It's a department order. You can't refuse to comply."

Watch me.

Aren't you in enough trouble already? he asked her, dropping the paper onto his desk.

Deigh laughed to cover up the rage. It sounded just a tiny bit maniacal. "Because of your complaint? There's nothing there, Rollins. All they have is that I was holding a zombie in confinement. You're the one who let her go?"

I turned her over to the Feds according to procedure.

And they lost her and it's not my problem.

Rollins stood. He didn't do it to intimidate her. He did it because he didn't like having this conversation while having to look up at her. You know exactly what happened and you know exactly where she is.

Stepping closer, Deigh leaned in and looked right up at him. Prove it.

He had nothing left to say after that. He couldn't prove it. He didn't even know that it was true.

Deigh reached over and picked up the printout of the email. She waved it in his face. How many officers in this unit are infected and taking Olexynil?

He didn't answer.

Do I have your support?

What could he say? What could he do? Rollins had never been anything but a good soldier. He was loyal enough to follow orders, but smart enough to ask questions when they needed asking. If he was willing to look at Deigh as his commanding officer once again, which orders should he follow?

Though a difficult decision it was, he made it quickly enough. He would not compromise the freedom of his own officers or the citizens he was employed to protect. Relaxing, he nodded.

Deigh turned to go.

This doesn't change anything, he said very calmly to her back.

She stopped, made a decision of her own, and turned back to face him. She came back and around his desk so that she could speak directly into his face in a low voice.

"I do know where she is, Rollins. I know exactly what happened to her. A doctor brought her back to life. Do you understand me? She's not a zombie anymore, Rollins. She’s still infected but she's a living, breathing human. She pointed to the paper on his desk. And if we follow those orders, we will be responsible for arresting her and taking her to the boats so that