Free Zombies! (Episode 7): Conflicts of Interest by Ivan Turner Page A

cops."
     
     
    "What?"
     
     
    Now Toby was slow, but not that slow. He caught on to the fact that Marcus, for some reason, hadn't given Arrick the exit strategy. It was too late to back out now. "Just get lost, John, okay?"
     
     
    Toby took charge of the zombies and marched them toward the arena. Arrick watched him until he'd disappeared into the center area. What had he just learned? There were police in the building. Well, he'd already known that. He'd seen the policeman that had signed up to fight as St. Francis. Marcus was spooked and planning to bug out. But cops versus crowd? What did that mean? Unless they planned to incite a riot. Was that the exit strategy? Create panic and then slip out in the confusion? It suddenly dawned on Arrick that he had just given Toby the weapon to do just that. In just a very few minutes, things were going to become very dangerous at the arena. Toby was right. It was time for him to get lost.
     
     
    A day earlier, Arrick had phoned his brother for advice. Well, not so much advice as a reminder of how to be a good person. Malcolm, in his own way, had done a good job of it. But for some reason it hadn't taken. Arrick was still here and he was still finding and minding the zombies for Marcus. And now Toby was going to start a riot which would get dozens or hundreds of people injured or killed and he was thinking about running. It wasn't the right thing to do. It wasn't even justifiable.
     
     
    And then there was Shawn. He'd seen Shawn, wounded and locked into a small room. He was a prisoner and Arrick had done nothing to help him. What kind of a man was he? Had he changed that much or had he always been that way? He remembered Suzanna, and the sacrifice he had made to be with her in her final hours. Why had he done that? Not out of love, surely. There was no love between them. No, it was because there was a part of him that couldn't bear to think of the pain and fear that she must have felt. There was a part of him that would have done anything to help, let alone offer her just the small comfort of his presence. And at that moment, he had allowed that small part of him to dominate. He thought of Suzanna and he thought of Shawn and he thought of all of the terrible mistakes he had made. How many people had died because he had selfishly hidden his ability to beat the zombie plague? It was too late to stop Marcus and Toby, but not too late for Shawn. He ran for the stairs.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    AFTER watching Toby come out of the corridor with the zombies in tow, Marcus went to Shawn's room. He unlocked it with the tiny allen wrench he had in his pocket and stepped inside. Shawn was laying with his arm over his eyes. At least he looked comfortable.
     
     
    "Take off," he said. "The bed pan's empty."
     
     
    "It's me, Shawn," said Marcus. "We've got to go."
     
     
    Shawn pulled his arm away from his face. He did it casually as if Marcus' presence didn't matter one bit to him. But Marcus knew. He knew Shawn.
     
     
    "Why don't you get the hell out of here?"
     
     
    "We need to go," Marcus repeated. "Together. Right now."
     
     
    "I'm not going anywhere with you."
     
     
    Marcus came over to the bed and began disconnecting the tubes. Shawn would be weak, but he could help him. "I'm shutting it down," he said as he worked. "You were right. I just…All I saw was the money so I'm getting out."
     
     
    Leaning in, Marcus slipped a hand around Shawn's waist and started to lift him. Shawn wanted to fight, but he wanted to sit up even more. As he did so, he was caught by an excruciating pain in his side. He had to stop halfway up, his stomach muscles bunched, just breathing heavily.
     
     
    "I'd love for you to be able to take your time," Marcus said. "But we've got to go."
     
     
    "What's the rush?" Shawn asked. "If it's your business and you’re shutting it down."
     
     
    "My partners don't agree with me. They won't want me to go." The lie was hollow, but it was all he had. He knew