Free Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place by Char Robinson

Charlie, but until then try to keep the peace, ok?”
     
    “ Got it,” Scott acknowledged with a small salute as they exited the room.
     
    Mick leaned back in the office chair he was sitting in and closed his eyes. He was parked next to the ham radio, although he didn’t know the first thing about it he’d offered to listen in to give Dave and Jeff a break.
     
    Jeff’s wife Lindsey was ill and running a fever; no one was quite sure what was wrong with her. Parker and Kendra watched over her most of the time, but she wasn’t getting any better so Jeff felt obligated to be by her side, and Mick couldn’t blame him one bit.
     
    If anything happened to Cindy or one of the kids - Mick frowned and stood up, he wasn’t going to let his imagination get hold of that thought - it was a good way to drive himself crazy. But the truth of the matter was that he was scared. He didn’t know how to protect his family, he wasn’t a fighter or a marksman, he could shoot a gun, but that was as far as that went. He knew a little about a lot and was a scholar of nothing. Guess it will have to be enough, he thought dejectedly.
     
    Trying to distract himself out of the funk he was feeling, he sat back down and examined the radio. Dave had checked it that morning, so he knew it was working, and he fervently wished Charlie would check in.
     
    “ C’mon Charlie, call us,” he muttered out loud.
     
    “ Who’re you talking to?” said a voice behind him.
     
    Mick swiveled the chair around to see Rose standing behind him with a plate of baked chicken, rice with brown gravy, and steamed broccoli in one hand and a glass of iced tea in the other. Since Dexter left, she’d lost that pinched look, which softened her features. She even smiled now and then, showing off dimples no one had noticed before. As she held out the food to Mick and smiled, he noted her green eyes were full of life. Mick usually didn’t pay much attention to other women, he had the one he wanted, but the change in Rose was so remarkable, he couldn’t help but notice. Remembering what she looked like before, Mick suddenly realized that Rose was – well - blossoming . Mick wondered if the change was due to Dexter not being around to grind her under his large and calloused thumb, or was it something else. Mick could easily imagine what Rose was like before she’d met and married the man. The thought made Mick dislike Dexter even more, what he was doing to his wife and son was disheartening, especially after what they’d been through.
     
    Mick smiled back at her as he took the food. “Thanks Rose, I didn’t realize I was hungry until just now.”
     
    Rose gave Mick a quick, shy smile. “You’re welcome. So, who were you talking to? Did you hear something on the radio?”
     
    “ Was talking to myself,” Mick admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed. “When I’m alone with my thoughts, they tend to come out my mouth.”
     
    Rose laughed and when she did so, Mick was startled. Her whole face lit up and where before she was merely pretty, her laughter made her beautiful. He made a mental note to talk to Cindy about Rose; he wanted her opinion on how someone who had first come to them looking like a plain, meek little mouse could undergo such a transformation. He wanted to know if Cindy thought Dexter was behind it, or was it due to trauma she’d experienced before arriving at Hudson Place, or maybe it was a bit of both.
     
    Mick knew from what Dexter had told them that Rose’s sister, Penny, had been killed right before their eyes when their home had been overrun. Dexter said there were so many zombies that the literal weight of them pressing against a large, boarded up window had caused it to give way.
     
    Penny had been visiting them and they were all asleep upstairs. Dexter woke up when he heard pounding noises and the sound of glass shattering below. He was halfway down the stairs when he saw them coming through the window. He’d wanted to get his