Free Dawn of the Jed by Scott Craven

car and lost.”
    “Are you sure he was really dead and not just knocked out?”
    “Hmm, let me think about that. Broken bones, not breathing, absolutely no reaction when beef jerky was waved under his nose. OK, I didn’t do that last one, but the real kicker? He was hit by a freakin’ car. It all added up to one very dead dog.”
    “Did it occur to you that maybe it was dead, like, before?”
    “No. Really? That’s the best you’ve got?”
    “Did you look for the owner?”
    “Absolutely. I went door to door. ‘Hello sir or madam, is this your dead dog that’s following me? I will assume by your screaming it’s not. Have a good day.’”
    “Do you always have to be so freaking sarcastic?” Anna asked. “This is probably someone’s dog.”
    “Yeah. Mine.”
    Anna looked down and shut her eyes. She stayed like that for a minute. Two. A bit of Ooze broke out on my forehead. I always Ooze when nervous. And right then, I was very nervous.
    I reached over and slipped my hand under Anna’s. She pulled back at my touch, her eyes snapping open. She gave me the kind of look no one ever wants to see from someone they trust.
    Fear. Her eyes accused me of being a monster.
    Then it was gone. Most of it anyway.
    “Jed, I’ve gotten to know you pretty well.” She leaned toward me, took my hand. “I like you. I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone. Intentionally. He is a cool dog, I can see that. But how he came to be, that he just followed you home. I’m not sure … I just … it seems Tread … ”
    Tread sat up from his dog bed at the sound of his name.
    “I’m not sure what to think,” Anna said. “It’s like you have some sort of power you never knew about. Or something.”
    I squeezed her hand, resisting the urge to give her a strong hug because I did not want to feel her pull away.
    “I know, I’m weirded out by all this too,” I said. “I have no idea what happened. One second I’m crying over a dog I’d never seen before, the next I’ve done something that probably even PETA would frown on. But if I keep thinking about it, I’m going to drive myself crazy. I have to learn from it and move on.”
    “Learn from it?”
    “I know for sure I can’t turn anyone into zombies. If I could, Mom and Dad would have been members of the walking dead from the moment they changed my first diaper. Dad said he learned to duck because I went off like Old Faithful. Over the years, I’ve drooled on people, bled on kids, even spread the Ooze around a little bit. Last time I looked, we’re not under the threat of a zombie apocalypse. So I’m not worried about that. But … ”
    “Yes? But what?”
    “Maybe I have to be careful around dead things. At least freshly dead things.”
    “You think that’s why this happened? Because Tread was dead?”
    “I think so. In fact, I’m almost positive. So I have to take precautions.”
    “Like what?”
    I let a sly smile slip.
    “Watch myself around the recently expired. Make sure I don’t drip any Ooze anywhere after the exterminator leaves, or else we’re deep in ants and cockroaches again.”
    “Jed—”
    “No trips to the meat section at the supermarket. A little Ooze there, and veal chops are finally going to get the revenge they’ve always wanted.”
    “Really?”
    “I was thinking about opening a side business. ‘Lost your pet to the Grim Reaper? Take it to Jed. Your dog or cat will be more than undead. They’ll be fundead! The death of any party!’”
    There it was, that smile I’d been hoping far. Anna laughed and punched my arm.
    “This is not really a big deal when you think about it,” I continued, noticing the look in Anna’s eyes. “Wait, let me finish. All the conditions were right. A dog that died just seconds ago. A zombie kid with some odd chemical compound that somehow plays a part in keeping him sort-of alive, dripping that compound on a freshly dead dog. And let’s not forget the zombie kid really wanted a dog.”
    “So