The Last Town (Book 3): Waiting For The Dead Read Free Page B

of Corbett’s juvenile fantasy novel,” Aguilar said with a contemptuous sneer.
    It took them the better part of two hours just to get a firm understanding of the concepts that Corbett was proposing. Booker was amazed. The transition to the town would be epic and profound. Corbett actually believed that the outside world was, in essence, coming to an end. And he wanted the town to be ready for it when it happened. Booker pushed the binder away from him and leaned back in his chair, trying to decide how he felt about it all. A lot of what he had just read left him terrified, while other parts seemed comforting in their sensible and rational approach.
    Booker didn’t know what to think. Did he want Corbett to be wrong? Or did he want him to be right ?
    The others were stirring now, finishing up their reading. Booker stood up and ran a hand through his hair.
    “Well, that was a lot to digest,” he said. “I think I’m calling for a bio break.”
    “I think I’m calling for a laughing break,” Aguilar said. “Clearly, Corbett is a raving lunatic.”
    Booker waved the comment away. “Yeah, we’ll get to that in a minute.” With that, he excused himself from the chamber and headed for the bathroom. Grady followed him, and Emma excused herself to the ladies room. When they returned to the chamber, Aguilar was still sitting in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, his dark brows beetled in consternation as he watched them approach.
    “Well, I don’t think we have very much to talk about, do we?” he snapped.
    “Let’s try and keep our cool, Hector,” Booker said. “No matter what you think of Corbett, he is right about one thing. The world’s not a better place today than it was yesterday, and things are only getting worse.” He looked to Grady. “Why don’t you go first, Chief. Tell us what you know about things, before we get to what we have to discuss.”
    Grady settled into his chair and steepled his hands before him in that curious way of his. “Well, locally, we did have an occasion where someone turned into a zombie. And the people I talk to in the county law enforcement community have seen a lot more. There’s no cure, and even though the talking heads on the news say the virus is transferred by contact with an infected, that’s probably not the case. Like Corbett said, the government is putting that out there to try and head off panic.”
    “Should we be panicking?” Gemma asked.
    Grady swallowed before answering. “I shot an old man who turned into a zombie today, after he tore the throat out of one man and was trying to take a chunk out of one of my officers,” he said. “I’ve never had to shoot anyone before, and that alone makes me uncomfortable. But to your question, Gemma—the truth? Can’t answer for anyone else, but I know I’m panicking a little bit.”
    Aguilar sighed heavily and rolled his eyes behind his thick glasses. “Oh really, Chief.”
    Grady spun his chair toward him. “Seen the news, Hector? You see what’s going on in New York earlier today? I mean, now the news is fixed on LA, and that city is starting to go under. If mega cities like New York and Los Angeles can’t handle this event, how can we hope to do any better?”
    “Do you mean that Corbett’s, ah, plans aren’t going to make a difference?” Booker asked.
    Grady shook his head. “Not what I meant. I mean that with our current resources, we don’t have much capability to keep people safe here in Single Tree.”
    Booker put his hand on the binder before him. “What’s your opinion on this, Chief? As a law enforcement official?”
    “I think it’s audacious and not really very far from crazy. But it’s the only chance we have, if things start to fall apart. Like they did back east, and like they’re starting to here in the west.” Grady opened the copy of Corbett’s presentation and leafed through a few pages. “I mean, listen, the guy’s thought of almost everything . Construction