too many zombies gather in one place, people tend to get nervous Night of the Living Dead flashbacks. Nobody needs that kind of mob mentality.
I could lend a hand a lot faster than official backup would ever arrive. The police force was stretched thin in the Quarter, and not many of the beat cops wanted to be there; it was a bottom-of-your-career assignment.
McGoo never had a bright future on the force, and he was his own worst enemy. Neither a tactful nor an overly sensitive man, he didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. His biggest mistake was in thinking that everyone shared his rough sense of humor. Years ago he had told a series of inappropriate, non-politically-correct jokes, pissed off the wrong person, and got himself transferred to the Unnatural Quarter (a “punitive promotion”) not long before Robin and I set up shop.
My BHF may be rough around the edges, but when you boil it down, McGoo is a decent cop who does a good job and actually likes walking the beat. He has no aspirations of becoming a high-and-mighty detective or putting up with the political garbage of the top brass. He considers administrative meetings to be more grueling than a shootout. I’m glad to have him around.
Basic law enforcement is problematic in a city where even the laws of science don’t always hold true. Police work and the justice system don’t function quite the same around here. Worse, the laws themselves aren’t always defined—which is why Robin based her career on solving problems and setting precedents.
Even though the Unnatural Quarter has its rough parts, like any inner city, most citizens, natural and unnatural, try to color within the lines. We don’t have to put up with anarchy just because all Hell has broken loose. The vast majority just wants a normal existence and struggles to live within a shaky framework of laws, abstaining from outrageous behavior and doing their best to get along.
Businesses sprang up that catered to the specialized clientele: Commercial blood drives commissioned fresh supplies for vampire customers; processing plants developed seasonings and treatments to make chicken “taste just like human”; restaurants and bars served the proper food choices.
It’s an odd sort of détente, but in the worldwide uproar after the Big Uneasy, the unnaturals realized that if they didn’t settle down and behave themselves, the rest of humanity would go on a full-blown crusade to wipe them out. The worst characters were arrested, tried, and sentenced, and the real man-eaters were executed (by whatever means appropriate for their type). But daily life, etc., went on.
Even so, not everybody behaves.
While Sheldon kept his distance from the crowd of spectators, I yanked on a few stiff shoulders and pulled the unnatural bystanders back. “Hey, give the officer some space to work! He’s trying to do his job.” I hustled them out of the way. “Move along, nothing to see!” I hadn’t gotten close enough yet to know whether there was anything to see.
Recognizing me, McGoo looked relieved. “Thanks, Shamble.”
When the crowd dispersed, I saw that the wrecked place was the Hope & Salvation Mission, a charity operation run by a kind old woman who wanted to save the undead. The windows were smashed, the door ripped off its hinges, the siding splintered. Even some of the bricks had been crushed to powder. Somebody, or something, had made a mess of things. Something huge.
I groaned. “Who would want to do a thing like this?” Hope Saldana was a sweet, good-intentioned lady, and everybody liked her, both naturals and unnaturals. But not all unnaturals could resist their urges, and I was worried about what might have happened to her. “Was anybody hurt?”
“Mrs. Saldana is shaken up, but not harmed,” McGoo said. “Got her in protective custody until we figure out what happened here. It’s like a tornado hit the place!” He shook his head. “Imagine the strength of the guy who did this.”
“Or woman,” I said.
“If a lady did this, I wouldn’t want to be her blind date.”
I ran my eyes over McGoo’s face, his square jaw, rounded nose, bristly brown hair, and five-o’clock shadow that hit by noon every day. “You’re assuming she’d want to date you.”
“I always assume that, until I learn otherwise.” He put his thumbs in his waistband and regarded the scene. “I responded to a call about a disturbance, but the damage was done by the time I got here. Witnesses saw a huge, hulking monster, all hairy and warty, with glowing