Servant of the Undead

"You owe me."

Shit.

Fuck.

What sane, normal person would suddenly want those books?

No, not sane. Not normal.

Hayden bolted from the stack and headed to Bates Hall. It wasn't empty, the way it had been on that night. College students hunched over books and tapped on laptops. A single girl was already asleep, her long red hair hanging over her arms. He took another look around. The guard had to be around somewhere. Hayden crossed the room, weaving between the tables, the vaulted ceiling making his footsteps echo. He passed through the Government Information room, cut through the Abbey Room.

He was just reaching the stairs to the third floor when he saw the blur of the blue security uniform just as the man ducked into the Boylston Room. Hayden called after the guy and he turned around.

"Remember me? I was here the other night, you know, when we had the storm?"

The guard smiled and looked Hayden up and down. "Yeah, man, I remember you. Zombie guy."

"Right. That's me."

"You left that book on the table, open. The lady that works the front desk in the morning found it—God knows what she was doing up here—and she came after me, telling everyone I left it there, just because I was talking about the zombies. You know, warning people to be ready and all." He squinted and leaned closer. Close enough so the scent of stale coffee blew across Hayden's face. "She's one of those older ladies, you know the kind who thinks she has the right to tell everyone what to think. Anyway, she waved that book around and made a fucking stink about those pictures."

"Sorry about that." Hayden was trying to be patient.

"It sucked pretty bad." The guard squinted again, leaned even closer. This time Hayden could see a gold crown on his top back molar. "Really bad."

"I bet it did."

The guy suddenly seemed to rethink his situation, leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "You come here again to look for it?"

Hayden nodded and tried to force his mouth into a friendly smile.

"I thought so. Seeing as you left in such a hurry."

"I went to look for the book on the shelf, but it—"

"Wasn't there." The guard dropped his arms and started circling Hayden.

Hayden tried to widen the fake smile. "You know where it is?"

The guard kept walking. "Yep."

"Could you get it for me?" he asked, clinging to the patience.

"The way I see it, you owe me." He came to a stop behind Hayden.

Hayden dropped the smile and looked over his shoulder. "I really am sorry about that lady. I'm sure that sucked."

"It did. You know what else sucked?"

Hayden's stomach knotted. "What's that?"

"Looking at those pictures of you fucking that hot girl. Pictures, when I could have seen it in person if I'd been in the right place at the right time. I know those shots on the Weekly's site didn't do her justice." He lifted his hands and spread his fingers. "That girl had some big tits."

"Did you stop to think you might be talking about my girlfriend?"

The guy dropped his hand as he laughed, the scent of endless cups of coffee filling the air. "That girl ain't nobody's girlfriend. Even I can see that."

"What about the book? Can you get it for me?"

The guard started walking again. "You're forgetting what I said. You owe me."