Page 2 of Property of Zombie

“Can I help you?” a middle-aged woman asks when I pause in a hallway.

“Uh, yes, please,” I say. “I’m Lucy Thomas, and I’m looking for Melanie from HR.”

She smiles. “You’ve found her. I was just coming to see if you’d arrived. Follow me,” she instructs, turning on her heel and walking away.

I try to commit the path to her office to memory, but only time will tell if the information sticks. This place is like a maze. Melanie gestures to a chair as she takes the one behind a large mahogany desk.

“I trust you’ve settled in,” she says as she riffles through stacks of papers.

“It’s a work in progress,” I admit. “I moved into a condo two days ago, and furniture is slowly being delivered.”

“Good, good. Oh,” she says, lifting a file folder. “Here it is. We’ve got some paperwork to get through, and then I’ll give you the tour. By the time we get through that, it’ll be time for lunch. Once you’re back from your break, I’ll introduce you to Dr. Binks, the lead vet here at the zoo, and he’ll take things from there. Sound good?”

“Sounds great.”

The morning goes exactly as Melanie stated. As she walks me through the large zoo, it’s almost impossible not to stop and admire all of the animals, but there’s no time. My shift is over at five, and the zoo is open until eight, so I’ll save that for later.

The rest of my first day is amazing, and once I was introduced to everyone, I was immediately treated like family. When I step into my condo that night, I can’t help but be grateful for Tacoma being the place I’m calling home.

At least for the next year.