A/N: Idea from Just Another Tomboy
Idea Twenty: Zombies
Halloween. Normally Leon Vance enjoyed the holiday, but tonight he had to work.
Already, he had overheard Tony DiNozzo talking about how creepy Halloween was. About how all the odd cases came their way at this time of year. And then the obligatory movie references had followed, until Gibbs had thankfully delivered the requisite headslap.
On his way back to his office, he had wondered why Gibbs' team had been the first to volunteer to work tonight. He supposed it was because they had little else to do. Ziva was unlikely to celebrate the holiday, Tony had made his feelings clear about it, McGee was happy enough with his computers and far less likely to end up being egged if he was at work, while Gibbs didn't seem to celebrate anything.
Not even Christmas. Or his birthday. He didn't tell people when it was; Vance only knew himself because Jenny had told him the date years ago.
He stared at the paperwork before him. Much as he would have liked to go home early tonight, paperwork had appeared out of nowhere and it needed to be dealt with. Vance made an effort to go home as early as he could, but tonight he had no choice. If he didn't the mountain of papers in front of him, he would have to work through the night tomorrow.
Settling down, he briefly wondered where Cynthia was. He hadn't seen her since lunch. Deciding to hunt for her later, he picked up the first folder and began.
It was close to midnight when he finished, placing his signature on the final folder and pushing it to one side. The building had fallen quiet. Despite having worked late into the night before, it felt odd.
He decided he was letting Tony's horror stories play tricks on his mind. There should only be a few people left in the Navy Yard, including Gibbs' team. There was nothing to worry about.
He didn't believe in ghosts, zombies, vampires or any of that silly nonsense. He did believe in evil men, which included the possibility of a mad axeman outside his door, but he brushed that thought aside. A mad axeman would have barged in long ago, not settled in a seat outside to wait.
And he would have had to go through Gibbs' team, with an ex-marine, ex-cop and a Mossad assassin. He was perfectly safe.
Sighing, he began to gather his belongings slowly. There was no need to rush at this hour. No one would be awake when he arrived home.
Eventually he left his office, the odd feeling inside him intensifying. If he believed in Gibbs' infamous gut, he would have termed it a gut feeling. Something was wrong.
He found out what it was when he was halfway down the stairs between the catwalk and the squad room. People began emerging from the shadows. But they weren't people, he realized when he looked closer. They were zombies.
It took him a moment to work out that the zombies were people. He recognized Gibbs under the make-up. And Cynthia. And Tony. And Agent Jardine.
He turned to run back to his office but they had silently cut him off. They continued to surround him.
And then they ripped him to pieces.