covered up the wound, and apparently nobody even thought to give her an antibiotic before.”
“It wouldn’t have done any good,” Paul said sourly. He sat down hard on a narrow cot. “We keep calling it an infection, but it’s not bacterial. Dr. Klein called it a virus. You know that she helped invent the virus blocking protein. I’d imagine she knew a lot about the subject. Antibiotics won’t help.”
“Would the virus blocker help?” Dr. Lincoln asked.
“That’s a good question,” Pam said. “She never suggested it though. It would be very helpful to go back to Future Faith and examine her papers.” Pam took a deep breath. Despite the rising tide of panic, some part of her educated and conscious mind kept throwing sparks. “In fact it’s even possible it took her longer to succumb because she’d been exposed to the virus blocker. Also, I really have no idea of how much time elapsed between the time of the initial outbreak and the time I found her in the reception area. There are a lot of possibilities.”
“Were either of you scratched by the things?” Doctor Lincoln asked.
“No, I managed to avoid them,” Pamela said. “It was a near thing, and at the time I didn’t even realize the true nature of the danger. I just wanted to stay away from those things. But I believe I’m clean. I did try to clean George’s wound before he died, so it is possible some fluid got on my skin but I tried to avoid it. I know I already mentioned that I’m working on my doctorate in pathology, and I’ve had a lot of lab experience. I’m not unaware of proper procedures.”
“What about you?” he asked Paul. The young man regarded him for a long moment, frowned, and then shook his head. From what Pam could see right now Paul did not appear injured either.
“Well, let me get a blood sample anyway,” the doctor said. “And I’ll have you examined to be sure nothing abnormal shows up. Neither of you appears ill or feverish. That seems like a good sign.”
Paul settled back on the cot without bothering to remove his shoes or get under the light blanket. They had been through a trying day, but her body felt electrified with adrenaline again. Beyond that, the presence Dr. Klein’s prone corpse and the restrained creature on the other side of the room, removed any thoughts of trying to rest. She did not know if the zombies got tired, but this one seemed to grow more indolent as time passed with the heavy bag over its head.
She stopped herself from pacing restlessly down the narrow aisle between the cots, glanced down at Paul, and saw that he actually looked as if he had fallen asleep. Pam still felt as if her nerves were tingling with an electric charge of fear. Her stomach felt sour. She could not understand how Paul could fall asleep under any circumstances.
Just then, a uniformed soldier wheeled in a cart with sandwiches and drinks. Pam thought she should eat something though her very guts rebelled at the thought. Maybe I’ll calm down and be able to think better if I have a sandwich.
She selected a wrapped turkey sandwich and can of sweet tea from the cart. The drink felt cool and soothing, but the sandwich seemed gluey. After what she had seen and smelled, the turkey meat repelled her. She spit out the barely chewed remains back into her napkin. She finally ripped it out of the middle and just ate the bread and condiments. It still seemed like paste in her mouth but she managed to swallow. After Pam finished, the food seemed to sit in her gut like an undigested rock.
As the soldier left, Pam noticed that he left the infirmary door slightly ajar. She watched as some men and women in scrubs passed, and then occasionally a uniformed soldier. The doctor took a phone call, and then spoke to his assistant in urgent tones. He pulled the sheet back from Dr. Klein and shined a light into her eyes. She still appeared, unsurprisingly, quite dead. Her thin cuffed hand lay limply just outside the sheet. Pam wondered what he was looking for. She wished somebody would cart the body into another room, preferably locked and far away. But she knew it was not for her to presume to give orders right now.
The lone armed guard answered a cell phone call and stepped outside the room. No matter, now