So far Pam only knew that the virus carried by a bite had eventually been one hundred percent fatal. If she was any evidence, the airborne virus did not even seem to make people sick, at least it hadn’t yet.
But more urgently, what did Captain Crawford mean when he said they needed to clean the room? She peered out through squinted eyelids and saw two armed guards pacing the room. She wanted out, and she wanted out now, but there was no way she could race past those guards.
Trying to make her movements look like the actions of somebody simply repositioning themselves in their sleep, she turned her head.
Yes, Paul’s still in his bed. Pamela had begun to worry he had covered up an injury. But he surely would have died and reanimated by now. It was possible that Paul was simply fatigued, or maybe even ill from some less sinister disease. Pam had no real friends here in the infirmary, but somehow Paul felt like a comrade. She blew out a relieved sigh when she saw him.
“What do you mean by clean the room?” This was asked by a stern female voice, coming from the office. That was, of course, what Pam wanted to know. She tried to glance around, and as far as she could tell, all the others were sound asleep. All she heard from inside the room was rhythmic breathing and an occasional soft snore. Once, a low moan came from the other end of the room, and she figured the creature must still be hooded and bagged over there. If they wanted to clean the room, why didn’t they take that thing away?
“I mean that we need to stop pretending that these unfortunate citizens are patients that we can cure,” Captain Crawford said. “We are wasting time, and we need to move on. If the doctors want some specimens, they can be transferred to containment. Otherwise, I want these people neutralized, so I can move on.”
“What about the young woman who worked at Future Faith?” the female persisted. “You said she was your most credible witness, a scientist, and she does not appear symptomatic after all of this time. The young medical student may also be useful.”
“They both tested positive,” Captain Crawford said. “But I guess we could transfer them to a more secure room if you’re squeamish about it. Frankly, I don’t think they have anything additional to contribute. The guy’s a loose cannon waiting to go off but I might be convinced to keep the young woman around here for a while longer. She’s a graduate student, and I gather she only held a low-level position at Future Faith. But of all the civilians, she has proved the most stable and cooperative. Her suggestion about looking through Dr. Klein’s research is a sensible one but we can surely use our own experienced medical people to do it. Maybe we can even scare up some real experts.”
“As she has mentioned several times, Ms. Stone is a doctoral candidate in pathology,” the woman said. “She also knows her way around Future Faith. She may be as good as it gets, as far as experts go, for quite a while. Things are not exactly stable.”
“I’ll think about it,” Captain Crawford groused. “I’d dearly like to get a real expert in here. Somebody from the virus blocker team or a higher level scientist would be ideal. Clearly, the young woman has her virtues, but she’s almost a kid.”
“Higher level scientists at Future Faith could all be walking around like that thing you’ve got chained in the corner by now. Ms. Stone’s youth probably worked in her favor because she was strong enough to get out of the building. Besides, I’ve seen officers her age lead men into battle. She also has proven herself as resourceful. I imagine that it took some combination of quick thinking, strength, and luck to get out of there.” The woman’s voice sounded flat, but insistent.
Pam felt frozen on the thin infirmary cot, but she certainly thought she understood what Captain Crawford meant by neutralized. She had to get out of this room quickly before they made escape impossible by putting her in some sort of locked jail cell. But how could she possibly escape even now? Guards watched the room, and two were planted in front of the only exit.
As she lay back with her heart racing, the woman with the body builder physique started to stir. Pamela wondered if she had