Read Psych Ward Zombies for Free Online

perhaps considering whether or not to shoot him. Dave could imagine tiny daggers shooting from behind the officer’s sunglasses, embedding themselves in Dave’s skull. Little rivers of sweat ran down Dave’s torso from his armpits .
    Finally, the officer spoke. “You have accepted the prisoner and he will now be released to your custody.” The officer nodded to his companions and in unison they began a well-orchestrated maneuver of removing the cuffs, leg shackles, and face mask. The lead officer turned back toward Dave. “What is your name, sir, which I may report back to the court?”
    Dave did not want to take responsibility for this guy and he did not want his own name on any court records associated with the case. However, his urge to say “Puddin Tame” was quickly overpowered by his desire not to be tasered and beaten with a billy club .
    “Hexer. Doctor David Hexer.”
    The lead officer said, “Thank you Doctor Hexer. He’s all yours.” Those words served as a cue, with all eight officers turning sharply and streaming out the door in single file. They were gone before Dave could realize he was now standing next to a suspected serial killer. By now, Luther had been released from his bindings and was standing just a few feet from Dave. The man rubbed his wrists where the handcuffs had been, but kept his eyes focused on Dave. The dark glimmer in Luther’s eyes was almost as creepy as his smirking grin.
    Dave hesitated for a moment, briefly taken aback by the situation. He now had the opportunity to take a good look at Luther without the mask. Luther was immensely muscular and about six and a half feet tall, towering over Dave like a giant. He had a dark complexion and deep blue eyes. His thick mane of black hair draped down to his shoulders. His most imposing feature, however, was his aura of power and self-confidence. He had been at Eldemere for less than ten minutes, and most of that time was in shackles. Yet now he projected an unspoken sense of authority, like he was in charge .
    “Can I get some regular clothes?” Luther asked rhetorically, knowing his request would be granted. “Orange isn’t my color. ”
    Janet volunteered to gather him some clothes from the hospital stockpile. The hospital had a room full of clothes that had been donated for exactly this kind of situation. Janet excused herself and headed for the storage room. She returned moments later with some size XXL athletic sweats. “It’s all they had in your size,” she apologized .
    Dave allowed Luther to go to his room to change. While Luther was dressing, Janet fetched a sack lunch from a small refrigerator in the nursing station. Now that it was past dinner time, Luther had missed his chance for a normal dinner tray from the hospital cafeteria. Janet pointed out that Devlin had personally brought the sack lunch to the ward for Luther earlier in the day. Dave had never seen Devlin do something like that for any other patient, so he considered this further evidence that Devlin was taking a special interest in this particular patient .
    When Luther had returned, Dave took him to a day room to interview him. Dave allowed Luther to eat the sack lunch while they talked. Dave’s goals were to get some background information on Luther and to get a feel for just how crazy this guy was. Two orderlies stood by the door in case the new patient became violent. Luther had been quite calm so far. While he munched on an apple and a tuna sandwich, he answered Dave’s questions. The interview proceeded smoothly, and Luther actually seemed to be fairly rational. He denied any major symptoms of psychosis. Other than his attitude of entitlement, he seemed surprisingly normal while interacting with the doctor.
    “This is going to be much easier than I thought,” Dave thought to himself, feeling a sense of relief that things were going so well. Luther had finished eating and Dave had finished asking questions, so Dave stood up and thanked Luther for