Read THEM (Season 1): Episode 4 for Free Online Page B

wouldn’t leave a recognizable trail.
    After we’d made it a safe distance from the militia compound, Gabby whispered to me. “I take it everything went okay in there?”
    I nodded, and was about to reply when my arm spasmed in pain and my side cramped up as if I had a Charley horse from my wrist to my other shoulder. I immediately dropped to the ground, heaving short breaths since it was difficult to breathe properly. The sensation in my arm was similar to the experience I’d had when Bobby had first opened my wound and poured it full of his blood. It was like liquid fire was spreading through my veins, starting at the site of the bite and moving up my arm to my shoulder and chest.
    Gabby gasped and pulled up short, dropping down to my side. “Scratch, are you okay?” She turned to Bobby with concern in her eyes. “What’s wrong with him?”
    Bobby knelt on my other side and shook his head. “I don’t know.” He shook my shoulder, which just made the fire in my arm and side worse. “Scratch, buddy, are you alright?”
    I clenched my teeth and waited a few seconds, and soon the pain began to subside and breathing became easier. Seeing the change come over my face, they both relaxed a bit and gave me some room. I rolled over on my back and looked up at the stars, cradling my arm to my side.
    Gabby took the hand that wasn’t still clenched in a fist in hers. “Can you walk?” I nodded, and she pulled me up as Bobby assisted from the side. I waved them off after standing up, feeling my strength coming back as the pain subsided.
    “I’ll be fine. Must be some residual effects from that deader bite.”
    Gabby cocked an eye at me. “‘Ya think? This ain’t cool, Scratch. We need to get you back to
La Araña
and have her look you over.”
    I simply nodded and started walking back to the Facility. I noticed Bobby and Gabby exchanging a concerned look, but I ignored it and focused on getting back to safety before the others discovered the Colonel and sent patrols looking for us.
· · ·

5
FIGHTING
    The Doc looked up from the chart and tapped her pen on her upper lip. “Based on the tests I ran while you were gone, your body has accepted the treatment. However, right now your enhanced immune functions are deadlocked with the Z venom in a battle for your systems and tissues.” She flipped through a few pages of her handwritten notes and looked up at me. “What sort of changes have you noticed so far in your physical abilities? Any new developments?”
    “You mean besides the fact that I’m pretty much invisible to deaders?” The Doc cocked an eyebrow at that, but I barreled on. “And when the deaders finally did attack me, it was like I was a step ahead of them the whole time.”
    “Improved reflexes?”
    I shook my head. “No, more like improved perception speed. I was recognizing threats almost as they were happening.”
    She frowned slightly and tapped the pen on her chin. “Well, that is interesting. But, let’s back up somewhat. You said the deaders didn’t attack you at first?”
    I shook my head. “Not until I attacked one of them. Then they came at me in force.”
    She made some notes on a clipboard and squinted. “Well, that could be due to the latent Z venom, or it could be caused by other factors. It’s not something that I’ve seen before, but then again the test pool of subjects I’ve had to work with has been quite limited.”
    That last bit made me curious, and got me asking questions I should have been asking a week ago. “Doc, just how many people have you successfully treated with this stuff?”
    “Including you and Gabby? Two. But there were several—failed—attempts prior to the War. I might add that the data from those test subjects was crucial to perfecting the process in the years after.”
    “Well, that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So from what you’re telling me, these symptoms I’m having could just be a side effect of the treatments.”
    She wobbled