Read Zombies! (Episode 4): The Sick and the Dead for Free Online Page B

its main research facility. Peter ordered transfer and then went to inform the mother. He pulled her aside and told her, showing her the report. To her credit, she didn't say, there must be some mistake . There was none. The boy would be retested at Arthur Conroy but the doctors at Sisters of Charity were satisfied. As a result, she would also need to be tested as well. The father was a non-issue. They hadn't seen him in six years. Was she dating anyone? Where did the boy attend school? There was a process. The poor woman had to answer question after question, putting aside the fact that her son was going to die in a matter of hours.
     
    Her name was Melissa Benford. Her son's name was Jason. Peter sat with the two of them even after the questions were answered. She didn't tell her son what was wrong with him. Peter asked her if she wanted him to do it but she shook her head. Instead she told Jason that they were going to take him to a hospital in Manhattan where they had specialists. Jason wasn't stupid but he was only twelve years old. He grabbed hold of the lie tightly and clung to it even though he knew it wasn't true. After a while, more than a little sobered, Peter left them and went to attend to other patients.
     
    ***
     
    IT was almost thirty minutes later when one of the nurses came looking for him. He'd gone and seen two patients after the Benfords and then had needed to retreat and regroup once again. As the day wore on, he felt his rationale slipping away bit by bit. He had considered seeing a therapist but dismissed it. He knew the effects of trauma and, despite his week of paranoid isolation, he had convinced himself that he could see it through unaided. When the nurse told him that Melissa Benford had checked her son out against medical advice, he just exploded. Kill the messenger did not even begin to do his outburst justice. By the end of it, she was virtually in tears and he was offering up a very real apology. He tried to explain himself but the words jusat didn't do it justice. Finally, he asked about the tranport to Arthur Conroy . She told him it had never come. Later, when he finally looked into it, he would find that the call had never been made. Then he should have gone into a tirade but he was too drained. He let the matter go because it was just so easy to do so.
     
    When his shift ended, there was still some paperwork to clear up. He left it. He didn't even think about it. Instead, he went to the security closet where they kept everything from body armor to tasers. He took out a taser and a baton. He didn't bother with body armor. The two items were easily secured in his bag. Next he went to the drug and supply closet. He loaded up on some necessary items there. Finally, he went to the computer to gather some information and then headed out. As he did so, no one bothered to stop him and question him. By this time they were all avoiding him as if he was a zombie himself. And that suited him.
     
    He took a train ride from the hospital.
     
    The house where he arrived was modest, if not a bit small. The siding was showing signs of wear. There was peeling paint and a few hanging bits. The drapes in the windows were faded. There was no money here. How could there be? It occupied a single mother and her twelve year old son. Every last cent she earned went to the boy. And for what?
     
    "Dr. Ventura?" Melissa Benford said as she answered the door. She was already wary, he could tell. He could see things he would never have seen before. Peter had undergone a transformation. The course of action upon which he had decided made him feel that way. It had clicked as being right and that had removed all discomfort. The rest of his life, past, present, and future, had faded into obscurity. Peter Ventura was experiencing his own personal armageddon.
     
    "How's Jason?" he asked, all concern and sincerity.
     
    She wrung her hands together nervously. The question was unanswerable. There were only two answers.