The Cure, page 19
Kimmy got off her bed and started to run towards Bobby intending to grab his arm and pull him back into the room before he got them both in trouble.
Before she could reach him, Bobby pushed the door closed quickly and turned to face his sister.
His face looked pale and confused.
Kimmy stopped and stared at Bobby.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“There is a big guy standing right outside the door,” Bobby said now whispering, “and he has a gun.”
“A gun!” Kimmy repeated. “It wasn’t George was it?”
“No,” Bobby replied, “but I think it was one of the guys that was in the car with him.”
Bobby walked slowly back over to his bed and hopped up on the mattress.
“Why would there be a man with a gun outside our room?” Kimmy asked quietly. “They know we’re not going to turn into a zombie.”
“I don’t know,” Bobby replied as he shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe he doesn’t believe the doctor. But I don’t think I want to find out.”
George led Jim, Larry and Frank down the sewer line.
Except for George, each of the men carried two wooden replacement manhole covers and an armful of two by fours, along with a hockey stick.
“Why are we bringing all these covers?” Larry asked. “I thought we only needed one?”
“Because we don’t need them down at the pumping station,” Jim replied. “But when we go exploring further down the line, we might find another manhole with a missing cover. This way we won’t have to walk all the way back to the pumping station to get one. Weren’t you listening when the Cap explained all of this?”
“I thought I was,” Larry replied. “I guess my mind was wandering and I missed that part.”
Frank moved up closer to George.
“Your guys sound like the crew of college boys I had working with me for the summer,” Frank chuckled. “I just thought it was the sewer fumes getting to them.”
“In this case the fumes could only help,” George laughed. “They are good men and they know their jobs. Sewer work though is a little out of their field. But they do have a tendency to talk too much.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” George replied, “since they are carrying loaded weapons.”
“But if you see them pull their weapons,” George added, “it would probably be best if you hit the deck. They also have a tendency to get over excited and shoot anything that moves.”
Frank chuckled, “As long as they know I’m on your side.”
“Don’t count on that,” George replied.
They walked past the manholes for Patterson Way and McKean Way.
As they walked under McKean Way, George ordered them all to stop.
“Grant Street is up ahead next,” George said. “We have to assume that a few more of the dead managed to fall down into the sewer since we were here. Set your loads down here and grab your hockey sticks.”
“I can see the light coming down into the sewer from here,” Frank said. “And I thought it was starting to get noisy down here, even after Larry stopped talking.”
“It will start to get even louder as we get closer,” George replied. “
“Let’s hope that not too many of those zombies managed to get down in the sewer,” Jim added. “When they see you and start groaning. It echoes down the pipe and about drives you crazy.”
“Believe it or not,” Larry said, “you’ll be able to smell them over all this shit down here.”
“I believe that,” Frank replied. “After working down here for as long as I did, I hardly even notice the smell down here anymore.”
“How long did you work down here?” Larry asked.
“Enough talking,” George said. “Keep your ears open and listen. With their dark rotting skin, they are hard to see down here. The first thing you should see is our lights reflecting off of their eyes, but watch for any movement. Some of those bastards don’t have any eyes.”
The men all put down the covers and planks they were carrying and stood silent for a minute and listened to the sounds coming down the pipe.
“Frank, grab a plank but stay behind us,” George said. “We’ll take care of clearing the passage way. Jim, take up position on my left flank. Larry, take my right flank, just like we did before. Focus your lights down the center of the passage and let’s see if we can see anything. It doesn’t sound like too many more of them got down here but that doesn’t mean shit.”
The men all shifted their heads so that the lights on their hats shined down the center of the large sewer pipe.
They all started to move again very slowly. A moment later they could see six small white flickering reflections dancing in the distant darkness.
“It looks like there are only three of them this time,” Jim spoke softly.
“Or six zombie pirates,” Larry added. “Harr!”
“Shut the hell up and focus,” George whispered.
George could hear Frank chuckle nervously from behind the group.
They continued down the passage way.
“Let’s just get serious and take care of this so we can get that damn manhole plugged before any more of those things get down here,” George whispered.
They walked slowly towards the reflections. When they were about thirty feet away, the bodies attached to the eyes slowly began to take shape in the light from the men’s hats.
Soon they could make out the four staggering dark shapes coming up the sewer pipe towards them.
“I can make out four targets,” George said.
“They look creepy as hell down here,” Frank said.
“They don’t look so good up top either,” Larry added.
“Frank,” George said. “Keep an eye out behind us. It should be clear back that way but we can’t take the chance that one of them managed to get into one of the smaller pipes that come into the main passage and are now coming in behind us.”
“OK,” Frank replied, shifting his gaze nervously from the creatures coming towards them to look back down the dark pipe behind them.
“OK,” George instructed, “just like before.”
Frank held his position, turning his head to look behind them and then back to the approaching creatures.
George led the men as they began to move slowly forward.
The groaning began to echo down the passage as did the sickening crunching sounds of George’s hockey stick splitting the skulls and leg bones of the dead in front of him.
It was all over in a minute, except for the sound of Jim and Larry’s sticks making sure the dead were not going to be getting back up off the ground.
When the men were sure the four zombies would not pose any further threats, George spoke.
“Hold still and listen,” George ordered, “and focus your lights back down the passage.”
A moment later George called out, “All clear.”
“That wasn’t too difficult,” Frank said.
“Let’s get moving,” George said. “Frank, watch where you step so you don’t end up falling on your ass.”
“Yeah, these things make the bottom of the pipe as slippery as ice,” Larry added. “Before you know it you’re on your back covered in shit.”
“I take it someone fell on their ass before?” Frank chuckled.
“Yep,” George laughed. “I’ll give you three guesses who it was.”
They picked up the wooden covers and planks and moved the last fifty feet until they were under Grant Street and the open manhole.
“Jim you stand watch up ahead, Larry you cover our asses, I’ll help Frank barricade the manhole,” George ordered.
Larry and Jim took up their positions.
Frank moved up next to George and looked up the manhole.
“Shit,” Frank said as he jumped back from under the opening. “There is another one trying to get down through the hole.”
George edged over and took a quick glance up.
A dark face was looking down into the sewer. The skin on the top of its head had been ripped away leaving blood covered bone showing on the top of its head. The nose had been flattened and half the teeth were gone, but the creature didn’t seem to care as it locked its eyes on George’s face.
The zombie began to wail as its body began to bang into the underside of the car over the opening as it tried frantically to come after George.
Soon the dead around the car began to groan and throw themselves at the car.
George could see the undercarriage of the car rocking back and forth above the zombie’s head.
“Get what you need to cover this hole,” George said as he grabbed a plank. “I’ll cave in this thing’s head so you can get to work but we better move fast. The others up there know we are here and they are pounding at the car. They only have to move it a few feet and we will have more bodies coming down through that hole than we can deal with.”
“Do you think they can push a parked car that far?” Frank asked.
“I’ve seen them push a damn bus half a city block,” George replied as he started up the ladder.
When he was half way up the ladder, he rammed the end of his plank into the face of the zombie above him.
The zombie’s head was pushed up against the muffler.
George pushed until he heard a loud crunching sound as the plank broke through the grotesque face.
A dark thick liquid began to run down the plank.
George pulled the plank out of the creatures face and quickly backed down the ladder.
Frank moved up the ladder, pulling himself up step by step with his left hand as he held the wooden cover under his right arm.
He pushed the wooden replacement cover over the inside of the hole.
The shaft leading down into the sewer became dark and the sounds from above were muffled as he held the cover against the inside rim of the opening.
The wooden cover began to vibrate in Frank’s hands as the dead began pounding against the top of the cover.
“Give me a plank,” Frank called out.
George pushed a plank up at him.
Frank grabbed the plank with his right arm as he struggled to keep the cover in place with his other arm.
George watched as Frank slid the plank into the slots at the top of the pipe.
Frank then quickly reached for the power drill in his tool belt and drove a screw through the plank and into the cover.
“Another plank,” Frank called out.
George pushed up another plank and watched as Frank, much easier this time, slid the plank into the other slots.
He then took his drill and put four more screws through each plank, firmly holding the wooden manhole cover in place.
Frank climbed back down next to George, “That should keep them out.”
“I hope so,” George sighed.
“They can’t get enough pressure on the three-foot wide surface to put any serious stress on it,” Frank replied. “But I wouldn’t stand down here and taunt them either if you know what I mean.”
“Roger that,” George replied.
George studied the barricade at the top of the manhole for a few seconds to make sure that it was going to hold.
“Jim, Larry,” George called out, “Status?”
“All clear,” Jim replied, followed by an all clear from Larry.
“OK, back in formation,” George said, “Before we go back, let’s check out the next few blocks to make sure there aren’t any more of those things down here that could give us problems later.”
They picked up the remaining wooden covers and planks and started moving down the passage again.
When they reached Johnston Avenue, George stopped, “I think we should be OK. At the rate those things move, they couldn’t have come any further than this. Stack the covers and planks here. We can take them from here later.”
“How far did you go down this way when you went to Cabela’s?” Frank asked.
George turned his head so the light on his hat shined on the two foot opening near the top of the pipe to his right.
“We came this far,” George replied as he pointed to the pipe where water dripped down into the main passage way. “That pipe is how we got into Cabela’s.”
Frank walked over and examined the opening.
“No wonder you guys were covered in shit when you came back,” Frank smiled. “How far did you have to crawl until you found Cabela’s?”
“Ten miles,” Larry replied.
“About a hundred feet,” George said. “It only felt like ten miles.”
“How did you get into Cabela’s?” Frank asked again. “I wouldn’t think the opening where they tapped into the line would have been large enough for you to get through.”
“The pipe ended at the bottom of a toilet,” George laughed. “I accidently knocked off the top of the pipe where a plumber had opened the line. He had the floor dug up in the bathroom in the back of the store. I think he had been trying to clear out the line when the power went off. If that wouldn’t have happened, we would have never made it into Cabela’s.”
“I don’t think we will be that lucky again,” Frank said.
“I don’t think so either,” George replied. “Hopefully we can come up through a manhole somewhere that isn’t swarming with zombies. There has to be somewhere in town we can get out.”
Frank thought for a minute.
“The main sewer line bends to the left about a hundred feet ahead,” Frank said. “If you follow the line down to Union Avenue, I believe there is an exit that comes up in the plaza at the Troy Hill shopping center. We should be able to get out there.”
“What’s at the shopping center?” George asked.
“McDonalds, Hallmark, Target, JoAnn’s Fabrics, a few restaurants, A Shop and Save, Burlington and Trader Joe’s,” Frank replied. “We should be able to find a few useful things there but mainly we might be able to make our way out to some of the places on the edge of town.”
“That sounds good,” George smiled. “I wasn’t looking forward to coming up in the bottom of another toilet again.”
“Now you know the last thing a goldfish sees before it dies,” Frank chuckled.
George smiled and tuned to face Jim and Larry, “OK men, let’s go home. I think we’ve spent enough time down here for one day.”
“I still need a shower,” Larry added.
“Yes you do,” George laughed.
John walked into the lab to check on Diane.
“Hi Dad,” Diane said when she saw John walk into the room. “What’s happening on your end today?”
“I’m not sure,” John replied, “something has the zombies all worked up out on the street outside the hospital. It looks like more of those things are coming into town from somewhere.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Diane said. “Do you think they are going to cause any problems for us?”
“The fact that the number of zombies around the hospital are growing at an alarming rate has me worried,” John replied. “Just the sheer numbers are disturbing.”
“Any idea why they are all here?” Diane asked.
“No idea,” John answered, “but I have people watching them so we can determine what this is going to mean for us here in the hospital.”
“Have they shown any interest in the hospital?” Diane asked.
“Not yet,” John replied, “but if they do, with the number of them out on the streets now, I don’t think we could keep them out. At best we could slow them down.”
“If they get in, what do you think?” Diane asked. “We could move up to one of the upper floors.”
“That would be one option,” John replied. “But we could end up being trapped. The cafeteria only has enough food to last a few more weeks. The other option would be to go out through the sewers. George and Frank are down there now plugging the open manhole on Grant Street. As long as we could all get down into the sewers, we should be able to get out of the hospital. I don’t like the idea of being on the run out in all of this, but it could be better than being trapped in here.”
“Hopefully we won’t have to make that choice,” Diane said.
“I have Pete and Mildred packing a dozen of the backpacks George brought back from Cabela’s with food from our supply room. If we have to leave the hospital we should have enough supplies to hold us for a week until we can get situated somewhere else,” John smiled. “Better to be prepared, just in case.”
Diane smiled and gave her dad a hug, “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you.”
John hugged Diane back then held her out at arm’s length.
“Enough about what’s on my mind. Did you make any more progress finding out why our two young guests are immune to zombies?”
“Well the first thing I’ve determined is that I don’t believe the kids are actually immune,” Diane replied.
John looked at her curiously.
“I feel they don’t become infected because the virus in the infected zombie blood isn’t attacking their healthy blood cells. Without power and with what equipment I have to work with, I can’t do the kind of analysis I need to positively confirm my theory. But with what I have done, it certainly points to that scenario,” Diane replied.
“Layman’s terms,” John smiled.
Diane smiled back, “The infected cells or virus is programmed to attack living tissue. The virus isn’t attacking the kid’s cells. I believe the virus doesn’t identify the kid’s blood cells as being normal living tissue.”
John scratched his head, “You mean the virus thinks the kids are zombies already?”
“Sort of,” Diane replied.
“I guess that makes sense in a way,” John grinned. “We’ve never seen a zombie attack another zombie. In fact, zombies look like they try to avoid contact with other zombies. But didn’t the zombies attack and bite those two kids?”
“They did,” Diane answered. “Zombies see the kids as living things, but the virus that the zombies carry apparently doesn’t identify their blood as living tissue.”
Before she could reach him, Bobby pushed the door closed quickly and turned to face his sister.
His face looked pale and confused.
Kimmy stopped and stared at Bobby.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“There is a big guy standing right outside the door,” Bobby said now whispering, “and he has a gun.”
“A gun!” Kimmy repeated. “It wasn’t George was it?”
“No,” Bobby replied, “but I think it was one of the guys that was in the car with him.”
Bobby walked slowly back over to his bed and hopped up on the mattress.
“Why would there be a man with a gun outside our room?” Kimmy asked quietly. “They know we’re not going to turn into a zombie.”
“I don’t know,” Bobby replied as he shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe he doesn’t believe the doctor. But I don’t think I want to find out.”
George led Jim, Larry and Frank down the sewer line.
Except for George, each of the men carried two wooden replacement manhole covers and an armful of two by fours, along with a hockey stick.
“Why are we bringing all these covers?” Larry asked. “I thought we only needed one?”
“Because we don’t need them down at the pumping station,” Jim replied. “But when we go exploring further down the line, we might find another manhole with a missing cover. This way we won’t have to walk all the way back to the pumping station to get one. Weren’t you listening when the Cap explained all of this?”
“I thought I was,” Larry replied. “I guess my mind was wandering and I missed that part.”
Frank moved up closer to George.
“Your guys sound like the crew of college boys I had working with me for the summer,” Frank chuckled. “I just thought it was the sewer fumes getting to them.”
“In this case the fumes could only help,” George laughed. “They are good men and they know their jobs. Sewer work though is a little out of their field. But they do have a tendency to talk too much.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” George replied, “since they are carrying loaded weapons.”
“But if you see them pull their weapons,” George added, “it would probably be best if you hit the deck. They also have a tendency to get over excited and shoot anything that moves.”
Frank chuckled, “As long as they know I’m on your side.”
“Don’t count on that,” George replied.
They walked past the manholes for Patterson Way and McKean Way.
As they walked under McKean Way, George ordered them all to stop.
“Grant Street is up ahead next,” George said. “We have to assume that a few more of the dead managed to fall down into the sewer since we were here. Set your loads down here and grab your hockey sticks.”
“I can see the light coming down into the sewer from here,” Frank said. “And I thought it was starting to get noisy down here, even after Larry stopped talking.”
“It will start to get even louder as we get closer,” George replied. “
“Let’s hope that not too many of those zombies managed to get down in the sewer,” Jim added. “When they see you and start groaning. It echoes down the pipe and about drives you crazy.”
“Believe it or not,” Larry said, “you’ll be able to smell them over all this shit down here.”
“I believe that,” Frank replied. “After working down here for as long as I did, I hardly even notice the smell down here anymore.”
“How long did you work down here?” Larry asked.
“Enough talking,” George said. “Keep your ears open and listen. With their dark rotting skin, they are hard to see down here. The first thing you should see is our lights reflecting off of their eyes, but watch for any movement. Some of those bastards don’t have any eyes.”
The men all put down the covers and planks they were carrying and stood silent for a minute and listened to the sounds coming down the pipe.
“Frank, grab a plank but stay behind us,” George said. “We’ll take care of clearing the passage way. Jim, take up position on my left flank. Larry, take my right flank, just like we did before. Focus your lights down the center of the passage and let’s see if we can see anything. It doesn’t sound like too many more of them got down here but that doesn’t mean shit.”
The men all shifted their heads so that the lights on their hats shined down the center of the large sewer pipe.
They all started to move again very slowly. A moment later they could see six small white flickering reflections dancing in the distant darkness.
“It looks like there are only three of them this time,” Jim spoke softly.
“Or six zombie pirates,” Larry added. “Harr!”
“Shut the hell up and focus,” George whispered.
George could hear Frank chuckle nervously from behind the group.
They continued down the passage way.
“Let’s just get serious and take care of this so we can get that damn manhole plugged before any more of those things get down here,” George whispered.
They walked slowly towards the reflections. When they were about thirty feet away, the bodies attached to the eyes slowly began to take shape in the light from the men’s hats.
Soon they could make out the four staggering dark shapes coming up the sewer pipe towards them.
“I can make out four targets,” George said.
“They look creepy as hell down here,” Frank said.
“They don’t look so good up top either,” Larry added.
“Frank,” George said. “Keep an eye out behind us. It should be clear back that way but we can’t take the chance that one of them managed to get into one of the smaller pipes that come into the main passage and are now coming in behind us.”
“OK,” Frank replied, shifting his gaze nervously from the creatures coming towards them to look back down the dark pipe behind them.
“OK,” George instructed, “just like before.”
Frank held his position, turning his head to look behind them and then back to the approaching creatures.
George led the men as they began to move slowly forward.
The groaning began to echo down the passage as did the sickening crunching sounds of George’s hockey stick splitting the skulls and leg bones of the dead in front of him.
It was all over in a minute, except for the sound of Jim and Larry’s sticks making sure the dead were not going to be getting back up off the ground.
When the men were sure the four zombies would not pose any further threats, George spoke.
“Hold still and listen,” George ordered, “and focus your lights back down the passage.”
A moment later George called out, “All clear.”
“That wasn’t too difficult,” Frank said.
“Let’s get moving,” George said. “Frank, watch where you step so you don’t end up falling on your ass.”
“Yeah, these things make the bottom of the pipe as slippery as ice,” Larry added. “Before you know it you’re on your back covered in shit.”
“I take it someone fell on their ass before?” Frank chuckled.
“Yep,” George laughed. “I’ll give you three guesses who it was.”
They picked up the wooden covers and planks and moved the last fifty feet until they were under Grant Street and the open manhole.
“Jim you stand watch up ahead, Larry you cover our asses, I’ll help Frank barricade the manhole,” George ordered.
Larry and Jim took up their positions.
Frank moved up next to George and looked up the manhole.
“Shit,” Frank said as he jumped back from under the opening. “There is another one trying to get down through the hole.”
George edged over and took a quick glance up.
A dark face was looking down into the sewer. The skin on the top of its head had been ripped away leaving blood covered bone showing on the top of its head. The nose had been flattened and half the teeth were gone, but the creature didn’t seem to care as it locked its eyes on George’s face.
The zombie began to wail as its body began to bang into the underside of the car over the opening as it tried frantically to come after George.
Soon the dead around the car began to groan and throw themselves at the car.
George could see the undercarriage of the car rocking back and forth above the zombie’s head.
“Get what you need to cover this hole,” George said as he grabbed a plank. “I’ll cave in this thing’s head so you can get to work but we better move fast. The others up there know we are here and they are pounding at the car. They only have to move it a few feet and we will have more bodies coming down through that hole than we can deal with.”
“Do you think they can push a parked car that far?” Frank asked.
“I’ve seen them push a damn bus half a city block,” George replied as he started up the ladder.
When he was half way up the ladder, he rammed the end of his plank into the face of the zombie above him.
The zombie’s head was pushed up against the muffler.
George pushed until he heard a loud crunching sound as the plank broke through the grotesque face.
A dark thick liquid began to run down the plank.
George pulled the plank out of the creatures face and quickly backed down the ladder.
Frank moved up the ladder, pulling himself up step by step with his left hand as he held the wooden cover under his right arm.
He pushed the wooden replacement cover over the inside of the hole.
The shaft leading down into the sewer became dark and the sounds from above were muffled as he held the cover against the inside rim of the opening.
The wooden cover began to vibrate in Frank’s hands as the dead began pounding against the top of the cover.
“Give me a plank,” Frank called out.
George pushed a plank up at him.
Frank grabbed the plank with his right arm as he struggled to keep the cover in place with his other arm.
George watched as Frank slid the plank into the slots at the top of the pipe.
Frank then quickly reached for the power drill in his tool belt and drove a screw through the plank and into the cover.
“Another plank,” Frank called out.
George pushed up another plank and watched as Frank, much easier this time, slid the plank into the other slots.
He then took his drill and put four more screws through each plank, firmly holding the wooden manhole cover in place.
Frank climbed back down next to George, “That should keep them out.”
“I hope so,” George sighed.
“They can’t get enough pressure on the three-foot wide surface to put any serious stress on it,” Frank replied. “But I wouldn’t stand down here and taunt them either if you know what I mean.”
“Roger that,” George replied.
George studied the barricade at the top of the manhole for a few seconds to make sure that it was going to hold.
“Jim, Larry,” George called out, “Status?”
“All clear,” Jim replied, followed by an all clear from Larry.
“OK, back in formation,” George said, “Before we go back, let’s check out the next few blocks to make sure there aren’t any more of those things down here that could give us problems later.”
They picked up the remaining wooden covers and planks and started moving down the passage again.
When they reached Johnston Avenue, George stopped, “I think we should be OK. At the rate those things move, they couldn’t have come any further than this. Stack the covers and planks here. We can take them from here later.”
“How far did you go down this way when you went to Cabela’s?” Frank asked.
George turned his head so the light on his hat shined on the two foot opening near the top of the pipe to his right.
“We came this far,” George replied as he pointed to the pipe where water dripped down into the main passage way. “That pipe is how we got into Cabela’s.”
Frank walked over and examined the opening.
“No wonder you guys were covered in shit when you came back,” Frank smiled. “How far did you have to crawl until you found Cabela’s?”
“Ten miles,” Larry replied.
“About a hundred feet,” George said. “It only felt like ten miles.”
“How did you get into Cabela’s?” Frank asked again. “I wouldn’t think the opening where they tapped into the line would have been large enough for you to get through.”
“The pipe ended at the bottom of a toilet,” George laughed. “I accidently knocked off the top of the pipe where a plumber had opened the line. He had the floor dug up in the bathroom in the back of the store. I think he had been trying to clear out the line when the power went off. If that wouldn’t have happened, we would have never made it into Cabela’s.”
“I don’t think we will be that lucky again,” Frank said.
“I don’t think so either,” George replied. “Hopefully we can come up through a manhole somewhere that isn’t swarming with zombies. There has to be somewhere in town we can get out.”
Frank thought for a minute.
“The main sewer line bends to the left about a hundred feet ahead,” Frank said. “If you follow the line down to Union Avenue, I believe there is an exit that comes up in the plaza at the Troy Hill shopping center. We should be able to get out there.”
“What’s at the shopping center?” George asked.
“McDonalds, Hallmark, Target, JoAnn’s Fabrics, a few restaurants, A Shop and Save, Burlington and Trader Joe’s,” Frank replied. “We should be able to find a few useful things there but mainly we might be able to make our way out to some of the places on the edge of town.”
“That sounds good,” George smiled. “I wasn’t looking forward to coming up in the bottom of another toilet again.”
“Now you know the last thing a goldfish sees before it dies,” Frank chuckled.
George smiled and tuned to face Jim and Larry, “OK men, let’s go home. I think we’ve spent enough time down here for one day.”
“I still need a shower,” Larry added.
“Yes you do,” George laughed.
John walked into the lab to check on Diane.
“Hi Dad,” Diane said when she saw John walk into the room. “What’s happening on your end today?”
“I’m not sure,” John replied, “something has the zombies all worked up out on the street outside the hospital. It looks like more of those things are coming into town from somewhere.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Diane said. “Do you think they are going to cause any problems for us?”
“The fact that the number of zombies around the hospital are growing at an alarming rate has me worried,” John replied. “Just the sheer numbers are disturbing.”
“Any idea why they are all here?” Diane asked.
“No idea,” John answered, “but I have people watching them so we can determine what this is going to mean for us here in the hospital.”
“Have they shown any interest in the hospital?” Diane asked.
“Not yet,” John replied, “but if they do, with the number of them out on the streets now, I don’t think we could keep them out. At best we could slow them down.”
“If they get in, what do you think?” Diane asked. “We could move up to one of the upper floors.”
“That would be one option,” John replied. “But we could end up being trapped. The cafeteria only has enough food to last a few more weeks. The other option would be to go out through the sewers. George and Frank are down there now plugging the open manhole on Grant Street. As long as we could all get down into the sewers, we should be able to get out of the hospital. I don’t like the idea of being on the run out in all of this, but it could be better than being trapped in here.”
“Hopefully we won’t have to make that choice,” Diane said.
“I have Pete and Mildred packing a dozen of the backpacks George brought back from Cabela’s with food from our supply room. If we have to leave the hospital we should have enough supplies to hold us for a week until we can get situated somewhere else,” John smiled. “Better to be prepared, just in case.”
Diane smiled and gave her dad a hug, “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you.”
John hugged Diane back then held her out at arm’s length.
“Enough about what’s on my mind. Did you make any more progress finding out why our two young guests are immune to zombies?”
“Well the first thing I’ve determined is that I don’t believe the kids are actually immune,” Diane replied.
John looked at her curiously.
“I feel they don’t become infected because the virus in the infected zombie blood isn’t attacking their healthy blood cells. Without power and with what equipment I have to work with, I can’t do the kind of analysis I need to positively confirm my theory. But with what I have done, it certainly points to that scenario,” Diane replied.
“Layman’s terms,” John smiled.
Diane smiled back, “The infected cells or virus is programmed to attack living tissue. The virus isn’t attacking the kid’s cells. I believe the virus doesn’t identify the kid’s blood cells as being normal living tissue.”
John scratched his head, “You mean the virus thinks the kids are zombies already?”
“Sort of,” Diane replied.
“I guess that makes sense in a way,” John grinned. “We’ve never seen a zombie attack another zombie. In fact, zombies look like they try to avoid contact with other zombies. But didn’t the zombies attack and bite those two kids?”
“They did,” Diane answered. “Zombies see the kids as living things, but the virus that the zombies carry apparently doesn’t identify their blood as living tissue.”
