White Trash Zombie Unchained by Diana Rowland

Author:Diana Rowland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2017-09-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Unfortunately, ASAP would have to be after the autopsies of the two shambler victims. When I arrived at the morgue, the bodies were waiting—along with Dr. Leblanc and two doctors I’d never seen before.

“Angel,” Dr. Leblanc said. “This is Dr. Yolanda Lafferty and Dr. Bernie Reid from the CDC.”

I did the polite nice-to-meet-you thing then excused myself and ran to the bathroom. With the door locked, I Googled both names. Not that I was completely devoid of trust, but I was completely devoid of trust.

I breathed a sigh of relief as both appeared to be exactly who they said they were. I didn’t know whether having the CDC here was good or bad for the Tribe, but their not being obviously Saberton was a definite plus.

After sending a quick <CDC is here!> text to Dr. Nikas, I scurried to the cutting room to prep the bodies.

I unzipped the first bag to reveal the face of a teenaged boy—Nigel Copper. Sandy blond hair lay dank against his skull, and his forehead bore a scattering of acne. Heartsick, I opened the second bag—Tristan Copper—and found a young man with similar features but clearly a few years older. Dark stubble covered his jaw, and a gorgeous tattoo of a wolf’s head was a spot of color on the pale skin of his upper arm.

My stomach churned. These were the brothers Allen had told me about. Only twenty and seventeen. How could they be dead less than twenty-four hours after being infected?

After a moment to recover my composure, I got the older brother onto the cutting table and made sure all the tools were at hand and ready. Dr. Leblanc came in with Dr. Lafferty and Dr. Reid, and the autopsy began.

Other than some medical lingo, neither of the CDC docs were big conversationalists, which was fine with me. I did my morgue tech duties with quiet efficiency—being careful not to drop any brains this time—and kept my eyes and ears open for anything odd or interesting.

As the autopsy proceeded, I picked up the gist of what happened. The older brother had showed symptoms yesterday and bit the younger. The parents didn’t know what was going on and took them to an urgent care clinic where both brothers received steroid shots. In the process, both parents were bitten. By the time all were transported to the hospital, the brothers were comatose, and the parents were symptomatic. Antibiotics, an antiviral, and an epinephrine drip were administered during the hospital stay, the same as for other patients showing shambler-symptoms. But by morning, the two young men were dead.

“Mosquito bite,” Dr. Lafferty said, pointing to a tiny bump on the side of the older brother’s upper arm. She exchanged a significant look with Dr. Reid.

“This is Louisiana,” I pointed out. “Mosquito bites aren’t exactly rare.” I kept my tone light, but inner me huddled in the fetal position. If this shit could be transmitted via mosquito, we were fucked.

Dr. Lafferty’s mouth pursed. “Mosquitoes are vectors for a good number of diseases, including several varieties of encephalitis.

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