White Trash Zombie Unchained (White Trash Zombie 6)
Page 85
Dr. Ingram collected himself and tugged his lab coat straight. “I, uh, yes. Thank you, Miss Crawford. We’ve started putting protection masks on the LZ-1 patients but, as you can see, Mr. Lejeune becomes very, ah, aggressive whenever anyone approaches. We feared he might aggravate his injury or succeed in biting someone during an attempt to put a mask on him.” He smoothed his hair down with trembling fingers. “There’s not much to be done about his hunger at this point, but he’s receiving adequate nutrition via IV for the time being.”
Lejeune’s breath hissed through his teeth. “Hunnnnnnngrrryyyyyy.”
I had an ugly feeling it wasn’t cafeteria food he was craving—unless they’d recently put brains on the menu.
Chapter 26
If Kristi could have skipped in her Manolo Blahnik alligator shoes, she would have. As it was, she came perilously close to prancing as we returned to the car.
“My god,” she breathed. “Think of the possibilities.” She gave Billy a nod and smile as he opened the car door for her.
I exchanged a look with Kyle then got in on the other side while he took front seat again. Lucky bastard.
“Tucker Point High School, Billy,” Kristi said.
“You want to see the other shamblers,” I said.
“Sharp as ever, Angel.” She patted her briefcase. “I need samples, but it’s also necessary for me to see a number of LZ-1 patients in person for direct assessment. Samples alone simply aren’t enough. Not to mention, I want to test how this mutated parasite of yours—”
“Eugene.”
“Excuse me?” She frowned at the interruption.
I gave her a bland look. “The mutated parasite is called Eugene.”
Kristi held up her hand. “No. You and Ari can continue using that silly name, but I will not. LZ-1 serves perfectly well as a designation for both the condition and the mutated parasite that causes it.”
“Fine,” I muttered. “Why LZ-1?”
“It was the CDC’s Dr. Lafferty who came up with it. Officially, it’s LZ-1, an ordinary file designation. But to her, it’s Louisiana Zombie.” Kristi tittered, the sound grating on every single nerve in my body. “Of course, Lafferty thinks it’s a little inside joke between us to reflect the mindless nature of the victims. Oh, if she only knew how close to the truth she was.”
“Yeah. Hilarious.” Kristi’s reaction made me want to punch her right in that perky nose, but even I could admit calling it Louisiana Zombie-1 was kind of appropriate. “So what did you want to test?”
“How the mutated parasite—LZ-1—reacts to brains. Dr. Nikas and I agree that brains are the most likely and logical stabilizer for the shamblers, but without a trial, it’s only a hypothesis. I don’t expect to find a difference in response between shamblers and normal zombies, but that confirmation in itself would be valuable information. I have with me packets of ProSwoleGel—a perfectly reasonable protein supplement to administer, though I’ve altered some to fifty percent brains. No one will be the wiser.”
“Kyle tried to feed brains to Connor, but he wouldn’t take them. We would’ve tried again—”
“But the poor fellow died before you could.” Kristi heaved an oh-so-sad sigh. “Terrible shame.”
My shoulders tensed. “Dying kind of happens when you’re murdered.”
“It was indeed a far too drastic measure.” She tsked. “Saberton.”
I sneered. “Yeah, you would never kill anyone for your own purposes.”
“Come now, Angel. Let’s not dredge up old grievances when everyone is cooperating so nicely. You don’t want to cause more problems, now do you?” Her smile turned vicious. “Wasn’t unleashing LZ-1 on the world enough for you?”
Kyle cast a dark look at her over his shoulder.
Fuck this bitch.
“Now you listen to me, Dr. Kristi Fuckface. I’ve been playing nice right along with the rest of the Tribe. And I’ll continue to do so as long as a treatment or cure is in the works.” I bared my teeth at her. “But it’s a fucking two-way street. Bitchdoctor snarkiness doesn’t fall under the play-nice umbrella. I’m not here for your amusement. I’m here for August Lejeune and all the victims in the hospital and the gym.” I leaned in. “If it weren’t for them, I’d crush your skull and eat your brain right here and now and worry about the indigestion later.”
It was Billy’s turn to glance back, though his look was more horrified than dark.
“My, aren’t we testy today,” Kristi said coolly, though the fury in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
I gave her my best dazzling smile. “And proud of it.”