White Trash Zombie Unchained (White Trash Zombie 6)

“Angel.” Dr. Nikas’s gentle voice, rough with tension. Kyle must have filled him in on everything, including Armell’s awful reaction to pure brains and the death of patient nine. “Are you all right?”

Not “tell me what I need to know.” Or “do this do that.” I let out a shuddering breath. “Yeah. I was the one who gave that patient the gel stuff with the test cure, but I know it wasn’t my fault he died.” I had plenty of other shit to feel guilty about. No sense taking on guilt that didn’t belong to me.

“Precisely.” He sounded relieved that he didn’t have to talk me off the ledge. Again. “You may have delivered the means, but his blood isn’t on your hands. Kyle said Kristi planned to test seven patients with three of one cure trial, three of another, and one of pure brains. Your quick thinking and bold intervention to stop the trials likely prevented more deaths.”

“Thanks, doc. But it doesn’t change that she used me, and an innocent man died.” I shot a furious glare across the gym at Kristi. “I really want to wring her neck. Now would be a really sweet time.”

“I know.” He sighed softly. “I can’t make this right. Nothing can bring that man back. I can only ask that you give me a chance to deal with Kristi myself tomorrow, after analysis is complete on the samples Kyle took from the open packets. And, after I have the full story from you, along with whatever information I can get from her. She has little trust for us, with good reason, but I need to hear her rationale for conducting these cure trials without consulting me. We need her, but I can’t abide games—especially those that kill. Will you give me that time?”

Anger and heartache still roiled within me, but I couldn’t deny Dr. Nikas. “Of course,” I said. “I won’t do anything stupid. Not on purpose, at least.” I grimaced as a thought occurred to me. “How will Pierce take this? Kristi’s supposed to be open and honest with you. Will he try to default back to the zombify-and-enslave plan for her?”

“Quite possibly, but I will handle him.” His voice sounded infinitely weary, I suspected from centuries of being Sulemain-Clarence-Francis-Pietro-Pierce’s rock and solace. “I told Kyle to return her briefcase and to not allow any more feeding. You did right in taking it, but I cannot have a meaningful conversation with her if we keep it from her.”

“All right,” I said and tried not to grumble. “I don’t like it, but I understand. And I trust you.” Besides, she could mix up another batch of the cures-that-kill if she wanted to, so there was no point taking the packets from her. “I’ll be at the Tribe lab later this evening.”

“Good. I will see you then. Take care, Angel. And thank you.”

By the time I returned to the cot area, Kyle and Kristi had finished taking samples. While Kristi thanked Dr. Bauer, I said a last goodbye to Armell, and then we departed without fanfare.

As soon as we were in the limo, Kristi raised the Plexiglas partition between us and the front then gazed out the window, forehead creased in thought.

I managed to tolerate the silence for all of thirty seconds. “What exactly happened back there? A man died.”

“I’m quite aware,” she replied tightly. “I don’t need some backwater hick to enlighten me.”

“How about having a civil conversation? That’s really tough for me at the moment, but I’ll give it a shot for the good of the team.”

She remained silent for at least a full minute before finally speaking. “All right. It seems consumption of pure brains may trigger a short period of calm followed by extreme violence, aggressiveness, and strength in LZ-1 patients. Whereas brains processed with protein gel do not. I can’t draw a definitive conclusion based on a single case. The one cure trial I was able to complete on patient nine yielded some data, the extent of which will be determined after analysis of his blood and tissue samples.”

“Yielded some data?” I sputtered. “You killed a man!”

“He wasn’t supposed to die. That was an unfortunate outcome.”

“Jesus.” I tossed my hands up. “What the hell happened to make you such an unfeeling bitch? Did mommy not hug you enough?”

Kristi’s eyes snapped to me. “Oh, do you want a sob story? Maybe some tragic tale of neglect and abuse?” Her lip curled. “Well, you won’t get it. I had a perfectly ordinary middle-class upbringing in middle America with two middle-aged parents who wanted me to be happy—in their own middling way. Sent me to college where I graduated in four years, summa cum laude, with degrees in biology and chemistry. I told my parents I wanted to be a doctor, a researcher. Their reply? ‘That’s too much for you to take on. Go to nursing school first.’” She snorted. “Would they have said that if I’d been their son?”

“Doubtful,” I agreed. Kristi had a couple of decades on me, and breaking out of gendered roles was even harder back then.

“You have no idea what it’s like to not be taken seriously, to command the most expertise and have your opinions and ideas casually dismissed, only to watch a male coworker put forth the same ideas and be lauded for it.” Her hands clenched. “To be passed over for advancement and opportunities because you’re not friendly enough, or you don’t smile enough. To be forced to toady to morons in charge of funding and project approval.”

Pure venom filled her eyes when I laughed.

“Trust me,” I said. “I know what it’s like not to be taken seriously. People assume that because I’m not as educated, I must be stupid.” I sneered in derision. “You do it to me all the time. Hell, you’re the worst! According to you, I’m just a backwater hick who’ll only get in the way while the smart people work.” My chin went up. “I grew up with nothing, and yeah, I dropped out of high school—after my abusive mother committed suicide in prison. My god, I’m such a loser, right? At least I’m trying to get educated.”

“You might have a point,” she said grudgingly.

Why did that feel like such a damn victory? “Dr. Nikas takes you seriously.”

She nodded once. “Yes, he does. He’s a decent man who’s far too hard on himself.”

“That’s something we can agree on,” I said, somewhat off balance by our sudden if tenuous rapport. “Why didn’t you tell him you were going to test possible cures?”

She touched her forehead, as if sensing a headache coming on. “It was a last-minute decision. He’d already left for his lab, so exhausted I hated to bother him, especially for what I truly believed would be trivial tests.”

I didn’t buy into her compassion, even though she came across as sincere. “Here’s an idea,” I said. “Bother him about anything and everything. He’s super dedicated and would rather hear all the details. Work with him, not at odds with him.”

“I do enjoy working with him.” Her lips pressed thin. “When it’s of my own volition, that is.” She leaned toward me. “You know what’s worse than not being taken seriously? Being taken. Forced to work, first for your precious Tribe, then for Saberton after they ‘rescued’ me from Pietro and took me straight to their Dallas lab, whether I wanted to go or not.”