Death After Life: A Zombie Apocalypse Thriller by John Evans Read Free Book Online

Figure it’s the best on-the-job training we can give ‘em.”
    The veterans groaned. Winter rolled his eyes. “What, no pay cut, too?”
    Quarles finished his whiskey in a gulp. “All right, you two. Clear out. You can paint the town red if you want, but Angie would be thrilled if I got home before midnight once this week.”

    #

    Winter opened his locker and peeled off his uniform shirt. Stowed the gunbelt and high-ankled boots. The boots had to be high because in their line of work, tromping through sewage-poisoned water was not unheard of. Also, crippled feeders were more than happy to take a chunk out of your ankle, if they could get to it.
    Winter snuck his usual peek at Nic, also changing. She was about five inches shorter, so about 5’7. Winter was twice her size but every muscle of Waters’ slim build was maintained at a high level of fitness. The feminine aspects of that toned build were ill concealed by her rather skimpy pink underwear. All too soon, she slid into a pair of jeans.
    Winter turned his eyes away. He couldn’t believe they were being split up. This was officially the shittiest day in a long succession of shitty days.
    He still couldn’t believe he was losing her.
    Nic slipped on a black turtleneck and grabbed her bag to leave.  
    Winter went for it. “Hey. I’m starving. Come over for dinner?”
    Nic looked surprised, but thought it over with due consideration. At last, she nodded. A warm smile.  
    “Sure. But no Burmese. Last time it gave me the runs.”

    #

    The coffee was cold and sludgy but its caffeine still viable. Dr. Lena Gladden sipped with a grimace. She needed some to make it home without falling asleep. Just another sixteen-hour day at the Evaluation Center.
    Farther along the table, Leon Spivey, a burly physician assistant, sat with his head down. He snored loudly.
    Passing by Voskuil glanced into the break room, spotted Lena, and entered. She viewed him warily; Voskuil had been something of a big brother to her in the six months she’d been here, but the man possessed a towering ego. You’d think he was a surgeon, she thought. But, like Lena, Voskuil was an emergency physician pressed to service in an Evaluation Center. Where care was not the priority. Only a coldly rational diagnosis was valued here.
    “Gladden, you’re looking radiant this evening,” Voskuil said as he grabbed a stale donut and sat down beside her. The sarcasm in his voice was hardly necessary.
    She managed a companionable smile. “What’s up, James?”  
    “I thought we’d have a little chat,” Voskuil said, putting his feet up on the table and resting his head against the wall. “Don’t worry, we won’t bother Leon. Our brother would sleep through a small explosion in here.”
    “We gonna have one?”
    Lena knew something was up, and wanted to cut to the chase. Voskuil looked cannily at her. Nodded.
    “Here’s the deal, short and sweet. I saw you give that old bag a clean bill of health. Come on, Gladden. You know they’ll review our assignments. She was a blatant red card!”
    “Could be weeks before they get to today’s cases,” Lena said, somewhat relieved to know what this was all about. “If they ever do.”
    Voskuil’s gaze was smug, almost contemptuous. “You’re headed for trouble, girlfriend. Three safety warnings on your patient log already. One more and you'll be up for administrative review. Could even face criminal charges...”
    “You know as well as I do that long-term quarantine is a death sentence. And that junkie who got shot today knew well enough, too.”
    Voskuil shrugged, appraising her shrewdly. “You owe me one, Lena. Management takes this shit pretty fucking seriously. As you well know. So let’s assume for the sake of argument they catch you. You get disciplinary action, the center gets an audit. Nobody wants a bunch of investigators sniffing around here.”
    Lena wasn’t sure, but she thought Voskuil was running some kind of black-market operation.