Pestilence: The Infection Begins by Craig A. McDonough Read Free Book Online

seeks out the iron in the red blood cells, consumes it, and then multiplies in the process. The reason for the attraction to the iron has yet to be determined but—”
    “You’re working on it!” Moya wasn’t concerned with why or with Waddell himself and cut him off. What did concern him, however—and he knew it would be the same for Thorncroft—was that if this news got out, the vaccine and the program would be canceled and a fortune would be lost.
    Moya paced the room as he pondered how he could cover this and make it out to be an isolated event—just enough so that the program would be completed across the country. There would be a chance to refine the vaccine for next year and…
    “Buy some time, buy some time…” He paced his room, then came to a sudden halt by the window. “A smoke screen, damn it that’s it!”
    He picked up his cell phone and called Calgleef.
    “Do you have an emergency response team for hazardous material spills in Des Moines?” he said before Calgleef answered.
    “Well not in Des Moines specifically but—”
    “What do you mean?” for Moya’s plan to work, immediate action had to be taken.
    “Well, a team can be arranged in an extreme—” Calgleef sensed the urgency in Moya.
    “Do it!” Moya ordered, then explained how best to handle the situation at Riverside Hospital.

Five
    “ D octor , Doctor!” a nurse stepped from one of the consultation rooms, her voice distressed.
    Isaac Tilford had just entered the waiting room on his way back from the canteen when he heard her cries. Expecting to be told she felt the flu coming on, Tilford pulled his surgical mask back over his face and sidestepped a couch, a wastebasket and a few patients in his effort to reach her.
    “Yes, Nurse, are you all right?”
    “It’s not me, inside quick.” She pointed inside the consultation room.
    “What the…?” He choked back his words when he saw a female patient, about his age, hunched over on the examination bed, her head down. He also couldn’t help but notice, with more than a passing interest, she was completely naked save for her tiny panties. He may have been a doctor of only one year’s experience, but he’d been a man for much longer.
    Though her head hung low and her arms were limp at her side, Dr. Tilford nonetheless could see she was quite an attractive woman in her mid-twenties. Her dark brown hair was pulled back from her face, and braided behind. He was unable to see that, but he could certainly see her petite shoulders, smooth clear skin and small but enticing breasts. Tilford hadn’t been exposed to many naked women and definitely not one as nubile as this young lady.
    “Her eyes, Doctor, her eyes!” the nurse informed him but stayed well back.
    “Yes, let’s have a look, shall we?” He took a step toward the patient. “Nurse, do we have a coat for her?” He knew that to act like a doctor should, he would have to keep his eyes off her tits.
    He put the stethoscope to his ears and took a step toward the patient who lifted her head sharply and snarled. Her eyes were red—blood red. Her entire eye, the pupil, iris and the sclera were full of blood, a single bloody “tear” dripping from her right eye. She bared her teeth and lunged at Tilford, who jumped back awkwardly. He had quickly lost interest in her bare breasts.
    “Back, stay back, Nurse!” Tilford flung his arms outward.
    The blood-eyed woman with enticing breasts jumped from the examination bed and thrust her arms at Dr. Tilford. She was more a wild beast than a suffering patient. The ferocity displayed convinced Tilford he didn’t want to tangle with her, no matter how enticing her tits were. He had no idea why her eyes would be filled with blood—it didn’t seem to affect her vision at all—but the word contagion came to mind, especially after what Dr. Delaney had told him.
    This particular consultation room had an adjacent “secure” observation room for troublesome patients like violent