The Hungry Dead by John Russo Read Free Book Online Page B

. . the excitement might be more than you could take. But you’ll never know, will you?”
    â€œGet out of here, you bitch!” Meg screamed at her.
    â€œI was leaving now anyway,” Tiffany said haughtily. “Later tonight, after dinner, I’ll help my father determine your fate. You should have been nicer to me, but you weren’t. But when push comes to shove, I’m a fair and objective person, the way my father taught me to be all my life. So I’ll try not to let your poor manners influence my opinion about what should happen to you. Now good evening, you all.”

C HAPTER 10
    Dr. Melrose tapped on Victoria’s bedroom door. She said, “Go away,” and he heard her sobbing even though her sobs were muffled by the closed door.
    â€œMay I come in?” he persisted.
    â€œI don’t want to see anyone.”
    â€œNot even your father?”
    â€œGo away, Daddy, please! I’m too ugly to look at.”
    But he opened the door, peered into the semidarkness, and flipped on the light.
    Instantly Victoria screamed and covered her eyes—but in the sudden bathing of light he had already seen her hideous face, all broken out in big, oozing purple blisters. And her legs and arms were horribly blistered too. It was hard for him to remind himself that without the disfiguration she was as beautiful as her sister Tiffany. He believed and hoped that the disfiguration would soon go away, and he had come to reassure her and comfort her with his scientific wisdom.
    â€œTurn out the freaking light!” she yelled at him.
    Shakily doing her bidding, he hit the switch and the room was in semidarkness again. Softly he said, “Sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to—”
    But Victoria snapped at him bitterly, “It’s your fault I’m like this! Your fault! ”
    He actually did feel guilty about it, but he said, “The blisters will go away soon. Then you’ll be like your sister. She had those kinds of blisters too. But she loves the way she is now. She wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
    â€œThat’s easy for her to say! She’s so beautiful!”
    â€œSo are you, sweetheart,” the doctor said, leaning over her. “You have porphyria, and it makes your skin very sensitive to the light. It came on when you hit puberty, just like it did with Tiffany, but she got over it quickly, and so will you.”
    â€œIt’s because you got bitten! ”
    â€œYes, that’s so, but it wasn’t my fault. It happened because I was doing the kind of work no one else would do. Other scientists were so scared that they abdicated their sacred duty. I paid the price. I thought I cured myself, but a special gene was passed on to you and your sister. It made both of you special. That’s the way you must think of it, Vicky. You’re very special and very beautiful, and I love you both very much.”

C HAPTER 11
    When he hadn’t had any sort of communication from Jeff Sanders for almost a week, Sheriff Paul Harkness decided he had to make some kind of move. Jeff was supposed to keep in touch by means of a cell phone that he kept hidden in the lining of his backpack. He had actually made several furtive calls, and the sheriff took heart that things seemed to be going as well as could be expected.
    On his first surreptitious call, Jeff informed Harkness that he had indeed gotten hired at the Melrose Medical Research Center, but was not yet in a position to learn anything much. Whatever was actually going on was hush-hush, and he wasn’t even allowed into certain buildings to clean up. He was employed at minimum wage as a janitor and handyman, but his work was confined to certain areas and everyplace else was off-limits to him. It was made excruciatingly clear to him that if he got caught where he didn’t belong, he’d be fired, or maybe worse.
    Then, in a second call, Jeff told the sheriff that he suspected Spaz