Patient Z Read Online Free PDF Page A

do the same, but he bet she could see the same exasperation in his face. It was good they had a council. They had to have something, but some people seemed to rather revel in the process.
    “First on the agenda,” Kathy said. “Phyllis to give a report on his health. Doctor, you have the floor.”
    Phyllis cleared her throat and raised her tired and cracked voice as best she could. “When I first examined Mr. Richardson, I found him to be suffering from dehydration and exposure, consistent with having been adrift in the boat for several days with no food and water. I discovered a bite on his leg and administered my prototype vaccine to him.”
    “Is it definitely a zombie bite?” Ella asked.
    “Unknown.” Phyllis shook her head. “He insists it was a dog. So far I have nothing to contradict that. So far there is no sign of the zombie infection. I’ve taken daily blood samples, and none of them show evidence of the parasites.”
    “And he has no other symptoms?” Dolores asked.
    “Nothing. Even if he’d been bitten right before we found him, he would be showing symptoms by now. And I believe the bite was several days old by the time I saw it. Nobody has been known to go this long without displaying symptoms.”
    “So he’s uninfected.” Dolores leaned forward, eyes bright and interested, looking quite delighted. Mitch wondered if he would drop the fag bomb on her tonight or later. Later. Anyway, it wasn’t his business to out Cal. That was Cal's choice.
    “I can’t say yes, one hundred percent,” Phyllis said, hedging, as doctors were wont to do. “But I’m ninety percent sure.”
    “Was it your vaccine?” That came from Naomi, calling from the edge of the room. Naomi wasn’t on the council, but she’d only missed a place by a couple of votes. It still smarted.
    Kathy banged her gavel. “The chair does not recognize questions from outside the council at this time.” Naomi snorted and leaned back in her seat. Ella raised a hand and got a nod from Kathy.
    “So was it the vaccine?” she asked. Naomi smirked.
    “I can’t say,” Phyllis said. “He might never have been infected in the first place. Maybe it really was a dog bite.”
    “I’m sure it must have been,” Dolores said. “If he’s sticking to this story after all this time.”
    Yeah, because people never stick to the insistence they are innocent, even after thirty years in jail.
    “The issue of whether or not he’s lying isn’t relevant,” Bren said, as usual cutting through the bull. “What’s relevant is what happens if he’s not infected.”
    “Which brings us to the next item on the agenda,” Kathy said. “The motion by Dolores that if Mr. Richardson is uninfected, we should offer him the chance to stay here on a trial basis. Ella will be opposing the motion. Dolores, you have the floor.”
    She stood, taking off the reading glasses she wore on a chain. Dolores liked men, Mitch had figured out quickly. Not in the sense he thought she wanted to jump Cal—she was at least twenty years older than him. But she was one of those women who preferred men to other women and viewed said men as rather boisterous pets, their sins and crimes considered easily forgiven peccadilloes and the fault of the victim. She was the nightmare jury member for the prosecutor in a rape trial, and the dream of the defense counsel.
    He shook himself from the thoughts and listened to her talking about how the group needed men, that it needed a mix. That men were needed to take on jobs unsuitable for women. He thought Bren might explode at that one, so he trod on her foot and gave her a quelling look.
    Dolores finished her argument, to a ripple of applause from her supporters among the observers. Ella got her turn, and the difference was instantly apparent. She treated the council like a jury. But they didn’t like it much. Her argument was good, but the council withdrew from the way she put it across. Mitch guessed they felt they were being