Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead) Read Online Free PDF Page A

spend time with. How could I have been so shallow?” His voice was intense with self-loathing.
     
    “It's just human nature, Jayden. Most teenagers don't find their parents cool. I'm sure they knew you loved them.” It didn't sound very comforting, and this time I was the one to shake my head. I thought carefully, desperately trying to find the right words. 
     
    He watched me, waiting for me to continue. “Honestly Jayden, I don't know what to tell you. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but I would imagine it's an awful feeling. All I can say is how sorry I am, and I'm willing to be your friend if you need one.”
     
    “Thanks,” he replied slowly. “I appreciate it.”
     
    We grew silent again. The newsman was sitting down in an empty chair next to an older woman. She looked exhausted by the events of the night, but she was still kind enough to give him the details. It was basically a recap of what we'd heard from the others before her. I wondered how many people were still alive to watch her story.
     
    Even the chatty and talkative reporter seemed to be worn out. It was a little strange to me that someone else hadn't taken over for the tired man, at least to give him a break. Surely he wasn't our only link to the outside world. It was a scary thought. 
     
    Picking up the remote, I changed the channels. All of them said unavailable. I felt the area between my eyebrows crease into a deep frown at the discovery. My mother always said I would have a permanent frown line by the time I was twenty if I didn't stop doing that. Make that nineteen now that the zombies were here.
     
    With a sigh, I returned to the station we'd been watching. My options were extremely limited. I could either watch this or sleep. As tired as I was, I didn't feel like I could fall asleep again.
     
    “How would you explain the events of the last twenty-four hours?” The newsman had found someone else to interview. It was to bad he didn't bring the woman from earlier back on. Out of everyone, I'd found her the most informative.
     
    “I'll explain it, alright,” the man replied, his lips twisting in disgust. “The government is behind it.”
     
    “What makes you say that?” The reporter sounded bored, but at least he was being courteous. Then again, it was more than likely just tiredness. A person could only talk for so long.
     
    The gray-haired man shot him a look of irritation. “You are the news, idiot. Don't you ever watch them? The government has always got their fingers stuck in someone else's jar of honey. I have no doubt they are behind this. They've always done exactly what they wanted without informing the public. Why change now?”
     
    The reporting gave him a placating smile. “Could you give us examples?”
     
    “Fine,” he responded, his voice extremely grumpy. “How about these? Area 51, Project MKUltra, and Project MKSearch. Do I really need to go on?” He looked at the reporter incredulously.
 
    The reporter gave him a droll look. “What would those have to do with the zombie phenomenon?”
     
    The older man leaned back in the seat, crossing his legs. “Everything. Obviously it was an experiment gone wrong. You don't think people just happened to wake up this morning and magically transformed into those supernatural killing machines do you? Dead people don't just walk around, much less try to eat other humans.”
     
    He turned toward the camera. I almost laughed at the self-righteous expression on his weathered face. He was on his soapbox now, and loving every moment of it. “I believe that it was yet another secret test done by the government in an attempt to create super soldiers. Somewhere down the line, it went wrong. Maybe they got to strong to be contained. Now, it's gotten out of hand, and there isn't anyone that can clean it up.”
     
    The reporter's expression changed. A flicker of unease crossed his tanned features, before he quickly covered it up. “With a military