Plague Nation Read Online Free PDF Page B

turned to Simone Fraser. Back when I was just a student at Redwood Grove College—“Big Red” for short—she was my teacher for “Pandemics in History.” I’d come to learn she was a long-time member of the Dolofónoitou Zontanóús Nekroús —which for some reason she liked to say without abbreviating it. I considered her my mentor.
    “Seriously, Simone, why is he here?”
    Simone looked up from her dinner and sighed.
    “He needs to eat, Ashley.” She was clearly not in the mood for confrontation.
    Well, tough shit.
    “Seems to me he could eat in a locked room somewhere.” I slammed my tray of food on the table hard enough to bounce a few French fries off my plate.
    My fellow wild cards muttered in agreement, all of us having nearly died, and then risked our lives more than once, all because of what Dr. Albert’s greed had unleashed.
    I took an unnecessarily vicious bite of my hamburger, channeling Nomi from Showgirls . Sure, Dr. Albert had been my doctor since, like, forever, but somehow that made me even angrier. It was like finding out that it had been Dr. Mengele who’d done all those pap smears.
    “I don’t see how he can eat,” Tony growled, tongue-stud clicking against the bottom of his teeth in agitation.
    “I have to agree,” Mack chimed in. “I mean, if it was me, and I’d found out that I’d engineered Armageddon, I think I’d have a little trouble keeping my dinner down. Not to mention what this could do to future vaccination and immunization programs. Those are too important to lose, all because one man screwed up.” Strong words, coming from Mack—he was usually the one who tried to keep the peace.
    “Good point,” I said, “although it may be moot if zombies take over the world.”
    Gentry gave an almost imperceptible nod, keeping quiet. One of the soldiers sent into the quarantined area around Redwood Grove at the beginning of the outbreak, I guess he was used to having to keep his mouth shut in bullshit situations. I, on the other hand, felt no such constraints.
    “Exactly,” I said. “Not to mention the fact that what he did has to be illegal. So why hasn’t he been locked up?”
    Dr. Albert clucked indignantly.
    “Ashley, after all the years I’ve been your doctor, I can’t believe you’re saying this,” he said.
    Simone cut in before I could blast him.
    “Dr. Albert hasn’t been locked up because, regardless of the ethics inherent to his previous decision, he still may be the only person alive who is capable of finding a cure.”
    This matter-of-fact answer took the steam out of my self-righteous anger.
    “Oh.” I tried to think of something else to say. Nope, that’s all I’ve got.
    “Oh, indeed.” Simone nodded, brushed a stray strand of honey blonde hair out of her face, and rubbed the back of her neck as if it hurt.
    If not for the fact that the dead were already walking the earth, I would have taken this as a sign of the coming apocalypse. Simone never had stray strands of hair. Calm, composed, and well groomed, she always looked as if she’d strayed from some forties movie where the women all wore trumpet skirts and silk blouses, and styled their hair in chignons. She could have been anywhere between forty and fifty, and if I’d been casting her life story, it would’ve been a toss-up between Cate Blanchett and Helen Mirren.
    To see her fraying around the edge—both emotionally and physically—reminded me that we were in some seriously deep shit.
    With that sobering thought, I turned my attention back to my hamburger. Glancing around, I wondered briefly where Kai was. Probably still cleaning up. When it came to grooming, Kai was like a cat—minus the inappropriate spot cleaning.
    As if on cue, Mr. Perfect sauntered in, hair still damp from his shower, looking as pleased with himself as the Old Spice Guy. He filled a tray in record time and plonked himself in between Tony and Mack, barely letting his ass hit the seat before attacking his