The Dead War Series (Book 1): Good Intentions Read Online Free PDF Page A

he walked toward the bathroom.
    Sarah was far too exhausted to pry any further. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she was fast asleep before Vincent got into the shower.  He climbed out and dressed quickly; then scooped up his keys, wallet and ID badge before leaving. It took him a little longer than usual to make it to SciTech labs with the morning rush hour. Because his average work day started at 7:00 AM, he normally beat the traffic.  He parked in his designated spot, checked in with security then made his way to the sixth floor where his lab was located. After donning his decontamination suit and going through the process, he entered the highly restricted area.
    “Okay, what was so important that you had to drag me out of my bed at 8:00 AM?” Vincent was cheerful in spite of his headache.
    “Good morning to you, too, sunshine,” Philip replied. “And what do you mean, 'drag you out of your bed'? You should have been here over two hours ago.”
    Vincent gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah, I know, but you see I was stuck behind this guy driving a Mustang slower than my grandma walks—and she uses a cane.”
    Philip chuckled. “Is that so?”
    Vincent nodded. “Yeah, I hate when I see a slow driver behind the wheel of a fast car. Imagine how the car feels being shackled to someone who doesn't fully appreciate its value. It hurts my heart.” He placed a hand over his chest for emphasis.
    “Uh huh, is that the only reason you were this late, Mr. Philanthropist?”
    “Well, I may have partied a little harder than I thought last night.” Vincent held up two fingers an inch apart to indicate the amount.
                  Philip nodded. “Ah, yes... that'll do it.” He chuckled. “Listen, the sweet talk was nice, but now it's time to get down to business.”
    “That's why I'm here. What's up?” Vincent asked, approaching him.
    “I went back to the drawing board and took a look at the RTX-52 compound. I added three ounces of the RTS-14 to a five-ounce mixture of the RTX-52. And then I added two milliliters of VH-0 to the solution. But the real gem came when I added four milliliters of an AB positive blood sample from an anonymous donor and that seemed to neutralize those troublesome G-cells we saw in the VH-0 and its derivatives.” Philip gave Vincent a toothy grin. He was quite proud of himself for having made the breakthrough they'd all been searching for.
    “How did you figure it out?” Vincent asked relieved that he finally had something he could present to the board and the military next week.
    “Well, I can’t take all of the credit, I wish I could, but Dr. Henrick’s theory about the VH-0 played a huge part in the discovery,” Philips said, standing there with his chest stuck out and full of pride.
    “Wow, this is wonderful news. I can't believe you figured it—wait a minute—what do you mean an anonymous donor? What are you talking about?” Vincent asked. What Philip said about the blood sample finally registered.
    Philip held up his hands, pleadingly. “It was a theory I'd been working on silently. I didn't want to bring it to you or Dr. Henrick until it panned out. Like I said, I'd been thinking about the VH-0 and how its properties resemble human blood, but it's also like a blood borne pathogen. As far as the human donor is concerned, I didn't necessarily go through the proper channels to get the sample.”
    Vincent's arched an eyebrow. “You stole it?”
    “Not exactly. I have a friend that works at the local free clinic. People go in there all the time and donate blood. I just asked her for a small sample from someone who may be under the influence of drugs. Well, to be more exact, I asked her for several samples of blood that seemed to be healthy, but with some form of narcotic present. She was able to narrow it down to a few donors.  At home, I ran my tests until finally one was successful and neutralized the compound. I don't know why that particular blood sample worked