The Last Town (Book 2): Preparing For The Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

was writhing on the ground, his hand still pressed against the wound in his neck. Ernesta approached him with a wad of gauze in one hand. Aguilar just stood where he was, watching the man bleed all over the carpet, a look of shock etched into his face. Old Man Whittaker’s wife was shrieking, her hands clamped across her mouth. None of this was lost on Hailey, but one thing stood foremost in his mind.
    Single Tree had just been subjected to its first zombie.
    And, if the news reports were correct, the assistant pharmacist was on his way to becoming the second.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

    “Y ou know, for a division that’s supposedly not caught up in the whole zombie apocalypse thing, Hollywood is pretty messed up,” Captain Narvaez observed as he and Reese returned from conducting a perimeter check around Cedar-Sinai Hospital. As the day had worn on, Reese noticed that Narvaez and his Guardsmen were losing their casual, business-as-usual air. Everyone was staying eyes out, with weapons always at hand, locked and loaded. There had been some discussion about that. At first, Reese and his superiors hadn’t wanted the National Guard unit to deploy with their weapons. They were afraid that might make the wrong impression, especially since all the local television stations had crews onsite, not to mention the large assembly of bloggers and podcasters—“free-range journalists,” the cops called them. Cameras were everywhere, and the official response to the zombie outbreak was all on the record. Everything was being recorded.
    The first thing the Guardsmen had to do was fortify the entrance to the emergency area. Too many vehicles and unaffected pedestrians were getting inside, prohibiting emergency crews and paramedics from doing what they needed to do. It didn’t help that there were dozens—maybe even hundreds—of medical cases that required attention. With resources strained to the breaking point, the local police presence wasn’t enough to compel the crowds to remain orderly. The Guard’s arrival and immediate insertion into the situation helped stabilize things almost immediately. While people were willing to challenge the LAPD, challenging armed soldiers was a different story. That wasn’t to say peace descended upon the hospital, but order made a guest appearance. At least for a time.
    But the wounded and sick kept coming. Reese heard that those patients who had bite wounds, whether from humans or animals, were being kept in the crowded isolation ward. He tracked down a harried ER doctor and asked him if that was the case. When the doctor had confirmed the information, Reese asked him how the patients were being triaged.
    “If they report being bitten or have a bite wound, that’s all we need,” the doctor said.
    “Okay. How are they being segregated?”
    “Isolation ward,” the doctor said, before being called away to assist with another arrival.
    That bothered Reese. He saw children were being brought in as well, and if they conformed to the metrics that required isolation, off they went. He didn’t like that, and he made a mental note to track down a hospital administrator and find out if there was more to the plan than he had been told.
    “Hey, Reese … you with me?”
    Reese turned back to Narvaez. The National Guard officer stood next to him, but wasn’t looking at him. He was eyes out, which wasn’t surprising, given that they were just outside the emergency ward entrance. Ambulances pulled in and out. There was still a lot of activity, despite the troops enforcing strict traffic control.
    “Yeah, I’m still here,” Reese told him. “I guess things are getting out of hand.” He had to raise his voice to get the last part out, due to a low-flying helicopter thumping past overhead.
    “We have to fortify our positions,” Narvaez said. “I can’t see us leaving this place, it’s too vital, and there’s too much going on. I’m going to have some sandbags and concertina wire brought in.