The Zombie Virus (Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

had
become extremely irritable and a little combative. Not enough that
they had to be restrained, she said. All had begun salivating
profusely and capillaries were leaking blood into their gums, which
was causing the saliva to become pink-tinged. She also reported
that Dr. Rafik had indicated he could smell a sweet scent, kind of
like cotton candy, emanating from his body.
    By noon all three had slipped into a deep
coma. The petechial hemorrhaging that was causing their gums to
bleed was also affecting the sclera of their eyes, turning them
blood red. This disease was rapidly shaping up to be a monster.
Death seemed like the inevitable outcome.
    If there hadn’t been the petechial
hemorrhaging, I would have been leaning toward a rabies type viral
infection, as they were displaying many of the classic symptoms,
albeit at a much accelerated pace. With the breakdown of some of
the finer capillaries, I was at a loss to classify this disease as
being similar to anything I was familiar with.
    We had basic monitoring equipment for vitals
in the isolation ward, but lacked any equipment to monitor brain
function or conduct deep tissue scans. We had no idea what the
disease was doing to these people internally.
    LTC Hanson and I were able to keep in
constant contact and watch over each other via the lab monitors
without having to go through the required decontamination
procedures when traversing from one lab to the other. A little
after 1300 hours she told me that the fevers had broken in all
three of the infected patients, but that they remained deeply
comatose. We felt that this was a good sign, especially with the
vital signs climbing back into the normal ranges.

    I took a break about 1400 hours to call my
wife again. Back in the Gumby room I un-suited and went through the
decontamination process, then threw on a pair of sweats to get to
my office. Once there, I sat down at my desk and called Holly.
After assuring each other that we were both okay, she told me that
looking out the windows of our house she could see columns of smoke
out to the southwest, but couldn’t tell what was burning. There was
no traffic going by the house or any people out and about. She said
it was eerily quiet. I told her I would be staying at the Facility
until I uncovered some answers and that she needed to stay in the
house with Jeremy until I got home.
    She had never heard from the hospital, which
she considered highly abnormal. I surmised that there may not be
anyone there well enough to call. I promised I would call her again
in a little while. I hung up with a fear gnawing at my belly like
some ravenous animal. I didn’t know how long I could remain here
away from my family.
    Before going back to the lab I stopped
briefly to watch the national news on the one remaining channel
still broadcasting. Nothing earthshaking was being offered that I
didn’t already know. At this stage all the infected were comatose
from everywhere that reports were coming in. There had been little
to no communication from our government since this morning’s
outbreak started. There were also reports of several commercial
aircraft down across the country.
    When I suited up and returned to my lab, LTC
Hanson called to me over the monitor. She and Sung were with Dr.
Rafik, who was still laid out on his hospital bed with the thin
sheet covering him.
    “He’s starting to come out of it, getting
some eye movement,” she said through the suit’s sound system. Even
on the monitor through her Plexiglas faceplate I could see the
relief on her face.
    “The capillary leaks are still limited to his
eyes and gums. We haven’t found any blood in his stool or urine,
which bodes well internally. Heart and lung functions are strong.
He’s still salivating copiously, although I think he may be past
the worst of this.” She stepped up closer to the camera. “Anything
new on your end?”
    “No, I’m about an hour away from my prelim
results. I think I’ll be able to tell you if