Zom-B Underground Read Online Free PDF Page A

results. “We haven’t observed any of the reviveds losing their sight completely. But they suffer irritation and infection. It gets so annoying in some that they scratch their eyes out.”
    I wince and immediately try to push the image from my thoughts. I’m glad I can’t sleep because I’m sure I’d have nightmares about that if I did.
    “A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing,” Josh chuckles. “That’s another reason we prefer not to tell you too much about yourself.”
    “I’d rather know than live in ignorance.” I lean forward. Josh pats his gun and I stop and raise my palms. “Easy, boss. I wasn’t trying to freak you out.”
    “Like I said before, I won’t take any chances.” The light tone is gone from his voice. “Any move towards us will be interpreted as an aggressive gesture, so just hold on the way you were and everything will be fine.”
    I ease back, hands still raised. “I just wanted to ask if you knew what caused the attacks, how this is happening, why the dead came back to life.”
    “That’s classified,” Josh says shortly.
    “I figured as much, but if you don’t ask…”
    There’s silence while Dr. Cerveris writes up his findings. A couple of soldiers enter and remove everything that had been brought through, except the TV and DVD player.
    “What now?” I ask, trying to sound chirpy but failing.
    Josh raises an eyebrow at Dr. Cerveris. The doctor stares at his notes, hands flat on the table. Then he looks at me. “I think it will be safe to introduce you to the other revitalizeds soon.”
    “The kids I saw dressed in leather?”
    “Yes.”
    “The ones who were torturing the zombies?”
    Dr. Cerveris smiles icily. I thought he’d deny the charge and say that wasn’t what they were doing. But all he says is, “Yes.”
    “But don’t refer to them as revitalizeds,” Josh warns me. “They prefer to call themselves
zom heads
.”
    “Dig that crazy new slang,” I mutter witheringly. “What happens after I’ve joined the merry gang? Where do I go from there?”
    Josh frowns. “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
    “What’s an average day like for a zom head? Do we torment zombies all the time? Go on picnics? Hang around looking cool in our leathers?” I start to lean forward, recall Josh’s warning and stop myself. “What does the future hold? Do I have any chance of being set free?”
    Dr. Cerveris and Josh share a smug look. It’s as if they’ve been waiting for me to ask that question. Without a word, Dr. Cerveris turns to the TV and switches it on.
    As the TV flickers to life, Josh turns on the DVD player and presses play. A grainy black-and-white image comes into focus. It’s a corridor in my old school. Kids in uniform run past what must have been a security camera. Others follow, but although these look the same as the first lot, I can tell that they’re zombies by the way they move. They don’t shuffle along like zombies in movies, but move intently, swiftly, surely, like hunters.
    Josh rewinds. He lets it play again, then pauses as the pack of zombies comes into view. “Spot anyone you know?”
    “I didn’t realize we were playing
Where’s Waldo?
” I snap.
    “Actually it’s
Where’s Becky Smith?
” he corrects me, and points to the lower left of the screen.
    I stare hard, but with my weakened eyesight I can’t be sure. It looks like me, but the picture quality isn’t great and I’m not used to seeing myself in black-and-white.
    “This next clip is from a helmet camera,” Josh informs me. “I wasn’t one of those who stormed your school, but I was part of the control team coordinating various units across London. One of my guys captured this charming footage.”
    He hits play again and the black-and-white clip gives way to a shaky color shot. The person with the camera is moving swiftly, jerking his head from side to side. I glimpse a rifle in his hands.
    Horror images. Blood sprayed across walls. Limbs and corpses