Zombies! (Episode 7): Conflicts of Interest Read Online Free PDF Page B

They couldn't see her from where they stood but it was enough to know she was there. Lucy and Ludlow had shared a brief affair while she'd been in London. She'd apparently contracted the disease during sex and brought it home to her family. He had destroyed that family, and countless others.
     
     
    "Rudy, is it possible that they're not dead?"
     
     
    "No. Denise is right about that. I've studied dozens of them, not including the animal specimens back in London. They don't show any life signs at all."
     
     
    "What about their brains?"
     
     
    "I'm a bit surprised by you, Lance," said Ludlow. "We've only known each other a short time, but you strike me as a very level headed chap. You're not letting the Zombie Rights Association get to you, are you?"
     
     
    "It's Anthony," Naughton replied but didn't elaborate.
     
     
    "Anthony?" Ludlow asked. "You mean the policeman?"
     
     
    Naughton nodded.
     
     
    "I don't envy him his job. If you ask me, the poor fellow needs a day off."
     
     
    The captain chuckled at that. "Thanks, Rudy. I guess I'll go see Denise now."
     
     
    "You be careful then," Ludlow advised. "It's a sensitive subject with her. The behaviorists won't even go near her."
     
     
    Naughton laughed even harder at that, then clapped Ludlow on the back. He was a good man, Rudy Ludlow. Too bad, he didn't think so himself. After Naughton had left the Zoo , Ludlow pressed his hands and nose up against the glass. The zombie inside had been Todd Mayfield, a security guard at Sisters of Charity Hospital. Todd had been dead for three months. He didn't look it. Looking back at Ludlow, he remained motionless. They stared at each other like that for a few moments until the doctor broke contact. With a heavy head and a heavy heart, he walked down the aisle to have a visit with Zoe Koplowitz. It was time for him to apologize.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    WHEN Naughton gave Denise a kiss on the lips, she didn't respond. She was always uptight, but the tension had been mounting the last couple of weeks. Ever since the Zombie Rights Association had gone public and started accusing the researchers of torturing their subjects, she'd retreated further and further into her professional personality. It was at this point in a relationship that Naughton usually found his way out. Unfortunately, it was easy to extricate himself from a shallow relationship with a twenty year old. It was not so easy with Denise. If she was crazy it didn't have anything to do with immaturity or, well, shoes. She was a complex woman with complex scars. And he loved her.
     
     
    "Why are you here, Lance?" she asked.
     
     
    "Why do I ever come here?" he answered, with a grin.
     
     
    "Don't pull that shit with me. You just spent an hour staring at Todd Mayfield."
     
     
    "All right," he acquiesced. "So I'm looking a little deeper. Don't you get paranoid on me."
     
     
    She fell into a chair. It swiveled uncontrollably and almost upended her but she managed to regain her balance with only a modicum of indignity. "Then tell me."
     
     
    "Anthony's starting to doubt. He's seen some of the zombies display…discretion?"
     
     
    "I told him that there would be anomalies!"
     
     
    "Denise, you have to understand his position. His job is very difficult."
     
     
    "So is mine. I'm in here day after day, hour after hour trying to cure this thing and those fuckers are out there calling me a butcher. Goddamn it, Lance, they've compared me to Dr. Mengele."
     
     
    Getting down on one knee in front of her, he took her hands. She tried to pull away but he held on tight and forced her to look directly at him. "I know you're doing what you need to do, but maybe you shouldn't fight so much."
     
     
    "Don't patronize me."
     
     
    His eyes hardened and he squeezed her hands a little tighter. "If you want to pick a fight with me, you'd better think twice."
     
     
    For a second, a brief second, he saw her ego struggle for control. It cried out that he was daring her