Pandora: A Novel of the Zombie Apocalypse Read Free Page B

wincing, and even an old Hispanic man holding a bloody towel to his head while his probable grandson, neck tattoos peeking out from his collar, glared at everyone. There were, disquietingly, a few people, sitting with concerned family members, looking discomfortingly similar to Brian. They all appeared very pale and listless. One teenage boy, sitting directly across from Mike, had in his lap a blue plastic pail, obviously brought from home and partially filled with a bloody froth that seemed to contain pieces of what almost appeared to be his insides. He stared intently at Mike with hooded, horribly bloodshot eyes and a chilling red-smeared smile on his ashen face.
    Michael quickly looked away, his skin actually getting goose bumps from that creepy look. He looked down at Brian and put an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, Brian. We’ll get a doctor here soon to look at you. Don’t worry.”
    Brian nodded his head slowly then coughed. A wad of bloody phlegm arced out of his mouth and landed with a splat at his feet. He opened his eyes and looked back up at Michael with a long red strand of thick saliva hanging from his lower lip.
    “I’m sorry, man,” he said with a voice that sounded as though his lungs were filled with oatmeal. “I…I think…I think I’m dying.” His voice choked up on the last word.
    “No, no, no,” soothed Michael unconvincingly. “You’ll be okay. Hang in there. Just wait for the doctor to get here. He’ll get you fixed up in no time.” Mike was near tears now. Between seeing one of his best friends going down like this, listening to what was going on in the world and connecting that with Brian, and sitting in this hospital waiting room, seeing the reality of things and that creepy, gore-smeared, death’s-head version of a kid leering at him from across the aisle, he felt as though he might lose it.
    While this was happening, Sean and Jack were at the admissions window, arguing with the nurse seated there.
    “No, no,” insisted Jack. “Brian Dunn is gravely ill. Look at him sitting over there in that wheelchair. Look at him; he’s not going to last. He has to see a doctor right now. Here’s his insurance card. Look, see: he’s covered.” Jack leaned in as close as he could. “He’s had the Pandora virus before and was hospitalized here. Now he’s back and checking in like the news said he should. Please. He’s really, really sick.”
    “I’m sorry,” said the nurse. “We have other people with identical symptoms ahead of him. The doctors will see him, but it’ll take a little time. Please have a seat, and I promise he will be seen.” It was obvious she was overwhelmed and at the end of her patience. She looked at Jack. “Please.”
    Jack turned away, frustrated. He looked at Sean. “Shit!” he said. “They’re so swamped here that I don’t know when he’ll get seen. We’ve got to do something.”
    Mike walked over to them. Brian had been making a rattling sound deep in his throat, and it freaked him out. It was the last straw. He stood in front of Sean and, in a teary voice, said, “Sean, he’s really not good. It’s bad, real bad. I think he may die.”
    Jack looked at him askance. “What!”
    The three walked over to where Brian was now slumped forward. The long string of bloody saliva hanging from his lower lip was now connectedto the leg of his jeans. Sean grabbed his shoulders and sat him back in an upright position. “Brian…Brian, stay awake, man. Stay awake.”
    Brian’s head swung back and forth like that of a bobblehead. Jack leaned in and put his hand on Brian’s chest then moved it up to his neck, where he placed two fingers on his carotid artery. “Oh, shit, he’s dead,” he said incredulously. He spun around and yelled at the nurse, who now looked very concerned. “His heart stopped! He’s not breathing. Get him some help now!”
    At that, the nurse bolted up and ran through the doorway to the emergency room. A second later the