He took the cigar from his mouth and nodded to her, then he informed, "Doctor Caswell wants you back at the hospital. We're taking you and your team home." His eyes shifted behind her.
Morgan approached with her M-4 over her shoulder and stood beside the girl, looking up at the Colonel as she asked, "So, would you guys like a hand?"
Before entering the hospital, Colonel Halstead took the remaining stump of his cigar from his mouth and tossed it aside, his eyes on the door as he strode with purposeful steps. Zoe was beside and a little behind him and the San Antonio team walked behind them.
As they got into the rally area, the Colonel looked over his shoulder and barked, "Corporal, I want to see you and Private Higgins in the conference room in thirty minutes."
"Yes, Sir," the Corporal confirmed.
Halstead stopped and looked down to Zoe, looking her up and down as he loudly said, "Private Princess, you stink. Go get showered and changed and get some chow. I'll see you in the conference room in an hour."
"Yes, Sir," she complied.
"We've had more people join us here," he informed, "so there's been another bed moved into your room. We haven't selected a roommate for you yet, thought you'd like to throw some input our way."
She nodded, then looked around her, and her eyes fixed on the new zombie fighters. Looking back to the Colonel, she suggested, "How about Morgan?"
His eyes shifted to Morgan, then he nodded. "Sounds fine. Get your gear and follow Princess."
They watched him turn and stride toward the stairs.
Morgan took Zoe's shoulder and leaned to her, asking, "Is he always so uptight?"
Private Higgins patted Morgan's shoulder as she walked by and replied, "That's pretty mellow for him."
Zoe emerged from her bathroom with a towel wrapped around her as she violently dried her hair with another.
Lying on the bed that was closest to the window, Morgan had kicked her boots off, removed her vest and hat and lay there with her hands folded behind her head, and she looked to the girl as she observed, "You were in there forever. Feel better?"
Zoe took the towel from her head and looked to the floor with much of her hair dangling down into her face, and she shook her head. "No, I still feel icky. I had someone's brains all over me."
"You had more than brains all over you," Morgan laughed. Sitting up, she watched the girl comb the wet locks from her face, and her eyes narrowed. "You're pale all over. Are you sure you weren't bitten by one of those things?"
Crawling up on her bed, Zoe reported, "It wouldn't matter if I was. I'm already kind of a zombie."
Morgan's eyes widened and her whole body tensed. Planting her hands beside her as she swung her feet over the side of her bed, she mumbled, "What?"
Cross-legged on her bed, Zoe took her teddy bear from the pillow and set it down in her lap, gently stroking her fingers over the soft hair on its head as she mumbled, "It's kind of a long story. They came in and killed my family and one of them tried to get me."
Half turning her head, Morgan confirmed, "And you were bitten." She seemed braced for flight, though her hand moved slowly toward the gun that lay on the night table between the beds.
Zoe nodded. "Doctor Caswell thinks I didn't turn into a zombie all the way because I'm autistic. She said the germ that gets into your brain wasn't able to do something in mine and so I'm still just who I was, but it still made my body a zombie." She huffed a hard breath. "I wish I was still normal, but most of the zombies don't bother me anymore, so I guess it's okay."
"And nobody around here is worried about you?" Morgan asked suspiciously, leaning a little more toward the gun.
Zoe would not look at her and just continued to pet her bear. "Everybody seems to worry about me."
"So," Morgan started hesitantly, "you don't try to eat people."
"That's gross," Zoe countered. "I'd rather eat Spaghetti-O's and pizza and stuff."
Hesitantly, Morgan nodded. "Um, do you mind if… You don't bite, do you?"
"I bit my brother once," Zoe confirmed. "I think I was ten and he was just being a meanie."
"So, you're an autistic zombie who only bites your brother." Morgan crooked her jaw and straightened on her bed, grasping the edges of the mattress with both hands. "Just when I thought the weirdness couldn't get any…"
"Weirder?" Zoe finished for her.
"Yeah, weirder." Morgan looked to the teddy bear and asked, "So, what's your bear's name? Oh, don't tell me. Teddy, right?"
Zoe's eyes slid to her and she shook her head. "His name's Snowflake. Why would I call him Teddy?" When someone knocked on the door, she looked over her shoulder and bade, "Come in."
"Um," Morgan stammered, "you're only wearing a towel."
The door opened and Doctor Caswell peered in, then a relieved smile took her face and she entered and strode to the girl's bed, wrapping her arms around her as she declared, "I'm so glad you're home!"
Zoe turned fully and slipped an arm around the Doctor's back, laying her head on her shoulder.
Rachel looked to Morgan and bade, "Hi there. Welcome to our base of operations."
"Thanks," Morgan offered. "Are you sure it shouldn't be the base of weirdness?"
Zoe burst into giggles and looked over her shoulder.
Doctor Caswell pulled away and took the zombie girl's shoulders. "Okay, Zoe. I need you in the lab real quick. We have something to do."
"Colonel Halstead told me I have to go to the conference room and I only have twenty more minutes to get ready."
"I already talked to him," the Doctor assured, "and he knows you're going to be a little late. Now get dressed and let's get to the lab. Have you eaten yet?" When the girl looked down and shook her head, she loosed a breath and conceded, "Okay, I'll get you something." Looking to the new arrival, she ordered, "You just make yourself at home. I think the rest of your team is already in the cafeteria, so if you're hungry you should go get something to eat."
"No problem," Morgan assured. "Um, who should I go to with a whole lot of questions?" Her eyes flitted to Zoe.
"We'll answer any questions you have." She also glanced at the zombie girl, and finally she raised her chin. "Just come and see me in the lab when Zoe and I are done and I should be able to put your mind at ease." She turned to leave and ordered, "Get dressed, Zoe, and let's get to the lab."
As the door closed, Zoe carefully set her teddy bear back in its place on her pillow, then she slid from the bed and turned to the dresser that sat on the far wall, grumbling, "I don't want to do more tests."
Morgan reached for her boots and glanced at the zombie girl as she assured, "It can't be worse than what we found you in the middle of this morning."
The laboratory was small and sterile and had only two chairs in it and an examination table. There were glass cabinets over the counter where Doctor Caswell worked and behind the doors one could see the many vials and bottles of chemicals, agents and supplies that were needed for the research that was being done.
Rachel was bent over the white counter top and looking into a microscope as a device beside her spun a small vial of black red blood to separate it into its main components. Zoe sat close by, holding a bandage over the crook of her elbow with her thumb and her arm curled in over it, and she had a sour look for the doctor she stared at. She wore Sergeant Morris' hat and had the brim pulled down so that her eyes were barely visible in the shadow past it.
Withdrawing from the microscope, Doctor Caswell raised her brow as she looked to the girl and defended, "It wasn't a shot. I drew blood."
"It's the same thing," Zoe snarled.