A smile was forced from Zoe and she glanced at Morgan, assuring, "I won't. Promise."
"That's good," Eric declared. "Eating people can be a real obstacle if you want to make friends."
"Well," Josh started.
"Don't!" Morgan ordered harshly.
He held his palm to her and took another sip of his beer.
A soldier came through the door to the roof and looked around him, his eyes finding the pink clad zombie girl, and he announced, "Colonel Halstead's looking for you, Princess. You need to get to the conference room."
Zoe turned her eyes down and nodded, conceding in a slight voice, "Okay."
Colonel Halstead was sitting where he always did when Zoe entered the conference room, and he looked up from a report he was reading when she walked in. Seeing she was not alone, he looked behind her to Josh and Morgan, asking, "Did I call you two?"
"Negative," Josh assured. "We're just tagging along with Zoe here, and we're hoping we can sign on with your fine organization."
"Congratulations," the Colonel announced dryly. "You're in." His eyes found the girl again and he scolded, "You were supposed to be here almost an hour ago, young lady."
Zoe's eyes were already fixed on the floor as she meekly offered, "I'm sorry, Sir." She took the cap from her head and held it with both hands as if she was holding something of great importance. Her steps were light as she made her way around the table to where the Colonel sat, and she gingerly laid the cap down in front of him, backing away after she had done so.
Halstead picked it up and looked inside of it, reading the tag within, then he straightened it, curled the brim slightly and laid it back down near Zoe. "Hold onto that," he ordered. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his hands in his lap and eyed her with an authoritative look. "I was told that you stayed outside to fight the moaners by yourself. That true?"
Zoe nodded, staring at the floor.
"You'll stick with your team from now on," he ordered. "You'll follow orders and fight as part of a unit. That clear?"
In a meek voice she answered, "Yes, Sir."
He nodded, then, "Did you get something to eat?" When she shook her head, he commanded, "Get to the chow hall and…" He trailed off as the door burst open, and he looked that way.
Doctor Caswell rushed in first, then Doctor Kavorski and a lab tech behind him in a white lab coat.
Rachel had a folder full of papers in her hand and hurried to the Colonel, and when she got to him she slammed them down in front of him, declaring, "We've isolated the virus! The strain in Zoe is much weaker than the others we've cultured, no doubt by its unsuccessful bout with her autistic brain. Colonel, we have something we can work with here!"
Doctor Kavorski stepped forward and took her side, adding, "This virus we found in Zoe is not quite as aggressive as the others. It affected her body as it meant to, but it was unable to take control of her nervous system. We can confirm this with a few more tests, but I'm willing to bet that the virus that infects her can't even be passed on! Unlike the other victims, her body continues to fight it."
"So what's all this mean?" Colonel Halstead growled.
"It means," Doctor Caswell replied, "We are one step closer to a vaccine!"
Everyone looked to Zoe, and her eyes darted nervously from one person to the next.
The Colonel nodded. "Well, Private Princess, it looks like you just got a whole lot more important to us than working recon."
Her brow rising up slightly, Zoe hesitantly asked, "I'm… I'm important?"
Doctor Kavorski answered, "You're the most important person here."
Turning to the Colonel, Rachel insisted, "This means we can't risk losing her. We simply can't take any more chances with her. For God's sake, she could hold the future of mankind!"
The Colonel's eyes slid to the girl again.
"Just imagine," Kavorski added. "We could send inoculated soldiers out to fight off the zombies without any risk of any of them becoming infected. We could also bait out wild dogs, cats… Everything that could be infected! This could mean the end of the zombosis epidemic!"
"There are a few more things we should talk about," Rachel informed. When she had the Colonel's attention, her eyes flitted to the zombie girl.
Motioning to the door with his head, Colonel Halstead ordered, "Go get some chow, Princess. We'll talk later."
Zoe nodded and complied, "Yes, Sir," then she turned and strode to the door.
Morgan and Josh followed, and Josh half turned and waved to them, bidding, "See you later, General."
CHAPTER 11
They all watched as the door closed behind the girl and the zombie fighters, then Doctor Caswell pulled a chair out and carefully sat in it, her eyes on the folder she had dropped on the table near the Colonel.
Halstead nodded in slight motions and confirmed, "That was the good news. Now you're about to hit me with the bad news."
"Afraid so," Doctor Kavorski confirmed. Looking to the medical technician, he asked, "Would you mind looking in on the incubators?"
The tech nodded and left the room.
"Out with it," the Colonel ordered.
Rachel drew a long breath, then she turned her eyes down to her hands and reported, "We discovered that the zombosis virus she has is reversing her autism. That's kind of a blessing since there really is no cure for that condition and she will end up mentally and emotionally being a normal girl, but it will come at a high price."
"How so?" Colonel Halstead demanded.
Doctor Kavorski answered, "Once her brain is what we would consider normal, once it works like a normal functioning brain, she will be vulnerable to what the virus does to the brain right after infection, and she is already infected."
The Colonel vented a hard breath through his nose and looked away. He stared across the room in silence for a moment, then he grumbled, "How long?"
"Maybe a week," Doctor Caswell replied. "Could be a little longer, we don't know for sure. As soon as the last symptoms of her Asperger's Syndrome are gone, it will only be a matter of hours, then she'll become what the others are. She'll need to be observed at all times and we'll have to watch for signs that she's…" She loosed a broken breath and finished, "That she's becoming one of them."
Colonel Halstead was quiet for another moment and just stared down at the file before him. With a little nod, he finally, softly said, "Okay. Okay. This stays in this room for now. Nobody is to be informed unless I clear them, and for God's sake do not tell the girl about this. She has enough on her mind. I'll keep her in so that she can be observed, and I want you two to keep working on that vaccine. Do whatever it takes and work as fast as you can. Caswell, you're to stay in the hospital. That new team has a medic that we can send out and they tell me he knows what he's doing."
With a nod, Rachel confirmed, "Eric. I trust he can do the job in the field."
"Good," the Colonel said almost absently. "While we still have time with her, get that vaccine figured out." His brow tensed as he turned those hard eyes on them in turn. "And if you can figure out how to help her, then do it! That's your secondary priority. Got it?"
"Understood," Doctor Kavorski assured. "I have a couple of working theories. It's just a matter of putting them to use."
"Theories?" Halstead questioned.
With a nod, Kavorski elaborated, "Just theories, mind you, and just based upon observations. We always see the zombies move in the morning and in the evening, but not usually after dark or in the heat of the day. That new team that came in from Texas told me much the same thing. In fact, they told me that zombies that got caught out in the heat of the day often fell and died. We know they can't see well in the dark so their movements stop after sunset in areas that are not artificially illuminated."