Free Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan Page A

everything I once believed in.” He nods at Josh and Dr. Cerveris. “These gentlemen would appreciate it if you would too.”
    I shift uncomfortably. “It’s wrong.”
    “Yes,” Burke says. “But we’re asking you to cooperate regardless.”
    “You were better than that once,” I whisper.
    Burke winces, looks away shamefully, doesn’t respond.
    “A racist zombie taking the moral high ground,” Dr. Cerveris jeers.
    “She’s not a zombie,” Burke snaps.
    “Thanks to you,” Josh says softly.
    I frown. “What does that mean?”
    Burke is looking at Josh, surprised. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to mention that.”
    “You weren’t,” Josh says. “But if we tell her, maybe we can get through to her….”
    Burke chuckles cynically. “When all else fails, try the truth.” He winks at me. “We don’t know why certain zombies revitalize. It’s a mystery. Based on all the studies we’ve conducted, it shouldn’t happen. The dead lose their senses. Their brains shut down and all traces of their old selves are lost. In damn near all of them, that loss is permanent, no way back.
    “But a few of you defy the laws. You recover consciousness and carry on as you did when you were alive, for however long your bodies hold up.”
    “Any idea how long that might be?” I interrupt.
    Burke checks with Josh, who frowns, then shrugs. “Why not?” he says with just a hint of dark relish.
    “We think–” Burke begins.
    “It’s an imprecise science,” Dr. Cerveris cuts in coolly. “We have little evidence to back up our theories. But judging by what we’ve seen, and forecasting as accurately as we can, we anticipate an eighteen- to twenty-four-month life cycle for revitalized specimens.”
    “You mean I’ll shut down and die for real within a couple of years?” I gasp.
    “Maybe as little as a year,” Josh says. “You’ve been with us for more than six months already, remember.”
    “But the revitalization process only kicked in a matter of weeks ago,” Dr. Cerveris reminds him. “We’re not sure if the time before that counts or not.”
    “Wait a minute,” I snap. “Are you saying that all of the zombies will be wiped out within the next two years?”
    “Sadly, no,” Dr. Cerveris replies. “Only the revitalizeds. The brains of the reviveds are stable, and from what we’ve seen, will remain so, at least in the near future. But when consciousness returns, the brain starts to operate differently. It conflicts with the demands of its undead body and begins to decompose. Unless we can find a way to counteract that–and so far we haven’t had much opportunity to study the phenomenon–the prognosis is grim.”
    “So I’ve a couple of years max,” I sigh.
    “If they’re right,” Burke says. “They might not be.”
    “But we usually are,” Dr. Cerveris smirks.
    “That’s not your main worry, though,” Burke says.
    I raise an eyebrow. “There’s worse than being told I’ll be worm fodder in a couple of years?”
    Burke nods solemnly. “The first revitalizeds didn’t last long. They were isolated once their guards noticed the change in them, but after a week or so, they reverted. Their brains flatlined and they went back to being mindless zombies. No one has ever recovered their mental faculties a second time.”
    “What changed?” I murmur.
    “We found a way to prolong the revitalization,” Dr. Cerveris says proudly.
    “How?”
    “Nutrients.”
    “You mean the gruel you’ve been feeding us keeps our brains going?”
    “Yes. Without it, you would deteriorate rapidly.”
    I stare at the doctor, then Burke. “For a bunch of quacks who don’t know why the dead reanimate or how some of us regain our senses, they seem to have figured out that part pretty quickly.”
    Burke smiles. “Good, B. You’re thinking clearly, looking for answers behind the half-truths and lies. Go on. Take it further.”
    “I don’t know if we need to tell her that much,” Josh