behind the counter. "Sure, there's John. They've been dating."
"A boyfriend? I thought you said that she was carrying on with Larry Koplowitz?"
"And I thought you told me Larry Koplowitz had a wife and family."
"Right," he admitted. "Sorry."
Abby punched up the information on John Arrick and passed it to Heron. That made three addresses she had given out to the policeman. Somehow she had to believe that she was violating the privacy of her customers for doing that and opening up the gym to all sorts of litigation. Of course, the first two people were dead. And John. John didn't deserve this. Not John.
"I'm going to check it out as soon as we're done here."
***
WITH twenty minutes to go until the announcement of the new public health alert, Lance Naughton arrived at Arthur Conroy Memorial Hospital. Denise was in her office working but with a very different perspective. The fact that her morning had gone well, coupled with her excitement over her new relationship had her running on high. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Naughton. She could tell that something had gone wrong even without looking up from her microscope.
"What happened?"
There was none of the normal humor in Naughton's eyes when she finally looked at him. "The situation has escalated," he said. "I've spent all day on the phone and the computer fielding reports coming in from as far west as Iowa."
"We knew it was going to happen, Lance," she said, realizing that it was no comfort. She was bad at comfort. "After half of the city took off a few weeks ago, the disease was bound to spread all over the states. I'm surprised it took so long for the reports to come in."
Naughton shook his head. "You don't get it, Denise. I spoke with the president today. There's a small town in West Virginia called Bucksburg. Ever hear of it?"
She shook her head. "Should I have?"
"After today it will be a household name. The Bucksburg police kept an outbreak of the plague secret; no one knows why. Only when the state police didn't get a weekly report from their sheriff's office did they go and investigate. I read the reports and I saw the pictures. There's some audio from the state troopers who went to investigate."
"How many died?" she whispered.
Naughton looked directly at her. His eyes were sunken and his cheeks were pale. He was a shadow of himself. In the few weeks she had known him, she had never seen him so rattled. He handled just about every situation with this sort of casual nonchalance. In fact, it was one of the things she both envied and loved about him. Naughton was the kind of guy that, no matter how bad things got, he just knew that it was going to turn out all right. Not now, though. Not this. The fear that radiated from Naughton was almost tangible. And it was definitely infectious.
"They all died, Denise. There wasn't a person left in Bucksburg. One of the troopers managed to get into the car and drive off but he had been bitten."
She didn't say anything. What could she say?
"I wonder…" Naughton muttered. "Anyway, the president ordered a unit of National Guard to go in and clean out the town. Full body armor and automatic weapons. Eleven hundred people, Denise. Eleven hundred !"
With still nothing to say she grabbed him in her arms and hugged him close. Naughton had to bend down to receive her and he buried his head in her shoulder. His body shuddered once and she would have sworn that he was crying.
"There's going to be an announcement on the news," she said awkwardly. "About Head Shot ."
As much as she wanted to hold him forever, for herself as much as for him, she let him go and swiveled over to the computer. Deftly, she opened up her internet browser and went to the local news site. Streaming video was already showing an announcer.
"As much as the government and the public have been trying to move past the zombie panic of several weeks ago, it
"A boyfriend? I thought you said that she was carrying on with Larry Koplowitz?"
"And I thought you told me Larry Koplowitz had a wife and family."
"Right," he admitted. "Sorry."
Abby punched up the information on John Arrick and passed it to Heron. That made three addresses she had given out to the policeman. Somehow she had to believe that she was violating the privacy of her customers for doing that and opening up the gym to all sorts of litigation. Of course, the first two people were dead. And John. John didn't deserve this. Not John.
"I'm going to check it out as soon as we're done here."
***
WITH twenty minutes to go until the announcement of the new public health alert, Lance Naughton arrived at Arthur Conroy Memorial Hospital. Denise was in her office working but with a very different perspective. The fact that her morning had gone well, coupled with her excitement over her new relationship had her running on high. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Naughton. She could tell that something had gone wrong even without looking up from her microscope.
"What happened?"
There was none of the normal humor in Naughton's eyes when she finally looked at him. "The situation has escalated," he said. "I've spent all day on the phone and the computer fielding reports coming in from as far west as Iowa."
"We knew it was going to happen, Lance," she said, realizing that it was no comfort. She was bad at comfort. "After half of the city took off a few weeks ago, the disease was bound to spread all over the states. I'm surprised it took so long for the reports to come in."
Naughton shook his head. "You don't get it, Denise. I spoke with the president today. There's a small town in West Virginia called Bucksburg. Ever hear of it?"
She shook her head. "Should I have?"
"After today it will be a household name. The Bucksburg police kept an outbreak of the plague secret; no one knows why. Only when the state police didn't get a weekly report from their sheriff's office did they go and investigate. I read the reports and I saw the pictures. There's some audio from the state troopers who went to investigate."
"How many died?" she whispered.
Naughton looked directly at her. His eyes were sunken and his cheeks were pale. He was a shadow of himself. In the few weeks she had known him, she had never seen him so rattled. He handled just about every situation with this sort of casual nonchalance. In fact, it was one of the things she both envied and loved about him. Naughton was the kind of guy that, no matter how bad things got, he just knew that it was going to turn out all right. Not now, though. Not this. The fear that radiated from Naughton was almost tangible. And it was definitely infectious.
"They all died, Denise. There wasn't a person left in Bucksburg. One of the troopers managed to get into the car and drive off but he had been bitten."
She didn't say anything. What could she say?
"I wonder…" Naughton muttered. "Anyway, the president ordered a unit of National Guard to go in and clean out the town. Full body armor and automatic weapons. Eleven hundred people, Denise. Eleven hundred !"
With still nothing to say she grabbed him in her arms and hugged him close. Naughton had to bend down to receive her and he buried his head in her shoulder. His body shuddered once and she would have sworn that he was crying.
"There's going to be an announcement on the news," she said awkwardly. "About Head Shot ."
As much as she wanted to hold him forever, for herself as much as for him, she let him go and swiveled over to the computer. Deftly, she opened up her internet browser and went to the local news site. Streaming video was already showing an announcer.
"As much as the government and the public have been trying to move past the zombie panic of several weeks ago, it
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