Free Zombies! (Episode 4): The Sick and the Dead by Ivan Turner Page A

appears that the threat is something that we must now accept as part of society. The glorification of the crisis in the form of sensationalized television shows and commercial advertisements has eased our minds but it is clear that we must take some very real precautions in the coming days. Earlier today, the state health department released a statement disclosing some detailed information about the infection that causes zombieism and the measures that have been taken to forestall its progress. His statement also indicted the use of medications such as Head Shot which is designed to treat a viral ailment and apparently provides no relief whatsoever from the infection. This comes on the heels of the announcement that a small town in West Virginia was decimated by the plague. Details are sketchy on that story but the president himself is expected to make a formal statement later this evening."
     
    After a bit more, they cut to the footage of Lochschenborg's announcement, which was presented in its entirety. He spoke with vigor, his eyes intense and his jowls shaking as he described the Ward . He began with a list of symptoms and warned that symptoms may not be readily apparent if the infection was caught from a living person. In fact, the person who transmitted the disease may not even be symptomatic himself. A bite or scratch from a zombie transmitted the disease one hundred percent of the time. As deadly as the infection was when caught from the living, it was deadlier still when caught from the dead. Symptoms, mostly the same, would occur within an hour, probably in a much shorter time span. The average victim succumbed in just under five hours.
     
    "There are two very important points that everyone needs to know," Lochschenborg cautioned. "The disease is a bacterial infection. Cold medicine, such as Head Shot may slightly reduce the discomfort from the symptoms but will have no effect on the infection itself. Doctors have been treating it with an aggressive round of antibiotics. If you become infected, you must go to the hospital right away. The other thing people need to know is that victims who have died and risen as a result of the infection are still dead . There isn't anything left in the brain that constitutes memory or even rational thought. Don't try to talk to them and don't try to soothe them. Mourn them. Grieve for them. But remember that they are dead and gone."
     
    A slew of hands shot into the air after this last bit. Lochschenborg did his best to answer questions but Luco thought that they all sounded inane. She could read the frustration on his face. At last, he ended the conference abruptly and the view cut back to the original announcer.
     
    "The president's going to speak tonight," Lance whispered to Denise. He seemed to have regained his composure. "He's going to tell the world about Bucksburg."
     
    "It'll start another panic," she whispered back.
     
    He shrugged. Could they really stop that from happening anyway? "Are you staying here tonight?"
     
    She didn't answer right away. It had been her intention. The news of Bucksburg only motivated her all the more.
     
    "Will you come out with me?" he asked. "For dinner, at least?"
     
    "Okay," she said, but absently, as the light on her phone suddenly blinked to life. She hit the button for the speaker so that Naughton could listen in. It’s not that her call was any of his business but she suddenly got the impression that it would make him feel better to hear it rather than stand by and watch her talk. It meant something that she cared enough to even make that observation.
     
    "Yes?" she said.
     
    "Dr. Luco, there’s a phone call for you from a Dr. Ludlow," a man said in a hushed voice.
     
    She looked coldly at the phone. Every researcher in the country was scrambling for information on the infection. If the research wasn't enticing enough, the promised federal funding would be. "So what? Is he more important than any of the others?"
     
    “I