Free The Hungry 4: Rise of the Triad (The Sheriff Penny Miller Series) by Steven Booth, Harry Shannon

saying you agree with him?”
    “Now, wait a minute, Penny,” Scratch said. “I’m not exactly agreeing with him, okay? But I’m sure worried about you. I have been for quite a while.”
    “There’s nothing to worry about, damn it. I’m fine.”
    “Yeah, but today was the first time I saw you relax in, well, shit, as long as I’ve known you. Today it is as if I finally met the real Penny Miller.”
    “Scratch, Rubenstein is the enemy,” Miller insisted, pointing in accusation. “If you don’t believe me, just look at those creepy little eyes and that self-satisfied smile.”
    “I’m not your enemy,” Rubenstein said, flushing. “No matter what you have been told in the past. I’m really not.”
    “Why should we believe you?”
    “Truthfully, after General Gifford was… uh…”
    “After we killed him.” Miller finished the sentence. Her mind felt clear. They were in danger. She had to figure things out and fast.
    Rubenstein cleared his throat then continued. “After that happened, I lost my position. The pause allowed me time to think about my actions and consider alternatives. I began to realize the damage we had all done in the name of scientific research, not to mention the horrors we had unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. After that, I gathered my resources and decided to help people instead of cause harm. I am a psychiatrist, an M.D. So I set out to reverse the effects of the trauma of dealing with the zombies. So I came here to Malibu and bought a bankrupt rehab. I founded this center with grant money and donations, and we have been doing excellent work ever since.”
    Miller felt a sudden wave of weariness pass over her. The shock of fresh adrenaline was gone. She felt herself deflating. Scratch was staring at her. Miller forced herself to concentrate. “Excellent work doing what exactly?”
    “Healing people just like you, Sheriff.”
    “You mean, there are other zombie survivors around here?” Miller began to feel a growing sense of panic. The foggy feeling inside lifted again. “Christ, Rubenstein then you know that any one of them could already be infected.”
    Rubenstein cocked his head. “You mean, like you?”
    “Not like me. I mean folks who’ve been bitten. Look, there may be residents about to turn into real undead zombie fucks, you supercilious little carrot-dicked city boy!”
    Miller’s voice had turned from an urgent whisper into a strident scream. Miller reddened and struggled to gather her thoughts. He was getting to her, making her act and feel unstable. This shrink had helped to set her up for the horrific experience of returning to Crystal Palace to look for clues to end the zombie plague—which almost got her killed. And here he was pretending to be benevolent.
    Scratch raised his hand. He looked like a schoolboy who had to go number two. “Hold on, Doc. If you’re not working for the government anymore, how come the National Guard brought us here instead of taking us away to some military prison? Answer me that.”
    “I’m not working for the government anymore, I assure you,” Rubenstein said. He crossed his hands behind his back and tapped the toe of his right loafer on the carpet. “I may be a civilian now, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still have some influence.” He picked up a pen and began rolling it around in his hands. “So when I got the chance, I put a request for your presence in the event of your… acquisition.”
    “You mean capture.” Miller wasn’t buying any of this bullshit, but now she had little choice. She had to at least sit there and listen.
    “All right, if you insist. Capture. There was a small but real chance that if you survived, you might come out to the West Coast. It was your only sensible option. I wanted to see you again. I wanted to… work with you again. When you were picked up in Santa Monica after your disturbing experience with the Zombie Walk, I was contacted at once. Evidently my gamble paid