Read Online Domain of the Dead by David Moody, Iain McKinnon, Travis Adkins - Free Book Online Page A

diseases such as Typhoid, Tuberculosis, HIV, Hepatitis, and of course the big Zee.”
    Sarah gave Nathan a warm smile and nodded her head in silent solidarity with him. It had been a paranoid question Nathan had asked but she could understand why he was feeling uneasy. Yes they were safer than they had ever been in that warehouse, but this was an unfamiliar environment for them, populated by strangers they didn’t know if they could trust. Couple that with the day’s events and it was easy to empathise with Nathan’s wariness. Things had moved too fast to be comfortable yet.
    “Okay, lets start. Who wants to go first?” Dr. Robertson asked, an empty syringe in hand.
    Sarah stepped up to the examination couch. Dr. Robertson motioned for her to sit down.
    “Do you have any pre-existing conditions I should know about? Pregnancy, diabetes...” Dr. Robertson stopped herself. “Of course not. Any insulin would have gone off by now.” She stared off into space for a moment. “I don’t suppose that even if you are pregnant you’d know for sure at this point either?”
    Sarah felt her hand against her emaciated belly and realised she’d unconsciously placed it there. There was no chance she was pregnant but the doctor’s comments had made her think of Sam. The excitement of a child being born had galvanised the survivors cooped up in that warehouse. It had filled them all with a new vigour as everyone rallied around Samantha and Ryan. It had turned all too quickly to horror. Clutching her own stomach, Sarah remembered her friend, baby in her arms, as she lay on the warehouse floor and bled to death.
    “You know it’s been years since I last had to do a physical.”
    Doctor Robertson’s voice jerked Sarah back.
    “But it’s still ingrained. Like I was still...” Doctor Robertson sighed. “Well, that was a lifetime ago.” She assembled the syringe. “Do you have any symptoms or ailments I should be made aware of?” Without waiting for an answer she placed a stand on the workbench, ready to accept the vial.
    “No, not really,” Sarah said hesitantly. There were a number of health issues, but she felt none of them were serious enough to disclose. Nothing that mattered.
    “Someone mentioned this was a research ship?” Nathan said.
    Dr. Robertson rubbed antiseptic on the nap of Sarah’s elbow. “That’s right. Professor Cutler and I are investigating the walking death.” She took the protective sheath off of the needle. “You’ll feel a small scratch.”
    “Walking death? Is that what it’s called?” Sarah asked. She knew placing a name on it would dispel the supernatural associations. If it could be analysed and categorised and labelled, Sarah told herself, it could be fought. It could no longer be the wrath or God or the work of the devil or any of those evangelistic reasons that were so prevalent at the beginning. The sanitization of the condition brought her comfort, but it couldn’t dispel the menace.
    Dr. Robertson looked up at the ceiling and made a soft humming noise. “ Ambulatio mortuus .” She shook her head. “No, it would be Mors. Ambulatio Mors.” She tutted and went back to Sarah’s arm. “Doesn’t have much of a ring to it, but no it doesn’t have an official name yet. Hasn’t been catalogued.”
    “So you haven’t worked out its taxomity?” Sarah asked.
    “No, it’s been illusive. We think it might be a satellite RNA virus that pairs a yeast, but it’s been impossible to positively identify and group it.”
    “What does that taxi thing mean?” Jennifer asked.
    “It means they can’t name it until they know which family it belongs to,” Sarah explained.
    “Like Ryan and Sam’s baby?” Jennifer asked.
    Sarah was startled by Jennifer’s simile.
    Jennifer elaborated, “The baby didn’t have a name because they didn’t know who its family was?”
    “No, it’s different.” Sarah thought to stop there but she knew Jennifer’s curiosity would elicit more questions.