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

She decided not to condescend to the young girl. “No, that’s different. We knew who the baby’s family was. It’s just that Ryan was too sad to give the baby a name after Sam’s death.”
    Jennifer’s surrogate brother, Nathan, stepped alongside Jennifer and placed a hand on her shoulder.
    Doctor Robertson waited for an appropriate break in the conversation before giving Sarah a slight nod and placing the needle in her arm.
    Sarah watched as the tip of the needle pushed against her skin until its sharp point poked through.
    “What have you found out?” Sarah asked.
    “Oh, quite a bit.” Dr Robertson smiled as she pulled back the core of the syringe. “Where would you like me to start?”
    Sarah was transfixed by how red the freshly drawn blood appeared behind the plastic of the syringe. Her mind went back to Sam. She remembered her blood being darker, almost black.
    Nathan ushered Jennifer to a small plastic seat before leaning against a workbench, arms folded across his chest.
    “What’s causing it?” he asked as if he were the grand master of an inquisition.
    “The contagion has proven difficult to pin down. It has a number of unique properties which has meant we have had to study it indirectly,” Dr. Robertson said as she labelled the vial of blood.
    Jennifer swung her legs as she perched on the edge of the plastic chair. Bored by the conversation that excluded her, she intently watched her red and white trainers as they swung in and out of view behind her knees. Peeking her head further out and clutching the sides of the chair, she could just about see her feet swing through the full arc. Slipping forward, she decided to test her dexterity. She brought her trainers as close to the ground as possible without touching. Tongue between her teeth in concentration, Jennifer tried to trail the lopsided lace on her left trainer along the floor without scuffing the sole.
    Dr. Robertson took the freshly drawn blood and placed it on the work station.
    Jennifer hopped out of her chair and rushed up to the workbench intrigued, by what Dr. Robertson was doing.
    “Careful honey,” Dr. Robertson said as Jennifer peered at the ruby liquid clinging to the sides of the vial.
    Jennifer looked in awe at the container of blood.
    “Have you never seen blood before?” Dr. Robertson asked.
    “Not like that,” Jennifer said, her eyes fixed.
    “It has always looked like that,” Nathan said.
    “No,” Jennifer said, frowning at him. “In jars.”
    “Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up, honey?” Dr. Robertson asked.
    Jennifer looked at her with a blank expression. “Um...”
    Dr. Robertson tried to tease an answer from her. “You know, when you’re older? What job would you like to do?”
    Jennifer looked back over at Sarah as if she needed translation.
    Sarah let out a gentle huff. “It’s just…”
    “Just what?” Dr. Robertson asked.
    “We never spoke about things like that,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “There wasn’t that kind of talk in the warehouse. We were shut in. Surviving, that’s all. We didn’t think we’d be rescued. We didn’t dream anything like real life was left.”
    Dr. Robertson cast an eye over Sarah and Nathan. She said, “Oh, I see. Well, you should start thinking about it soon. If you don’t focus on a job then they’ll draft you into the forces like your new friend Bates was. You’d better start looking at your C.V.’s. If you don’t have a specialty they can use, it’ll be manual labour for you. Or worse: the army .”
    “Who’s they?” Sarah asked.
    “What do you mean the army?” Nathan asked.
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” Dr. Robertson said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. You see, what’s left of the world is under martial law. It’s complicated. The world’s governed by a mixture of sovereign nations and military overlords. It’s kind of like the UN, but with teeth.” Trying to continue with the medical, Dr. Robertson fastened a blood pressure cuff