Read Online LovewithaChanceofZombies by Delphine Dryden - Free Book Online

she assured him. She thought about
young Gilford briefly; maybe she wasn’t as different from him as she liked to
believe. “They’re not human to me anymore, so it’s okay to kill them. I’d never
see Lucas that way though, you’re right about that. I would hesitate.”
    “No,” Lucas started, but she squeezed his hand.
    “I would hesitate. I’d take you out after that if I was
still alive, but that’s not the point. The hesitation isn’t acceptable. The
point is, we all need to see the zombies as zombies. Not humans. If they
were people to us…that would be the real nightmare fodder, because we’d still
have to go on killing them. Right now we’re all positive they have no memories,
no souls, there’s nothing left of the people they were in there. But a zombie
that wasn’t just an empty husk…that would create confusion. Doubt, just like the
admiral said. People wouldn’t be sure, like they are now.”
    “I haven’t said no yet,” Watson reminded them. “It isn’t
only up to me, I’ll need to talk to some folks. Cochrane here and Jackson over
at the farm, at least. How many days into this is it now, Stanton?”
    “Fourteen, sir.” Two weeks, but it sounded like half a
lifetime in the compressed timeline of Lucas’ remaining days.
    Watson sighed then pressed his hands flat to his thighs,
coming to a decision. “For the next week, I want you to focus on what this hemp
can do for the infected. Baiting them into the open may turn out to be useful
if the seeds make them docile enough to pick off easily. We need to experiment
with different amounts, think about efficient delivery methods. Maybe some kind
of dilution, a spray, something like that. Just to draw them into an area where
they’re easy targets.”
    “Yes, Admiral.”
    “Carry on then.” Watson rose and strode to the door again,
but turned with his hand on the knob. “Nye, can you teach her what she’d need
to know to help you? IVs, monitoring equipment?”
    “Yes sir. Some of my research team will need to help, as
well. If it happens.”
    The admiral nodded and waved as he walked out.

Chapter Eight
     
    “Fuck him.”
    Back in Lucas’ quarters, Lena nibbled on a hunk of brown
bread and watched her lover pace. “He didn’t say no.”
    “He might as well have. God dammit!”
    “Have some cheese. Or maybe some jerky.”
    “I’m not hungry.”
    Lena thought he sounded like a petulant child, but she kept
that thought to herself. “You need to keep your strength up.”
    “What I need ,” he argued, “is more time and a whole
bunch of test subjects. Dammit!” He swung his foot, aiming for the coffee
table, then pulled back in evident frustration and stalked to the eating area
to kick one of the sturdy wooden chairs instead.
    In a way, it was probably healthy for him to be angry. Lena
was surprised it had taken him this long. Then again, she wondered how often in
his life he’d ever truly been thwarted. He was the savior, the last-minute
hero, and even this time he’d managed to come up with some sort of plan. But
now, when it arguably mattered the most because it was the one time his own
life was at stake…he might be denied even the chance to try.
    Nye, she thought, was a better person when he was getting to
be a hero. But he was a more authentic person when faced with frustration.
    She put the bread carefully back in the basket with the
cheese and stood, brushing crumbs from her lap. “We can talk to Watson. There’s
still enough time to convince him. He’s at least talking to the mayors about
it.” When Nye made his next pass, stalking by the couch, she reached out and
intercepted him, grabbing his upper arm. “Lucas. He didn’t say no.”
    “He will though. You can tell. He’s afraid people will turn
on him if he takes the risk. When he does say no, you’ll support him, won’t
you? You agreed with him, or at least you understood what he meant by it.”
    “I did understand,” Lena said bluntly, “and I think