I know?” Dr. Klein asked. She shook her head as if a dull student had just asked her an obvious question. “I just discovered the disease.” Then she paused and tilted her head in thought. “In fact, I guess I invented it.”
“Don’t expect a nother Nobel prize,” Pam said. Then the bodies thudded against the door again so roughly the heavy steel barrier shook in its frame. Yet none of the people on the other side seemed able to turn the simple handle. They had not been simply rendered insane but also somehow insensible.
“We need to find more help,” Pamela said. “Can we call the police or something? There could still be other people holed up in there too. If I managed to get away then others might be fighting them off or hiding. Those things are determined, but they aren’t exactly smart.”
“ You will not do a thing,” Dr. Klein said coldly. “I am chatting right now with my personal contacts in the military. Can you imagine the potential of a thing like this? Our military could infect a compound of enemies and let them infect and eat each other. We need to have samples preserved so they can be studied.”
“What?” Pam breathed. Her jaw fell in horrified surprise. This woman had unleashed this unimaginable horror, and now she wanted to contain it until she could find somebody who wanted to buy it. I think I’d rather have live enemies than those things.
“No,” P am said decisively. “I’m getting help.” She picked up the desk phone.
But just then she noticed that Dr. Klein had a gun held just below the level of the desk. She had held it out of sight before. Now the older woman raised the pistol slowly, and pointed it deliberately at Pam’s chest for several anxious seconds. Then she slowly and dramatically moved her arm to wave the gun at the wall.
Pam was quite familiar with firearms, but she had never stood on the wrong side of one before. The gun looked huge in the doctor’s slim hand. Pam’s breath hitched in her chest. She must have shot the receptionist. Where’s the guy who answered the phone when I called the main number before?
“Put down the phone and sit patiently by the wall while I work,” Dr. Klein said. “I may not be a farm girl from some cornfield in Iowa, but I know how to shoot a gun.”
Operation Zed
Pam reluctantly obeyed Dr. Klein. As she sank down to sit with her back against the wall, her eyes swept the view through the glass doors which separated them from the outside. She could clearly see the nice landscaping and parkway through the glass double doors in the front of the building. A wide circular driveway wrapped around an elegant flower bed giving the building the appearance of a nice hotel or luxury home. Past the circular part, the long driveway straightened out and met the small road that eventually joined the highway. The driveway had flower beds on both sides and a neatly manicured lawn beyond. From Pam’s point of view, the entire outside area seemed deserted.
Pam visualized moving outside where she would be safe from the mad creatures and the crazy doctor. Maybe she could find a way into the parking garage, get into her car, and drive to the closest police station. She pictured bursting into a police station and then trying to get some stern cop to listen to her insane story. Somehow she would have to get somebody to believe her so she could bring back help. This place should be crawling with police and emergency medical responders. All she had to do was get past Dr. Klein and her very large pistol. Then I could try to get help. I’ll either succeed or end up in a mental ward.
The glass doors seem to separate two universes, and I’m on the wrong side. Maybe Dr. Klein’s right to hesitate, but probably not for the right reasons. If I open the door I might let the madness out. Suddenly the thought of the story of Pandora’s Box popped into Pam’s head. Of course, Pam’s world was already full of plenty of evil but this was something
“Don’t expect a nother Nobel prize,” Pam said. Then the bodies thudded against the door again so roughly the heavy steel barrier shook in its frame. Yet none of the people on the other side seemed able to turn the simple handle. They had not been simply rendered insane but also somehow insensible.
“We need to find more help,” Pamela said. “Can we call the police or something? There could still be other people holed up in there too. If I managed to get away then others might be fighting them off or hiding. Those things are determined, but they aren’t exactly smart.”
“ You will not do a thing,” Dr. Klein said coldly. “I am chatting right now with my personal contacts in the military. Can you imagine the potential of a thing like this? Our military could infect a compound of enemies and let them infect and eat each other. We need to have samples preserved so they can be studied.”
“What?” Pam breathed. Her jaw fell in horrified surprise. This woman had unleashed this unimaginable horror, and now she wanted to contain it until she could find somebody who wanted to buy it. I think I’d rather have live enemies than those things.
“No,” P am said decisively. “I’m getting help.” She picked up the desk phone.
But just then she noticed that Dr. Klein had a gun held just below the level of the desk. She had held it out of sight before. Now the older woman raised the pistol slowly, and pointed it deliberately at Pam’s chest for several anxious seconds. Then she slowly and dramatically moved her arm to wave the gun at the wall.
Pam was quite familiar with firearms, but she had never stood on the wrong side of one before. The gun looked huge in the doctor’s slim hand. Pam’s breath hitched in her chest. She must have shot the receptionist. Where’s the guy who answered the phone when I called the main number before?
“Put down the phone and sit patiently by the wall while I work,” Dr. Klein said. “I may not be a farm girl from some cornfield in Iowa, but I know how to shoot a gun.”
Operation Zed
Pam reluctantly obeyed Dr. Klein. As she sank down to sit with her back against the wall, her eyes swept the view through the glass doors which separated them from the outside. She could clearly see the nice landscaping and parkway through the glass double doors in the front of the building. A wide circular driveway wrapped around an elegant flower bed giving the building the appearance of a nice hotel or luxury home. Past the circular part, the long driveway straightened out and met the small road that eventually joined the highway. The driveway had flower beds on both sides and a neatly manicured lawn beyond. From Pam’s point of view, the entire outside area seemed deserted.
Pam visualized moving outside where she would be safe from the mad creatures and the crazy doctor. Maybe she could find a way into the parking garage, get into her car, and drive to the closest police station. She pictured bursting into a police station and then trying to get some stern cop to listen to her insane story. Somehow she would have to get somebody to believe her so she could bring back help. This place should be crawling with police and emergency medical responders. All she had to do was get past Dr. Klein and her very large pistol. Then I could try to get help. I’ll either succeed or end up in a mental ward.
The glass doors seem to separate two universes, and I’m on the wrong side. Maybe Dr. Klein’s right to hesitate, but probably not for the right reasons. If I open the door I might let the madness out. Suddenly the thought of the story of Pandora’s Box popped into Pam’s head. Of course, Pam’s world was already full of plenty of evil but this was something
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