“Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. Think about it, man. Doc Volker infected a psycho serial killer with a bunch of parasites that are probably going to make him even more of a murderous whack job than he already was, and which are likely to spread like wildfire. He said that the infected would be—what’s the word he used?—suborned by the parasite’s need to replicate and feed. We’re talking full-on zombies running around, maybe biting people, maybe doing who knows what to spread the parasite. ”
“Exactly,” agreed Trout.
“Then why in the wide blue fuck are we even thinking about going in there?”
“We’re reporters—”
“Yeah? Save that shit for the rubes, Billy. ”
Trout turned in his seat. “Okay, then all bullshit aside. Everyone knew that this storm was coming, so by now they would have evacuated the middle school and bussed all those kids over to the elementary school. That’s the town shelter point. They’ll probably be bringing in the old folks from Sunrise Home, and anyone who lives in areas likely to flood. That’s—what? Two thousand people? More than half of them kids. ”
“Most of the kids’ parents will have picked them up already?”
“Maybe from east and north, but anyone coming from west and south will have been flooded out. Or, maybe stopped by the military. No matter how you spin it, Goat, there are going to be hundreds of kids and maybe as many old folks and townies who have nowhere else to go. They’re going to be inside that shelter. ”
“Okay. So?”
“So, if they don’t know what they’re facing, then they’re going to take in anyone who comes to the shelter doors. That includes wounded people. People who might have been bitten. You heard what Volker said, this thing is completely infectious. If even one wounded person shows up and they let him in, then Lucifer 113 is going to sweep like wildfire through the shelter. Everyone is going to get sick and die, Goat. And I have a pretty bad feeling that the military is going to let them. ”
Goat turned away. “They can’t just let everyone die. ”
“Yes they can,” Trout said. “We can’t let them. We can’t let Stebbins be erased. ”
Goat shook his head. “Jeez, what are you? Captain Avenger? You don’t even have family in Stebbins anymore. ”
“It’s still my town, Goat. My friends are there. ”
“Dez Fox is there, too, right?” When Trout didn’t answer, Goat nodded to himself. “You’re going to get yourself eaten by zombies or gunned down by the National Guard over some chick who wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire. ”
Trout said nothing.
“Billy, if you go in there, then whatever happens to everyone else is going to happen to you. ”
“Maybe,” Trout snapped. “Or, maybe I get to Dez or JT or someone and they get everyone over to the school and lock it up and we ride this out. ”
“What about the infected?”
“We check for anyone with a bite. Anyone who looks sick. ”
“And do what? Shoot them?”
“Christ, kid, who do you think I am? No, we lock them up. There’s plenty of rooms in the school. … We take all the infected, anyone who even might be infected, and lock them up until this settles down. Then the feds can figure out a way to help them and rescue us. ”
Goat stared at him for a long time. “Damn, I wish I had your optimism. I’d blow my entire paycheck on scratch-off tickets. ” He shook his head. “Look, you can play Captain Avenger, but count me out. I—”
“Don’t worry, Goat, I’m not saying you should come with me. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t. I want you to get out of here. Hitch a ride to Bordentown or someplace. Get someplace where you’re safe. ”
Goat narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Because you’re going to take this stuff with you. ” He fished Volker’s flash drives and his own small recorder out of his pockets. “If things go bad then make sure the truth comes out. ”
Goat made no move to get out. “Billy … this is nuts. ”
“Yeah, well we left ‘sane and normal’ behind the first time Volker said ‘zombie. ’”
“Look,” said Goat, taking the evidence from Trout, “do this for me, okay? Before you do anything else, go to the station and get that little portable satellite uplink we use for field reports. It’s in my office. There’s an old sat phone, too. The army can cut off the phones and the Net, but they’re not going to knock down a satellite. ”