Zombie Fever: Evolution Read Online Free Page A

bumbling about looking for food.” The intern paused, catching his breath. “Why would you ask if it is zombie fever? Are you a patient here? If you are, you should get to your room. If you’re visiting, go home. The government is advising citizens to lock themselves in their flats, preferably in their bomb shelters for the time being and until everything is under control.” He hurried off and disappeared around a corner.
    More inhuman shrieks emanating from the emergency room echoed through the hallway.
    Abigail returned to the elevators and ascended to the eighth floor.
    She suspected that the only people in Singapore who really knew what was happening were the reality show racing teams. They’d seen zombies infected with the new strain. What did Bertrand call it? The Hawk? IHS-2?
    She ran down the hallway towards the front of the building and looked down at the street below. Orchard Road below was the center point of Singapore life. It was a materialist’s paradise, with shopping center after shopping center filled with designer labels and five-star restaurants. The buildings were flash and modern, the architecture cutting edge. It was a dynamic and exciting place.
    But what she saw in the fading light made her realize that she and Jamie had to get away from the town center as quickly as possible.
    There were lines of police in full riot gear marching in rows down the middle of the road. Large armored buses with water cannons were pushing back ordinary citizens and tourists alike off the main road and down the side streets. Apparently, the authorities believed that getting people off the streets was the most pragmatic use of their police power.
    Directly below the hospital, Abigail saw a man in shredded clothing and makeup, undeniably one of those line dancers from the TV show finale, run head long into the riot police, arms flailing, bouncing off their long plastic shields.
    The nearest officer beat his head into a bloody smear on the blacktop.
    Abigail turned and ran to Jamie’s room.
    She was fast asleep.
    Abigail shook her repeatedly, “Jamie! Wake up! Jamie!”
    “Huh? Wah? Is the doctor here?” she asked, her voice thick with opiates.
    “The doctor’s not coming. Jamie, Norris must have turned zombie as we suspected. Somehow the virus has spread to those crowds of dancers we ran through on the way to the finale. There are riot police everywhere downstairs. We have to get out of here!”
    Jamie fought through the haze of sedatives and painkillers. She shook her head and took a drink of water from the plastic cup at her bedside and whispered, “Abigail, I’m not going anywhere with this broken leg.” She swallowed. “My family. You have to get home and get our families out of Singapore. You saw what was happening in Kota Tinggi. Please, go to Bishan and get our families to safety!” She grabbed Abigail’s hand. “I’ll be alright here. See? There’s a lock on the door. I’ll be safe until the authorities get here. I’m in the most prominent hospital in all of Singapore. I’m sure evacuating the patients here is high priority. In fact, isn’t a Brunei prince having a heart procedure done here? Take the money and stash it in your house and get our families out before the virus spreads island wide. You remember what that Vitura guy told us: this form of the virus has an incubation period of less than an hour. By morning, the island will be crawling with infected.”
    Tears welled in Abigail’s eyes.
    She knew Jamie was right.
    Supervisor Bertrand had been proud of his new bioengineered IHS-2 virus and bragged about its potency with a perverse pride. She didn’t know when the authorities would quarantine the entire city-state. It wouldn’t take long before they realized they were dealing with an epidemic. She had an hour, maybe two, to get Jamie’s family and hers on a boat or plane before they shut down all avenues of escape.
    “Okay, I’ll get our families to safety. But I’m not leaving