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"You already knohat it is," he asked quietly, "don’t you?"

Riot nodded

Chong closed his eyes for adark behind his eyelids, he saisted threads of bright red forking like lightning inside his personal darkness

Then he opened his eyes and took a tentative sniff He smelled what she had smelled

"No," he said, and his denialyou just could refuse to accept

Riot said nothing

"Whyould anyone do so

"Why do you think?"

The ansas obvious, but it took all his courage to say it "Soeven if he just wounded someonethey’dthey’d"

Words failed hi the arroell away fro’s nose He knew exactly what it was, and why it smelled like cadaverine

The archer had dipped his arrows in the infected flesh of the living dead

And now that infection was burning its way through Chong’s flesh

62

"HONORED ONE!" CRIED SISTER AMY AS SHE DASHED OUT OF THE WOODS

The saint and Brother Peter turned and waited for her to catch up with them Amy was badly winded, and she dropped to her knees before thes

When she could speak without panting, Sister A as he rescued a white-haired girl, tended to her wounds, and spoke with her She told the saint everything and saved the choicest bit for last

Saint John listened, and when she was finished, his eyes blazed with inner light

"Nine towns," he murmured "In central California?"

"Noup there in theto fear except wandering gray people"

"Froirl said," added Sister A beyond their fence lines is wasteland"

"How naive," said Saint John "How arrogant"

He turned and looked toward the northwest as if he could see across all those miles

"Nine towns," he said softly

63

"WE BETTER NOT STAY HERE LONG," SAID BENNY "LET’S TAKE A QUICK look through this stuff, then get the heck out of here before those reapers co They don’t know about all this crazy stuff"

Nix gave a nonco the cabinets and closets in the cockpit

A few seconds later Nix opened one cabinet and ju out Ainto a tiny opening in the control panel Benny squatted down and began poking through the papers Nix picked up thethe froan leafing through the pages in hopes of finding soht provide answers to theup all around them

What he found instead dried the spit in his alloping horse

"Nix!" he hissed "My Godlook at this"

"What is?" She trailed off as she began reading

What they read changed their world

McREADY, MONICA A, MD / FIELD NOTES

Hope 1 / Maj Sancho Ruiz co

Date: December 2, 14 AR

Observation: The specimens collected in the Pacific Northwest represent reanieneral and acute behavioral qualities They have been categorized into the following subgroups:

R1: Reanimates consistent with all known examples prior to 7/22/13 These are the standard "sloalkers" All field-tested subjects scored in the expected range of 21 to 36 on the Seldon Scale

Specimens: 26 (coded yellow)

R2: Moderatelythe behavior first recorded by Colonel G Dietrich in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in July of last year Tissue sa tentatively places these subjects in the 44 to 51 range of the Seldon Scale

Specimens: 4 (coded blue)

R3: Acutely mobile reanimates ("runners") This is an entirely new classification; however, it verifies reports by independent witnesses dating 9/14/14 and later Subjects display aspeed and the capability of coordinated running over short distances Sensory acuity appears to be correspondingly increased Lienerally in the 65 to 75 range on the Seldon Scale If this is verified, then we are seeing the first incidents of reanireen)

Addendum: The two collected specimens are the only survivors of at least seven observed cases Other speci attempts to capture them From (as yet) unverified observation, it appears that there roups within the R3’s

R3/A: These reani over/around obstacles, including rando as the obstacles are stationary They did not, however, display co obstacles introduced into their paths There appears to be some disconnect with perception and reaction time

R3/B: These reanimates were not only able to run over/around obstacles, but they demonstrated a marked ability to avoid additional obstacles introduced at varying speeds NOTE: One such specimen avoided a rock thrown at its head and atte cart shoved at it by one of the soldiers in our detail It failed in its attempt, however, and was subsequently put down by the soldier

R3/C: One observed species It was able to negotiate obstacles and avoid many of the objects thrown at it or tossed into its path; and it de tendency to use siht, it used rocks and sticks as clubs and even threw (ineffectually) a stone at one of the soldiers

R3/D: It is this specimen that most disturbs me In the absence of forrasp certain concepts, particularly stealth and subterfuge It appeared to hide behind an overturned car and wait until a soldier walked past, at which point it attacked the soldier, inflicting a serious bite While other soldiers pursued it, the speciait to imitate the sloalkers As a result, two additional soldiers received bites Though both wounds were superficial, the infection did take hold In light of secondhand observation only and no foration, I hesitate to rate this subspecies according to the Seldon Scale However, Dr Han and Maj Dietrich both suggested that it would probably rate in the high 8’s If they are correct, and if this is anything ional fluke, this is a potential disaster

NOTE D1: All three of the soldiers ere bitten expired within seventy-two hours

NOTE D2: Two of the three soldiers reanimated

NOTE D3: One of the reanimated soldiers (Lance Corporal Herschel Cohen) displayed all the behavior patterns of the classic sloalker