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"He’s fine!" I insisted, curling ht here"

His eyes hardened "That’s not going to happen" He tried again to pull Philip’s li sound I had no idea I could uard dropped Philip’s hand and juhtened into a thin line and he pulled a Taser froonna suck Marcus had once described being tasered--which he’d had to experience in order to carry one on duty His words: "That shit fucking hurts If anyone ever tells you to co comply!"

But I wouldn’t…couldn’t…comply with this All I kneas that Philip needed to stay with er

I squeezed my eyes shut and bracedinto uard could fire, Dr Charish’s voice came over the speaker "Stand down Leave the subject as he is We’ll coet our sae to stick uard with the Taser He lookedto "accidentally" tase uised distaste For the first tiht None of the blood had been cleaned up, and it was starting to congeal to a stickyas a thick s blood came aith it I definitely looked like a monster noas sure of it

Dr Charish entered, flanked by two eous blue eyes, and the other had a nose that had clearly been broken a few ti," she said, eyes shining with a fervor that seeore present in the room "The way the parasite works is a study in brilliance This…this is the work of a lifeti the fuck off, bitch look I gave her "I need to get samples from you both now" She tilted her head "Tell o driven by the parasite? Does it feel like an instinctive need, or do you simply not want to be left alone in here?"

"Get the fuck away from us, you psycho bitch," I snarled

She reached a hand to Philip, then had to backpedal as I took a swing at her "Fascinating," she said with a breathless chuckle "An attachreat deal, such as why Marcus is so taken with you"

I set Philip down and leaped over him in an explosive move that could only be accomplished with zombie super speed, and in the next breath I was on Dr Charish with my hands around her throat

Aaaaanndd…the next breath after that, I learned just how much it hurt to be tasered

An eternity or so later the searing pain stopped IDr Charish to her feet Shivers of pain echoed through my body, and I could still feel two sharp points where the probes had eel, please," Dr Charish said, coughing a bit as she straightened her clothing "I don’t want to hurt you"

I let out a dry laugh "A bit late for that, don’t you think?" Before I could think about it too rabbed the tires and yanked the probes out of my skin Pain flared briefly, but thankfully settled within a couple of seconds as ood little parasite, I silently crooned Too bad awith the decrease in pain

"Here’s what I don’t understand," I said as I crabbed my way back toward Philip "Why’d you have Ed kill those other zombies? Why not kidnap them the way you did et investors to co a live specimen would entail," she explained "And, if you must know, I had actually intended to have Ed obtain a live zoht before I could do so"

I narrowedthe serial killer"

"Yes I couldn’t be sure what he was up to, and it was necessary to keep him out of the way But, in all fairness, he was the serial killer," she pointed out "Now hold still while I get saave ly extended ave you," I said

"Just the one so far," she corrected absently as she slid the needle into e until it was full of blood "It takes an enorenerate that much tissue" She pulled the needle free and stuck a piece of gauze on the puncture site

"Oh, I see," I said "You just did the one, but you didn’t have enough real brains, so you tried to use Sofia’s fake brains," I said "But so That’s why Zeke looked so old and why he died when he fell"

She let out a soft sigh as she repeated the blood-drawing routine on Philip "That’s right It mutated the parasite to where it couldn’t survive The subject would have died soon even if he hadn’t fallen But I’ve since modified the brain substitute for again"