by J. R. Knoll
As the corporal slung his weapon over his shoulder and removed a set of handcuffs from behind him, Zoe's eyes were wide with fear as she watched him, turning to keep facing him and resisting even after he took her wrist and twisted it to turn her back.
Doctor Caswell took the girl's shoulders and held her firmly, ordering, "Zoe. Zoe! Look at me!"
Tears streamed from Zoe's eyes as she whined, "But I didn't do anything wrong! I'll pay for the stuff I took in the store, I promise! I was just hungry!" She turned her head and looked behind her as best she could as the handcuffs loudly buzzed around her wrist.
Rachel took the girl's head in her hands and turned her attention forcibly back to her. "Zoe, listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong, okay? This is just a precaution to make certain nobody gets hurt. It isn't your fault. Just relax, Honey. It will be all right."
Zoe kept her gaze on the doctor's as her other wrist was tightly cuffed, then she lowered her eyes and nodded, her jaw quivering as she conceded in a whisper, "Okay."
In no time they had her inside the Stryker and strapped tightly in her seat with a four point harness that had two straps over her shoulders meeting a buckle that connected the two straps that met over her hips. She could barely move at all and it was clear that this setup was meant for prisoners. She kept her head down and would look at no one, just the floor in front of her and her gray, bare feet held closely together close to her seat. She did not feel like she had done anything wrong, anything that would warrant being treated like this. It was upsetting, simply adding to the trauma she had experienced over the last four days.
Doctor Caswell took the seat beside her and the big man they called Tex took the other.
As the machines lurched forward and their journey began, Zoe was quiet, very reserved and huddled herself as small as she could as best she could.
"Can I see what you have in your bag?" Rachel asked as pleasantly as she could manage.
Hesitantly, the girl just shrugged.
Doctor Caswell rose from her seat and unsteadily made her way to the shopping basket that had Zoe's teddy bear and sack. The moving Stryker made this a chore but she made it, got the sack and sat back down. Rummaging through, she raised her brow and a "Hmm…" sounded from her. She extracted the toothbrush, the deodorant, then the first bottle of pills, and this she studied for a moment. She squinted slightly as she read, "Atomoxetine. Huh." She looked to the girl and said, "This explains a lot. Why do you take these?"
Zoe shrugged again and mumbled, "It is supposed to help me cope with stuff."
"Kind of levels you out?" Rachel pressed gently.
With another little nod, Zoe confirmed as best she could, "I guess so."
Rachel nodded back ever so slightly as she looked back to the bottle. "This could also explain even more. It looks like we have some work to do when we get back."
**
Zoe had never liked hospitals and she found herself being escorted through one by a doctor and a soldier, both dressed in black commando gear. And she was in handcuffs. The looks and stares from those people who milled about, mostly those in medical scrubs, police uniforms or soldier's camouflage, did not bother her as much as the prospect of another examination, or worse, getting a shot!
The place was, of course, clean, mostly white and very sterile looking. Checkpoints were ever so often and there were more soldiers about than should have been. Solders and police and others with guns were encountered many times during her trek deep into the hospital. An elevator ride took them into the basement, into the area where X-rays and labs were. This area seemed just as sterile and artificial lighting made it seem even more so.
Her stomach crawled nervously and she glanced about the few times she actually looked up from the floor.
"Just relax," Doctor Caswell advised. "We're going to see a colleague of mine who may just be able to help you."
The lower level of the hospital was a maze of hallways. They would go through a lobby and into a room somewhere only to end up in another hallway.
"What time is it?" Zoe asked in a slight voice.
Rachel glanced at her. "What, Honey?"
"What time is it?" the girl repeated. "I have to take my medicine at seven, after dinner. Dinner is at six and I have to take my medicine right after. Right after."
Tex asked, "Are you hungry?"
She was, but only shrugged.
"Feel like eating brains?" he asked with a teasing tone.
Zoe glanced at him and grimaced, snarling back, "That's nasty."
"Just kidding," he assured.
"She won't get it," Doctor Caswell informed with a disapproving tone. "Trust me on this."
He shrugged. "Sure, Doc."
They finally approached a door that was different from the others. No door handle, no windows and a keypad of some kind to the right. Doctor Caswell removed a card from her pocket and waved it over the keypad, there was a beep and the doors hissed open.
Inside was an elaborate laboratory, a spacious place with many work stations, computers, jars and bottles of liquids and powders in glass door cabinets. Two examination tables were in the middle of the room, each with an array of lights overhead. Metal instrument tables sat at each as well, tables that were covered with light blue cloths to conceal what lay on them. A desk at the far end to the right looked out of place. It was an attractive oak desk with comfortable looking cushioned wooden chairs sitting on the opposite side from where the tall back chair of the same design was occupied by a simple looking man in a white lab coat, a man who wore thick rimmed black glasses and had thinning black hair that had gone silver at his temples. He looked up at them as they entered and his eyes widened. Slowly, he stood and shifted his glasses as if to focus better, his mouth hanging open as his gaze was fixed on the girl who was being brought to him.
Zoe did not study him for long before turning her eyes down again, and even as she heard him approach with slow, hesitant steps, she would not look up again.
"Doctor Kavorski," Rachel greeted. "We have someone here we thought you should meet."
"Amazing," he breathed as he approached.
Having seen many doctors in her life and having been poked and prodded, tested and retested until there was simply nothing left to check for, Zoe was used to this kind of treatment. But this time she did not have the comfort of her parents, she did not know these people and she was handcuffed! Aside from that, she still did not understand what was going on, what was happening, or why this was being done to her. She had no way to. Even as Doctor Kavorski pulled on a rubber glove and lifted her chin to look into her face, she would not look at him, instead keeping her eyes directed across the room.
"I'll need to give her a full examination right away," Kavorski insisted. "I'm stunned here. A zombie with green eyes."
Zoe insisted in a meek voice, "I'm not a zombie."
Kavorski drew a breath, taking a step back as he stared at her with wide eyes, then he shifted his gaze to Caswell.
Rachel took a bottle of the girl's pills from her pocket and tossed them to the other doctor. "I think we may just have a key right here."
Catching the pills, he adjusted his glasses again as he read the label, then his eyes slid to Doctor Caswell.
"She retains all of her cognitive abilities," Rachel informed, "and she does not rely on a diet of raw meat or living victims. In fact, her diet seems rather normal for a girl her age."
"I like Spaghetti-O's," the girl said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the floor before her.
With a slow nod, Doctor Kavorski said, "So do I. I like them a lot. Doctor Caswell, perhaps we should get her strapped to a table and get this examination going."
Zoe tensed up, drawing her shoulders up as she shook her head.
Gently rubbing the girl's back, Rachel assured, "It's only a precaution, Zoe. We aren't going to hurt you." She looked to the sergeant and asked, "Mind giving us a hand with her?"
He glanced at the girl and stammered, "Um… Uh, you sure that
's appropriate? She's just a kid."
"Under the circumstances," Doctor Kavorski insisted as he took the girl's other arm from the soldier, "I don't think it will matter. She may just unlock some of the secrets we've been looking for."
Zoe was taken to the first examination table and Rachel turned her by the arm, ordering, "Okay, let's get her undressed. Sergeant, I need you to take those handcuffs off of her and hold her while we get her prepped."
A little whimper escaped the girl and she bowed her head again as she started to cry.
Tex took her under the chin with his gloved hand and raised her eyes to his, an authoritative tone to his voice as he ordered, "Don't give us no problems, Kiddo, or no ice cream after supper."
Drawing a deep gasp, Zoe's eyes lit up and she barked, "There's ice cream?"
A little smile touched his lips and he nodded, confirming, "Three flavors of soft serve and two different kinds of cones."
"And I can have some after we eat dinner?" she pressed.
The doctors exchanged puzzled looks.
"If," Tex stressed, "you cooperate and let these doctors give you a physical."
She nodded eagerly and turned her back to him, informing, "I really like strawberry! Is there strawberry?"
He smiled again and took the keys from his pocket, inserting one into the handcuffs as he assured, "There's strawberry. That's my favorite, too."
As soon as her hands were free, she pulled them in front of her and stripped her shirt off, then she reached for the belt around her waist, unbuckling it quickly before she fumbled with the button to her shorts.
Tex looked to Doctor Caswell as the girl stripped completely, and he raised his brow.
She smiled back and shrugged. "You do have your way with the girls, Sergeant."
Once Zoe had stripped down, folded her clothing and undergarments and laid them on the instrument table, she hopped up onto the examination table and grasped the edges with both hands as she sat there and looked to Doctor Caswell. "Do you need to test my reflexes with that little hammer first? My doctor does that."
Doctor Kavorski moved the blue cover and the girl's clothing from the instrument table and advised, "Perhaps a little later. Let's get you lying flat and we'll see what we have."
"Okay," the girl complied as she lay to her back and put her feet on the other end. "This thing's cold," she complained. Laying her head down, she asked, "May I have a pillow?"
Kavorski looked to his colleague and informed, "She's cold. How long ago was she bitten?"
"Four days," Rachel confirmed as she reached to the edge of the table, underneath.
Zoe tensed up again as the two doctors, now standing on opposite sides of the table, wrapped padded restraints around her wrists and buckled them tightly. She drew a deep breath, feeling herself become afraid again as she looked to Tex with begging eyes and she asked, "Do you really have to do that?"
"It's just a precaution," Rachel assured as she and Kavorski went to the other end of the table.
Zoe felt similar restraints being wrapped around her ankles and something pulled tightly over her knees. The whole time she kept her eyes on Tex, hoping that he would intervene and not allow them to strap her down.
Doctor Kavorski had one more to put on her and her head whipped around as he took it from under the examination table. It was bigger and had two rings in the sides.
Kavorski looked to Tex and asked, "Sergeant, would you mind holding her head down?"
Horror was in the girl's eyes as she looked back to Tex, and she whimpered, her mouth quivering, and tears filled her eyes again.
The big man approached and took her jaw in his powerful hand as he looked into her eyes and countered, "I won't need to, because she's gonna be good so that she can have that ice cream later."
The promise of the ice cream distracted her from what she was doing and she raised her brow a little as she looked back at him.
He raised his brow and urged, "Right?"
She nodded in his grip and confirmed, "Right. I like strawberry."
Doctor Kavorski slipped the last cuff around her neck and buckled it, then he reached for a nylon strap that was under the table. It was adjustable with a single pull and had a clasp that he quickly connected to the collar. Moving quickly to the other side, he took another and clasped it in place, pulling it tight.
"Do we muzzle her?" Doctor Caswell asked.
"I don't think so," Sergeant Tex answered, still looking down at the girl. "She's okay now. Just do what you gotta do."
The doctors looked to each other, then Caswell informed, "Okay, Sergeant, I guess we're done with you for now. You can go and get something to eat, or whatever you military people do when you're off duty."
Panic began to well up in the girl again and she whimpered, "Don't go."
Tex raised his chin slightly and asked, "You want me to stay?"
Zoe nodded in quick motions.
He looked to Caswell and suggested, "It might make your job a little easier if she's at ease."
"I think it will be fine," Kavorski assured. "Why don't you hold her hand and talk to her while we…" His eyes narrowed and he strode to the other end of the table, looking down at her feet. "I need to gauge her reaction to something." He grabbed onto her foot with one hand and scratched the bottom of it with the other.
Zoe broke out into hysterical giggles and struggled against the bonds holding her, then she screamed in laughter, finally squealing, "Stop!"
Kavorski did, and once again he turned his eyes to his colleague. "Well, we know this one's ticklish. Make a note."
"What does that mean?" Tex asked.
Rachel answered as she scribbled in a notebook, "She isn't supposed to be. The virus should have rewritten her entire brain by now and knocked out most of her sensory nerves, but…" She shook her head. "I have a feeling we're about to prove my theory."
The examination took a long time, but Kavorski and Tex kept breaking up the tension in different ways, ways only a playful little girl could respond to.
Zoe was eventually unstrapped and allowed to get herself dressed, but they gave her hospital scrubs to dress in as they wanted to examine and then wash the clothing she had been found in. The scrubs fit her a little big, but she did not seem to mind. They were pink with cartoon designs on them and she enjoyed wearing them. With surgical booties on her feet, she combed her hand through her hair and looked up at Tex, offering a big smile as she asked, "I was good, right?"
He nodded and confirmed, "Yeah, you were good."
"What time is it?" she asked.
Kavorski checked his watch and replied, "Two minutes after six." He continued scribbling in his note pad and inquired, "Do you have somewhere to be?"
She looked down and counted on her fingers, "Six is dinner time, then I have to take my medicine, then I have to shower, and then I get to watch TV before I go to bed."
His eyes sliding to his colleague, Kavorski raised his brow and observed, "She clings to the same routine she always has. I think tomorrow we'll test her for Asperger's Syndrome and then give her a brain scan to see what's going on in there."
"I have Asperger's," Zoe informed almost grimly. "I have pills that are supposed to even me out. Mom says I shouldn't miss taking my pills otherwise I'll have a meltdown."
Doctor Kavorski nodded to her and asked, "Can you remember on your own?" When she nodded, he looked to Tex and said, "Both of her medications are on the instrument table. Just make sure she takes them." He looked back to the girl and asked, "Are you hungry?"
She nodded again and informed, "It's almost dinner time, then Tex promised me I could have ice cream."
"Very good," the Doctor commended. He looked to Caswell and advised, "I don't think it would be wise to lock her up with the others. Why don't we see about a secure room where we can keep an eye on her?"
"How about ICU," Rachel suggested. "We have a guard's station right there and we can train cameras on her to keep watch just in case something happens."
Tex did not seem very enthusiastic about the assignment, but he looked into the girl's hopeful green eyes and nodded, assuring, "Yeah, I'll take care of her. You mind calling the Colonel and letting him know?"
"Will do," Kavorski assured.
**
The hospital cafeteria was about half filled with survivors and soldiers who were having dinner, and all conversation suddenly stopped as Tex escorted his little zombie ward into the dining area. This was a spacious room with seating for over a hundred. The brightly colored carpet was in intricate designs, the wallpaper was bright and cheery and the lighting was not too bright, setting the perfect mood for an evening meal.
Zoe did not notice the looks people gave her, and was really not even interested. She carried her tray to the table the big soldier directed her to and set it down, then sat down and looked to the meal that was prepared for her. As she saw him sit down and pick up his fork, she insisted, "We have to say grace before we can eat."
He froze and locked his gaze on her, then he raised his brow.
**
It was decided to move her to a hospital suite on the second floor and away from more sensitive parts of the resistance operation. This was a spacious room with a full bath and a window that overlooked one of the carefully landscaped gardens right outside. The bed was perfectly made and the girl's scrubs lay neatly folded where she had left them. The two doctors waited by the bed. Kavorski still scribbled in his note pad and Rachel leaned on the bed with her arms folded and watched the half open bathroom door. The sounds of a shower were coming from there, a lot of splashing.
Doctor Kavorski looked up from his note pad toward the bathroom, asking, "So how long is she going to stay in there?"
Caswell shrugged. "She's a teenage girl, so God only knows."
Sergeant Tex entered with his weapon slung over his shoulder and Zoe's clothes neatly folded in his hand, and he stopped right inside the door, which was only a few feet from the bathroom door. Glancing at the bathroom, he looked to the doctors and asked, "She's still in there?"