“Return of the Living Dead: The Untold Story” By Chris McWilliams

 

As Sharon Gold rolled over and opened her eyes, she was suddenly startled fully awake by a man’s voice on her radio saying, “This just in, there have been reports of a massive explosion in the downtown Louisville, Kentucky area.    Eyewitness accounts ARE sketchy but some have reported hearing an ominous whistling sound just before the early morning blast…” Sharon leaned over and turned the radio up, WHAT THE FUCK she thought, as she strained to listen for more information.

 

The voice continued, “At this time there is little known about what happened, but there are fire and medical crews from all over the county rushing to help deal with the devastation that estimates tell us destroyed upward to 20 square blocks of the town and may have killed thousands, meanwhile there have been strange reports of some kind of odd ACID rain in the area and complaints to local emergency rooms and hospitals of burning skin.”   

***

Colonel Horace Glover sat in his office listening to the news reports and looking at the printed page of information that had JUST been handed to him by his assistant, an eager if somewhat overzealous man named Grady.

 

The page was provided by his higher ups in Washington and was the cover story they had concocted to deal with the mess in Louisville.    Apparently, according to the document, they were going to claim that the weapon that fired on Louisville had malfunctioned during a test.    It wasn’t even SUPPOSED to fire and certainly wasn’t SUPPOSED to be armed with live nuclear ordinance.

 

Of course the poor bastard running the weapon, Jefferson, Glover thought his name was, was going to be the scapegoat and in case he took exception to that and wanted to talk, he had already been shipped to Nome, Alaska to carry out routine radar duty, thus allowing them to place as much of the blame as possible on him.

 

Of course in the end they ALL knew that the Army would have to take some lumps itself.   There would be all sorts of public outcry, calls for investigations, the whole dog and pony show but Glover ALSO KNEW that it was necessary.

 

He himself had played a role in ordering the attack on Louisville and he did it because he KNEW there was no other way.   The Trioxid canisters had already been breached, the damage had been done.    The ONLY way to stop the things that the gas created was to totally destroy their bodies and that was what they did, although in the back of his mind he had wished there had been another way.   

 

Sure there was a small group of scientists working in secret on alternatives SHOULD such a situation arise again, they even had some luck working on a much more sophisticated version of a liquid nitrogen weapon that had been improvised the FIRST time the gas got loose but nothing that would have helped them now, AND with President Reagan touring the area later that day they didn’t have TIME for another way.

 

Suddenly a knock on Glover’s door shook him out of his thoughts, it was Grady.   The two exchanged the standard salutes and Grady said, “Sir, I think it’s time, the press is outside and they’re getting a little restless.”    Glover took a deep breath, now came the part he ALWAYS hated, dealing with the civilian press.    They could be like a pack of wild dogs, and he always felt he was standing out there with pork chop underwear.   Taking a deep breath he walked out of the room to face them.

***

As Sharon Gold drove full speed toward Louisville, Kentucky she had her car radio tuned to whatever station she could get clearly enough to hear the latest news.     She was just a small town reporter but, if she did say so herself, her daily article The Gold Standard was becoming a force to be reckoned with, and was starting to be syndicated in papers all over the area, that would be just the start IF she could dig up something on this blast.

 

As she continued to listen, the voice on the radio said, “now we go live to a press conference being held by Army Colonel Horace Glover who has been dealing with this crisis since the blast was first reported.”     There was silence except for the murmuring and shuffling of a crowd of people, then a man cleared his throat and said, “Good morning.   As I’m sure you all KNOW by now I am Colonel Horace Glover and I have been sent here from California to deal with the effects of today’s blast.   First, let me say that our investigation into the cause is STILL ongoing but at the moment it APPEARS that an overzealous soldier and a weapons malfunction during an early morning training exercise resulted in a low yield nuclear shell being fired into the center of Louisville, Kentucky.    However, let me assure you that those in the area ARE NOT at risk of radiation exposure, as those of you who have been on the military beat for awhile are aware, the weapon in question is designed to do massive damage to buildings and people but to leave no noticeable radiation behind, the radiation levels, even in the center of the attack zone, are nominal especially in small doses.    However, in an attempt to limit any risk and to help with rescue and recovery, my men are even now, sealing off the blast area as we prepare to render whatever aid the local government sees fit.    Now, I will take questions, but as I’m sure you can imagine I have only a little time so we will have to make it brief.”

 

Sharon couldn’t believe her ears; the story COULD be even juicier than she had dreamed.   She could see her headline now MILITARY INCOMPETENCE LEADS TO DEATH OF THOUSANDS, she could ride this story to national press, maybe even to TELEVISION, which she saw as the future of journalism.

 

At this point Sharon pushed her foot down on the accelerator, she HAD to get there BEFORE someone beat her to the story.

***

Colonel Glover stood at the podium looking at the sea of people trying to get him to take THEIR questions.   CHRIST! he thought, HOW DID I GET STUCK WITH THIS JOB?    SURE I’VE SPENT MOST OF MY MILITARY CAREER ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THOSE FUCKING CANNISTERS AND STUDYING EVERYTHING THERE WAS ON THEM, BUT THIS…

 

Glover scanned the crowd; he KNEW what each and every one of them was going to ask.   He had dealt with either them or their bosses in the past and KNEW what their particular ‘angle’ on the story would be.    

 

Glover was about to plunge in when suddenly he got a reprieve.   Grady walked up to him, and leaned in to whisper in his ear.      As much as Glover was worried it was BAD news he was relieved when he finally had to return to the microphone and say, “I’m sorry, we have breaking developments and I must close this press conference now…”

 

The mass of reporters ALL stood and started shouting their questions ANYWAY, trying to get SOMETHING from Glover, who simply turned and left without paying them ANY attention.

***

Captain Wilkes had been on the scene from the start, ordering the men under him to block off all access to the blast zone to anyone OTHER than official personnel, and while at first it had been rough keeping the local press, loved ones and looky loos out of the area they had, after a couple of hours, managed to seal off the area totally, tight as a drum one of Wilkes men told him when asked.

 

Several local fire stations had sent a mass of trucks that had been working for a long time to get the fires out and while they TOO were making progress, it was slow and there was a weird yellowish smoke all over the area, and while they all had masks to prevent them from breathing in TOO much, they didn’t seem to help totally.

 

Some of Captain Wilkes’ OWN men were coming down with some kind of weird case of smoke inhalation.   They were coughing, which was NORMAL, but what wasn’t was how pale they were looking and that they seemed to have some kind of headaches and they all had the chills.

 

At first Wilkes thought it MIGHT be some form of fatigue combined with smoke inhalation, so he excused those affected and ordered them to take a nap and come back when they felt better, but so far they only seemed to be getting worse.

 

A medic named Parkhurst ran over to Captain Wilkes and in his excitement forgot all protocol, simply saying, “come here sir you HAVE to see this.”    “What is it?” Wilkes said, TRYING to keep his voice as devoid of worry as he could.   “It’s the men you sent to be checked out, there is something really weird going on with them.”

***

Glover, once again seated behind his desk, held in one hand a telephone receiver and in the other a double scotch, no ice.    He wasn’t normally one to drink on duty but what he was HEARING NOW left him little choice.

 

The voice on the other end of the phone was a local hospital doctor, he was calling to report a number of strange cases that he was convinced were tied to the explosion that morning.    As it turned out the man was right, but Glover couldn’t TELL HIM that.

 

“…did you hear me Colonel Glover?” The man said angrily.     “Yes, Doctor I did and I tell you again, there is NO way that the cases you’re reporting to me are CONNECTED to OUR weapon.   As I said in my press conference a few minutes ago this weapon, while nuclear based, is LOW YIELD there is no danger of radiation.”    “I HEARD that, Colonel,” the man said harshly, “but I think we both KNOW that’s BULLSHIT!”

 

“WITH ALL DUE RESPECT DOCTOR,” Glover said, losing his temper, “THERE IS NO CONNECTION, NOW IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME I HAVE A LOT TO DO.” “I’m sure,” the doctor said, “cover ups are VERY time consuming.” 

 

Before Glover could respond the doctor hung up, leaving Glover to slam his phone down hard in anger and stare out in front of him.    Mentally he went over the checklist of symptoms that the doctor had given him: intense headache, chills, and pale complexion….   Then there were the complaints of burning skin he had been hearing about since the earliest parts of the operation.    Glover was beginning to think that this Operation Cleansing Fire was a bad idea after all, and he KNEW that the doctor he had been talking to was likely to be a problem he was going to have to deal with, and SOON.

***

Doctor Miller fumed, he DIDN’T really expect this Colonel Glover to ADMIT to a correlation between their weapon and the patients he was treating, after all the Army didn’t exactly have a great track record when it came to admitting fault, but he didn’t really expect the man to be such a dismissive ass.

 

Miller took a deep breath and tried to think of what to do next.    He had already examined half a dozen patients on his own, and he KNEW there were many others being treated by other doctors here, and even in OTHER hospitals, they ALL had the same symptoms but NO one had figured out the CAUSE yet, he had been reaching when he called Glover to check on the possibility of some kind of radiation poisoning, especially since the symptoms didn’t really indicate radiation.

 

Rubbing his already bleary eyes he didn’t notice the nurse who had walked up to him until she spoke “Doctor,” she said trying to get his attention.   “Yes,” Doctor Miller said flatly, “here are the results of the tests you ordered.”

 

Eagerly, Doctor Miller took the folder the nurse offered, nodded and muttered a quick thanks.     However, when he scanned the information he was disappointed and puzzled.    The information HAD to be some kind of MISTAKE.

 

“What’s going on nurse?” Doctor Miller asked.   “I don’t know,” the nurse said, confused, “what’s wrong?”    “What’s wrong?” Doctor Miller asked in a harsh tone tinged with fatigue.   “These tests are all messed up, look at these numbers.”

 

The nurse took the file and then she understood what the Doctor was complaining about.    “These results, they have to be some kind of error.”   “No doubt,” Doctor Miller said dismissively, “IF they WERE RIGHT then our patients would be DEAD.”

***

Mike and Pete were getting a late start today.    They KNEW they had to mow the grounds of the Restful Hills cemetery where they worked, as well as do some careful weeding around the graves and collect and toss out the dead flowers left by visitors but with the explosion in Louisville and all the extra traffic they had gotten in late.

 

Pete had been a caretaker at Restful Hills for years and while he wasn’t always the MODEL employee he was very good, that was why when Mike came in the day before yesterday he had been assigned to train the kid.

 

Pete thought that Mike was an ok kind of kid, he was still in high school and was just taking this job to make some fun money, however he could tell that unlike many other such kids they had taken on in the past, he took the job SERIOUSLY enough, he even (without being told) removed his earrings and hid his tattoos, under decent looking work clothes.

 

“Where do you think we should start?” Mike asked Pete eagerly.     “First thing kid,” Pete said, sounding like a teacher showing his pupil some new task to learn, “is the mowing, we usually start on the outer edge of the grounds and work our way around.”

 

As he said this Pete opened up the front gates and they walked inside.    Almost instantly Pete KNEW there was something wrong, they had noticed some kind of weird yellowish cloud hanging over the cemetery on their way in and had dismissed it as some kind of pollution or something, but once they got inside they could smell a weird smell.

 

“What’s that awful smell,” Mike asked, covering his nose.   “Hell if I know,” Pete said, “never smelt anything like THAT before.”   Then Pete spied several figures moving in the distance.    “Who’s that?” Pete asked pointing in their direction, hoping that Mike’s younger eyes could make the figures out.    “Don’t know, can’t tell from here.” Mike said “maybe some of the other guys.”

 

“What other guys, we’re the only ones on duty?” Pete said shouting “WHOSE THERE!”    The figures turned and Pete THOUGHT he could hear them moan “BRAINS!” then they came running toward where they were standing. 

 

As they got closer Pete noticed in confusion and disgust, that they looked like misshapen and rotting corpses only they were up running around and moaning, “BRAINS,” over and over again.   Then before they could make a move the figures were on them.

***

Sharon Gold pulled her car as close to the devastated area as she possibly could.   She had already had to evade several Army roadblocks and take a lot of back roads to get where she was and NOW she was sure that she had reached the point were she would HAVE to continue on foot.

 

Grabbing her mini-recorder and her camera she locked up her car, and started heading for the devastated area of Louisville, trying to figure out HOW she was going to get inside and hoping that Colonel Glover was telling the truth when he said there were no dangerous levels of radiation in the area.

 

As she made her way across the empty field TRYING to reach the devastated area, she started trying to marshal the FACTS she KNEW about what had happened, so she could TRY and find an angle.     After a couple of minutes she was about to pull out her notebook and check the information she had jotted down at a stoplight earlier when she saw movement in the distance.

 

SHIT!   She thought, THEY HAVE PATROLS THIS FAR OUT?    Looking around she found a large tree and quickly ducked behind it, peeking out to try and see WHO was walking around out there.

 

After a few minutes she saw two figures walking through the field, they were Army all right, she could make out their uniforms, but there was something odd about them.    At first she couldn’t put her finger on it there was just something odd about the way they moved, then as they got closer she began to notice some disturbing details about them.

 

The first thing she noticed was how dirty and torn their uniforms were, that in of itself didn’t strike her strange, after all she had heard just before she hit town that the Army had come in, at the request of the Kentucky governor, sealed off the effected area and had taken over the rescue and recovery effort, so the fact that the soldiers were now wearing torn and dirty uniforms after hours of work didn’t seem all that odd, what DID however was what she noticed NEXT.

 

The two soldiers were covered in blood.    At first that too didn’t seem odd, after all they MAY have had to deal with bodies, body parts or survivors (while surviving the direct hit would have been impossible there was still SOME chance of survivors in the outlying areas) and that would get them bloody, but then she noticed a good deal of the blood was on their faces and when she got a good look at their faces she saw they looked pale and inhuman.

 

Suddenly, they stopped walking and looking very much like dogs picking up a scent, they raised their noses into the air and started to smell… they stood sniffing for several minutes, at which point Sharon pulled her head back behind the tree and closed her eyes, praying they wouldn’t somehow discover her hiding there.

 

Then the silence was broken, as the pair of soldiers seemed to moan… “Brains!   Brains!” Sharon forced herself to peek out from behind the tree again, and this time she saw the two soldiers RUNNING toward where she was hiding and then as they got closer she could see they didn’t look like normal soldiers at all…  

***

Captain Wilkes just stared blankly at the medic as he guided him through the medical tent they had set up when his men started to feel ill, and in the off chance they would FIND anyone who needed medical treatment.

 

“What did you just say?” Captain Wilkes asked, as he looked at several men, all of whom looked REALLY bad.   “I said,” the medic patiently repeated, “that none of the men we have been treating show any vital signs.     I PERSONALLY have been keeping track of their temperature, respiration, the works and NONE of them have them.”     “Damn it, then our worst fears are confirmed, it is that Trioxin?” Captain Wilkes asked.

 

“Yes I’m afraid so,” the Medic said, “SOMEHOW they were exposed.   Meaning that NOW they’re DEAD they WANT to attack anyone in sight and eat their brains.   I’ve taken the liberty of restraining them, however a couple got away BEFORE I discovered what was going on, the others are secure, but we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with them.”

 

“Very well,” Captain Wilkes said flatly, “keep them restrained for now, I will call Colonel Glover back at HQ for instructions, he KNOWS more about this Trioxid stuff than anyone HERE, I will also send some of my healthy men out to track down the two who got away.”

 

“Good idea,” the medic said, “also sir, if I were you I would pull any men I have INSIDE the devastated area, we don’t know HOW these men were exposed, but if everything I’ve heard about the THINGS that gas does are true we don’t WANT anymore.”   “Duly noted,” Captain Wilkes said as he left to make the calls.

***

Colonel Glover had JUST gotten off the phone with a Captain Wilkes and COULDN’T believe what he was hearing.    WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON OUT THERE?   He thought to himself, as he reviewed what he KNEW for sure.

 

Since they had used the strategic nuclear shell on downtown Louisville, Kentucky there had been reports from adjacent areas of people coming under the effects of Trioxin gas, or so the symptoms appeared to indicate although NO ONE that Glover talked to could figure out HOW.   Sure there had been reports in the areas just outside the blast radius of burning skin but the rain SHOULD have washed any and all possible contaminates away.    As if that wasn’t bad enough, this Captain Wilkes was telling him that some of his men were coming down with the condition as well.    

 

Of course Glover had called Washington as soon as he was off the phone with that horrible hospital doctor, and called in for TRAINED medics with isolation and hazardous material gear to come in and deal with the situation.   They had hit ALL medical centers in the area, he had also ordered a NEW parameter established around the area with the furthest reaching case as the outer most band: he couldn’t wait to explain THAT to the media outside.

 

NOW he was going to have to get on the phone, and call in MORE such personnel to help deal with Captain Wilkes’ men, PLUS the Captain advised him that TWO of his contaminated men were on the loose SOMEWHERE, he KNEW from reports of the original incident in the 60’s and the one they had JUST dealt with that these things were dangerous and hard to deal with.

 

Frowning, deep in thought, Glover was beginning to have the feeling that the nuke was a bad idea, and that the situation was likely to get worse before it got better.    In the end Glover weighed his options and decided that he would rather deal with a pack of brain eating corpses reanimated by Trioxin than the civilian press, so he grabbed his jacket and hat and called for Grady.

 

“Yes sir,” Grady said as he entered the office.    “I want you to stay here and hold down the fort with the press, I’m going out to Captain Wilkes position and find out what’s going on out there.”    “Sir?” Grady asked confused, “Are you sure?”   “Yes,” Glover said, feeling a lot better, “I’m sure.”   “Sir?” Grady asked, “What do I tell the press?”    Glover seemed to consider the question for a second or two then said, “IF they ask about me tell them I’m busy with the recovery efforts…” “And,” Grady asked, “if they ask about what’s going on with the new barricade lines?”    “I don’t know,” Glover, said, “make something up.   Just DON’T tell them anything that’s likely to cause a panic.”

 

With that Glover quickly left out of a side door to avoid the press, and anymore of Grady’s questions, he KNEW despite Grady’s concerns that he could HANDLE the situation just fine.

***

The scene at Restful Hills was a massacre.    The things crowded around the remains of Mike and Pete, chomping down on their heads and pulling out and eating at their brains.

 

Then one of the things looked up and saw some more people standing at the gates.   “WHAT THE FUCK!” One of the people said, as they saw what was going on and that was all it took for the things to drop the bodies of Mike and Pete and begin to chase their NEW prey.

 

As the people ran, they made it outside before the things tackled them and started to bite their heads to get at the juicy brains inside.    Now the THINGS were OUTSIDE and had a new supply of victims just waiting to be eaten.

***

Sharon peeked out from behind the tree one last time and saw the two solider-looking THINGS running her way; they would be on her any minute.     In fear and desperation she reached inside her purse and pulled out a small handgun she ALWAYS carried since the day a friend of her’s was attacked on the street and TRIED to recall what her instructor at the shooting range had taught her.

 

Jumping from behind the tree Sharon assumed the stance she had been taught and took aim, planning on shooting them in their shoulders as a way to stop them from attacking her, however BEFORE she could do anything, something bizarre took place.

 

FOUR men dressed in commando gear and armed with HEAVY DUTY LOOKING FLAMETHROWERS entered the field and seemed to spot the two soldier THINGS.    Totally ignoring Sharon, they ran over and started, as one, to shoot flames at the THINGS.

 

At FIRST Sharon was frozen in confusion and panic.    WHAT THE FUCK WERE THOSE MEN DOING!?   Then the smell of burning flesh, hair and something else, something awful and almost chemical snapped her out of her frozen state and she took off as fast as she could AWAY from what she was seeing, at this point she didn’t care about where she was going, Army patrols or ANYTHING, EXCEPT getting as far away from what she saw as was possible.

 

As Sharon ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction, her reporter’s curiosity wouldn’t let her refrain from occasionally looking back, where she saw the four men with the heavy duty flamethrowers just stand there and pour on the fire until the two THINGS had been reduced to nothing but twin piles of charred remains, they just kept on and on with the fire until there was hardly anything left, then pulled out some other objects and started dousing the flames with foam.

 

Suddenly, as Sharon ran, she hit something and bounced back on the ground, as she turned her head and looked up she saw the shadowy figure of a person standing over her.

***

Doctor Miller nearly hit the roof when the nurse from before came by to deliver the re-tests and told him what was going on outside.   He had ordered all of his calls held and that no one bother him while he sat in his office and TRIED to figure out what the hell he should do NEXT.

 

Apparently, as the nurse told him, handing him the files, in that time the ARMY had come in and declared the hospital under some sort of quarantine, they were coming in and taking over the patients that Doctor Miller had been so worried about.

 

Once he heard that Doctor Miller shouted, “What!?   What are they DOING!?”    The nurse looked sheepishly at Doctor Miller, “We don’t know, they declared the patients off limits to all except ARMY medical personnel, something about a chance of contagion.    They have dozens of Army medics all over the hospital, they have the sick under ARMED guard.”

 

“Well,” Doctor Miller said angrily, “I will SOON get to the bottom of this.”  Throwing the files on his desk with an angry gesture the Doctor stormed out of his office and into the halls, which he NOW saw, were crawling with Army medics, soldiers and other Army personnel.

 

Doctor Miller grabbed a young man who was on some kind of patrol of the halls.    “What is going on HERE son?” He asked with an edge in his voice that seemed to make the young man think he was talking to someone in authority so he replied, “I’m just following orders sir.    We’re here to secure those who have gotten sick since the explosion in Louisville and to tend to their condition.”    “Who’s in charge here YOUNG MAN?” Doctor Miller asked, sure he would only get the full extent of the situation from the man in charge.    “General Welling sir, he’s at the front desk using the phones to coordinate with the other local medical centers.    Beggin’ your pardon sir but I have to go about my patrol.”    “Yes, yes, son.” Doctor Miller said, happy to have gotten SOME information, he left the young man to continue with his duty and went to see this General Welling.

 

When Doctor Miller reached the front desk and found a man in an Army General’s uniform with the phones all engaged with call after call, he cleared his throat and the General looked up.   “There you are Doctor Miller,” the General said, only half paying attention to HIM while dealing with a number of calls.     “I’ve been looking all over for you, or rather I’ve had some of my men looking all over for you, I have this to give you, it SHOULD explain everything.”   The General produced a piece of paper from inside his uniform jacket and handed it to the now befuddled Doctor, who simply took it and looked it over.

 

Doctor Miller couldn’t believe what he was reading, it was some kind of order to turn over the treatment and responsibility of the patients who had come in today to the Army.    Something about how they would be more able to treat them AND while the order tap danced around any kind of link between the so-called weapon misfire that morning and their illness it WAS taking responsibility for the patients, of course the MOST incredible part of the WHOLE thing was that the order was signed by President Reagan HIMSELF.

 

As much as Doctor Miller HATED what was going on and wanted to fight it, he KNEW in the end that he was powerless ESPECIALLY in the face of a Presidential order, at best they would haul him out of the hospital and bar him from coming back.   At worst they would lock him up for the duration, or LONGER so he simply slumped his shoulders in defeat and returned to his office, he STILL had those files and the other information, he might have to turn over the patients and their treatment OFFICIALLY but he intended to keep up his work UNOFFICIALLY as long as he could without getting caught.

***

As Glover pulled into the encampment that had been set up as command center under Captain Wilkes he could see the youngish Captain feverishly pouring over information.     Glover climbed out of his Army jeep and sprinted over to the Captain.

 

Once Glover had reached him Captain Wilkes became aware of him and looked up to exchange the standard salute, once that was done Glover asked, “What’s the latest.”   Captain Wilkes looked at Glover with a weary look of sorrow and frustration in his eyes and replied, “All of my men who had gotten sick have apparently passed over and become those THINGS, we have them restrained FOR NOW, but judging from the reports I have been going over there is NOTHING to be done for them.”     Glover felt a twinge of sadness for the young Captain and touching his shoulder, said in a soothing tone, “I KNOW son, they’re GONE, about the ONLY thing we CAN do is find a way to put them out of their misery.”

 

The Captain looked at him and said, “I KNOW,” then added, “We have bigger problems NOW.    As you already KNOW, two of my men slipped away before they could be restrained.   I have men out looking for them but I haven’t heard anything YET.”

 

Glover felt his stomach twist, if they haven’t heard from them they could be lost and he had a feeling that Captain Wilkes was thinking the same thing.    “Sir,” Captain Wilkes said in a low tone, “I would like to ask for more men to send out to find the other group AND the missing sick men.”     Glover took a deep breath, “of course Captain, but FIRST I think we should ATTEMPT to figure out how this SHIT started and contact HQ.”

 

Captain Wilkes looked disappointed but understanding and said, “Actually sir, Doctor Parkhurst, our chief medic has a theory about that.”    At that point Captain Wilkes waved for Doctor Parkhurst to join them, at which point a tired and disheveled looking man in a lab coat joined them and Captain Wilkes said, “Doctor Parkhurst, tell Colonel Glover your theory about how we got in this mess.”

 

“Well,” Doctor Parkhurst said, “I THINK maybe the smoke that came as a side effect of the nuclear weapon spread the chemical.     To put it simply, when a corpse that is infected by the Trioxid is burned the chemical contaminates the smoke, and of course the rain fall we had shortly thereafter only helped the smoke soak into the local soil and into the skin of anyone