Insurgent Z: A Zombie Novel by Mark C. Scioneaux, Dane Hatchell

stick them in a room some place. We’ve got other fish to fry right now.”
    * * *
     
    Earlier at Paradis
    “We’ve just moved ten more into the gym. For God’s sake, Warden, call the Department of Health and tell them what’s going on.” Mitch stood in front of Burl, begging. The warden sat hunchbacked in his chair, safely behind his desk.
    “I can’t do that. I’ve got to get a hold of Hart first. I’m up to my ass in gators. I need him to step in and contact the governor.”
    “Will you at least call someone at the base and have their medical staff haul some of them away for treatment?”
    “No.” Burl smeared a perspiration moustache with the back of his hand. The situation was bad. Eighty inmates were either dead or on the verge of dying. He had been trying to get Hart on his cell phone for the last several hours. There’s nothing to worry about, Burl , Hart had said before handing him fifty thousand in cash. Here’s my personal cell number . “Hart needs to get over here right now and own this damn mess!”
    “The way I see it, the only chance of saving your skin is to go public now. Get the news at WWL on the phone and lay out the truth. I know that’s going to be a tough thing to do, but it doesn’t matter at this point. You’re going to have to man up and face this problem head on. Win the war of public opinion. Get the people of the state on your side. You need to make the first strike and ensure the safety of this prison!”
    Burl looked down at the desk and shook his head. “Mitch, you’re a good man. A man of honor. This is politics. Honor is rarely in the equation. Politics is not like the military. We don’t operate under a moral code like the Rangers’ Creed you swore to back in the day. We do whatever it takes to win. At any cost. It all depends on what cards you have in your hand and how you play them. The television stations, newspapers, all of the media in this state are in cahoots with the governor and his administration. I had a chance to let the public in on this but chose not to. Now that it’s failed, there is really no point in telling them. I’ve got a pair of deuces in my hand, and the governor has all the trump cards. I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to get my side out first.” Burl picked up his cell phone and hit redial. “Answer, you sorry sack of shit! Answer!”
    * * *
    “We’ve got another one for the collection.” Tim Stones had lived all his life in Botte. He had been working as a Paradis guard for less than six months. He led the stretcher, carrying one of the thinner inmates, with a guard having ten years of service under his belt maneuvering the rear.
    Doctor Parsons shot a weary glance toward the new arrival. “Find an empty spot on the floor and set him down. He makes an even one hundred.”
    “Gosh, Doc. Is this the E. coli, or does it have something to do with the water?” Tim asked.
    Parsons turned abruptly, put his hand on Tim’s shoulder, and said, “What did you mean by that last remark?”
    Tim stopped in his tracks. “Uh . . . You know, the reason that they hauled all that bottled water in and told us not to drink from the faucet. Warden Burl said they were treating the water with a chemical to help prevent the E. coli. Is that what’s killing the inmates?”
    Parsons pointed an index finger. “I don’t know what you or your buddies have been gossiping about, but if you value your job, you need to keep unfounded rumors to yourself. This is a very serious matter. We can’t have you upsetting members of the community without evidence to back it up. Keep your lips sealed until tests can be run and the facts come out.”
    Tim nodded. He turned his head to the guard behind him. “Come on, T-Bob. There’s a spot by the wall over there where we can dump him.”
    The inmates were laid in neat rows with a yard of spacing between each. The two guards gingerly stepped through, avoiding the bodies more out of concern of tripping than