J. Knoll - Zoe, Undead

"We still have power though," Zachary pointed out.

"That's the emergency generator," the Captain informed. "The grid's a whole lot more efficient for running places like this and we don't want to have to rely on the generator until we absolutely have to, that and there are other places in the city we want to keep up and running." He patted Zoe on the shoulder and offered her a smile. "You kids just sit tight. We'll be back in a few hours, God willing."

Zoe watched him as he turned and strode toward the door with a number of soldiers and a couple of civilians following him. Looking around her again, she saw one of the other soldiers she knew and hurried over to him, taking his arm as she asked, "Do you want me to go?"

"No, I think we got this," he assured. "You might ask the Colonel what he wants you to do. I got to go. Catch you later, Princess."

He also turned and hurried to the door and for the first time in many days Zoe found herself left out of the action. Without a word, she trotted to the elevator, only to find it not responding. Looking to the door off to the side, she darted to it and pulled it open to reveal the stairs that would take her to the floor she wanted to go to, and Zachary was right on her heels.

She found Colonel Halstead still in the conference room, talking with some civilians and a couple of soldiers and she rushed to him, calling, "Sir!"

He looked to her, then to the men he had been talking to and ordered, "Okay, get to it, people." As they left, he looked back to her and asked, "What can I do for you, Private?"

"Do you want me to go with the soldiers?" she asked anxiously.

"Negative," he replied almost harshly. "Two of the Strykers are already on the way. I think we can handle this. You just need to stand down for the next couple of days. We'll hold the fort for a while." He stood and strode toward the door without speaking further.

"Where is Sergeant Morris?" she asked desperately.

"Already on his way," the Colonel replied as he left.

Her eyes were a little wide, her brow held high over them as she looked toward the floor. With her mouth ajar, she tried to shake off the feeling she had that she had just been left behind, even though she knew to expect to be.

Doctor Caswell peered into the room and declared, "There you two are! Come on, Zoe. We have some things to do, and Doctor Kavorski wants to see you, too, Zachary."

Hours later found them in one of the examination rooms on the first floor, sitting in chairs that faced each other and laughing, Zachary found himself working to show Zoe some secret handshake he had learned in his childhood, and she was struggling to get the intricate gestures just right.

"Okay, okay," he barked. "Let's try it again. You ready?"

Zoe made herself control her giggles and nodded, assuring, "I'm ready."

Doctor Caswell sat at a desk outside of the room that had a view of the inside, and she smiled as she looked up from the reports she read and to the kids who were simply having fun. She heard Doctor Kavorski walking toward her, but kept her eyes on the young people as they both broke out into hysterical laughter again.

Kavorski set the papers he had down and turned to lean his hip on the desk as he also looked into the room, and a smile found his lips as well.

"People call them disabled, or challenged," Rachel observed, "but I'll bet those same people don't have a fraction as much fun as they do."

"They sure are the lucky ones in many respects," Kavorski confirmed.

She looked up at him. "Bob, when was the last time we had that much fun?" She turned her eyes back to the two kids and shook her head. "The whole time we were testing I could hardly get them to exchange two words between them. It wasn't until I was administering psych tests on Zachary that either of them began to open up. Then I got them in there and left the room and that started to happen. I mean, seriously. When was the last time either of us had that kind of fun?"

Raising his brow, Doctor Kavorski replied, "I don't even know." He looked down at her, to the many papers she had stacked up in front of her. "So, what did you find there?"

"Zoe's medical files," she answered. "Her parents were thankfully very thorough about keeping up with her mental and medical needs." She looked back to the young people who still played in the examination room. "I tested them both. Zachary is mildly autistic as well and he does not appear to have been formally diagnosed. He didn't even know what any of the tests were for." She laughed under her breath. "Zoe kept trying to walk him through them and I finally had to send her out on an errand so that I could finish with him. I retested her as well." She looked back up to the other doctor and raised her brow. "She's shown marked improvement since her last exam, which was only seven months ago. She's improved across the board and really shouldn't have. In fact, I've noticed recent changes in her behavior that aren't consistent with Asperger's Syndrome."

Doctor Kavorski raised his chin, prodding, "Like?"

"Her tactile defensiveness, for starters," Rachel reported. "Not only does she not cringe every time someone touches her, but I've seen her seeking out contact with people."

"Certain people," he corrected.

"There's that," she conceded, "but she's also reasoning things out differently, she said the loud noise of the guns going off does not bother her as much as it did… Bob, according to my tests, her autism has reversed to some extent, and I think the virus that brought on her zombosis is responsible."

Kavorski looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, then he looked into the room as Zachary tugged on her hand and pulled her nearly out of her chair. "That kind of social behavior… You may be on to something, Rachel. It failed to reprogram her brain and it would seem that she may have some unexpected benefits of its efforts." His eyes slid to her. "You are recording your findings, aren't you?"

"Of course!" she scoffed. "If we all live through this I want to be the first in the medical journals!"

He laughed and shook his head.

A commotion at the end of the hallway drew their attention and they both looked that way, and Doctor Caswell stood as they saw soldiers rushing toward them, pushing gurneys down the hallway, gurneys with injured soldiers and others on them.

"Get them to the secure area!" one of the soldiers shouted. "We've got two here who've been bitten!"

"Oh my God!" Doctor Caswell breathed. She wheeled around the desk ahead of Doctor Kavorski and ordered, "Get them to Containment, stat!" She looked to the room where Zoe and Zachary were standing in the doorway, and the concern in their eyes, the fear that was there, prompted Rachel to order, "You two stay in there. We'll be back for you as soon as we can!"

Zoe peered out of the room, watching the movements of the people and doctors as they disappeared with the injured soldiers behind a set of double doors. Zachary looked around her and there was a certain intensity in his eyes when Zoe looked up at him.

She felt anxious as she asked, "Weren't those the soldiers that went to the power plant a little while ago?"

Still watching after them, he nodded. "I think my Dad went with them."

"Do you think something happened?" she asked in a near panicked voice.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Something bad."

Zoe and Zachary burst through the door to the stairwell and ran to the center of the rally area where at least twenty soldiers were wearily checking weapons, pulling off vests and backpacks and helmets. None were talking and Zoe turned a few times as she glanced around for someone she knew, and finally saw a soldier she recognized, one who had driven one of the Strykers on the mission to the school.