Zombie Sheriff Page 4
Chapter 4
Questioning
Sheriff Ed Pool pulled into the driveway at the law enforcement center and stepped out of his patrol car. He had been called in early to work to deal with the capture of Dr. Dorn who had been arrested for the murder of Dr. John Newman and his business associates. He knew he was in for a long haul unless the doctor lawyered up which he half expected. Then a call over the radio from dispatch. “Sheriff, you’re appointment is ready.”
“10-4,” Ed said and entered the building.
Through the bulletproof glass, Ed nodded to the dispatcher who was busy on a call sitting at her station behind a row of computer monitors. She buzzed the sheriff into the interrogation room and went back to her work. Sitting at a table in the small room was Dr. Dorn and across the table sat deputy Pam Reed, still dressed like a hooker in uniform. Ed pulled out a writing pad from the cabinet and sat down across from the doctor. He clicked his microphone and told the dispatcher to start recording of the interview.
“What’s going on?” Ed asked. He had only knew a little from what he heard from dispatch. He knew it was a murder case, but that’s all.
Pam spoke up, “Dr. Brent Dorn has been arrested for the alleged murder of Dr. John Newman and three other doctors as well as an attorney.”
“That’s quite the charge Dr. Dorn, what can you tell me about the incident?” Ed asked.
“What are you?” Dr. Dorn asked.
“I’m the sheriff of Colfax County, see my name tag?”
“No, I heard about you, but I never imagined you were for real.”
“We’re here to discuss your alleged murders, not me,” Ed said.
“I’m a doctor, can’t you see how strange this seems? I mean, you’re dead.”
“According to medical standards yes, but there is more to it than that. Now, tell me what happened.”
“We have time for that later, I want my questions answered first,” Dr. Dorn said. “You won’t get anywhere with me until I’m satisfied.”
Realizing that this man was not going to cooperate unless he got what he wanted, the sheriff decided to play along. Normally if someone asked him about his past he would refuse, but since this man was a doctor and had a lifelong interest in medicine, Ed decided to answer. “I’ll answer your question, but you will answer mine when we’re done, right?” Ed asked.
“Absolutely,” Dr. Dorn replied.
“So you want to know what I am? I’m a zombie, that’s what everyone calls me,” Ed replied.
“How? Medically you make no sense.”
“The great state of Idaho decided to keep me a prisoner for twenty years while they figured this out. It’s on the internet, I’m surprised you haven’t looked it up.”
“I wasn’t interested until I met you face to face,” Dr. Dorn replied. “Now tell me how you survive?”
Ed sat back in his chair. He had given this talk a zillion times and almost had it memorized. “I have a gene mutation,” was his reply.
“I figured it would be something like that. Go on.”
Ed thought he could get away with the simple version, but no, the doctor wanted more. “Fine, we have plenty of time. Pam, can you get some coffee?” Ed asked. Pam didn’t like being used as a secretary, but Ed was her boss so she got up and left the room. Her ass sashayed all the way to the door. “Spring of 1843 I was part of a wagon train heading from Missouri to Oregon. We had around two hundred in our section when we came to a pond to water our animals. From what I read years later, this pond was used constantly for watering animals and drinking and never caused a problem, but something was different this time. The water was infested with cholera bacteria. We had no idea what cholera was at the time, but by that night three people were dead.”
“That fast?” Dr. Dorn asked.
“Yeah, we were all shocked. By the next day over thirty more were dead and we didn’t know what to do. We were used to a rough life, but this was off the charts.”
“I studied infectious diseases in school, I don’t remember much about cholera. I know it’s a water based bacteria.”
“I had plenty of time at the university to look it up during those twenty years, and you're right, it lived in the pond water. Anyway, a few hours later I had the shits like you wouldn’t believe. I couldn’t drink enough to keep me hydrated and then I died. I don’t remember dying, it’s all surreal to me now. But there were over a hundred that followed me.”
“It must have been hell to live back then,” Dr. Dorn said.
“Yeah, there I was on a wagon train heading to somewhere I never been before with no money, no plan and then a month later I’m dead.”
“Did your family die as well?”
“Yes. We went with another family as sort of a hired hands. I helped with the animals, that sort of thing.”
“I see, so then what happened?”
“Next thing I know I’m floating in a river. Turns out it was over a century later and there was a flood that covered the land and caused a bunch of bodies to rise to the surface. Back then they couldn’t dig six feet down, they were lucky to dig one foot down. I ended up washed up in a mud pit next to a highway. Things had changed a lot.”
“I bet.”
“Well I knew something wasn’t right, my skin was all grey and I felt weird. All the land around me looked different, it didn’t look wild anymore. Not like the prairie I was used to seeing. I dug myself out of the mud and walked till I found a campground. I was starving and looking for help when they attacked me. Looking back I can tell why, I must have looked like something from a horror movie. I managed to kill a man who attacked me and dragged him off into the woods and ate part of him.”
“Cannibalism was common back in those days, ever hear of the Donner party?”
“No, but it don’t surprise me,” Ed said. “So the next thing I know, I’m captured by the state police and hauled to the University of Idaho for study. I spent twenty years there locked up in a lab.”
“What did they find out?” Dr. Dorn asked.
“Turns out I have a gene coded for reptilian tooth replication that was turned on. Very rare. Because of that gene, my body changed the way it processed oxygen and my body regenerated itself.”
“But you were in the ground for over a hundred years? How did you survive?”
“They said it was hibernation due to the conditions I was in. It was a low oxygen, low light atmosphere. Once I was exposed to fresh air, I snapped out and essentially became alive. Although technically I never died in the first place.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t we have more zombies around now?”
“There were two others from my party that also had the same condition. Thing is, you guys bury your dead so fast and so deep that you never see them. There are probably thousands of zombies buried right now that would be walking around if they could get to the surface.”
“That’s scary,” Dr. Dorn said. “Do you eat?”
“Yes, I have a very slow metabolism. I only require about a thousand calories a month. Because of that I also have less energy than most. I probably couldn’t chase down a perp if I had too.”
“Do you have a special diet?”
“Man you ask a lot of questions. Yes, I have to eat human tissue, don’t know why, but anything else makes me sick,” Ed replied.
“And where do you get your food?”
“I get it from a hospital waste facility. They usually burn most of the body parts sent to them, but they save me enough to live on.”
“You mean the leg I chopped off a diabetic might end up in your oven?” Dr. Dorn asked.
“I’ve never eaten a leg, usually I get placentas and gall bladders. Things that are more common.”
Dr. Dorn gagged a little. “I’ve seen a lot in my day as a surgeon, and that makes me sick.”
“I might have one placenta a month, come on, it’s not that big of a deal,” Ed said. “Now are you satisfied?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Dr. Dorn replied.
“Now let’s get on with my questions. Can you tell me what happened?” Ed asked.
Dr. Dorn smiled and gave a smirk. “I killed those fuckers.”
“So you confess?”
“Four operating nurses and an anesthesiologist saw my cut the heart out of Dr. Newman, I don’t think I really have a chance to deny it,” Dr. Dorn replied.
“Would you like to write out your confession?”
“Sure, no problem,” Dr. Dorn replied.
Ed handed Dr. Dorn his notepad and a pen. “I’ll have to stay here with you until you're done. In case you try to stab yourself with my pen.”
“Good idea, in my condition, I don’t know what I’ll do,” Dr. Dorn said.
Once the doctor was done writing his confession, he slid the pad and pen over to the sheriff and leaned back in his chair. “There you go, oh, and I want immunity from the death penalty.”
“That’s up to a judge,” Ed said.
“What? I’ll take back my confession.”
“It’s on video.”
“I don’t care. I was joking, I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I’m giving this to the county attorney. He can sort this out. My job is done,” Ed said.
“Wait, I can help you with your condition,” Dr. Dorn said.
“Are you trying to bribe me?” Ed asked with a smile. “I had the best doctors at the university studying me and they couldn’t change me back. Why should I think you can do anything?”
“I might not be able to change you back, but I can make your life much easier.”
“We’re still on video, you might want to cut your losses and shut the fuck up now,” Ed said.
“Your loss,” Dr. Dorn said.
“No, I’ve been like this long enough to know what I can and can’t do. I’ll be fine.”
“That bullet hole in your head, how long is that going to take to heal only taking in a thousand calories a month?”
“A while,” Ed said.
“You’re like a diabetic that can’t heal, there are ways to fix that.”
“If I were a normal human yes, there would be. But not with my condition. Sorry, but you can’t help me. And if you could, I wouldn’t let you. I don’t want someone who rips the heart of a patient on the operating table as my personal physician.”
“Fine, you won’t last forever. One good trauma and you won’t recover.”
“I know, that’s something I deal with every day.”
“You don’t have too,”
“I’ll have Pam book you and put you in a cell. You’ll see the judge in the morning,” Ed said as he walked to the door. Ed clicked his radio and told dispatch to send Pam back. “If you have anything else to add, tell my jailor,” Ed said.
Ed heard a knock on the door and Pam came back in the room. “Book him, I got what I needed,” Ed said as he left Pam to do her work.
“Hey sheriff,” Dr. Dorn said. “Don’t forget my offer, it’s good anytime.”
“I’ll think about it,” Ed said as he left the room. The idea of becoming more human did appeal to Ed, but he knew the doctor was grasping at straws after he realized his screw up not asking for immunity from the death penalty at first. In a way, what the doctor said to him pissed him off, making him feel less human that he already was.