Cold Blood: The End (More Dead Than Human, More Human Than Dead)

By Calvin A. L. Miller II

Dr. Cheryl Barrett likes to think she got into medicine to help people... to save lives. While that may be true to a certain extent, the real reason has been chasing her since her father's death. She's just never been able to face it, and has never really wanted to. Tonight will not only test her as a doctor, but it will test her as a person. The world will change in an instant, and so will she...
You see, for the next few hours no one will die and no one will be born anywhere on Earth. Stranger still, this begins at Midnight on Christmas Day, by time zone.
Many people that by all accounts should be dead will not be. They will have no vital signs; no heartbeat, no body temperature, and no brainwaves...
Technically not alive but obviously not dead they will walk, talk, and move like they always have...
For the most part.
Cold Blood: The End. More Dead than Human, more Human than Dead...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Calvin A. L. Miller II
• Release date: Sep 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452460055

Calvin A. L. Miller II

I love horror, scifi, and zombies and I always try to write what I've never read, or even seen. I'm an indy writer publisher and love it. If you wanna talk about, well anything, email me at [e-mail] or Facebook me at www.facebook.com/cal.miller2.Take Care,Cal

Book preview

Cold Blood: The End

By

Calvin A. L. Miller II

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Zilyon Publishing on Smashwords

Cold Blood: The End

Copyright© 2010 Zilyon Publishing

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Zilyon Publishing, Inc.

4094 Fountainside Lane

Fairfax, VA 22030

www.ZilyonPublishing.com

[e-mail]

www.CalvinALMillerII.com

Cover Model- Ava Ann Vrooman

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Dedicated to each and every one of the Authors who contributed to the book The Undead Nation Anthology, where this story originally appeared.

Thank you for all of your hard work.

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Solstice

Great. This is just what I need right now… The icy water from the puddle is numbingly cold on Cheryl’s ankle. She lifts her leg back up to try and shake it dry while composing herself before she heads into work. She has been crying a lot lately. You couldn’t just wear boots. She continues, talking to herself to try and clear her head. Does anybody ever fix the holes in this lot?

She gets out of her car and crosses the street, following the same path she has since she started her internship here at St. James Hospital. Dr. Cheryl Barrett likes to think she got into medicine to help people… to save lives. While that may be true to a certain extent, the real reason has been chasing her since her father’s death. She’s just never been able to face it, and has never really wanted to.

Cheryl is tall, athletic, and attractive. One might think she was in fact an actress, or maybe a model. At least that’s what her mother had always said. She has a habit of brushing back her long brown hair from her face when she needs to concentrate, and as a new doctor she needs to concentrate quite a bit.

The hospital doors automatically open as she approaches.

Hi Doctor Barrett, Merry Christmas. The guard says smiling, his head shining in the fluorescent light.

Hi George. Cheryl shoots back, managing a smile. Merry Christmas to you too… Busy tonight?

Not more than usual for this time of year. He answers almost automatically, having received that same question over a hundred times during his shift at the front desk.

It’s a very cold Christmas Eve. In fact, it had been the coldest fall on record. With the holidays comes alcohol, accidents, depression, and more. Things a hospital was built for. The trend starts around Thanksgiving and only gets worse the closer it gets to Christmas. Cheryl gets on the elevator, brushes her hair back, and pushes 4. While alone inside she has time to think. She thinks about her patients. Specifically, her close friend who is probably going to give birth in the next few hours, and about her mother, who is probably going to die in the next few hours. It almost seems ironic that she may be bringing her first life into this world at the same time that her mother is leaving it, and on Christmas no less.

Her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nearly a year ago. Chemo and radiation helped keep it down for a while, and there was even a brief remission, but it recently turned very aggressive and she hasn’t much time left. Cheryl does her best to keep her spirits up, but her heart is going to break if it hasn’t already. Her father died when she was young and this caused her and her mother to become very close.

Inseparable.

The elevator doors open and she walks out.

Hi Valerie, is she dilated? She asks the nurse.

Eight centimeters, almost there. Valerie answers. Valerie is in her late fifties and has been a nurse for over thirty years. Her light brown skin is nearly flawless and her smile warms the heart. She’s seen it all and knows this is Cheryl’s first solo delivery so she’s