Page 101 of Lethal Game

“Did the spit you collected give you any answers?” Len asked.

“No. It tested negative for everything, but I’m not giving up. I’m going to collect more blood samples from people near death. It may be that the pathogen isn’t present in the blood until then.” She rounded her shoulders, slouching as if tired. “Would you mind telling Dr. Blairmore that I’d like more blood samples, approximately fifteen to twenty, taken from a cross-section of the population here, the closer to death the better? He can collect them if he prefers or I can do it. Just ask him to let me know how he wants to do this.”

“Can do.” Len punched Con on the shoulder. “Later.”

As Len walked away, Sophia said to Con, “Can you give me a hand with the Sandwich?”

“Sure.” They went into the tent.

Sophia stopped in front of the analyzer and crossed her arms over her chest. “How much do you trust Len?”

“Not as much as I used to. He’s pretty casual about a whole lot of people dying.”

She nodded, thinking hard. She couldn’t see a way around making a lot of people angry. “I need something.”

“Right, the list of supplies.”

“That’s the easy stuff. What I really need is not so easy.”

“Sophia,” he said in an aggrieved tone. “Just tell me.”

She sighed. “I need you steal me a dead body.”

***

Con struggled not tolaugh at theI’m sure you’re going to say noexpression on her face. “Most girls ask for flowers or chocolate.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not most girls, am I?”

“At least you know what you want.” She wanted him, she’d been very clear about that. “Speaking of which, could you be more specific about the condition and type of body?”

“An adult whose time of death is within six hours.” She frowned. “Is that too specific?”

“No, that’s good. Do you need an entire body?”

“Well, no. I need brain tissue specifically, but that means removing part of the skull. It’s going to take a few minutes.”

“What if we went to where they’re piling the dead so you can grab a sample?”

“That would work. I thought around the same time as the supply drop in the morning. People will be distracted.”

“Good idea.” He smiled at her. “Did you really want to ask for more supplies?”

“I suppose I should. Things the aid group could use. I’ll make the call and check in with Max at the same time.”

Con went out to check on Henry and Stalls. “Anyone paying too much attention to us?”

“A couple of men from that mob that tried to get close earlier have been hanging around the perimeter, but they haven’t done anything threatening.”

“Make sure you change up the schedule of your perimeter patrols randomly, so they can’t ambush us. If they start to make noise, don’t let them distract you too much from the rest of the perimeter.”

“Sir, Sergeant Smoke and Sergeant River are out on a reconnaissance of the camp. They said you’d know.”

“Very good.”

“They weren’t sure how long they would be.”

“Don’t worry about it. They’re keeping an eye on the refugees in the camp. We won’t see much of them unless things are about to blow up in our faces.”

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