'No.' Ramsey waved his hand. 'You'd better wait an hour. I wish to masturbate first.'
Bates paused, fighting very hard to maintain his composure.
'Very well, sir. I'll leave you then.'
He turned and walked out. The door hissed shut behind him.
Darren Ramsey, billionaire industrialist and the man who was New York, unbuckled his pants, letting them fall around his ankles. Then he shuffled to the window and pressed his hardening member against the cold glass.
He threw his head back, closed his eyes and sighed.
' 'While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.''
As his hand began to stroke, he gazed out upon the skyline again.
If there were a God, he thought, I bet his view wouldn't be as good as this ...
'I am their savior ...' he moaned.
This building, Ramsey Towers, spanning the 200 block of Madison Avenue, and stretching between 35th and 36th streets, was his world. And he stood at the top of that world, the ruler of all he surveyed.
Fourteen floors below him, an armless, legless torso strapped to an operating table shouted curses in ancient Sumerian.
Bates stood outside the door, listening.
'Bates?'
He whirled, hand automatically going to his pistol.
'Whoa.' Forrest threw his hands up in the air. 'It's just me.'
'What are you doing?' Bates snapped. 'You know better than to be on this level without authorization.'
The big man stared at the floor.
'You told me to let you know if Steve and Quinn found anything.'
'And?'
'They did. Four survivors. Should be here in about fifteen minutes.'
'Wonderful. That's all we need-more people.'
'I bet Mr. Ramsey will be happy to hear it.'
'I'm sure he will,' Bates said. 'He'll be delighted.'
Because the old fucker has lost his mind and has some kind of messiah complex.
The black man stared at the door, listening to the noises drifting out.
'What's he doing in there?'
'None of your concern.' Bates lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. 'Did you tell Dr. Stern to prepare for the new arrivals?'
'He was asleep, so I let Doc Maynard know. He ...'
'What?' Bates asked.
'He-he was doing something with one of the zombies.'
'Another experiment?'
'No ...'
'What then?'
'He-it sounds fucked up. He was having sex with it.'
'What?'
'Had it strapped down to a gurney and when I walked into the lab, his pants were down around his ankles, and he was humping away at the fucking thing! It was babbling in some kind of language I never heard.'
Bates gritted his teeth, 'Wake Doc Stern up. I don't want Maynard left alone with the civilians.'
'We're gonna have to do something about him, Bates.'
'We will. Let Stern check over these new arrivals. Maynard can assist, if he's able. We'll place him under arrest afterward.'
They walked down the hall together. While they waited for the elevator, Bates's headache returned. His temples throbbed and his jaw ached.
'I'm getting too old for this shit. Something bad is coming, Forrest. I can feel it.'
The big man snickered. 'You mean worse than dead folks getting up and eating people?'
'Yes.' Bates nodded. 'Even worse than that.'
Ob awoke seated on a dusty recliner inside a darkened apartment. Plywood covered the windows and doors. There were no life glows in the room or the hallway, so he assumed that he was alone.
