Day 40

Riley watches as James enters the conference room, the man walks to the computer and plugs in a flash drive.

A PowerPoint presentation appears.

"Henry hates these" Abigail whispers to him.

A picture of the brain pops up, each section a different color with each different part of the brain labeled- the cerebrum, cerebellum, limbic system, brain stem.

He then flips the slide, the title says Cerebrum with each part of the cerebrum labeled and colored differently. "So far it looks like the Frontal Lobe," he uses a laser pointer circling a section "This is associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving has shut down" he explains.

"Then how are they moving?" Hunter interrupts.

"I'm getting to that" James snaps .

"Well they are still able to run and attack, I can tell you that much" Strader speaks up for the first time in their many meetings.

"Moving on," James says ignoring Hunter's question.

Well he is a bloody ray of sunshine. He glances at Abigail who just rolls her eyes but remains silent.

Another slide appears, this one titled Cerebellum. "The cerebellum, or "little brain", is similar to the cerebrum in that it has two hemispheres and has a highly folded surface or cortex. This structure is associated with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance. As you all know… this is considered the oldest part of the brain- the idea of the fight of flight reflex come from here. This part of the brain is only slightly damaged" James explains.

"Their posture is a bit off." Marian points out the obvious.

"The chemical in the brain that essentially creates the flight function is also missing. They only have the neurons which fire the fight…or I guess in this case, the eat" James lectures.

He changed slides. The title Limbic System appears "Limbic System is known as the emotional brain, is found buried within the cerebrum. With the exception of part of the hypothalamus which is highlighted in yellow, because it controls hunger, thirst and homeostasis, the limbic system is also inactive." James speaks.

Strader and Marian both nod.

"So much for a Warm Bodies scenario" Abigail mutters.

"A what?" Riley asks her.

"It's a movie where the zombies turn more and more human and begin to feel emotions as they eat brains."

"Well obviously that is not the case" James says firmly. He switches to another slide.

"The final part of the brain is the Brain Stem. It looks like the Mesencephalon- the rostral part of the brainstem, it is involved in functions such as vision, hearing, eye-movement, and body movement- that part is also still intact."

Kaitlyn nods.

James then points to a section that is colored highlighter green on the brain steam. "This not used in the brain of the zombie. This is involved in motor control and sensory analysis... for example; information from the ear first enters the brain in the pons. It has parts that are important for the level of consciousness and for sleep. Some structures within the pons are linked to the cerebellum, thus are involved in movement and posture" James says.

"Finally the Medulla Oblongata is not used. It is responsible for the vital bodily functions such as breathing and the heart rate…which we know doesn't happen".

"W-what about the central nervous system?" Isabella raises her hand .

"I don't know yet" James answers.

"If the central nervous system is damaged they shouldn't even be able to move" Henry says

"There has to be something else involved in this" Abigail says as she glares at the board, Riley glances over at her, the way her long eyelashes brushed against her glasses and her curly blonde hair is down reaching just below her collarbones.

"Marian, you first noticed it aboard the USS Salvation?" Abigail asks.

Riley notices the way that Strader suddenly turns towards Marian.

"You were on the Salvation?" Strader asks, but his question is drown out by Marian's response.

"Yes. But who knows where it could have started; we had soldiers stationed in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan it could have come from any of those countries" she says.

\"You were the Capitan of the Salvation?" Strader repeats, his voice gravely.

"Yes" Marian answers raising her chin proudly.

"My son was aboard that ship."

"You're sailor Strader's father?" she whispers

"What happened?" his voice is steel

Marian sighs. "The ship was purposely napalmed."

"This disease could have started aboard your ship and you didn't do anything about it?" Strader's voice is one degree below yelling.

"Of course I did. I reported it to every higher up I knew"

"My son was aboard that ship."Riley notices the heartbreaking look he had in his green eyes. It was the same look that his mother had when his father died.

"I am sorry for your loss, but there was nothing we could do. The order was to seal the doors." Marian whispers after a pregnant silence.

Strader stands up, Hunter and Riley leap to their feet, each placing a hand on the heart-broken man's shoulders.

Strader shrugs the hands off the two men and instead marches out of the conference room, slamming the door behind him.

Marian sits rod straight, her face pale and her hands slightly shaking.

She has never been involved in the actual process of telling a parent that their son is dead. She probably only signed the letters. Riley muses

"We are done here" Henry's voice is final.

The room remains tense for a few more minutes before one by one the team trickles out the door, Abigail looks over her shoulder at Riley as she exits.

Riley is sitting alone with Hunter.

"Did you know that he had a son?" Hunter breaks the silence.

Riley shakes his head. "I had an idea, but I wasn't sure. I never would have guessed that he was killed overseas"

"Do you think that his son caught it?"

"I have no idea"

"Now what?"

"I am not sure"