Orthodontics in the Zombie Apocalypse

14. Hello, Greg (2/2)

"An orthodontist? You're barking up the wrong tree, kid. I used to work with doctors, but not orthodontists. Sorry."

I sigh. "Darn. Are any of the doctors still around?"

"I'm dead sure most of them are."

"You'd think they'd be able to take off my braces, then. Right?"

He scratches his head. "I don't know about that. But the company has a registered dentist. Cross your fingers Dr. Falesu is still alive and willing to help."

I frown at the name. It sounds like a cross between "false" and "fails you". What an unfortunate name! The poor guy probably had a hard time getting anyone to trust him (or her? I guess I shouldn't assume gender in this day and age).

We soon find the rest of the group crouching in an alley a couple blocks from the dance party-turned-massacre.

Angel scrutinizes Greg for only a moment before asking, "Is he gonna take off your braces?"

I lay a hand dramatically over my heart. "Oh," I say, "I knew you cared! But, sadly, no. This is Greg. He's not an orthodontist. But he knows a dentist! So he'll be of service to my crisis."

Greg extends a hand to Mikah first. "The name's Greg Hallinger. I used to be a distributive engineer for a company called Pandora Medical."

"Pandora Medical?" Angel says slowly. If the kid wasn't so smart, I'd wonder if she was cognitively slow.

Mikah looks at her, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

A very awkward silence ensues. I take it upon myself to break it. "That's Shaniya and that's Sean. And the kid is Angel." I can't describe her as grungy anymore, since she showered back at the house before we tried to leave the first time. Her brown hair is actually kind of pretty and has brassy highlights when it's not caked in gunk.

Shaniya extends a hand. "It's a pleasure," she says with a smile as fake as my concern for others. "You've got a firm grip there, Greg."

"I've heard that from a little bird once or twice before."

There's something weird about the way he talks. I don't like it.

"Alright," I say, "let's get moving!" I turn to Greg. "So...Pandora Medical? Where can I find it?"

His eyes bug. "Oh," he says slowly, "we can't go back there."

Now he talks like a normal person! "What do you mean? You just said you know a dentist who's probably still alive! I need that dentist!"

Shaniya squints at him, arms crossed. "What's the problem, Greg?"

Angel steps to the center of the group. "Pandora Medical is the company my parents worked for. I'm pretty sure they started the zombie apocalypse, and it sounds like Greg isn't welcome there anymore."

"Well," I ask, "why not?"

Greg reaches for the back of his sweaty, red neck. Once satisfied with the amount of stalling offered by the gesture, he untucks a necklace from his shirt. An odd pendant dangles from the end of a thin, blue ribbon. Shaped like a small vial, a yellowish liquid swishes around inside as Greg holds it up for us all to see. "I stole something."