“How many casualties?”

“Ten, sir. A dozen people went in. Two came out, both injured.”

“What killed them?”

“Nothing, they’re not dead. But they aren’t there any more.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“The body lives, but their minds are gone. They’re just like the others: unresponsive to any stimulus other than pain, taking no other actions aside from shuffling around aimlessly or attacking anything that causes them pain.”

“Zombies?”

“No. . . nothing undead here. And unlike Solanum, it’s not transmitted through fluid contact: the last two victims went down without ever touching an infected host.”

“Do we know the vector of transmission?”

“It appears to be line of sight, sir.”

“What?”

“Orh was recovered from the scene with self-inflicted injuries. He’d clawed out his own eyes with his fingernails, to stop ‘the voices’, he said.”

“You’re telling me that there’s something out there that turns people into zombies simply by looking into their eyes?”

“Yes, sir.”