The orderly didn't get infected. In fact, he died. Much like a poisonous snake Eve's saliva had become potent to the point where only a few drops were necessary in order to kill a man. It was discovered much later that an infected human when starved for too long would produce a lethal toxin in their spit specifically designed to take down prey so they could feed. It was this revelation that forced internal government organizations to reassess the overall threat of the zombie race.
It started out as a passive request. The government began a program called "Step Up" a euphemism employed to veil the exchange of zombified family members for food. Every week armed members of the military patrolled the poorest neighborhoods in the poorest towns and offered up huge bags of rice and other none perishables for every undead person that they produced. The solace that the army men were able to offer was that their loved ones were not being put to death. They were simply being gathered together for observation and "treatment" while they were contained in a number of secure, monitored locations across all fifty states.
Of course there were a few hold outs, a few families who thought that they could care for their infected brothers and sisters better. Most of them were just negotiating for more food but some of them were legitimate in their belief. It was a delicate situation because the country had yet to devolve into chaos. Some form of community, solidarity and respect had developed from the country and class wide realization that all Americans were stuck in the situation together. The government did not seek to disturb this delicate balance by mowing down a few hillbillies who did not want to surrender their husbands, wives, kids or parents.
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The world ended but there was no apocalypse. Actually, if I'm telling the truth the world kept on moving at its slow predictable pace. It was only America that died and when it did, it sputtered out without incident. For centuries The United States was regarded as a fierce and spontaneously vicious place so it seemed rather odd that it would be the first country to disappear from the world's map especially without a fight. But that's the thing about an untraceable, incurable disease that manifests out of thin air, you can't stop it and it doesn't take much of an advantage in a highly competitive global economy to destroy the momentum and spirit of an entire country.
Contrary to the musings of a modern day Nostradamus when the dead rose it was not an acute happening thrust into motion by an aggressive outbreak or the fallout from nuclear warfare. The actual sordid details are a little bit more subtle and pathetic. As it turns out the culprit was an additive used by a now defunct well known fast food chain. At first the chemical named y18 (yellow 18) was being championed as the next big thing in expedited cuisine, intended to prolong the shelf life of the grade Z meat they were flinging in drivers side windows. It was so popular in fact that competing fast food chains sought to purchase the chemical and when their overtures were denied they conspired to steal the technology. It was this covert additive espionage that ultimately signaled the beginning of the end.
Apparently a clone of the initial formula caused an unforeseen mutation in human cells which over time was highly detrimental to our bodies. Lethargy, obesity and stupidity had run rampant prior to the "sickness" and was for years a main source of critique from other countries. Sadly, the sickness amplified the effects of these stereotypes which contributed to the spread of the disease as the symptoms were simply confused with the continued decay of American culture.
