The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 47: Cage Dancing

Trent looked like he was having misgivings as Nicky pulled up with the trailer attached to our truck. "Are you sure this is the best way to test my control?"

"Your other option is having me hug you," Nicky said as she eagerly scrambled into the cage and began locking herself inside. "Besides, this will make sure the cage is safe for the locals to use against Runners, so don't hold back."

Trent walked around the trailer and cage, examining it and tugging against a few bars and joints. His muscles shuddered as a tremor hit them. As soon as it faded, he jumped onto the edge of the trailer.

"Can you reach me?" Nicky asked him, standing in the middle of the cage.

He reached an arm between the bars, proving she was safe, which she would have known from her past stint inside. At least she wasn't armed with a bucket of water this time. As he took a deep breath, his jaw clenched although he didn't lunge against the bars.

"It takes about two days before the bloodlust fades," I told him. "At least we know you'll be able to talk to people if you want."

Twang!

An elastic flew past Trent's ear, making him flinch away as Nicky pulled a big bag of elastics out of her pocket and said, "Now let's see if you can break into this glorified jail cell before I run out of elastics."

"Nicky..." I said as I bestowed a less-than-impressed look upon the redhead.

"But he might not try his hardest if he doesn't have incentive!" she protested.

Jax drifted closer to the cage. "Do you mind if I test my control?"

"Go for it," Nicky immediately replied. "And do your best to break into this thing. I don't want it to fail against ferals."

As Jax climbed onto the trailer, Wren joined him. Jax took a deep breath but didn't seem as bothered by the redhead's scent as Trent had. Perhaps his sense of smell wasn't as strong, but I wasn't about to ask something like that.

Wren was just as unbothered by Nicky's presence as she had been earlier. She tentatively reached out to touch a strip of metal wrapped around a joint.

"I'm growing older in here," Nicky drawled, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

Daniel and I watched as the three zombies finally put some serious effort into trying to damage the cage. Trent even climbed on top, which had the other two blinking at him as if he had done the strangest thing in the world. I had a feeling our two unranked friends were as challenged as their feral cousins by the concept of climbing.

"Jax, can you climb up as well and test those joints?" I asked, curious to see if it was a case of the mind not easily seeing the option or if the ability had somehow been unlearned.

He frowned at the bars and cross supports; there were more than enough handholds and footholds for an average human to climb it as easily as a ladder, but he regarded it like a difficult task.

His hands seemed uncertain as they gripped the bars. With deep focus, he pulled himself up and lifted a foot. The next "step" was easier, but it was like watching someone try to walk after being bedridden for a week. Even Nicky refrained from commenting as he finally reached the top.

Once he was up, he had no issues balancing on the bars and walking back and forth as he tugged at the joints and tried to locate a weak spot. I made a mental note of what I had seen. Climbing was possible—extremely difficult, even if he was sane—but it was possible.

Nicky groaned and sat down inside the cage. "Any day now. This is the most time I've willingly spent inside a jail cell, especially when I have bobby pins in my hair and I'm not waiting for Daniel to leave me unattended."