The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 25: New Hope

As seemed to be our new habit, Regan and I met Jax and Wren near the tree line while waiting for Daniel to make an appearance. When the gates opened, it was impossible to mistake the truck with blue and purple swirls for any other as it drove in this direction.

"I presume Nicky had a hand in that paint job?" Regan murmured as we watched the truck draw nearer.

"She has an artistic streak that occasionally expresses itself in unusual ways. If you have any white clothing, I advise hiding it," I said. The truck was finally close enough for me to notice the passenger, which explained why Daniel chose to drive instead of walking over. "I wasn't expecting Nina to show up."

Wren tilted her head. "Does Nicky normally sit in the back?"

"It's safer that way," I said absently. "She's as mischievous as a two-year-old and has zero fear of Daniel. Sticking those two in a confined area for any length of time is guaranteed to create some sort of drama."

Daniel stopped the truck near us. The roof rack was absent, but a big pile of wood was stacked in the back. Daniel carried three small cardboard boxes over. "The food is probably cold by now, but they put a pie tin inside in case you wanted to heat it over a fire."

Jax took two and passed them to Wren, who put them in the dune buggy for later. Regan held his ground with remarkable composure and nodded his thanks as the Terror handed him the third box.

As Nina came over, I asked, "Where did you lose Logan?" It was very unusual to see the two apart when Nina went outside the fence.

"He was talking with Luke on the radio," Nina replied. "There's a set of notes I didn't think to bring, and he's going to write them down for me."

I recalled the boxes of papers, binders, and equipment we had lugged down from Ironwind and how much more Nina had left there. If she kept collecting stuff, we'd need a trailer to haul it all home.

Nicky scratched her head as she examined me. "How did you lose your hoodie this time? After so many years of you wearing those things, seeing you in a t-shirt is just wrong."

"A zombie took offense to it." There was no way I was going to wear a hoodie with a sign of defeat on my shoulder. I pulled a vial of blood out of my pocket and held it out for Nina. "This one was faster than it should have been and didn't respect zombie rules like most of the unranked do. It also had no issues jumping into trees after me."

She put on a pair of gloves and came to take it from me. "Thank you. I was actually coming to get some blood samples from the unranked ferals in the shipping container, so this will be a welcome addition."

"Making any headway?" I inquired. Wren had asked me for an update earlier, but I hadn't been around the scientist much the last couple of days.

"Actually, yes. I'm about halfway through the notes, and everything I learned before is making much more sense. The controlex in Wren's blood sample also finished."

"What did it show?" Wren asked eagerly, her eyes glowing slightly.

Nina winced. "Most triggers were locked into the regular zombie series, so there's an unfortunately high chance you'd lose yourself. It's not something I'd risk with a sane zombie, although it's an option for ferals. I'll keep looking. If nothing else, I have the notes, and we can try making the same type of serum. I'd need to test it in blood samples before re-administering it in case it acts unpredictably."

Wren nodded slowly, her building hope now deflated. "I can donate more blood for testing."

"It will take me a day or two to replicate that serum. Daniel is driving back to Graydon Stronghold to pick up a piece of equipment I need to make it."