The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 42: Blackouts

Like yesterday, Daniel pinned the feral zombies against the bars for Nina after the morning meeting. Wren got out of the dune buggy and began walking to the trailer, only to stumble and stand there as tremors jittered through her muscles.

"Wren?" I asked, already jogging toward her.

The tremors stopped as quickly as they began. She shook her head, raising a hand to her face. "Did—did I just black out?"

I slowed down. "If you did, it was only for a couple seconds."

"That kind of looked like the muscle tremors from the controlex," Ethan observed.

Nina finished administering the revised cure and took a few steps closer. "Such tremors are usually the result of a certain group of triggers changing or trying to change. They didn't look that stable in the blood sample from two days ago."

"C-could that be why I had a hard time eating dinner last night?" Wren asked, worry in her voice. "I just kept craving raw meat. I tried cooking some, but it didn't seem very appetizing."

"That could be a side effect of those triggers," Nina slowly said. "Ferals don't show any interest in human food. They'll sometimes eat cooked meat or jerky, but it's not common."

Wren sank to her knees, shaking her head as she whispered, "I don't want my mind to disappear..."

When her vibrant red eyes moved to Nina with a pleading look, the scientist hung her head. "I'm sorry, but the restoration serum isn't ready yet. The version I gave the zombies is a bit different from yesterday's formula, and apart from dozens of blood samples, it's untested. If it didn't hold those triggers in place long enough, it could turn you feral before it removed the zombie virus."

Her lip trembled. "What if I die like that zombie we found in town the other day?"

"I'm currently testing these two drugs in the last of your blood samples. We'll know more in eight hours, but if it had a similar success rate as yesterday's samples, it's too much of a risk to try it right now."

Wren shook her head wordlessly as her hands grasped clumps of grass.

"I've been noticing the bloodlust more as well," Jax admitted. "I doubt I'd be able to give a human a ride on the back of the dune buggy. What are the odds of me losing the Runner triggers?"

"Your markers are for a Runner," Nina told him. "The changes will stop once you reach that rank. Once you're a normal Runner, you could use the controlex or cure. Just not until the serum's changes have completely disappeared."

Wren quietly asked, "How much time do we have left?"

"I'm not sure. Your triggers seem to be coming undone faster than Jax's, and I'd need a blood sample to see where things are now."

Her grip on the grass increased. "Wh-what if I was in a cage and Daniel watched? Like you did with the zombies yesterday?"

Nina hesitated. "It's an option, but it's up to you."

Driven by desperation, Wren staggered to her feet and went to an empty cage. Nina readied her needle and vials as Daniel waited beside the bars. Wren put her arm through the bars, shivering as Daniel gently held it in place and prevented the possibility of her trying to grab Nina.

Nina was reaching out as Wren's other hand tried going through the bars, only to be caught by Daniel.

Wren gave a frustrated cry and slammed her head against the bars. "I'm so sorry!"

She didn't pull away from Daniel, so Nina took that as permission to continue. Once Nina was done and Daniel released Wren's wrists, she staggered against the back wall and sank to the ground.