The Virus Within: The Road Ahead (Book 1 - SERIES COMPLETED!)

Chapter 56

I hadn't walked far before a man passing by commented, "If you're looking for Nicky, she's in the kitchen washing pots and pans."

That didn't sound like something Nicky normally did. "Are you sure? I've never seen her in the kitchen before."

He shrugged. "That's what I was told."

"I'll go check then. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Sure enough, as I approached the back door to the kitchen – which was open to let excess heat out – Nicky's scent grew stronger.

As I entered, an unusual amount of banging and clanging to the side caught my attention. I actually had to pause and just watch. I had never seen someone try to mangle pots simply by washing them before.

I had to give her credit for how clean they were once she finished wrestling with them, but it was probably a good thing she didn't have Nightstalker strength, or they wouldn't be round anymore.

"It looks like you're doing a good job," I told her. "I'll go see what they have hidden in those baskets."

Nicky glanced over her shoulder. "So you did escape. That's a pity. I was looking forward to having a good excuse to cause mayhem."

"Tough luck. All the mayhem you get to cause today is with the grime on those pots." I continued through the kitchen to my usual seat.

After my exchange with Nicky, the cooks knew I was present, and none of them bumped into me. Nicky grumbled but continued assaulting the pots and pans, banging and clanging them far more than should have been humanly possible.

The baskets held carrots today, and as per usual, the paring knife and empty bowl for the diced carrots were waiting for me. I sat down and started chopping the orange vegetables while keeping my ears open. It wasn't exactly easy to eavesdrop with the racket Nicky was making, but I caught most of the whispers.

Needless to say, Nicky's bang-up concert was not overly appreciated, although their opinions were mostly conveyed by sour looks instead of murmurs. A few were discussing Nicky's earlier exchange with me; they hadn't known I was getting a tour of the lab, but all of them seemed to know that I was now aware of Nina's research.

As the morning went by, none of the people working here mentioned those subjects to me. In fact, other than the usual how-are-you-today pleasantries, this morning was very similar to past mornings. Nicky's gong-show on the other side of the room notwithstanding.

It wasn't long until lunch, and the cooks looked almost relieved when they sent Nicky over to tell me I'd done enough this morning. As we sat down to eat, Nina joined us at our table.

I glanced around the room. "What did you do with Daniel? I don't think I've ever seen you two apart."

"One of the hunting groups stumbled across a feral Runner and lured it into an empty house. Daniel went to help them get it into an enclosed trailer and take it to the zombie barn to the south. Forewarned, he'll be a bit grouchy when he gets back. Dealing with ferals always puts him in a bad mood. Later on, he'll help me get some blood and saliva from it. The more samples we have, the better it is for us. Sometimes we see some unexpected side effects in the blood from a different individual."

"Are there a lot of those unforeseen side effects?"

Nina sighed. "We're finding more than we'd like to see. Not only is the virus tenacious, but each person is also slightly different genetically. For example, one drug we're testing only works if they have type A blood, and another only affects males. In a way, it's kind of like trying to treat a dozen types of cancer using one drug, but worse. No cancer ever had the power to regenerate organs or keep a body from failing if its host bled out."