Nicky was far too relaxed as she bounced around the scrapyard while zombies pressed against the fence. The horseback riders occasionally came by and lured them away, but more undead kept showing up.
I paused as the gate opened to let a long line of vehicles file through. "Looks like they're finally heading back."
"Oh, good," Nicky said, dragging a pipe over. "It's time for lunch, and we can't finish this too quickly, or they'll think we actually know what we're doing."
As if the riders knew we'd been waiting for the crowd to disperse, one swung back to kidnap our fans and lead them away. Nicky and I walked back to the Stronghold, where the guards let us in without question.
"It looks like Daniel is almost done helping that group roll up the tent," I said, although my eyes were focused on the number of people entering the dining area.
Nicky noticed my gaze. "Fortunately for you, they heard sane zombies weren't fans of crowds, so they bring our food to the meeting room beside the lab."
"I had no plans on going in there with all those people. At least our hosts won't have to worry about such hospitality much longer. I wonder if Nina cleared that zombie for travel. It won't be hard to finish the cage; for that matter, the locals could even do it."
"Let's go find out. If we leave in the next few hours, we'll make it back to Ironwind before nightfall."
That sounded like a good plan to me.
When we reached the meeting room, Nina was talking with Logan while waiting for us to show up. I picked a seat in the corner as Nicky began putting food on her plate.
"What's the story behind your new friend in the trailer?" I asked Nina.
Her expression became somber, which wasn't a good sign. "Well, the good news is that he isn't contagious, and it isn't a disease."
Nicky looked up. "If that's the only good news you have, I have a feeling I'm going to need my soap gun and a few firecrackers."
The scientist shrugged helplessly. "When I used the cure in a sample, then reinfected it, all the triggers realigned to be a regular zombie. He should be a regular zombie. Not whatever rank he is."
I snorted faintly. "Which points to them running afoul of Louise and being locked up somewhere."
"That's what I thought at first, but this last test says otherwise." She waved her hand at a machine we'd brought with us.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean? If it isn't a disease, and it wasn't Louise, what options are left?"
"I don't know, but the hair sample shows that the change happened about a month ago, and he's been a zombie for much longer than that."
All I could do was stare at her.
"Forget the soap gun; I think I need to build a potato cannon," Nicky muttered.
"The other zombie's hair shows the same timelines," Nina said. "I have more tests running, but chemicals were definitely used to alter the triggers. One of them isn't something we have in Ironwind, and it's rarely used with viruses, so Louise wouldn't have known about it."
Nicky used a spoon to swirl her mashed potatoes into a volcano. "Don't forget that Daniel went back to make sure Louise's body was found. We know she's dead. Is it possible someone tried to cure a couple of regular zombies?"
"The combination looks closer to the sanity serum than the cure, but at least two chemicals are ones I've never used."
I tapped my finger on the arm of the chair. "I thought the sanity serum only prevented an infected human from turning into a regular zombie? And that it did nothing to zombies?"
"That's correct. I even did a few blood tests to double-check. This is a different chemical combination, and it's very unstable. The triggers aren't locked in place well, and I actually had two flip back into their proper position when thinning out the blood."
"That would explain why the zombies are different," I said. "But if this has a chemical origin, then someone has to be responsible. And those zombies couldn't have traveled that far in a month."
Daniel entered the room. "The radio room is going to contact every Stronghold with a radio tower and ask if they know anything or have seen any other mutant zombies."
"They're not really mutants," Nina said thoughtfully. "Their triggers just don't line up with the ranks as we currently categorize them. Unranked is probably a better term for non-typical zombies."
Nicky paused, looking up from the potato-mountain she built. "If it's possible to turn regular zombies into Runners, or something like them, is it possible these unranked ones might regain the ability to be sane?"
"I don't know... In all my previous testing, the zombie died as soon as we changed the rank."
"So why are these alive?" I asked.
"I think it's because the base triggers are still the same rank. If those triggers had changed, the zombie would have died."
"So we don't need to worry about a regular zombie suddenly turning into a Terror?"
"No, those triggers are quite different. This ties back to the markers the virus leaves when it turns its host. It looks like they can adopt some triggers from the next rank up, but the primary triggers remain the same." Her face grew thoughtful. "As much as I need the blood samples, I'm really tempted to try the cure on one of them and see if they might be sane." Her gaze moved to me. "Would you be able to check their scents and determine which one might have the best chance?"
"If they've been a zombie for years, they likely found dead animals or cornered something. The one with the head wound wouldn't survive the injury as a human."
"True... I'll have to do more testing first and I know there's almost no chance of success, but I'd still like to try. It's an area I've never looked at simply because I've never managed to get the triggers to hold unless they lined up with the four regular ranks."
Logan sat down with a plate of food. "I thought this was the only Stronghold with a larger lab in the Washington state?"
"That's what I thought," Nina replied. "There are a couple who can make the cure, but they struggle with that. Something like this would be very sophisticated. That's why I asked Daniel to get the radio room to contact the Strongholds. At least two within a day's drive have radio towers."
"We need to find the source," I stated. "Once we have that, I'm sure we'll find more answers."
"I agree," Daniel said. He glanced at me. "Feel like coming with me for a drive and checking the area? Nina can keep running tests while we're gone."
"Sure. As much as I'd rather avoid another boring road trip, something about this doesn't feel right. Nothing is lining up, and I don't like it."
"That means I'm stuck on guard duty again!" Nicky groaned. "Can I at least have a coffee so I don't fall asleep?"
"No," Daniel, Logan, Nina, and I all replied at once.
"Come on! The guy who brought the food said to have a good day, and I'm sure that meant 'here, have a coffee'. He even left the pot!" She pointed to the small carafe on the table.
"No," Daniel repeated. "They have to pay the traders to bring that up here. We don't need you to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. We have enough trouble on our hands already."
"But it would go to waste!"
"Nicky," I interrupted, "how about we leave Logan on guard duty, and you get a special mission?"
All of my companions eyed me up dubiously.
"What kind of mission?" Nicky asked.
"One that requires your wits to be coffee-free."
"I'm not entirely sure I'm in agreement with that detail, but I'm listening."
"Remember how Ironwind's lab is hidden? I want you to figure out if there might be a second, hidden lab in this place."
Nicky looked around. "Is she talking to me? This sounds like it involves discretion and social skills, and we already know I don't possess those."
"It's either you or Logan. Do you think you can pretend to be a spy?"
"You realize I'm a stranger in a Stronghold with just a few hundred residents? This isn't exactly a city from the old world where such things were child's play."
"Hmmm..." I pretended to reconsider my request. "Perhaps Logan would be the better choice."
She drew up her tiny frame with the challenge. "I can do it."
"Are you sure? Like you said, it won't be easy."
A grin appeared as her eyes flashed in determination. "Never underestimate my ability to find shit out."
"We probably won't be back until nightfall, so you'll have plenty of time."
"I'll draw a map showing the location of every coffee stash and set of handcuffs."
I closed my eyes tightly and counted to five before opening them. "No. That wasn't what I was asking for. I want to know if there is a hidden lab here."
"Yes, it is! Scientists need coffee, unless they're crazy like Nina and drink tea. And handcuffs are either near a secret location or not around it to avoid drawing attention."
Daniel interrupted, "Wouldn't it be easier to just ask people? Trinity and I can both smell lies."
"If you're trying to ruin my fun, you're succeeding," Nicky told him tartly. "But as much as I hate to admit it, you're right." She flopped back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling. "Which means I'm back to being stuck on guard duty and listening to Nina mutter about how much simpler yeast is compared to the zombie virus. Hip, hip, hooray."
Nina flushed and looked down at her plate, so I suspected there had been a few of those occasions.
"Which person here would know such details?" Logan asked Daniel.
"There's two who work in this lab, maybe..."
I tuned out the conversation, and since Nicky was eating and not thinking about coffee, my mind wandered back to the zombies. I had been so sure Louise was behind this! But she had been dead for over three years, and I didn't doubt Nina's certainty about the zombies changing just a month ago.
It wasn't a disease, which was good news, but there were possibly more affected zombies around, and we had no idea who was responsible. Ironwind Stronghold supplied a lot of places down here with the cure because they didn't have the resources to make it themselves, so who was creating this new chemical mixture?
The mention of my name pulled my attention back to the conversation as Logan said, "—Trinity with you. I'll take Nicky over this evening."
"That works for me," Daniel replied.
"I'll go tell Wyatt and see if we can get some volunteers." Logan stood up and left the room.
Nicky leaned closer to me. "What did he say?"
"No clue. I wasn't listening."
"Neither was I, so I'm going to smile, nod, and hope for the best. If that doesn't work, we'll break out the coffee and make it a moot point."
With a sigh, Daniel said, "He'll help you finish building the cage this evening. When I get back, I can make sure the joints are secure. Then we need some volunteers to test it."
"Oh! I'll do that even without coffee!"
"What's it with you and coffee lately?" I asked her, trying to recall the last time she'd been this fixated on the forbidden beverage.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Must be an indication of trouble brewing or something."
Her words only reinforced my opinion of the situation that was unfolding.
"I'll go start the truck." I got to my feet and disappeared out the door before any other ill omens reared their heads.
Halfway down the hallway, I encountered the younger man from our welcoming committee. It took me a few seconds to recall his name.
"Fred?"
He paused. "Yes?"
Since subtlety had never been my strong suit, I asked, "Is that lab the only room with science equipment?"
"There are two storage rooms down that hallway with some spare equipment and parts, but Nina knows about them already. Nothing else, sorry."
No trace of a lie tainted the air. "Ah, thanks."
So much for that idea. It left the unpleasant reality that an unknown group was running around with chemicals and leaving unpredictable zombies in their wake.