The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 24

Daniel stopped the truck in front of the path that led to Luke's cave. Nina grabbed a backpack while Nicky and Jess were unencumbered. They had already eaten breakfast, so we didn't have to drag food out here.

Nina was still thrilled with Luke's invitation. I knew she wanted to take a peek at Luke's chart of symptoms and hoped for a blood sample. I was surprised she'd managed to rein in her scientific curiosity this long without asking.

The clearing was empty, although as per usual, the sound of hammering gave away Luke's location. Was he building a castle in there or something?

I called out, "Hey, Luke. We're here."

The hammering stopped. "Please make yourselves comfortable. I'll be right out."

We sat at the picnic table and waited. A few minutes later, Luke came out with a clean shirt and pair of shorts.

As he took a seat on a stump, he took a deep breath and examined us thoughtfully. "Interesting. The bloodlust is greatly reduced. I thought it was a bit less apparent last night, but this is much more noticeable."

Nina's eyes lit up. "Really? Mind if I see your notes?"

He pulled out the notebook and gently tossed it to her. Nina started leafing through the pages before pulling out another notebook. She started cross-comparing them, and I realized the second notebook held records from my experience.

"The trend is nearly identical." Nina nodded thoughtfully. "The symptoms should completely clear up by this evening. Have you noticed any other changes?"

"Not really. I can see slightly better at night, as well as during the day, but nothing like when Trinity lost the tint in her vision. Then again, I've only seen that tint a few times when I was quite angry. There's still no desire for human food, although I'm hunting more. The haziness in my mind is much less noticeable – better than it's ever been. Now it looks like the bloodlust is disappearing."

Nina hesitated before tentatively asking, "Would it be possible to get a blood sample?"

Luke stilled at the question, as did I. His bloodlust might be reduced, but could we trust it to not flare up while it was still settling? Closing his eyes, Luke took another deep breath as he tested his control.

His eyes opened and moved to me. "I think I can let her get that close, but would you mind standing near? My instincts are still as aware of you as ever."

I nodded and got up to stand near him. Jess and Nicky watched me cross the grass, although they remained silent spectators.

"I'm willing to try," Luke told Nina, "but if I give a warning, please drop everything and back up."

Nina nodded and dug through her backpack for the supplies she needed. It didn't escape my notice that Daniel stilled as his eyes locked onto us. This was the first time Nina was going to approach a sane Runner while a mostly untested drug was messing around with the bloodlust.

I recalled how the original ferals had reached for humans, even after the controlex ran its course, so the bloodlust was still there to some degree, but they had been easily distracted by a rabbit.

Luke had hunted last night, so even though he would feel the temptation, his humanity should be able to override it much like I had been able to in the past. I suspected Luke was being overly cautious, but considering his previous struggles, I couldn't exactly blame him.

Nina slowly walked over to Luke, who watched her approach while he remained sitting on the stump. He held out his arm and turned his head away from her, facing me. My stance was relaxed but watchful. I was close enough and fast enough to intervene if something happened.