The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 45

The road was liberally covered in small potholes, which made for a slightly bumpy ride. This part of the old highway clearly hadn't been properly maintained for years. Nina had the storage box beside her open as she checked the well-packed vials inside.

"How many are left?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Over five hundred of the cure, and about a hundred of the sanity serum and controlex," she replied absently.

"All you need is one mostly infected Stronghold, and that'll be gone," Nicky observed, already lying down and watching the overcast clouds above.

Nina's gaze moved to the redhead. "I'm hoping people were far more cautious in the second wave. So far, the infection rates haven't been as bad as I feared."

"Why do some places have so many infections and some don't?" Nicky asked idly. "These Strongholds must have been careful, or they wouldn't have survived the last wave."

"I'm not entirely sure," Nina replied, a faint frown of concern appearing on her face. "Thankfully, the numbers we're seeing aren't nearly as bad as what we were expecting. The sneezing strain is primarily airborne, so all it takes is a poorly fitting mask or someone taking theirs off at the wrong moment. It can remain in the air for almost two minutes, and that's a lot of time for someone to enter the area unaware. It can also be spread by body fluids, so even something as simple as a kiss can spread it. I really hope it isn't mutating into something more transmissible."

"The first few sneezes are easy to dismiss as happenstance, allergies, or exposure to dust," Daniel mused. "It takes about fifteen minutes or so for the sneezes to become frequent and stand out as unusual."

"That's true," Nina agreed, relieved to hear logical alternatives. "And everyone sneezes at some point. It's natural, and most sneezes are perfectly harmless. We just have to be super careful during the wave."

"One place I stayed at actually considered it an insult to put on a mask after someone sneezed," Nicky added. "Kind of like accusing them of being infected instead of you being overly cautious. But considering most of the places so far haven't had too many infections, I don't think this wave is going to do as much damage as the last one."

"I hope this wave isn't as bad as the other two," Nina said fervently.

"Well, the only thing you can do is spread the cure far and wide and get your butt moving in the vaccine creation department," Nicky told her, as if she hadn't actually been doing that for over half a year.

Nina looked at her for a few moments before replying, "It's not as easy to make a vaccine as you might think. The cure was a small miracle."

"Well, Trinity hasn't killed me yet, so there's a surplus of miracles going around."

"We're going to need as many as we can get," Nina replied slowly.

After a few minutes of silence, Daniel said, "Something back there is making a metallic screeching sound with every bump we hit. Can one of you figure out what's causing that and fix it? It's driving me crazy."

"I'd love to help, but I'm busy," Nicky replied, closing her eyes and reveling in the fact that something was annoying Daniel.

Considering I was likely the guilty culprit, I sighed and tried to figure out which recent addition was causing this squeak. I tilted my head and listened for the sound. It took me a few seconds to pinpoint the direction of the muffled screeching amidst the regular sounds of the mattress creaking and our gear and supplies shifting.

It was coming from the far corner. Walking on my knees, I went over and moved the sleeping bags away. The slightest glint of silver showed that one of my ad-hoc weapons had weaseled its way higher up.