The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 82

"Did Kelly and Travis leave?" Nina asked as she sat down for breakfast.

"Yes, they decided to head out before sunrise."

"I assume they took the car?" Daniel asked, confirming he'd located it during his patrols yesterday.

"Yes. I gave them a jerrycan of fuel as well."

"That was nice of you," Jess murmured.

"So," Nina began, somewhat unhappily, "the tests with the hair finished last night, and I had some time to quickly glance at them this morning."

Even without her ominous words, the scientist's tone would have alerted me to bad news. "And?"

Her frown deepened. "With your hair, I was able to see the exact point when you turned, but that's because there was a large concentration of the zombie virus RNA. There were no unusual chemicals in that spot."

"You say 'in that spot,'" Luke commented, subtly asking for more details.

"The chemical signatures in the mutant zombie's hair had much more in common with the section where Trinity got the controlex." She grew frustrated, mostly at herself. "I've never really collected zombie hair or studied it, so I don't have much to compare it to. Most chemicals won't show in hair, but I managed to find traces in his that match several types we carry in the lab."

"In other words, Louise was playing again," I growled.

"As far as I can tell, yes, but it gets worse."

I eyed up the unhappy scientist. "How so?"

"Several of those chemicals weren't stored in the barn. So she must have raided one of the other supply areas or had a hidden stash she took with her."

Nicky stabbed a potato wedge with far more force than necessary. "Please tell me the other labs are watching for her."

"They know my previous assistant, who was named Louise, is now deemed completely untrustworthy and would have been punished and banished if she hadn't fled in a stolen truck with stolen fuel and supplies. If they hear of her or find her, I'm sure they'll let us know."

"Does that mean Louise gave him those drugs while he was human?" Jess asked. "And that if she hadn't, he would have become a Nightstalker?"

"That's correct," Nina affirmed. "He might have been sneezing, or possibly bitten by a regular zombie but infected with the airborne strain; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the markers for a Nightstalker. And according to the blood tests, he would have turned into a Nightstalker if the drugs hadn't intervened."

"What were the drugs supposed to do?"

"I'm not sure which ones she was using – not all of them show in hair samples. I'm guessing she might have tried to replicate the cure, or more likely, she used one of the earlier versions of the serum, and it didn't play well with the Nightstalker triggers."

Jess nodded slowly. "And she can't create the cure because she'd need a blood or saliva sample from every rank."

"That's right," Nina replied. "She can probably replicate the serum if she had all the proper chemicals and agents, but that's about it. She mistook the controlex for the cure, so she isn't even aware the controlex exists."

"Was she trying to help these people or experiment on them?" Jess inquired, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I'm not sure... although most of these drugs were meant to help." Nina trailed off, still trying to hope for the best, yet also acknowledging Louise's version of "helping" often left a lot to be desired.