The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 85

"Thank you so much for the new plants!" Jess said, leaning through my open doorway.

I dropped my backpack beside my bed, my nighttime patrol now finished. "You're welcome."

A yawn from farther down the hallway heralded Nicky's arrival. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Trinity left two plants in the room between mine and hers! I found them last night, but she had already left. I happened to wake up early, and I was so happy I couldn't fall back to sleep since I knew she'd return around dawn."

Still in her pajamas, Nicky yawned again. "More plants? How many more do you need? And where are you going to put them all if she keeps bringing them?"

"Plants are awesome, and the adequate amount is always 'at least one more'. I'll always find room, even if I have to stick a couple on Trinity's end table."

"Not happening," I said. "I'll build you a raised planter box before I let that happen."

"So that's how you get her to do all this stuff for you without protest," Nicky observed, scratching her head sleepily. "You threaten to invade her personal space. Clever. I'll have to remember that. Oh, speaking of invading people's space, I noticed you hid the last wrench under my mattress."

"I told you to look harder."

"I thought I looked there the first three times." She shrugged. "Meh, I found it now. And just to humor you, all of them are in the holder and hanging on the wall." With yet another yawn, she said, "I'm going to grab my stuff and head for a shower."

"We'll see you later," Jess told her.

As Nicky shuffled away in another pair of oversized slippers, she muttered under her breath, "I wonder which pile that bright blue shirt is in. At this rate, I might have to try hanging stuff up, but I'd hate to prove Trinity was right."

A smirk crossed my lips, although I doubted she would change her organization habits anytime soon. I might have to find one of those standing clothing racks and leave it outside her door as a hint.

As Nicky disappeared into her room, Jess said, "I think I'll check the lab to see if anything needs to be done, just so Luke isn't always the early bird who does all the work. Meet you at breakfast?"

"Sure." There was even enough time for a quick nap between now and then.

~

       "That was a good breakfast," Nicky said as she pushed her empty plate away. "Now we just have to wait to see if my coffee is going to use its powers for good or evil today."

Almost every head within earshot spun in her direction with that proclamation.

I narrowed my eyes and sniffed the air in case I had missed something. "You didn't have coffee." In fact, she hadn't even looked at the pot the last few days – ever since Jess and I had adopted her.

"Since that was the only rule you gave me, I don't plan on ever touching it again, but a girl can dream, and I'm sure I can pretend."

Oh goody. "I'm sure you can find a lot more entertaining things to do. Particularly ones that don't involve disturbing the entire Stronghold," I told her with a faint warning in my voice.

"Probably. I'll have to contemplate all the options." She took a bite of toast and chewed thoughtfully, far more easily distracted than I had anticipated. Although, now that I thought about it, she hadn't really annoyed anyone for several days and seemed to be going out of her way to avoid causing trouble, despite her occasional comments that hinted otherwise.