The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 17: The Mysteries Of The Unranked

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?"