The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 25: When Duckies Fly

Daniel examined the cabinet as he stopped in front of it. Under Nina's confused gaze, he stepped to the side and cautiously opened it. At first, nothing happened, but when the door opened halfway, something inside snapped.

A bright yellow ducky flew out of the cabinet. Daniel snatched it out of the air and idly tossed it in Nicky's direction. It bounced across the table in a series of half-squeaks before the redhead pinned it to table.

Daniel peered into the cabinet and pulled out a handful of wires and elastics that formed the launch mechanism. A spring and several paperclips fell out of the pile.

"Wh—" Nina began, before pausing and casting an accusing glare at Nicky. "When did you set that up?"

"When you were busy. It would have been much more entertaining if I hadn't warned Daniel."

Daniel set the pile of ducky launcher materials on the counter. "Nothing up there looks like a motor. Just wires, some eye pieces, and what I'm guessing are spare control panels."

"I don't recall seeing another centrifuge around. Logan, can you please check with Fred and ask if they have any spare parts for it?"

"Sure," Logan replied, standing up.

Turning to Daniel, she asked, "While he's doing that, do you mind helping me get a blood sample from that new zombie? I can do some tests without the centrifuge."

Daniel nodded and closed the cabinet.

With the quiver now attached to my backpack, I said, "I'm going to skip that trip. I think I'll chop wood instead."

"I left a pile of shrubs by the truck. They just have to be broken into smaller pieces, but we'll probably need to collect more," Daniel said.

I gave a wave of thanks as I left the room. The squealing of a chair being pushed back was quickly followed by Nicky's footsteps in hot pursuit.

~

I grabbed onto the central stem of the large shrub and gave a hard twist. The wood crackled as I broke it free and tossed the top half toward Nicky. I left the trunk and remaining stems to regrow and headed to the next bush.

A horseback rider trotted past us, luring away several regular zombies. Nicky put the shrub into the wagon and pulled the cart behind us. It was meant to be pulled by goats, so it was light enough for her.

"You'll only get one or two more into the cart," she said. "Even with your heavy-handed tactics, we can't really pack them down anymore."

I ripped the top half of another shrub off and brought it over. "This should be enough wood to get us back to Ironwind. Working out here was better than sitting in the lab."

"True, but it's almost time for dinner. Let's head back."

After wedging the shrub in the pile, I took over the cart-pulling duty. By the time we returned to the Stronghold, people were already entering the dining area, so we left the branches by the truck and went to find the others. Predictably, they were in the meeting room by the lab, just sitting down to eat.

Nicky wasted no time in claiming her plate. "Did you find the right motor?"

"Not yet," Nina replied. "A few people are checking the storage sheds for one that might work. We rigged up a smaller motor for now, but it doesn't fit in the casing, so it isn't working as well and the holder keeps falling off the shaft. I'll have to find some sort of strong bonding agent to attach it better."

"I say we use whatever makes stacked pails stick together," Nicky said, tilting her head thoughtfully.

Nina blinked at her, then shook her head. "I'm hoping we find the proper motor, but I was able to determine that the zombie was a Runner with a few Nightstalker triggers, as well as a few triggers I've never seen activated before."