The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 4: The Water Gun Runs Out

Clattering made me glance over my shoulder to make sure Jax had dodged the falling pile of hubcaps. Plumes of dust rose into the air, although that wasn't anything new with four of us digging through the stacks of stuff looking for things to cobble ladders out of.

We had wood, but the nails weren't long enough and the aged rope broke too easily. We found wood screws of the proper length, but no screwdriver. There were a lot of lengths of pipe—both metal and PVC—but no three-way joints to turn them into a ladder.

Each option was missing just one component and kept us searching. I found a bent hacksaw and tossed it into our pile of "useful things".

"Found a box of plumbing parts," Wren said, "but there are only ninety joints and some valves. No three-ways." She set the box to the side and began tugging on a length of chain, trying to pull it free, but making far more noise than progress.

"I found a big bucket of paperclips!" Nicky exclaimed, hefting an ice cream pail full of the innocuous objects.

"Those won't build a ladder," I told her, unsure why anyone would ever need that many paperclips. I picked up a small container of dental floss and wondered how effective a braided strand would be if used as string.

"No, but I can make lanyards out of them and torment Daniel! I'll stick these outside the door so I don't forget to take them with us."

As she opened the door, a nearby growl had me racing toward her, leaping over piles of junk in my haste. Nicky dropped the bucket and fumbled for her soap gun. I was just reaching the door when she swung it like a baseball bat.

With a crack, it connected with the zombie's head and knocked it sideways. Nicky sidestepped its thrashing arms and began pumping the gun barrel as I tackled a second zombie farther away, rolling to my feet and spinning around.

A stream of foamy water hit the first zombie in the chest, then migrated to its face, making it splutter and claw at the water jet. I ignored the downed zombie and went to intercept a third that had just come around the corner of the barn.

As it reached for me, I grabbed its wrists and twisted them behind its back, securing them with the dental floss I had been examining. Nicky continued pelting her victim with soapy water. It fizzled out, and Nicky quickly repumped the gun to continue her assault.

With a length of steel pipe in his hands, Jax grabbed my tied-up zombie by the arm and dragged it into the trees. A crack echoed out of the greenery, followed by silence. He returned, but Wren and I had unanimously decided it was best to let Nicky finish giving her zombie a bath.

Once the water gun ran low and reliably created bubbles instead of inconveniencing the zombie, Nicky tossed the gun on the ground, moved the pail of paperclips to a spot beside the door, raised her chin, and walked back inside.

Leaving the thoroughly soaped zombie to roll around on the grass, I shook my head and went back into the barn. As I stepped past the gun, I could see the water tank was cracked and seeping water in a couple of places. Wren hesitated, then followed me. Jax was still looking between the water gun and the zombie when Wren closed the door behind herself.

"Are you okay?" I asked Nicky as she promptly headed to the corner Wren had been in and grabbed the box of plumbing parts.

"I wasn't expecting a zombie to be right outside the door," she grumbled. "I'm only supposed to be zombie bait on Tuesdays or Thursdays, and it is currently Saturday."

"Sorry, I should have checked for you. We were making so much noise I didn't realize we had company outside."

"Meh, I could have closed the door before it reached me. I should know better than to just waltz right outside, especially when there could be unranked ferals lurking around," she replied as Jax let himself in. A few growls came from outside, so Jax must have decided the soap-soaked zombie had enough problems without being dragged into the trees for a forced nap.