The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 35: A Deal

I emerged from the trees to see Nicky sitting in the driver's seat with the door open as Nina and Logan conversed with Jax and Wren some distance away. Wren stood on the other side of the dune buggy, keeping it between her and the others.

"Will you stop that racket?" I sent a scowl at Nicky.

"I told them it would summon you!" She exclaimed happily as she whacked the horn. The music finally cut out, allowing silence to fall. She blinked as Daniel emerged from the undergrowth.

With a frown, she said, "Okay, who do I have to unalive? Those scratches aren't Trinity's handiwork, and we're the only ones allowed to torment you."

"That would be me," Ethan said as he followed Daniel out of the bushes, leaving plenty of space between them.

Nicky tilted her head and craned her neck from side to side, peering at the stranger from where she stood, before looking at me and stating, "He's giving off some weird vibes."

"He's the Terror from Yersin Stronghold," I told her.

"On second thought, I think I'll let Daniel fend for himself this time," Nicky said, shrugging without any visible concern. "How do you keep finding all these people anyway? Not that I'm complaining—it means less work for me—but for an anti-social owl, you sure bring back a lot of friends. We practically need three vehicles by the time we finish our road trips."

"I didn't find him. He found us."

"I'll take your word for it." Turning to Ethan, she asked, "You're not jumpy, are you?"

His red eyes blinked slowly, not understanding the reason behind the question, but still replying, "No."

"Awesome!" She grabbed a rope out of the grass and gave it a hard yank.

Poof! A silver spider web made of paperclips launched out of a nearby rock pile at Daniel, who had been walking toward Nina. Daniel stopped as the net flew in front of him and missed by several inches.

Nicky pulled another string. Twang! The rubber ducky was once again airborne and promptly caught midair by Daniel. He turned and tossed it toward the truck, letting it bounce on the ground with a few squeaks as it reached the grinning redhead.

"I'm getting closer!" she declared, picking up the rubber ducky and scampering over to the pile of rocks from which the net had originated from.

Ethan remained where he had stopped, watching in bewilderment. I still didn't see any hint of Regan, although he was undoubtedly nearby and presumably questioning the sanity of our group yet again. Ethan probably could have pointed out his exact location, had he not been busy staring at the redhead pulling a potato cannon out of a rock pile.

With a hard yank, the cannon finally came free, dumping Nicky on her rear end. She noticed Ethan's gaze and grinned at him. "Smile. It confuses people."

I hated to break it to her, but her smile was not the main reason for people's confusion and staring. Wren's faint growl had me glancing sharply at her. She was already backing toward the trees and shaking her head, her hands gripping her arms as if making sure they couldn't do something they weren't supposed to.

Nina and Logan quickly moved to the side in case the wind had shifted. Ethan drifted closer to me with a concerned frown, glancing at me, silently requesting an explanation.

I quietly said, "Wren is one of the regular zombies who was hit by the airborne serum and regained sanity. But the drug isn't stable, and it's slowly wearing off."

"I'm so sorry," Wren said, dropping to her knees beside a large tree. "I don't understand this."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Nina asked, taking a tentative step closer, clearly wanting to help, but aware her presence was part of the problem.