The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 39: Round 'em Up!

It had been two days since the assistants arrived, but just like yesterday morning, Logan remained behind to make sure no one tested the lock on Nina's trailer. The skills he'd gained while helping Nina in the lab were coming in handy with organizing the new group and all the experiments they were running.

"We had a small breakthrough," Nina said as she got out of the truck. "Between Wren's blood and Ethan's, I think I've pinpointed the essential triggers that allow zombies to regain their minds without changing so much that the markers cause death."

Wren stood near the tree line, keeping even more distance between herself and Nina than yesterday. "How soon will it be ready?"

"It's a good lead, but some triggers are ones I've never targeted," Nina said regretfully. "The assistants are overseeing dozens of tests to determine which chemicals can lock those particular ones in place with no other effects. Once we find a chemical combination that works, it'll take time to make sure it's stable."

"I hope it's ready soon, because things are getting harder," she replied, wringing her hands together.

"We're trying," Nina said. "Some of the triggers, including that one from three days ago, aren't locking into place permanently. But we still have time. Most of your remaining altered triggers still look stable."

"How long?" Wren asked. "We found a dead zombie in town this morning, and Trinity said it used to be an unranked zombie. Several others were acting strange."

Nina pursed her lips at that news. "I was just about to say that we have several weeks, but Daniel also found a dead zombie yesterday, so things might be progressing faster than I realized."

"Why are they dying?" Ethan asked, glancing at Nina quizzically.

"As they revert back to their former rank, depending on which triggers they gained, some of the releases create incompatible combinations. Most of the deaths would have occurred when they were first affected by the serum. The reversal should have only a tiny percentage of fatalities."

Wren hugged her arms around herself and twisted from side to side. Nina watched her, her fingers twitching like she wanted to comfort the zombie.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Jax quietly asked.

"Maybe build more cages and put some regular unranked zombies inside?" Nina suggested. "I'll need at least ten or twenty when we reach the stage where we dare test it on an actual zombie. And considering how many have different triggers, I'm hoping we can find at least one with a combination similar to Wren's."

"I can help with that," I said. These wouldn't have to be capable of keeping Nightstalkers out—they just had to contain something similar to a Runner.

Nicky bounced to her feet in the back of the truck. "Count me in! Besides, I finally finished Daniel's shirt!" She proudly held up the very bright swirl of rainbow colors.

One spot of glaring white made me comment, "There's a problem."

"There is no problem you cannot ignore, confront, torment, plot against, or run over with the truck," Nicky proclaimed.

"You forgot to color a spot under the right sleeve."

She quickly checked and made a face. "Drat. I stand corrected. I'll rectify that before bed tonight."

"If Daniel feels like keeping an eye on things inside the Stronghold, I wouldn't mind helping build the cages," Ethan said.

The cages weren't going to be the complicated part, but I already had some ideas to speed things up. "Grab our truck and that enclosed trailer Daniel found. We'll need them to get supplies from the town and to transport the zombies once we finish."