The Shift: Book II of the Wildfire Saga (61 page)

I need to get out of this cave.

“I was on my way to speak with Chad and get his impression of conditions in Brikston.
 
I read in the report we lost another Ranger this morning.
 
That’s two to the virus and one to injury now.”
 
He paused, a pained expression on his face.
 
“Oh—I’m sorry.”

Brenda shook her head in order to clear the nascent tears in her eyes.
 
“Don’t worry,” she said stiffly.
 
“The best thing we can do right now is find a serum that works.”
 
She sniffed and started walking, gratified that Maurice was professional enough to let it pass and fall in step.
 

“Agreed,” he said and cleared his throat before moving on: “We need to officially confirm the shift as soon as possible and warn the Europeans.
 
Those cases in Germany and Spain—they could be carrying the shifted strain.”
 
He thought for a moment.
 
“No, we have to assume they
are
.”

Brenda thought back to her brother in the Crit-Care ward.
 
Deep down, she had known this would happen.
 
Without suits, what did they expect?
 
The chances of infection were astronomical.
 

She froze when Maurice opened the exam room hatch and they saw 13 standing next to Huntley, holding his hand.
 
Brenda was surprised to see the woman out of her suit already but took Maurice’s causal reaction to mean she had been approved to exit quarantine.
 

They looked like a couple.
 
Brenda glanced at Maurice.
 
He watched the two test subjects with a slight smile on his face a moment before putting a fist to his mouth and clearing his throat.

Huntley looked up and smiled when he saw Maurice.
 
“Dr. Boatner!
 
Come look!”

Brenda had already spotted it—the cuts and bruises on 13’s neck and arms were gone.
 
Only a few slight pink marks remained as evidence of her surviving a plane crash.
 
She leaned on her injured leg and smiled sweetly.
 

There was something about 13 that just didn’t feel right.
 
Brenda stepped forward and began to examine the leg.
 
She looked up at 13’s angelic face and frowned.
 
“You heal pretty fast.”
 

13 shrugged.
 
“I’ve always healed fast.”

“You look lovely, my dear, as always,” said Maurice.
 
His smile faded and he turned somber.
 
“Leaving aside your remarkable ability to heal, we’ve come to discuss something with you—both of you.”

“Oh?” asked 13.
 
Brenda noticed the change in the younger woman’s voice and how she inched closer to Huntley, almost protectively.
 
That was interesting.
 

“Yes.
 
Unfortunately, our data indicates that the virus is mutating faster than anyone predicted.
 
As part of our report to the World Health Organization, we need to know what you saw in Kentucky—give us as much detail as you can provide.”
 
He sat down on a stool and produced a pen from his coat, then pulled a yellow legal pad out of a nearby workstation drawer and began transcribing their observations.

As Huntley and 13 relayed their experiences, what they saw, smelled, and felt, Brenda thought of Cooper.
 
He was out there, cut off from command, surrounded by enemy forces—possibly sick himself.
 

Derek, however, was in no less danger in the infirmary.
 
He had access to the best treatment possible.
 
Brenda hoped that would be enough—at least until they could work up an effective serum.
 

She leaned against the workstation next to Huntley’s exam table.
 
She couldn’t fathom the thought of losing both of them—everything rested on their young shoulders.

“—as I expected,” Maurice said as he shoved his hands in his lab coat pockets.

Brenda folded her arms.
 
“How soon can we adjust the serum for these new numbers?”

Maurice glanced at Huntley.
 
“We’ll need a fresh sample batch, but I think we can work something up tonight—first thing tomorrow at the latest.”
 
He looked at Huntley.
 
“Are you up for this, Chad?
 
We’ll need a double.”

Brenda watched as 13 squeezed Huntley’s hand.
 
He flashed a brave smile at the blonde and replied, “Yeah, let’s do this.”

“Very good.
 
Brenda, would you mind?
 
I need to brief the President on what we’ve learned here.”
 

“No problem.”
 

She tried to ignore Huntley and 13 as they whispered to each other.
 
Huntley took no notice as she slipped the needle into his arm.
 
He was the perfect patient: quiet and calm.
 
He held still when she needed him to and knew how to hold his arm to maximize blood flow into the collection tubes.
 
Sadness washed over her.
 
How many times had this young man been drained to make it second nature to him?

She idly tapped one of the collection vials as it filled with his warm, super-immune blood.
 
Why did God choose you two to be so special?
 
She looks like a movie star and heals like a superhero.
 
He’s immune to every disease known to man.
 
She glanced at the happy couple.
 
Wow.
 
Think of what kind of kids you two would have…

Before she could carry that thought any further, Huntley looked at her.
 
“So, Doctor—”

She flashed a well-practiced bedside smile.
 
“Brenda, please.”

Huntley smiled back.
 
She could see why 13 like him so much.
 
“Brenda.”
 
He lifted his arm and peered at the dangling IV tubing.
 
“
Do you really think you’re on to something with this?”
 

Brenda frowned.
 
Her hands went into her lab coat pockets.
 
“Honestly, we won’t know until we make a new serum and adjust it for the new genetic information we’ve received.”
 
She shrugged.
 
“Once we tailor the delivery system to get your antibodies inside the shifted virus we should be able to wipe it out.
 
If nothing else, we should see our survival rates increase.”

“What do you mean?” asked 13.
 

The anxiety in her tone caught Brenda’s attention.
 
There was just something about the tall, beautiful blonde that she didn’t like. She immediately tamped down the emotion and was irritated with herself for being so childish. The poor girl had done nothing wrong.
 
Brenda sighed.
 

“Right now, the test serum is targeting the original strain—most of the patients here have that one.”

“How is it working?” asked 13.
 

“We’re seeing some improvement but not enough.”
 
She shrugged.
 
“It beats the hell out of anything people topside are facing.
 
They’re going to be looking at 50% fatalities in some areas and it’ll only get worse from here.”

“Oh, my God,” whispered 13.

“If He’s listening, we could sure use His help right about now,” Brenda muttered.
 
“Luckily, the vast majority of people who’ve been infected to date are simply bedridden and weak—they’ll recover.
 
But in the worst cases—healthy, young adults—a strong immune response triggers the onset of ARDS…”
 
She sighed.
 
“The only consolation is that once ARDS sets in, they don’t suffer long—this thing really destroys the lungs quickly.”

“Scorched Lung,” said the girl, her eyes staring into the distance.
 
“I remember.”

Images of her parents flitted across her mind.
 
Brenda would never forget the blue tint of their lips and hands when they died.
 
That had been the day before Derek had lapsed into a fever-induced coma and she had been left all alone in the house to—

“Hey,” said Huntley.
 
His hand on her arm jerked Brenda back to the present.
 
“You’re doing good, Doc.
 
We’re gonna beat this thing.”
 
It wasn’t a question.

Brenda smiled at the young man’s bravery.
 
Easy for you to say, kid—you’ll never get sick a day in your life
.

“When will you have the new serum?” asked 13.

Brenda blinked and examined the vial in her hand.
 
“Oh, I don’t know.
 
Dr. Boatner thinks maybe by tomorrow morning, but I think it’ll be tomorrow night.”

“How much will you have?
 
Won’t you need a lot to help all the people up on the surface?”

Brenda nodded slowly.
 
The questions threw her off—13 rarely spoke so much.
 
“Yes, I suppose we will—”

“So that means you initially need to make a lot from down here, right?”

Brenda cocked her head and looked at the mysterious Swedish girl.
 
I wonder if that’s really where you’re from?
 
She made a mental note to do some digging on the young woman and ask Maurice for details about the Program.
 
“Yes, that’s right.”
 

She gestured at the lab through the observation window.
 
“We can make a pretty large amount down here.
 
Once we get a vaccine, we can get some labs going topside to really pump it out.”
 
She looked back at Huntley.
 
“All that depends on this sample here.
 
We’ll pair it with the new genetic data and feed it to the virus.”

“Good.”
 
The girl nodded and brushed her golden hair away from her face.
 
“Do you have enough to get started?”

Alarm bells starting ringing in Brenda’s mind.
 
Why so many questions?
 
She glanced at the collection machine.
 
It clicked another empty vial into place.
 
Two more to go.
 
“Not yet, but soon.
 
Why?”

The tall girl stepped closer to Huntley.
 
“The sooner a vaccine is created, the faster we can save more lives.”

Why don’t I believe you?

“The sooner we can get the hell out of here,” said Huntley.
 
The intensity of his expression belied the lightness of his tone.
 
Brenda figured if so many innocent people weren’t counting on him, Huntley would never have willingly allowed himself to be a walking blood bank.
 

Brenda busied herself with the collection machine as Huntley and 13 began to talk quietly among themselves again.
 
She needed to find out more about 13 as soon as possible. She was definitely up to something, but without any proof she worried Maurice would be more likely to defend the girl than push to find out her real intentions.
   

She glanced one more time at 13.
 
I’m going to find out what you’re really up to.

C
HAPTER
31

Chula Vista, California.

C
OOPER
LEANED
AGAINST
THE
charred remains of a house in Charlie's neighborhood and paused to catch his breath.
 
They had been forced to abandon the CALTRANS truck 10 miles back.
 
Since running out of fuel, Charlie pushed them forward at a frenetic pace.
 

Jax trotted past and slapped Cooper on the shoulder.
 
He moved to the edge of a charred pile of rubble and peered around the corner.
 
Across the street, Cooper spotted Charlie and Clutch hiding behind the remains of another house.

The other surviving members of the team were spread out up the street.
 
They approached Charlie’s house in a dispersed pattern—if NKor’s had set a trap, Cooper wasn’t about to walk into it blind.
   

"Coast is clear, I got no movement," said Cooper.
 
"Charlie, if you think—"

“
Moving
," was Charlie's clipped response.

Cooper bit back a curse and watched as Charlie and Clutch darted around the corner of the burned-out house and trotted to the next.
 
They slipped behind some charred bushes and vanished.