The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 43

I walked along the line of children and stopped by a girl.

"Take her to Nina," I told a nearby woman.

She picked up the girl and walked over without arguing. Just for thoroughness, I walked the rest of the line before returning to where Nina had just finished giving the girl the cure.

"If you want, I can track every infected person still inside the fence," I said, "but some will be outside. The best way to identify everyone is to skip the tour and have Daniel check the bedrooms."

"Our people are spread among three buildings. Will that create problems?"

"No, that just means someone will have to take good notes about which occupants they'll be finding later."

"That can be arranged. This way, please." He began leading us down the road, only this time, he walked beside me.

As we approached a door to one building, I said, "I'll wait out here. Daniel can check the rooms."

The man stopped with a confused frown, possibly wondering if he'd unwittingly offended me somehow. "Is something wrong?"

"I can smell one guy's dirty socks from out here, so I have no intention of going into that hallway. Daniel has more tolerance when it comes to things like that."

"Lead on," he told Daniel reluctantly.

As the others went inside, I wandered over to investigate some flowerpots beside the wall. They held the same types of herbs I had helped Jess dig up and plant in her herb garden. Nicky and two of the guards lingered behind. The men didn't seem to know what to say, and when neither Nicky nor I said anything, they also remained silent.

The wait was terribly boring, but after about twenty minutes, the seekers within returned.

"Fourteen, I presume?" I asked.

"Thirteen, actually," Daniel said. "The fourteenth was one of the cleaning staff who made frequent trips to a supply closet."

I shrugged. "Close enough. Next place?"

"This way," the leader said.

At the next two buildings, I remained outside as Daniel went in and earned his keep.

When he came outside, I asked the leader, "Does anyone sleep anywhere else? Like in the barn loft, the hospital, or in special quarters?"

He rubbed his chin in thought. "No one has stayed in the hospital overnight this week. But there are a few who have rooms elsewhere."

"Well, then we'd better walk past them or their room. I think there's at least one person we haven't found yet." Internally, I added, And that person may or may not be a very close relative of yours...

"They should all be inside the fence. Please come this way."

As we followed him, I wondered what types of tasks they did or where their rooms were located since he immediately opted to find these particular people instead of checking their rooms. To help speed up the search, the leader sent several of the guards to locate most of the remaining people we were looking for.

One quickly returned with a woman, and I shook my head. "She's fine."

The guard must have explained things since she relaxed and went on her way. The leader – whose name I still didn't know – paused in front of a garage and looked inside.

"Hey, James. Come over here."

"What's up?" A few seconds later, a man came into sight, wiping his hands with an oily rag. His eyebrows rose when he spotted me near the doorway. "And who is this lovely, little lady? Have you been hiding secrets from me, brother?"