To Be A Warrior

Chapter 46: Out of Hand

"Maxine? Callista? See those tube-shaped buildings on the horizon? That's the sewage treatment plant."

Maxine's nose scrunches up. "You don't have to tell us, Sam. We can smell the place from here."

"You'd think being around so many decaying corpses and lack of soap we'd be used to horrible smells by now," I joke through chattering teeth, blinking away the snowflakes that land in my eyes. Maxine doesn't seem amused by my comment, although I can't blame her. It's not exactly easy to be cheerful when you're out in the freezing cold two days before Christmas near a sewage plant.

"Veronica says it was one of Sigrid's most covert facilities before the Ministry. Maybe the smell is a security measure?"

She shrugs, sparing a glance over at me. "Is anyone else nervous? Last time we visited Veronica's labs, things didn't exactly go well."

"Are you talking about the time I was trapped in a basement full of killer spiders, or the time the plaster zombie nearly killed me, you, Amelia, Nicole and Nadia?" I ask in a flat tone.

"Well, the Aqua Center was where her labs were, but now that you mention it-both."

"Veronica swears she's feeling better now," Sam insists, although I'm not sure if he's saying that for our sake or his. I mean, Veronica was awfully quiet for a long while until a few days ago. "And it was us who asked for help this time, and she replied. That P-Type thumb's already grown a whole hand since we brought it back from Sigrid's island."

I shudder at that. It's been about two weeks since then, which may seem like a long time, but it's really not since it was the tip of a thumb that was originally cut off.

"Oh, and now Kytan's absolutely taken care of the Last Riders," He continues, and I narrow my eyes in doubt. "Hey, did you hear Dr. Lobatse's working with him, too?"

Maxine shrugs. "She didn't say anything to me last we talked. I know Steve's working to train communities and runners in using burn cubes. Not like we have any to spare to let them practice. But Kefilwe and Kytan will do good work together."

"Yeah. So now that we don't have to worry about the Riders, Janine says zombie research is our top priority."

My eyes are downcast for a small moment. I know he's right, although it's a bit of a letdown that Veronica hasn't found anything out about Van Ark or any notes he may have about his experiments. We have the ones she sent us before, of course. Sam has it kept in a file on the computers, and it requires a passcode, so Nicole and her nosy ass won't try to look at it. She already knows I'm a part of the Feive Project. I don't want her knowing about this.

But it's still disheartening to know it may be even longer before we find a cure for myself, or for Peter. I've tried not to let Sam see my disappointment when we talk about it.

"Yeah," I finally say, clearing my throat. "We only have a short window until we have another V-Type horde to deal with."

"Yep. And we have to be ready with all the info we can get on them. So, we need Veronica to take a look at that P-Type."

"P-Type?" Maxine asks with a raised brow.

"Yeah. A V-Type with Peter's abilities." A snicker leaves Sam's lips. "He's been insisting we call it that. Either that, or-"

"Or Thing from The Addams Family. Because it's a mobile hand." She looks at me, her eyes searching. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I..." My words seem to get caught in my throat. It takes me a minute to dislodge them. "He's been working with Sage a bit. Um... The stuff on Sigrid's island freaked him out. We've talked a few times. He and I get each other, in a way, since we were both experimented on by Van Ark."