Joan Ascends

Chapter 5: I'm glad to be wrong

"You need to stop smiling like that," Alison hisses at me, pulling me out of the crowded main room in the Bunker and into Flo's clinic. "You're freaking everyone out."

The details of my meeting with Lexi have already spread to everyone who is still committed to our rebellion. Many watched the footage from my contact cameras live, and then shared the news with everyone else. It's hard to keep secrets down here, with so many of us living side by side, and we've learned the hard way that we can trust each other.

"Sorry," I say, noticing the worried looks that she, Justus and Harriet are all giving me. The only one who doesn't look concerned is Flo, but that's probably because she's focused on the medical side of my news.

I try to resume my usual scowl, but the strange euphoria that hit me earlier in the day hasn't totally faded yet. It reminds me of being in the middle of an exciting chess game.

"She's relieved that the only person who could be hurt by Lexi's latest plot is her," Harriet says, refusing to make eye contact with me.

"That's not it," I tell her. "Well, that's not all of it. I feel awake again. Ready to keep fighting."

"Maybe there's more in that serum than just an agent to activate the latent H2IV virus. Something mood altering," Flo says, switching on the enormous Incubus healing tube that takes up almost a quarter of the space in the room. "Get in, Joan."

The Incubus is amazing at healing injuries, even internal tearing, but if Lexi told the truth about what was in her injection, it won't be able to stop the virus from killing me. Still, I strip down to my underwear and climb in. Warm gel slowly fills the tube, stopping at my neck. Flo types on the data pad attached to the side of the Incubus, inputting instructions on what to test for.

After a few minutes, her face tightens. "The H2IV virus is active. Left untreated, it will kill her in seven to ten days."

Justus sits down on a nearby bed, his face paler than I've ever seen it. The rest of my friends are totally silent as they absorb the magnitude of what this means.

There's no point asking Flo if anything can be done to slow or stop the virus, because that's impossible. H2IV was engineered by Strand, and it was probably the most ingenious DNA coding ever done. The virus is infinitely adaptable. Any time the immune system or antiviral agents attack it, the virus mutates in real time, finding a way around every medicine sent to eradicate it.

Countless Throwbacks have died from H2IV, many purely because of accidental contact with fluid from an Evolved. No amount of money or fancy medical treatment has ever managed to cure it.

"If Strand has found a way to stop it, then a cure exists, right?" Alison asks.

"If so, it's beyond my knowledge. I have never even heard whispers of such a thing," Flo says, her expression grim. "Even Lexi herself didn't promise a cure—only to temporarily beat the virus back so it doesn't kill her. As long as a single particle of that virus exists, it will continue multiplying."

"That's assuming Lexi told the truth," Harriet says. "Maybe her aim was to kill you after all, and this is a lie she's telling to stall for time."

I shake my head. "I don't think so. Lexi knows that her secret will be out if any of us die. She wouldn't have been so calm if she thought that her entire life would be imploding in a few days."

Justus's voice is hoarse when he speaks. "Even if she is telling the truth, you'll be reliant on the whims of a psychopath to keep you alive for the rest of your life."