The Life of Jacob Track (Book Two of the 33X Series)

Chapter Twenty Eight

           

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

April 10, 2015

Larry's brow was furled in frustration and concentration.  He had tried so hard over the past few days to fix the problem, but nothing was working.  He would find the solution; he always did.  The best quality he had was never giving up, always able to find a solution to the problem he was facing.  Larry was a problem solver, plain and simple. He would not be defeated, especially by something this important.  Larry stared at the lab results on his desk, looking intently at every line for an answer.

"Sir?" Andrew Thompson peered through Larry's office door.

"Yes?" Larry replied, still staring intently at the lab results.

"She slipped into a coma about thirty minutes ago," Andrew replied seriously.

"Unfortunately, I'm not surprised," Larry sighed heavily. "The necrosis?"

"So far only on the fifth phalange.  It hasn't spread since yesterday, so that's a plus, but it will definitely have to be removed."

"Take another vial of blood, run it as fast as possible," Larry ordered.

"Of course, I'll do it myself when I return to her. Sir, what if the issue isn't the necrosis or the shutting down of the organs? What if it's in the formula?" Andrew suggested quietly.

"It worked on her once before. No, it's something else, I'm sure of it.  She had to get a virus or infection that spread too quickly, and we missed it. Her white blood cells are attacking healthy tissue, Thompson. Something had to be a catalyst for that. Otherwise, nothing had changed in her," Larry looked up, glaring at Andrew, his eyes tired and angry.

"She was dosed with the LZ Virus again, sir. Maybe it ..."

"It wasn't the fucking formula!" Larry snarled, smacking his hand hard on the desk.

"Then maybe it was too much for her system," Andrew suggested quietly.

"Something was already wrong, I told you this. I'm quite sure of it! We missed it and now we might lose her for good," Larry breathed deeply, composing himself. "I will fix this. Give me a day, maybe two."

"She might not have a day, sir."

"Then I would suggest getting your shit together and keep her alive! Test her fucking blood again!" Larry fumed.

Andrew left the office, heading back to the area where April Walker was held. His heart was racing, extremely frustrated with Larry's inability to listen to other ideas.  Larry believed that he alone had all the answers. Andrew wanted to punch him in the face. Andrew had his theory: that the new batch of the LZ Virus, supposedly the correct formula, was wrong.  The girl had been fine weeks ago when she arrived.  Most likely, she wouldn't survive, at least not without a cure to whatever was trying to kill her again.  If something didn't change soon, April Walker would be dead, and this time for good.

So far, Tim Meadows hadn't had any side effects from the LZ Virus.  He was adjusting well to the virus and all of the medical tests. They had administered cuts and various other wounds to see how well the virus would heal them. Tim's wounds were always healed within an hour, rarely leaving scar tissue behind. Of course, the wounds were very superficial, small scratches and nicks.

However, when April was put under the same testing, during one test, a small cut was made to her pinky finger, and then she was injected with the virus. Her wound healed quickly, but soon re-surfaced and was now going to have to be cut off. Her tissue had died, leaving blackened, dead skin and a horrible, rotting smell.