He opened his mouth to reply but words escaped him. The female doctor placed a reassuring hand on Bren’s shoulder. “We’re not going to harm you. We just need to run a few tests to determine if you truly are immune, and if you are, we need to know why. We really hope it will help us create either a cure or a vaccine or…something to save humanity.”
Jason’s voice became snarky. “Oh, hear that, baby? You’re gonna save humanity. If you ask me, humanity was screwed long before this ever happened.”
The female doctor stiffened and rather than be baited, she gave the couple a tight-lipped smile and excused herself.
Jason paced the small area nervously. “Where are we supposed to go from here?”
Bren shook her head. “They said we’d get rooms, but I don’t know where they might—”
The door flew open and Dr. Vivian LaRue stepped into the room. “You must be Brenda.” Her hand reached out, but Bren slid behind Jason, her eyes wide.
“And you are?” Jason asked defiantly.
Vivian paused and took in the situation. “I am Doctor LaRue. You can call me Vivian. I’m the lead researcher here at the lab, and I just wanted to take a moment to welcome you both here and see that you get settled.” She sat gracefully in one of the chairs and waited expectantly for the couple to join her.
Jason took a seat and Bren hesitantly followed, her face buried in his back as he waited for the doctor to go on.
“During these tests we’ll be asking a lot of questions. Family history, where you grew up, places you may have travelled to, environmental things that might help explain how you are immune.” She crossed her legs and held her hands in her lap. “If there are any questions you don’t know, don’t worry about it. Just answer to the best of your ability.”
“So that’s it? You just take some blood samples and ask her a ton of questions?” Jason patted her hand reassuringly.
“Oh, no. This is just the preliminary work. These samples were to help us determine if she has the virus in her system. If she does, we need to know which variant she is carrying. She may be immune to this variant, but not immune to others.”
“Wait, you mean there’s more than one type of virus out there?” He suddenly stiffened and he felt Bren reciprocate.
Vivian held a hand up to stop him. “First off, yes. There are many mutated forms we are identifying, and we have a team going out now to find the original strain. We need to see if there is any way we can formulate a defense against the mutated versions using the original strain.” She leaned forward, her voice softening. “Your blood may well hold the key to beating this thing.”
Bren’s face poked out from behind Jason. “Will you have to take all of it?”
Vivian snorted a laugh and shook her head. “Heavens, no. We’ll need samples from time to time, but you won’t even notice, other than the bandage on your arm.” She chuckled again and stood from the chair. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your rooms and you can get settled in. I’ll have some of my people bring you clean clothes and linens.”
Jason slowly came to his feet and pulled Bren up from her chair. “It’s okay. We can go and rest for a bit.” He pulled her to him and gently led her from the room.
Candy put her tray away and walked purposefully toward the armory. She had watch in fifteen minutes and she wanted to relieve Wally early, so he could eat while there were still solid chunks in the stew.
She stepped into the hallway and nearly ran Skeeter over. “Child, what are you doing sneaking around out here? You should go in and eat before it’s all gone.”
Skeeter shook her head slowly. “I’m worried for Hatcher.”
Candy grunted. “If anybody can take care of themselves out there, it’s him. You don’t need to be worrying about—”
“What if the men on the motorcycles come back?” Tears rimmed her eyes and she sniffed back those that threatened to fall.
“What men on motorcycles?” Candy paused and bent low to hear the girl.
“They shot at us when we were going to Colorado. If the helicopter hadn’t shown when they did, they probably would have shot us all.”
Candy stiffened and pulled her radio. “Hank, you near the galley?”
“Headed that way now. What’s up?”
“Get your butt down here now.” Candy turned the radio down and faced Skeeter again. “Hatcher never said nothing about no bikers with guns out there.”
Skeeter shrugged. “The helicopter showed up and they turned tail and ran.”
“That’s the bandits he mentioned.” She ground her teeth together and wanted to punch something. “He didn’t say they took shots at y’all.”
Skeeter nodded then popped her head up when she heard Henry coming down the hall. “What’s up?”
“Hatcher wanted us to keep an eye on things because of some bandits they intercepted out there. I found out from her that they was a motorcycle gang and they was shooting at them. If the chopper hadn’t shown up, they most likely would have killed our people.”
“Shit.” Henry rubbed at his wide chin. “Should we double the guards on sentry?”
Candy sighed as her mind raced. “Not yet. We still probably have a bit before they show up.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s about sundown. They ain’t stupid enough to be out at night with the Zulus out.”
Henry snorted. “They was stupid enough to go after Hatcher.”
She shook her head. “They had no idea of who he was, and even if they did, it sounds like they probably have the numbers. No, if they was stupid they wouldn’t have survived this long.”
“So we start doubling the sentries in the morning?”
She nodded. “Pass the word. Double
