The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) (26 page)

“Not to mention, we found the presence of genetic material during the sequencing results,” Peter added. “Since there was DNA, it
has
to be something alive.”

“Or a virus,” Lauren corrected. “Still, we didn’t find any genetic matches for the DNA present in the tissue.”

“So maybe it’s some strange virus, invading any remaining immune and inflammatory cells in the sample.”

“Yet the antibiotics somehow slowed the progress of the Oni Agent. Obviously, antibiotics wouldn’t have any effect on a viral agent.” Lauren froze. “We’re missing something.”

“You think the DNA we found is just an artifact from the samples we took? Nothing more than just remnants of inflammatory cells reacting to the Oni Agent?”

“I don’t buy it. There were practically no cells left in those culture dishes for a virus to replicate in.” Lauren’s mind spun, pressured by Dom’s demands and the sheer power of the Oni Agent. If the reports of the rapid and uncontrolled spread were true, then the answer wouldn’t be something obvious. She needed to think outside the box. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is such a thing as Gram-indeterminate bacteria,” she said. “There might be something there, but we aren’t using the right techniques to analyze it.”

“We need to go back and look at the genetic sequencing results,” Peter said.

“I’m not sure that’ll help. We didn’t find any matches with any identified contagions the first time, which means we’re looking at something radically different, something virtually non-existent in the scientific literature.”

Peter lifted his shoulders in a gesture of defeat.

A sudden idea sprung to life in Lauren, and she recalled something from a paper she’d read published by the National Academy of Sciences’ journal,
PNAS
. “You ever get a kidney stone?”

Peter cringed. “God, thankfully no. Painful enough just thinking about it.” He raised a brow in question. “You think the calcified tissue we’re seeing is somehow related to kidney stone formation?”

Lauren jumped to the computer terminal and prayed they still had satellite internet access to live servers somewhere. She searched for the paper and found it. “See? It proposes a potential mechanism for calcification.”

Peter squinted. “Nanobacteria.”

“It’s a wild idea, and if I recall correctly, the scientific community’s still divided on whether these things are actually alive or not. Some researchers posit they aren’t bacteria at all.” Lauren shrugged. “But the antibiotics seemed to have some effect on their growth, or at least the calcifications, so maybe that’s what we’re dealing with.”

Peter began sifting through other papers and medical literature. “Says here nanobacteria are responsible for using calcium and phosphate to form hydroxyapatite.”

“Exactly. The same mineral found in bone and teeth.” The images from the video streams of Skulls aboard the oil rig filtered through Lauren’s mind. She felt more and more certain they’d found the missing link. “Might explain what happened to the people Dom and the Hunters dealt with, huh?”

“I’m not sure about this,” Peter said. “There’s so much unknown about nanobacteria.” He gestured to a paper he’d pulled up on the monitor. “This claims something alive couldn’t possibly even be as small as nanobacteria. A living cell is supposed to be two hundred nanometers in diameter, but this other paper says nanobacteria are reported to be on the scale of eighty nanometers.”

“Like I said, there’s some disagreement, but what we have here might indeed be nanobacteria large enough to thrive. That might explain the government’s slow response to the outbreak. I doubt the CDC is prepared for an epidemic caused by a pathogen they didn’t even know existed.”

Peter paced the narrow lab. “So what if it is nanobacteria? How do we treat it?”

Lauren folded her arms across her chest and chewed her bottom lip. The momentary elation of identifying a possible culprit for the Oni Agent burst like a fatal aneurysm. She sank into a chair, the energy draining out of her.

“And even if we can buy the bone-like formations in the Skulls, how does the presence of nanobacteria explain the neurological and psychological changes?” He threw out a hand, gesturing toward Scott. “How did nanobacteria turn him into a would-be killer?”

Lauren had no answers. The burden of stopping a worldwide epidemic became too real, too heavy for her to bear. She pressed her palms to her eyes.

“We’re screwed,” Peter said. “The best information we’ve uncovered is that we might be dealing with the microscopic equivalent of the Loch Ness monster.”

Cursing inwardly, Lauren wondered if he was right. The despair at not finding an answer to the questions Dom had left her with loomed larger with each passing second.

She took a slow breath.

Think outside of the box,
she reminded herself.
Outside of the lab.

She closed her eyes and thought back to everything she knew about the Oni Agent. Everything Dom’s team had uncovered on the ship.

Then her eyes shot open, hope reigning once again.
A new idea, a new link.
“I’ve got to speak with Chao and Samantha.”

She stood to leave, Peter still staring at her with an open mouth. As she reached the door, Divya burst in with Sean McConnelly, the epidemiologist. The woman’s normally healthy nut-brown face was awash in pallor, and Sean appeared no less worried. In her hands, she held a pale-blue biohazard suit. “From what we know, the Oni Agent is transmissible through blood contact with the bony tissues on those Skulls, right?”

Before Lauren or Peter could confirm it, Divya threw the biohazard suit on a lab bench. She stretched it out and pointed at the chest area. There were three small holes torn through it.

“This wasn’t Scott, Brett, or Miguel’s suit,” Lauren said, rattling off the names of the only Hunters she’d known whose suits had been compromised.

“No, I already incinerated those,” Divya said. “Sean and I hung the rest of the cleaned and sterilized suits back up for later.” She patted the suit. “Almost by accident, I found this one. Someone’s suit was punctured, and they didn’t even know it.”

“Maybe it wasn’t the result of Skull contact, though,” Peter said. “Could’ve snagged it on a piece of equipment or shrapnel during the gunfight.”

“Maybe.” Lauren probed at the three holes. “But if it wasn’t, we could have someone on board infected with a trace amount of the Oni Agent. And without help, they could turn into one of those Skulls.”

Sean’s eyes widened. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Gather up all the onboard crew,” Lauren said. “And let’s get ahold of Dom, too. One of the Hunters is a ticking time bomb.”

––––––––

M
aggie whined with her tail between her legs. She wedged herself between the nearby dresser and bedroom wall.

“You’re okay, girl,” Kara said as she cleaned the wound on Bethany’s cheek again. It seemed some sort of infection had taken hold. On any other day, she would take her mother to the hospital immediately to prevent sepsis or gangrene. Her basic first aid skills weren’t enough to treat such a persistent infection.

Given the state of their neighborhood, no trip to the hospital was possible. The best she could do for her mother was continue to apply the topical antibiotics and replace the bandages.

Kara brushed her mother’s matted hair from her face. Sweat beaded across her forehead.

“Mom, can you hear me?”

Her mother stared ahead vacantly, uncomprehending. Downstairs, Sadie was keeping watch with the Weavers. Kara was glad her sister wasn’t here to see their mother’s deteriorating condition. Even Maggie seemed to sense something was wrong.

When Kara left her mother and walked to the hall again, Maggie followed. Her tail wagged and tongue lolled. She appeared happy to leave Bethany’s side.

That was strange. The golden retriever usually followed Bethany everywhere. When Bethany cooked, Maggie plopped herself right in the middle of the kitchen. The lovable, loyal dog was a hazard to anyone too wrapped up in preparing a meal or setting the table to look down. More than once, Bethany had almost dropped a pan full of noodles when she took one step backward into Maggie’s furry body.

Kara reached down and scratched behind the dog’s ears. “You worried about mommy, too?”

The dog closed her eyes and leaned into Kara’s fingers. A pungent odor caught Kara’s nostrils, and she said, “Let’s go, Maggie.” Kara ushered the dog down the stairs and away from the second floor.

With Joe’s help, she’d lugged the bodies of the dead crazies into their laundry room, one door past her childhood bedroom. She still couldn’t believe this was happening, that these things had once been her neighbors and friends. They’d draped a sheet over the corpses, but she’d recognized every face. And the thin material couldn’t conceal the growing stench.

Kara went down the stairs and entered the living room, escaping the odors of decay on the second floor. Zack was lying on the loveseat with a stuffed Yoda Sadie had given him, and Leah was on the couch with her teddy bear. Both were wrapped in blankets, but neither appeared to be sleeping, despite their mother’s best efforts. Nina sat in an easy chair near them with a shotgun at her side.

A howl pierced the night. This time, no others joined it, and the sound faded.

“Do you all want something to eat?” Kara asked. She realized she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast at her dorm’s cafeteria yesterday.

“Good idea,” Nina said. “Need any help?”

Zack’s eyes bulged when his mother stood. “Don’t leave us.”

“Go ahead and stay with them,” Kara said. “I’m fine on my own.”

In the kitchen, she took a couple of cans of soup and dumped them into a pot. She rummaged through a drawer and found a matchbook. From past experience, she knew even when the power was out, the gas still ran to their stove. A twist of the knob and a struck match later, controlled blue flames circled the burner.

She shuddered at the reminder of the smoldering remains of the Weavers’ home. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she continued heating the soup. It was simple, but she doubted any of their stomachs could handle anything more than vegetables in a beef broth.

The salty scent of the canned soup floated through the kitchen as it boiled. She reduced the heat, and her stomach rumbled. Footsteps came from the hall and into the kitchen.

“Soup’s just about ready. You can grab a—” She turned and dropped the ladle. “Mom?”

Bethany stood in the kitchen entrance. Her eyes were bloodshot and her skin pale.

Kara took a step forward. “Are you feeling better? Are you hungry?”

Instead of answering, Bethany scrunched her nose into a snarl. She rushed at Kara like a hungry wolf.

Instinctively, Kara jumped away. Bethany slammed into the stove. Scalding soup spilled over her as she caught herself on the hot burner. A sizzling sound and the smell of burning skin reached Kara. Bethany turned, her eyes bulging and teeth gnashing. She lunged again.

Kara backed up against the island counter and scrambled backward over it. “Mom! Stop!”

Clumsily, Bethany rounded the island. Kara put the kitchen table and chairs between herself and her mother.

“What’s the—” Joe stopped in the entrance to the kitchen, Sadie peeking from behind his bulky frame. “Bethany?”

Bethany twisted to face him. She ran, hands outstretched.

Frozen and confused, Joe tumbled backward with Bethany atop him. He grabbed her wrists and held her back. “Mom! Stop!” Sadie called, her face red and her eyes watery. “Mom!”

Kara dove at her mother and wrapped her arms around her in a bear hug. She pressed Bethany’s arms to her sides as Joe squeezed out from beneath her.

A deafening, blood-curdling scream escaped Bethany. She squirmed in Kara’s grip. With a sudden jolt, Bethany slammed her head back against Kara’s. Blood filled Kara’s mouth as she bit down on her tongue. Pain radiated through her jaw, and she staggered backward.

“Kara! Watch out!” Joe cried.

Bethany shoved Kara down, and her head smacked against the floor.

With a hand cocked back, Bethany prepared to maul her daughter. Kara tried to struggle out from under her mother’s body, but her weight was too much. She winced as Bethany’s hand swung at her.

Then the weight disappeared. Her mother flew against the wall. Maggie growled, her mouth around Bethany’s wrist. The hair on Maggie’s haunches stood straight as the retriever shook her head. Bethany howled and threw the dog across the kitchen. Maggie hit the counter and fell to the floor with a yelp.

Torn flesh drooped from Bethany’s wrist, and blood seeped from the wound. Her face contorted in rage, and she came after Kara again. Kara grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and threw it between herself and her mother. Bethany batted it aside.

“Stop, Mom. It’s me! Kara, your daughter.”

Bethany scrambled over another fallen chair. Her muscles tensed, and she charged without even a second of hesitation.

With a sidestep, Kara dodged. Bethany smashed against the wall, and a framed picture of her with her daughters fell and crashed to the floor. Sadie screamed. Then the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being pumped broke through Sadie’s frightened cries. Joe was aiming the gun at Bethany.

“No,” Kara screamed. Logic yelled that this wasn’t her mother; this was one of the crazies. The same as those she’d seen cannibalize fleeing victims on the highways. They’d tried to kill her and the Weavers. They’d almost killed her sister.

Yet this was her mother. Kara couldn’t let her die.

Closing one eye, Joe started to squeeze the trigger. Kara tackled him. The gun barrel pointed to the ceiling, and its blast resounded in the kitchen. Dust and drywall rained down.

“Sadie, open the basement door!” Kara yelled.

Her sister sobbed but made no move to help. Nina pushed her aside and did as Kara said. When Bethany came in for another attack, Kara danced to the side and grabbed her mother’s collar. She threw Bethany down the basement stairs, her limbs and head crashing until her body crumpled to the concrete floor below.

Kara slammed the door shut as Bethany, bloodied and bruised, righted herself and started to climb. With a metallic click, Kara secured the pin lock above the door.