“Many fatalities?” The reply was obviously yes, because the darkness became so fierce it was suddenly hard to breathe. “Keep me updated. Oh, and, Adam? You want to e-mail me that doc file Trojan? I need to set it up on a laptop.”
With that, he pulled the earpiece out and threw it into the cup holder.
“Problems?” I said, a little breathlessly.
“You could say that.” He shot me a glance that was pure fury—but this time, at least, it wasn’t aimed at me. “It seems your boss just walked out of the morgue.”
CHAPTER 13
“That’s impossible,” I said automatically.
“Obviously not, given it just happened.” He planted his foot, and the big car leapt forward. “It would appear Baltimore was somehow infected with the red plague virus. He woke up, broke free of the morgue, killing two people and injuring four others in the process.”
“Fuck.” I hesitated. “What will happen to those who survived now?”
“Now,” he said, voice grim, “the waiting begins.”
I frowned. “I thought you were killing anyone infected with the red plague.”
He hesitated. “Not immediately. It often depends on what happens.”
My confusion grew. “What do you mean? You said any scratch or bite would transmit the disease, and that it was all downhill from there.”
“It is, but if you actually survive the infection, there appears to be two levels of degeneration.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Meaning what?”
“The majority of those infected do become red cloaks, simply because that is who they are infected by. But it appears that there are some humans who have a natural resistance to the infection. While they still turn into vampirelike beings, they do not descend into utter madness. If you’re infected by one of these, then you also have a greater chance of avoiding madness.”
“What percentage are we talking about?”
“About ten percent of the cloaks, as near as we can figure, have avoided the madness.”
Meaning it was more than possible for someone to be controlling the rest of the cloaks. “Then why not use the blood of those who have shown resistance to make a vaccine?”
“It’s being tried; trust me. But not only is the virus constantly mutating within the body; it also reacts very differently in each person, depending on the race.”
“Could that also be the reason some shifters are immune?”
“Possibly.” He shrugged. “As I’ve said, we still don’t understand a whole lot about this virus.”
I snorted. “Tell me again why everybody thought it was a good idea to develop this thing?”
“Discovering the secret to immortality could very well help cure some of man’s greatest diseases.”
“Or it might just create more damn problems.” It certainly had in this case. “What happens to those who don’t fall into madness?”
“Whether they do or not, the result is generally the same. They head into Brooklyn.”
“Why would they all go there?”
He shrugged. “We suspect there’s something in the virus that produces a hive mentality in survivors.”
As I’d noted the night I’d saved his ass. “Which would suggest that everything they do is for the greater good of the hive. And that means the question that has to be asked is, who is the queen of this particular hive?”
“That we don’t know.”
“Meaning there is someone in control?”
The look he gave me was fierce. I thought for a moment he wouldn’t answer, but he surprised me.
“Yes. But we have no idea who and no idea how he or she gained control.”
“Well, you’d think it would have to be someone who had natural resistance to the drug. Perhaps someone who was one of those initial infections.”
“No. All the initial infections resulted in death or madness.”
I wondered if the deaths were a result of the infection or PIT’s intervention. I suspected the latter. “How many people have been infected all told? Have you any idea?”
“Outside the initial twenty or so, no. We estimate there’s close to a hundred, though, if what we’ve seen in Brooklyn is any indication.”
One hundred red cloaks. Fuck, that was a scary thought. “Why isn’t the army involved? Why don’t you all just go in there and shoot the shit out of the bastards?”
“That was tried. It ended very badly.” He swung off the freeway and onto Footscray Road. We were obviously going to my apartment rather than PIT headquarters. “Fifty men dead, another twenty infected, most of those now also dead.”
I stared at him. “How in the hell did you keep a toll like that secret?”
“We didn’t. Remember the reports of the two Chinook helicopters crash-landing during secret maneuvers?”
“That was a cover story?”
“Afraid so.”
“But surely to god someone in Brooklyn witnessed what happened. I mean, it’s not only the red cloaks who hide there, but all sorts of thieves and felons. How could the story of so many deaths not get out?”
“Thieves and felons are thin on the ground in certain parts of Brooklyn these days. Most of them have gotten the hell out of the sections the red cloaks control.”
I hesitated, then said, “Is that when your brother was killed? During the military raid?”
“No. As I said, Luke was one of the first people killed by a red cloak. The military were sent in not long after that.”
Again the edge of anger and guilt ran through his voice. “Was the scientist at work when the virus took full effect?”
“Yeah. He was working in one of the solo labs at the time, so no one noticed the changes until it was too late.”
“And are you sure he’s dead? Is it possible he’s the hive leader?”
“No. He was riddled with bullets. Even if he could have survived the body shots, his brains were splattered all across the pavement. There was nothing left, and certainly no chance of any sort of rebirth.”
“So the virus is capable of rebooting its host in much the same manner as a vampire’s body is rebooted?”
“We had been hoping it wasn’t possible, but your boss walking out this evening suggests otherwise.” His expression was grim. “Future victims will have to be burned immediately after their deaths, it seems.”
I scrubbed a hand across my eyes. “So what happens with Baltimore? Are you even going after him, given what happened to both the scientist and the military?”
“We’re planning to try.”
“God, be careful, Sam. I’d hate to have to come and rescue you again.”
He snorted softly. “Thanks, Red, but next time you might be better leaving it in the hands of fate.”
“Sorry. I’ve tried to do that over the years, but I just can’t seem to stop sticking my nose into fate’s business.” Especially when fate was sticking her claws into someone I’d once cared about.
Someone I still cared about, despite every mean and nasty thing he’d said and done.
The whole trouble was, the man I’d loved wasn’t gone. He’d just been buried very deep—at least where I was concerned.
“Or anyone else’s, for that matter,” he noted, voice dry.
I half smiled. “What happens next? Do you have to run off and join the hunt?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Baltimore has been tracked to Brooklyn, and there are only a few of us capable of hunting within that place.”
“What about the notebook?”
“We find it. That’s a priority right now. The hunt for Baltimore won’t start until dusk anyway.”