In Rock Fortress's underground laboratory, Dr. Jenner stared at the chromatograph screen, his expression growing more serious by the second.
The dark red gel sample Leah had urgently sent back showed extremely dangerous properties after preliminary testing.
"A high-concentration organophosphorus nerve agent derivative, mixed with multiple halogenated hydrocarbon stabilizers."
Dr. Jenner reported quickly into the communicator. "It's highly volatile and can be absorbed rapidly through the respiratory tract or through skin contact.
It causes severe headaches, nausea, blurred vision, and muscle tremors. In severe cases, it can paralyze the respiratory center and lead to death. And…"
He paused, then pulled up another set of data. "We detected trace but definite prion markers in it.
This substance isn't just toxic. If it enters the bloodstream, it may also trigger rapid, malignant neurodegenerative damage…
In other words, anyone who dies from the poisoning has a high chance of turning unusually fast, and the mutated walkers may become more aggressive."
There was silence on the other end of the communicator for a few seconds before Leah asked, "What happens if someone brings this stuff back to an enclosed outpost?"
"Disaster," Dr. Jenner said without hesitation. "With that level of volatility, in an enclosed space, it's basically a poison gas bomb. Judging by the amount they may have taken…
If the packaging breaks and leaks, a small room could fill with a lethal concentration of vapor within minutes.
Even if they don't die right away, anyone exposed will develop severe symptoms within hours, then die in extreme pain, and then…"
He did not finish, but his meaning was clear.
"Is there an antidote?"
"It requires specific cholinesterase reactivators and atropine. Our stock is limited, and it has to be administered as quickly as possible. Once nerve damage sets in…"
"I understand. That's all for now. List out those antidotes and have Rickson send someone to deliver them." Leah's voice remained steady.
After all, the people dying were not from Rock Fortress. The antidotes were only a backup measure.
She had a guess about who had taken the chemical reagents. Nine times out of ten, it was the Throat-Slasher Gang, a pack of greedy, short-sighted idiots.
...
At the Throat-Slasher Gang's hideout, in the courtyard formed by the battered old bus modified into a "fortress" and the surrounding shipping containers, a faint metallic smell now hung in the air.
When Dave dragged the green metal box into the "storage room" at the back of the bus, Rex objected fiercely.
"That smell isn't right, Dave! Leave it outside! At least somewhere with ventilation!"
"Outside? So the other guys can see it, get jealous, and steal it?" Dave waved him off impatiently. "It stays here! It might be worth something. We could trade it to Rock Fortress for a huge haul!"
He set the box down with a clang, and his vision suddenly blurred.
Dave thought his eyesight had gone bad. He cursed and rubbed his eyes. "Fuck! This damn apocalypse doesn't even have a place to get glasses!"
Luckily, it only lasted for a moment, and his vision quickly returned to normal, so Dave did not take it seriously.
Rex could not change his mind, so he could only stay as far away from the storage room as possible and sleep near the front of the bus, close to the door.
But he could still smell it. Sickly sweet, with a nauseating metallic tang. He got back up and opened every window on his side of the bus.
Not long after lying down, Rex began to feel a headache coming on, his temples throbbing with every pulse.
Deep in the night, the hideout was filled with snoring, and the man on night watch dozed off against a shipping container.
No one noticed that thin wisps of nearly invisible pale yellow vapor were still seeping steadily from the cracks of the green box in the storage room, slowly spreading through the bus.
Dave slept in the bunk beside the storage room, closest to the box.
Before falling asleep, he had even patted the box smugly, imagining what good things he might trade it for later.
If he really got a big haul from it, maybe he could even take a turn sitting in the Throat-Slasher Gang's boss seat.
But not long after he fell asleep, Dave's breathing grew heavy, and an unnatural flush spread across his face.
Around three in the morning, Rex was jolted awake by a fit of violent coughing.
It was not just one person coughing. It was several.
The bus was filled with muffled, choking coughs and pained groans.
"What's going on…" Rex propped himself up. His head hurt like it was about to split open, and his vision was blurry.
He fumbled for his flashlight and shone the beam toward the back of the bus.
The sight before him nearly froze his blood.
At the entrance to the storage room, Dave lay on the floor, his body convulsing violently. White foam poured from his mouth and nose, and his eyes were wide open, but his pupils had shrunk to pinpoints.
In the dim light, his skin had taken on a strange bluish-purple color.
Several men who had been sleeping nearby were not as bad, but they were also clawing painfully at their throats and chests, making strangled "huh, huh" sounds.
"Poison… poison gas!" Rex understood at once. He scrambled toward the bus door, but his legs were so weak he could barely stand.
He yanked the door open with all his strength. The instant fresh air rushed in, Rex gulped it down greedily, then turned back and roared, "Get out! Everyone get out! It's poison gas!"
But it was already too late.
Because of the sustained internal pressure and changes in temperature, the stopper of one glass tube in the green box finally popped off with a soft pop, exposing the dark red gel to the air. It began evaporating rapidly.
An even thicker sweet, metallic smell surged out like a tide.
The few people still alive inside the bus struggled to crawl out, but their movements grew slower and weaker.
Dave's convulsions stopped. He lay there with his eyes still open, but he was no longer breathing.
On his bluish-purple face, the white foam around his mouth and nose was mixed with streaks of blood, looking especially horrifying in the dim light.
Rex staggered out of the bus and collapsed onto the cold mud in the courtyard.
He vomited violently until even bile came up. His head felt like it was splitting apart, and everything in his vision spun and doubled.
"Rex? What happened?" The other gang members rushed over after hearing the commotion, but as soon as they got near the bus door, the strong smell choked them and forced them back.
"The box… the box Dave brought back is poison!" Rex spoke in broken gasps, every word rasping out like a bellows. "Don't go into the bus… you'll die…"
But some people had already rushed inside. Two of Dave's loyal followers wanted to drag him out.
A few seconds later, terrified screams and the sound of bodies falling came from inside.
The courtyard fell into chaos.
Some wanted to save people, some were so scared they ran, and others tried to find something to cover their mouths and noses.
"Stay away from the bus! Everyone move upwind!" Eddie's roar rang out.
He had just been woken up. When he saw the horrifying scene inside the bus and Rex convulsing on the ground, he understood at once.
They had gotten themselves into deep trouble.
But the nightmare had only just begun.
Two minutes later, inside the bus, Dave, who had been the first to stop breathing, suddenly twitched a finger.
Beneath his bluish-purple skin, his veins turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye, spreading like a spiderweb.
A milky-white film clouded his eyes. Then, under everyone's horrified gaze, Dave abruptly sat up.