Horde (Razorland #3)(40)

“I imagine there were fewer resources, so they were probably starving. From extensive dissection, I’ve deduced that they’ve evolved into optimal predators, but in times of privation, their bodies cannot cope. They cannibalize their own systems to survive, but once they begin digesting their cerebral proteins, cognitive ability cannot help but suffer.”

Fade said quietly, “They look, smell, and act different now. The ones we’re fighting seem organized and they’re not covered in sores anymore.”

“I can only guess, young sir, but I’d say their evolutionary shift has stabilized and they’re turning into beings capable of competing with humans on all levels.”

Discharge

Those questions exhausted Wilson’s patience. He downed his drink in one gulp, then escorted us back to the main room, where he returned to gathering up documents for the colonel. Eventually he presented us with a leather folio, similar to the one that housed my precious maps. The scientist wore a hard expression as he handed the papers over to us.

“Make sure you tell Emilia that the pheromones aren’t a solution. The complications I spoke of earlier have a significant impact on the general populace.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

He sighed. “For some, exposure to mutant pheromones imbues certain irresistible urges. They become violent and in some cases … feral.”

“So they attack and try to eat you?” I was horrified. “How is that better?”

I’d much rather fight Freaks; at least I understood why they hated and wanted to kill us. If they truly remembered everything their people had suffered over the years, then I was right, and they did blame humanity for their pain. That didn’t mean I’d let them annihilate us.

“It’s not,” Wilson said. “I thought if I distilled a compound, based on excretions from the mutant endocrine system, it might make them think this territory was already occupied by their brethren and leave it without need for conflict. That part of the spray works as intended. But I didn’t anticipate how certain human physiologies would react.”

Of that, I only understood that he was coating the area in Freak-stink and it was driving his townsfolk crazy. “That’s the colonel’s plan? Her soldiers will massacre each other.”

“If they’re susceptible. So make sure you tell her, this is not the miracle cure she’s looking for.”

Fade laughed. “She’s not thrilled with us right now. I can’t guarantee she’ll listen.”

“Since I’m not sending any of the treatment with you, she’ll have to send another envoy if she wants to discuss the matter further. I hope not,” Wilson added, looking worried. “I don’t have the personnel to defend the lab if she decides to take the compound by force.”

“Destroy it,” I said flatly.

I could see he was conflicted because it was an idea that he’d had that actually worked, if not as intended, but in the end, he came to the same conclusion. The colonel couldn’t be permitted to unleash this plague on Soldier’s Pond. People using questionable mixtures on one another was what started this trouble in the first place, a long time ago. We didn’t need another mess before we cleaned this one up.

“Now I need you to go. I have work to do and a round of experiments ready to check.”

I put the packet of papers in my pack. “Thanks for your time, Dr. Wilson. We appreciate it more than you can know.”

The old man actually colored. “It was a pleasure to shed some light on the world for you. I don’t often get to play the role of instructor. It will be safer if you travel during the day, but I suppose you already know that. Mutants aren’t any more nocturnal than we are, though there are occasional exceptions. There’s a woman who will rent you a room for the night, if you have anything of value to trade.” He gave us directions, then added, “Stay out of the south side.”

There was no need to tell us that it was full of feral humans, who might try to eat our faces. “Why didn’t you just kill them?” I asked.

“Because I’m working on a cure. It was more humane to pen them up until I can figure out how to heal them.” But he didn’t look hopeful anymore, so maybe it was more that he couldn’t bear to admit failure and order those poor people to be killed.

I read the caution and regret in his eyes as Wilson lifted his hand to us in farewell. Fade led the way out of the lab, following the turns perfectly. He had an excellent sense of direction Topside, better than mine. Soon enough we were standing outside the house where we could rent a room; I was less sure what we would use to do that. Before knocking, I rummaged in my pack and then looked at Fade.

“What do you think she’ll want?”

Fade shrugged. “Let’s go ask. We need a good night’s sleep before starting the trip back.”

I noticed he didn’t say home, and I felt the same way. At best we were biding time in Soldier’s Pond. Idly I wondered how they’d controlled the savages in the southern section of Winterville, but I didn’t intend to go see how bad it was. It did explain why the place was so quiet, however; I imagined there had been casualties.

Fade rapped on the door and within moments, a young woman answered, no more than five or six years older than I was. She wasn’t what I’d expected; I supposed I had been looking for someone like Momma Oaks, as she was the one who sheltered us when we first arrived in Salvation. I cleared my throat.