Page 73 of Smoky Lake

“Did this cocktail work?” Ani asked.

“It’s all in my notes. Can I have them? Are they in this bag?” He unzipped Gil’s duffel bag. Gil didn’t like it, but they were his notes, after all. He found the binder and slid it into his own backpack. Gil was surprised he didn’t say something about “my preciousssss,” that was how happy he looked to get that binder back.

“Okay, now the best part.” Victor’s eyes lit up as if he was Santa Claus emerging from the chimney. “I discovered something even better than a treatment. The plant that offered protection from the virus wasn’t a plant at all. The “wrong tongue” tipped me off. It sounded similar to the effects of psylocibin—hallucinations, ecstasy. So I took a closer look at the roots of the sub-Arctic plants I’d collected. I found a fungus, a kind of mycelium very similar to psylocibin.”

“So that’s what cured the virus?” Gil checked the rear view mirror. Still clear.

“Even better than that! You know there are no broad spectrum antibiotics that work on viruses, right?”

“Of course,” said Ani. “Because each virus requires a specific antibody.”

“Right. But this particular type of mycelium, it’s incredible. What I discovered…” Victor bounced on the backseat like a child excited to be out of his booster seat. “It’s going to change the world. And I think it might have worked on Ani.” He grabbed her shoulder. “Did you get sick after you spoke to me at the airport?”

“No. You must not have been infectious at that point.”

He rubbed his hands together, eyes gleaming. “I want to run a test to see if you have the antibodies.”

“No need. Your assistant already told me I have the antibodies.”

Victor let out a whoop of triumph that probably carried all the way out the open windows to the moose wandering through the blueberry fields. “Then it did work!”

Shocking them all—including himself—Gil reached to the back seat and grabbed Victor by the neck of his shirt. “If you fucking injected Ani with something, I swear to God?—”

“No. No. Nothing like that. She would have noticed if I’d injected her, don’t you think?”

Ani had gone pale. “What did you do?”

“I believe that I successfully triggered your immune system to create antibodies to a virus it has never seen before.”

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Ani recoiled at the thought of anything happening to her without her explicit consent. “How? What are you talking about?”

Victor seemed oblivious to her revulsion. “See, here’s the thing. As soon as I heard about the omegavirus, I knew there was a chance it could be weaponized. Are you kidding? An ancient zombie virus that no one has immunity to? It’s prime for weaponization. I don’t know how word got out, I really don’t, but some shady characters started showing up in Firelight Ridge. I think they were mercenaries, because they weren’t military and they weren’t foreigners either. Someone hired them. Anyway…”

He scratched at his thick beard. Ani saw a wild, manic gleam in his eyes again.

“A treatment didn’t seem like enough. I’m on the frontlines of this thing because of my research with the Ahtna.” He peered out the window at a road that branched off the highway. “Take a right here. There’s an airstrip. After I saw it was you at Carlo Creek, I called a friend who owns a plane. I told her I’d be here as soon as I could.”

“Where’s the plane going?” Ani exchanged an “uh-oh” glance with Gil. Being with Victor was one roller-coaster plunge after another. Was he always so unpredictable?

Gil gave a minuscule shrug and turned down the road Victor had indicated. A plane would certainly get them to Firelight Ridge faster. But she didn’t trust Victor the way she did Gil. She’d only get on that plane if Gil thought it was the right thing to do.

“Firelight Ridge,” said Victor. “There’s a chance that the mercs will still be there, but I don’t think so. We’ve given them the slip thanks to the amazing Gil McGowan. How’d you get so good at not being followed, man? I’m telling you, it’s destiny. We’re all together now and everything’s going to work out.” He clapped a hand on Gil’s shoulder. “I knew you’d be the best person to keep an eye on my patient. Thanks, man.”

“Patient?” Ani snapped. “More like your experiment. What did you do?”

“I promise, you were never at any risk whatsoever.” Under her angry glare, he ducked his head. “Really, nothing bad. I…sprayed you. That’s it.”

“Sprayed me? When? With what?”

She had no memory of a spray bottle or any other spray-delivering mechanism.

“You wouldn’t have noticed. It was while you were giving me Tylenol and water. Remember when I jostled your hand and a bit of water spilled on you?”

“That was my water, from my water bottle. I opened it myself.”

“Yes, but I was able to spray you while your attention was on the spill. Then I launched into a rant about something or other to give it a chance to soak in.”

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