Author's note: Has anyone seen my muse? It seems to have taken a vacation with my free time and motivation. I know, whine whine whine.
I am hoping to have this done before or directly after Thanksgiving. I already know how little time I have in December. So, uh, wish me luck I suppose...
Lunchtime came and past, and her work was only interrupted by Sam bringing her food. Kristin resisted taking a swing at him when he was close enough to take her completed list of needed supplies. She took solace in the knowledge he had the possibility of dying in the explosion she was planning.
The moment of blood lust startled her, but she shook it off. There was no longer time to treat these people gently, they certainly hadn't paid her the same respect. She had little doubt that it was do or die time. She could only prevent the test results Zellar wanted to see for so long, without putting them in more danger.
Finally, when she was swaying on her feet, Zellar came to check her progress. He was clearly impressed, "you are nearly done. Well done, dear."
"Yes," she fought a yawn, "I just need a few more tests. The rate it attacks the host is much slower... they don't… It'll be…" she blinked at him. "I... I think I need to sit."
Zellar caught her as she sagged to the floor in a faint. "Sam!" He yelled to the doorway.
The man appeared, "get me a chair, and a blanket. She's burning up."
Kristin rested her head on his shoulder in her mostly fake delirium, "no," she murmured, "I'm fine."
Sam brought a chair and blanket despite her protests. "Just sit for a while."
She nodded, clutching the blanket tightly around her shoulders. Kristin felt the fever start soon after she began working for the day. Instead of cursing it, she decided to use it. In light of Zellar affection, even if it was grossly misplaced, he became predictable, and easier to manipulate.
After a few minutes, she looked up at Zellar, "thank you, I just needed a small break." He brushed a stray hair from her face, and she took the opportunity to rest her head in his hand. "I want to clean up a bit, it needs to be done properly. I don't want my experiments to go wrong, they are very sensitive."
He helped her up, and Kristin teetered to the counter. The unbalanced walk was not entirely false, and she worried for a few seconds that she would actually pass out. Blocking her actions with her body and the blanket, she quickly stowed a small jar in one pocket of her balky sweater. After filling the needle meant for Lucas with another chemical, she placed it in the pocket of her jeans. Satisfied they hadn't seen what she did, Kristin finished putting away the various items covering the counter.
After finishing, she turned back and smiled tiredly. "Thank you, would it be possible to visit Nathan?"
Zellar's face darkened, "I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Please," she stepped closer to him and forced herself to smoothly crumple in his arms again. "It will help me sleep, and perhaps Lucas as well."
He nodded, and wrapped an arm around her for support. "Only for a few minutes, I fear for your health. You've spent far too much time worrying over everyone else. When this is done, and our new government is reasonably settled, we will take a long vacation."
"That sounds wonderful," she breathed, allowing her eyes to close and leaning on him.
Kristin wasn't fully awake on the short journey to the large room, but she was aware enough to notice the snow blowing against the window, and even permitted herself a small smile at the sight.
When the tank came into view, she had to stop her natural reaction. Nathan was far worse looking than the last time she saw him, even accounting for the beating from Sam. His entire face was swollen and bruised, and he could barely open his eyes fully.
Kristin pulled away from Zellar and approached him. Again blocking her actions with the blanket, she pulled the needle free and slipped it into the rubber couplings. Nathan silently watched her press the plunger half way down, then switch to the next one. She could only hope the methylene chloride inside would eat away at the rubber but not flow into the water at a strong enough concentration to give him chemical burns. If he was injured, it was something she would just have to deal with during the escape. So much was riding on chance, but she tried not to think about it.
She turned back after safely stowing the needle away. "I'd like to treat his injuries, but I believe it can wait until tomorrow."
Zellar nodded happily, "of course, first thing after you sleep." Without asking, he picked her up and carried her from the room. Kristin allowed herself to drift off until they reached her quarters.
Once inside, he laid her on the bunk. She only opened her eyes long enough to see Lucas sitting at the computer. "Just a few minutes," she whispered before slipping away.
"We have to go up that?" Ben stared at the mountain with apprehension, "how? Can we rent a llama?"
"You don't always have to be the comic relief, Ben." Katie sighed, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and after seeing it, his face lit up.
"Sometimes it's just worth people thinking I'm an idiot," he admitted.
Tim leaned into the window of one of the SUV's, after exchanging several words, and some money, the driver nodded. "They'll get us close, but they're afraid of staying. There are stories about people disappearing up there."
"Why didn't we hear about this before?" Crocker growled, "it would have saved us time."
Ford looked at the drivers, "they're scared, everyone in town seems to know something is going on but no one wants to talk. If it's anything like Bishal's father vanishing, there's plenty of reason."
"I'll send up Probie ahead of us, he doesn't need to keep to the road and maybe he can sneak in under the radar so we know what we're dealing with." Katie announced as she pulled on her gloves.
The winding and narrow path took them until almost nightfall to traverse. Snow fell heavily, creating drifts to slog through, slowing the already sluggish pace to a snail's crawl. Probie made better time, crawling over difts and crags that they had to avoid.
Katie spent the time carefully peering through her glasses and steering the ATV. "What do you see?" Ford whispered after he saw her scowling.
"Just a lot of snow, and trees trunks. Nothing that would suggest any kind of buildings or people. I should have given the camera better range of movement, I can't tilt it up enough. It's well protected in the outer shell, but if I can't see anything it's moot." Katie stripped off the glasses and rubbed her eyes for a few moments in frustration.
"God forbid your invention not be perfect on the first run in hazardous conditions before you've had time to fully test it," Ford teased.
She narrowed her eyes, and put the glasses back in place. "I know what you're doing Commander, just hush."
He snorted, and started to retort. When his phone dinged, and he broke off the conversation to glance at it. "It's Tim, according the Bishal, we're close. It should be right over this next rise."
Ben leaned towards the window, "all I see is white."
Even as he spoke, the wind stopped howling around them, allowing the snowflakes to slowly drift to the ground. The driver spoke harshly and pointed up. After following the gesture, the crew could only stare. Ben found his voice first, "we have to get into that… oh… well… um, shit."