Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation Read Free

state slowed all the metabolic processes, but the soldiers were still waking up severely injured. One scientist had suggested engineering a virus that could be injected into the soldiers once in stasis, the idea being that the virus could start repairing the soldier’s internal injuries while in transit. Researchers, though, were met with failure after failure, until the scientists at the Hudson Research Laboratory came up with the idea of using the virus as a delivery system. Initial testing exceeded all expectations, and the animal testing phase had been a complete success.
    Tucked away inside the virus was cutting edge bio-nanotechnology. The ‘nanites, ’ as they’d come to be known, weren’t just repairing the sick and injured animals, but were making them stronger than before. The nanites were programmed to repair various internal injuries, and the hope was that by the time the hibernated soldiers returned to America, their injuries would be fixed. This was a new technology, and the nanites did the unexpected: they’d mutated, or evolved depending on who you talked to, and had been the catalyst of what some called the end of the world.
    The military bases were the first to be overrun and destroyed. There was no chance at a first strike because the outbreak took out every military base within hours. All that was left was the skeleton of the former military; pockets of soldiers scattered so thin across America that they wouldn’t be able to contain a kitten outbreak let alone bio-nano engineered zombies. This was the mess they had sent Butsko to clean up.
    Easier said than done , Butsko grunted. He was used to being called in after the shit had hit the fan and splattered across the room, but this was unlike anything he’d seen. Every living thing acted as a carrier for the mutated nanites. Infected insects spread the virus to the animals. The infected animals then bit and ate humans, who would then go on to bite and eat other humans. When all the humans in an area were wiped out, the nanites would use flies and mosquitos, which consumed the infected bodies, to fly to a new area with more human beings to infect.
    The one thing Butsko and his team learned was that the nanites made their hosts ’ bodies burn at a high metabolic rate. The nanites technology fused with a host’s biological systems, and that required a lot of energy to function. If the infected didn't eat constantly, the nanites inside would put the host into a state of hibernation until more food could be found.
    The irony wasn’t lost on Butsko. Hibernation was what started this whole mess, and now the damned bio-nanites were using it as a survival tactic. Everything went pear shaped once the nanites mutated into self-preservation mode. They weren’t happy just riding along in a host’s body. They evolved and wanted to take over the host and control it.  Being bitten by another infected human, or even by an infected mosquito, would cause the body to die within minutes. The nanites then reactivated the host’s central nervous system and assumed control.
    Everyone winced whenever Butsko dropped the “Z ” word, but if those infected bastards didn’t fit the description of a zombie, he didn’t know what did. Butsko jumped back to reality when the static from his walkie-talkie hissed.
    “Butsko, ” Wilder panted into the headset, “I’m about thirty feet away from the barn.”
    “I got you, Wilder, ” Butsko said. “Is the cargo still following you?”
    “If you mean ‘are the zombies still trying to bite my ass, ’ then yes! ” Wilder exclaimed.
    This was the plan that Wilder had come up with about a half a year ago. The infection might make the hosts smart, but the hunger made them predictable. Wilder knew from studying them that the infected would never turn down a hot meal.
    The barn quickly approached as Wilder had a final burst of adrenaline and ran through the open doors. Hidden behind the doors stood two quiet and scared