Recognizing the menace in Ben's voice, Karsten paused to organize his thoughts.
"The limbic system contains a structure called the hypothalamus, which regulates the autonomic nervous system via hormone production and release. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration, salivation, perspiration, pupil diameter, among other things."
"So?" Ben asked.
"I suspect the virus altered your DNA. I think that alteration caused a change in how your brains work."
My heart leapt to my throat.
Karsten continued, oblivious to the anxiety his words were creating.
"Instances of great stress set off hormonal reactions within the human body," he explained. "That's normal. But for you there seems to be a whole new level. When threatened or frightened, you experience sensory and physical capabilities consistent with the natural abilities of wolves." Karsten swallowed. "Somehow, my hybrid strain of parvovirus inserted canine DNA into your genetic blueprint."
Silence filled the room. An unearthly stillness that floated up from the bunker's subterranean passages, and rolled in from the sky, the sea, and the dunes. Our hearts hammered in unison.
When able, I spoke with what voice I could muster.
"Can you cure us?"
"I don't know," Karsten said quietly. "But you have my word. I will never stop trying."
Suddenly, Coop growled, low and menacing.
I moved between the dog and Karsten. Coop ignored me. His eyes were again locked on the bunker's entrance.
"What's up, boy?"
Coop's head whipped to me, back to the opening. His ears were flat, his muscles tense as steel. He barked three times, loud, aggressive.
Everyone froze.
Voices drifted in from outside.
Lots of them.
CHAPTER 53
"Shh!" I whispered. "Hold Coop."
I slipped through the opening and inched down the crawl. What I saw outside chilled me to the bone.
Dark figures, one holding a gun. The group stood twenty feet from the bunker, locked in heated debate.
I scuttled back inside.
"We've got company. Three. At least one is armed."
"Friends of yours?" Hi asked Karsten.
"No. I followed you"--he pointed a shaky finger at Shelton and Hi--"from the Morris dock. I have no idea who these people are."
"There's no back door." Ben clenched his fists. "No way out. We'll jump them as they crawl in."
"Are you crazy?" Shelton grabbed his ear. "They could all have guns!"
"What choice do we have?" Ben snapped. "We're trapped."
"What about the window?" Karsten asked.
I shook my head. "The drop-off is way too far, with nothing but rocks below."
Karsten cocked his chin toward the entrance to the back chamber. "What's in there?"
"Another window and a collapsed tunnel," Hi said.
"Tunnel?" Without hesitating, the professor disappeared through the opening.
We followed.
Karsten crossed to the abandoned passage and waved a hand over the loose planks blocking the opening.
"I feel moving air," he said. "Have you ever entered this shaft?"
"No way," Shelton said. "It could cave any time."
A male voice bellowed outside.
"All right, kids." Raspy, like gravel sliding down a drain. "Don't make us smoke you out!"
Coop growled. I looped my arm around his neck, worried he'd bolt.
"No cell reception." Shelton was frantically punching keys. "I can't keep a signal."
"If we flare, we can take these guys." Ben grabbed a plank.
"Don't be absurd! These men may be professionals." Karsten's brows crimped in thought. "Into the shaft. Now."
"They'll follow us," Ben objected. "The front entrance is a choke point. They have to enter one by one. We should ambush them there. It's our best chance."
"No arguments!" Karsten pushed me forward. "I'll stop them here while you escape through the passage. Quick now."
I wondered why the killers hadn't stormed in yet. Perhaps they'd had the same thought as Ben. Whatever the reason, their hesitation wouldn't last long.
As Shelton and Hi pried loose and tossed aside boards, Ben rolled rocks from the tunnel's mouth. A quick minute's work created a two-foot gap.
Beyond it yawned absolute blackness.
"I'm not going down there." Shelton looked petrified. "No chance!"
"It's the only way out," I said.
"We don't know where it empties." Shelton was practically in tears. "If it empties. The passage could be blocked. A dead end!"
Crack!
"We're armed, little piggies," a voice bellowed. "Come out, now, or we'll huff, and puff and shoot your little asses!"
"Into the passage!" Karsten barked.
"What about you?"
"They don't want me." Karsten avoided my eyes. "I'll be fine."
"Thank you." I didn't contradict him. It was easier that way.
"Go," he said. "Now."
Ben wriggled through the gap. Hi followed, then Shelton. Pushing Coop in front of me, I shimmied through last.
The passage angled sharply downward. Overhead, there was barely a six-inch clearance.
I glanced behind me. Karsten was refilling the opening with debris.
"Forgive me, Tory."