The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 38

Much to our fortune, the bathrooms here had shower stalls. The water was cold, but even Nicky wasn't in a rush to leave. Considering how long we loitered in the bathroom, that made it even more surprising when we went to the dining area and discovered Daniel and Nina hadn't come down yet.

I hadn't heard any commotion, so I assumed Daniel hadn't lost his cool. Nicky was halfway finished eating before the other two finally made an appearance. I scrutinized the Terror, who didn't look like he was in a good mood. From how the locals gave him a wide berth, they must have come to the same conclusion.

Nina ignored his mood and got some breakfast. When they reached our table, Daniel took the seat across from me instead of the one in the opposite corner like he usually did. Drat. He chose that seat for a reason, which means he wants to talk with me. And I can only think of one topic that might be on his mind right now.

I took a long drink of water to delay the conversation. His eyes never left me as he ate his first bite of scrambled eggs. He was patient. I had to give him credit for that.

His keen focus had my instincts shifting, and I reluctantly decided my delaying tactic wasn't worth the effort when I knew the discussion was inevitable.

I exhaled in annoyance. "Just get it off your chest without causing a scene."

"Are you sure they're dead?"

"If someone has no heartbeat and isn't a zombie, then I think I'm safe in saying they're dead."

He growled faintly at my ambiguous response. "I want a plain answer. Are all three of them dead?"

Nina wouldn't have known if anything happened to the third man, and Daniel was bothered by this lack of knowledge.

"Two are unquestionably dead," I finally said. "I'm not sure of the fate of the third one."

He narrowed his eyes. "How can you not be sure?"

"Because I was escorting these two to safety, and he left on a motorbike or a dirt bike while I was taking care of the bodies," I huffed. "You probably heard it leave. There's no way I can catch something like that unless it passes fairly close to me. And considering he left in the dark, he may have run afoul of mechanical problems or zombies."

I didn't bother mentioning I hadn't even attempted to go after him, thus keeping my promise. The man never had wielded a gun in any of our encounters, so I reluctantly concluded he might have been more of a follower. That was about the limit of my optimistic side. My pessimistic side recalled the metal pipe he carried last time and hoped a zombie had eaten him.

Daniel grumbled, but he turned his attention to his plate and continued eating. There was nothing he could do about it at this point. Not that it helped his mood.

More people began trickling into the room for breakfast, so I was glad Nina was focused on eating. The lack of a crowd had made things easy so far, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before this large room would be bustling with hungry people.

Thankfully, it didn't take Nina too long to finish. We went back to our rooms and grabbed our bags. It was time to pack the truck and get out of this place.

The leader and a couple of older people met us at the gate.

"Thank you so much for coming," the leader said. "Do you need any fuel for the rest of your trip?"

"You're welcome," Nina replied. "And thank you for the offer, but we still have a lot in the back. We might take you up on a couple of jerrycans on the way back if we're running low."

"We'll be happy to provide them. Feel free to stop by here anytime. I know you're in a rush, so we'll let you go. We wish you safe travels."

"Thank you. Stay safe."