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Chapter 46

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Daniel drove the truck inside and tilted his head slightly. "I advise you two to put on your masks. I can hear some sneezing already, and more will start at any point."

Nina and Nicky both located their masks and put them on. Nina's light blue one didn't stand out nearly as much as Nicky's rainbow be-decked mask. She was lucky the vapors from her felts had aired out, or she'd have fumigated herself.

Justin walked beside the truck and asked Nina, "What kind of trade are you after for the cure?"

"Nothing. This is a gift of goodwill from Ironwind – and our first shot at trying to eliminate the waves."

Daniel parked in the spot Justin guided him to. As we got out of the truck, I tested the air more carefully. The smell of the rapidly building virus levels was somewhat off-putting. I could smell Kane, although I didn't see him. I'd have to keep an eye on Nicky, just in case he wanted one last shot at silencing the redhead. At the moment, she looked as bored as she usually did at these stops.

My instincts stirred faintly at a couple of vaguely familiar scents, as if these people had annoyed me in the past. I took a deeper breath but couldn't recall where or when I had met them. It wasn't the biker; we hadn't crossed his trail since, and I doubted we ever would.

The man who originally greeted us caught up. "I'm Otto. I assume you want to meet those who are sneezing?"

"If we could," Nina replied. "Then we can help locate anyone else who is infected."

"They're over in ol' Gillian's house," he replied.

Daniel picked up Nina's bag of supplies. "Please lead the way."

Otto guided us down the road while Justin and several others tagged along. Nicky once more infringed upon my personal space, although the locals weren't crowding us.

My instincts stirred, not quite agitated, but not letting me forget something was bugging them. The faintly familiar scents jiggled around the edges of my mind but refused to let me truly recall the source. It was like trying to remember the name of a song when you recognized just one line of the lyrics. The riddle was more annoying than my instincts were.

The people were probably using different hygiene products here, which was altering their scent just enough to complicate my attempts to recall their identity. I obviously wasn't around them much if a bit of soap or shampoo is preventing me from recognizing them. It isn't like I've met a lot of people, so I wonder who it could be?

Bang! A bullet pinged off the side of the car beside us, making everyone duck down instinctively.

"Die, you savages!"

With a snarl, I grabbed Nina's and Justin's arm – Nicky was already running to get out of the line of fire – and hauled them behind the dubious cover of a shed. I pushed them to the ground beside Nicky.

Still crouched down, I glanced over my shoulder, but Otto was scrambling behind the back of a car while Daniel ducked behind a nearby truck. The rest of our followers were running back the way we came.

Bang! Another gunshot ripped through the air. Daniel's snarl echoed behind it as the bullet thudded into the truck he was hiding behind. My teeth bared in rage as I realized exactly who had just tried to shoot us. Against all odds, the two pyromaniacs Nicky had trapped in the shed had ended up here. The same zombie-haters who'd been exiled from Ironwind Stronghold.

Their murderous agenda hadn't changed any, but to make matters worse, at least one of them had a rifle this time. Our only saving grace was that their aim was apparently as bad as Nicky's.

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