The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 15: What's In The Gun Cabinet

The man nodded tiredly. "Yes. When it's around, the other zombies don't act normal. I'm not sure where it went. It staggers around like it's harmless, but that thing is dangerous."

I frowned at that news, although we'd already seen it. "The other zombies didn't act normal? How so?"

"You couldn't lure them away or distract them. It simply wasn't possible. They just kept chasing the same person." He shuddered. "I tried luring them outside the fence, but it didn't work. Then that zombie screamed again, and the ones near me came after me. I just couldn't shake them."

"They cornered you?" I asked, already guessing the answer.

He made a face. "Yeah. They're stronger than they look. Salma knocked them off with a baseball bat, but two more came up behind her. I got away, but she didn't..." He trailed off, bowing his head once more as tears dripped down his face.

A shrill, muffled shriek came from ahead.

The man's head shot up, his eyes wide with terror. "That's the zombie! It's nearby!"

He grabbed his crossbow and stared ahead apprehensively. The woman hunched her head between her shoulders and held her blanket tightly with her good hand. Only the regular headlights were turned on, not the light bars, so their view would be limited. I saw a couple of regular zombies but doubted they could.

I pretended to examine the road. "Well, I don't see it. If nothing else, you know it isn't close to the Stronghold anymore."

I saw Daniel smirk in the rearview mirror, although his eyes never left the road. Thankfully, he didn't turn on the lightbars yet. The other two didn't look reassured and continued to stare at the darkness beyond the light.

Deciding a change of topic was in order, I asked, "Daniel, did you figure out how the zombies got inside the fence?"

"They got in through an access gate on the south side. The latch came off the wood post, likely when the zombies pushed against it. Judging by the rust and wood fragments, it was a combination of the screws rusting and the wood deteriorating. I secured it, but they'll have to replace the latch with a new one."

I was curious to know how he had "secured it", but that question was probably better left unvoiced until we reached Graydon Stronghold. I suspected Daniel was also pretending to be human to avoid spooking the rescued duo, who already had enough stress to last the rest of their lifetimes.

The light in front of us quadrupled as Daniel turned on various light bars. I grumbled and raised my hood as my instincts protested. Our two rescues were so busy staring ahead and trying to spot the zombie that they didn't notice my sunglasses.

I turned off my flashlight to conserve the batteries, leaving the rescuees to rely on the woman's dim solar light and the ambient light from the truck's lights. As if I had found their talkative switch, they also fell silent. I hoped it would last the rest of the trip.

Time dragged by. For me, it was out of boredom, but our passengers simply weren't able to relax due to nerves and fear.

Every time we passed a regular zombie, they stared at it like it was going to turn into a feral Terror and attack them. But considering they were sitting in the back of an unprotected truck shortly after surviving a zombie attack, I had to admit that they were holding up remarkably well.

When the Stronghold finally came into sight, I let my hood fall back, relieved the trip was over. Or mostly over. Several zombies circled the fence, and the guards wouldn't open the gates until they were gone. The scent of our prisoner made it impossible to forget its presence.

"How do you want to do this?" I asked Daniel. "I can lure the zombies away, but the locals aren't going to want this truck inside until we get rid of that cargo up front."