The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 18: Who Let The Dogs Out?

"The first zombie passed by here a week ago," I commented as I stood in the back of the truck, watching the scenery in boredom after three hours of zig-zagging across the terrain to the south. "There's also a couple of rabbits around if you want to hunt."

"I'll be fine for a day or so. Besides, I can see a Stronghold in the distance. There's a chance they might know something about these unranked zombies or seen some travelers passing through."

I peered ahead but only saw the road, zombies, power lines, shrubs, a band of trees, a couple of farmhouses, and some mountainous hills in the distance. The landscape was an absolute nightmare for anyone playing hide and seek against a Terror. Since he had said "in the distance", I didn't expect to spot the settlement for a while longer.

"Let's hope they don't mind visitors dropping in unannounced."

"It looks like a smaller place. We can stop by the gate and see if they're willing to chat."

"I guess there's no harm in trying. We haven't found anything besides scent trails so far."

Shrubs turned into poorly irrigated fields as we approached the Stronghold. A short horn call echoed across the landscape as the sentries alerted the locals to our presence. Daniel slowed down as we got closer.

I remained standing with one hand on a handle on the roof in an attempt to prove I was unarmed, although they probably wouldn't believe that the two wrenches in my hoodie pocket were weapons even if I told them they were.

This place had an unusually tall fence with a series of roller bars on top. It wasn't Nightstalker proof, but it would probably stop feral Runners. The guards in the towers had arrows nocked onto their bows, but they were idly pointed at their feet. I didn't see a gun, but those were probably hiding out of sight.

The truck slowed to a stop as we reached the handful of people near the gate. I took a deep breath, picking up the usual Stronghold scents and trails from regular zombies.

"Hello," a man greeted us. "Welcome to Ranger Stronghold. How are you doing today?"

"Doing well," Daniel replied. "We just came down from Graydon Stronghold to check if you've seen any weird zombies lately. One showed up there, and a second one overran Odessa Stronghold."

"Are they okay? We didn't hear anything about that, but we've seen a couple of zombies that weren't acting quite right." The man looked concerned, and various people lingered behind the fence to listen.

"There were a few losses, but most of them are safe. Graydon Stronghold helped them clear out the zombies so they could return. You've seen other zombies?"

"There was one that walked funny and had loud screams about two weeks ago. Three days ago, a really fast one chased some foragers."

"We found the one with the loud screams. Do you know where the fast one went? Have you seen any unusual travelers lately?"

The man frowned. "We saw the fast zombie west of here, but what does that have to do with travelers?"

"We're helping a scientist figure out where the strange zombies are coming from, and we think there might be a group changing zombies into these odd ones. We're trying to gather as many details as we can."

A woman took a step forward. "There's a group making these weird zombies? Is the scientist at Graydon? Wasn't Wyatt the scientist there?"

"Nina is an expert on zombies, and she's helping Wyatt. We're staying at Graydon for the moment. Can you tell us more about the zombies you saw? And exactly where the fast one went?"