The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 20: Glowing Eyes? No Surprise.

I dodged between zombies who were in my way. The sun had set, but too much light lingered in the sky for me to remove my sunglasses. My instincts were strengthening rapidly and regarded the zombies chasing us as an insult. The racket of growls and groans behind me kept growing as the zombies chased after me, either thinking I was human or assuming I had seen prey.

Unfortunately, the noise was catching the attention of the zombies ahead, and with my sunglasses hiding my eyes, they became moving obstacles trying to intercept me like they did with rats.

With a growl of annoyance, I angled toward a building and jumped as high as I could. My hard nails easily found purchase on the bricks, although my shoes slipped more than I liked. I quickly climbed to the flat roof and ran across, leaving the zombies below.

The neighboring building was only about fifteen feet away, so I picked up speed and leapt into the air. The wind whistled past me as I landed without issue, slowing my run to a stop. As much as I would have preferred to jump to the next roof, an inconsiderate architect had put a parking lot between this building and the next one.

But I had lost the zombies trailing after me, so I jumped off the single-story building and kept heading to where I had seen the zombie. And as predictably as the sun rising in the east, several new zombies spotted me almost instantly and gave chase.

I didn't feel like dealing with the zombies right now, so I looked around for ideas. Four stores stood side by side; unfortunately, they were two stories tall, and their walls were too smooth to climb.

A corner of my mouth quirked up when I noticed the branches of a tall tree overhung the buildings. I quickly climbed the tree to the roof, which provided a very convenient and zombie-free highway.

It ended at another parking lot and forced me to continue on the ground. I slowed my pace, but anything faster than a walk caught the attention of any zombie within sight. I continued jogging and reassessed my plans. Perhaps having a bunch of zombies chasing me would be of assistance when I reached the other zombie.

My nostrils flared as the scent of a Nightstalker drifted on the air. I had expected to find one in a town this big, so its presence wasn't a surprise. There were plenty of empty buildings, basements, and underground parkades to provide shelter from the sun. If they weren't so territorial, there would have been several around.

I hadn't crossed an actual trail yet, which struck me as strange, but it might have been across the river in the larger part of the town. The last dredges of light were leaving the sky, so it wouldn't be long before it announced its presence.

As I rounded a corner, I finally saw the zombie I'd spotted from the rooftop. It wasn't bothering the zombies near it, but just in case it wasn't well versed in zombie language, I planned to jog beside something I could climb, such as brick buildings and tall trees.

The zombie was facing the other way, but when others near it began running in my direction, it turned around and immediately gave chase. The sheer number of zombies converging from all directions was enough to make me cautious. I climbed up the side of a building to a small patio where I had a good vantage point.

The zombies began clustering below, but my attention was on the one running down the street far more swiftly than its companions. I frowned and sniffed the air, but the wind wasn't in my favor to confirm my suspicions.

I growled at the regular zombies below, most of whom paused, sniffed the air, and began dispersing. The fast zombie had been too far away to hear me, but now it would be able to come close enough for me to catch its scent.

I tapped my fingers on the railing as I kept checking the air impatiently. I huffed when I finally caught its scent. It was just a Runner. It must have been in good shape before turning, hence why it was more graceful than most, but this wasn't the zombie we were looking for.