The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 37: A New Type Of Flyswatter

Trent's eyes widened when he saw Daniel rip a large chain-link gate right off its hinges. "Who—What is Daniel?" he quietly asked.

"His presence is making you jittery?" I said, turning the statement into an idle question as I threw another board over my shoulder. I already knew the answer. He hadn't stopped giving Daniel wide-eyed stares or quickly getting out of the way if the Terror so much as took a step in his direction, which was typical behavior for sane Runners during their first few visits to Ironwind.

"I don't know how to explain it. It's like I can't relax near him. Heck, I couldn't even get within five feet of him when I tried passing you that one duffel bag. And I tried! I've jumped out of planes when parachuting, but I couldn't even take a step closer to him—and he's done nothing to create that kind of response." Frustration laced his voice, at a loss about how to deal with the instinctive rules the zombie virus was imposing upon him.

With a sigh, I said, "That's because he's a Terror. His rank does that to pretty much every other zombie. You probably felt some aversion to me when handing me those bags."

"Yeah, but I could still do it."

"That's because I'm a Nightstalker, not a Terror. Time will remove some of it, and being around him and talking to him will let you slowly acclimatize yourself to his presence."

I didn't bother mentioning that even Luke, despite being at Ironwind for three years, still couldn't casually pass within arm's reach of the Terror without it being a conscious decision. We were ranked zombies. There was no changing how the virus in our blood reacted. Even I couldn't walk right past Daniel without my instincts clamoring against it.

Trent mulled over that, once more glancing at Daniel, who was turning a section of chain-link fencing into some sort of large roof rack. I carried an armful of planks over to the truck, where Daniel was wedging a fence post into the gap between the gun cabinet and the bumper to form a vertical support for the roof rack.

"Do you mind sitting in the back on our return trip?" Daniel quietly asked, somehow guessing my plan to drive. "I know you don't like questions, but my rank is bothering him more than I realized."

So much for my plan to evade our new companion's game of one hundred questions. But at the same time, there was no point in putting the Runner in that kind of situation, not mere hours after regaining his sanity.

"Fine. But you better talk as well. He might as well get used to you."

Daniel nodded as he lifted the chain-link gate and balanced it on top of the truck cab, forming a large roof rack that stretched halfway to the front bumper and overhung the back of the cab by a couple of feet.

If he was giving us an easy way to transport firewood, I was about to load it with as much easily-obtained wood as I could. Ripping planks off a fence was far easier than breaking apart shrubs. I went back to the fence with renewed determination.

"Where are we going?" Trent quietly asked, drifting closer to me while he worked.

"That's a good question," I said. "Daniel and I have to return to Graydon Stronghold since our friends are there. Most Runners have problems with bloodlust and can't enter Strongholds unless they get the controlex or the cure. You'll probably have to stay outside the fence until the controlex removes most of your bloodlust."

"That's in three days, right?"

"Yes. There are several abandoned houses in the area I'm sure the locals will let you stay in."

He was quiet for a while and eventually asked, "Do you know where Nibia Stronghold is? Once I figure out what's going on, I want to go back."

"No idea where that is, but we're not from this area," I said. "Have you heard of Graydon Stronghold or Ironwind?

He shook his head. "I don't think so but details are kind of fuzzy. Will I be able to hug my son if I'm a zombie?"

The sudden topic change and question made me blink. "The controlex will help remove some of the fogginess and should let you hug him, but you'll have to be careful with your control. Daniel? Ever hear of Nibia?"

"No," he replied as he finished the roof rack and came to help us. "But I never paid attention to the names of Strongholds this far from Ironwind. We can ask Graydon and check their maps. Nina has some other ones we can cross references as well."

"Who's Nina?" Trent asked, beginning to look confused by all the unfamiliar names. He also overlooked how easily Daniel heard me from two hundred feet away.

Daniel replied, "Nina is a human in our group. We left her and a few others at Graydon Stronghold since it was safer than bringing her here. She's a scientist who..."

I kept half an ear on Daniel's explanation of our group, the history around the zombie drugs, and a lot of general things that should bring Trent up to speed on most subjects. The discussion also gave Trent a chance to ask questions that I wouldn't have to answer during our trip back.

With three zombies hard at work, it wasn't long until the roof rack was piled high with neatly stacked wooden boards. Trent had found several straps in a garage, so we were able to tie everything down securely. Several houses were now missing their fences, but we had quite a haul of firewood.

"This should last at least a couple of days. We'll have to raid wooden fences more often," I said as I jumped into the truck box and sat behind the cab. Trent sat in the corner by the tailgate and tensed up as Daniel walked past to the driver's door.

We started moving, and bits of wood and dust drifted down from the planks hanging over the truck box. With an unimpressed glare at the offending objects, I pulled my hood over my head. The last thing I needed was a bunch of grit in my hair.

The sound of the truck quickly lured the zombies back in, and our pace slowed to a jogging speed. I kept flashing my teeth at zombies, trying to avoid growling with the Runner present.

"This could take us a while," Daniel said. "If we ever come back, we'll have to put some sort of triangular wedge in front so they quit standing in front of the bumper."

"You could always try hitting the horn five times and see if it scares them off," I suggested in an innocent voice.

"I'll pass," Daniel replied dryly. "We're trying to sneak past zombies unnoticed, not lure more in."

"I'm not sure how you categorize this as unnoticed." I frowned at the sea of zombies. "They didn't wander far, and there's already hundreds in front of us. It's going to take hours just to reach the highway."

"If we can get past all the ones that followed us here, it shouldn't be too bad. The streets farther away aren't nearly as cluttered." He growled faintly in frustration. "Even making my eyes glow isn't doing much to make them go around. The truck is too big, and they aren't bright enough to do more than make enough room for me to walk past."

In the rearview mirror, Daniel's eyes were, indeed, glowing quite strongly. The zombies in front were shifting to the side but not enough to let the truck pass through.

Thudding and growling came from under the truck as a few zombies fell under the front bumper and were run over. As we kept going, they appeared on the ground behind us, thrashing around as they tried to get up. More zombies blocked the road without fear of the bumper or learning from their friends' experiences.

The truck slowed to a stop, and Daniel got out, saying, "Do you mind driving, Trinity? I'll have to clear a path. If I keep running them over, one of them is bound to damage something under the truck."

"I guess." It wasn't like I'd be able to easily scare the zombies away, not with my sunglasses still on, so this was definitely going to be a task for Daniel.

He walked to the side of the road while I got into the driver's seat. I watched in confusion, trying to figure out why he was going over to the sidewalk. There was no way the truck would survive going over the high curb, and there wasn't enough room between the trees to drive down the sidewalk.

Daniel stopped beside a tree, grabbed the trunk, and with a crack, he snapped the twenty-foot-tall tree free from its base. As he turned back toward the truck, the leafy top was lowered closer to the ground and swept sideways, shoving several zombies to the side.

I blinked slowly at the oversized broom. This was going to be interesting.