The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 40: A Tank?

Daniel gave his name, and I rested my arms on top of the truck. The pose looked relaxed, but it gave me a hard surface to push off of if I needed to move quickly. I didn't see or smell gun oil, although I was certain the man was up to something.

"We think there's a group of people around who could be responsible for a couple of mutant zombies we've encountered," Daniel said. "Have you seen any travelers driving by?"

The man rubbed his overgrown beard. "Couple of vehicles here and there. A tank went by this morning."

"A tank?" Daniel echoed in surprise.

With a shrug, he replied, "T'was on a flatbed trailer being towed, but it was definitely a tank. A van was traveling in front of it."

Daniel's slightly deeper breath would have gone unnoticed by most, but I knew he was checking the air for lies. I wasn't close enough to pick up such a scent so quickly, although Daniel seemed convinced.

"Which direction did they go?"

With another disinterested shrug, the man replied, "Dunno. Went around the lake and behind some trees, so I'm not sure which road they took."

This time, Daniel bestowed a faint, disbelieving blink upon the man who didn't seem to notice or care.

"Do you remember how many people were in the group? Or any other details?"

The man shrugged again—a gesture that seemed to be his only form of body language—and said, "No idea. I wasn't paying much attention."

Since our annoying interview guest clearly didn't want company, Daniel sighed. "Well, thanks for the chat. We'll continue on our way."

When Daniel turned away, the bandit's expression turned from one of unwelcome tolerance to intent focus. I raised an eyebrow as the man pulled out a knife and lunged at Daniel's back.

The Terror was used to me trying to ambush him and skipped out of the way with bored disapproval, letting his eyes flicker to red. The man gasped at the sight and staggered back, tripping and falling on his rump.

"Now can we kill him?" I asked idly, letting the question add to the man's panic.

I hadn't expected Daniel to play along when it involved terrorizing a human, but to my surprise, he growled faintly and said, "It's tempting. At least he won't bother our Stronghold or go after the goats after this."

The man scrambled backward so quickly it was a miracle he didn't cut himself with the knife still grasped in his hand. He tried to stand, but slipped on the long grass and fell again.

When Daniel took a step forward, the man hastily stammered, "No—wait! There were five people with the tank! They went north! I also saw one of those mutant zombies!"

Daniel stopped and frowned at the bandit who was suddenly trying to prove his worth. "You saw a mutant zombie?"

"Yes! To the northeast. It staggered around, and had weird screams. The other zombies acted strange near it."

Daniel nodded slowly and turned to me, intentionally giving the man an opening to escape as he said, "That sounds like the screaming zombie that overran Odessa Stronghold."

"That'd be the right direction," I said absently, watching as the man staggered to his feet and rushed to the tin boat, his feet churning the sand as he pushed it into the water and jumped in, rowing for all he was worth. "Does he honestly think that a bit of water is going to stop us?"

The oars sprayed water into the air as the man redoubled his efforts to put more distance between him and us.

Daniel wandered toward the truck. "I don't feel like getting my shoes wet today."