The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 41: Finding The Unranked

The truck's gasifier was still hot, so Nicky just had to add some dry twigs and open the air valves to get the fire going. After reloading the front box with wood, she got into the driver's seat.

"No breaking the truck or you're walking with us to find this zombie," I told her as I jumped into the back and lightly held onto a handle attached to the roof.

"I don't really have an option," she grumbled. "I promised both Hank and Jess that I'd drive nice, and if I broke something, Daniel would use that as an excuse to not wear all the stuff I'm coloring."

The guards opened the gates without asking where we were going. True to her word, Nicky drove like a civilized person all the way to the trailer. We arrived right as Nina, Logan, and Daniel came out. Nicky stopped the truck and jumped out.

"Will you be okay walking back?" Daniel asked Nina. "We can drive you."

"Thanks, but I've been sitting too much and need to stretch my legs. We passed by a couple of horseback riders checking for zombies on the way here, so we should be fine."

Nicky reached into the back of the truck and brandished her boomerang above her head. "I can even practice on the walk back! There's no guarantee I'll actually manage to hit a zombie, but it should be enough to scare them away."

Nina glanced at Logan to check if at least one of her escorts were properly prepared, and he lifted a shoulder to shift the quiver of arrows he carried.

"We'll be fine," Nina told Daniel.

With a reluctant nod, he got into the truck as the trio started walking.

I took a deep breath. "It smells like a regular zombie. I can't pick up any of that metallic undertone."

"As far as I can tell, he is a regular zombie now." He drove the truck past the trees, and I could envision him scanning every inch of the area between here and the Stronghold. A few seconds later, the truck sped up to our usual speed.

"We'll find out more when we come back," I said, knowing Nina would be hard at work while we were gone. "Let's go find this zombie."

~

I dragged another stunted tree off the road and jumped into the truck as Daniel drove by.

"We're still on the right track," I told him. "His scent wanders around a bit, but he's more or less following the road. Kind of smells like a Runner with a bit of a heavier undertone."

"I noticed that. Probably another Runner with some Nightstalker quirks."

He stopped at an intersection, and I jumped out to check the branching roads.

I jogged back and hopped into the truck. "Turn left."

Daniel drove ahead but turned right.

I rolled my eyes. "Your other left, or this trip could take forever."

"Perhaps, but this will take us behind a hill. Trust me on this one."

I immediately looked around; I had been paying attention to scents and letting Daniel keep an eye out for the zombie.

"Grab your bow," he told me, his voice serious. "You can't see it from here, but there's a tank hiding in a clump of trees. I saw the barrel scanning the road farther ahead, so there's definitely someone inside. It must be the same one the bandit mentioned, since it's on a trailer."

As he slowed down, I took a deep breath and growled faintly. "They're upwind. I can't tell how many are present. Didn't he say there were five people?"

"Yes. Do you think you can sneak closer and figure out where they are? The trees aren't dense, but at least we're not on open scrubland."