The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 44: Gunfire

I wrinkled my nose in distaste as I watched Daniel cut a piece of flesh off the dead unranked zombie. "Do you really think Nina is going to get anything useful out of that? It's been dead for a week."

"No harm in trying," he replied, finally standing up and turning away from the headless zombie riddled with bullet holes. It wasn't the only dead zombie we'd found during our brief search. This place had put up quite a fight, and over a dozen had been beheaded, and blood pools showed other unsuccessful attempts.

Blood spray from the unranked Nightstalker was in too many places to count. The guards had clearly been trying to stop it but must not have managed a clean headshot. I looked around the area, trying to figure out if it had attacked at night—which might explain the guards' less-than-stellar aim—or if it had been extremely fast and very hard to hit.

Everything was in disarray, making it impossible to tell what time the attack had taken place. I'd have to check some bedrooms to see if the beds had been made or left a mess, not that such a detail meant much. People like Nicky only made their beds when they wanted others to wonder if something was wrong with them.

Shaking my head, I jogged over to the largest building. We'd already called out and received no response from anything other than zombies, but doing a quick search might yield other clues.

As soon as I entered the building, I knew I wasn't going to find any survivors. Every door—even heavy reinforced ones—had been forced open. The unranked zombie must have been able to hear or smell the people hiding.

I paused by one room, whose door had been broken like the rest, but no bloodstains were present. My nose confirmed that no human had spent more than a few minutes in here for over a month. Had this zombie learned that food could hide behind doors, and now figured it had to check every one?

The farther I went, the more I became certain that the zombie was like a fox in a chicken coop. It wouldn't stop with just one kill and be content to feed—it continued hunting and broke into any room whose door wasn't already open.

On the upper levels, the bodies didn't show any signs of feeding. Just a few scratches and bite marks from when the zombie had killed them and immediately left. They hadn't survived long enough for the virus to spread and turn them. I left the building, discouraged by the sheer amount of senseless death inside.

Daniel started to enter another building but backed out of the doorway, shaking his head. "Do you mind checking this building? There's...a bit too much blood for my comfort."

"Yeah, although I don't think we're going to find anyone. It looks like the zombie checked every room it could find."

"Thanks. I noticed that as well, but I can't stop hoping that someone managed to hide."

As soon as I reached the doorway, the scent of blood hit me like a tidal wave. No wonder Daniel didn't want to step foot in here. I'd never smelled so much blood in the air before. I didn't want to see the carnage that would have led to something like this, but the hint of urine meant there was a chance—a super slim chance—that the overpowering odor had overwhelmed the traces coming off a hidden survivor.

The scent of blood was so strong I couldn't even tell how old the urine was. Over a dozen zombies still lingered inside, feeding on the bodies and wandering around lethargically.

"Is anyone in here?" I called out. "If there aren't any zombies close to you, just yell 'here!' and I'll come find you."

All I could hear was a flurry of zombie growls as they suddenly thought I might be human. After spending far too many minutes kicking zombies outside to play, I closed the door and wedged a chair against it to keep them out.