The Virus Within: Secrets Unraveled (Book 5)

Ch 14: Ambush

As the zombie charged, I released my arrow and shuffled my feet through the dry leaves to hide any sound Regan might make. The zombie shifted his head to the side with unfortunate speed, dodging the eye-strike that would have made this a short fight.

I readied another arrow but held my fire as Regan leapt out of the shrubs behind the zombie. His teeth were bared in a silent snarl as he swung the sickle just below the chin where the zombie didn't see it. With a hard yank, Regan slashed the sickle through the throat as his other hand hit the zombie's shoulder and immediately pushed himself away.

I released arrow after arrow as the zombie stumbled forward from the shove. Blood poured out of his slashed neck as he turned to face Regan, who was already disappearing behind a tree. When one of my arrows lodged in his neck, his head swung back to me. Bubbles came out of his throat as his lips parted in a snarl.

With Regan out of range, I fired my last arrow and jumped into the tree branches above, quickly climbing higher. The zombie gave chase. As I expected, he didn't leap into the tree behind me, but when he grabbed onto branches and began pulling himself higher, I blinked in surprise.

I grabbed a rock I'd stashed here earlier and whipped it at the climber. This time, he was too distracted by the task of climbing to note the incoming projectile as possibly dangerous, and the rock struck his head.

Despite the impact, he merely shook his head as if semi-stunned and kept climbing. I was reminded of how Daniel could plow through a brick wall without breaking bones, and I was suddenly glad our current foe was losing blood at a rapid rate.

I jumped into a nearby tree. The zombie bared his teeth at my escape attempt, the blood oozing out of his neck more slowly now. It wouldn't be long before he slowed to a shuffle.

After bobbing his head a few times to judge the distance, he likewise jumped across the gap, landing just below me. My eyes widened at his ability to learn by example, although I was already climbing higher and ducking around the far side of the tree trunk like a squirrel.

I quickly jumped into another tree, ricocheting off into a farther one. With the blood loss setting in, my stalker wouldn't have that much coordination. Still, he tried to follow, only to lose his grip and fall to the ground below.

As he struggled to get to his knees, Regan emerged from the shrubs behind him with his dagger in hand. He planted one foot on the zombie's shoulder and set the dagger against the back of his neck, twisting it as he tried to locate a joint.

The zombie reared up, throwing him off, but no longer able to move as quickly as Regan could. Regan circled around, looking for an opening. His dagger had a cutting edge on both sides, but my belt knife only cut on one side—perfect for forcing it through zombie necks.

I dropped out of the tree but stopped since I wasn't sure if Regan could tolerate my close presence during a fight. I drew my belt knife and tossed it to him. "Here. It's sturdy enough to take a kick."

Regan caught the one-sided blade and knocked the zombie over again. The heavy blade grated against its neck, and once he found a joint, he stomped his boot down on the back of the knife, finally forcing the blade through. The body went limp as the head rolled to the side.

With the zombie dead, I came over. "Nice work."

Regan glanced at the corpse without much emotion and went over to a shrub, retrieving my sickle from underneath. His eyes lingered on it as he handed it back. "I might have to commission one of these."

"It can cut through the spine about half the time," I said, also taking my belt knife back. I wiped the blades down with a scrap of fabric and passed the bloody cloth to him.