The Virus Within: The Road Ahead (Book 1 - SERIES COMPLETED!)

Chapter 25

The room was quite light by the time Marissa came out of her room, yawning and blinking sleepily. I turned my head slightly as she entered the room, letting her know that I was awake. With my sunglasses on, they had no other way to tell.

Since Daniel and I were the only ones awake, she quietly asked, "How did we sleep so late?"

"Our mystery guest managed to drug the soup with a sleep aid in an attempt to steal our supplies," I said. "He didn't realize that two zombies were present, nor that we were immune to such things."

"Is that what the ruckus was about last night?" Nicky grumbled as she sat up.

It looked like our non-morning bird was ready to rise. I didn't have any coffee ready either. With a growing scowl, Nicky looked around at the snoring people, realizing the same thing. She stood up and wrapped her sleeping bag around her before stomping off toward the kitchen.

"This is going to be an interesting day," I muttered to Daniel. "It looks like Nicky is about to take another trip to the dark side. You may want to shake Nina awake."

"Why?"

A large bang resounded from the kitchen as Nicky dropped a metal pot upside down on the useless stove. She grabbed a metal spatula and a large whisk before she started beating on the pot like a deranged drummer.

Nina jumped and propped herself up on her elbow at the sudden racket. "What the..."

She blinked drowsily at the world around her, trying to figure out if the noise was an emergency alarm or something more mundane.

I sighed from my corner. "It's just Nicky. You can go back to sleep."

"I don't think that's even remotely possible."

Considering that everyone else was also sitting upright in various states of alarm, her observation was valid. I stood up with another sigh and put my backpack on before heading toward the insane drummer.

As I passed Marissa, I said, "I'll distract her for as long as I can, but try to get the coffee going before she returns."

She nodded and glanced out the window at the firepit. With one swift move, I disarmed Nicky and threw her over my shoulder before heading for the door, snagging her bag of clothing on the way out.

She struggled in my grasp. "Hey! If you want to join the band, you can be the soloist or play the guitar! I call the drums!"

I didn't bother arguing as I opened the door. She tried to brace her feet against the doorframe to prevent me from taking her outside, but I twisted the small wildcat mid-air and slipped outside. She continued complaining as I packed her into the forest.

"Even if you dump me out here, I'll still find my way back!"

"Fine by me. If nothing else, we'll reach Ironwind by tomorrow evening, and you'll be their problem then."

"I'm going to track you down and ensure I grace you with my drumming abilities every morning!"

"I'll pass."

"That's not an option!"

I finally reached the pond and put her down. Hoping a distraction might work, I said, "Look at the steam coming off the warm water. I have shampoo and conditioner if you want to wash your hair."

She paused, then took a step closer to the shore. "I haven't had a bath since the Stronghold got overrun. Did you bring towels?"

"Yes," I lied. Well, technically I had one towel since I had originally planned on washing up out here after breakfast, but my light blanket could double as a second towel if needed.