The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 4

I slowly made my way back to the house, taking my time as the sun peeled back the darkness that kept me hidden. It was easier for me to go into denser trees instead of being plagued by the restlessness that occurred when I wasn't being inconspicuous enough.

It's a right pain in the ass, although I should be thankful it only happens at night. If this occurred all day, I'd be asking Nina to look for something to reverse the controlex. Thankfully, it was rapidly fading as my instincts retreated with the dawning of the new day.

As I got closer, I could smell the soup cooking, so Daniel must have put it on the fire. That was a wise decision; the last thing we needed was for Nicky to cross to the dark side on this road trip. If that happened, I was tempted to walk all the way back.

My footsteps became audible as I approached the door so I didn't catch Daniel off-guard. He should know who it was simply because he didn't hear my approach, but that guy didn't always handle surprises well. Zombies, as a general rule, usually didn't.

Upon opening the door, I was greeted by the sleepy gazes of Nina and Nicky, who were sitting in their sleeping bags with a bowl of soup in their hands. I didn't feel like sitting when we had a long truck ride ahead of us, so I wandered over to the kitchen window. Even though I had just come inside, my instincts always wanted to know what was going on, and it wasn't as if I had anything else to do.

The women slowly ate their soup, still trying to wake up. Daniel watched me absently, clearly bored after spending all night inside. Well, if he's bored, then I may have a cure for that.

With a sideways glance at the Terror, I shifted my body language to something more dynamic and instigating, yet less defensive. The last time he had seen this stance was back when I had been messing with his head on the roof.

Daniel immediately blinked and focused on me as a combination of confusion, suspicion, and curiosity crossed his face. He still didn't see the invitation for a playful wrestling match for what it was. And I found that endlessly entertaining. A bit disappointing and inconceivable, but entertaining.

With a slight smirk, I shook my head at his cluelessness and dropped the intentional body language. I gazed out the window while watching Daniel in my peripheral vision.

He continued studying me, trying to figure out the puzzle and just as clearly not having any success in that endeavor. If nothing else, he would have something to think about while driving today. The best part was that Nina still hadn't noticed, so he couldn't even ask her for her thoughts.

I gazed idly at the scenery while our human companions ate their breakfast. Under the smell of the soup, other scents lingered, mostly from the various people who had stopped in this house for the night. I took a slow, deep breath as I checked if I recognized any of them.

Time had faded the scents too much for me to pick most of them apart, but I was pretty sure at least two were from Ironwind Stronghold. My instincts shifted as they detected something else – something out of place.

Closing my eyes to better focus on the world of scent, I took another deep breath as I tried to figure out what had tipped off my suspicious instincts. It wasn't anything outside, or I would have noticed it during my patrol. That narrowed down the possibilities by a decent margin.

Several more breaths didn't yield any other details or results. I exhaled slowly in my growing frustration. Considering how annoyingly persistent my instincts could be, they could sure be vague and unhelpful some days.

Perhaps this was one of those times when the easiest way to find the answer was to actually let my mind wander without trying to focus. Opening my eyes, I deliberately relaxed any tense muscles and tried to loosen my concentration while taking another breath. The scents rolled across my mind.