The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 5

I sat up out of my slouch and sniffed the air. "Daniel, stop the truck for a moment."

Even as the truck slowed down, I stood up to get my head above the still-swirling air behind the cab.

Now that I had my bearings, I said, "Turn left ahead. Someone in that direction is infected."

The truck picked up speed as Daniel complied with my blunt orders. His irritation drifted up to me, no doubt aggravated by my tone. Dust rose into the air as we began driving down the rutted gravel road. I remained standing with one hand on the roof in case my balance somehow failed me as the truck bounced over the ruts.

"Down the left driveway."

As we approached the cottage, I jumped out of the truck before it stopped and sniffed the air with a frown.

"Wait here. The scent isn't as strong as it should be. I think he left."

I quickly circled the cottage to check every window. Nothing. I went in the back door just to make sure no one was here.

I returned to the others and told them, "He's gone. Probably left a day ago."

"Any idea which way he went?" Nina asked, still inside the truck with her window rolled down.

"There's no trail, so he must be driving."

"Let's keep following the highway and hope he didn't turn off somewhere. We might catch up to him."

I jumped back into the truck box and sat down. Still giving me the proverbial cold shoulder, Daniel drove over the long grass as he turned the truck around and headed back to the highway.

~

       We kept driving until late in the afternoon in hopes of finding the infected guy, but I hadn't caught a whiff of him over the last five hours.

"Anything?" Nina asked again.

"Still nothing."

"I can't see anyone going that long without a bathroom break. He must have turned off at that last highway intersection. We might as well stop for the night since we won't catch up before the sun sets. There's a gas station ahead that's flagged as being fortified."

"Fortified?"

Nina shrugged. "Probably bars over the windows and other things to make it Runner-proof."

And here I had been envisioning something like an old-fashioned castle with protective brick walls or a moat. Nope. A gas station with bars over the windows. People really needed to learn the meaning of fortified. I wonder if there's even a lock on the door. Maybe someone had the brilliant idea of using one of those twist-lock door handles. We could break in with a nail or bobby pin!

I began to suspect this trip was taking a bit of a toll on my patience.

I closed my eyes and tried to distract myself by focusing on the world of scent, although it was to no avail since the air circled around me in an annoying fashion. Today was clearly not my day. Hopefully Jess was having more fun than I was. In fact, I was pretty sure I'd also be having more fun if I'd remained in Ironwind. If nothing else, at least I wouldn't be bored out of my mind.

Time passed far too slowly, with plenty of bumps from potholes and branches. Daniel was kind enough to slow down for them, but there were so many that it only delayed our pace.

It smelled like his instincts were running higher than usual, which had my instincts keeping a closer watch on him. I wasn't sure what was riling Daniel up today, unless it was due to our enforced close proximity and my joyous personality. The lingering fumes from his colorful socks probably weren't helping.