The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 24

Before long I headed back. I circled the town to ensure that nothing lurked nearby before heading to the store. I could still see Daniel sitting by the fire as I approached the building. I paused as I approached the ladder, "It's just me."

I put on my sunglasses and climbed up the ladder almost silently. I walked across the roof, letting my footsteps fall loudly enough for Daniel to hear them. His head turned in my direction. I was almost at the fire before his eyes truly focused on me. He really couldn't see that well in the dark even with the firelight.

I sat in the chair with a sigh. We both sat in comfortable silence for quite some time. Neither of us needed to sleep and with our five new friends on the same rooftop, sleep was going to be extremely evasive tonight. Daniel had a faint grin on his face as he spoke quietly, "Still feel like fighting me?"

I chuckled, "Not anymore. Although if tomorrow is as hectic as today I might take you up on it."

"You do realize that you will end up on the losing end, right?"

"I know. In the mood I was in previously, I didn't overly care either. I just wanted to blow off steam and you were the only one in the area capable of taking a hit from me."

He seemed amused, "I would have let you get a couple of punches in before pinning you."

I was somewhat surprised that he would be that lenient in a fight. Our instincts pushed us toward First Strike, not letting others land blows. He seemed quite amused that I had come so close to going after him. Then again, if I wasn't using weapons, then the outcome was a given.

He tilted his head as he sniffed the air, "I am surprised that the cougar managed to scratch you. Are they that fast? I never tried hunting any of the larger predators before."

I snorted in faint humor, "The cougar wasn't fast enough to claw me. The blood you smell is from small scrapes and scratches on my hands as I took out my anger on a tree. I usually don't hunt the larger predators that often simply because there are fewer of them, but as an occasional meal they are a good change."

"What did that tree do to you?"

I grinned, "I am not sure, but I reduced it to kindling regardless of the reason."

He shook his head in amusement, "You have the oddest ways of passing the time."

I chuckled in quiet agreement before we both let silence take over. It was oddly peaceful despite the fact that we were across the fire from each other. That same distance would have meant trouble this morning, but it was fine now. The last remaining bits of tension had mostly disappeared.

I was sure that some of it would return tomorrow, but I would take the peace and quiet while I could. It had been an extremely long day. I put another big piece of wood on the fire and relaxed in the chair. The moon slowly moved across the sky as we acted like silent sentinels.

A few times, I even managed to doze off for several minutes. It was closer to a half doze, part of my mind was awake and listening while another part took a break. No one would know from watching me that I had drifted off.

I had intended to remain sitting and I did. Most zombies were able to sleep standing up and I could keep my muscles from moving while I dozed off. In theory, I should be able to sleep standing up, but I had never bothered to try. Daniel's eyes had closed earlier as he relied on his hearing and nose to alert him to any trouble. If he slept, I was unaware of it.

The sky started to brighten slightly and I turned my attention to the earliest hints of the sunrise. I wouldn't be able to watch it long even with sunglasses before it would simply get too bright. The brilliant sunrises and sunsets that I had so enjoyed as a human were too painfully bright to look upon now. It was one of the things that I truly missed about being human.

I eventually had to look away. I put more wood on the coals to build it up for cooking. I put water beside the fire to heat it for coffee for our non-morning people. At this point, I took care to avoid looking toward the east. The sun was turning some wispy clouds into a bright glowing brilliant orange color. It was a pretty color, but much too bright.

People eventually started to stir and came out of the tents with yawns. I stifled a sigh as Liz once more climbed into my lap. I still couldn't figure out why the child liked me so much. I had to admit that I had grown accustomed to the faint burning in my throat to the point that I barely noticed it.

Liz pointed, "Look at the pretty sunrise."

I nodded without looking, "Yes, it is very pretty."

She looked up at me as she crinkled her eyebrows, "You didn't even look."

Her tone was faintly accusing. I was torn between faint amusement at her accusation and irritation because I couldn't look at it. I wished I could. I didn't dare try to explain my light sensitivity with our five new guests present. My sunglasses were a fairly easy target and in the daytime I was dependent on them.

Liz pointed again, "Look!" Her imperious voice stirred up my instincts slightly as they detested the command. I overruled them with a heavy sigh.

I closed my eyes tightly and turned my head toward the sunrise. Even with my closed eyes and the sunglasses I could tell that the sun was starting to peek above the horizon. It was uncomfortably bright. After a few seconds I looked back down at the child and opened up my eyes. With my sunglasses, she wouldn't have noticed that my eyes had been closed.

Liz was smiling up at me as she took another bite of the flatbread that Marissa was cooking. I noticed that Nina was watching me with a curious and faintly incredulous expression. Daniel looked curious, but no one else seemed to think anything of me watching the sunrise.

The others were obviously not familiar enough with zombies to realize how out of place my actions had been. Nightstalkers never looked directly at the sun. Our eyes couldn't handle the light even if we closed our eyes tightly. Without my sunglasses, I wouldn't have been able to face the tiny bit of the rising sun even for those few seconds.

Before long we all started packing up. We left the tents up for any other survivors who may pass through. I once more coaxed Chloe into the kennel before lowering her down to the ground. The five new men were watching Daniel and me closely and nervously. They clearly did not know what to make of the two of us.

I looked over at Daniel, "If you want to load the truck, I can toss the supplies down to you."

He nodded and headed to the edge of the roof before jumping down. I went to the tent to grab the jerrycans of gas. I watched the men from the corner of my eyes as I tossed the seven jerrycans down. Most of them eyed up the red jugs of precious fuel with envy. Frank had a speculative look in his eyes that I didn't care for.

I also carefully dropped the bags of supplies once I knotted the tops of the bags. Daniel's reflexes were even better than mine were and he caught them with ease before carefully packing them in the truck. Hank stood up and stretched, "Well, we better get this show on the road. Daniel, do you still have those keys?"

"Catch."

I easily caught the keys as they were tossed up. I held them out for Hank. Kal's eyes went wide when Hank came forward and took them from me without any hesitation. I remained on the roof while everyone else climbed down the ladder. As the last person went down, I jumped off the roof to the ground below.

I climbed into my usual place in the back of the truck as the others also took their usual places. The five men somehow managed to pile into that jeep. Frank motioned for Hank to take the lead. Hank hit the highway and picked up speed.

Frank was probably regretting his offer since I was facing the road behind us. I hadn't heard them discussing the fact that Daniel and I were zombies last night, so it would probably be a hot topic during their drive. Too bad I couldn't read lips. Although that might be for the best, since anything Kal said would probably light my temper up again.

I suppose it could be worse. They could be sitting in the truck with us. I turned to watch the passing scenery.