The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 61

This task suited me well. I silently jogged through the shadows as I continued to circle the Stronghold. The half moon above gave plenty of light as I explored a bit and learned the lay of the land. I pushed each circle slightly further out so I saw new terrain each time.

I committed everything to memory in case I needed it one day. I found the barn, but circled very widely around it. They probably had twenty live Runners in there from the smell of things. The barn was dark and no humans were in there at the moment, but I still was not going near that building.

I had missed traveling through the night like this. My sunglasses could finally come off. I sniffed the air, examining the complex layers of scents. My mind automatically identified several dozen types of plants, various animals, and so much more. There was a small creek a bit further out. I could also pick out the faint damp scent of another cave.

I decided to go investigate the cave. There was no way to tell from the scent if it was big enough for me to fit into or not. I had to go and inspect the cave to learn details like that.

I crouched down to inspect the cave. It wasn't something I was going to enter on a mild whim, but I could climb into it if I tried. The opening was small, but the long tunnel went back until it turned around a corner.

I noted its location in case I ever needed a spot where Daniel couldn't get at me. His wide shoulders wouldn't fit into that narrow opening. Terrors also didn't seem to like really tiny spaces or caves, so I doubted that he would crawl in there on his belly even if he did manage to get his shoulders past the opening.

I kept going. The night was quiet and I started circling back toward the Stronghold once I started getting too far out. I had gone further than the path that Daniel must run several times a day. No wonder no Nightstalker crossed over it, even I didn't want to cross over it. His scent was ingrained into that path so well that it was practically like the Great Wall of China as far as my nose and instincts were concerned.

It took me all night, but by the time the sky started to lighten, I had pretty much covered every section of the land around the Stronghold. I hadn't seen a single zombie other than the regular zombies, although that didn't really surprise me. I wondered what Daniel would think when he realized that my scent was all over the place.

I returned to the road heading to the north gate. My leg was sore, but the scab hadn't pulled open. My steps were reluctant as I walked toward the gate that I could just see in the distance. The amount of people in that small place was something that I wasn't sure I could ever get used to. I put my sunglasses back on, each gate had a big light post above it so the guards could see better at night.

The sunglasses would also be the clue that any guard could easily recognize. No feral zombie would tolerate glasses on their face. It was proof that I was sane. There was only one sane zombie who didn't need a flashlight in this place, so my identity was rather obvious even for those who may have not seen me previously.

I watched the two guards who sat in chairs in the tower and scanned the ground below. They had half a dozen regular zombies on the other side of the fence that were watching them. I kept walking slowly toward them. I wonder who will spot me first, the zombies or the guards?

My clothes were fairly dark and my smooth walk kept me from sticking out too obviously in the nearly black light of the early hour. One of the guards spotted me and did a double take as he noticed the lack of glowing red eyes that the zombies below sported. He relaxed as he realized who I was.

The two guards watched me approach. They glanced between me and the zombies in front of the gate. The gate couldn't be safely opened with the zombies. I didn't feel like trying to climb over it again either.

I stooped down to grab a rock before throwing it at an oblivious zombie. I wasn't sure why I had wondered if the zombies would see me first, they were focused on the humans that they could clearly see and smell. They were not bright enough to turn around and check if something might have appeared behind them.

The zombie turned around and finally spotted me. It headed toward me with a growl, which caused the other zombies to take notice. Seconds later I turned and slowly jogged off with the zombies in tow.

Where should I lead them? I don't want them near here. I thought a bit about it as I headed up the road. The humans used this road enough that their scent was fairly strong along it. A normal zombie rarely doubled back once it found a trail. I picked up my speed until I was out of sight, then I left the road to run back through the forest. They should follow the road until they tired and found somewhere to sleep.

I returned to the gate once more and a guard climbed down to let me in.

"Thanks for luring them off. Anything interesting out there?"

I handed him the walkie talkie, "Just regular zombies. There wasn't even much in the way of larger predators."

He nodded and climbed up the ladder again. I headed toward my room. It would still be a few hours before breakfast was ready and I could grab a bit of sleep. I entered the door and headed for the stairs. The scents along the main hallway told me that both Daniel and Nina were in their rooms. They had returned at some point in the later part of the evening when I had been on the archery field.

I entered my room and locked the door behind me. I would have to search the garages later on for a more reliable lock since the door still only had the twist lock. Twist locks were far too easy to open and they were certainly not Nicky proof. We don't actually need zombies. All we need is Nicky on a coffee high to send this place into a semi-panic.

I drew the blinds closed and sat on my bed as I dozed off. I hadn't slept for over 20 hours and sleep came to me easier than I had anticipated. My body still must be after more sleep than was normal.

~

I didn't see Nina or Daniel at breakfast, although it didn't take long for me to overhear gossip. They had returned to the barn to continue whatever they were doing. The people themselves didn't know all of the details, but they did know that they were working mostly with blood samples. They would only test out a very promising potential cure on one Runner after all of the blood tests were done.

I had a feeling that I wouldn't be seeing much of those two for several days. That was just fine with me. Nicky yawned as she sat down, "The man in charge of the night shifts told me to tell you thank you. He is also asking if you can do a patrol loop or two between 10am and noon. You are welcome to use the quads if you want. Oh, I was also told that they really don't expect you to do anything this morning since you were up all day yesterday and all night."

I made a face, "They just expect me to sit and do nothing?" I had grabbed just over two hours of rest before breakfast and I felt quite rested. The prospect of sitting in a chair in utter boredom wasn't that appealing.

Nicky chuckled, "Yep. If you patrol the entire time the sun is below the horizon, you have the daytime off. Let me ask you this though. If anyone else had the injuries that you currently sport, would they be doing anything?"

I mock glared at her, "And just when did you gain so much insight and become so wise?"

Nicky grinned at me, "I think part of it is the lack of coffee. The voices in my head get much louder if I have coffee. Not sure how long they are going to remain in coffee deprived silence though."

"Then give me warning before you drink coffee so I can hide."

Nicky simply grinned as she ate her breakfast. I sampled some odd scrambled egg concoction. My appetite had dropped to close to normal, so I decided to pick breakfast as my main meal. It gave me an excuse to avoid the chaos at supper.

Nicky had been right. No one really wanted me to work. After having the fifth person decline my help and suggest that I should relax, I gave up and headed for the secondary building rooftop. There was no chance of me sleeping after my pre-breakfast nap, so I pulled a book out of my backpack and read a bit instead.