The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 65

I sat down and watched as Nicky balanced a plate on her knees as she started eating. Daniel and Nina hadn't arrived yet. Louise must have taken Nina's threat seriously this time. She hadn't come back and it had been four days already. It almost felt like peace. Well, semi-peace since Nina and Daniel were turning up more often.

I leaned back in my chair, "Hey Nicky?"

She glanced up, "Yeah?"

"At that truck stop, what exactly happened after I blacked out? I remember up until the point where I got shot in the head."

Nicky chewed thoughtfully, "I still can't believe that fight. I didn't know you could move that fast. That one guy had better aim than the others and got you in the head. You kind of just collapsed mid-run. That bastard drew a sword, but Daniel charged in from a window and killed him before he had taken more than a few steps. Daniel killed the last two that were trying to get more weapons."

She paused to sip her water, "He untied us and Hank and Ben went to grab that part we needed from the truck. Turns out that there was a jerrycan of gas in that building. Those two drove back to fix our truck and return. By the time they returned, Daniel and Nina had you laid on a tarp so you were easier to move.

"We traveled to a nearby town with a police station and jail. They weren't sure how long you would remain unconscious and we had all heard rumors about head injuries in sane zombies. Nina spent almost two hours trying to dig those bullets out of you. You woke up the second day, which was a surprise since Nina and Daniel were expecting you to be out for at least four days. You know the rest."

I nodded, "Thanks." I had wondered how they had moved me. A tarp made sense since they could just grab the edges and it would have kept the blood contamination risk to a minimum. I glanced down to see Daniel and Nina approaching the building with their plates.

Several minutes later they came on top of the roof to join us. We talked a bit about things happening in the Stronghold, which wasn't much. Nina's research had slowed down. They had re-infected the ex-zombies since the bodies had been dying and were trying some other possible cures. Most cures either didn't do anything or they killed the zombie once the cure took effect and they were human. There were only a handful of living zombies in the barn at this point.

My patrols had been quiet. I hadn't crossed a single Runner or higher ranked zombie. Daniel had started running the outer boundary more frequently so his scent wall was back, although it wasn't as strong as the first time I had run along it. Nicky had been helping out with various groups, although the kitchen no longer wanted her in any capacity that involved a knife.

Nicky eventually stretched, "So, shall we go see if we can pin the tail on the donkey?"

I nodded and went with Nicky to the archery field, leaving Nina and Daniel to relax on the rooftop. Nicky had not been kidding. Someone had painted a big gray ugly donkey and people would attach a gray ribbon as a 'tail' to their arrow. The ribbon altered the arrow's flight enormously, which made it a challenge.

The wind was blowing in light unpredictable puffs today, which was going to make it really interesting, even for the best shooters. I was looking forward to it, normal shooting was fairly boring since I hit the center constantly.

This was the first group sport that I had enjoyed since becoming a zombie. Everyone in the archery group who wanted to play split into two teams. We took turns with each person only firing one arrow, the group with the most hits won the round. The unpredictable and prankish wind was grabbing the arm-long ribbon and making the arrow hit some odd places.

Nicky teased one of the guys, "It is called pin the tail on the donkey for a reason. You are supposed to aim for its rear end. Last time I checked, a donkey's ears were on its head."