The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 126

Daniel ran forward to jump up the fence. He nearly made it to the top with that jump and easily got over it. I shook my head before simply opening up the small gate and slipping inside without letting any zombies out. He shook his head at my lack of ambition before turning to snarl at a zombie who had gotten too close to him.

It growled as it moved away from the higher-ranking zombie. I took a deep breath, "I am not picking up any stronger scents, but we had better check each building just in case. Ensure you close the doors behind you to contain the zombies."

He nodded and started heading in one direction. I headed the other way as I slipped into my slight crouch to keep the normal zombies from thinking I was human. I did a quick circuit around the edge of the fence before going deeper into the Stronghold. The truck passed by me once during my circuit.

From the frequent snarls I could pick up from Daniel, he was having far more trouble passing seamlessly through the zombie ranks than I was. I bet that idiot never practiced like I told him. Well, he was getting practice now. I shook my head as I went inside the largest building.

I bared my teeth silently at one zombie who then proceeded to ignore me. Once I got to the bottom of a staircase I called out, "Anyone here?"

The only replies I got were from dozens of zombies. The smell of death and rot was also strong, so someone had cut off a few zombie heads at some point. I climbed the stairs and passed through the hallways silently as I tested the air.

Most doors were open and it looked like utter chaos had occurred. A glance in the open doorways revealed blood splatter on the floor or walls in most of the rooms. No survivor would be in a room with an open door, or the zombies would have congregated there. I would also be able to scent them easily.

I did check behind each closed door, but some of those rooms held zombies while others were empty. I kept searching while occasionally pausing to growl or flash bared teeth at zombies. Regular zombies didn't usually push too hard with such hints. I hadn't crossed paths with the Runner yet, although I did pick up quite a few trails from that Nightstalker.

I checked out all of the twenty some buildings before heading to the garages. Half of the parking stalls were empty. I glanced back over my shoulder as I heard Daniel approaching the doorway, "Half of the vehicles are missing. I guess about half made it out. It explains why such a large place has fewer zombies than expected. Whether or not they were infected is another question."

Daniel came through the doorway to look around, "That makes sense. There is only one highway and considering that we didn't pass them, that means that they are ahead of us somewhere."

I nodded, "Very likely."

He exhaled in relief, "I am glad that some got out, but some are probably infected as well. Let's head back to the others. The next Stronghold is five hours away so we will have to find a place to camp for tonight."

I nodded and followed him out of the garage.

~

I stood on the edge of the roof and checked the scents on the wind. There was a Runner upwind somewhere. Too close for me to relax with so many humans up here with nightfall approaching.

We had managed to find a gas station with a flat roof before the sun set. Another hour would see the sun touching the horizon. I turned back to the group and wandered over to Daniel.

"There is a Runner upwind and I am almost certain that it will show up before sunrise. Do you want to deal with it or should I?" I was lazy and he was stronger than me. Killing in cold blood didn't quite sit right with my humanity either. My instincts were of no help in this area since they saw no reason to kill another zombie.