The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 38

Nightstalkers did not make good patients. I was no exception. Especially when being jounced around in the back of a truck.

We hit another bump hard enough to cause everyone to hold onto the sides of the truck. Pain lanced through each injury when he hit those holes like that – and he had been hitting lots of them.

I threw a peeved look over my shoulder at the window of the cab behind me, "Hank, are you trying to hit every pothole? Driving is supposed to be like Minesweeper where you avoid potential deathtraps, not like whack a mole. Besides, I severely doubt that there are moles hiding in those craters you keep finding."

Nicky perked up, "Oh! Let me drive!"

Ben and Hank both immediately replied, "Not a chance."

Nicky crossed her arms as she grumbled. I made a mental note to never let her behind the wheel with a reaction like that from Hank. Hank replied to me, "Sorry Trinity, this road has more holes in it than swiss cheese and it is tough to tell which holes are worse until I am right on top of them."

I glanced at the road behind us, but there weren't nearly as many potholes as he was making out. That last one had been the only one in that section of the road. The truck moved a bit to the side as Hank dodged another big pothole.

I jumped a bit as Nicky suddenly cheered, "Awesome! Hank finally drove over the yellow center line!"

I glanced at the road behind and realized that Nicky was correct. Hank had been remaining in the proper lane even if it meant hitting a pothole. That idiot... He is so lucky that he is inside the cab at this moment and I can't reach him.

Now that Hank was driving like a thinking person on a deserted road I could relax a bit. The others were also silent. It was barely 10am and I was tired. It was pathetic. I gazed toward the trees and tried to nap.

Nina had said that it was impossible for a zombie to sleep in a moving vehicle, but in reality it was just extremely difficult. I managed to lightly doze as time passed far too slowly. Every bump or noise caused my mind to stir as I tried to force it to rest.

I gave up after a couple of hours, although I did feel more rested. I opened my eyes and reached for my water bottle. Nicky was watching me with a crazy grin. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "And just why are you grinning like the Cheshire cat?"

Nicky chuckled, "I simply can't figure out how you are sleeping in this truck. I can never sleep in a moving vehicle."

I was surprised, I had been sitting up and my head hadn't even been leaning against the cab as I faced the forest to the side. Nina shook her head, "Sorry Nicky, but zombies are light sleepers and they wouldn't have been able to sleep in the back of a truck. Even if she had been sleeping, you wouldn't have been able to tell."

Nicky chuckled, "Oh, I was watching. Normally her head moves a bit as she watches things going by, particularly zombies. She has barely twitched a single muscle for over an hour and her breathing was steady without those deeper breaths she takes when sniffing the air. She never did that before on previous trips, so she was either attempting yoga or napping – and I highly doubt it was yoga."

I also highly doubted that any amount of yoga would help my temper since it was fueled by my Nightstalker instincts. Especially if Nicky was around. I snorted, "I think you need your head checked."

I contemplated different ways to toss the bizarrely observant woman off the truck, debating on which moves would disturb my injuries the least. The biggest wrench in my plan was the fact that Daniel was plenty fast enough to rescue Nicky. That led to the question if he would actually help her after everything she put him through.