The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 50

I exited the building and headed toward the mess hall for breakfast. I rounded the corner and paused as I noticed four younger men running in my direction. They noticed me and swerved to run wider around me. One called out in a hushed voice as he ran by, "Run before she sees you!"

I could only think of one reason for people to be running like that at this time of the morning.

"Free hugs for everyone!!!"

You have got to be kidding me... This was not how I hoped to start my day. Two more people rounded the corner in a full blown run. Nicky appeared around the corner in hot pursuit of them with a maniac grin plastered across her face. I do not recall this being part of our deal.

I crossed my arms as I held my ground, my instincts refused to run from an unarmed human, even if she was in lunatic mode. Nicky ran toward me with arms outstretched, thinking I was an easy stationary target. I don't think so...

I growled at her lightly as I uncrossed my arms and held out one hand to keep her from getting close. She made a few attempts, but my swifter reflexes and greater strength gave me the upper hand as I kept her at arm's length and unable to hug me.

She gave up with a groan, "You are no fun."

I rolled my eyes, "And that is precisely why I am not invited to any parties."

She yawned and we headed for breakfast. I noticed that it was oddly quiet as we entered the mess hall. I looked around and saw that it was pretty empty, possibly because many of the early risers had heard Nicky's calls for hugs and had decided to be fashionably late today. We didn't even have to wait in line because there was no lineup.

Nicky stuffed her face once we sat down. I noticed that more people trickled in as word spread that she had calmed down. We were getting more attention than usual, which was stirring my instincts. Once we finished, Nicky went off to see what her chores were for today and I headed to the kitchen as per usual.

~

I sat on the roof watching the activity spread throughout the Stronghold as people worked. I had tried to rest, but even the lightest nap would not come this afternoon and I had tried for several hours already. It was a sign that my healing was rapidly diminishing. The scab on my head had fallen off last night, which might have been the reason for some of the stares I had received this morning.

The two remaining scabs on my chest wouldn't be far behind and would probably fall off in a couple of days. Despite the level of damage in my leg previously, my doctoring had done wonders. It didn't even pain me now. I still kept to a slow walk to throw off the ever-watching humans, but I could run for a short distance without harming it if I needed to.

It would probably be a week before that scab fell off, but I could likely make a run for it in about five days. Nicky was going to talk to someone today about getting a transfer. She would likely travel with one of the groups going to trade and there were two such trips scheduled in the next week. I planned to leave a day or two after she did.

Another side effect of my slowing healing was that my energy was no longer being solely channeled into healing and I was getting restless. It had been ten days since the bullets hit me and I had done almost nothing but sit the entire time. I was seriously tired of sitting.

I started pacing a bit, trying to take the edge off my building energy and impatience. I wanted to leave this place and it was like an itch I couldn't scratch. That caged feeling was coming back, it reminded me of cabin fever where you felt like you simply had to get out. It was similar to, but yet different from when Ben and Hank had kept us closed up in that grocery store for three days.