The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 63

The next several days saw a pattern develop. I patrolled all night, relaxed in my room or on the roof until about 10am, and patrolled until lunch. I usually chopped wood until midafternoon before patrolling until supper. Nicky tagged along on a quad during the last patrol.

I had only seen glimpses of Nina or Daniel the last week, other than two times where she had come for more blood. I was beginning to wonder if she was actually a vampire in disguise, although I made no such comment with her sullen guard at hand. The bonus part was that Nina hadn't cornered me for another interrogation session.

I left my room and paused in the hallway as I waited for two people to move the dresser into the room next door. More people carried boxes or items behind them. There was a pretty good crowd of people in this hallway carrying stuff, which was odd since this hallway only had ten rooms and two of them were empty.

My nostrils flared as I picked one particular scent apart from the twenty other humans present in the hallway. No... Please tell me that I am mistaken...

Nicky bounced around the corner and immediately spied me. "Trinity! You'll never guess what happened!"

The overenthusiastic lady somehow managed to squeeze between all of the people moving boxes and furniture with a speed that left me wondering if she had gotten infected. I wasn't sure how she managed to get through that traffic jam either, it shouldn't have been possible.

I used my hands to grab her shoulders to prevent her from hugging me. She groaned as she gave up, "You're no fun..."

Others were watching her with disbelief, unable to figure out how she was still alive after that attempt. I let go of her shoulders, and as I halfway expected, she tried to hug me again. I faintly growled, but let her since this was a toned down hug compared to her last attempt. I rolled my shoulders as my growl deepened, "All right, let go."

She stepped back with a grin, "Guess what!"

"The sun is shining and for some reason you are up here instead of in the mess hall."

She chuckled, "That too, but I get the room next to yours! They are moving my stuff in already! Isn't that great?!"

I was afraid of that. I sighed, "And to what do I owe this honor?"

Nicky was hyper and could barely stand still in her excitement, "This morning my neighbor asked me if I would like having a room closer to yours, and of course I said yes. Less than ten minutes later she arrived with people offering to carry everything for me!"

By this time, the group of people carrying the original occupant's stuff away were gone and all of Nicky's stuff was in the room. It had taken these determined people a whole 5 minutes to empty a room and fill it with another person's stuff. They had been in such a rush that both moving groups had crossed paths.

I started walking down the now mostly empty hallway, "I am surprised that they moved you after all of this time. We have been here almost three weeks already."

Nicky grinned at me, "They said that if zombies broke in, that I would be safer in a room close to yours."

With two resident zombies and numerous guards on duty, that particular scenario was not on the top of our worry list. "I patrol all night, and during the day you aren't in your room. If zombies did get in, your best bet is to get onto a roof, particularly on this building if you make sure the stairwell door is closed."

Nicky walked beside me, "I will keep that in mind. I also get to use the showers here, the downside is that there are no people to hear me serenading them first thing in the morning as I wash my hair."