The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 107

I halfway glared at the Stronghold in the distance. Daniel was once more driving the truck while Nicky and I were in the back. Nina had a travel plan drawn up that would allow us to visit two or three Strongholds a day. She hoped to get to all of the closest ones within two weeks. The wave should have started by then, but even with traveling almost all day, we could only cover so much ground even if Daniel used those bright headlights to drive most of the night.

Nina glanced back, "How are you holding up?" She knew that I really didn't want to go into strange Strongholds considering my past experiences with them.

I sighed, "I seriously hope that this doesn't turn out to be a mistake."

Nicky was gazing at the sky and idly commented, "I never make the same mistake twice. I make it at least five or six times just to be sure that it is actually a mistake." She turned her head to look at me, "If five places try to kill you, then I will help you burn them to the ground."

I blinked slowly, "Thank you, I think..."

We fell silent as we got closer to the Stronghold. Nicky sat up, "Well, I have never been here before."

I took that comment as a good thing. People were waiting for us at the gate, so it looked like our arrival had been expected. Lovely. I had a feeling that this trip was going to bring out my sarcasm in a rather unfortunate way.

"Daniel, Nina, glad you could make it. You can park right over there since I know you won't stay long. Can we offer you some lunch?"

Nina nodded, "Thank you Rick, lunch sounds good."

I sniffed the air as Daniel drove to the indicated spot, "You smell that?"

I heard Daniel take a deep breath and a faint growl sounded from inside the truck, "Yeah."

"Huh. Well it looks like both of us can smell it even though we have at least a week before the first case can possibly arise."

Nina looked startled, "Someone here is infected?"

Daniel parked the truck and got out, "Yes."

I jumped out of the truck and took a second sniff, "There are at least two that I am picking up."

Nina nodded as she pulled a small backpack out. It held the cure and other drugs she had brought along. Rick walked over, "Would you like lunch now or do you want to do an inspection first?"

His eyes glanced over Nicky and me as he noted the two unfamiliar faces. Nina tilted her head, "How about lunch first?"

"Certainly. This way please." He was quite polite, but considering he knew that two zombies were present, that was a wise move on his part.

Lunch was venison, bread, and soup. The dining area was fairly empty, although anyone we passed stared at us. Much to my annoyance. I had forgotten how quickly the people at Ironwind had gotten accustomed to my presence and knew I didn't like being stared at.

This is going to be a long two weeks... The two women grabbed some food. My instincts were not enjoying being inside of a strange Stronghold. They analyzed everything in suspicion. As much as I liked their assistance in case of an ambush or trap, having my instincts so active was a pain in the ass and quite distracting since they also affected my temper.

I didn't find anything amiss though, so that was good. The guy tagged along with us as he mainly spoke to Nina, who was quite talkative.

"We took care during the last wave, so we hope this wave won't give us any trouble."

A bit late for that bud. I hope the other places were more successful otherwise some people are in for a rude awakening. Nina made a face before replying, "Unfortunately, we know that at least two here are infected although we don't know who they are yet."