The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 47

We hadn't even gone forty feet before I stopped them. "This room."

There were two name tags on the door. Justin knocked on it, and when there was no answer, he pushed it open. "Can you tell if it's the bed on the right or the left?"

I walked a few steps into the room. "The right one."

He wrote it down. "That makes things pretty easy."

A couple of the rooms I pointed out had one or more of the occupants inside, which pushed Justin into the role of explaining things. They were sent off to find Nina or their roommate.

"Pass me the list," our infected follower said.

"There's only ten on it so far," Justin said.

"I know, but I want to find them and get that cure myself."

Justin nodded in understanding and tore the paper off the notepad. I kept walking and didn't wait for them – I wanted to get this over with.

It didn't take the guy long to return, his scent now tainted by the bitter smell of the cure.

"I told them we're sending people over to them, so they'll wait by the west gate," he said. "You might as well send Anthony off with the names you have, and when he returns, I'll take the next batch."

Justin scratched his head and asked, "What's the rush? It'll be less work if there's more names on one list instead of running around several times."

The man glanced at me, suddenly uneasy, then told Justin, "A steady stream of people will keep those two by the gate."

Realization dawned on Justin's face. "They're scared of Daniel."

"Yeah... I think almost everyone has seen the barn, and they know he killed two people. They really don't want him close by, even if his actions were in self-defense."

"Even though they're handing out the cure?" Justin asked skeptically.

"Unfortunately."

"That makes no sense."

"That's what I told them."

"Ugh," Justin groaned. "Why are zombie apocalypses so frustrating?"

"When you figure out the answer, let me know," I commented. "And if it helps, being a zombie just complicates things even further."

"I bet..." Justin trailed off. "Why don't we keep going? I don't want anyone to start sneezing in the mess hall at dinner. As it is, there's a chance some people were already infected today."

"You can trade with Ironwind for more of the cure closer to the next wave and use cats as an early detection device," I said as we walked down the hallway.

"That's probably the easiest option."

"I agree."

I honestly didn't think I could manage four such trips a year, especially if each one involved even half this much drama and craziness.

~

       "Is that all of them?" Nina asked me as we joined them by the gate.

"They're trying to find the last person," I said, "but she might be out with the hunters. Otherwise, we checked all the rooms."

"If you want to leave the vial and a syringe with me," a nearby woman wearing nursing scrubs said, "I can give them the cure whenever they show up. Go enjoy your dinner. You've earned it."

"Thank you," Nina replied gratefully, digging through her bag of supplies. "Here's five vials of the cure and three of the sanity serum, just in case others show up."