The Virus Within: Third Wave (Book 2)

Chapter 62

"Finally," I said as we finally reached the next Stronghold.

"Now make sure you don't tell anyone about the cough syrup or that you were sneezing," Nicky told Liz.

"Okay."

The bottle of cough syrup had come from a house I'd rummaged through while they ate lunch. It should make this stop easier for us. Kevin had stopped sneezing without the aid of the medication – the cure had finally completed its task.

Since no one was wearing a mask, it might not even be that hard to convince this place to let us in. The sentries must have spotted us from a distance, since a group was waiting outside the gate.

As we got closer, I noticed the fence was oddly short compared to every other place I'd seen. My inspection of their fence quickly shifted to the sentries, four of which had some sort of rifle, which was typical.

My attention moved to the welcoming committee. Several carried bows, although they were relaxed as they waited patiently for us to stop beside them. Several sets of eyes widened when they got a better look at our driver.

"Hello," Daniel greeted them cordially. "We're from Ironwind Stronghold, and if you know of anyone who is sneezing, we're distributing a cure free of charge."

"A cure?" a man asked. His gaze strayed to a regular zombie in the distance, which a horseback rider was luring away. "Does it work on ferals?"

"Unfortunately not. If the person hasn't turned, or if they are sane, then it works." Daniel shrugged. "A feral goes comatose since the human mind isn't present anymore."

The man looked disappointed. "That's a pity since some turned already, but they're feral." He straightened up. "But there are two who are still sneezing in the shacks over there." He pointed to a long wooden structure against the fence I originally assumed was for storing tools.

"Shall we go see them?" Nina asked, her supply bag already stocked and on her lap.

"Please," a woman said earnestly. "If there's a cure, I'd rather not lose any more friends today."

Daniel turned off the truck, although Nina was already getting out. Since it was nearby, I didn't bother moving, and the others also remained seated. Most of the welcoming committee accompanied Daniel and Nina, although some remained near us.

"How was your trip here?" a woman asked, trying to start a conversation like most considerate hosts would.

I don't even know where to start with that question...

"Well, we've made it this far," Nicky said. "Just a couple of bumps in the road and a few gunshots along the way."

That is such an understatement it should be illegal.

"Gunshots?"

"One Stronghold had something against zombies, and another wouldn't even let us in, but many places are scared of zombies, so we kind of expected it to happen at some point."

The woman shook her head. "No one here will shoot a guest." She glanced at the shacks Daniel and Nina had gone into. "Or a sane zombie. At least as long as they aren't trying to harm someone."

The fact that she added two clarifications to her original statement only highlighted the trust issues many Strongholds had around zombies. As if sane zombies didn't quite fit into the same category as guests, or this place would react differently if a human tried to harm someone.

Nicky shrugged. "We've been to eleven other Strongholds so far, cured several hundred people, seen a few we were too late to reach, and ended up dispatching a couple of gunmen who attacked us unprovoked. So I think our track record is pretty good, all things considered."