The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 6: Into The Gates of Graydon Stronghold

Once the female in dirty, tattered clothing spotted me, she snarled and redoubled her efforts. I bit back a growl and sped up as I veered toward the river. The shoulder-high riverbank was too steep for her to easily climb out.

My silent footsteps were a stark contrast to the Runner careening through the underbrush behind me. My instincts itched at the back of my mind, insulted that we were running from the lower-ranking Runner.

The smell of water grew stronger. When I reached the river, I darted along the embankment, glancing back until my pursuer was also close to the edge. I slid to a stop and turned around with an affronted snarl, informing the Runner where her place in the hierarchy was.

She slowed down but continued to edge closer with a challenging growl, not quite believing me since my sunglasses hid my eyes and I had previously run away. I poised my hands for First Strike. She mirrored my actions and charged forward. Instead of playing by the rules and slashing her arm to prove I was faster, I skipped to the side and aimed a kick at her ribs. She stumbled off the edge and tumbled toward the shallow river.

With a disdainful snort, I turned and walked away. As I made my way back, I wondered if the two strange zombies were going to be as easy to deal with.

~

"There's the Stronghold," Daniel commented.

I leaned back to see around the truck cab. From a distance, it looked like most Strongholds. The chain-link fence was tall and didn't hinder the zombies' sight, lest they try climbing over the obstacle. Wooden guard towers stood beside each gate; the guards mostly carried crossbows, although two had a rifle or musket. There was also some sort of cannon or oversized potato gun attached to the guard post.

"Finally!" Nicky said. "I am so tired of sitting. I forgot how boring road trips were."

"Boring is better than the alternative," I muttered. I took a deep breath. "There's definitely some sort of strange zombie around here, but it doesn't smell like the one in the barn."

Nina turned around with a concerned expression. "Just in case we are dealing with something infectious, please wear your mask and gloves when we go near it. It shouldn't take me long to determine if it's contagious, but I don't want to take any chances."

"Once we're closer, I might be able to smell if it's sick. I can smell illness in animals and humans, although a zombie might be different."

"We can make some plans once we see it. I'll still want to check a blood sample for any illness or disease. We've never found a sick zombie before, but considering zombies are already infected with the zombie virus, their scent might not change as much as we assume."

I shrugged. "Fine with me." It wasn't like I was going to be doing much until Daniel needed help tracking down the second zombie.

"Are those goats hitched to that wagon?" Nicky asked, craning her neck.

Sure enough, there were two big goats pulling a tiny wagon with lumber piled on it.

"There's a dog team by the trees pulling a log back," Daniel said. "I hope our presence doesn't cause them too many problems."

"If you're trying to think of reasons for me to spend most of my time outside the Stronghold, I really don't need excuses," I murmured, already eyeing up the fence, which had large sheets of tin at the top to prevent zombies from climbing over.

We slowed down as we got closer to the gate and the two men waiting to welcome us.

"Hello, are you Daniel and Nina?" an older balding man asked.