The Virus Within: The Unranked (Book 4)

Ch. 27: Meeting The Runner

The guard kept giving the badger strange looks, but I didn't bother enlightening him. I was going to have enough fun convincing the cooks that it was fit for human consumption.

I leaned through the kitchen's back door, where various cooks were already hard at work, and asked, "Can you use some badger meat for your soup?"

Those near me turned and stared blankly. A woman cutting up vegetables wiped her hands clean and came over. "I won't turn down extra meat. The land here isn't as generous as it is near the mountains."

I held up the skin and let one corner fall down to reveal the meat wrapped inside. "You can have this, but you'll have to bring the soup to a boil to kill any lingering traces of the zombie virus."

The woman paused. "Why would the zombie virus be on it?"

"I'm not exactly raiding the garden for my meals," I dryly replied. "Ironwind welcomes the leftovers from our kills, although it has to be boiled or completely dried into jerky."

"Uh..."

I set the bundle on a nearby counter. "Think about it. Nina can confirm it's safe. If nothing else, you can feed it to the dogs."

Since everyone was gawking at me, I left the room, unwilling to bother convincing them that my kill was edible. If nothing else, I'd enjoyed my meal. Their final decision would probably depend on how desperate they were for food and if they could find a more trusted source to reassure them.

The dilemma was out of my hands, and that was all I cared about. I headed for the cabin, letting my footsteps fall heavy enough for Daniel to hear them. When I opened the door, the scene was similar to the first morning. Daniel was sitting on a bed, Nina was brushing her hair, Logan was in the bathroom, and a mound of blankets was starting to stir.

"Good morning," Daniel greeted me. "How was your evening?"

I shrugged. "It went as it went. If you go hunting, I advise any direction except north. Slim pickings in that direction, although I found the Runner and a bandit camp it ransacked."

Daniel sat up straighter. "You found their camp? The people here weren't sure where they were hiding. Were there any survivors?"

"It was in a ravine to the north. The bones we found and guy near the U-Haul originated from there. One man is unaccounted for, but the rest were caught by zombies or turned."

"I'll let Fred know, just in case more bandits take up residence there," he said.

The blankets on a nearby bed began jostling more rigorously. An arm emerged, then a bedraggled mop of red curls. Nicky blinked into the light owlishly. Several blinks later, she seemed to magically wake up.

"Mornin', Trinity!" she said with far too much energy.

"Uh huh. You look like you're trouble waiting for a place and a time to happen."

"Hey! I'm innocent so far."

"So far? You just woke, and you're still trapped in your bedding."

With a bit more squirming, she got her other arm free and examined the twisted bedding that refused to let her escape. "Sheesh. Did you duct tape me in these or something?"

I snorted faintly. "I'll leave that up to you to figure out." I pulled out the vial and held it up where Nina could see it. "Here. You'll want to wear gloves just in case anything on the outside hasn't completely dried out."

"What is it?" she asked as she pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket. She took the vial and peered at the blood streaks and small clumps of flesh inside the glass.

"Smells like a Runner," Daniel commented, looking at the vial from where he sat. His pupils shrank as he focused on the vial, then returned to normal as his gaze moved to me.

"I'm pretty sure it was a normal Runner, but I figured there was no harm in bringing that back to Nina."

Nicky struggled harder against the blankets. "She comes back from a night outside the fence with zombie flesh in a jar, and you guys think I'm trouble? I'm trapped in blankets, for crying out loud!"

Reaching over, I grabbed a handful of the blankets and hefted them up. They untwisted midair, sending Nicky rolling across the bed in her sleeping clothes.

"Phew, I thought I was a goner. Thanks!" Nicky sat up, her previously blanket-contained energy now unleashed on whatever poor souls happened to be around.

"What are our plans for today?" I asked. "I somehow doubt we're heading back to Ironwind."

"Not yet," Daniel replied. "Someone created those unranked zombies, and we haven't found them or their lab yet, so there could be more around."

"I think we need to check the area to the south," Nina added. "The zombies all seem to have come from that direction. None of the nearby Strongholds have a lab, so I want to run a few more tests before leaving this place."

Nicky stretched. "If you think I'm trouble, just wait until you hear their latest plans for you."

At the ominous warning, I raised an eyebrow at Daniel and Nina.

"We weren't able to find a replacement motor for the centrifuge, and there are a few other pieces of equipment this place is lacking," Daniel said. "Instead of driving all the way back to Ironwind, then having to come back here, I was going to ask if you'd come with me to Spokane."

I gave him an incredulous stare. "Spokane? Unless I'm severely mistaken, that's not a small town. There'll be hundreds of thousands of zombies there."

"It's smaller than Seattle," he countered calmly, "and it had a few medical and diagnostic facilities that should have what we're looking for. It will also let us make sure nothing suspicious is in that direction."

"There's no way we'll get the truck past the city limits. That many zombies will form a blockade," I pointed out, still convinced he hadn't thought this through.

"In this situation, it'll be easier for us to get as close as we can with the truck and go in on foot." He shrugged. "You can stay here if you want, but that leaves you in charge of Nicky."

The redhead gave me a big grin that boded nothing but mischief.

With a sigh, I asked, "What time are we planning on leaving?"

"How about now?"