The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 22

The second it came into range I slashed while easily dodging its slower swipe. He was left with four bloody furrows on his arm. I knew the minor injuries would heal within the week. He backed up with a growl and I snarled again. Like a wary cat, he slowly moved off. I resumed my walk across the clearing and waited in the far trees.

It was Daniel's turn. Having just seen it, he should know what to expect. This was one spot where our instincts didn't need to be curbed, one of the very few situations where we didn't desire to kill. Daniel stalked out of the bushes. I examined his stalk, in some ways it was similar to mine in that it was predatory and graceful, but it was noticeably different from my silent flowing pace. If I was a stealthy mountain lion, then he was a proud wolf.

The Runner was more than ready to challenge someone else after losing. The Runner growled at Daniel and Daniel responded with a snarl as his eyes glowed brightly red for a few seconds.

The Runner dropped the challenge and went a different direction. Daniel rejoined me in the trees, "It didn't come after me like it did you."

I shrugged, "My sunglasses hide my eyes so they challenge me much more often. Did you notice any differences once he turned away?"

Daniel slowly nodded, "Yes, it was as if it was over. I had no further desire to go after him or prove that I ranked above him."

"Try interacting with more Runners if you come across them and you will start to pick up various types of body language. You can also try keeping your eyes brown and they will likely challenge you, then you can really see the difference. But that Runner is likely going to show up at the store before morning, so we are going to have to break a few unwritten rules."

He sighed, obviously not looking forward to what had to be done, "I'll do it. Then I am going hunting. Meet you back at the store."

I nodded as I turned to leave. Halfway back I paused to wash my hands in a puddle and carefully dry them with a tissue.

~

Supper was just being served as Daniel returned. I could smell the scent of rabbit on him. I would head out later tonight to hunt. My mouth watered as I took my plate of pancakes. They had also found the syrup in the bag and the bottle was passed around as we poured the golden stuff on our pancakes.

I managed to eat both of my pancakes. Somehow, Daniel managed to almost eat four. We relaxed around the fire. I had brought more firewood back, so we had plenty until morning. Daniel raised his head and gave a low growl. I glanced at the road, but didn't see anything. I tested the air, but that also came up empty.

Daniel spoke quietly as he enlightened me, "There is a vehicle coming down the road."

He must be able to hear it. I glanced at him, "Should we hide the jerrycans before they get here?"

I didn't even finish the sentence before he ran forward with inhuman speed to jump off of the roof toward the truck. "Catch!"

My reflexes made it easy to catch each jerrycan as it was thrown onto the roof. He quickly scaled the ladder with our bags of extra supplies in his hands. We quickly stashed everything in the one tent. Hank was watching us, "You have the keys?"

Daniel nodded and Hank relaxed. We were all sitting in our chairs when the jeep drove into view. They were coming from the same way we had just come. Daniel's eyes were already brown, as they had been most of the day. He must be accustomed to keeping them that color as he hid what he was. If any of these newcomers were zombies, I was going to kill something. I couldn't handle another short tempered zombie today. I had just started getting along passably well with Daniel.