The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 22

I could see five men crammed into the jeep. I saw one point to our fire and they slowed down as they realized we were here. The jeep pulled up to the store leaving lots of space between the two vehicles. Ben and Hank walked to the edge of the roof. Chloe joined them and barked a few times at the newcomers before Tom called her back.

Someone below called, "Hello! Do you mind if we join you for the night?"

Ben replied, "As long as you don't cause any trouble, you are welcome to spend the night up here."

Thanks Ben. You know nothing about these guys and you happily invite them up like long lost friends. They could have camped out in one of the other stores. Maybe it was just my inner irritable Nightstalker talking. I sniffed the air, their scent was just starting to reach me since there was no breeze and they had just arrived.

Four of the men were in their late thirties or early forties. The other one was in his early twenties. It had been a while since their clothes had been washed or their bodies had encountered soap. I murmured quietly, "I am not picking up any gunpowder or firearms."

Daniel nodded and relaxed a bit. If it came to a melee fight, they would have to be extremely lucky to even hit either of us. Ranged weapons were a problem though. Bows and arrows weren't that common yet, but there were still some guns kicking around. We would recover from most wounds quickly enough, but a headshot wasn't something to even be contemplated.

I had a bullet stop my heart for a while in my early Nightstalker days. I had been slower and weaker than a normal zombie for several days until my heart had healed enough to beat again, but I had still been in control and sane. The two visiting Nightstalkers had told me stories of those who got knocked out by a serious head wound.

Those recovering from such injuries had huge problems with bloodlust. Many who had been in control ended up attacking any human companions when they came to after a serious head injury. Even in play or when wrestling with the other Nightstalkers, we had never targeted the head or neck. It simply wasn't done.

I watched as the five men climbed up the ladder. They were a rather rough and tough looking group. The two groups eyed each other up as they slowly approached the firepit. The one burly man spoke, "Thanks for letting us join you. We can share a bit of grub if you don't mind us using your fire."

Ben shrugged, "The fire is already burning, feel free to use it. We already ate."

They sat on one side of the fire together. I watched them subtly from behind my sunglasses. Three had big hunting knives on their belts, but they were otherwise unarmed. They opened several cans of soup and started heating them in our borrowed pot.

The one man was sitting not far from Ben and reached over to shake hands with him, "I'm Frank, this is Kal, Joel, Justin, and Eddy. Where are you guys headed?"

Ben replied, "We are heading to Ironwind Stronghold. Where are you going?"

The man sighed, "To any other Stronghold still standing. We are the only survivors from the Crooked River Stronghold. It was overrun last week. Mind if we join you on your trip? None of us has traveled and we have no clue where the other Strongholds are."

Ben shrugged, "I don't see why not. This place is still three days away though."

Frank nodded in relief, "Thank you."

I gritted my teeth, more humans? My mood was going downhill. This was turning into a bloody circus faster than I could turn around. I had offered to guide two adults and two kids to safety. Now I had to deal with 13 humans and a Terror. If I start running at sunset, I wonder how far can I get before Daniel catches up to me?

I stewed quietly without letting the others realize it. I was pretty sure that Daniel could smell my irritation since the smell of it was almost rolling off of me. His brown eyes occasionally flickered toward me as the sky darkened. Tom and Marissa stood up, "Come on kids, let's head to bed."

The four of them entered the tent with our supplies. Before too long Ben stood up and stretched, "You can use the other tent if you want."

Frank thanked him. Ben and Hank headed into the first tent to get some shut eye. I really didn't want to enter a tent full of smelly sleeping humans just yet, so I decided to stay up a bit later. Nina shifted in her seat before looking at Daniel, "I have to use the washroom, can you escort me down in case I cross paths with a zombie or a snake?"

He nodded and stood up. Nicky also jumped to her feet, "I need to use the washroom too, glad someone else is braving the ground in the dark."

Daniel pulled out his new flashlight and quickly climbed down the ladder before shining the light up so the others could see the rungs. That left me alone with our five guests. Great.