The Virus Within: The Road Ahead (Book 1 - SERIES COMPLETED!)

Chapter 8

Eventually, Nicky managed to locate my hiding place. She passed the flashlight to Liz, who sat on a box and waited for me to come down while Nicky went to tell the others that they had found me.

Without any reason to come back down, I remained up there for several hours. Liz patiently – and silently – continued waiting while coloring in a kid's picture book.

When I finally slid down the pipes, Liz left her book and came over. She took my hand and gently pulled me to where the others sat. I still wasn't in the mood for company, but that wasn't exactly earth-shattering news for me.

I sat down in my usual place, and this time, Liz crawled into my lap.

Ben's ego was overinflated from our last encounter, and he was clearly bored. "I'm amazed you didn't fall out of the rafters while wearing those sunglasses. You don't need to hide behind them. I'll like you just as much without them."

This guy is getting on my nerves. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't in the mood to put up with his horrible attempts at flirting right now.

I glanced down at Liz and pointed to a pencil beside her. "Can I borrow this?"

She smiled sweetly at me. "Sure."

"Thanks."

In a lightning-fast move, I grabbed it and threw it like a miniature javelin without even looking up. I watched them out of the corner of my eye as I slowly turned to face them.

Ben stared at the pencil that had lodged itself in the drywall beside him. Hank tensed up, holding a knife he had found somewhere in the store earlier. Nicky had her hand on her sword hilt but waited to see if she needed to intervene.

Ben turned his head to look at me. "You missed." He was trying for bravado, but his voice was shaking. He also reeked of sudden fear.

"There is a line drawn on the wall, and I aimed for that. My temper also has a short line, and you're about that close to crossing it, buddy." The edge to my voice should relay my warning.

Ben and Hank took a second look at the pencil and realized that someone had drawn on the wall with a pen. The pencil was barely touching the line, but it had still hit it. It was an insanely lucky shot – one that I normally could have never managed regardless of how hard I tried.

Neither of the men spoke. Nicky was watching me closely with some emotion I couldn't identify. Tom and Marissa shifted uneasily at the display of my temper.

Liz frowned at her pencil, oblivious to the tension in the air. "There were more pencils on the shelf. I'll go get them."

She slid out of my lap and trotted off down an aisle. Hank let go of his knife but continued to regard me silently. Ben frowned, although he wisely didn't say anything. Perhaps he was finally gaining some small speck of wisdom. I'm not holding my breath while waiting for that to occur.

Liz came back with a package of pencils and reclaimed her seat in my lap. She tried to pull the box lid open.

"Ouch."

I closed my eyes as the scent of her blood hit my senses with a shock that reminded me of being ambushed with a bucket of ice water. The virus in my blood surged and tried to force me to attack the child in my lap.

It took me a few seconds to ensure that I had my bloodlust mostly under control. When I opened my eyes, Liz was examining a paper cut on her finger, where a drop of blood was seeping out. Thankfully, it wasn't deep or bleeding a lot.

It took a conscious effort to remain in control with the zombie virus influencing me. To my surprise, Liz wasn't crying; instead, she was inspecting the growing drops of blood with an interest that bordered on fascination.