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

Chapter 15

Nina examined the town from her seat. "How about a race to that truck over there? Or something else?"

The truck was beside the highway at the edge of the town. With a sigh, I glanced at Daniel and tilted my head in a silent question. He nodded and stood up.

I set Liz down. "Go see Marissa for a bit."

With a yawn, she wandered off. I stood up and walked to the edge of the roof, where I smoothly vaulted over the parapet to land lightly on the ground below. Daniel hit the ground a mere second after me. Apparently, heights didn't bother him either. That didn't surprise me.

Footsteps above made me look up as Nina walked to the edge and held up her watch.

"Okay, when I yell 'go', race to that truck. Once you reach it, please stay there. Ready, set, Go!"

I dropped my human facade and pulled my Nightstalker abilities out, reaching speeds that humans couldn't touch. My footsteps echoed around me as I traded my silent stalk for speed. Daniel easily pulled ahead and beat me by a long shot.

His speed wasn't something that could keep up with a vehicle on a good stretch of road, but it would be more than enough to match the pace Hank had been driving so far.

I slowed as I reached the truck, keeping an eye on Daniel since his red eyes showed that his Terror abilities had come out to play.

Nina's voice reached us as she called out, "Can you please lift the front bumper of that truck and consider how long you can hold it for? And also, how hard it was to do so?"

Her easy assumption that I could lift it made me wonder just how strong Daniel was. I glanced over at Daniel, who waved me ahead to have the first attempt. I reached under the bumper and lifted. My muscles strained with the weight, but the front tires came off the ground.

I held it for ten seconds before lowering it back down and backing up, moving well to the side to let Daniel take his turn. There was some tension in the air between us, courtesy of the zombie virus, and I gave him a fair bit of space.

His muscles tensed, but he didn't seem to be straining to lift the front of the truck. After about fifteen seconds, he put it down in a much more controlled fashion than I had. I had already known I wouldn't be able to outrun or outfight a Terror, but having that fact flaunted in front of me was a blow to my rather over-inflated Nightstalker pride. I wasn't used to being outdone – it had never happened since I turned.

"How long do you think you could have held it?" Daniel asked.

"Maybe a couple of minutes. You?"

"Possibly half an hour."

Mine was a bit of an exaggeration to keep my dignity semi-intact, but I suspected that he was restraining himself to avoid showing off. I hated to break it to him, but it was having the opposite effect.

Hiding my envy, I turned to face the motel, where all the humans were now watching.

Nina called out, "I'd also like to compare your hearing abilities. I'm going to call out words one by one, please raise your hand if you can hear it."

"Sunshine."

I raised my hand as Daniel also raised his. Each word was called out more quietly. This time, I decided to keep the true extent of my abilities hidden. Soon enough my hand remained by my side even though I could still hear her.

Daniel raised his hand while he listened intently. Four attempts later – the last three of which I couldn't hear – his hand also remained down. That was interesting. Unless Nina had really dropped her voice those last times, his hearing didn't outstrip mine by as much as I had assumed.