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

Chapter 24

The man's gruff voice replied, "I'll think about it and let you know come morning. I can't believe how this world went to shit after those zombies showed up. Bloody zombies. Wish we could push them all into a giant pit and dump gasoline over 'em before throwing a match in."

I kept a straight face and watched the soup begin to bubble. Daniel had his poker face on as well. I hoped this man declined Ben's offer and decided to remain here, although his expression would be priceless when he discovered he'd traveled with two zombies for days. Who am I fooling? Daniel and I wouldn't be able to avoid growling at something if the truck was that crowded. With our luck, the fool would jump right off the truck to get away from us.

Nicky opened up a bottle of water, and I turned my head as something caught my attention. "Can I see that for a second?"

"Promise me that you won't drink out of it, because I don't want whatever germs you might have. Ben might kill me if I puke on his shoes."

I sighed in exasperation. "I won't drink out of it."

She reluctantly passed it over. I held it up to my nose and took a careful sniff before glancing at the expiration date, which proclaimed the water should be fine.

"It's gone bad. I wouldn't drink that if I were you."

"What? Are you sure?"

Nina furrowed her eyebrows and turned her unopened bottle over to look for the stamp. The others glanced at the bottles beside them and back at me.

"Quite sure. Where did you find that?"

"There are several packages of water bottles inside the house."

It wasn't a brand we had picked up earlier, nor had the water simply gone stale and developed bacteria growth or sat in the sun as the bottle deteriorated – there was some sort of drug in it. Which was odd since I had heard her crack the safety seal on the bottle when she opened it.

I subtly glanced over at our new guest, but he was frowning at his own water bottle in his hands. It looked like all the others.

Daniel opened his water bottle, and the safety seal crackled as it let go. He sniffed it before making a face. He promptly tossed it over his shoulder toward the forest.

He held out his hand to Nina, and she passed hers over to him. He opened it, and likewise, it took a flight after a quick sniff. That was enough for the others to abandon their bottles. I guess if a zombie won't drink it, then you know it's bad for your health.

Nicky shook her head and got up. "I'll go grab our water. We'll have to boil more to have enough for the night. Did you find any water sources while you were out collecting wood?"

"Yes. I'll go fill a couple of buckets."

I grabbed two collapsible buckets from the truck and went back into the trees. The small pond wasn't too far from the house, and the previous homeowners had cut back the trees and underbrush. I took off my socks and shoes before trading my pants for a pair of long shorts in my backpack.

The sand along the shore made me wonder if this was a fixed-up natural pond or a manmade one. Either way, I didn't even get muddy while collecting the clear water.

When I returned, Marissa was mixing something in a pot. I set the water by her and eyed up the empty cans I recognized from our supplies. Tomato soup, diced tomatoes, vegetable soup, beef stew, and alphabet soup had all been combined since we only had a few cans of each type. This was going to be an interesting meal.

In the end, it wasn't bad if you didn't mind tomato-flavored soups. Everyone downed their bowl, and most of the humans went back for seconds.

Our latest guest stopped at one bowl. "Thanks for the meal. Been a long time since I had something that good. Bloody zombies had to wreck it all..."