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

Chapter 24

This could be a long evening if he insisted on blaming the zombies for everything. Nicky glanced at me with a smirk, obviously aware such comments would slowly wear away at my patience. At least this time I wasn't trapped in a grocery store with a group of humans. Our recent five additions kept glancing at Daniel and me; they seemed a bit pale, as if they were waiting for us to blow up and attack the unwitting antagonist.

Ben asked the man, "Do you know if there are any Strongholds around here?"

"Doubt it. You're the first I've seen since I arrived. Not that I've gone far. It isn't exactly easy to hike to the next town with those blasted zombies wandering up and down the highway. Luckily, I've never seen one come this far off the road."

The irony of his statement had most people glancing at Daniel and me, although they didn't enlighten the man. Ben continued talking with him, learning that he had come the same way we had. We also discovered that he blamed each and every one of the world's problems on zombies.

Daniel was ignoring it fairly well, and Nina kept glancing at me to gauge my mood, possibly unsure if she should intervene or not. My mood was slowly edging downhill as the sun approached the horizon, but the man's indirect comments against zombies were nowhere near as annoying as Ben's previous teasing about my sunglasses or a direct insult.

The sun hadn't even set before people began yawning heavily.

Hank stood up and said, "I'm heading to bed. See you in the morning."

Everyone else also seemed to think an early night would be a good idea. They got up and scattered into the edges of the forest for a bathroom break. I was going to have to watch where I stepped if I went out later tonight.

I had already gone to the washroom while collecting wood, so I went inside the cottage and claimed an empty corner. Pulling out my light blanket, I draped it over my lap and watched the others come in.

Those who had claimed rooms went into them, and Chloe managed to sneak into Tom's room before they closed the door. Hank and Ben rolled out their sleeping bags on the kitchen floor. Nicky eyed up our famous snorers before deciding to pick a spot beside me.

Our mystery man went to the cabinets and pulled out some bedding, which he used to make a bed in an empty corner by the door. Nina and Daniel were the last to come inside, and Nina seemed happy to get the couch while Daniel claimed the chair beside it.

As everyone settled in for the night, I laid down and pretended to sleep. My sunglasses allowed me to watch the darkening room inconspicuously.

My instincts shifted in suspicion, although I wasn't sure why. I inhaled slowly and deeply, trying to figure out if anything was out of place. I had carefully checked the outside air before coming in and hadn't scented anything worth noting. There hadn't been any other human scents in the area, nor had I crossed anything unusual in the forest.

The room continued getting darker, and my instincts began stirring as they waited for the sun to completely disappear below the horizon. They remained on edge but gave no indication as to what was bothering them.

Nightstalker instincts were notoriously suspicious, so I wasn't sure if this was another false alarm or not. I took another deep breath, but regretted it when the bloodlust surged higher. It was worse than usual with so many extra people inside and easily diverted my instincts from whatever I'd been trying to focus on.

When I concentrated on ignoring the bloodlust, my instincts remained hyper-vigilant. I gazed around the room and tested the air again, but nothing looked or smelled out of place.

Minutes turned into hours as the humans around me snored and settled into a deeper sleep. I closed my eyes and tried to relax a bit. This night was going to be long enough as it was. It would feel much longer if I was being paranoid.