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

Chapter 26

I risked a quick glance to the side to ensure Daniel wasn't going to become an issue. He stood in front of the humans in a defensive fighting crouch. Good, because even a Terror can't win against three Nightstalkers, even if he doesn't know about the third one yet.

Kelly took advantage of my second-long distraction and grabbed both of my wrists in her hands. I twisted to the side and brought up my knee to knock her off me. Pushed off balance, she fell to the side with a thud that jarred her sunglasses loose. She hissed in pain as light hit her unprotected eyes. I immediately let go and got to my knees as she tucked her head into the crook of her arm.

"Sorry." I quickly grabbed her glasses off the grass. "Here you go."

She held out her hand, and I handed her the sunglasses. She swiftly put them on and shook her head slightly, probably trying to blink her eyes clear. Even though she had closed her eyes and protected them as best she could, they would be watering fiercely. It'd take a couple of hours for them to recover, and they'd be sore in the meantime.

I heard faint footsteps coming up behind me and recognized them as her brother's. Murmuring came from the group up the road as the third Nightstalker made his presence known.

I remained kneeling beside Kelly as Travis crouched down beside her.

"You okay?" he asked.

Kelly exhaled gustily. "That hurt like hell, but it happens."

Both Travis and I nodded. All of us had experienced the unfortunate scenario of our sunglasses getting knocked off at one point or another. At night, we didn't bother wearing them, so those wrestling matches could get really interesting.

I tilted my head at the two. "I'm quite surprised to see you here, although it's nice to meet up again. I haven't found much in the way of friendly company since you guys left."

"We were also quite surprised when we picked up your scent," Travis said. "Shortly after you drove by, we came to the road and saw the truck parked here."

Kelly glanced back at the group who was gawking at us. "Well, I think we managed to scare the crap out of them with that little bit of wrestling. I bet they thought it was an all-out deathmatch."

I chuckled. "Very likely."

"I'm surprised to see you traveling with a bunch of humans," Kelly commented.

With a faint grimace, I replied, "To make a very long story short, I came across two defenseless adults and a kid trying to reach a Stronghold, and I offered to escort them since they had no chance of surviving otherwise. One thing led to another, and I somehow ended up stuck with this rag-tag group."

"It can't be easy traveling with a Terror, especially in such close proximity. I've never seen one before, but I don't even like being this close."

"It isn't easy, but the fact that you two got so close without him picking up your scent should tell you why I'm still tagging along to help."

"About as good as Chloe's nose, huh? Speaking of that mutt, where is she?"

"Probably ran off into the forest. I'll call her back later. She won't go far."

"She never did like our wrestling matches..."

I held my hand out to Kelly, who took it and let me pull her to her feet.

Travis kept glancing at Daniel uneasily. "And once you reach the Stronghold?"

"They're going to contact a few other places with radio towers and check if Jess is there. Once I get an updated map, I'll keep heading northwest."