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

Chapter 49

The staff in the kitchen had grown accustomed to my presence in the far corner. The odd breaks in conversation had almost entirely disappeared as they got better at avoiding anything leading to the subject of zombies.

It was like every other morning in the kitchen. A couple of people said good morning, one asked how I was doing this fine day, but other than that, they just talked amongst themselves.

Some of it was uninteresting gossip about who was courting whom and which fields the cattle were being moved to. Other topics weren't as tedious, such as the possibility of a group of traders coming in a couple of weeks, as well as that a messenger pigeon had arrived with news that another Stronghold was currently experiencing an outbreak of mumps and had asked Ironwind's traders not to come until it was under control.

The boring conversations made time pass slowly. Once lunchtime came, I joined Nicky at the corner table. I didn't bother grabbing a plate since I wasn't hungry. The sight of Nina and Daniel entering the room had me frowning slightly. I bet Daniel told Nina that I might have torn one of my injuries open. Even he would have been able to tell that there was too much blood for just a cracked scab.

Nina grabbed a plate while Daniel skipped this meal and simply walked beside her. The crowd gave him about as much room as they gave me. As best as I could tell, the general unwritten rule for the humans was to allow at least an arm's length of room between themselves and the resident zombies.

They watched him move through the crowd, but they weren't bothered by his presence. Several spoke with him as he went by. Even more people greeted Nina, and she often paused to talk with them briefly, clearly on good terms with them. Daniel waited patiently during these exchanges, as if used to such delays.

I still hadn't figured out why these two were almost always together, nor had Nicky had any luck in discovering any other details. It was easier to get people to talk about Daniel, although he was usually out on a scouting run or helping someone move something heavy.

Trying to figure out where Nina went was an entirely different headache. People never seemed to know where the slender lady was, just that she was around somewhere. The evasive answers maintained my lingering suspicions.

It took Nina and Daniel some time to work their way across the huge room. Predictably, they sat at our table.

Nina glanced at the empty table in front of me. "Not hungry?"

"I had breakfast, and I snack on berries when Nicky takes me out in the afternoon." I shrugged, pointedly glancing at the empty table in front of Daniel.

She chuckled and took the hint that my behavior wasn't out of the norm for a zombie.

Her gaze moved to my head. "I see the scab fell off."

"My hairbrush caught it the other morning. Thankfully, it didn't bleed."

"That's good. I think I should check the others after lunch and replace the bandages."

This was the first time in several days that she had phrased it more like a strong suggestion instead of asking if I wanted them checked. My eyes trailed over to Daniel suspiciously, and he inclined his head slightly.

"Yes, I let Nina know that one of your scabs cracked open." His voice was – thankfully – far too quiet for anyone else to hear.

I lifted a lip to flash a tooth at him for his actions. "Was that really necessary?"

"She was the only one I told." His eyes took on a redder hue as his instincts reacted to my behavior, although it didn't reflect in his voice.

Nina glanced between us, able to see our lips moving and the warning signs, but not hearing our discussion.