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

Chapter 81

I meandered back to the road to wait.

~

       I opened my eyes as the distant rumble of vehicles reached my ears. I gazed at the empty road, which disappeared behind the trees in a gradual bend. My nostrils flared as I scoured the air for any hint of scent, but the wind wasn't in my favor, particularly with moving vehicles.

I slid forward so I was leaning against the hood of the side-by-side instead of sitting on it. My eyes never left the road as I waited impatiently for them to arrive.

Then, finally, a truck drove into view, followed by three vans and another truck. The truck in front was one from Ironwind, complete with five people who usually went out all day to scour empty stores for supplies we might need. The sixth passenger was my sister.

She was engaged in an animated discussion with the people around her. Other than having her hair cut to her shoulders, she looked exactly the same as when I had last seen her ten months ago.

One of the men sitting beside her pointed in my direction. She sat up straighter and stared at me as the truck drove down the road. My time sitting here had settled my mind into an expectant calm, but from the raw longing on Jess's face, she was barely keeping it together.

The truck slowed down and veered onto the grass in the ditch. The other vehicles stopped on the road. I wasn't fond of the observers, but my focus was on my sister.

As soon as the truck came to a stop in front of me, Jess slid over the side and took an eager step forward before hesitating and glancing back at the others. Someone must have warned her about how growly I got if people didn't respect my personal space. Screw that. I'll make an exception. She can learn the rules later.

"Where's my hug?" I demanded, standing up. "I didn't spend the last seven and a half months walking thousands of miles searching for you for this sort of greeting."

Bursting into tears, she ran forward with outstretched arms. I was afraid of that... Stuffing my instincts as far down as possible, I took several steps forward, also holding my arms out. She careened into me hard enough I had to take a step back to keep my balance.

She buried her face in my shoulder as she squeezed me in a hug. "I missed you so badly! I can't believe we're finally together again!"

"I missed you too, Jess." Her scent matched the one on the scarf, but having her arms wrapped around my back had my hackles rising.

She hugged me tighter as the salty tang of her tears grew stronger. The zombie virus kept my eyes dry, preventing tears from emotions. Only light was powerful enough to bring tears to a Nightstalker's eyes.

"Alright, get off me. You had your hug."

She laughed shakily and backed up a step. "You haven't changed at all."

"I've changed more than you have, but you'll figure that out as we go." I smirked up at my little sister, who had the audacity of being six inches taller than me.

"I look forward to it." She glanced around, then asked, "What are you doing all the way out here? Not that I'm complaining about seeing you earlier."

"Nightstalkers don't get along well with staring crowds, so some smart individual had the foresight to send me out here for a quieter reunion."

From how the woman and man sitting inside the cab of the truck grinned at each other, one of them was likely responsible for the brainwave and now had their rare compliment from me as payment.

"You never got along with crowds..." Jess countered, wiping the happy tears from her eyes.

"Perhaps, but my intolerance has gone up a few notches. Want to ride back with me so you can ask your two million questions?" Had Nina been here, the offer would have stunned the curious scientist. The cantankerous Nightstalker who detested questions had just given an open invitation to be bombarded with the detested things. And Jess had no idea how significant that was.