The Virus Within: Blood Moon (Book 3)

Chapter 5

A blood moon dominated the sky with its size and coloration, shedding its red light on the world below as if awaiting the blood that would flow when we got our hands on the kidnappers.

The stars twinkled against the dark blue backdrop, stretching as far as the eye could see. No hint of a cloud obstructed my view of the celestial scene as we continued chasing our quarry below.

No one commented on the moon, which was probably a hunter's moon, but there was no way they could have missed it in the sky. 

"That's the second tree that's been chopped up," Daniel said, interrupting the semi-calm state I'd achieved while staring at the moon. "There's got to be a Stronghold somewhere ahead."

The truck began to slow down so I could take over the driving duty.

"There are no known Strongholds on my map," Nina commented. "This road keeps winding through the hills, so there's a chance we won't spot them until the last second."

"I wonder how close we can get without them seeing our headlights or taillights." I jumped down as the truck came to a stop.

The super bright light bars had been turned off earlier, leaving Daniel to rely on just the headlights while I acted as a lookout for larger obstacles farther ahead. It was a pity there wasn't any mud nearby to plaster over the lights.

Daniel opened his door and turned on a flashlight, illuminating the ground as he got out. He pointed inside. "See this switch?"

I jumped down and came over to see what he was pointing at, coming so close our arms almost brushed. My instincts protested strongly against the proximity, and Daniel's were likely reacting in a similar fashion, but we had more pressing priorities at the moment.

The switch on the dash wasn't very obvious, and its wires disappeared into a hole drilled through the plastic. "Is that for those super bright light bars?"

If we bumped into the group, Daniel would need those lights to join the fight. It would completely negate any advantage my sneaking skills gave me, but when it came to raw power and speed, Daniel was a formidable adversary. He was also fully capable of ripping the doors right off the armored vehicles.

He jumped into the back of the truck and held onto one of the roof handles lightly. "No. That disables all possible lights on the truck. The light bar switch is the white one right above the ignition."

I sent a surprised glance at him. There was a feature to turn off all the lights in this truck? This wasn't something Daniel would have ever wanted for himself. There was only one person in the entire Stronghold who might be able to use such a thing to their advantage.

"The mechanics added the modification with you in mind," Nina told me kindly.

I hadn't known such a thing was even possible, and I was strangely touched that they'd done it since I'd only driven the truck once, and that had been yesterday. Reaching over, I flicked the switch. The headlights, dash lights, radio light, and every other conceivable light source turned off. A glance at the back of the truck showed the taillights had also gone out.

It was the perfect feature for a Nightstalker. Judging by how Daniel's grip on the handle increased slightly, it wasn't something he'd ever properly appreciate.

But time was ticking, and Jess and Nicky were possibly at whatever Stronghold might be nearby. I slid into the seat that smelled strongly of the Terror who'd sat there for over twelve hours.

In the rearview mirror, the light from Daniel's flashlight disappeared as he turned it off. I closed the door and moved the seat much farther ahead. Once I could reach the pedals, I took off my sunglasses and put them in the cupholder. With my sight unhampered by the dark lenses or any lights, I put the pickup truck into drive.