The Virus Within: Blood Moon (Book 3)

Chapter 16

Five minutes later, I reached the edge of the trees and slowed to a quick walk. Logan, Jess, and Nicky were gathering additional firewood while Nina stirred the contents of a pot over a well-burning fire. Daniel was breaking up some larger pieces of wood, although most of his attention was on the others as he remained vigilant. Farther down the road, a zombie struggled at the end of a rope tethering it to a tree.

"I don't know what your nose told you, but that is not a bird." Nicky regarded the fish unfavorably as she packed an armful of wood back to the fire.

"No, but these were." I lifted the hand carrying the bag of poultry and Logan's quiver.

"Oh, good. We might be able to salvage this meal after all."

I carried the birds over to Nina, who already had a frying pan and knife ready. Nicky dropped her load of wood beside the fire and grabbed the spices to help her.

I held up the fish and asked Daniel. "Want first dibs?"

"I'll pass," he replied dryly.

The tone of his voice, the lack of confusion, and the slight look of disgust made me chuckle. At some point, he had tried fish blood. And, alas, I hadn't been there to watch.

Unaware of the byplay, Logan added his armful of wood to the pile. "I can fillet it if you want."

"It's all yours." The last thing I needed was fish slime on me. The smell from that stuff was almost impossible to wash off.

I held it out to Logan, who took the arrow and fish.

"Daniel, can you split that log in half so I can use it as a cutting board? I don't want to put this guy on the tailgate of the truck, but filleting is much easier on a flat surface."

As Daniel went to see if he could get the log to cooperate, Nina dropped the first few pieces of grouse in the pan. I walked to the truck and deposited the bow and quiver in the back before returning to the fire.

"Where did you find those packages of pasta?" Nina asked as she gave the pot another stir.

"Hidden in one of the abandoned houses around the Stronghold last night."

Nicky finished spicing the pieces of poultry and waited for the fish fillets.

Jess brought a bunch of small sticks over. "How did you catch a fish? Did you shoot it with the bow?"

"Yes."

"We really have to go on another fishing trip one day," she said wistfully, watching Logan deposit the slippery slime-noodle on the piece of wood and pull out his belt knife.

"We can go in a couple of days if you want," Nina said.

"I'd love that." Jess sat down on a section of a tree trunk Daniel must have brought over in lieu of seats.

Nina nodded and turned her attention back to what she was cooking. A few minutes later, Logan brought two long fillets over to her. She cut them into smaller sections, spiced them, and fit half of them into the pan. She laid the rest of the fillets on a clean rock to await their turn.

Daniel picked up the makeshift cutting board with all the scraps on top and carried it to the tree line, where he just tossed it in, log and all. On his way back, he paused and tilted his head as he gazed down the road. Eventually, he resumed his walk to the truck, although there was a certain air of alertness about him.

As he leaned against the front of the truck, he said, "Several vehicles are coming this way."

Despite how many road trips we'd been on, we had only rarely met other travelers, and most of those had been on our original trip to Ironwind Stronghold. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling particularly optimistic at the moment.