The Fox, the Hound and the Virus

The Pack

—

Chapter Five

The Pack

—

The booming unnatural sound of a hound echoed through the valley with the force of a gong.

Zoe yelped in pain as she was startled awake. She made to sit up and nearly split her head open on the undercarriage of the truck. Cursing up a storm, she dragged herself out from her sleeping place. Utterly discombobulated, she rubbed at her throbbing head as her eyes tried to focus. Lamps flickered to life, momentarily dazzling her. The camp was already moving, sharp words splitting the call of the night.

'What the fuck was that?!' Trudy barked.

Zoe already knew the answer. She was on her feet in an instant. 'It's the infected, they're here.' As she turned back to the truck, ice flooded thick and sharp through her blood. There was a very obvious absence.

'Will?' Her brother wasn't there. 'Will?!' she shrieked. A hand came down on her shoulder and she ripped herself free. 'Don't touch me!'

Rob held up his hands. 'I'm sorry, we'll look for your brother, but we have to move. It'll be safer if you stay here,' he explained quickly, his face and scent oddly calm for a human facing down a nightmare. Even as he spoke, Zoe was already shoving her feet into her shoes. Another howl went up, spooking the birds from their sleeping places and the bats from their perches. The wind seemed to howl back, roaring in Zoe's ears, and whispering the smell of danger.

'Like hell I'm staying here! My brother is out there,' she snarled, her expression fox-like.

'We ain't got time for this girlie,' Josh grunted. The whole team seemed bizarrely unbothered. There was determination on their faces. That and acceptance. Zoe watched with wide eyes as Josh reached into the back of the truck and pulled out a gun. Sort of.

'What the fuck is that?' Zoe barked.

'It's a tranquiliser gun. A really, really big one. You never asked us why we were out here. Truth is the scientists want fresh test subjects to make a better vaccine. That's where we come in.'

Zoe blinked. 'Are you people batshit crazy?!'

'It's best if you stay here. If your brother is alive, then we'll find him,' Rob replied calmly.

'Poor bastard was probably nabbed when he wandered off to take a piss,' Peter muttered as he checked the ammunition in his gun. Every gun here had a silencer on the end of the barrel. It wouldn't completely mute the guns, but it would help muffle the otherwise ear shattering noise that might attract more infected.

Zoe shot him a nasty look. 'He's not dead,' she spat. Nobody answered her. They were all locking down the trucks, checking gear and tightening buckles.

'We were supposed to be better prepared than this, boss. I thought we agreed not to hunt at night,' Ash said as she clipped a torch to her own firearm.

'We were supposed to have a bigger lead then this. Never known a pack of infected to make a beeline path with so much speed,' Peter growled, shooting Zoe a suspicious glare.

'Umm, excuse me, we tried to warn you!' Zoe snapped impatiently. No one bothered to answer her.

'It'll be a tough hunt but nothing we haven't faced before. Buddy up, you know the drill,' Rob instructed calmly. Zoe hissed and turned on her heel. To hell with this.

'Where the hells do you think you're going girlie?' Josh yelled.

'To find my brother. You idiots can do what you want.'