The Fox, the Hound and the Virus

The Storm

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Chapter Seven

The Storm

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'You've got to be fucking kidding me!'

Will jerked awake with a fox-like yelp. Zoe hissed as she straightened up. He heard her shoulder pop as she gingerly straightened up from hours in the awkward position.

'What's going on?' she grumbled as she rubbed at her shoulder and flexed her fingers to get the blood moving. Will scratched weakly at his face. He felt gritty and achy all over, like he was in desperate need of a shower. He thought of his wonderful hot shower back in his old apartment. Gods he missed that thing.

'No idea,' Will sighed. It was as he peered around that he noticed that the truck had stopped. The engine was rumbling away but they definitely weren't moving. Josh was gone from beside them. They carefully pushed the doors to the truck open and stepped outside. It was a strange afternoon, warm but close with angry purplish clouds above. Will didn't need his inner fox to tell him there was electricity in the air. A storm was coming.

'Are we camping here?' He called out with some uncertainty. The other truck was parked beside them. They were still on the road.

'Yeah, not exactly,' Trudy barked. Frowning, Will walked around to the front of the truck.

'Oh...' he muttered.

The road in front of them had fallen away. Something had happened, maybe a flash flood, maybe a fire had burned hot enough to kill the root systems of the neighbouring trees, but the road had crumbled away leaving a huge gash in the land.

'Can we go around?' Will asked hesitantly. As he spoke, a hot wind ruffled his hair. He felt the closeness of that wind and the damp, sticky heat in the air. There was going to be a nasty thunderstorm later. One that he would really not like to be caught in.

'Surely these tin-cans can go off road?' Zoe grumbled.

Josh snorted. 'Sure, they can, but those old bush roads aren't going to be just a little overgrown. We might end up getting bogged or worse.'

'Well, you aren't about to fly over the gap so what other option do you have?' Zoe snapped.

'Is your sister always this bitchy?'

Zoe sent Will a "answer that and I'll hit you" sort of look. Will chose to keep his mouth shut.

'Well we may have to try. There is a maintenance track not far from here. It might be in better condition than the older dirt roads,' Rob said, his eyes tracing over a map that was in much better condition than the one Will and Zoe owned.

From the depths of the other truck came a deep, angry snarl. The two foxes jumped. Josh laughed in his deep voice. 'I really hate that thing,' Zoe hissed. Will nodded in agreement. He really wanted to leave that thing behind. Unfortunately, Rob and his team seemed pretty determined to keep the infected where it was. They reluctantly climbed back into the truck and settled in for another uncomfortable trip.

If the old highway was in bad condition, the maintenance track was basically non-existent. It was little more than a vaguely suggestive knife cut through the thick brush. The suspension bounced as the tires hit deep potholes or climbed over fallen logs. All the while, the thing inside the other truck seemed to grow more restless. Before long Will could hear it screeching even over the thudding and thumping of their own vehicle.

'I know this is horrible but I kind of wish they'd taken that thing's voice box too,' Zoe moaned as the trapped infected wailed and shrieked. The pitch of it hurt Will's ears. A loud voice inside his own head told him that if he could hear that thing, its pack would hear it too. It was difficult to say but the thudding of noises seemed to be growing louder. The infected didn't apparently like being tossed about in the back of the truck. Despite "having enough steel and Kevlar to weigh down an elephant" the infected seemed to be putting up a good fight. There was muffled yelling. Will was about to turn his head to hear them better when the wheels hit another deep pothole and he was thrown sideways into his sister.