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

The oppressive silence of the forest clung to Trinity like a second skin, broken only by the soft rustle of leaves under her worn boots. Ahead, a newly discovered road stretched into the inky blackness, a ribbon of faint hope in the desolate landscape. Her red-tinted vision, a constant reminder of the virus coursing through her veins, painted every detail with eerie clarity.

The air was thick with the scent of pine, but her heightened senses pierced through it, cataloging the fainter odors beneath: distant elk, skittish deer, and the unmistakable, lingering traces of a few regular zombies. No human scent, though. And no sign of Jess.

“Only fools and zombies travel at night,” she muttered, her voice a low, rough rumble from disuse. Chloe, the husky, trotted warily behind, maintaining her usual respectful distance. The dog knew, on some instinctual level, that Trinity was different, even if she couldn’t articulate why.

Trinity adjusted the worn straps of her backpack, the familiar weight a small comfort. She refused to consider the worst. Jess was out there, somewhere, probably in a Stronghold. Trinity just had to find it. And her.

The first hint of predawn light began to smudge the eastern horizon, painting the sky in soft, bruised purples. Trinity winced. It was already too bright. She pulled out her modified welding glasses, their dark lenses a necessary shield against the agonizing glare of the sun. “Almost like a vampire,” she thought, a wry, humorless smile touching her lips. “At least I don’t sparkle.”