The lock on my doorknob popped, and the chain lock on my door twanged as Nicky bumped her head on the suddenly stationary door. I snorted at her blank expression.

"Hey! When did you install a lock?!"

"This morning."

"Why?"

"Guess..."

"Oh! I bet it is to keep the cleaning staff out! Yeah, they bother me too since they always move my pillows. I don't care about the blankets, but I carefully rumple those pillows. The cleaning staff remind me far too much of the nurses in the psychiatric ward when I was in there for a few weeks. Can you unlock the door?"

With a heavy sigh I got up off the bed to unlock the chain. The cleaning staff had asked once if they wanted me to let them clean my room and I had told them no. They said to let them know if I changed my mind and had never inquired since. They had certainly never picked the lock on my door. Only one person ever did that.

Nicky bounded into my room and took her usual seat on the corner of my bed. She reached out and wiped some dust off of the corner of my dresser, "No wonder you have to lock the door to keep the cleaning staff out. Maybe you should consider doing a bit of dusting in here..."

I snorted, "Dust is what gives a home that warm and fuzzy feeling."

The smell of cleaning chemicals had been potent as a human and they were far worse as a zombie. A water dampened rag was about all I would ever use to dust, besides, dusting was at the very bottom of the fun chores list. If I couldn't write my name in it, then it was fine. A light brown dresser just let me put off that dreaded task that much longer.

Nicky chuckled and shook her head, "It is almost time for supper, so I thought I would come find you. Did you hear about Nina's breakthrough."

"No, I didn't. Did she turn Daniel into a frog?"

"I think the frog thing is more along the line of witches, not scientists... So no. He is still running around on two feet with black socks. I haven't forgotten about those shoes or socks either... Oh, if I kissed a frog, do you think it would turn into a prince?!"

Oh boy... What kind of sugar did she get into this time? "For all you know it was a frog prince and you would turn into a frog instead. Then the two of you could rule over the swampy pond together."

"Eww! I don't wanna kiss no frog lips!"

"If you kissed him to turn him into a human prince, then you would still have to kiss his lips while he was a frog the first time..."

"Well I changed my mind. I don't want to be known as the princess who was so desperate for a date that she kissed an amphibian."

"So why exactly are you in my room anyway?"

"Nina is amazed that you let me in here without killing me. Supposedly Nightstalkers are supposed to be quite territorial about their dens. The one that Daniel first met couldn't even stand him coming near the cave entrance. That is why neither of them have ever come to your door."

That explained why they had never bothered me in my room before. "There is a reason for the lock on the door. But that still does not answer my question."

I did wonder which cave that Nightstalker had stayed in. Daniel hadn't known about the one that Luke was currently residing in until I found it, so it must have been a different one. Possibly that really narrow one closer to the border. I could see a Nightstalker preferring to put more space between herself and Daniel if she was a bit on the wilder side.

"Oh yeah. Nina is grabbing me a plate and will meet us on the roof. She thinks she made a vaccine, it doesn't always work though."

I looked at Nicky in surprise, "Seriously?"

She nodded, "Yes, she says she has a lot more testing and tweaking to do though. So those tears you shed certainly did not go to waste. This vaccine prototype did prevent the zombie virus from taking hold in most of the blood samples she tested."

Shit. That is the biggest breakthrough since the zombies first appeared... Impressive, but if this place turns into a roaring hub of activity as people flock here for the vaccine I will not be impressed. I might be joining Luke in that cave.

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms, "And what other news might be kicking around this place that I may have not heard?"

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but I tended to find that a healthy curiosity only managed to kill ignorance. Well, I called it curiosity, everyone else told me that I was just suspicious. They wouldn't even lower their opinion to simply categorize it as being snoopy.

Nicky sighed, "Not much really. Luke is the biggest conversation starter at the moment. None of them have seen a sane Runner before, even though they are supposed to be more common. They are excited. So excited, that I heard someone was looking for help building some sort of special rabbit hutch for Luke and he got over fifty volunteers within half an hour."

I smirked, "I might be guilty for starting that project. I will have to find out when they decided to start building it tomorrow and go lend a hand."

Nicky shook her head, "Nope. Change of plans. They decided to start early and they already have most of the stuff piled up to start it after supper. It was also decided that there will likely be too many people in that tiny area for you. If you want to help keep ferals at bay, go for it, or you can go keep Luke company."

I huffed as she dismissively tossed my original plan right out the window, but she was probably correct. I wasn't sure how that many people could build a small shed without tripping over one another or whacking one another with a hammer by accident.

Nicky continued talking, "Rumor about Louise slipping you that controlex drug is starting to circulate. Let's just say they are right pissed at her right now. If she returns, she is not going to have a warm welcome unless it involves fire. I honestly don't think she is stupid enough to return. If she has any working brain cells, then she will keep running and not stop."

I didn't reply to that since I was pretty sure that she wouldn't get out of this place alive if she made the mistake of returning. Nicky stretched and yawned, "Nina sent out letters to quite a few places looking for Luke's brother. Those places are going to push it further afield as well. There can only be so many John McComfry's out there who have a brother called Luke."

"That will be something that Luke will be happy to hear." I glanced out my window and saw Nina and Daniel approaching the building with plates, "And there is Nina and Daniel."

Nicky tilted her head, "Well, we should head to the roof then. I'm hungry. Besides, I have no idea which idiot designed those staircases, but having to go down to the main floor before we can go to the roof is just plain stupid. Even kids can design treehouses better than that! If we ever meet that guy, I can suggest a few prescription drugs that will probably help him more than they ever helped me."

At least someone had the same opinion of how the stairs were arranged. Nicky got to her feet and headed for the door, "If we hurry, we can beat them to the top and grab the best chairs."

I raised an eyebrow as I started to follow her, "We have sat in the exact same chairs ever since we arrived."

"That is completely beside the point. Daniel might do it just to get revenge."

My eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Why would Daniel want revenge?"

"No reason." Her response was far too fast and her tone was too falsely innocent for me to even contemplate the possibility of her innocence.

I snorted as I closed the door behind me, "I am sure I will find out soon enough."

Nicky chuckled as she descended the stairs, "If I was scared for my life I would have locked myself in your room and raided your backpack for munchies. I know you pack them just for me anyway."

I shook my head as I followed her. It didn't surprise me that she had noticed that, but she liked to snack and when she was hungry she tended to get grouchy. We reached the main floor before Nina and Daniel did. Nicky didn't bother to wait for them as she headed for the stairs that led to the roof.

I commented, "One day you are going to underestimate him. He is a zombie and sometimes the strangest things can make us snap at someone. You really do have to be careful about how far you push a zombie."

Nicky sent an incredulous look over her shoulder, "We are referring to Daniel, right? In theory, he is a Terror, but he sure doesn't act like it around humans. You don't have to worry though, I wouldn't pester any other zombie like this. I avoid him if he starts getting worked up since he gets more unpredictable then."

We reached the roof and Nicky flopped into her favorite blue chair. I rolled my eyes before taking my customary green chair. I glanced over as the door opened, but as I expected, it was only Nina and Daniel. Daniel didn't look overly upset, so he either had not stumbled across whatever Nicky had done or it hadn't annoyed him too much.

Daniel's eyes skipped over me as he focused on Nicky, "So why exactly do you say that I don't act like a zombie?"

Shit, I hadn't realized that his hearing was quite that good. We had been near the top of the three flights of stairs and they had been in the main hallway as they approached the door that led to the staircase when Nicky had said that. Nicky hadn't been whispering though, and noise did tend to carry down staircases, so I really shouldn't be too surprised.

Nicky smirked at him, "Tell me, which of your actions are things that a zombie would do? What makes a zombie different from a human?"

Daniel blinked in confusion at Nicky's counter question, "I have yet to hear a human growl or snarl." He didn't seem like he knew exactly how to answer Nicky's question. Nina was listening with rapt attention.

Nicky rolled her eyes, "I can give you credit for some of those snarls, but you obviously haven't gone to enough anger management sessions if you have never heard someone growl before."

Daniel narrowed his eyes slightly, but didn't comment. I watched with growing amusement as he didn't seem to have an answer to her question. Nina realized it too and joined their conversation, "So what makes you consider Trinity as a zombie?"

Nicky sent an incredulous look toward me as Nina asked her question, "Am I blind? Why do people not see the things that I see?"

I tilted my head as I pretended to consider it, "Well, Daniel still hasn't figured out the soap thing yet and Nina hangs around him most of the time. People here are accustomed to Daniel. Perhaps it is just because you are quite observant and you met me first."

Nicky sighed and shook her head, "That must be it. By the way, you sound far too much like my one counselor with that answer that didn't really answer my question."

I simply smirked at her response and she snickered, "And that look is one that none of my counselors or therapists ever gave me." Nicky turned to Daniel with a slight frown, "You don't seem as annoyed as I expected you to be. I may not have the suspicious instincts that Trinity has, but it still has some alarm bells ringing."

Nina grinned silently as Daniel bared his teeth in mild amusement. I raised an eyebrow in surprise at that expression, I had never seen Daniel do that before. It was more of a zombie action than anything else. Daniel didn't notice my reaction since he was focused on Nicky, "I was at first, but I already got my revenge. You just haven't realized it yet."

Nicky looked shocked, "Huh? What did you do?"

Daniel simply responded, "You will find out."

Considering that subterfuge and subtlety was not Daniel's style, I suspected that Nina had a hand in this one. She must have noticed that the unknown got under Nicky's skin far more than snarling at her ever did.

Nicky whined, "That is not fair! You can't leave me hanging like that! What did you do?"

Daniel snorted, "You painted my door neon yellow and put a big pink bow on it. So letting you ponder on what I did seems more than fair."

"Why are you blaming me for it?!"

He gave her a disbelieving look, "My nose may not be as good as Trinity's, but I can still easily pick a scent off of an object and you were the only one to handle that pink bow recently."

Nicky lifted her chin, "Did you ever consider that someone might have worn gloves?"

"Four people saw you doing it."

"Drat."

I shook my head. We hadn't even been back for an entire day yet and they were getting on one another's nerves. Leave it to Nicky to annoy Daniel before I managed it. That was quite an achievement considering that I had the upper hand in that department.

I decided to change the topic before it got too out of hand and focused on Nina, "What is this I hear about a potential vaccine?"

Nina perked up, "We came across a very good lead for a vaccine. We manufactured it from some of the enzymes we found in your tears. I have more tests that should finish tonight and I expect to have more results by tomorrow morning, but we have managed to get it to work in over half of the samples. It is a huge breakthrough."

"Any idea why it only works half of the time?"

"The most effective variant so far is working in about 70% of the cases. Blood type does seem to be playing a hand in rendering the vaccine ineffective. I hope we can alter it so it is more reliable, but this is still a huge milestone."

I was curious, "Can the vaccine also reverse the zombie virus if someone is infected with that three month airborne virus? I have been keeping tabs on the scents, but I still haven't picked up the smell of someone infected and the next wave should start in two weeks. The odds of no one here being infected are quite low, so the fact that I haven't found anyone is making me uneasy."

Nina shook her head, "Actually I will be surprised if anyone here is infected. We were here during the second wave and took proper precautions. The only two who started sneezing were wearing face masks and were promptly isolated."

I tentatively inquired, "What happened to them?"

Her expression turned sad, "They turned into mindless zombies because we hadn't developed anything yet. Their presence saddened everyone so we eventually tied them up in a canoe and sent them downstream."

I was silent. Nina shook her head, "But that is in the past, now we at least have a fighting chance."

The three started eating their supper silently, lost in thought. Nina and Daniel were probably contemplating the upcoming wave and the research at hand. Nicky kept glancing at Daniel and was likely trying to imagine what he might have done in the name of revenge.

Considering Nina had clearly helped Daniel, I suspected that it would be something out of the ordinary.