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The bathrooms also had showers. We managed to linger in the shower and still beat Nina and Daniel to the dining hall. I hadn't heard any commotion, so I assumed that Daniel hadn't lost his cool. We were halfway done eating when the other two finally made an appearance.

Daniel didn't look like he was in a good mood and the locals gave him a wide berth. Nina ignored his mood as she grabbed a plate. Daniel took a seat across from me instead of in the further seat like he usually did. Drat. This means that he clearly wants to talk with me and chose that seat for some reason.

I took a long drink of water as he took his first bite of scrambled eggs. His eyes never left me. I exhaled in annoyance, "Just get it off your chest without causing a scene."

"Are you sure that they were dead?"

"If someone has no heartbeat and isn't a zombie, then I am safe in saying that they are dead."

He growled faintly at my ambiguous answer, "I want a plain answer. Are all three of them dead?"

Nina wouldn't have known if anything happened to the third man and Daniel was bothered by this lack of knowledge. I let my breath out slowly, "Two are unquestionably dead. I am not sure of the fate of the third."

He narrowed his eyes, "How can you not be sure?"

I huffed lightly, "Because I was escorting these two to safety and he left on a motorbike or dirt bike. There is no way I can catch something like that unless it passes fairly close to me. Considering he left in the dark, he may very well have run afoul of mechanical problems or zombies."

I had also given my word and had not even attempted to go after him. He never had wielded a gun in any of our encounters, so I reluctantly concluded that he may have been more of a follower than a leader and he might finally give up attempting to kill people or zombies now that his friends were gone. That was about the limit of my optimistic side. My pessimistic side recalled the baseball bat he carried the first two times and hoped that a zombie had eaten him.

Daniel grumbled, but turned his attention to his plate and continued eating. It wasn't as if he could do anything about it at this point. We were some of the very first in here to eat, so the lack of a crowd made things easier. It didn't take us long to finish and pack the truck up.

Jim met us at the gate to bid us farewell. I nodded politely while hoping that they never wondered why three men were gone when only one had been seen leaving. It certainly couldn't have been due to a Nightstalker who had been roaming the area outside of the fence...

Daniel drove down the road as our second day began. I dug around in my backpack for something I had found when checking out an abandoned house last night. Anything edible was long gone, but there were all sorts of other odds and ends that people hadn't cared about when looting it.

I spoke to Nicky, "You wondered where your gift was last night? Catch."

Her eyes lit up even before she had any clue what I had managed to locate in my backpack. I gently tossed the item to her. A grin spread across her face as she caught the rubik's cube, "Thanks!"

I figured it was a safe gift to help pass the time. I had rummaged around a few rooms looking for something appropriate. Nicky rolled it around in her hands a few times before twisting the orderly colors into a jumble. If Nicky could pass hours simply coloring, then she should be able to also pass hours playing with this. Or that was my hope at any rate. It seemed to be working.

In the end, it kept her busy for four hours until we reached the next Stronghold on our list. Nina greeted the woman at the gate, "Good morning. We are from Ironwind Stronghold. You probably know that the third wave is approaching and we have come to give some tips as well as check for anyone who might be infected."

The woman looked dubious, "We know it is coming and we already have the suggested face masks ready. I have never heard of anything that could tell if someone was infected."

Great. I guess I should have known that Nina wouldn't just stop at places that had expressly invited us when she could stop at all places we could possibly find. I just hadn't expected to come across such a place so early in our trip.

Nina gestured toward Daniel, "Daniel is a sane zombie and his sense of smell can pick it up this close to the turning point. We have a cure as well as a serum that will let them stay in control if they decided they want to be a zombie."

The woman narrowed her eyes in thought, "I seem to recall hearing about a sane zombie at Ironwind now that you mention it. Please come on in." Most Strongholds were hospitable. They were just leery in case those showing up were bandits or troublemakers.

Daniel slowly drove the truck beside her as she walked. I planned to keep a low profile if possible since this place was clearly not expecting us to appear. They didn't recognize Daniel or Nina either. I noticed that Daniel's eyes were a dull red as he let them see that he really was a zombie. It was almost odd to see him with red eyes.

The woman was talking with Nina, "How long do you plan on staying?"

Nina shrugged, "Just long enough to give some people a basic rundown on what to do during the third wave and to get a quick tour to check for anyone infected. Hopefully no more than an hour."

The woman relaxed and nodded before pointing, "You can park right there."

Daniel parked the truck and we all got out. The woman was already sending someone off to find a group of people to listen to Nina's speech. She turned back to us, "You mentioned a tour is the best way to find anyone infected?"

Daniel nodded courteously, "Yes, if I pick up the scent then we can track it down to an individual."

The woman looked a bit surprised that Daniel sounded so human. She must have never met a sane zombie before, although considering that most sane zombies avoided humans, it wasn't really a surprise. She started to lead us on a tour.

About halfway through Daniel paused, "Can we go in this direction? Someone is infected."

I had noted the smell even as we started the tour and Daniel had probably also noticed it, but this was the first time we had come across a direct scent trail. It seemed like Daniel and Nina were content to let me remain an unknown entity. That was just fine by me.

Daniel kept indicating directions as he tracked the scent. We eventually found the man in the garden. Nina broke the news to him and gave him the options.

A minute later he had been given the cure. Daniel turned back to the woman, "I think he was the only one, but may we continue in the tour?"

She nodded, "Certainly." She seemed impressed by what she had seen. I couldn't figure out why they were so trusting of strangers who came in and randomly injected a guy with some liquid.

She took the lead once more, pointing out buildings to keep the conversation going with Nina. Daniel glanced at me and spoke very quietly, "That is the only one I smell. Are there any others?"

I murmured a reply, "He was the only one."

Daniel relaxed a bit and looked around until the tour ended. "Thank you. I didn't pick up any other scents, so if your friends over there want to hear Nina's explanation, then she will leave a few vials of the cure and we will be on our way."

The waiting group was waved over by the woman and Nina went through her usual speech about the fine details of the airborne virus. She also went over the cure and the controlex drug as well as where Ironwind was in case they ended up needing more. I was probably going to hear that well-rehearsed speech so many times by the time this trip was done that I would be hearing it in my sleep.

They thanked her and one even gave her a small basket of fruit. Nina managed to pry herself away from their gratefulness after a few minutes. Nicky and I were already sitting in the back of the truck watching with amusement. Having a cure was a huge milestone for these people and I was pretty sure that Nina would be welcomed with open arms at any point in the future.

Nina eventually made her getaway and got in the truck. Once she was inside, Daniel also got in and we slowly headed toward the gate to start driving toward our next stop.