The ride was silent as each was left to their own thoughts. This suited me just fine. My peace and quiet was interrupted as Nicky started picking at the frayed edges of my shoes. I sighed, "Must you do that?"

Her voice was lazy with boredom, "These shoes are looking worse for wear. There must be dozens of shoes left in stores or houses, why don't you get a new pair?"

"These are broken in and comfortable."

"Well, you certainly have the first part right..."

I chuckled despite myself and shook my head. I was due for a new pair, but I was most fussy when it came to shoes. If they didn't allow me to move silently, then they were worse than going barefoot. Most sane zombies actually did go barefoot. The skin of the bottom of our feet was quite tough.

Nina's voice came from inside the truck cab, "And there is Riverbend Stronghold."

And there goes my good mood... Thanks Nina... This place was remote enough that there had been no chance of word reaching them about our coming. Neither Nina nor Daniel had stopped at this location in the past either.

Nicky sat up as we approached. We slowed and Nina greeted the sentries. One went in search of the leader in charge. The man who came didn't offer his name and was quite suspicious of Nina's story. He likely thought we were bandits scoping the place out.

Nina went over all of the fine details of the sneezing and third wave. The leader eventually let us in with reluctance. It didn't fail to escape my attention that both he and six armed men came with us. The leader grudgingly started to take us on a tour and he made sure to avoid anything that resembled a defense.

I took a deep breath and three scents of zombie infection rode on the air. The man refused to comment on the buildings or things we saw. Nina decided to ask the same question that she had at every location, "Does there happen to be a man in his mid-twenties here by the name of John McComfry? His brother Luke is trying to locate him."

The man shook his head, "None here by that name."

I took a discrete sniff, but he spoke the truth, at least as far as he knew. Nina offered the usual masks and cure, which he accepted unenthusiastically and passed to someone else behind him. This guy is practically as grumpy as a Nightstalker, he just lacks the virus.

Daniel took a sniff and pointed, "There is someone in that direction, may we go?"

The leader looked at him with narrowed eyes for almost a full ten seconds before reluctantly nodding, "Fine. These people are under my protection though."

We entered the building and followed the scent to a large back room where the person clearly spent most of their day. I now saw why the leader didn't really want us in here. It was a daycare for kids under the age of six. Daniel sniffed the air and looked around at the whirling group of a dozen children. The leader was watching him closely and the guards were also on edge.

Daniel sighed as he looked at me, "I can't identify which one it is. I know it is a girl, but I would have to get close to figure out which one it is."

The leader swiftly transferred his gaze to me in surprise. He had not been aware that I was a zombie. I turned my gaze so I was clearly looking at the leader, "I suspect that even if I pointed the child out that you either will not believe me or that you will not allow Nina to administer the cure or controlex. May I suggest proof that you are more likely to believe?"

Nina and Daniel looked at me in slight confusion. They had no clue what I was talking about and I had never mentioned anything like this before. The leader judged my faintly irritably expression before slowly nodding, "What do you have in mind?"

I turned to one of the guards, "Go find us a cat. Any cat with a nose will do. I advise picking up a pair of gloves at the same time. Bring it up here, although you might want to keep your distance from Daniel or myself. Cats aren't exactly fond of zombies."

The guard blinked in surprise and disappeared out the door. I turned back to the leader, "Do you want me to approach the children or have the girls pass in front of me? I will not touch them."

The leader exhaled in an irritated huff. He was clearly not happy about having a zombie come near the children. He turned to those babysitting, "Walk the girls in front of her one at a time while we wait for this cat."

I could understand Daniel's inability to determine who the infected one was. This bunch had been all over this room a few thousand times and had been in close contact as well. They really did need to be separated to figure this one out, even with my nose.

Three children were walked in front of me and I shook my head slightly at each. The fourth one was the one we were seeking. I looked at the leader, "She is infected."

He gritted his teeth and stared at me in challenge, "And?"

His loaded question made me turn to growl faintly at him as I flashed a canine tooth at him, "My temper is short and I have been polite so far. Keep a civil tongue in your head unless you are looking for a fight. You can have the final say unless it involves murder."

He narrowed his eyes but did not respond. I suspected that he just realized that two zombies against six guards when only two carried guns was a miscalculation on his part. I turned to walk toward Daniel, "Camouflage those eyes of yours and suppress your instincts as much as you can. Our group is going to wait against the far wall."

I turned back to the leader, "Have the girls lined up against the opposite wall. Then have the guard pass in front of the line with the cat."

The leader frowned, but nodded at the babysitters. We had barely lined up against the walls when the guard came back. The gray female in his arms was happily purring with the attention and petting the guard was giving her.

The leader called him to his side, "Walk in front of the children. We will see if the cat predicts the same thing that the zombie did."

I hate to break it to you buddy, but I am predicting that you are all about to get a surprise. I watched in motionless silence as the man walked just out of reach of the children and their caretakers. The cat seemed oblivious to the children.

Then he got close to the end of the row. The cat whipped around in the man's arm and hissed fiercely at the infected girl before clawing her way out of the man's grip. The guard yelled in surprised pain as his arms were shredded by twenty fully extended claws in the cat's escape attempt. The cat was a gray streak as it disappeared out the door full tilt. Cats did not do well if a zombie snuck up on them and this one hadn't been paying attention so its reaction was a bit more extreme than I expected.

The guard winced as he inspected the deep claw marks. The leader closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. He opened up his eyes and I saw most of his suspicious walls had come down as he had solid proof that we had spoken the truth. His face was that of a leader when a child in his holding was dying. Children were dear and fiercely protected in this new age. To lose one was a tragedy.

He walked slowly up to me. As per usual, I didn't even come up to his shoulders. I kept my normal expression on as he approached. I growled a faint warning when he started to enter my personal space and he stopped.

He stared at my face with a somewhat desperate expression for some time before finally speaking, "What can we do?"

Why the hell was he asking me? I responded in a level voice as I fought to maintain my patience, "Nina already went over the options. We do have a cure or we can offer the controlex. I personally suggest the cure since any zombie children I have ever encountered were feral and hell on wheels to deal with."

He nodded slowly, "Then we will take the cure."

I glanced toward Nina, "She is carrying the cure. Do you want to do it here and just let the children carry on with whatever they are doing, or do you want to leave the room for the injection?"

"Which is the best?" His near hostile manner had vanished and he was completely relying upon our knowledge. This new attitude was easier to deal with and didn't chafe against my instincts so badly.

I shrugged, "Personal preference. It completely cures within six hours. In my shoes, I would just pull her into the hall so the other children don't see it and send her right back in to keep playing. Just don't let her kiss anyone today. The airborne strain shouldn't be contagious until the point when the sneezing starts, but no sense in taking chances."

He nodded, "Then we shall do that." He motioned the woman with the child toward the hallway door. We all went into the hall and Nina wasted no time readying a syringe. She politely asked the leader, "May I approach the child?"

He nodded and she managed the injection without the child even knowing when it happened. The child had been too busy staring at Daniel's red eyes in curiosity. I suspected that Daniel had used his eyes as a distraction before.

The leader sighed in relief once it was over as he looked at me, "Thank you."

I shrugged, "It is why we are going to each Stronghold within a certain radius of Ironwind. Now why don't we go track down the other two infected adults that I smelled as soon as we entered?"

He blinked in surprise, "There are two more infected?"

I snorted and replied dryly, "We can always have a cat double check for us if you like."

To my surprise, the leader started chuckling, "I think we can skip that step."

The guard sent him a rueful look and the leader shrugged in response, "Sorry Jacob, I had no idea the cat was going to react like that. She only said gloves, not full body armor."

The atmosphere had relaxed substantially. The leader turned back to me and gestured down the hallway, "Care to lead us to the other two?"

I nodded slowly and took the lead, unsure as to why he hadn't asked Daniel since he had been the one tracking thus far. Perhaps he had seen how Daniel had asked me to pinpoint the child and figured I was the better tracker.

The leader walked beside me while giving me plenty of space. He seemed much more cordial now, "You are from Ironwind you said?"

I hadn't spoken a word until we had been in the daycare, but I still responded, "Yes."

He nodded in thought as we exited the building. I sniffed the air and lightly jerked my head toward one direction. He took the hint and headed in that direction, "I had heard rumors of a Stronghold to the east working on a cure, but I hadn't heard that they had actually developed one."

"It was a fairly recent discovery and occurred mere weeks ago."

He either took no note of my faintly flat tone or ignored it. I detested questions. Especially when Nina had already gone over this with him. Apparently she had not managed to desensitize me to people asking questions.

I paused at the base of the sentry post and looked up, "The one on the left."

The leader looked up, "Steve, come down here for a moment."

Daniel gave me an odd look and murmured, "How can you tell from down here?"

I glanced back, "The zombie scent belongs to the same person with the shaving crème scent and the other person has clearly not shaved for days."

He nodded slowly at my deduction. I turned my attention to the young man who was approaching our group in confusion. I gestured to Nina, "Your turn to explain."

Nina came forward and explained things as well as the options. The man wasted no time in asking for the cure. At this point, if anyone did just ask for the controlex, I was going to be extremely surprised and possibly request that Nina check him for brain damage. Most saw a zombie as the red eyed creatures of nightmare that was out to kill anything that was living. A zombie could still infect whatever remaining friends and family they may have and most would not chance it.

The second was another man as well. Once he was also inoculated I took a deep breath to double check the air. "That is it. Everyone else is clear. I still suggest the masks just in case."

The leader nodded, "It is still a week away, but we will start wearing them in three days to be on the safe side. Most already carry them just in case someone nearby sneezes."

I shrugged, "Then our job here is done."

The leader hesitated, "Are you sure we can't offer you rooms for the night?"

I shook my head, "We can hit at least one, if not two more places before nightfall if we push. If they let us in, then we are doing even better."

He tilted his head in thought, "You are heading south along this road toward the next place, right?"

I watch him intently, "Yes." Something was on his mind.

"If it is James' place, then tell him that Damien says hi and that I enjoyed our card game yesterday."

I blinked slowly, "Thank you." It was the warmest tone I had managed in this place so far. Gratitude did not come easily to me and the faint hints in my voice would be easy to miss.

He grinned, "Call me Damien. Come back and visit one day. You remind me of an Aunt I used to have. Never could get her to smile, but you could never get that irritable old soul to lie either."

I hadn't smiled or lied in this place yet, but I had told more than my fair share of lies over the years. I nodded slowly although I didn't really like being compared to an old woman despite the compliment attached, "Thank you. I am not sure if I will ever come this way, but if I do, I will be sure to stop in and say hi."

He escorted us back to our truck and watched us leave. The cold man had turned into quite a welcoming person, although he had tended to disregard my three companions. I watched the place disappear into the distance and a thought occurred to me. I turned to Nicky, "Are you sick?"

Daniel glanced in the mirror as Nina looked back in concern. Nicky gave me an odd look, "No, why?"

"You didn't say a single word the entire time we were in that place."

Nicky chuckled, "Oh, that. I was wondering if you would notice. I had to bite my tongue when that guard was packing that cat into the room. Cats won't even come near me since I started hanging around with you and the pesky things never used to leave me alone."

It hadn't occurred to me that the cats would pick up the afterscent and avoid her so thoroughly. Nina commented, "I never thought of using a cat before. I will have to remember that one."

I raised an eyebrow, "Be sure to have someone else pick up the feline. Daniel's scent clings to you enough that it probably won't let you near it. It is something to suggest to places we visit as a way to tell if someone is truly infected or just having an allergy attack."

"Why didn't you mention it earlier?"

I shrugged, "I never really thought about it until now. There were only a couple of cats at Ironwind, so their avoidance of me wasn't that hard for them or particularly noticeable. I have no problems telling if someone is infected, so I never thought of ways for others to prove it. It should work with horses and most dogs too if the person in the final week or two. Cats have a much stronger reaction though."

Nina winced, "I'll say. I hope that guy doesn't get a nasty infection from the cat's claws."

I snorted, "That isn't my problem. If he had believed us in the first place, I wouldn't have had to resort to such stunts."

Nina sighed, "Well, the next place should be easier since he gave us his name and a greeting."

"I hope so."

Nicky just snickered as she pulled out her rubik's cube again.