I used the excuse that I had eaten while riding to avoid taking a plate. This place had no clue what I was and thus didn't stare at me like they were gawking at Daniel. Most were shocked to see a sane zombie sitting calmly at a table munching on some sort of baked pasta.

I took a sip of water as Nina passed a handful of vials to another lady who had joined us. The local nurse nodded her thanks and pocketed them, "Do you mind if I accompany you after supper? I am curious to see these three that you say are infected." The nurse was uneasy around Daniel, but was intrigued by Nina's knowledge.

Nina nodded amiably, "Certainly. As I mentioned before, you can always use cats to double check."

I smirked silently at that memory. Nina turned to Ryan, "On a side note, does there happen to be anyone here by the name John McComfry? We promised his brother Luke that we would ask around."

Ryan shook his head, "Not here. We don't have any Johns or Jonathans."

Supper wrapped up and Ryan began to continue the tour that had been interrupted so rudely. Daniel did well enough tracking the first two. He had problems with the third person though.

I sighed faintly before murmuring, "Turn to your left and keep walking down that side street until I give you further directions."

Daniel sniffed the air and turned as if tracking the last person. I subtly checked the air, "Turn right."

Daniel sniffed before turning. Nina blinked and gave Daniel an odd look. She must have known that Daniel was unable to track someone's scent just on the air for this much distance. He relied on actual scent trails in a place where so many people lived closely together. Such trails also tended to fade rather quickly with so much foot traffic.

Three turns later Daniel was finally close enough to catch the scent on the wind himself. The woman was shocked to say the least, but didn't hesitate in opting for the cure.

The nurse smiled at Nina as her task was finished, "I am glad to have met you. Feel free to stop by the infirmary any time. Hopefully we will meet again one day."

Nina returned the smile, "Thank you. I hope so as well. If you ever pass by Ironwind Stronghold, please stop in and say hello."

"Will do." The nurse parted ways as she went to her own work.

Ryan guided us down the road, "We have a few options for guests. If someone doesn't mind crashing on a couch or on the floor, we have a cabin with two queen-sized beds."

Nina nodded, "Thank you very much. That will work quite well." I smirked as I knew who would be getting the beds.

Sharing a smaller room was more common nowadays simply for safety. If trouble came calling, it was easier for someone to notice it if several people were in the same room. Some who traveled a lot were simply unable to sleep if they were alone and preferred to share a room with complete strangers as opposed to having a room to themselves.

The cabin was on the opposite side of the Stronghold from the other sleeping accommodations. He probably didn't want our group, notably Daniel, near any of the other residents in case another fatality occurred. Perhaps it was a good thing that he didn't know that he was playing host to not just one zombie, but two.

~

I silently climbed over the fence and dropped down on the other side. I carefully looked around, but no one was watching me. Then again, it was so dark out that they would be lucky to see their own feet. A lap around the Stronghold showed that this group favored snares and few predators were present. Few, as in one bear and fox remained.

They had likely trapped the predators first so the prey had a chance to multiply in order to feed the humans. This terrain didn't seem favorable for rabbits. That probably explained why they had so many sheep and goats.

I explored further out and growled faintly at the rather slim pickings. Every rabbit was deep in its burrow and digging a furball out of a maze of tunnels was not a relaxing pastime. I didn't even bother trying.

The area was mostly fields and I found a few snares in any patch of forest. Their snares were empty too. This area must have not had much in the way of wildlife even before the zombies showed up. Before the controlex had altered the virus in my blood, going a night or two without hunting wasn't a concern and I had been able to eat human food to keep hunger at bay back then. I had not yet tried to skip hunting for a night since then, but a roadtrip that hopscotched between Strongholds was not the time to try.

My patrol continued in a widening circle as I ranged further afield. I crossed a fairly recent trail of the bear and debated my options. Considering that I had seen nothing so far, this might be my only option if I didn't want to go hungry tonight. I shook myself with a faint growl before following the bear's trail.

The larger kill would hopefully help keep my temper in check. Once I drained the bear I dragged it beside the road where they would find it come morning. No sense letting the meat and hide go to waste.

I continued circling the compound in semi-boredom. A squirrel scurried along a branch, dislodging a pinecone that just barely missed me. If I hadn't known that the squirrel had no clue that I was here, I would have thought the act was deliberate. I was sorely tempted to scare the squirrel for making me dodge the falling object.

I examined the squirrel as it climbed higher into the tree before disappearing into a hole. My eyes narrowed in thought before a dark grin found its way onto my face. I had passed several abandoned houses throughout the night and swiftly backtracked to the nearest one.

I entered the vacant building and did a quick search of the house for an object with certain criteria. The dried out aquarium didn't have a secure lid. The small display case wasn't quite what I was looking for either. Ah ha. I found the jackpot.

I grabbed the hamster cage and returned to where I had seen that squirrel. Finding the correct tree was easy. My own scent trail led right to it and it wasn't really possible for a zombie to get lost either. Even if I returned 5 years later, I would know this tree since I had fixed it in my mind so I could return for the squirrel.

Stupid instincts and their selective memory. They could have helped me remember names of people at Ironwind to make my life easier, but nooo.... they have to memorize a freaking tree in the middle of nowhere that I will never see again.

I held the cage over the hole and blew my breath down into it. The squirrel predictably freaked out and tried to escape. It practically flew out of the hole and I swiftly shut the cage door. I chuckled as I dropped back down to the ground and headed back toward the Stronghold.

The squirrel clung to the bars as I entered the room. Daniel had recognized my footsteps, but my early return had him confused, "I have never seen you return so early. Is something wrong?"

He flicked his flashlight to low, but slowly brightened it so he could see me as I approached him.

"No, I just figured I would bring you this." I put the cage down on the end table beside Daniel.

Daniel peered toward the cage and its small inmate in confusion, "Thanks for the thought, but this wound won't affect my hunting ability any."

I snorted, "I didn't intend for you to eat it. I doubt you will sleep much tonight and figured that it give you something to watch through the long night. I gave Nicky a rubik's cube, so you might as well have this."

"Okay... Thank you I guess..." He could have sounded more appreciative. He resembled my one co-worker when I gave her a piece of handmade pottery that she didn't really like or want.

I turned and left the room silently as I headed for the forest once more. For me to bring him a squirrel of all things was sure to confuse him. When I had been seriously injured, he had been kind enough to drag back several rabbits. I had brought him a mere squirrel.

Perhaps he would figure it out.

I wasn't holding my breath.

~

The sun was just about to rise as I once more returned to the room. The empty cage outside the door gave me some hope that Daniel might not be completely hopeless. I opened the door and the triumphant grin Daniel gave me told me that he had finally figured it out. Nina and Nicky were still fast asleep.

I smirked at him as I sat down in a chair on the other side of the room, "How many hours did it take you?"

He looked amused at what I had chosen as my first question, "I will admit that it took me a couple of hours. I simply couldn't figure out why you would bring me a squirrel, unless you had planned to simply make me wonder about that detail all night as an evil joke. It just didn't make sense."

I chuckled, "I could have very well done that just to mess with your head. That does kind of match my sense of humor."

He chuckled as well, "That did occur to me originally, but it didn't seem like quite enough to lure you back inside the Stronghold at night. So, I began to wonder if it had anything to do with my arm. You had mentioned that you had not intended for me to drink the blood, which made me think outside of the box. Then I remembered how you kept removing the salve from the wounds when they were healing so quickly."

"So you managed to put two and two together?"

He shrugged, "I thought it was an insanely long shot in the dark, but I didn't have anything else to do while waiting."

I leaned back in the chair, "I wondered if a few hours of contemplation in boredom would help."

"Well, it did. Do wounds always heat up like that?"

I nodded, "Yes. If you add too much blood at once, it can actually get painful."

He nodded slowly as he took note of that. He looked curious, "I don't suppose you would tell me what soap or tomato juice does while you are in such a generous sharing mood?"

I chuckled darkly, "But what would occupy your mind when you are bored? If Nicky could figure it out, then I am sure that you can too."

He sighed, "If it took a bullet wound to get you to spill this secret, what would it take to discover the other two secrets?"

I grinned ferally at him, "Let Nicky color your jacket and wear it along with everything else she colored for you before handing her a bottle of soap, five big cans of tomato juice, and three extra-large espresso coffees."

He winced, "I think that may be worse than getting shot in the arm..."

"Possibly. There is one way to find out though..."

"No. I have seen what two cups of coffee do to that human. I have no desire to know what one espresso can do, let alone three of them."

I chuckled at his response before we both lapsed into a comfortable silence.