I covertly watched Logan and John as we rode in the back of the truck, but was mostly focused on Logan. I still wasn't entirely sure of this man's angle or why he traveled with us. John was easy to figure out. He was coming for his brother and figured that it was safer traveling with two zombies. The various stops were almost like a tourist trip for him.

Logan was a different story, especially considering how he and I had met near that pit. He had claimed that he wanted a transfer from where he had been, but we had stopped at well over a dozen locations since picking him up and he had never shown any inclination of remaining there.

As a general rule, humans were not at ease with zombies. There were a few exceptions like Nina, Nicky, and Liz, but they were few and far between. After what Logan had gone through with those Nightstalkers, it surprised me that he even considered coming anywhere near Daniel or myself.

Logan had managed living on his own away from a Stronghold for weeks, so the thought of traveling alone wouldn't bother him. Neither did zombies. He had lain in ambush for days waiting for those three Nightstalkers. His fighting skills were also good enough to win against a feral Runner or possibly even a feral Nightstalker. Yet he claimed he wanted to travel with us for protection. Needless to say I was not exactly buying his story.

He had surprised me when he had vouched for me at that Stronghold gate as well as when he tried to assist me earlier today when the other man was angering me. It had not crossed my mind that he would try to help me. He had no reason or motivation to do such random acts of kindness for a zombie he barely knew.

This trip was very boring and many such thoughts rolled through my mind. In the end, I was no wiser and was still unsure why Logan had decided to travel with us. It just didn't line up. I regarded the silent man who was watching the scenery in boredom.

I may have to get him alone and get to the bottom of this... That was easier said than done though. I didn't want the others to be aware of my intended interrogation and Logan rarely went off by himself.

I will just have to watch for my chance.

~

Nina sighed as she dropped her stuff on the bed in the back room. I stood in front of the living room window as I examined the evening sky. The others were unpacking their sleeping bags and such. Daniel had predictably taken up residence in the armchair.

Tiny footsteps behind me alerted me that Liz once more found me the most interesting person to hang around with. I had no idea why the child found me so fascinating, especially when I never encouraged her, or even smiled at her. I was a pessimistic lump on a log and just about as exciting. Apparently Liz thought differently.

"What are you looking at?" Her voice was soft and curious.

I glanced down at the small child as she took and held my hand, "Nothing really. Just watching."

I tried to subtly free my hand from hers without her noticing, but had no success. This child reminded me more and more of an octopus all the time. Why on earth was she so clingy? Or more specifically, why did she have to be clingy toward me?

My instincts detested the contact. I pushed my instincts aside as I reluctantly let her hold my hand. We would probably be back at Ironwind within four days and someone would be more than happy to adopt her.

I heard John talking to Logan, "Feel like taking a stroll around the Stronghold? The evening is too nice to sit around indoors."

"Sure."

Both of them walked out the door. I didn't blame them. After sitting in a truck all day, I didn't want to sit either. It would be at least an hour before sunset though.

Nina came out of the back room and sat in a smaller chair. Nicky was sprawled across the threadbare couch that she had claimed the moment she saw it. Nicky yawned and inquired, "We have another day, maybe two where those who are infected might still be human, right?"

Nina sighed, but nodded, "Yes, at least in theory."

"So why are we finding so many who were turned already? I thought the sneezing lasted for three days?"

Nicky had a good point. Other than that one woman at the first Stronghold this morning, we had not found a single infected person who had not turned. We had managed to stop at two other Strongholds, but any who had been sneezing had already turned or been kicked out. I turned so I could watch the two women more easily. This was more intriguing than anything outside of the window.

Nina furrowed her eyebrows in thought, "That is actually what I have been thinking about all day." She pulled out an old and battered notepad, "Here are my notes from comparing the first and second wave. The first wave had a solid two or three day sneezing window before the people turned. Most in the second wave usually had two days, but some were turning sooner. Not a single one sneezed for three days."

Nicky sat up in realization, "The sneezing duration is getting smaller with each wave?"

Nina nodded slowly, "Yes. I plan to send some letters to further Strongholds to ask what times they have seen, just for more data, but here is my current chart and numbers from what we have seen the last couple of days. We flattened the sneezing virus in nearly a hundred Strongholds this trip, but it looks like the airborne strain is going to wipe itself out. If the decline in these durations holds true, then the sneezing trait will disappear around wave six or seven. It will simply become like the regular virus, just with a longer incubation period."

Nicky looked stunned, "Wow."

Wow indeed. That tidbit of information is a huge discovery if it turns out to be true. The sneezing phase was the reason that the virus had hit the human race so hard, although people were already learning how to avoid it during those critical few days.

Nicky blinked, "But today was day two from the first person we found sneezing, does that mean..."

Nina's shoulders slumped, "Yes, chances are we are too late to help anyone else this wave. I still want to keep going tomorrow, but if we come up empty handed, then we are just going to head back to Ironwind Stronghold."

Nina pulled out her pen and paper and started writing things down. I turned back to the window in thought. Nina already had plans or arrangements to send the formulas to a few Strongholds with a properly equipped lab, so the cure, serum, and controlex would spread. The waves had their days numbered from several angles. Within two years, the waves could possibly have completely disappeared.

I had met Nina about two months ago and in that time she had created a cure, the serum to prevent someone from becoming a normal zombie, and the controlex drug. She also had a promising lead on a vaccine.

The world was changing before my very eyes. I began to wonder about my place in it. What would this planet be like in five years? Ten years? I wasn't sure. Heck, I wasn't even sure if zombies aged. I was pretty sure we did, but I had no hard evidence.

My thoughts were interrupted by a bored Nicky, "I think those guys had the right idea. It is pretty stuffy in here. Hey Liz, want to go for a walk?"

"Sure! We can invite Trinity too!"

I think Nina needs to make a drug that makes me invisible. That would help me very nicely. Why couldn't that have been a Nightstalker trait?

Nicky sat up, "That sounds like a good plan. Come on Trinity, if the air is stuffy for me, then it has to be bothering you."

The air was indeed stuffy, but the lack of the bloodlust was a definite perk in this situation. I really had no idea how Daniel didn't even look bothered by his bloodlust in this tiny house. No wonder he never considered the controlex, he really didn't need it.

Even so, I didn't feel like being left alone with Nina and Daniel. I headed for the door as Liz continued to hold my hand hostage. Nicky followed us outside, "We can walk around the inside of the fence until we get to that playground we saw."

I shrugged wordlessly as I headed in that direction. I also failed to see how she had called that slide and set of monkey bars a playground. Nicky walked beside me while Liz happily trotted along on my other side. I am surrounded... How do I constantly manage to end up in these situations?

Liz finally let go of my hand as she spotted the slide and ran ahead. I shook myself off lightly, glad she had finally let go. Nicky and I followed at a more sedate pace.

Nicky and Liz were soon playing on the monkey bars. I leaned against the slide as I watched them idly. I should have known that those two simply wouldn't let me watch from the sidelines.

"Come play with us Trinity!"

Did Liz have any idea how many years it had been since I had last played on monkey bars? It was probably back in intermediate school. I didn't even remember how to play games on monkey bars... I was 28, not 8.

I snorted faintly, "And just what do you want me to do?" I did not see how three people could play any sort of game on a simple set of monkey bars.

Liz was actually ahead of me though, "Chase Nicky up the slide!"

That I can probably manage. I turned my gaze to Nicky whose jaw had already dropped at Liz's words.

"Traitor!"

A quick glance around showed that none of the locals in this small place were around. I slowly eased into a crouch while silently and gradually stalking forward. She hadn't noticed how close I had gotten since she was still mock glaring at Liz. I growled lowly. Nicky glanced back at me, "Oh shit!"

She bolted.

I had not known that Nicky could run that fast. But I was faster. I managed to cut her off, while still in that slight crouch. I kept my gaze directly on her face, if we hadn't been playing around, such a direct gaze would mean that the person was in a world of trouble.

"Uh oh." Nicky started backing away from me. She tripped over a mound of sand to fall on her rump, "Liz, a little help here!"

"Grrr!" Liz's small growl was remarkably close to one a zombie could produce. I kept careful control of my instincts as I heard her run up behind me. As I halfway expected, she attempted to jump onto my back. I was short, but not quite short enough for her to easily manage that.

I swiftly crouched down. Liz had not been expecting that and fell forward, right onto my shoulder. I stood up with my new captive. I snagged both of her ankles before dangling her upside down in front of me. I smirked at the grinning child, "So now what are you going to do?"

She reached out her arms, but couldn't quite reach my legs, "Tickle you!"

I snorted once more, "Unlikely. I am pretty sure Nicky is ticklish though."

The giggling girl tried to twist to spot the redhead. Reassured that she was appropriately diverted, I slowly lowered her to the ground. Liz put her hands down and once her shoulders were on the ground I simply let go. The bit of a drop didn't faze her and she swiftly scrambled to her feet as she ran toward Nicky with a grin.

I knew Nicky was ticklish. The two darted all over the sandy ground as Liz tried to catch Nicky. I glanced up at the darkening sky. We had about half an hour before the sun touched the horizon.

That time went fairly smoothly as Liz occasionally tried to ambush me, just for me to send her after Nicky again. I took a deep breath as I felt the sun touch the horizon. My instincts rippled as they started to slowly awaken from their daytime torpor. My instincts never actually disappeared during the day, but they were far more alert and active at night.

"Grrr!" Liz's small weight hit the back of my legs again. She was getting better at those growls, although it might distress other people if she kept it up.

I glanced down before giving a bored growl in return. She looked up at me and tried to modulate her growl to be closer to mine. Nicky started laughing, "I have no idea what conversation you two are having, but could you switch to English so I can participate?"

I snorted and tilted my head as I observed the slowly tiring redhead. I looked back down at Liz, "Why don't you go steal that flower she put in her hair?"

Liz was as suggestible as ever and took off again. Liz was less tired than Nicky, although that may be due to the fact that she had napped or just sat quietly during the road trips. It was a good thing she was so well behaved. I would not be able to tolerate a screaming child having a fit. As a Nightstalker, I simply did not possess that kind of patience unless it came to hunting, an ambush, or hiding in the shadows.

Liz veered toward me once more. I sidestepped her open arms before snagging an ankle again. Liz didn't care that she was hanging upside down as she giggled like crazy. I turned sideways and pointed to the horizon with my free hand, "Do you see the sun Liz?"

She stopped giggling and nodded, "Yes."

"Always know when the sun is setting. When the sun sets, the Terrors tend to sleep, but the Nightstalkers come out. Rules change depending on where the sun is in the sky. Once the sun sets, you won't be able to jump on me like this, do you understand?"

She nodded slowly, "Okay."

I put her down with the half-drop as I had the previous times. She sat up and gazed at the sun before glancing back at me. She didn't say anything though as she thought about the new rule I had put in place. My control was sufficient to avoid harming her since even my instincts knew that she was too young to be a true threat, but she would likely get snarled at with my instincts so high.

Liz looked at Nicky, "Does the sun change things for you too?"

Nicky chuckled, "I prefer to sleep, but you don't have to avoid me."

The mention of sleep immediately prompted a yawn from Liz. Nicky dusted her pants off, "Why don't we head back and claim the best bed?"

Liz got to her feet and headed over to Nicky, "Okay." She paused and looked back at me since I hadn't moved.

Nicky took Liz's hand and tugged her gently onwards, "Trinity doesn't need nearly as much sleep as we do so she stays up much later."

I watched the two of them head back and carefully looked around. Oddly enough, I still didn't see any locals watching us. This place was smaller than average and the playground was far away from the buildings meant for housing, so that might be why.

I shrugged and dismissed it. I glanced once more at the darkening sky before heading in the opposite direction.