Nina looked excited about my acceptance. She smiled and glanced at the town below, "How about a race to that truck over there?"

I looked over, the truck was just outside of the town. I glanced at Daniel who nodded and stood up. I set Liz down, "Go see Marissa for a bit, okay?" She nodded and walked away.

I walked to the edge of the roof and lightly vaulted over the parapet to land lightly on the ground. Daniel hit the ground a mere second after me. Apparently heights didn't bother him either. That didn't surprise me. I heard footsteps and looked up as Nina came into sight with her watch in her hands, "Okay, when I yell go race to that truck. Stay there and we will see who can hear the best at that distance. Ready, set, Go!"

I had dropped my human facade and pulled my Nightstalker abilities out as I hit speeds that humans couldn't touch. My footsteps echoed around me as I traded my silent stalk for speed. Daniel easily pulled ahead and beat me by a long shot. I slowed as I reached the truck, keeping an eye on Daniel as his red eyes showed that his Terror abilities had come out to play.

Nina's voice reached us as she called out, "Grab the front bumper of that truck and see how hard it is to lift it."

I glanced over at Daniel, who waved me ahead to have the first attempt. I reached under the bumper and lifted. My muscles strained, but the front tires came off of the ground. I held it for ten seconds before lowering it back down. I backed up and moved well to the side to let Daniel have a shot. There was some tension in the air between us and I gave him a fair bit of space.

His muscles tensed with the weight, but he didn't seem to be as strained with lifting it as I had been. He put it down after ten seconds as well. He was obviously faster and stronger than me. I had already known that I wouldn't be able to outrun or outfight a Terror, but having that fact flaunted in front of me was a blow to my rather over-inflated Nightstalker pride. I wasn't used to being outdone, it had never happened since I had turned.

Daniel spoke, "How long do you think you could have held it?"

"Maybe a couple of minutes. You?"

"Probably an hour or so."

I nodded while hiding my envy as we turned to face the hotel where all the humans were watching with interest. Nina called out, "Stay there. I am going to call out words and you raise your hand if you can make them out."

We waited where we were. "Sunshine." I raised my hand as Daniel also raised his. Each word was called out more quietly. Soon enough my hand remained by my side while Daniel raised his hand while his head was cocked to the side a bit while he listened intently. Five attempts later his hands also remained down. That was interesting, unless Nina had really dropped her voice those last times, his hearing didn't outstrip my own hearing by as much as I had assumed.

Nicky handed a bag of something to Nina, and Nina turned to us, "The wind is blowing toward you. Call out the scent we are using when you pick it up."

Mere seconds later I called out, "Lavender."

Daniel glanced at me in surprise while sniffing deeply. It took him ten seconds to catch it before he also called out, "Lavender."

Time after time I caught the scent way before Daniel. Much to the surprise of both of us. He gritted his teeth as his frustration built. The scents started getting fainter, they weren't spraying as much into the air. I sniffed and growled faintly in disgust, "Ben, put a cork in it. You passing gas was not part of this test."

Nicky disappeared from view as she hit the floor rolling around in laughter. I shook my head before calling again, "Smells like a bounce sheet. I have no idea what to call that scent though."

Daniel moved closer to me in case I was more directly downwind as he tried to catch the scent. He stood close enough that he could have reached out and touched me. He shook his head in frustration as he was unable to pick up the scent. Neither of us was entirely comfortable with the close proximity to another mostly unknown zombie.

My nostrils flared before calling in an irritated voice, "Nina, was that really necessary?" The very faint scent of her blood wafted on the wind as if she had pricked her finger and a drop of blood had beaded up. Daniel took a slow deep breath and exhaled with a faint growl of irritation as he once more failed to pick up the scent. I tilted my head and spoke quietly, "It is the smell of human blood, surely it should stand out more than those air fresheners."

He narrowed his eyes and sniffed again before growling, "I am picking nothing up."

I blinked in surprise, "Is that normal? I thought you would have been ahead in every ability."

He shrugged, irritation clear in his body posture, "I don't know. I know I am faster and stronger than the other Nightstalker I encountered, but the ability to pick up a scent never came up."

He started running back toward the hotel. I followed more slowly. He jumped and managed to scale the outside of the building without too much difficulty. I scowled as he unintentionally flaunted off his abilities. I doubted I could manage that, so I didn't even try. No sense kicking my already aching pride. I went in the front door.

The others were packing up on the roof. The dirty styrofoam dishes had been burnt. Ben looked at me, "I don't suppose you know if there is any working vehicle in town?"

I shook my head, "Every vehicle is either out of gas or in serious need of a mechanic."

Nicky groaned, "Just our luck. If I get heat stroke again today, I will kill someone."

I chuckled, "But I did manage to find a jerrycan of gas, so you get your pick of the ones that are simply out of gas."

Nicky let out a whoop that had all of us jump a bit. Shit, that girl really had a set of lungs on her. Hank looked eager, "Where is it?"

"Just inside the main door."

He shouldered his backpack and headed downstairs. Everyone else followed him. Daniel went ahead of me with Nina in front of him, remaining between his companion and the only other zombie present. He glanced back over his shoulder in confusion, "When did you grab the gas?"

I watched his face as I tried to work out what was rolling through his head, "This morning around sunrise."

He furrowed his eyebrows in doubt, "I didn't hear you leave."

I smirked, that meant he hadn't heard me. "Nightstalkers can move silently when we choose. Getting the door open silently was the biggest challenge."

His hearing may best mine, but my footsteps were too quiet for even him to hear if I tried to move silently. I filed that tidbit of information away. We gathered on the street as Hank gazed over the tiny town, "How many of those garages did you check?"

"All of them. Nothing in there is going anywhere. You get to choose between two cars and a truck."

Nicky started walking toward the truck we had used as a weight, "Well, I am not riding in a dinky car with nine other people when two of them are zombies. Especially not when Ben had beans for breakfast."

Hank made a face, "I smelled him earlier. Ben is exiled to the box."

"Hey! Come on! I call shotgun!"

Nicky snorted, "I don't care what firearm you are packing. If your only ammo is coming out of your rear end, it isn't going to help you any."

Josh jumped up and down in excitement, "I call shotgun! I call shotgun!"

Hank smiled at the energetic kid, "Only if you are sitting on Tom's lap. Liz can sit on Marissa's lap in the back seat and the other seat is open for anyone except for Ben."

Nicky tilted her head, "I honestly say we stick Chloe in there. I am not sure how she would handle two zombies in such tight quarters."

Nina nodded, "That is a good thought. I am surprised that she has done so well around Daniel. I have only seen two dogs not run the moment they realize what he is."

We reached the truck and Hank popped the hood for a quick check before dumping the precious gas into the tank. I went back inside to drag out a mattress. It was a bit crowded with five of us in the box considering how we tried to avoid having certain people overlap each other's personal space.

I sat in one with my back against the cab while Daniel sat leaning on the tailgate in the opposite corner, as far from me as he could get. Nina had no problems being near him and sat beside him. I could tell that he didn't want her too close to me just in case, although he never said it out loud. Nicky had no problem sitting right beside me while Ben occupied the other empty corner behind the cab as he didn't want to be within cuffing distance of two zombies with the way those beans were kicking in. It was complicated to say the least.

In one way, the gas would run out far too fast and we would be walking all too soon, but in a different way, the tension in the back of this truck was going to make that time go far too slowly. Hank stuck his head out the window, "Which way are we going?"

Nina pointed the way that we had been heading, "That way, turn right at the junction by Cross Lake."

The truck started up and headed for the highway.