Ten minutes later I paused to listen and scent the air. I didn't hear anything, but I was picking up Daniel's scent. He was on my trail. Considering he wasn't calling out, that wasn't a good thing. Unless he didn't think I would answer, which was also a possibility.

I picked up speed again while looking around for something that could resemble cover. Not much would stop a Terror, so unless I found a cave that I could just squeeze into, I was going to be facing him shortly. I doubted that he was going to be out of control like he had been earlier, but I wasn't taking any chances.

I started to pick up the sound of his footsteps. He was gaining on me rapidly. I glanced around wildly, I needed something to give me an advantage before my time ran out. My eyes landed on a massive tree with huge branches.

I jumped up on one of the branches as I turned to face my pursuer. I could hear that he was running in a hunting crouch as he tracked me. I dropped into a light crouch as I drew my sickle. My left hand reached into the pocket of my jacket for an item that might give me an advantage even against a Terror, if I could take him by surprise.

Mace. It was bad enough for a human, but it was agony for a zombie since our sense of smell was stronger. It would bother me, but I could breathe through my mouth since I knew what to expect. If he got a full blast of mace in his face, he would be distracted long enough for me to temporarily cripple him and escape.

He would expect me to go for his neck, but I had no intention of that since he would be expecting it. Truthfully, I didn't want to kill him or potentially strip his human mind of control by knocking him out. I would be aiming for his legs. If he couldn't run, he couldn't chase me.

I was more than ready to play dirty. I knew I was outclassed and I wanted to walk out of this confrontation alive. I kept the small object hidden in my hand. He would undoubtedly know I was holding something, but he wouldn't know what it was. The heat rose in my veins as I took my stand.

I was done running for the moment. My vision hazed a deeper red as my instincts rose to the front of my mind. I let them rise. He entered the clearing at a run and slid to a stop as he instantly spotted my motionless form.

His red eyes showed that his own instincts were quite high from the earlier fight or from trying to track me. Possibly a combination of both. He took a step forward as he started to rise out of his crouch as he began to walk toward me.

I was in no mood to have him any closer to me and I still had no intentions to hear him out or go back. My snarl was closer to an enraged shriek of pent-up emotions. At this point, I was pissed, and I made sure anything within hearing range knew it. He paused with narrowed eyes, he had not expected me to stand my ground and threaten him. His eyes glowed redder, showing that my challenge was hitting his instincts hard.

I growled at him, egging him on as I dropped into a deeper crouch. If I pressed his zombie instincts enough, it could fog the human mind slightly and he wouldn't realize what I was up to until it was too late. A Terror should have no problem beating a Nightstalker. In theory at least.

With luck, he wouldn't question that assumption either. I noticed that he still carried no weapons, but I was armed. Hopefully he would overlook that detail as he relied on his greater speed and strength.

My tactics to rile him up were working. His muscles shook lightly in his desire to attack as he took a step forward. I stared right at him in a challenge as I lapsed into silence. My ambush was set. I could see him struggling for control as he took several more steps forward. He paused and shook his head as he finally took in my silent poised form.

His eyes locked onto the sickle in my right hand and I could see some rational thoughts once more entering his mind. His eyes narrowed as he noticed my sudden silence when I should have been growling or snarling. He took a step backward.

My own eyes narrowed as I growled lowly, he hadn't come close enough for my ambush. He seemed to realize that I had set up a trap. His jaw clenched as he restrained a responding growl. The glow in his eyes faded slightly, even though the thought of me trying to catch him in a trap should have set him off even more.

My eyes were still glowing strongly, my ambush was set and my instincts were high. He couldn't see my eyes though. The sunglasses gave me the closest thing to a poker face in the zombie world. Our eyes often told more than our body language did.

He took another step back and exhaled gustily as he fought for control, "I didn't come out here to fight."

His voice was nearly a growl with his instincts so high, but he was regaining control. I didn't respond and remained silent in my position, waiting like a spider in a web. With a sudden motion he stood straight and dropped his slight crouch. Such an action took force while facing another zombie that was also acting like a zombie, especially when it was a lower ranking zombie trying to goad you into an attack.

Despite my attempts to push him over the edge and past rational thought, he was regaining control quickly, which wasn't good for my plan. That ticked me off even more. A growl escaped my lips against my will.

He tilted his head as he examined me carefully, trying to figure out what I was up to and why I was trying to start a fight when I was outclassed. My own control was tenuous at this point. My instincts wanted to attack this annoying and threatening zombie who had the gall to avoid my ambush. He spoke again, "I followed you out to apologize-"

I snorted in disbelief. He gritted his teeth as his eyes glowed brightly for a few seconds before fading. He tried again, his voice deeper with a contained growl, "I am sorry for stalking you earlier. Will you please come back?"

I narrowed my eyes, an apology for any zombie was extremely hard. It went completely against our competitive instincts. I didn't really want to return and I failed to see why I should return though. My reply was snarky and nearly a snarl, "Why? So you can attack me later on? I'll pass."

His eyes flared again, but he swiftly got it under control. He was confusing me, my insults should be riling him up, but he was handling himself far better than he had when I had attempted to be passive. Had he been a Nightstalker, it would have come to a fight shortly after he entered the clearing.

He growled a reprimand, but it was the lighter growl of a sane zombie, not the growl of one reacting on instinct. I couldn't believe it, if he wasn't in full control, then he was the next thing to it. How the hell did that happen?! He should be going off the deep end, not attempting to rationalize with me!

His eyes never left me, "I realize that my instincts caused me to act unfairly. I will try to control my reactions better. The kid started crying for you when they realized that you had actually left."

I growled, my mind was mostly running on instinct at the moment. Trying to pull my heart and human emotions into this wasn't going to work while they were so buried. He seemed to realize it as well. He shifted his weight, "Can you at least come out of that tree? I promise I won't attack you."

I chuckled darkly, my height advantage was severely bothering him. I considered it for a few seconds, if me being up here bothered him so, it might have been one of the reasons he didn't come close enough for my trap. He likely thought that I had set something up on the ground. I bared my teeth silently in a half amused fashion, as if I would be so foolish as to rely on some faulty pitfall or trip trap.

I stepped sideways and dropped down to the ground. He relaxed a bit more, "Thanks. Now how about coming back before I strangle Nicky? She was muttering endlessly about cans of tomato juice and crowbars while insulting my mother, my attitude, and my left shoe. I couldn't make heads or tails of what she was muttering about, but she threatened to make me understand perfectly if I didn't bring you back. She said she wasn't really fussy if I had to tie you up and drag you back either."

Yep, that sounded like Nicky. I sighed heavily in irritation as I realized his tactic, he was making me think about people I knew. He was forcing me to think with my human mind and heart, which would suppress my instincts. It was working too. The red haze in my vision had abated to its usual level as my human mind was surpassing my instincts.

Daniel knew that he was gaining ground, "Come back before the kid cries herself to sleep. She is blaming me for chasing you off."

I snorted and tilted my head accusingly at him. He shrugged, "Okay, okay, it is true, but I didn't mean to do it. I am also not used to having a child screaming that I chased her horsie away."

I gritted my teeth, I wasn't a horse. I also didn't feel like spending weeks on foot with this guy's insane mood swings, "You will do well enough protecting them. Chances of encountering another Terror are slim to none and if you use weapons, you won't have an issue. Liz will forget about me in a day or two and I am sure that you can survive Nicky's insanity blitzes."

I shifted sideways as I prepared to leave. He took a step forward while holding out a hand as if to stop me from jumping from the top of a 20 story building, "Wait." There was an odd note of desperation to his voice, it was faint, but it was there.

I growled in irritation. Today had pushed my patience far past its limits. "What?"

He hesitated and growled lightly in frustration, "We need you or else the chances of us making it to the Stronghold are slim."

I snorted in blatant disbelief, "Open your eyes, you are a Terror. Those tests this morning should have told you something."

This was irritating, I was back in full control. No hint of growl had tainted my last reply. Bloody conversations...

He gritted his teeth, "I can't protect them well at night. We probably won't cross another Terror, but I highly suspect that we will cross a Nightstalker between here and the Stronghold."

I tilted my head as I gave him an ironic look, "You were ready to thrash my hide. Nothing is stopping you from shredding a feral Nightstalker."

He growled slightly and his words were reluctant, "I can't see well enough at night to catch a Nightstalker. I am nearly blind once the sun goes down."

I paused and regarded him in stunned disbelief. He continued, "I can see like an eagle during the day, but once the sun goes down I can barely see my own two feet. I wouldn't have a chance at stopping a determined Nightstalker and even several Runners could give me problems in the dark. Great strength means nothing if you can't see your foe until he has snatched or bitten those you are guarding."

I slowly turned back to face him, examining his expression. It was open. A quick test of the air revealed that he spoke the truth. He detested spilling his weakness out to someone who could so easily take advantage of it, but he had done it.

I blinked as I realized that this was the reason he had such a problem with my presence previously. I was the perfect weapon to exploit his weakness. Any Nightstalker was. No wonder he had mood swings around me, his instincts would recognize that I was a potential threat once the sun dropped below the horizon.

I watched him closely and spoke fairly quietly, "Are you serious?" I had never heard of this little detail. I wasn't sure if he was making it up, but I didn't think so. It explained why it had taken him almost two hours to hunt last night. Several other small details were also lining up.

He sighed gustily in defeat, "Yes. And I would prefer if you didn't tell anyone else."

I nodded slowly. I didn't really like it, but I knew that I would be returning with him at this point. The odds of him encountering a Nightstalker or several Runners at night were quite high. He was counting on me to be the night guard. Oddly enough, the tension that had been present all day had mostly disappeared during our conversation.

I sighed as I put my sickle away and tucked the mace into my pocket. I took several cautious steps forward as I left my crouch behind to walk like a human toward him. He watched me with caution, uncertain of what I was up to this time. I paused as I walked up to him, "Let's get going then, before Nicky decides to try and force some regular zombies into having a tea party. That lady really needs around the clock supervision."

He relaxed as he realized that I wasn't about to try to attack him. He nodded and turned to lead the way back. He went slow enough that I could keep up as we ran side by side. There was still a considerable amount of distance between us. We were zombies and we were a bit finicky over our personal space.

I jumped over a fallen log, "I won't be able to hold this pace for long."

He nodded amiably, "I will let you set the pace."

I tilted my head as I considered how long we had been gone, "You could always run ahead to ensure that they are safe and I will catch up."

He shook his head, "They should be fine for a while longer. There were no other zombies around when I left. I gave Nina a really loud whistle in case trouble appears and I should be able to hear it from here."

I had a suspicion that he was worried that I could have another change of heart. We ran in silence for some time as my breathing got heavier. I had run hard to get away from him and my stamina was about tapped out. He glanced at me as he slowed down to an easy jog, "What exactly was Nicky talking about when she was rattling off something about you carrying five crowbars?"

"I had been carrying a bunch of crowbars in case several Runners came at us. A solid blow can knock them off their feet and give me a bit of time to take the others out." I didn't bother mentioning that it could knock them out cold since that would rouse his instincts.

He looked me over, "You aren't carrying them now."

I sighed, "I left them at the hotel this morning in hopes that it would remove some of the tension."

He thought about my comment for a while, "I am not sure if you noticed, but it seems like the tension has mostly disappeared. I have fewer problems with your presence now than I did with the previous Nightstalker I met."

I considered my other zombie acquaintances, "I noticed it as well. The current level of tension is about what I usually feel around other sane zombies when I somewhat know them."

There would always be some tension, we were zombies and we had attitude problems. The biggest change was due to Daniel, he wasn't acting nearly as suspicious. Previously he had seemed to be constantly on the verge of attacking me. Maybe we could make it until nightfall without clashing in a scuffle. I wasn't holding my breath though.

I glanced at him and changed the topic, "Why does Nicky have a grudge against your left shoe?"

He made a face, "Apparently it kept giving her funny looks as we were walking and it winked at her once. She wanted to take a package of rainbow colored permanent felt markers after it as revenge. She had no problems with my right shoe."

I chuckled in spite of myself. Leave it to Nicky to insult a Terror's shoe. He shook his head, "She is an... odd... lady."

I chuckled, "Just wait until she really gets going."

Daniel gave me a disbelieving look, "You didn't see or hear her. I don't think she can get worse than that."

My grin was somewhat feral, "If she wasn't throwing things and chasing people, then you haven't seen anything yet."

His expression was incredulous. He was having a hard time wrapping his head around it. I didn't blame him, if I hadn't seen it for myself, I probably wouldn't have believed it either. I chuckled and picked up my pace a bit since I had mostly caught my breath.