I saw Nicky and Ben run out toward the road in the distance waving their arms. Well, that made it easy to find them. Daniel would have heard the motor and alerted them. I slowed as I approached them, grinning widely. I put it in park and turned it off before hopping out.

Hank winced, "Diesels prefer to run. Turning them on and off frequently is hard on them."

I shrugged, "Well, you get to drive now. There is half a tank and more in some jerrycans in the back."

Nicky bounced up and down, "Awesome! I don't have to walk anymore. Is there a beer in the back by chance?!"

I snorted, "No, but there are some trail bars and a mattress."

She somehow managed to jump up and scramble over the side of the tall truck in her eagerness to locate the trail bars. I shook my head, "They are in the green bag, you can pass one to everyone."

Hank checked the inside of the truck, "Same arrangement as last time?"

Tom nodded, "Sounds good to me."

Ben groaned, "Do I really have to sit back there with those two? I was waiting for them to go at each other's throats all morning."

Daniel snorted, "Be happy we didn't throw you off the truck. If you so much as touch another can of beans, we will be having words."

I chuckled, Daniel had been directly across from Ben and even the wind that whirled around the truck box hadn't spared him the smell. Then again, if Nicky could smell it, it was a given that any zombie could. His beans had mostly run out, so our air supply was more or less safe.

Chloe was all for another truck ride with humans. The rest of us took up the same spots we had last time. Nina was eyeing me up eagerly even before Hank started the truck. I pulled my hood over my head to shade my glasses and hunkered down as I watched the scenery pass by in a futile attempt to avoid Nina.

Daniel seemed to find my evasive actions amusing since he started chuckling. Nina also sounded amused, "By the way, pretending to ignore me isn't going to work. I know how good your hearing is."

I sighed, "Can I pretend to be asleep?"

Nina chuckled, "I know it isn't possible for you to sleep in these conditions."

I growled in faint annoyance before turning to look at Daniel, "If you can get her to leave me in peace, I did find something at that farm that you will really appreciate."

He looked curious and sent a questioning look at Nina. Nina crossed her arms with a faint huff, "Fine, I won't ask her any questions until sundown. The things I do for you..."

Daniel grinned at her in thanks before looking back at me in curiosity. I dug through my backpack and tossed the box toward him. He must have good eyesight, since he managed to read the box midair and promptly opened it as he caught it. Nina leaned over to pick up the now-empty box. She blinked in surprise before glancing at me. I guess she had no clue that Daniel had told me his weakness.

Daniel skimmed the manual quickly before hooking the solar panel up to the flashlight. Once it was charging he turned his attention back to me. He gave me an honest and grateful smile, "Thank you."

I nodded and turned my head to watch as we passed a zombie. It had been worth it just to evade Nina for a few hours. I glanced back at him, "By the way, if you ever point that at my face, I will beat you black and blue with it, and then take it away from you."

He growled at my threat and I bared my teeth in response. Nina looked worried about the possibility of a fight for a moment, but Daniel surprised all of us as he started chuckling. Nina gave him an odd look. That made two of us, I had expected another growl before he subsided. I did not expect him to find my idle threat amusing.

He bared his teeth at me in a light warning, although his voice was still somewhat amused, "Nina may have agreed to not ask you questions, but I made no such promise. So. What trick do you have up your sleeve that has given you this boost of confidence?"

He was teasing me and I knew it. I narrowed my eyes as he decided to take on Nina's role of interrogator. "Quite simple really. You have used up my allotment of patience for the day and I am tired of your shit. Surely even you must know that Nightstalkers are not known for their tolerance."

It was actually a common fact. Nightstalkers were well known for being temperamental. Terrors supposedly had a tolerance level similar to Nightstalkers from the unfounded rumors I heard, but Terrors were much rarer than Nightstalkers.

Nicky chuckled, amused by my reply. Ben was trying to make himself smaller in the corner in case a fight broke out the way we were egging one another on. Nina pulled out her notebook in anticipation. It was official. I was traveling with lunatics.

My tone and words had no real effect on him, which was quite odd given the usual reaction of zombie instincts as well as his previous behavior. I had no idea how he was maintaining his control so well at the moment. He leaned against the tailgate while watching me, "And if I did start a fight in the back of this truck, what is your plan?"

I looked at him like he was an idiot, "I would obviously jump off of the truck."

He tilted his head as he watched me intently, "And if I followed?"

I snorted, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

Nina's eyes were bright like a curious child, "What would-" She gritted her teeth as she remembered her deal. I chuckled as she sent a glare at Daniel. "Ask her why she is more aggressive now than she was earlier."

I growled lightly, "That is cheating. Besides, I already told you that I was out of patience."

I noticed Daniel glance down at her notepad before looking back up at me, "Why did you cut your own hand when I was stalking you earlier?"

"Quit reading the questions she has jotted down. That isn't fair either. Besides, you should be able to answer that one for her."

They both gave me an odd look. Nina glanced up at Daniel before looking back at me, "He looks as confused as I am. Why would he know why you inflicted self-harm on yourself?"

I blinked in confusion. How did he not know? He was a zombie, those unwritten rules were stamped into our changed blood. Sure sane zombies could ignore them, but they were still there. I tilted my head as I considered the Terror in the far corner, "You have never really interacted with feral zombies while acting like a zombie, have you?"

He looked startled at my knowing question, "No, why do you ask?"

I sighed, that explained it. The rules may be in our blood, but since we were in control, they were closer to suggestions that we could override. Those in control were constantly overriding our instincts, and we often didn't even realize that we were doing it since we were so used to it. If he had never interacted with zombies, he wouldn't have consciously realized the rules. They were a mere unconscious suggestion to him.

His instincts would have known about the First Strike rule and pushed him to land the first blow, but his still conscious mind didn't realize that it was supposed to stop there. No wonder he had acted so oddly after killing the Terror.

He hadn't followed the human rules since his instincts were so high and he hadn't followed the zombie rules because he was technically sane and didn't know them consciously. He was like an astronaut who got dumped in a remote Amish village. No wonder traveling with him so far has been a complete headache.

I shook my head, "We are going to have to rectify that. If you have never acted like a zombie with a group of zombies, you are unaware of the unwritten rules of zombie interactions. That is why you had such problems with control after killing that Terror. Your human mind was partly relying on your instincts for direction, but your mind took it way further than your instincts did."

He looked completely confused, "So why did you cut yourself?"

"Ever hear of First Strike?"

He shook his head, "Not really, you mentioned it earlier and the Nightstalker I met before also mentioned it, but I have no clue what it really means."

Oh boy. He didn't even know zombie interaction 101. I sighed, "Once we make camp and the others are safe, you and I are heading off to find a feral zombie. Runners, Nightstalkers, and presumably Terrors often challenge one another to determine where they sit in the ranking hierarchy. You don't see the feral ones ripping each other to shreds because of the unwritten rule called First Strike. Generally, the first one to land a blow wins. Are you following me so far?"

He nodded and I continued, "When I cut myself, the scent of my blood would have convinced your instincts that you had won and it should have ended there. Because you are sane, you frequently overrule your instincts. You ignored the point where your instincts said to stop because you overrode the suggestion without even realizing it."

Nina was furiously scribbling down notes and Daniel slowly nodded. "What other rules am I likely unaware of?"

I shrugged, "First Strike is about the only rule per se, although feral zombies almost never kill other feral zombies. There are lots of various things communicated via body language that you are likely missing as well. Terrors may have some quirks that only apply to your rank, much like the Nightstalkers have the territorial cry at night. But I have no clue if there are or what they might be."

Daniel fell silent as he mulled over that information. I bet his lack of knowledge of the rules was why he had such problems with that Nightstalker he met in the past. Body language counted for a lot with zombies and Daniel was practically speaking a different language considering how out of touch he was with the fine details of his instincts.

Nina was still writing as fast as she could get her hands to go. I turned to watch the scenery in silence.