Shortly after lunch my bad luck made its appearance again. A thump sounded from the engine as it lost power. Hank steered it to the side of the road. I gritted my teeth. You have got to be kidding me. I have had more vehicles break down in the last week than I did ever since I started driving. That was a terrible track record considering that I had always driven cheap beaters that were on their last wheels.

Once it stopped Hank popped the hood and got out. Ben also went to investigate the damage. We hadn't seen any abandoned trucks for some time. There was no way we would fit eight humans, two zombies, and a dog into a car. We hadn't seen any vehicles actually...

Ben sighed as he came back to grab his map. Nicky questioned him, "How bad is it?"

He made a face, "Not that bad, but bad enough. We blew a part. It is easy enough to fix if we can find a spare or raid any other diesel truck for it, but we need that part."

Daniel came over to inspect the map that Ben was unfolding. Ben pointed to the map, "There is a truck stop over on this road. There is a chance that other vehicles were abandoned there."

Daniel tilted his head, "That is a ten kilometer cross country walk through the forest to get to that road though. So the big question is, do we all go and return or do just a few of us go check it out?"

Hank spoke to Daniel, "You are the fastest. I doubt it would take you long to get there and back."

Daniel made a face, "Unfortunately, I know nothing about engines. I would have no clue where to start."

Daniel turned to me and tilted his head in a silent inquiry. I shook my head, "Don't bother looking at me. I was very good at driving my cars into the ground, but other than the basics like jumpstarting something or changing oil, I am clueless."

Nicky stood up and stretched, "Well, if it isn't that far, I wouldn't mind a walk. It is probably safer if we all stuck together. Besides, we might find something that is simply out of gas over there. Then one of our red eyed friends can come back to grab enough gas to drive it back here and collect the rest of our supplies."

Daniel gave her a look of disbelief, "One, even I can't see Trinity's eyes through her sunglasses, so you have no idea if she is camouflaging them. Two, my eyes have been brown the vast majority of the time."

Nicky raised her eyebrow in equal disbelief, "One, with her mood, her eyes would undoubtedly be red most of the time. Two, I am not sure I can really call that brown. It is more of an orangey color and it creeps the hell out of me since it makes me think you are a wolf trying to hide in sheep's clothing. I think I prefer you with red eyes, it makes you seem more honest."

I gave her a light growl for that comment, and partly as a warning not to tick Daniel off. Daniel gave her an odd look, as if he didn't quite believe her opinion. Ben shrugged and looked around, "I'm all for a walk since I doubt I have anything to worry about feral zombies if these two are around."

Marissa looked at the big piles of supplies stacked in the middle of the truck box, "What if someone comes while we are gone? There is no way we can pack all of this with us."

I smirked, "We can easily hide it in the forest. What human in their right mind would be digging around in a forest? Just prop the hood and gas cover open. No one will even stop to look at it then."

Nina started chuckling, "She is right on that score. If we put the food in the trees then we don't even have to worry about wild animals getting into it."

Hank nodded, "Good enough for me."

He grabbed a couple of bags and hoisted them over his shoulder. I grabbed two of the big jugs of diesel since they were the heaviest. Even if most here were taller and more heavily built than me, only Daniel was stronger. One perk of being a Nightstalker.

It didn't take us long to stash everything in the trees and throw some branches over it for extra camouflage. Ben had a compass out and Daniel took the lead once more. I followed behind as rear guard.

The ground was pretty flat so it was an easy walk. Marissa hadn't let Liz come to me since she was still worried about my small scratches. Marissa had put Liz on her shoulders and was keeping up just fine.

We were most of the way there when one particular scent started getting quite strong. I kept my eyes open, but I wasn't overly concerned. Once the animal realized that we were here, it would likely avoid us. Considering how Daniel's nostrils occasionally flared as he tested the air, he was quite aware of it. He would probably hear it before we got near it.

We rounded a corner and the big grizzly rose to its feet with a pissed off roar. We had obviously disturbed its nap. I looked at the angry animal, it was a big old male who was in the same lovely mood as the Nightstalker had been the other night.

The humans had frozen with wide eyes at the massive animal. I nonchalantly walked up beside Daniel and glanced at him, "I hunted well last night, so I am good, feel like a snack?"

I subtly tilted my head slightly toward our shocked and terrified audience. At this point, I wasn't sure what disturbed them more, that there was an angry grizzly roaring at them, or the thought that Daniel would consider that creature a snack. Even Nina looked startled.

Daniel grinned widely as he caught on, showing his wickedly sharp teeth. "Sounds good to me. I didn't hunt last night. Keep going, I will catch up shortly."

He swung his head to face the irritable animal that had come closer while huffing in threat. His eyes flickered to a glowing red as he dropped into a hunting crouch. He snarled at the bear viciously. The bear stopped and turned to run as he realized that he was facing a zombie. I could smell the fear rolling off those behind me in thick waves.

My own instincts wanted me to back away from the hunting Terror, but he was in control and the bear was his target, so I overruled my instincts to remain standing there while looking relaxed. It was harder than I had thought it would be. My instincts had no desire to challenge a Terror over its meal.

The bear crashed through the bush out of sight and Daniel was on his trail seconds later as they disappeared from sight in the trees. I glanced at those behind me and kept my tone bored, "Well, let's keep going."

The looks I got were priceless. I fought to keep a grin off my face. Apparently none of them, even Nina, quite understood zombie humor when we decided to mess with the minds of the humans around us.

Humans who got used to our presence often began to think of us in human terms despite our growling and discrete hunting. They tended to forget the hidden bloodthirsty nature that we constantly fought to contain and control. That made our occasional demonstrations and comments come as quite a shock to those around us.

I started walking, and after a brief hesitation, they followed me. I listened to the noises off to the side. Daniel was letting the bear run far enough away that the humans didn't have a chance of seeing or hearing him go for the kill. I doubted that even he could drain a bear that large. I expected him to catch up in about fifteen minutes or so.

The footsteps of the bear and Daniel were almost too faint for me to hear as they crashed through the underbrush. Daniel's footsteps hit the ground harder for several strides before his footsteps disappeared. The bear roared as I heard a faint crack. Daniel had likely launched himself at the bear and shattered its neck.

The others behind me jumped at the roar. I noticed that they picked up their pace noticeably. They probably wanted to get out of this forest. Liz looked at me in curiosity, oddly enough, she seemed the least shaken from what she had seen, "How is he going to find us if we leave?"

I lifted my nose to the air and deliberately took a loud sniff, ignoring the faint burning in my throat as I dryly commented, "Our sense of smell is very good. I somehow doubt that he will have any problem tracking a dozen humans."

Considering that half of them hadn't put on deodorant this morning, he could probably smell us clearly from where he was. I could smell the bear's blood at any rate. There is absolutely no way he can miss the smell of Hank's socks. Those things can practically be used as a weapon.

It was a classic case of sweaty gym socks and he must have worn them for five days in a row now. I made a mental note to check for socks the next time I went through a house or store.

I sniffed the air again, I could smell hot pavement and shingles so we had to be getting close to the road and truck stop. I frowned, "Speaking of humans, there are some ahead. Smells like they have been there for a while for their scent to be so heavy."

Ben and Hank perked up before moving closer to the front of our small procession. A minute later we exited the trees and looked around. We were right in front of the truck stop and chances were that we would find the part for our truck here. There were several dozen vehicles with open gas caps. Hopefully we could find the part we needed and leave before encountering the humans that I could smell.