Ben took the lead as he and Hank headed toward the nearest diesel truck. Movement caught my eye and I spotted one of the humans I had scented.

The man was lounging on the roof of the gas station. He noticed us fairly swiftly and hailed us, "Hello there!"

Ben called back, "Hello!"

Several men came out of the building, looking surprised to see us. I let Ben and Hank take the lead as I followed them. The man from the roof came over, "Wasn't expecting company, so we can't offer you any food. What are you doing all of the way out here on foot?"

"Our truck broke down. Do you mind if we check these for parts?"

The guy shrugged, "Go for it. They are useless as they are. Where are you headed?"

Ben headed toward a nearby truck, "A Stronghold that is about two days from here. Mind if I ask why you are out here?"

The guy's shoulders sagged and he sounded tired, "Our truck broke down and we haven't been able to get any working. They are all out of gas."

Hank popped the hood and leaned over the motor as Ben replied, "We have some room in the truck if you want a lift." I wasn't impressed with the thought of more human strays joining us. We had just gotten rid of the previous five.

The guy nodded happily, "That would be great. But we have different plans, put your hands in the air."

My muscles tensed as three of the men present drew guns. The guy smirked, "Don't do anything foolish or we will shoot. Hands above your head. Now!"

I gritted my teeth as I lifted my hands up with the rest of our group. Even if Daniel had been here, there was no way the two of us could take out three gunmen without the risk of someone being shot. Chances were that it would be one of our human companions. Especially with the way my luck ran.

"Good. Now walk into the gas station with us nicely."

My muscles shook lightly in my anger as my Nightstalker instincts raged against what I was being forced to do. I managed to walk with the others into the building without snarling or growling, but I was so close to it that it wasn't funny.

There were seven men present and they swiftly tied our hands up before tying our hands to hooks embedded in the wall behind us. They tied Chloe up to a desk. This room had plainly seen better days and we were clearly not the first group that this bunch of bandits had ambushed.

The first man walked along the line, taking jewelry, watches, and any valuables visible. He skipped me as I had nothing obvious. A second man was taking weapons while a third was checking pockets. The second man took my belt knife. I gritted my teeth as the third man somehow noticed the sheath straps for my sickle and removed it from its sheath.

The second man stared at the now visible weapon with side eyes, "Shit, she had that hidden under her shirt? Glad you found it. You had better check each pocket carefully." He took the weapon and dropped it inside of a filing cabinet where it banged into other metal objects already there.

My muscles were rigid in my rage as the third man carefully pulled each pocket inside out. I detested having these men touch my clothing as they ensured that I had no more surprises hidden. I gritted my teeth as my can of mace fell out of my pocket and rolled on the floor. The man tossed it to another man who also stashed it in a drawer. The rest of my pockets were empty, but he had the nerve to reach for my most valuable possession.

I jerked my head back as he reached for my sunglasses. My muscles trembled in rage as I fought to keep myself from attacking the man. The guy pointed the rifle at the others beside me, "Hold still or I will shoot them."

I exhaled slowly through gritted teeth as I battled my ever growing rage. I closed my eyes tightly as he took my sunglasses. Even with my eyes completely closed, the light in this boarded up gas station was bright enough to be uncomfortable.

"How the hell can you see through these? I can't even see my hand in front of my face!" I heard a clatter on the far side of the room as he threw them away. If I recalled correctly, there had been a fair bit of clutter and junk piled in that corner. I would have no chance of finding my sunglasses until the sun set or I managed to get my hands on my spare pairs in my backpack that resided on the far side of the room.

My companions were either enraged or terrified at this ordeal. We had all been lined up against one wall while the men were scattered around the room. They had already gagged Nicky since she wouldn't stop insulting the men. The rest were voluntarily silent. I listened to the movements of the various men since I couldn't open my eyes.

At this point, I was just as handicapped as Daniel would be at midnight on the new moon. Where the hell is that Terror? I am ready to go back and throttle that bloody bear for distracting him. I wasn't even picking up his scent, nor was I hearing his footsteps.

I heard the main guy walk in front of the line, "We can keep the children. This pair of adults seems quiet and easily frightened, it won't be hard to keep them in line. Considering we already had to gag that red haired woman, she definitely has to go. Those two men will go. Not sure about those last two women, might have to see how they act."

Another man spoke, "Come here sweetie." I knew from his position that he was speaking to Liz. I didn't want her anywhere near these men.

I twisted my bindings lightly, testing their strength. It was mere rope, my nails could shred this like confetti if needed. My voice was low and rough, but I managed to keep the growl out of it, "Leave her alone."

The first man snorted in derision, "That isn't up to you to decide."

I gritted my teeth as my muscles tensed even more, my control was near its limit. It was as if that shooting star had delayed my bad luck and it had returned with a vengeance. I was never wishing upon a star again. Nina was right beside me and whispered, "Try to keep calm, Daniel should be here soon."

I exhaled gustily as I tried futilely to rein my instincts in. Where was that guy anyway? He was taking more time getting here than it took any woman to put on makeup. Perhaps he washed his shirt and is waiting for it to dry in the sunshine...

I heard the one man walking toward where Liz stood, shaking by Marissa. I wasn't sure what he did since I had my eyes closed, but it clearly pissed off Nina. Her furious voice rang out, "Let her go! She is only a child!"

What the hell was going on?! I very carefully cracked open one eye the tiniest bit. Even though this room would be considered very dim by human standards, the light felt like daggers in my eye. The world was blurry shapes since my eye was open just the barest crack and watering from the brightest light I had seen in months.

The man pulled the terrified child into a hug while smirking as he replied in a cocky voice, "Make me."

Red hot rage rolled through my muscles as my control was pushed right to its limits. This wasn't sitting well with either my human or my zombie mentality. My vision was rapidly becoming redder, but the man was still holding that rifle and the safety was almost certainly off. He was clearly just looking for an excuse to shoot someone to set an example.

Apparently his actions, words, and tone didn't sit well with Nina either. She struggled in her bindings wildly, "Oh! If you are still living by nightfall, I will be very surprised and most upset!"

I guess she didn't plan on following her own advice. The man wasn't actually hurting Liz, although I was pretty sure I didn't want to know what the man had done to make her so angry. It would probably have shattered my struggling control. Even just the thought of the possibilities made the heat in my blood build up to uncomfortable levels in the desire to kill this man.

The man frowned and pointed the rifle at Nina, "You are clearly far too much trouble to keep alive."

His finger moved toward the trigger and my temper snapped. My snarl was closer to a roar in volume and it promised violence as I used my razor sharp nails to shred the ropes binding me. The man backed up a step in surprise as his eyes traveled in my direction. His rifle also moved away from Nina in his sudden distraction.

I freed myself within seconds and charged toward him with another snarl. My blood was up and ready for the kill. I could barely see and the bit that I could was so blindingly bright that I had a hard time making things out. The man realized that I was not human and swung his rifle back toward Nina, "Call her off!"

He thought I could be commanded like a dog... I snarled at the insult as I angled myself so that my charge put me between the two. He had obviously not expected my speed and I had already crossed half of the distance between us. I heard the other men yelling, some were ducking down behind cover while several were running out of the building to get away from the raging zombie.

His eyes widened in fear as he gripped the rifle tighter. Two shots rang out. Pain erupted in my shoulder as one bullet skimmed the underside of my collarbone and lodged itself in my shoulder. I stumbled as the second bullet hit my chest and carved a white hot line of pain through my body before exiting out my back.

The pain had my control close to shattering. I launched myself at the man with an enraged snarl. He dropped Liz just before I tackled him. I ripped the gun out of his hands and threw it out of a window, breaking the glass in the process. I slammed my forearm against his throat and felt his neck snap before he slumped lifelessly to the floor.

I twisted to face the others with another snarl. I felt blood bubbling in my chest as I breathed. The one bullet must have punctured my lung. It would rapidly sap my strength and slow me down if this fight went on too much longer. I just hoped that my lung didn't actually collapse. That would slow me down to a mere shuffle.

A third shot rang out and I winced at the loud noise even as agonizing pain erupted in my thigh. I snarled in pain as I faced the direction of the noise. My blurry sight finally allowed me to spot another man with a rifle hiding behind a desk. My world was mostly sound and scent.

I charged toward him as he aimed at me again. I tried to veer to the side. Another bang made my ears ring while agony exploded in my chest as the bullet hit me. My steps faltered. I felt my heart skip a beat and struggle. From the pain, I knew that the bullet had grazed it.

If my heart stopped beating, I would be the next thing to useless until it healed. I knew from experience that even if my heart stopped, I would remain conscious, but I would be even weaker and slower than a normal zombie.

My limited sight was so red in my fury that I couldn't even see any other colors. It was just all different shades of red. The excruciating pain from my wounds wracked my body and slowed me. My rage was the only thing keeping me on my feet at this point. I reached the man before he could reload and a quick blow shattered his neck. I whirled around in time to catch the arm of another man who tried to sneak up on me with a knife.

My chest heaved for breath as my body tried to keep up with the demands I placed upon it with the amount of damage I had taken. I fought against the bloodlust that blazed through my veins as I twisted the man's arm. I kicked my attacker in the chest to send him flying into the wall. The move caused white hot pain to lance through my body from the wound on my leg.

I heard the click of the safety on a gun being flicked and spun around to search for the source. A man across the room stood up to aim a handgun at me. He was all the way across the room, I wouldn't be able to get to him quickly.

I tried to jump backward out of his line of fire. For the first time in a very long time, I felt the true tang of fear. I couldn't move faster than a bullet and I already had several major injuries that were starting to severely sap my speed and strength.

I couldn't take too many more bullets before my body would say hell with it. This band of bandits would know that they could kill a zombie by cutting off its head and there were more than enough swords and axes here to accomplish that.

I stumbled as I landed on some debris that I hadn't noticed with my extremely limited sight. I heard a bang as he fired and pain exploded above my ear. My body went limp as I fell to the floor like a rag doll. I had no control over my body.

My ears rang like a muffled bell, and I couldn't hear any other noises. My limited blurry vision started to go dark. The man straightened as he lowered his gun. He picked up a sword and took a step forward. I saw Daniel launch through a window at the gunman as glass silently shattered and spun through the air in a graceful dance, catching and reflecting light in painful flashes.

I couldn't even summon a thought as things went dark.

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Author's Note:

I hope you are enjoying the story so far. If you like it, please add it to a public reading list so others can also find it. Such support means a lot to me.

Please refrain from using swears in the comments. Most of my readers are under 18, and I don't wish this book to be flagged as mature. :)