Nightstalkers did not make good patients. I was no exception. Especially when being jounced around in the back of a truck.

We hit another bump hard enough to cause everyone to hold onto the sides of the truck. Pain lanced through each injury when he hit those holes like that – and he had been hitting lots of them.

I threw a peeved look over my shoulder at the window of the cab behind me, "Hank, are you trying to hit every pothole? Driving is supposed to be like Minesweeper where you avoid potential deathtraps, not like whack a mole. Besides, I severely doubt that there are moles hiding in those craters you keep finding."

Nicky perked up, "Oh! Let me drive!"

Ben and Hank both immediately replied, "Not a chance."

Nicky crossed her arms as she grumbled. I made a mental note to never let her behind the wheel with a reaction like that from Hank. Hank replied to me, "Sorry Trinity, this road has more holes in it than swiss cheese and it is tough to tell which holes are worse until I am right on top of them."

I glanced at the road behind us, but there weren't nearly as many potholes as he was making out. That last one had been the only one in that section of the road. The truck moved a bit to the side as Hank dodged another big pothole.

I jumped a bit as Nicky suddenly cheered, "Awesome! Hank finally drove over the yellow center line!"

I glanced at the road behind and realized that Nicky was correct. Hank had been remaining in the proper lane even if it meant hitting a pothole. That idiot... He is so lucky that he is inside the cab at this moment and I can't reach him.

Now that Hank was driving like a thinking person on a deserted road I could relax a bit. The others were also silent. It was barely 10am and I was tired. It was pathetic. I gazed toward the trees and tried to nap.

Nina had said that it was impossible for a zombie to sleep in a moving vehicle, but in reality it was just extremely difficult. I managed to lightly doze as time passed far too slowly. Every bump or noise caused my mind to stir as I tried to force it to rest.

I gave up after a couple of hours, although I did feel more rested. I opened my eyes and reached for my water bottle. Nicky was watching me with a crazy grin. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "And just why are you grinning like the Cheshire cat?"

Nicky chuckled, "I simply can't figure out how you are sleeping in this truck. I can never sleep in a moving vehicle."

I was surprised, I had been sitting up and my head hadn't even been leaning against the cab as I faced the forest to the side. Nina shook her head, "Sorry Nicky, but zombies are light sleepers and they wouldn't have been able to sleep in the back of a truck. Even if she had been sleeping, you wouldn't have been able to tell."

Nicky chuckled, "Oh, I was watching. Normally her head moves a bit as she watches things going by, particularly zombies. She has barely twitched a single muscle for over an hour and her breathing was steady without those deeper breaths she takes when sniffing the air. She never did that before on previous trips, so she was either attempting yoga or napping – and I highly doubt it was yoga."

I also highly doubted that any amount of yoga would help my temper since it was fueled by my Nightstalker instincts. Especially if Nicky was around. I snorted, "I think you need your head checked."

I contemplated different ways to toss the bizarrely observant woman off the truck, debating on which moves would disturb my injuries the least. The biggest wrench in my plan was the fact that Daniel was plenty fast enough to rescue Nicky. That led to the question if he would actually help her after everything she put him through.

Nina had pulled out her notepad and started scribbling things down. Daniel was watching me in curiosity, "Did you really fall asleep?"

I might be able to pick up some information since they would all assume I had been sleeping regardless of what I might say. I turned my head so I could look at Daniel easier, "Nightstalkers can't fall into a deep sleep. Can Terrors?"

He shook his head, "A light fitful sleep for a couple of hours a night, but that is about it. How heavily can you sleep?"

"About the same."

He was watching me intently, "I thought you were oddly still, you really were sleeping, weren't you?"

So much for my evasion. I made a face, "I can't really call it sleep, it was more like a resting state. I was still aware of sounds and strong scents."

Nicky chuckled, "Sure... I call that a nap. On a side note, when is lunch?"

Ben's stomach rumbled, "Hopefully sooner rather than later." He pulled out his map, "Not much in the way of human habitation for quite a distance."

He moved from his spot to start shuffling through our food supplies. He put a few cans of soup to the side, presumably for lunch. He paused and held up a can of beans. A growl rumbled warningly in my chest at the same time Daniel growled. That can must have gotten into our supplies while I was out of the picture because I knew that I had raided the bags to ensure that none of those despicable things were left for Ben to get his grubby hands on.

Daniel's eyes flashed red in warning, "You eat any beans before we get to that Stronghold and we will be having words." Ben paled and swiftly put the can back under the intense gaze of two unimpressed zombies.

Hank pulled over to the side of the road and turned the truck off. Everyone got out of the truck, although I remained where I was. Nina kept glancing at me in concern, but didn't comment. Now that the truck was stationary, the throbbing in my injuries was fading a bit.

It didn't take long for a fire to be lit and soup to heat. Nina brought me half a bowl, "How are you holding up?"

I took the bowl, "Thanks, about as well as I was this morning."

She nodded, "Let me know if it gets worse. I am worried about those wounds opening up."

My mouth was full of soup, saving me from having to respond. A couple of the biggest bumps had jarred me enough that the injuries had bled a bit. There was nothing to be done though, the bleeding had already stopped and it wasn't as if medication would work on me.

The stop was brief and it wasn't long before the truck was making miles down the highway. I resumed my silent watch of the tree line while occasionally dozing.

~

We had managed to find a house around 7pm to take shelter in for the night. The moment we stopped Daniel dropped the tailgate and gave me a pointed look that plainly said that he did not want me vaulting over the side of the truck box as I had this morning.

I hated to break it to him, but being stationary for roughly ten hours had allowed my wounds enough recovery time that a small arm-assisted drop like that shouldn't cause them to bleed at this point. Daniel grabbed several bags and carried them in.

I slowly stood up. My muscles were stiff and sore as they protested the movement. My leg was still telling me to go to hell. I walked to the tailgate and used my arm on the side of the truck to slow my drop. My landing still jarred my injuries enough that they blazed in pain. I held my breath at the renewed fire in my wounds. I hid my pain and grabbed my backpack as I walked toward the house.

This house also had a fireplace, which meant that everyone would stay inside tonight. I sat down on the ledge beside the fireplace and got the fire started while the others kept unpacking. There was dry wood, kindling, paper, and even a lighter just to the side, so it was easy to start.

I moved to a rocking chair just to the side as I watched the others finish packing stuff in. It wasn't as if we had much, it was mostly food and sleeping bags. Marissa started boiling more water for our water bottles.

Nina wandered in and looked at me, "While we are waiting, let's go to one of the back rooms and check those injuries."

Nina was beginning to remind me of a mother hen or an over-vigilant nurse. I reluctantly got to my feet and followed her. There wasn't much of a difference in how the injuries appeared since I last saw them. The fact that there was a difference showed just how quickly they were healing. The injury on my head was definitely healing the fastest.

I still didn't see any sign of Daniel as I went back into the main room. Marissa had stolen my rocking chair so I took a seat on one of the kitchen chairs. Half an hour later Daniel walked in and glanced at me, "There are two rabbits and a pheasant in the shed out back."

I blinked slowly, somewhat taken aback by his consideration, "Thank you."

Daniel nodded as he took a seat in an overstuffed armchair. Nina noticed my surprise and grinned silently. Marissa started passing out the soup. I was beginning to wonder if that was the only thing she knew how to make. Then again, most cans in houses contained things that were easy to dump into a pot of water.

Once supper was done, Nina grabbed my sleeping bag and dropped it on one of the two couches in this room. She noticed me watching her, "I would prefer if you laid down most of the night. There are enough beds and couches in this house for most of us."

Seriously? I think she was taking this nurse act a bit too far. Ben turned around, "Aw... I was hoping to get a couch in here close to the fire."

Nina regarded Ben, "You can sleep in front of the fire on the floor if you like. Trinity gets the one couch and I get the other. Daniel already called dibs on that big chair."

I made a face. I really didn't care where I spent the night, but Nina had obviously thought long and hard about this little detail. Her one track mind had found a new outlet to focus her energy on. I was now the focus of her new obsession, much to my dismay and misfortune. I think I preferred it better when she was simply taking notes.

Ben tried again, "One of the rooms just has a single bed, I am sure she would be more comfortable there."

That did sound much better than being in a living room with a Terror and a watchful nurse. Before I could speak up Nicky corrected Ben, "I call that room. I need my beauty sleep after all. You and Hank can share the room with the bunk beds. Tomorrow we will arrive at the Stronghold and you will get your own bed then."

The sky outside darkened and people headed to bed. I went outside. The shed stood in the middle of the backyard, so it wasn't exactly possible to miss it. I took a few silent breaths of the cool refreshing air. I had a hard time believing just how accustomed I had been getting to the constant smell of humans.

I shook myself a bit and headed to the large shed. I closed the door behind me and looked around. Two cat carriers each held a rabbit and a box on top of the carriers likely held the bird. I put the box on the floor and reached into one of the cat carriers. It took me only a moment to snap the rabbit's neck.

I sat down on a chair and drained the rabbit. I unwrapped my leg before grabbing the box. There wasn't that much blood in any bird, but I drank half of it and dripped the other half into my wound. It never ceased to fascinate me as to how fast an injury could absorb blood. Undamaged skin didn't absorb it, but it instantly disappeared into injured skin or through scabs.

I wrapped my leg back up and headed back inside. Chloe was curled up in a corner of the kitchen and I left the rabbit by her. Daniel was watching the fire dance in the fireplace as it burned brightly. Nina was already on her couch lying in her sleeping bag as she watched me as if to make sure that I was following her directions.

I unrolled my sleeping bag on the couch and laid down in it carefully. I gritted my teeth as the wound on my back protested against me laying on it. The pain dulled after a bit and I could relax somewhat. I had sat up last night, so I had no clue why Nina was so adamant about me laying down on my back tonight.

Nina fell asleep shortly after she watched me lay down. The night was quiet and I fell into a light doze.