I was able to actually travel on this abandoned road since there were no zombies around. I had slowed to a pace that a human jogger could keep up with shortly after leaving the town. Chloe panted lightly as she trotted beside me.

I moved toward the trees and slowed to a slow walk as I saw the first buildings in the distance. Chloe seemed to like the break, and truth be told, I appreciated it too after traveling nonstop for four hours. We may be unable to starve to death, but zombies still had limits. I wasn't panting hard or desperate for a rest, but our steady jogging pace had me breathing heavily. Nightstalkers were built for an ambush or slower paces, not long-distance traveling.

I slunk through the undergrowth and Chloe gave me more space as my Nightstalker habits became more prominent. I was a motionless shadow among the trees as I examined the tiny town, although the word hamlet or village would have suited it better. Nine tiny stores and twenty houses were present, all of them could have comfortably fit inside of any Walmart out there with room for a bonfire.

I examined the local residents, three zombies who wandered back and forth aimlessly. I glanced back at a cautious looking Chloe, "Stay here Chloe." I left the trees and dropped into my slight crouch as I approached the buildings. All three zombies ignored me as I wandered into the town. Regular zombies rarely bothered me if I acted like a zombie.

These stores were smaller than many houses I had seen and carried only the bare essentials. I entered the grocery store, it held nine small aisles of shelving filled with food. A zombie wandered up one aisle and growled at me. I snarled at the shop keeper's welcome.

With another low growl, he wandered down another aisle. With an attitude like that it is no wonder he has no customers today. Then again, I am a terrible customer. I never pay for what I take. He wouldn't complain though, he was a mindless zombie and long past caring about something as trivial as the fancy printed paper that resided in the cashier's till.

I grabbed a basket and went over to the first aisle. There were a lot of choices and my backpack would only hold so much. I would have to make several trips to this town and stash the food in various locations in the forest. I mostly grabbed stuff like canned fruit, juice, trail bars, and some noodles. Stuff that I couldn't find in the forest. I grabbed Chloe a few dog treats as well.

Once my backpack was full I went outside and glanced through the windows of the other small shops. Most didn't interest me. The electronics store was useless without power and cell phones hadn't worked for months. I barely glanced into the furniture store. I ignored the houses for now, if I used up most of the food in the store then I would check them out.

I watched some odd whirligigs dancing in the light breeze. Whoever made them obviously had too much time on their hands considering how complex a few of them looked. The one made an entire small scene of wooden people work or wave as it was powered by the wind. Bizarre.

I paused and took a deep breath of air. The heat in my blood stirred at the faint scent of human blood in the air. I hesitated, my original human inclination was to help out, but the darker side of me was far too tempted by that scent. If the person was armed, he or she may very well strike first and ask questions later. I took a second breath to test the air.

The scent was very faint. Far too weak for the other zombies to notice it. The injured person was probably miles away, it could take me some time to get close even if I ran. The breeze picked up a bit, there must be a lot of blood otherwise I wouldn't be able to pick up details from the scent like this. The scent was that of a child. That decided me.

I turned and ran down the road whistling for Chloe. She bounded out of the bushes and quickly followed me. Runners may come close to matching a human's speed, but Nightstalkers were faster. I pushed for speed until Chloe was almost running full tilt. I was glad I had hunted last night, my control should be good enough even around spilt human blood. Or so I hope.

Chloe started breathing hard after roughly ten minutes at this fast pace. It was a long time to run at such a speed even for me. I didn't slow down though, the scent was much stronger now. We were almost there. I could smell the blood of other humans as well. A car came into sight with five zombies cramming themselves into it. The car had the hood propped open.

Chloe growled breathlessly as she finally picked up the human blood and saw the zombies. I passed them in a wide circle. The zombies were feeding on a small girl and a man who had been recently killed. I lifted my nose to the air and winced as the scent of fresh human blood made my throat burn in desire. The heat in my blood wanted me to go join them.

With a conscious effort, I continued down the road. I did not want to become like those zombies. Under the scent of fresh blood, there was the trail of other humans who had escaped. And more zombies.

I darted into the trees to keep out of sight as I followed the road. Moments later we passed two more zombies feeding on a woman's body. We rounded a bend and I slowed down as I spotted the still living humans. A man and woman were protecting two more children who looked to be around 6 or 7. Four more zombies kept trying to attack.

Where had all of these zombies come from? And how had they caught up to this group? I huffed in irritation; the questions would have to wait for later. Chloe took the initiative and led the attack. She ran around the zombies barking at them. The dense creatures seemed surprised by the loud dog. The humans were surprised as well.

I made my way through the trees to get closer while remaining out of sight. I wouldn't be lucky enough for the zombies to chase Chloe, the scent of a human was far more tempting than that of any other animal. As I well knew. I sniffed the air again and growled deeply as I looked around. I could smell it, but where was it?

My eyes narrowed as I spotted the Runner coming from the other direction, probably alerted by the noise. The adults were standing halfway between the four approaching zombies and the children, so they didn't see it coming up behind the group. I growled in irritation and frustration. I wasn't sure whose luck was worse, mine or theirs.

As much as I detested what the scent of their blood did to me, I wanted to see them live even more. My human life had been ripped from me with zero warning. I didn't think I could stand to see another child killed in front of me. Especially when I could stop it.

I pushed for speed and ran through the forest before darting out to intercept the Runner. I reached behind my back to pull out my deadliest weapon. It was hidden between my back and my backpack. It had originally been a grain hand sickle from a museum. I had sharpened it into a lethal weapon capable of slicing through a zombie's neck.

The Runner snarled at me and I returned the snarl. It dismissed my presence and turned its focus back to the children now that it knew I wasn't a tasty human. It wasn't interested in challenging me when it had prey in sight.

It was an unwritten rule that zombies wouldn't try to kill each other. To hell with that rule. I never signed my name on any dotted line. I passed behind the Runner and swung the curved blade around its throat before yanking it hard against the zombie's neck while I used my free hand to push its head sideways. With a gurgle and a twist, the blade managed to sever the spinal cord letting the Runner's head fall to the ground even as its body collapsed. I kicked its head away from the stump of the neck. If they were to touch even somewhat, they would eventually heal and the Runner would recover within a couple of weeks.

I glanced back to see the girl watching me with wide eyes. None of the other three had noticed me. I quickly wiped my blade clean. A quick glance and sniff told me that none of the Runner's blood had hit me. I didn't care about the blood hitting me, but even a single drop could spell disaster for the humans.

I returned my gaze to the adults as they were still managing to hold off the four zombies with baseball bats of all things. These zombies must have chased the car a long way considering they were moving fairly slowly, even for normal zombies. The zombies were extremely tired and even more clumsy than usual. It was the only reason the adults were still holding them at bay.

I walked a few steps to the side to pick up a crowbar from the road. The man must have thrown it down judging from how his scent still clung to it. I raised the crowbar above my head and whipped it forward with my Nightstalker strength behind it. With a sickening crunch it slammed into the head of the zombie in front, causing it to fall into the two behind it. All three went down in a heap. The man and lady jumped before looking back in shock to see me standing behind them off to the side.

I bent down to pick up a fist-sized rock before doing my best impression of a baseball pitcher to whip it forward. It crunched into the skull of the fourth zombie. The two I had hit were motionless on the ground. Severe injury to the brain would knock a zombie out cold, although they would heal in a couple of weeks. The other two were regaining their feet like drunken sailors on a storm-tossed ship.

No wonder regular zombies slept while standing up. Simply watching them clumsily trying to get to their feet was almost painful. I shook my head at the staggering zombies as they finally regained their feet. The man took new courage and stepped forward to whack one upside the head with his baseball bat. It fell to the ground motionless. I put my sickle back in its sheath and simply waited since they were no longer so badly outnumbered.

The lady's bat glanced off of the last zombie's head, causing it to stagger, but it didn't fall. The man rectified that with one more desperate swing. I examined the four survivors. I didn't smell any blood coming from them, so they hadn't been injured. They smelled strongly of fear and terror from their fight for survival. These two were not fighters and possessed no such skills in that area.

This meant that they also lacked the needed skills to make it to the nearest Stronghold on their own power. I didn't know the location of any Strongholds in this part of the country. I sighed lightly, in order for them to have any chance at making it to other survivors, I would have to help them. Lovely. Just what I needed.

The couple had backed away from the zombies and were currently hugging the children in relief. The man looked over at me and blinked as he noticed the headless zombie behind me. Chloe trotted between us with a wagging tail as she looked between them and me. He stood up and slowly walked forward with his hand outstretched, "Thanks for your help. We wouldn't have made it without your assistance. I'm Tom."

My dark glasses hid my red eyes and he hadn't seen me take out the zombie to notice my movements. I walked forward, keeping my movements human-like. I shook his hand while taking care that my sharp nails didn't brush his skin, "Nice to meet you, I'm Trinity."

To say that I was happy to see them was more than a bit of a lie. I would have preferred that he had remained in whatever Stronghold he had come from. I was somewhat irritated by the fact that this group had decided to take a scenic detour. Several humans had paid for it with their lives. I was not looking forward to being their guide.

Their proximity and presence was unwelcome. It was also triggering instincts that would terrify them if they were to figure it out. I glanced at his group and spoke gruffly to try to hide my irritation, "What are you doing out here on foot? You don't look like fighters to me."

The lady came forward and the kids followed her, "Our car broke down and zombies came after us before we got it fixed. I'm Marissa by the way."

I shook her hand too, "Why did you leave the Stronghold to drive down these remote backroads?"

She looked tired, "We were actually trying to get to a Stronghold. We had survived in my Aunt's old place until two days ago when we ran out of food. It had a huge fence that kept the zombies out."

I blinked in surprise, it hadn't occurred to me that they were one of the groups still trying to get to safety. The girl walked forward and grabbed my hand. I looked down at her in confusion. I had never really had anything to do with kids before. She looked up at me with hope in her eyes, "Marissa said that we were going to a safe place where there are no zombies. Are you and your dog going to lead us there?"

Talk about being put on the spot. Neither of the adults spoke, their eyes also held the same hope. The girl still held my hand tightly, if she squeezed any harder my nails would pierce her skin from her own grasp. I crouched down so my head was level with hers, "What is your name?"

"Liz." The smell of her breath hit me and I had a hard time keeping my reaction from giving me away. Okay, having her head closer to mine wasn't such a good thing.

I carefully controlled myself as I took another breath to speak, "Okay Liz, I won't lie to you. The place where I live isn't big enough for all of us, and it certainly isn't a Stronghold. Truth be told, I don't even know where a Stronghold is located, although I do know that there are a few around somewhere. I will help you get there though, okay?"

Liz nodded enthusiastically before wrapping her arms around my neck in a tight hug. I awkwardly returned the hug as I groaned internally. Her hug pressed her body right against my neck and chest as her hair brushed against my face, leaving my control near its limits.

I breathed through my mouth so her scent couldn't tempt me as badly. I knew my eyes were glowing brightly from how high my instincts were. It was a good thing my glasses prevented them from catching any glimpse of my eyes. We had better find this Stronghold quickly.

I stood up to get some space between me and the child before looking at Tom and Marissa. They looked relieved that I was going to help them. I doubt they would be so relieved if they saw my eyes. I glanced down the road, "We had better get moving. I assume you came from that direction?"

Tom nodded, "Yeah, but you don't want to go back that way. There are dozens more zombies that followed us from the last town. Thank you for helping us, Trinity."

It was almost strange to hear my name after so long. If I recalled the map correctly, the town in that direction was much bigger than the one I had been in. The other direction headed toward the mountains where the road would eventually dead end. I looked down at the pavement, the scattering of unbroken old twigs showed that no vehicles had driven along this remote road in months. I had always known that my luck stunk.

We would have to do this the hard way... "Well, we better get moving then, we are going to have to travel cross country for some distance. There is a bigger highway south of here."

I was hoping that the caravan would pass through again and we could flag them down. They hadn't shot at me, so they would likely welcome more survivors. Most Strongholds did. Liz looked at me, "Through that scary forest?"

I glanced down at her, "The zombies down the road are scarier than the animals that live in the forest."

She came forward to hold my hand tightly as she looked toward the trees. I wasn't sure why Liz had decided to cling to me like lint on my favorite sweater. Marissa took the boy's hand and led him forward. With a quick glance at all of them, I started walking. They followed me silently. I kept a careful eye on my surroundings as I surreptitiously tested the air for any potential threat.

Half an hour later I realized that it was very unlikely that we would reach my cabin by nightfall. They had obviously been cooped up wherever they had been and they were out of shape for a cross country hike over the hilly terrain. They were also exhausted from their close call when they tried to run for their lives. The children in particular were barely managing a slow walk.

Marissa was out of breath, "We need to stop for a rest."

I nodded as I stopped beside a fallen log. All four sat down on it tiredly. Chloe sat by Tom, who rubbed her ears. Liz looked up at me with big pleading eyes, "Do you have anything to drink?"

I pulled off my backpack and dug through it. I dared not share water from my water bottle, any traces of my saliva would likely have the zombie virus. My stop at the grocery store had been a blessing. I passed each of them a bottle of fruit juice, "This is the best I have until we get to my cabin." I could drink water from the streams without worry, but it would have to be boiled for them.

"How far away is your cabin?"

I turned my head toward Tom, "About halfway between where I found you and the highway that we will be going to. It is the biggest highway in this area. We should get moving though, we still have a long way to go and I really don't want to camp out here overnight."

Marissa looked concerned, "We have nothing to keep us warm once the sun sets, but we aren't going to be able to go far. The children simply won't make it."

I examined the four of them more closely. She was right. All they had was what they were wearing and they didn't even have a coat. For them to try to sleep outside would mean hypothermia in the cool night air in the mountainous foothills. I suppressed a growl of irritation at this situation. It was bad enough having their scent around me, but to actually touch them made things much harder.

I exhaled gustily and I knew they would be able to pick up my dislike of the situation from the noise, "There is no place closer than my cabin unless we head back to those zombie filled towns. If I carry the kids, can you two keep up?"

Tom and Marissa exchanged a look before Tom nodded, "We will try our best."

I looked at Liz, "I am going to put you on my shoulders and carry the boy, so you will have to sit carefully."

She nodded in determination as she came forward. The two adults looked doubtful. I carefully picked up the girl and set her on my shoulders. Marissa picked up the slender boy and came over. He was younger than Liz and I guessed he was about five. I tucked Liz's feet under my arms as I reached out to take the boy. Marissa handed him to me. "His name is Josh."

I nodded at Marissa and started walking. I didn't reply in words because I had my jaw clenched tightly. Having these two so close to my face was making me fight to stay in control. I hadn't been in close proximity to humans for months and I wasn't used to having to worry about my control.

My throat burned lightly from their scent, although it wasn't as bad as the scent of fresh blood. The heat in my blood beat like a war drum in time with my heart, the virus wanted their blood and it wanted it badly. The things I get myself into... This is far too close to torture for my liking. It didn't improve my mood any.

The only consolation was that we were moving faster.