I woke out of my light doze as I picked up faint footsteps on the stairs that led up the roof. I instantly recognized them as Daniel's. After a quick deliberation I decided to pretend to be asleep. I had been napping after all and it might mislead him in the future. Perhaps he would leave me in peace in the future if he thought I was napping most of the afternoon when I was up here on the roof.

He was walking more quietly than usual, as if to avoid overly disturbing me. His normal walking footsteps were quieter than humans usually were simply due to the fact that he was a Terror. I sat still with shallow even breaths as he approached the door to the roof. It had a glass window on it, so he could see me before reaching the door. He turned the handle and I slightly jerked my head in his direction, as if I had been awoken from sleep.

He blinked in slight surprise as he continued to twist the knob and open the door. He walked over to sit in a chair. My instincts cared for his presence even less now that I knew he was up to something. I scanned the tree line out of habit as Daniel simply sat down. He broke the silence to speak quietly, "How are you holding up?"

I was very glad that mindreading was not a skill that Terrors possessed. If I hadn't been suspicious before, his casual and almost concerned question would have caught my attention since it came out of nowhere. We had barely tolerated each other's presence for most of our trip. This behavior was quite out of character for him.

Sure, I could see Kelly or Travis showing concern like this, but the three of us had been at ease with each other's presence and I counted them as friends. Daniel and I did not have anything similar to the friendship I had with those two Nightstalkers. The only way I could describe what we had was to call it an uneasy truce.

I shrugged as if disinterested, "Well enough."

He sighed as he looked toward the forest as well, "It takes a bit to get used to it, but this place is one of the only places I know of that appreciates the skills that zombies have. They mentioned that they hope you stick around. If there is something that will make it easier for you, they will be happy to help."

Now I knew that someone had put him up to this conversation. This was not like any of our past conversations. I was going to have to drop a false lead for my altered behavior. They were going to notice it before too long. I glanced at Daniel, "The smell of humans here is so strong that I can practically cut it into bricks and build a castle. How does it not bother you?"

He looked thoughtful, "You once mentioned that you got somewhat accustomed to the smell of humans and you had only been around them a couple of weeks. I have always been around them, so I barely notice it unless my instincts get triggered or the bloodlust rears its head more strongly than usual. If you give it some time, it probably won't bother you in a month or so."

He glanced at me as a thought hit him, "You aren't having any problems with control, are you?"

I shook my head, "As long as I avoid the mess hall during supper, I should be good on that front unless something really riles me up."

He tilted his head in curiosity, "What is most likely to rile you up?"

I gave him an ironic look, "A Terror is asking a Nightstalker that question? As different as we are, our instincts have more in common than I care to admit. Although my temper seems shorter than yours from what I have seen."

"You seem to be doing quite well."

I snorted, "Don't count on it holding out much longer. I have been trying hard to act human, but I have never managed it for more than a few days. Ben or Marissa can testify to that from our road trip. My instincts are already starting to act up."

He furrowed his eyebrows and spoke slowly, "It isn't so much that you have to act human. They know you aren't and they don't expect you to go out of your way to act like it. You can be yourself, just don't attack or threaten them."

I had never realized just how... humanized... Daniel was until just now. This guy needed to get out more and actually act like a zombie. What he really needed to do was go out and just live wild by himself for a week or two. Just thinking about how civilized he was gave me a headache.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "I think a quarter of the people here would fall over if they heard me growl. I shocked the few that heard me growl half-heartedly at Nicky."

He shrugged, "Once they realize that you won't harm them, it won't bother them."

I snorted in doubt and noticed that his jaw tensed. My ill-mannered actions and tone were triggering his instincts. As much as I wouldn't mind pissing him off, it was better if I didn't rile him up. The last thing I needed was to re-open those wounds if it came to a scuffle. The best plan was to lay low and make my escape as soon as I thought I could manage it successfully.

An uncomfortable silence fell between us. His instincts hated being challenged or belittled and mine didn't like being the underdog. We were doomed to grate on each other's nerves and tempers.

I heard someone running up the stairs, but waited a bit before turning my head toward the door. Daniel was watching me, as if judging just how good my hearing was. Let him think my hearing was poorer than what it was. With luck he would underestimate me later on.

Nicky opened up the door and came over to me without sparing a glance at Daniel, "Come on, let's head to the forest before someone realizes that I am not weeding that garden like they told me to."

"Are you trying to use me as an excuse to get out of doing work?"

She was unashamed, "Yep. It is a pretty good excuse too. I would rather drive your irritable hide all over the forest than pick another freaking dandelion."

I shrugged, "Fine by me. I am not going to argue about a trip to the forest."

I got to my feet and slowly walked with Nicky to the door. I could feel Daniel's gaze as he watched me go. Nicky had good timing.

~

I finished telling Nicky everything I had overheard. Her eyes were wide, "Shit. I didn't realize that it was this bad. You realize that the longer they think we are ignorant, the better it is for us, right?"

I growled in frustration, "I am well aware of that, but the situation is anything but comfortable."

Nicky shook her head, "No wonder people kept asking me questions about how you were doing and if anything was bothering you. You were right, we are going to have to practically bust out of this place when we try to escape. At least they aren't trying to keep you here by force yet, that is one good point. Oh, here is that map. I read some other papers on the desk while I was there."

She unfolded the map and put it against a big rock, "Wait until you see this. This is where we are currently, this is where we started, and this is the route we took. Nina and Daniel knew that these places were there because this place trades with them a fair bit. It wasn't by chance that we went down those particular roads. No wonder we never met any other people on the road, we avoided the main routes."

A low snarl escaped my lips as Nicky traced her fingers over the road we had driven. Nina had guided us practically right down the middle of an invisible line that marked the halfway point between various Strongholds. We had passed six Strongholds and she had ensured that we had not gone anywhere near them. Probably because they knew I was planning to leave the instant the humans found any Stronghold.

I had one other concern though. "Can you pull down the bandages and check that wound on my back for me?"

Nicky nodded and I took off my shirt. She gently pulled the bandages down a bit. "It doesn't look like it has healed much at all, is that normal? I thought zombies healed fast."

I looked over my shoulder, but of course couldn't see it. "Can you use your mirror so I can see it?"

She quickly dug it out of her pocket and with a bit of trial and error got the angle that allowed me to see the wound. I clenched my teeth with a growl. It had barely healed with the way that Nina kept trimming the scab and cleaning the wound. Nicky glanced at me, "I take it that it isn't supposed to look this bad?"

My answer was short and terse, "No."

She frowned, "Is there anything we can do about it?"

I narrowed my eyes in thought before putting my shirt on, "There is. Wait here, I will be back in a few minutes."

I headed to the rabbit traps and swiftly returned. I held up a small jar of dark red liquid. She looked at it suspiciously, "Just what is that?"

I dug a needleless syringe out of my backpack along with a pair of rubber gloves, "A mixture of rabbit blood and my saliva. If it is put onto a wound, it increases the healing rate substantially. Can you put this on my back? I can do the rest of them later."

She made a face, but nodded as she put on the gloves and gingerly took the jar and syringe. "I think this is the creepiest thing I have ever done. What am I actually supposed to be doing?"

I took off my shirt again as I laid down on a blanket I had spread on the grass, "Just drip that into the wound." I hated revealing this secret, but I really needed that injury to heal as soon as possible. Odd as it was, I knew that Nicky wouldn't tell anyone else.

"Okay..."

She carefully pulled the bandage down just enough to expose the injury. I felt the drops hit the injury. Nicky's voice was shaking, "Shit... It is literally disappearing. Is it supposed to do that?"

I nodded, "Yes. That is what increases the healing."

She was silent as she kept emptying the jar into the painful injury. The blood also caused the injury to heat up. It always did. The blood caused the heat in my blood to focus on that area. The spot on my back was almost painfully hot by the time Nicky sat up, "The jar is empty." She carefully put the bandage back from the way she had pulled it down.

I sat up and put my shirt back on, "Thanks. If we do this every day it should completely close up within a week as long as Nina doesn't mess with it too much. Just don't mention it to anyone else."

"No worries there. They would probably think I was crazy or something." I think it is a little too late for that one Nicky... She passed the small apricot-sized jar back to me and I stuck it in my backpack. I had another jar in my backpack to treat my other wounds this evening.

Nicky flopped on her back with a dramatic sigh, "How soon are you going to be ready for an escape attempt?"

I shrugged, "Unless I heal faster than I anticipate, it will probably be around ten days before I can run without causing myself more damage."

Nicky groaned, "That is going to feel like forever. Just how are we going to get out of this place? None of the vehicles ever have more than half a tank when they are parked and the gas tanks are guarded. I am not allowed to gas up the side by side, so we wouldn't get very far with it."

I shook my head, "They time us when we take the side by side. I say we drain a bit of gas out of it daily and store it out here. We can sneak out right after sunset. If we find any vehicle out of gas, we can use it without raising suspicion. They wouldn't miss us until breakfast."

Nicky sighed, "I guess I will see if I can purloin some tubing and a jar for the gas, but it is almost time for supper so we better get going before Daniel comes looking for us. That guy just keeps popping up like a dirty shirt."