I kept my ears open while peeling veggies and it was no surprise that word was spreading like wildfire about me knowing what was going on. None of the staff approached me about it, but I heard faint whispers from them and from those just outside the open kitchen door.

Nina once more joined Nicky and me at lunch. I glanced around, "What did you do to Daniel? I don't think I have ever seen you two apart."

Nina grinned at me, "He is off with a group of people to cage some feral Runners and take them to a holding barn to the south. He will help me get some blood from them. The more samples we have, the better it is for us. Most of our testing is done in blood samples. Using feral Runners also gives us a chance to try out any promising cures on an actual zombie without putting a sane zombie at risk of unforeseen side effects. Forewarned, he will be a bit grouchy when he gets back. Dealing with ferals always puts him in a bad mood."

I blinked slowly, "Are there a lot of those unforeseen side effects?"

Nina sighed, "Yeah. The virus is tenacious. Kind of like trying to treat a really nasty wide spread cancer, but worse. No cancer ever had the power to regenerate entire limbs and keep a body from failing even if its host bled out."

Nicky shuddered, "Ughh! I am trying to eat here! Obviously scientists and zombies have one thing in common, not much grosses you out when you are eating. But please let the rest of us eat in peace without nausea."

Nina looked amused, but changed the topic, "Trinity, you mentioned earlier that the night called to you, can you elaborate on that?"

She dug into a side satchel to pull out a small notepad and pen. The interrogator was back. Fantastic, just what I wanted... Perhaps we should give Nicky some coffee just to make this day even better.

I knew that Nina had never managed to talk to the first Nightstalker that passed through and it looked as if she was trying to make up for lost time.

I sighed, "A Nightstalker's instincts strengthen once the sun has set. There is a strong desire to go outside at night. As a human, I loved big thunderstorms and enjoyed sitting on our porch to watch one while feeling the cool breeze. It always seemed to make me feel alive and invigorated. It is somewhat similar to that, but different."

Nina's hands flew as she took notes. She glanced at me, "I had a look at your sunglasses while you were unconscious. How did you customize them? Daniel said that the soft stuff around the edges smelled like silicone when he scratched a bit off."

I made a mental note to check my other two pairs to ensure that he hadn't damaged their fit. "No pair of welding glasses that look like sunglasses has a perfect seal, other than some rather ugly goggles, so I do have to make some modifications. I took black silicone and put a line of it around the frame before putting a strip of plastic wrap over it. Then I put them on and the silicone molded to my face perfectly. The plastic kept the silicone from sticking to me and once the silicone had cured, I just trimmed the plastic off."

"Can you see with them on at night? How well can you see?"

I resignedly regarded the overenthusiastic lady who had completely forgotten about her half-eaten plate of food, "You have to eat at least three bites between each question."

I took a slow bite of an apple slice to emphasize my point. Nina screwed up her face, but reluctantly traded her pen for her fork. She took exactly three hurried bites and grabbed her pen while still chewing her last mouthful.

I rolled my eyes, but held up my end of the deal, "I can see with them on even during the new moon, although it is quite dim. With your curiosity, I am sure that you tried them on. How much could you see?"

"Inside I could see absolutely nothing. I could have been in a pitch-black room for all I knew. If I was outside at midday, I could see vague silhouettes, but nothing more. Although I kind of expected that since they are welding glasses. How often do you take your glasses off?"

I raised an eyebrow and inclined my head toward her plate. Nina huffed in annoyance before grabbing her fork and pointedly scooping a mouthful of potatoes into her mouth while staring at me. I snorted and shook my head at her childish reaction.

~

Nina's questions nibbled at my composure and waning patience like a swarm of mice with a loaf of bread. About the time she finally managed to clear her plate I was more than ready to escape. I stood up in relief. Nina looked at me in confusion, "Where are you going?"

I shook my head, "I am not entirely sure, but I am sure that I can find something to do."

Nina frowned, "You didn't tell me I had a question limit. I barely finished eating."

I ignored her as I turned to Nicky, "What do you usually do in the afternoon?"

Nicky grinned, "I make sure to take turns gracing people with my presence. I was planning on helping wash blankets today, so they can definitely use your muscles."

Nina perked up, "They usually wash that stuff outside in the sun. I can sit nearby and talk while you work."

This lady just didn't take a hint... I regarded Nina, "Feel free to suntan, but keep the questions to a minimum. They won't thank me for helping if my fingernails rip the blankets in my irritation."

Nina looked amused, "It is hard to contain my enthusiasm once I get going, but I can attempt it."

She sounded like she wasn't going to be trying too hard. I also doubted that she overly cared.

I was correct. I was up to my elbows in warm soapy water as I scrubbed and wrung out the heaviest of blankets. As if that wasn't bad enough, Nina was perched on a lawn chair behind me with a pen and notepad.

Admittedly, she was spacing out her questions and taking time to think between them. Her questions were somewhat easier to bear if I was working out my frustrations by scrubbing the heavy bedding instead of just sitting and fidgeting. Somewhat being the key word.

Nicky ignored my sliding mood, but the other dozen people helping with this task were obviously affected by my body language since it told of my slowly growing annoyance. This was the last heavy blanket, the rest were lighter things that probably would not survive the treatment I had given the others. The ones I had done were certainly clean at any rate.

I started wringing it out before pulling it through the mechanism to help squeeze out the remaining water. Another woman came to take the damp and pummeled blanket from me before going to hang it up to dry. I looked around, Nicky still had most of her pile left and she would be a while yet.

Nina had left for a few minutes and was now walking back over with a woman I didn't recognize. I guessed that the blonde-haired woman was in her late teens or very early twenties. I smelled her long before I turned around, her scent was strong with odd chemical smells. She was appraising me with a curious look as she followed Nina.

Nina introduced us, "Trinity, this is my assistant Louise. Louise, this is Trinity. Louise had just graduated from university as a researcher specializing in viruses. She helps me with some of the stuff in the lab."

I nodded. None of them were surprised when I didn't offer to shake hands. Zombies weren't much for contact and I doubted that anyone expected such actions from zombies here. Louise's voice was higher pitched than I expected, "Glad to hear you decided to stick around. We have some really good leads on potential cures now. I suspect that we will see a bit more of each other in the future."

I shrugged, "I suppose we will see." I lifted my head to take a deeper breath of air while trying to ignore Miss Stinky in front of me, "I am picking up Daniel's scent, so it won't be long before he arrives."

Both ladies perked up. Nina turned and headed toward the south gate, "In that case, I will go and meet him so he doesn't have to search the compound for me." Louise followed Nina.

I glanced back at Nicky, "How about I help you finish up that pile real quick and we make ourselves scarce? If Nina is correct and Daniel is grouchy, then I am the last person he should be around."

A different lady interrupted, "Don't worry about finishing, you did the heaviest stuff so we are well ahead of schedule. Just leave it for us."

I blinked slowly at the lady. They either wanted to get rid of Nicky or they were trying to prevent a possible clash between Daniel and me. Possibly both. I nodded, "Thank you." I glanced at Nicky, "He is coming up from the south, so let's head north to the forest for a few hours."

Nicky nodded and quickly dried her hands. We had only been helping wash for a little over an hour, but it had felt like forever with Nina asking questions. We made it out of the north gate before Daniel arrived at the south gate, so it worked out well.

We headed back to where the rabbit traps were. We could bring the cages back with us since I was more than capable of hunting for myself at this point. I left Nicky in the clearing once more and went to check the traps. I had managed to reclaim my glass jars and syringes with no one the wiser and wasted no time in bleeding the rabbits out.

I went back to Nicky, "Feel like trying to doctor up my shoulder one more time?"

Nicky grinned, "Well, you did get me out of doing work, so I can do that if we can find another blackberry patch afterwards."

I raised an eyebrow as I dug a small blanket out of my backpack, "That is two favors from me to get you to do one favor? That doesn't seem exactly fair."

Nicky chuckled, "Yeah, but I know you will agree. You almost always go looking for some sort of berry or fruit afterwards anyway."

She had a point. I shook my head as I spread the blanket out and lay down on it. Nicky came over to sit beside me as she doctored my wound with the jar I gave her. The other jar would be for my leg later on. Hopefully this would be the last time I would have to ask Nicky to do this for me.

~

After three hours of hiding in the forest and nibbling on fresh fruit, we headed back. Nicky was heading to the mess hall to grab herself some supper. I headed toward the secondary building to wait for her. One man from the archery group was lounging on a bench, probably waiting for some of his friends.

I decided to test out the effectiveness of the gossip vine, "Any rumor on what kind of mood Daniel is in?"

The man looked at me, slightly surprised that I was talking to him, "He came back right as you left. Nina and Louise met him at the gate and headed to the barn once they grabbed their supplies. None of them have come back yet and when they do, they will likely head straight to the lab. It is usually best to stay out of their way when they return."

I nodded, "Thank you." I resumed my walk. Stay out of their way? I could do that, as long as they didn't try to find me.

It didn't take Nicky long to join me on the rooftop. I gazed toward the south, but the barn must be past the bend in the road and the trees blocked my view. No one appeared on the road by the time Nicky finished her supper.

We headed for the archery lane, figuring that counted as a safe place. Some of the archery group were already present, but the last two lanes had been left open for us as per usual. I kept an eye on the group, but they seemed more relaxed around me. Most people today had been more at ease. There was no secret they had to guard and the difference was noticeable. They were also no longer triggering my suspicious instincts, which was a welcome relief.

Nicky looked up, "Hey Ben! Glad to see you still live."

Ben shook his head as he approached, "I still can't believe they let you fire a bow."

Nicky drew herself up as far as her short frame could manage, "I will have you know that my aim has improved drastically since you last saw me. I dare you to put an apple on your head and stand in front of the target."

Ben shook his head rapidly, "Not a chance. I don't care who is shooting, I am not doing it."

I wouldn't have taken Nicky's dare either. She may be hitting the target itself consistently now, but that target was half my size. Ben looked at me, "I hear you are going to do some nighttime patrols tonight?"

I nodded, "That was my general plan."

Ben sighed in relief, "Good. I have been on night shift the last four days and it isn't exactly fun since we can't see much unless it comes right up to the fence. The guards at the north gate have a walkie talkie that you can pick up when you leave. They aren't too concerned about regular zombies, but let them know if you see or scent any other type of zombie. They will probably want to round it up and put it in the barn."

"Is there anything in particular that they are expecting me to do?"

Ben shook his head, "No, just patrol and radio stuff in. Overall, simply having you out there gives us a bit of extra warning if something nasty is coming our way. Most overrun Strongholds fell at night because a zombie got over the fence in the dark. They may call you if something shows up that they want help fighting."

That sounded easy enough. I nodded and took another shot at my target. I had practiced with every type of bow in the shed and always got close to the center of the target at this point, if I didn't get the bullseye.

Ben watched me fire a few arrows, "Your aim is pretty good. I am surprised that you don't carry a bow."

I shrugged, "Bows don't really interest me. I find throwing a crowbar to be more effective."

"Point taken." His eyes had a distant look as he was probably recalling a few times he had seen me use the crowbar. He glanced back at the shed, "I think I will shoot for a bit before I have to report at the guard post."

I remained at the archery lane until the sun got closer to the horizon. Ben stretched, "Well, I have to get going. They have me on the north gate tonight. I can grab that walkie talkie for you, if you want."

I nodded, "Sure."

I walked with Ben as we headed toward the gate.