I sighed as I reclined in the lawn chair. Nicky snorted, "I don't know why you are sighing. All you did was run around outside the fence. I was the one who was stooped over all afternoon picking rocks. You have sure been spending a lot of time outside of the fence lately. You aren't planning on running without me are you?"

Running was getting a bit more tempting, but running away went against my instincts as it was tantamount to giving in. Besides, they had made one breakthrough already... I exhaled gustily as I recalled the main source of my irritation, "I am spending more time out there because Louise is scared of being outside the fence without guards."

Nicky gave me an incredulous look, "Is she still trying to get you to try that new cure? I thought Nina and Daniel told her to leave you alone."

I frowned, "They did, but she keeps coming when they are elsewhere. She is getting seriously annoying and I am tired of it."

It had been three days since Nina had told us about the cure and Louise had been a royal pain in my ass ever since. I had growled at her several times, but she just didn't take the hint. Nina had caught her annoying me once and told Louise to leave me alone. Daniel had backed Nina as he bared his teeth at the young woman. They had worked hard to convince me to stay, having a lab assistant annoying me wasn't something that they were going to tolerate.

Daniel had relaxed a bit the last few days, but dealing with ferals day in and day out was putting him in a perpetual slightly irritable mood. I stayed clear of that barn. Once the ex-zombies had been close to having their bodies shut down, they had re-infected them. Their triggers still needed some work, but they could reliably turn someone into a Runner.

Not one of the zombies regained control or were sane. Each and every one remained completely feral. They refused to try the trigger for a Terror outside of small blood samples. The potential consequences of a feral Terror getting loose were not to be contemplated. They were cautious when trying the Nightstalker trigger. The one attempt they made in turning a Runner into a Nightstalker had failed though.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear..." Nicky's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I followed her gaze as a low growl built in my throat at the sight of the annoying woman in question. Louise had her plate as she was heading toward our building. She was likely planning to eat supper with us. Nina and Daniel had also been joining us for supper the last few days, although they had not arrived yet.

My anger built simply knowing that Louise was on her way. I had taken a dislike to her. Louise appeared on the roof far too quickly for my tastes. I disliked how she smelled and detested how she kept hinting that I should help out in their research more. If I never saw her again, that would be fine by me.

She sat down in a chair and put her plate on her knees as she started to eat. She wasted no time in bringing up the undesirable subject, "It turns out that the cure removes the zombie virus, but it does not act as a vaccine. We have run numerous tests and it works perfectly with the ferals and in the blood samples from the humans."

I growled lowly in warning as I knew what she was trying to hint at, "I am not volunteering. I am here as a blood donor and that is it. I quite enjoy being a Nightstalker and I have no desire to go back to being human with the illnesses and slow healing injuries."

I was getting quite upset at Louise. Her mere presence irritated me, so it wasn't that big of a step for my mood to worsen. Nicky glanced at me in concern, she could see I was getting worked up. Louise shrugged, "We have the triggers worked out, so you could always turn back into a Nightstalker."

I bared my teeth as my chest vibrated with the force of my growl, "No. I will not be a test subject. If you want to see the results so badly, then turn yourself into a Nightstalker and see if you can reverse it." My vision was going redder as my temper reared its head.

Louise frowned at me, "I know that being a Nightstalker makes you obstinate, but there is no reason to be quite so damn stubborn."

Her callous reply snapped my temper. I rose to my feet in a fighting crouch as my ripping snarl echoed around me. A second snarl echoed mine and I glanced to the side, but Daniel was focused on Louise. His snarl had been meant for her. His bright red eyes showed that he was not happy.

Nina was standing beside him as they had just come up on the roof. She looked livid. Nina walked forward with her focus on Louise, "And just what is the meaning of this?! I told you to leave Trinity alone, and you take that as leave to harass her?" Her tone could cut glass, I had never seen her so mad before.

Louise hunched her shoulders as she realized just how badly she had messed up, but didn't respond. Her guilty silence did nothing to appease Nina's temper. Nina pointed toward the door she had just passed through, "Go. I do not want to see you near Trinity unless she approaches you."

Louise hesitated, but as both Daniel and myself growled at her, she picked up her plate and scurried off. Nina watched her leave with narrowed eyes until she was out of sight. She turned back to me with a regretful expression, but realized at a glance that I was in no mood for a conversation.

The person responsible for my rage was gone, but my anger didn't dissipate so quickly. Nina had spent enough time with Daniel to know this. I was still in a fighting crouch as the heat flowed through my veins from my temper. My instincts and anger were too strong to relax my stance. My vision was still a very deep red color. Nina sat down in a chair with her plate of food. Daniel watched me closely, but also took a seat as he moved slowly to avoid triggering an attack.

I fought with my temper, although it was easier said than done. My anger slowly simmered down and I came out of my fighting crouch. I was still too agitated to sit though. Nicky sighed as I slowly straightened up.

She had been waiting for me to relax a bit before talking, "If you hadn't snarled at her, I was about to let loose and go crazy on her. And honest, if I purposefully decide to lose my cool, I go completely bat shit crazy. She would have looked like a squirrel that stuck its tongue into an electrical socket by the time I got done with her."

Her words were not helping any. I raised an eyebrow at Nicky, still quite upset and irritated, "If you are trying to derail my line of thought, then you need to do better than that." Such comments were her usual tactic to help distract me from my anger, but I hadn't been this mad in a long time.

She sat up straighter with a look of hyper excitement, "What about if I paint myself blue and swing from the tree branches like a monkey while singing Who Let The Dogs Out?!"

I stared at her in complete disbelief. Apparently she had considered my comment as a challenge. I also knew that she was quite serious about doing it if she thought it was needed. I wasn't sure how to erase that disturbing image from my mind. Nicky continued to stare at me with all of the excitement of a four year old after drinking a stolen espresso.

I had no clue how to respond to such a comment. Judging from Nina and Daniel's expressions, neither did they. My anger had abated somewhat with the distraction.

I exhaled gustily as I sank down into my chair, "Whatever are we going to do with you?"

Nicky burst out laughing, "Keep me around obviously! What kind of question is that?"

I almost hated to admit that her tactic had worked. Most of my anger had disappeared as I tried to work out how to respond to her and my vision was back to normal. I was still upset, but no longer furious. I turned my head to look at a dumbfounded Nina who was looking between Nicky and me.

I raised my eyebrow at Nina, "Promise me that you will hide all cans of blue paint where she can't find them."

Nicky sat up in alarm, "Hey! That is no fair! You can't ruin my fun like that!"

Daniel shook his head, "Your idea of fun is often a challenge to our sanity."

Nicky raised her chin in defiance, "Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way if your criticism insults them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes. Speaking of shoes, I still have a standing grudge against your left shoe. Lend it to me for half an hour, I saw a package of markers somewhere."

Daniel wasn't buying it as he shook his head, "Not a chance. Even my shoe deserves to have its dignity left intact."

Nicky shoved a mouthful of potatoes in her mouth and grumbled incoherently. Nina was eating salad with a thoughtful expression as her eyes kept shifting between Nicky and me. I raised an eyebrow at her in a silent question.

Nina blinked slowly, "I had heard some people say that Nicky was able to somehow calm you down, but I hadn't seen it myself. I am still trying to determine exactly what I saw. You were furious, and in under two minutes, Nicky had you sitting down."

Nicky snorted, "For someone who prides herself on being observant, you really miss a lot don't you?"

Daniel growled faintly, but Nina gently waved him off as she regarded Nicky in curiosity, "What do you mean?"

Nicky rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Open your eyes Miss Scientist. The tactics I use to help Trinity calm down are the same ones that she uses to help me recover from an insanity blitz. Distraction. Admittedly, her approach is more tolerance with a good dose of distraction while she fends me off, but that is beside the point."

Nina blinked, "That is a rather interesting comparison..."

Nicky gestured toward Daniel, "I can't calm Trinity down the way you calm down Daniel. You helped him with control when he first turned and somewhere deep down he is convinced that his control is dependent on you. That is why he is so protective of you and listens to you so readily, he equivalates you to his control."

I blinked in surprise at her. That actually made a lot of sense and explained his diligent guard dog act. Some days Nicky's perceptiveness scared me... Nina and Daniel looked startled. They had obviously never thought of it that way.

Nicky shrugged, "Basic psychology 101. You may be a scientist, but I know psychology and I have met hundreds of counselors and psychiatrists over the years. My name has appeared in over fifty research papers." She tilted her head, "Or were they restraining orders? I can never keep those two straight."

I shook my head as Nina and Daniel exchanged a look. I bet that it was the same counselors and psychiatrists who requested those very restraining orders in an attempt to protect themselves. As if a mere piece of paper was going to stop Nicky...

I wasn't hungry, but Nicky handed me a couple of apple slices from her plate. I slowly nibbled on the crisp fruit as the humans worked their way through their plates of food. Nina ate in a polite and dainty fashion while Nicky more or less shoveled her food into her mouth. Nicky ate a surprising amount of food every day and somehow never gained a pound.

Nicky sighed as she chased the last bit of gravy around her plate with a piece of bread, "That tasted great. Good thing archery doesn't require much moving." She stood up with a groan as she stretched, "Come on Trinity, let's get down there before someone tries to take my favorite bow."

I rolled my eyes as I stood up, "There are 15 identical bows in that shed and there is no way to tell them apart."

Nicky headed for the door, "Excuses, excuses. Stop procrastinating, an hour or two of archery won't kill you unless you get too close to my target."

I shook my head as I followed her down the stairs. She clattered ahead of me excitedly. The door clicked closed and I heard Daniel's faint voice through the door, "As annoying as Nicky is, she is worth her weight in gold when it comes to calming Trinity down."

Nina replied, "Indeed. She did have some very interesting observations, but I doubt that anyone else could replicate the effect Nicky has on Trinity. I have never seen distraction used in such a manner before."

Their voices were too faint for me to hear them. It looked like my previous attempts to keep Daniel from knowing exactly how good my hearing was had worked.

I kind of wished that I could head to my room and open up my window to try and overhear what else they were talking about. There was no distracting Nicky when she was on a mission though, and if they didn't see me with her as we walked to the archery area, it would attract their attention.

A few people were already on the archery field when we got there. I hadn't even fired thirty arrows before several people led Liz into the field. I was surprised to see her, it wasn't often that she left Marissa's sight despite numerous attempts by quite a few people. Liz grinned widely when she saw me before running over. Her tiny frame hit my legs so hard that she almost rebounded.

"I missed you!" She was clearly delighted to see me. I could see others on the field smiling at the child's enthusiasm. Everyone here knew that I had agreed to stay, but they still went out of their way to make things easier or make staying more tempting.

I patted the child on the back, "It is good to see you too. What have you been up to?"

Liz stepped back so she could see my face easier, "I have been helping Marissa and going to school. Can we do archery?"

I nodded toward the shed, "Your bow is along the back wall."

With a squeal of excitement and a sneeze, she jogged toward the shed to get her bow. She must be catching that sneezing cold that had been going around. I glanced over at Nicky, "I wonder how long it will be before Marissa realizes she is missing."

Nicky smirked, "Ah, but there is a difference between realizing she is missing and dodging people who are trying to delay her."

I raised my eyebrow in inquiry. Nicky chuckled, "We are missing the prankish twin. The only time he is absent from the archery field in the evening is when he is causing mischief."

I looked around as I realized that Nicky was correct. The twin's brother was close enough to overhear Nicky's comment and chuckled as he watched his friend shoot. I guess we will see how talented this twin is.

The twin must have either been quite talented or he had a lot of help since it took over two hours before Marissa made her predictable appearance on the field. She came in from the other side of the field, close to us, so the archery group didn't have a chance to close ranks on her again.

She was tightlipped, but didn't say anything as she held out her hand to Liz. Liz passed me the bow and arrows before walking across the substantial distance to Marissa. Marissa promptly turned around and walked back the way she had come.

I snorted quietly once she was gone, "I am quite surprised that she hasn't transferred to another Stronghold just to get away from me."

Nicky glanced over, "Actually she did try."

That startled me, "She is still here, did they decline her too?" That would explain a lot about her behavior actually...

Nicky shook her head, "Marissa, Tom and Josh were cleared to leave, but they wouldn't let Liz go. So Marissa decided to remain behind. Tom and Josh already left. Marissa tried to sneak Liz out twice so far, but got caught."

I shook my head in disbelief at this news, "No wonder she doesn't like me. She never had any problem with me on the road, so I couldn't figure out why she was suddenly passive aggressive."

Nicky snickered, "Oh, that isn't the real reason, but I do know why she is acting like that."

I tilted my head, "And why has she taken a sudden dislike toward me?"

"She is scared. I don't think she really believed you were a zombie until you attacked those bandits, but that is when she started avoiding you, although you were technically dead, so you won't remember that part. She tried to get us to leave you behind at the truck stop claiming that you were an out of control monster, but shut up once Daniel snarled at her. The fact that they won't let Liz leave is just slowly twisting her panties into a pretty knot."

I shook my head, "If I hadn't attacked them, someone would have died."

"Well, technically you did die, but I know what you mean."

I rolled my eyes as I took aim at the target again. I wanted to ask about what exactly did occur while I was out of it, but there were far too many ears nearby for my comfort. The unknown bothered me. I would have to ask her later.