In the end, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Other than the one lady following a bit too closely for my liking, there were no problems. They ventured the occasional question about the Stronghold in general, but that was it.

I exhaled in relief as I stepped out of the trees. Four people and two trucks were waiting for us. I was glad that I had tied those orange ribbons to the tree so they would know where to wait. A couple of the waiting people came forward to welcome the strays that staggered out of the forest behind me.

I was relieved of babysitting duty as the strays were guided to the truck beds for the ride back. One of the drivers approached me, "Can we offer you a lift? I know the back might be a bit crowded for you, but you can ride in the passenger seat."

I glanced at the trucks, "You won't get me in the back when it is that crowded, but I can grab the front seat."

He nodded and gestured to the truck he had been sitting in. I walked around to get into the passenger seat. The driver happened to be part of the archery group and would know to give me my space. Those in the back of the truck would likely not think anything of sitting right beside me since they had no clue that I was actually a Nightstalker.

I didn't bother with a seatbelt and neither did anyone else since the trucks weren't driving that fast. The trucks headed back toward the Stronghold. The driver glanced at me and spoke quietly, "I heard that you asked for Nina to be present when this group arrives?"

I nodded, "Yes, one of the men is infected. The scent is very faint, but it is there. He won't turn for a day or so yet."

He nodded slowly and focused on the road as he detoured around a normal zombie. The rest of the ride back was silent although I could hear those in the back happily chatting with the other local who had given up the front seat for me.

We rounded a corner and the gates came into view. I saw a dozen people waiting and recognized Nina and Daniel as they stood off to the side. The gates opened as we approached and we came to stop just inside.

Nina headed toward me while glancing at the newcomers. Daniel was taking deeper breaths as he was scenting the air. I got out of the truck and went to meet her halfway.

I kept my voice down, "One of the men is infected, although it was probably quite recent considering how faint the scent is. I was practically right beside them before I picked it up."

Her eyes scanned the four men, "Which one?"

"I am not entirely sure. They haven't spread out while I was close enough to scent them."

Nina knew that if I had barely picked up the scent then Daniel wouldn't be able to. Nina looked at the group, "Well, we have to figure out who it is before they go any further into the Stronghold. You and Daniel have turned so it would take a direct bite or blood contamination for you two to spread the virus, but in the stage before a person actually turns it is much more contagious."

Nina dug a pen and stack of labels out of her pocket before turning to the group and calling out, "Okay. Can I please get the newcomers to line up for me? I am going to give you a name tag."

I would have never thought of that tactic. They obediently lined up and Nina looked at them before nodding at the man on the one end, "Please come up one at a time and spell your name for me. You first, sir."

He walked up while the rest remained where they were. Nina started writing his name as I took a slow breath, but his scent was clean. I shook my head slightly since Nina was watching me out of the corner of her eye. I transferred my gaze to the lineup.

One by one they came forward. As the third man stated his name I crossed my arms and let a low growl out that Nina would probably just be able to hear. Daniel tensed up and Nina nodded while she finished writing his name and passing the man his label.

She let him go back to the lineup and continued on with the last two waiting. I wandered over to the doctor who was going to give them a quick look-over as per our staged radio conversation, "Mike is our infected one. Mention something about his limp and send him back to Nina while you let the other ones go for their tour."

He nodded as his eyes focused on the young man. I noticed earlier that he had a limp, so it was as good of an excuse as any. Nina was just finishing up the last one and I nodded my head toward the doctor to let her know that he was aware.

She passed the last nametag to the person, "Okay, the doctor is by the wall there and he will give you a quick checkup before we will take you on a tour."

The people shuffled off toward the doctor. I meandered back to Nina, "The doc will send him to you using his limp as an excuse."

She nodded, "Good idea. He might even be limping from a bite mark or another injury. I will get him down to the lab for a quick blood test before explaining his options."

Mike was lagging to the back of the line, obviously delaying his checkup as much as possible. I began to suspect that he was aware he was possibly infected. The first lady exited the small private side room of the guard post within a minute. It didn't take long for a second woman to join her as her checkup also passed with flying colors.

She looked around and spotted me before heading over. Her friend also tagged along.

"Thank you so much for bringing us here. We probably would have died in that forest if you hadn't shown up when you did."

I shrugged, somewhat uncomfortable with the overly friendly woman's praise, "It was no problem. Happy to help."

Daniel tilted his head at my overly human-like manner and Nina looked at me in curiosity before grinning as she realized that the newcomers had no idea what I really was.

The second woman tilted her head, "How did you find us out there?"

"I smelled the smoke from your campfire."

She looked confused, "The fire was barely burning and we were quite a ways from this place."

I shrugged once more, "I was on patrol and I have an excellent sense of smell."

Daniel looked amused at my truthful evasions. The lady was apparently the rational sort and didn't look like she was buying it. Her tone was faintly challenging "You were patrolling on foot in the middle of the night during a huge thunderstorm? And you just happened to find us a twenty minute walk from the nearest road?"

Apparently she had been trying to work through this puzzle for quite some time. I leveled a stare at her, "Not much gets close to this place without someone finding out. Regardless of the time of day or weather."

My answer did not satisfy her and she pressed the matter as her anger grew, "How? We were far enough out that it took almost half an hour of driving to get here. I want answers dammit!"

This lady had quite the temper behind her intellect. Too bad she wasn't smart enough to see the answer that was literally right in front of her nose. Her temper was also rousing mine. I crossed my arms and matched her glare, "You want the truth? A sane zombie found you about four hours before sunrise and alerted the Stronghold. I was asked to lead you to the road come morning if you wanted help."

Both of them froze with wide eyes. The woman whispered, "Shit. I never even considered that the Terror might have been the one to locate us."

Just as I had intended, she now thought the local Terror was responsible and didn't even consider that I was in fact a zombie. They knew the Terror was male from our brief talk, so it didn't even cross their minds that I could possibly be a zombie since I hadn't mentioned a second zombie.

Sometimes being inconspicuous simply involved people overlooking you. As a human, I would blend in. The moment they realized I was a zombie, they would always be watching out for me subconsciously. My instincts preferred to remain inconspicuous.

Nina was trying hard not to laugh and even Daniel looked amused at their mistaken assumption.

"Trinity! You're back!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see the redhead running toward us. Nina whispered to Daniel, "I thought we locked her up?"

Daniel was glaring at Nicky as she approached, "I did and I even double checked that lock."

Nicky held out her arms as she ran closer. I crossed my arms and warned her, "I am not in the mood for a hug. I just finished spending half of the night out in a downpour."

Nicky took heed of my warning and posture and dropped her arms. "Aw... I wanted a hug. It sucks when you are not around at breakfast. And this guy had the nerve to try and lock me in my room!"

Daniel exhaled slowly in irritation, "Just how did you get out of your room anyway?"

Nicky grinned widely at him, "I picked the locks of course. Trinity keeps warning you that I shouldn't be left unsupervised and I am really not sure why you don't take her warnings seriously after all this time."

Daniel gritted his teeth as a hint of red started to show in his eyes despite his attempt to keep them camouflaged. Nicky turned her attention to the two women in front of us and perked up before glancing at me, "Oh, these must be the people that you found in the forest."

The one lady blinked slowly as she realized that something wasn't quite right with Nicky. She attempted to correct the redhead, "Actually, the Terror found us. I hope we can thank him later on if it doesn't disturb him."

Nicky looked at Daniel skeptically, "Right... As if Daniel would get his feet wet in a storm like that."

The lady looked at Daniel in surprise and her eyes widened as she saw his faintly red colored eyes and realized that he was in fact the Terror. She took a step back in surprise at the discovery. Confusion crossed her face as she looked from Nicky, to Daniel and to me as she rolled Nicky's first greeting through her head.

The lady's jaw slowly dropped open as she fought through her disbelief. I narrowed my eyes at Nicky, "I thought you were going to avoid coffee?"

She held up her hands in a helpless gesture, "The electricity in the kitchen went out and breakfast was delayed by hours. They gave everyone coffee while we were waiting!"

The lady spoke slowly in shock as she stared at me, "You're a zombie, aren't you? I thought the Terror was a man?" She glanced between me and Daniel in confusion, trying to figure out how to fit the puzzle pieces together, but was too stunned to assimilate the clues into complete comprehension.

So much for my careful cover-up. Nicky grinned at her, "They blend in well when they try, don't they? Daniel is the Terror, but Trinity is a Nightstalker. She is much easier to get along with, just ignore her growls unless she is staring directly at your eyes."

Both women looked shocked and uneasy. The challenging one had lost her courage with this new knowledge. "You are a Nightstalker?" Her voice was quiet and she was having a hard time rearranging her previous opinion of me to match the rumors she heard about zombies.

I sighed gustily, "Yes."

She looked at Nicky, "Is she a zombie too?"

Nina started snickering and Daniel chuckled. I burst out laughing at the question, "No, she is our local lunatic who apparently got into coffee that she isn't supposed to have."

Nicky smirked, "Nah, I am far too cool to be a zombie."

The two women were beginning to look rather lost and confused. I shook my head, "Well, I have to turn my radio in at the north gate. Then I am going to find some dry clothing. See you later."

I turned and started to walk away without waiting for a response from anyone. Daniel spoke behind me, "Nicky, you should accompany Trinity and make sure she doesn't get lost."

"Aye, aye captain!"

I closed my eyes and growled faintly as footsteps ran up behind me before slowing to a walk just beside me. "To make sure I don't get lost? Really?"

Daniel had no problem picking up my faint irritated words that were directed toward him and responded too quietly for the humans to hear, "We had to deal with her all morning. She is yours for the rest of the day, or else we may lock her up in the barn."

I scoffed, "All morning? It isn't even 9am yet."

"That was still far too long when she has had coffee."

I glanced at the grinning redhead who was walking beside me, "Do you purposefully annoy Daniel when I am not around?"

"Technically I was annoying other people and he butted his nose in. So then I got to keep him amused for a couple of hours while we waited for your radio call."

I heard Daniel's barely audible growl as he contradicted her words.

"I somehow suspect that amused is not the term that Daniel would use in this case."

Nicky rubbed her hands together like she was plotting world domination, "Oh, he may not use that term, but I sure do. He is worse than a kidnapper I tell you! He kept trying to tie me up and when that didn't work he locked me in a tiny room!"

"You mean your bedroom?"

"Yeah! He could have at least locked me in his room so I could have snooped through all of his stuff and doodled on the walls."

I rubbed my forehead, "And just how do you find being tied up and locked in your room amusing?"

She laughed, "Because I always get out! Their expressions are priceless when I round the corner."

I sighed and shook my head, this could be a long day... "You are lucky that he didn't use the restraints and locks we use on feral zombies."

She threw her hands in the air in wild excitement, "But he did! And I picked those locks too! They were even easier to get out of than handcuffs are."

I gave her an odd look, "Do I even want to know how many times you have been handcuffed?"

She chuckled, "I am pretty sure I got to try on every single pair of the cops' handcuffs in my town at least twice. I picked those too. Then they got smart and just told me that if I got into the car that they would give me a donut at the station while we waited for my counselor."

How Nicky had survived the zombie apocalypse was completely beyond my comprehension. We made it to the north gate, although people were giving Nicky some odd looks. I suspected they were worried because she was loose again. I tossed the radio to the woman above and she caught it.

I glanced at Nicky, "What are your plans for the day?" I wasn't about to get a nap in if she was anywhere in the vicinity and considering that she wasn't currently working, it was safe to say that she probably wasn't going to be doing much today.

Nicky shrugged, "I have absolutely no idea, so I might as well hang out with you. At least I know that you aren't about to volunteer to pick weeds or rocks and I have no idea how those things keep appearing in the gardens considering how often we keep removing them."

Just my luck. I got stuck with Nicky while she was on a coffee buzz. I tilted my head as I rapidly thought of options, "Why don't we grab your bow and go hunting? We can see how good your aim has really gotten."

It would also get her outside of the Stronghold, which would be a relief to anyone inside of it. I would just have to take care that her bow never pointed anywhere near my direction. I could change my clothing in the forest since I had clean clothes in my backpack. Nicky perked up, "That is a great idea! The hunting groups might even let me join them if I can prove how good my aim is."

I nodded toward the garage, "Go grab the side by side and I will grab your bow."

She took off running toward the garage and I headed toward the archery shed while trying to shake off any misgivings I was having about this plan.