Nicky narrowed her eyes and pointed, "That is the guilty one."

I exhaled slowly in exasperation, "Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah. I would know that face anywhere."

I huffed in annoyance, "Fine. Then lure him over here so I can set him straight."

Nicky quickly marched off and I shook my head. Unbelievable. I can't believe I agreed to do this just to get her out of that lab before she broke something.

It didn't take more than two words from Nicky before she was tearing back toward me full tilt with him hot on her heels and hell bent on revenge. Nicky was right about one thing though. This particular turkey really hated her.

I was very glad that there was no one else around to either see or hear this. Nicky darted past me, "I told you that thing was possessed!"

The turkey focused on me as the closest target. It was apparently not the brightest bird in the flock. I pulled my lips back from my teeth as I snarled at the bird that had almost reached me. It practically did a somersault as it tried to come to an instantaneous stop.

I growled lowly at it as it managed to regain its balance and tear off in the other direction even faster than it had arrived. I glared at Nicky, "Happy now?"

She finally grinned, "Yep. It was worth the caffeine crash just to see that overgrown drumstick finally meet his match."

I highly doubted that anyone in this place would agree with her. I know I certainly didn't. I shook my head as I started to walk away, "No more caffeine for you. If I ever catch you drinking coffee again, I will lock you in the chicken coop with all of these turkeys, including that one. I will have Ben hold the door shut as his own version of revenge so you won't be able to pick the lock and get out."

Nicky mumbled, "Shit. Her threats are worse than anything Daniel ever came up with. Note to self, avoid coffee unless she is taking a day trip somewhere."

I sniffed the air, "If you hurry, you can probably be the first in the supper lineup. They have your favorite potatoes."

My muscles tensed as I heard her run up behind me and crash into my back in a hug. "I must be forgiven for you to tell me that! Thank you."

I growled lowly and shook her off. Nicky grinned at me before running ahead, "I have to grab some before they are all gone! I'll see you later!"

I shook myself lightly to settle both my clothing and my instincts. I had recognized her non-aggressive mood in her approach and it had been enough like Kelly and Travis's playful ambushes that I hadn't struck out at her. Very few humans would manage that without getting snarled at though.

I glanced at the clouds as rain once more started drizzling out of the sky. We wouldn't be eating on the roof tonight and I didn't feel like having company anyway. I zipped up my raincoat and headed for the gate.

The guard on duty was surprised to see me, "Heading out already?"

I snorted, "I was stuck with Nicky while she was on a coffee high for several hours."

He winced as he dropped the radio down, "Point taken."

I shook myself lightly, "Please pass the word around that no one is supposed to ever offer her coffee. The next person to do so will be babysitting her for the day."

"I'll help spread the word."

"Thanks." I headed out the gate at a slow lope to the trees. I headed straight for the perimeter and did a circuit to ensure that no people had crossed it recently. The only scents I found were those of our hunters and others who normally went further out.

That didn't really surprise me though. Daniel had made a run past the perimeter earlier to see if any other survivors might have been near our border. He had not found anyone, and neither had a few trucks that had also driven further. They had found the broken down truck, but no traces of any other survivors.

I took a deep breath of the deep forest air. The wilderness smell was relaxing and invigorating. I could still smell the faint traces of the distant human Stronghold though. A faint rumble of thunder informed us that this light storm wasn't about to let up anytime soon.

The thunder also meant that I didn't have to worry about crossing paths with Daniel out here. He disliked rain and detested thunderstorms. I was pretty sure it was because the rain prevented him from seeing far and the sound of rainfall made his enhanced hearing a moot point.

The louder cracks of lightning in a good storm hurt my ears so I could only imagine what it did to Daniel's more sensitive hearing. I dismissed the matter with a shake of my head. We hadn't crossed paths outside the fence since I had decided to stay so I doubted that it was going to happen anytime soon.

I was ranging further afield and patrolling several times a day as well as night. My scent circled and crisscrossed the land to such an extent that it would make me rather hard to track for anyone other than another Nightstalker.

The thick clouds dimmed the light, which didn't hurt my feelings any. The evening wore seamlessly into the night as I made my rounds.

I headed back to my room as dawn approached.

~

"Trinity! Daniel!"

I lifted my head at the frantic call and ran to my bedroom window before jumping out. I landed lightly on my feet and took off running. A few early risers were also running toward the commotion. Most were probably just starting to wake up. The heat rose in my blood as I pushed my limit for speed. Daniel usually went out hunting shortly after the sun started to rise so he may not be back yet.

"Let me at 'em!"

I growled at the sound of Nicky's voice. What was she doing out here? I thought she had gone for a shower like she normally did. This was not how I had planned to wake up from my morning nap.

I rounded the corner and narrowed my eyes at Nicky as she beat against a shed door with her unsheathed sword hilt. A handful of people stood at a distance, but none wanted to go near the crazy woman while she brandished live steel in her hands.

I was somewhat cautious as I slowed in my approach. I had never seen her bring out her weapons in an insanity blitz before. Sticks and cans for bruises, yes; but not actual weapons being wielded to inflict serious harm. I could smell her anger from here. She was completely pissed off about something.

It was still no excuse for threatening someone with a weapon though. She could easily get exiled for shit like that. I approached from behind and growled sharply to catch her attention, "What the hell do you think you are doing with that sword?"

She kicked the door, "Those two idiots were making plans to burn this place down because they let you and Daniel stay here. I plan on kicking their asses for that underhanded scheme!"

The slowly growing crowd around us started muttering unhappily at this news. I glanced back at the crowd, "Someone go wake up Nina and get her to radio Daniel. I also want someone in charge of the guards who can make calls in this situation to get here ASAP."

Several people took off running. I wasn't stupid. I may be a Nightstalker, but I had barely been here for a month. I didn't set the policy for this place and I knew it. There would be rules in place for situations like this. Besides, then the two guilty culprits could blame someone else.

There wasn't exactly one person in charge here. A handful seemed to make the decisions and Nina was one of those. I watched Nicky continue to work her anger out on the door and didn't bother intervening. It would keep the two pyromaniacs inside and let Nicky vent at the same time.

There were about fifty spectators by the time Nina finally rounded the corner at a slow run. An older man was running beside her and I recognized him as one of those who oversaw the guard schedule. Nina looked more awake than the man did. She looked around before walking over to me, "What is this about someone trying to start a fire?"

I looked toward Nicky who was still banging the snot out of the shed door although she was starting to tire and slow down. "Nicky said that two people were planning on burning down the Stronghold because they allowed zombies inside. I didn't get anything else out of her and decided to wait for others before trying to question her. Besides, she is doing a lovely job of wearing out her temper on that door."

Nina sighed as she regarded Nicky, "Do you think you can get her to put that sword down and talk with us?"

"Hey Nicky, put that sword away for a moment and come tell us exactly what you heard. I will guard the door instead." If that didn't scare the crap out of those inside, then I was sure that Daniel wouldn't be long in arriving. I could only think of seven possible suspects that might plot something like this and all of them were scared of zombies.

Nicky paused in her assault on the door as I walked toward her. She was breathing heavily as she glanced between the shed and me. I gestured toward Nina who waited thirty feet behind me, "Put the sword in its sheath and go tell them what you heard. Once they decide what to do with those you trapped, then I will help you break down that door."

Nicky nodded and sheathed her sword, "Deal." I watched her walk past me. She was still mad, but she was focused and collected. This had not been an insanity blitz after all.

I tilted my head, but the people in the shed weren't moving. They were probably huddled in a corner or trying to hide while attempting to come up with an escape plan. I hated to break it to them, but with a Terror and a Nightstalker around, their plans were futile. I watched the shed and kept my ears open.

"Nicky, what exactly did you see and hear?"

"I was heading for a shower this morning when I heard people whispering about different ways to start a big fire. It sounded pretty fishy to me so I followed them. The guy said, and I quote, 'We should burn this corrupted place down around their ears before those zombies lure any more people to their deaths'. The woman agreed and said something along the lines of making sure that neither zombie survived. They were about to go collect some flammable supplies they had hidden behind the second garage. But by that point I already had my sword out and they ran in there."

The smell of two terrified humans was oozing out of the shed. I picked up Daniel's scent on the wind and knew that he was approaching rapidly. The crowd was growing more agitated and angry after hearing Nicky's story. This was their home and having someone whom they had helped attempt to burn it down was not sitting well with them.

"You, you, and you go check behind the garage and come back to tell me what you found."

Three sets of footsteps ran off. I began to hear faint whispering inside and silently walked closer to the shed to listen better.

"How are we going to get out of this one?"

"I am not sure, think fast."

I glanced over at the sound of Daniel's footsteps as he approached the group. I held my finger over my lips to mime for silence before waving him over while looking at the shed. Daniel narrowed his eyes, but with Nina's nod, he came over.

He stopped far enough away to be comfortable for both of us. His whisper was almost too soft for me to hear, "What is going on?" I didn't have a chance to answer as those inside kept plotting ways to get out of their predicament.

"We should claim that the red haired lady is insane and lying. She clearly isn't all there in the head." I gritted my teeth as I fought a growl down at their insult of Nicky. Daniel's eyes narrowed and flashed red, but he didn't say anything. My instincts shifted with the Terror's warning, although I also kept silent. We needed to hear more.

"That is a good plan, but how do we explain the stuff they will find behind the garage?"

"We can say that she framed us. We only arrived yesterday after all and we wouldn't have had a chance to collect that much stuff."

"Why did we have to end up in this Stronghold of all places? The only place in the country that was tricked into allowing zombies inside and we end up in this cesspool of corruption."

"This group is probably the one responsible for those Strongholds that were overrun. A fence won't stop a Terror, and if he didn't speak, they would have no way to tell him apart from a feral. It would be easy for them to just blame the wild zombies and pillage to their heart's content."

"I saw both zombies talking to that one woman that the Terror follows around. I bet she is the ringleader behind this. She is probably a zombie too, either that or she is able to control the zombies somehow. We might actually be able to bring this place down if we can kill her."

My growl was drowned out by Daniel's furious snarl. His eyes glowed bright red and I slowly edged away from the shed and Daniel. Both of the dimwits inside the shed inhaled in alarm and fright as they realized at least one zombie had been eavesdropping. I kept my movements slow and smooth as I carefully backed away from the enraged Terror that was barely maintaining control.

My instincts rose with the possible threat, but they just wanted to avoid the higher-ranking zombie. I turned sideways passively, hoping that with his instincts this high he would subconsciously recognize that I wanted no part of a fight. Daniel's fists shook as he struggled to hang onto his control. The observing humans behind us started back up, which was a wise move on their part.

The only exception was Nina who took a step forward, "Daniel, what's wrong?"

My quiet voice was urgent, "Nina stay back. He is too close to losing control."

Daniel was so humanized that he wasn't accustomed to fighting this hard for control. His instincts were also extremely high which meant that his bloodlust would also be hitting him harder than normal. I knew from his interactions with the caged ferals that he had also never discovered a way to redirect his anger and aggression. That was the most dangerous part.

I hesitated before calling out softly, "Daniel, go for a run in the forest and destroy a few trees to get yourself under control. I will protect Nina until you return. Honest, I won't leave her side until you get back. Go before you lose control."

I kept my voice soft, otherwise the words could come across as an order and that would have made this situation much worse. Technically, thrashing my hide would also help him work out his excess aggression. In this kind of rage, he would probably kill me. My only saving grace was that as long my body parts were touching, I would eventually heal and recover, or so the logical side of me knew.

That was not the route I ever wanted to go down. Being ripped to pieces was not a fate I wanted to encounter. I didn't even want to imagine how much pain that would entail. The recovery time from something like that would be longer than I cared to contemplate.

Daniel's muscles still trembled in his rage as loud growls reverberated off his chest ceaselessly. I tried once more, "I will protect Nina. If you lose control you could end up hurting her or another innocent person."

His growl deepened before he was suddenly moving far faster than I would ever be able to. He was leaving. He took off down a road with mind-boggling speed and the grace that only higher-ranking zombies possessed. Moments later I saw him jump the fence and race toward the forest. Many people looked rattled at his speed and anger. They probably hadn't seen him this mad or move so fast before.

I exhaled slowly in relief and walked toward Nina, "That was a close one."

She looked confused. "What happened? Why did he react like that?"

I growled unhappily. "The fools decided that simply burning this place down wasn't sufficient. They decided that you were somehow controlling Daniel and me and using us as weapons to destroy other Strongholds, so they figured that their best plan was to kill you."

Nina's eyes widened as I heard gasps and angry murmurs from those behind us. I stood beside Nina and crossed my arms while exhaling in irritation. "This means that you are stuck with me in the meantime. I have no desire to discover how Daniel would react if he returned and I wasn't guarding you."

Nina's eyes went to the fence Daniel had crossed mere seconds ago. "How long do you think he will be gone?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. Depends exactly how angry he was and how fast he calms down. If he returns within fifteen minutes then he is rushing and I won't be going near him. If I go on a good rampage, it can take anywhere from half an hour to over an hour before I have worked it out of my system. Daniel is a higher rank than me, so it could very well take him longer."

Nina furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Hmmm... But Daniel has never been as irritable or touchy as you usually are. No offense meant."

I rolled my eyes in exasperation as she still failed to see the danger that Daniel could pose in a rage. "None taken. Keep in mind that I have a fair bit of practice in redirecting my anger in mostly harmless ways. Daniel lacks that experience."

Nina's expression plainly said that she disagreed with me. Nicky shook her head and walked over to interrupt our argument. "Regardless of the small details and jibber jabber, a pissed off zombie that is close to losing control is not a good thing. I am sure that everyone here can agree on that."

Nina nodded slowly. "That I can definitely agree with. My main question now is what do we do with those two in the shed?"

I snorted, "You aren't going near them after what I overheard. In fact, I would prefer it if you left this area and left those two to the others who have gathered here."

Nina looked around and realized that we had gained quite an audience. Word had spread quickly and at least half of the population was now lingering within sight. Quite a few had grabbed weapons and returned. The guards were closer to glorified sentries who normally carried guns and bows, but even a bow or sword would easily keep the two in the shed under control.

The older man in charge of the guards came forward, "Trinity is correct. For Daniel's sake, please go for breakfast or to the lab while we dig those two out of that shed and deal with them."

Nina gazed at the shed reluctantly, but nodded and started to walk away. I walked beside her and kept my eyes open for the other five guests that were kicking around this place somewhere. If Nina got shot on my watch then Daniel would kill me. I doubted the newcomers would manage to get their hands on the carefully guarded guns, but I wasn't taking any chances.