Nicky tagged along on the other side of Nina as we headed for breakfast. A few in the room who hadn't heard the news gave me an odd look as I remained beside Nina like an impromptu bodyguard while Daniel was absent. We took our usual table in the far corner and I watched the people entering and leaving the hall more than I paid attention to the two women who were eating.

Nicky didn't even bother offering me a piece of fruit. None of the food here appealed to me. As much as I hated to admit it, that drug had made my life a bit easier with the absence of the bloodlust. The restlessness at night was a pain in the butt if I didn't remain inconspicuous though.

I didn't see any of the people that I had guided through the forest, which I found kind of strange. My instincts shifted in agreement. The odds of them not showing up for food after going hungry for several days was slim to none. They may have already came, ate, and left, but I doubted it. The locals who saw the commotion may be keeping them away from Nina though.

Nina finished and glanced at the clock on the wall, "Daniel will probably check the lab first since I am usually in there."

Nicky yawned, "I can also go leave word with the gate guards and they can tell him when he returns."

Nina nodded slowly, "That is a good plan. Thank you."

Nicky left to go relay the information and I followed Nina out of the room. Word of what had occurred was spreading like wildfire and most people probably knew by now. I relaxed a bit as we headed down the stairs. No one would be staring at us down here. There was only one entrance so I would know the instant someone showed up and I only had one direction to guard.

Nina went into a room with hundreds of small test tubes of colored liquids. She shrugged in apology, "Sorry, but it is going to be boring."

I snagged a stool to sit beside the doorway, "At this moment, I will take boring. It makes my life easier."

Nina hadn't been joking. She took small glass slides, put a drop of Runner blood on it, and another drop from one of the many vials. Some of those vials had a rather strong and unpleasant odor. Copious notes were taken as she watched the results through a microscope and even more notes were taken as she put it through a couple of different machines.

A door opened and I leaned my head out the door. "It is just Nicky."

"I don't want her in this room."

With a sigh I stood up and went to intercept the redhead on the stairs. The moment I saw what Nina was doing, I had expected that she wouldn't want Nicky around so many glass vials that were arranged in meticulous order. Nor would she want the rather distracting Nicky interfering with her concentration.

I sent Nicky to a different room that resembled an examination room. There wasn't anything that she could really get into in that room and I had given her something to keep her occupied. I had considered sending her out of the lab entirely, but decided against it.

She would likely cause problems if left alone and if someone unwelcome did manage to locate the lab, then Nicky could possibly be of assistance. She actually did know how to use that sword of hers passably well, and if nothing else, she was quite distracting and loud if she put her mind to it.

Time passed slowly. I pulled out a book in an attempt to keep boredom at bay.

An hour later Nicky grew bored and dragged a chair over to sit beside me while we played tic tac toe on some scrap paper. If nothing else, Daniel wasn't rushing. I was curious to see how much damage he did to the forest, but that would have to wait until later.

Only a handful of games later I looked toward the lab door at the sound of Daniel's footsteps. "He's back."

Nina was relieved and got up from her seat. She leaned out of the doorway as Daniel descended the stairs, "How are you faring?"

He sighed, "I am back in control."

He looked a bit tired to my sharp eyesight, which didn't really surprise me if he had been trying to work off his anger. Numerous small scrapes and tiny scratches on his arms showed the amount of time he spent on the trees. They would disappear within the day. His knuckles were bruised as well from the punches he threw at the hapless trees.

Daniel looked at me, "Thank you for that tree destruction suggestion and also for watching Nina."

I shrugged, "No problem. Trees grow back, but just take care to avoid humans when you let loose like that."

He nodded slowly, "I will keep that in mind."

Nina glanced at the door, "What have they done with those two arsonists?"

Daniel growled and clenched his jaw as the touchy subject came up once more, but his eyes remained brown and showed that he was indeed in full control. "I am not sure. I came straight here."

Nicky stood up, "I can go ask and come back."

Nina frowned, "I am coming too. I stayed down here to make it easier for you, but I am sure that a dozen people and two zombies can protect me from two prisoners."

Daniel didn't look happy at her opinion. His eyes strayed to me. I raised my eyebrow, "Don't look at me. That is your call. I was relieved of bodyguard duty the moment you returned."

He growled a sharp warning at my tone and I bared my teeth in response, although I managed to suppress a growl. Nicky clapped her hands a few times, "Break it up, how about we focus on the two who want to burn this place to ashes instead of dwelling on the fact that both of you have anger issues?"

Both Daniel and I leveled a glare at her, but Nicky, being Nicky, completely ignored us as she headed for the stairs. It didn't escape my attention that she gave Daniel as much space as the hallway allowed as she went by him.

Nina walked up to Daniel and tilted her head toward the door. With a reluctant and gusty sigh he gave in and turned toward the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder at me, "I would appreciate it if you would tag along in case we have a repeat of what happened earlier."

I nodded, "I am curious to find out what they are doing as well." I turned my attention to Nina, "If he leaves, you aren't going near any of our guests." Nina grumbled but reluctantly agreed.

Several people were actually waiting outside for us. The older man who organized the guards didn't even wait for us to start asking questions, "Those two were clearly guilty, although the other five are innocent as far as we can tell. They actually originated from two different Strongholds and were just traveling together. They had no idea what those two were up to."

Nina skipped to the part that interested me the most, "What is being done with them?"

"The two guilty ones are already outside of the fence. We quickly tattooed the words 'murderer' and 'arsonist' on their foreheads. A truck is taking them and a leaky canoe to a river past our borders. They know their life is on the line if they return. The canoe can take them a long way away quickly."

Nicky shook her head in disbelief, "You didn't whip them with ten lashes or anything?"

He shook his head, "Technically they hadn't done anything wrong yet. It was all in the planning stage and they could have easily backed out or been gone before they tried anything. Besides, most places won't let them in with those tattoos, so this is pretty close to a death sentence without any blood on our hands."

As much as my Nightstalker mentality preferred to ensure that a threat was well and truly dead, my human side could see where they were coming from. "I assume the other five will be leaving in the near future?"

He nodded, "Yes, there is a group of traders that should be arriving tomorrow and they can probably be convinced to take that bunch with them. Many places will happily accept most newcomers."

Nicky groaned, "Well, I sure hope they take them with them. I assume someone is keeping an eye on them?"

The man sighed, but nodded, "Yes. I also have people set up to keep an eye on the door at night in case they try something. They know they are under surveillance and have to be on their best behavior."

Nina spoke up, "Was Mike one of the guilty ones?"

He shook his head, "No, in fact he was quite upset when he heard that those two had tried to burn this place down."

Nina nodded as she looked more relaxed, "So what is the plan now?"

He shrugged, "Our two troublemakers are gone and the others are being watched closely. Everyone else is already going about their usual routine. Not much else we can do today."

Nicky chuckled darkly, "I say we tell them that it isn't safe to leave their room because the zombies hunt at night. Tell them that only the guards leave the buildings and they stay in the towers to avoid any accidents. They won't so much as stick a toe out of their rooms then."

I growled as I vetoed that idea, "No, the last thing I need is more people thinking I am an insane bloodthirsty killer. I have met far too many humans with that mindset in my travels."

Nicky sighed, "Yeah, I suppose it isn't really wise to start such rumors."

Nina shook her head at Nicky's idea and looked at Daniel, "Feel up for a trip to the barn? We haven't checked on that Nightstalker since yesterday morning and this will be day three for the controlex drug."

Daniel nodded and Nina started heading toward the gate. I gave Nicky a measuring look, "What are you doing today? Am I safe to leave you unattended if I patrol until lunch?"

That caught the attention of several people who lingered to hear her response. Nicky considered the matter, "It is Tuesday so I usually help out with the livestock. I should be fine until lunch unless that goat poops on my shoes again."

I exhaled gustily, "Fine. Then I am heading out on a patrol."

"Don't destroy too many trees. See you at lunch."

I snorted as I refused to respond. A few less trees in the forest wouldn't matter in the long run. Besides, I still wanted to see what kind of damage Daniel had inflicted. The fact that she knew that I was going to vent my own anger was surprising. I thought I had done a good job of hiding the fact that I also needed to blow off some steam. I wasn't overly worked up either. Some days she is far too perceptive. I somehow think it may be wise to never play poker if she is around.

I left the gate and slowly circled away from the Stronghold in my usual pattern as I checked the areas closest to the walls. Daniel's earlier scent trail was easy to find, although this close to the Stronghold it simply went straight. His scent was a bit patchy from the speed of his passage, although I could still clearly smell the anger from his scent.

The most recent trail going to the barn had no such strong overtones and was normal. I still planned to give the barn space since Daniel was in there with a feral Nightstalker, which was guaranteed to put him in an unpleasant mood.

I slowed to a stop and simply stared. I was halfway to the border and it was quite clear that Daniel had started venting out his rage on the trees at this point. When I attacked trees, I usually picked on dead standing ones and scattered my damage here and there over a long hard run.

Apparently Daniel had a different technique. He destroyed anything in his path using several different methods. Some trees had simply been toppled over, but most had been snapped in a few spots from hard kicks or punches. Daniel had completely delimbed a couple of smaller ones before tossing the pieces everywhere.

I wasn't sure if he simply hadn't been certain as to how someone exactly destroyed a tree and was trying out various ways or if it had just been an enraged whim. I decided to follow the path of destruction to see how far it went.

The further I went, the clearer it became that Daniel was slowly developing his own technique as he worked out his anger. Whether it was a conscious decision or not I would probably never know. I still didn't see the end of the trail of destruction.

I was almost to the border now and Daniel had become much more selective in which trees he targeted. He seemed to favor hitting or kicking larger trees into numerous smaller pieces. His trail kept going past the perimeter scent wall and I decided against following it.

Daniel had been moving quickly and had been gone over an hour. I wasn't sure where the trail ended and I wasn't curious enough to spend several hours looking for it. He had picked a good spot to leave such destruction though, his trail remained in the deeper part of the forest that was far from any road or trail.

Humans would likely never cross it and even if they did, they probably wouldn't even dream that it had been caused by a zombie. They may blame a small tornado though. The animals were wiser and none were currently near the trail. A deer hadn't been fast enough to evade Daniel and the kill and blood had probably eased his mood considerably.

I shook myself lightly before starting to followthe border. I had a couple of hours before lunch. After this morning's events,I wouldn't mind shredding a tree or two as well...