My pre-lunch patrol was canceled due to the expected arrival of the traders. It had been politely worded, but the whispers I picked up afterwards told me that they wanted me inside the fence in case this group decided to hunt a feral zombie or two and somehow accidentally targeted me.

There may be a feral Nightstalker in the barn, but the people here still feared losing me. They had looked for a Nightstalker for far too long to get over their trepidation easily. Some of them counted me as a friend, much to my bemusement. I was halfway amused as I overheard a few plans to try to keep me out of the way of the traders without me realizing it.

I was somewhat surprised to learn that they knew exactly which people in the archery group I spoke with the most in the evenings. It was a fairly unanimous decision that I would object the least to their presence and they were being enlisted to keep me company when the trading group arrived.

Six of them were already chopping wood on the other side of the wood chopping area. I wasn't too sure where Nicky had gotten to, but no one really wanted her swinging an axe. She would appear when the traders arrived. Or she might just chase them right out the gates... It was hard to say with Nicky.

I looked over at my newfound followers, "So what is our plan once these traders arrive?"

The one guy took a breather as he replied, "The traders have been here before and about twenty come each time. One group really likes to hang out on the roof of the secondary building and drink while relaxing. Have you been on the balcony of the dining area yet?"

I tilted my head, "The one the archery group hung out on while spying on Nicky and me when we were on the archery range?"

He turned a bit red, "Yes, that is the one." He seemed a bit embarrassed that I had noticed and remembered.

I chuckled at his discomfited expression, "Sounds good to me. I am hoping that someone can dig up a chess game. It has been a long time since I played."

He glanced at another man who put down his axe and went to go find the discussed game and presumably put it on that deck. I was surprised that he had taken me seriously. I had been halfway joking. Perhaps I needed to work on my joking tone more...

We continued chopping wood until a horn sounded.

"That would be them. It might be best if we head to the deck now to avoid the crush of people that is going to occur very shortly."

I nodded and put my axe back in the shed. The group gave me plenty of space as we walked toward the mess hall. The only way onto that deck was to use a staircase at the back of the mess hall. The trucks were just arriving at the gates as we went inside.

The staircase was fairly narrow and I looked around as we came out on the deck. A somewhat battered chess board sat in the middle of a patio table with a dozen bottles of water and a plate of snacks. It looks like they were ensuring that we wouldn't have to leave for any reason.

I took a seat on a lawn chair and watched the trucks and buses rolling into the Stronghold. The others made themselves comfy and also watched as some people left their tasks to go greet the traders.

I looked over at the woman across the table from me, "So what exactly is keeping them from coming up here? I can't see them being unaware of this deck if they know about the one on the secondary building."

She grinned, "The kitchen staff was covering the door in caution tape and a sign that warned people that the staircase was closed due to structural damage."

I smirked as I played the devil's advocate, "And just how are people going to explain our presence up here?"

"Easy. We climbed up a rope to the deck." She pointed to a coil of rope in the corner that was already tied to the deck railing. Someone had been hard at work planning all of this.

"How do you plan to get Nicky up here whenever she decides to appear? The amount of noise and complaining she is bound to make is going to attract attention."

A guy commented, "We are ahead of you there, the kitchen staff are going to sneak her into the staircase."

I nodded, "Good plan. Just how long are these people going to be here anyway?"

The man shrugged, "They don't trust leaving their trucks and goods inside another Stronghold overnight, so they will probably leave right after supper. They can just make it to a safe area by sunset and they can continue on to their Stronghold tomorrow or they can keep driving and arrive there before midnight."

The woman leaned on the railing, "They will take turns coming for lunch while setting up. Trade will go for several hours and even I don't like the crush of people around those booths. They will pack up just before supper, eat, and leave."

I watched the trucks and buses park in the middle of the Stronghold. People began to unload tables and supplies. It sounded like a lot of the bigger stuff and many supplies were pre-arranged trades while people were able to barter for smaller items on the tables.

After a while I got bored of watching. This deck was near the archery lanes and some distance from the main area of the Stronghold. It was a quieter area and that suited me just fine. I turned my attention to the untouched chess game, "Okay, it has been years since I played. Who here isn't going to humiliate me?"

A different lady grinned, "Considering I stink at chess, I am probably your best bet if you want to win."

I did manage to remember how each of the pieces moved. Interestingly enough, my Nightstalker instincts had an interest in strategy, almost as if I was working out how to sneak up on something. The competitive instincts also focused my mind.

"Watch where you are walking!"

"Hey, you ran into me, not the other way around. But I have things to do and places to be, so if you and your lackeys would kindly move, I need to get going."

"It can't be that important that you run visitors over."

"Well, it is important enough to me. I was walking anyway, otherwise I would have rebounded from running into someone as big as you. If you and your friends would kindly move your derrieres out of my path, I will get out of your way."

I sighed at Nicky's gracious and insulting demeanor. And of course she had to bump into a few of the traders. Life would be too simple otherwise.

"Watch how you talk to me or I will clean your clock for you. A shrimp like you should know better."

I narrowed my eyes, that voice sounded almost familiar. Have I met this man before? A couple at the table leaned over the railing a bit to look at whoever was below. I couldn't see them at this angle, they were almost right below the deck.

"I am not a shrimp! I am short! There is a huge difference. For starters, I don't live in water."

"What kind of idiots are they keeping in this place? Please tell me that you aren't one of the ones they are trying to send back with us. The last thing we need is a village idiot in our Stronghold."

I growled lowly as I got to my feet. I didn't care if someone annoyed Nicky, but insulting her was crossing a line. A couple of the archers got to their feet as I walked the few steps to the railing. I ignored them as I jumped up onto the railing and sat down sideways on it. My Nightstalker balance made it easy.

I glanced over at one of the men and held out my hand, "Can I borrow your water bottle for a moment?"

The man frowned in confusion, but tossed it over. I easily caught it and unscrewed the lid. I leaned over slightly as I looked down. Now I recognized this man. His demeanor didn't really surprise me. I tipped the water bottle so the long stream of water fell on the brown haired irritant below. It splattered as it hit his head and the resulting spray also managed to hit most of his friends.

"What the hell?!" The man and his followers backed out of reach as he wiped the water away from his eyes.

The man's furious eyes swiftly found the source of the water, "Who the bloody hell do you think you are?! You think you are pretty brave up there, huh? I dare you to come down here and try that again!"

He was furious and had obviously not recognized me. I found it strange that he threw insults and tried to start fights so readily. This group had to have known that there was at least one zombie around somewhere. Daniel's presence wasn't exactly a secret in this place.

I snorted, unimpressed with his tough act, "Justin, I beat the crap out of you back in highschool when you thought you were a tough football jock. Don't tell me that you forgot that lesson about bullying my friends?"

His pissed off expression turned into one of confusion as he tried to place me. His brain was obviously working overtime, although I had no clue why he was having such a hard time recognizing me. We had been in some of the same classes in high school and I hadn't changed that much since graduating ten years ago. We had seen each other occasionally since then which wasn't a surprise since we had both lived in the same town.

"Trinity?! Shit, I didn't know that anyone else from our town survived. I was away when the outbreak occurred."

He had gone from furious, to stunned in disbelief, to overjoyed in the matter of a minute. He held out his arms, "Why don't you come down and give an old friend a hug?"

He had obviously been standing in the hot sun too long.