I ignored the chess game as I leaned against the wall and let my temper slowly cool off. Nicky had taken over my pieces and was soundly getting her ass kicked in the game. She kept thinking that the queen could teleport anywhere on the board.

No one disturbed me. They probably realized that I wasn't in the mood for idle chit chat. So much for them keeping me out of the way of the traders. They were lucky that I only growled at them. I was still tempted to track down that Kane guy and chase him through the forest while I stalked him.

"This isn't a game. This is a carefully disguised method of torture."

That would be the third game in a row Nicky lost now. The lady across from her wasn't very good at chess either. Nicky groaned and glanced over at me, "Your turn. I have been humiliated enough for one day by this crazy game. You are the one who asked them to dig up this thing anyway."

I didn't really feel like it, but she did have a point. With a sigh I moved to the empty chair beside Nicky as she reset the board. My mind switched gears from dwelling on irritable people to trying to plan several moves ahead while making allowances for the other player's strategy.

One of the men spoke quietly, "I hope you aren't too mad that we hauled that guy off. It didn't occur to us that it could upset you."

I could tell that this had been weighing heavily on his mind. I exhaled slowly, "This time it wasn't too bad. Mostly because you were defending Nicky and I didn't actually want to kill anyone. I advise caution in the future though. Most zombies do not react well if people try to remove someone they are mad at if they aren't done with them yet. Even Daniel or I could easily snap if our instincts are high enough."

"I am really sorry."

I shrugged, "It is done and over with. Let the matter be forgotten."

He nodded in relief. Now I just hoped that I could truly let the matter rest and not dwell on possibilities for revenge. Scaring the crap out of Kane while stalking him in a dark forest still sounded awfully good to my mind...

Nicky yawned, "Supper is in an hour and they will leave as soon as they finish eating."

That was the best news I had heard all day.

~

Nina sighed as she sat down with her breakfast, "That feral Nightstalker is dead."

I glanced at Daniel with narrowed eyes. He shook his head, "I am innocent."

I raised an eyebrow at Nina. How could a Nightstalker just die? A feral couldn't even starve to death and it had been just fine two days ago.

Nina made a face, "We were checking to see if the cure would work with the controlex drug. Good news is that it still works and the human body is unaffected. The problem arose when we tried to infect the body with the zombie virus again."

She took a sip of tea and sighed, "The virus must leave some sort of marker in the body somewhere and if you try to re-infect a person to make them a different zombie rank, that marker prevents the change. We tried to change her human body into a Runner and once the body went into the seizures that mark the turning point, she never recovered. She wasn't breathing and her heart wasn't beating."

Nicky was as confused as I was. She shook her head, "Trinity was like that when she got injured, but she recovered. Are you sure it is truly dead?"

Nina nodded, "We have seen this a few times before when we tried to turn a Runner into a Nightstalker. They are well and truly dead. No drug works on them at all and they start rotting within hours."

I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration, "So you can control a human's first change, but they can't change their rank after they turn?"

Nina nodded, "Pretty much. We would be able to turn you back into a Nightstalker, but you wouldn't be able to turn into a Runner or a Terror. We did a bit of testing and those markers mean that you wouldn't even need any intervention if you became human and got bitten. Even if a normal zombie bit you, those existing markers would control the change and you would end up as a Nightstalker."

I blinked slowly, "Very interesting. As I mentioned before, perhaps we had better focus on a vaccine instead of how people may, or may not, yoyo between being humans or zombies?"

Nina grinned, "It is fascinating research and you know it."

I snorted, "I also recall the pain that came with those seizures. Only the truly insane would consider doing it more than once."

Daniel winced at his own memory and Nina made a face. Once they finished breakfast we all headed out of the mess hall.

"Shit. How are we going to manage this without them seeing?"

Both Daniel and I turned our attention to the hushed whispering as a handful of men stood by the side of the building watching the main road that ran through the Stronghold. We were behind them and they hadn't noticed us yet. We altered our intended path as we headed toward the muttering men. Once we were closer Daniel inquired, "What are you trying to do?"

The five men all jumped in surprise and turned around. The man who had originally whispered sighed, "That old blue truck broke down again and we are trying to get it out of the Stronghold without Trev's group seeing us. They want to keep trying to fix it, but it breaks down so often and is so hard on gas that it just isn't worth it."

Another man commented, "If it just disappears, they won't even remember it, but if they see us hauling it away, then it will be war. They hate throwing anything away, but there are lots of trucks along the highway that are just out of gas. We plan to haul this old junker across the border and dump it in a lot with other wrecks."

I took a few steps so I could see around the building. There were about fifty people on the main road and more that would be able to see this street. I guessed about a dozen belonged to the 'group' in question. Daniel considered the matter, "What about taking it out in the evening or at night?"

The man shook his head, "We already considered that, but they either hang out or have rooms where they could see the road."

Daniel, Nina and Nicky all looked at the road. Breakfast was mostly over and people were out and about. Clearing such a large area would take a small miracle. Or a nightmare...

With that thought, I shrugged off my backpack and dug through it. The group stopped talking to watch me in confusion or curiosity. I pulled a can of tomato juice and a small bottle of liquid dish soap out of my backpack. I turned to face Nicky as I balanced them on the palms of my hands.

I grinned ferally at her, "Think you can pull an insanity blitz out of a hat?"

She smiled evilly as she reached for the articles, "I'll put that particular captain at the helm of the ship, but you have to deal with her afterwards. Weirdly enough, she really likes you and actually considers you her friend, which is bizarre since she doesn't like anyone."

Oh, boy. Her most crazy personality had decided that an irritable bloodthirsty Nightstalker who got caught in an evil experiment was her friend... I could only imagine what her psychiatrist would think.

One of the men gazed on in horror and whispered in shock, "She is talking about herself in third person?!" He had obviously not spent much time around her.

Daniel shifted his weight as he narrowed his eyes at the objects in Nicky's hands. These were the very two objects that Nicky had alluded to time and time again and he still hadn't figured out how they were used against zombies. The fact that I was carrying them in my backpack was not going to put him at ease either.

We moved so we would be out of sight as Nicky rounded the corner. She shouted, "Who wants to play zombie killer with me?! I got some weapons and I need someone to be the zombie for target practice!"

Ben had been one of the people on the street and his eyes widened in horror at the familiar objects, "Run!"

I looked at the man, "If you move quickly, everyone will be too busy to notice."

The five men took off at a run to get the truck. I could see it attached to another truck with a tow rope just down the road. Their path to the gate was now clear. People had scattered as if by magic as they decided to busy themselves in places where Nicky wasn't likely to find them.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the building as the truck was rapidly towed toward the gate. I glanced at Daniel, "The hardest part will be disarming her. Feel like seeing how good your reflexes are?"

He growled faintly at the idea of going near her when she was like this. He had undoubtedly noticed how frantic Ben had sounded when he yelled at everyone to run. I watched Nicky race around a corner with a maniac grin on her face.

Nicky had officially managed to pull a record-breaking insanity blitz out of a hat. Everyone else seemed to realize it too since I only saw a couple of people when dozens had been present a mere minute ago. Nina shook her head, "As you once told Ben, you riled her up, you deal with her."

I winced, "Do I have to? I am not sure I want to meet this captain she was speaking of."

Nina grinned, "Well, she did say that you were the only one she liked, so you are the best candidate. I am heading to the lab and locking the door behind me. Have fun."

Nina headed off with Daniel following on her heels. I sighed gustily. Looks like I am babysitting duty once again.

I had apparently not thought this through since I now needed to come up with a way to separate Nicky from the rest of the population and get her back to normal. Considering she had already eaten breakfast, my main go-to of stuffing her full of food was out the window. I had to move fast before someone got truly mad at Nicky instead of cautiously humoring her.

The keys were in the side by side and I quickly fired it up. I sped over to where I heard Nicky calling for volunteers and slid to a stop beside her, "Change of plans. We are playing Smokey and the Bandit and we need to get to our next stop before the Sheriff catches us."

She jumped into the passenger seat, "Pin it!"

It was a good thing that she was very easily distracted when she got like this. I hit the gas as the tires spun for a moment and headed straight for the gate. They saw me coming and it was open long before I got there.

~

I drove slowly down the street that was empty of zombies, "Okay Bandit, which house do you think has Coors and snacks in it?"

Nicky examined the abandoned houses and pointed, "That one. Whoever chose to paint their fence neon green was either drunk or high. We will either find beer or munchies as long as the owners didn't eat them all."

Good enough for me. I pulled up in front of the house and carefully tested the air. No zombies were around or inside the house. I still planned to play it safe, "I'll go in first. You cover me."

Nicky was as suggestible as ever as she flattened herself against the side of the house with a can of tomato juice in one hand and a bottle of liquid soap in the other. I wasn't aware that Smokey and the Bandit had such a poorly equipped SWAT team in it...

I tested the doorknob and was unsurprised to find it unlocked. This town was just outside the border and every building had likely been picked over several times. I carefully entered and went down the hallway for good measure, "All clear."

Nicky entered and closed the door behind her as she looked around and started rooting through mostly empty cupboards. From the noise, she had found pots, pans, and other cooking implements. If she found any food I would be surprised. I used my nose to check for any hidden stashes that might be in odd places.

In the end we did find some food that had been missed. Most of it was in bizarre locations or hidden behind non-food items. It took us two hours to thoroughly scour the house from top to bottom. I had tired of digging through another person's possessions long before that point, but Nicky slowly wound down to her normal self.

She held her bag of chips tightly, "Okay, I am done. Let's go. I am not sure which version you were watching, but I do not recall seeing any scene in Smokey and the Bandit where they rooted through someone's sock drawer in hopes of finding a granola bar."

I checked outside, but the coast was clear as we got into the side by side. I was driving once again. Nicky put her seat belt on, "That is another thing. This ride is a far cry from a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. I still say that the Dodge Charger from the Dukes of Hazzard is cooler though. I mean, come on, it has to be a great car if guys will drive it with a neon orange paint job!"

I nodded, "Ah, but would they drive it if it had been painted fluorescent pink?"

Nicky grinned, "I am not sure about them, but I sure would. It may never be the same after I take it for a spin though."

I chuckled, "You wouldn't get me in that car with you either. But you might want to eat those chips before Ben sees them and thinks you should share."

Nicky promptly opened up the big bag and started munching. It would both silence her and bring her the last little ways back to what classified as normal for Nicky.