Nina watched Nicky as she took a seat with a supper plate on her lap. Daniel also took a seat while keeping an eye on the infamous redhead. Nicky ignored them while picking through her salad.

Nina broke the silence, "Nicky, I spoke with the person in charge of the turkeys and he will meet you at the coop after supper. You can pick out your turkey and they will butcher it for you."

Nicky grinned in excitement, "Finally! I told that turkey yesterday that his days were numbered and he didn't believe me."

Nina nodded, "Yes. I also told that turkey that he wouldn't be bothered by you tomorrow. So pack your bags, we are going on a road trip."

Nina was also talking to animals now? Please tell me that this wasn't contagious... Nicky blinked, "Road trip? What road trip? I just got back from a road trip and we didn't even find any beer!"

"We heard a rumor that there is possibly a feral Nightstalker to the south, so we are leaving first thing in the morning to see if we can catch it."

Nicky narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "What is this 'we' shit? I don't want a feral Nightstalker and dish soap only goes so far if it decides it wants me."

Daniel growled faintly at her tone. He didn't appreciate the soap reference either. Nina shrugged, "Technically it is Daniel and Trinity who will be doing most of it. You and I are just along for moral support and peacekeeping."

It was my turn to narrow my eyes, "This is news to me. I do not recall volunteering for this."

"You have the best chance at finding it and if it is in another narrow cave, then we will need your help."

Nicky groaned and turned to me, "If I have to go, then so do you. Consider yourself voluntold."

I growled at her, not liking her attempts to boss me around. It still riled up my instincts, the drug had not changed that aspect at all.

Nina tried a more tactful approach, "Trinity, we need you to help us find this Nightstalker before someone gets hurt. Right now it is near a safe area where people can stop overnight. The last few people through there were carrying guns and small spotlights and somehow managed to drive it off, but it will likely come across a Stronghold before long and kill hundreds. Please. We need you."

Nicky sighed and added her own two cents as well, "You can't leave me with Daniel on a road trip. He might leave me behind or use me as bait. If that thing comes by at night, we probably won't even know it is there until it attacks. You know we need you. You are our kryptonite against the nighttime bogeymen."

I knew they were both right. That didn't mean I had to like it. I growled reluctantly while knowing that I was giving in, "Why do I have a suspicion that I will end up regretting this?"

Nicky grinned at me, "Because not a single one of our road trips has ever gone as planned?"

That did not reassure me.

~

"You know, I think this might have just been an excuse to get me out of the Stronghold for a few days."

"That may be possible." In fact, it was a very strong possibility that they just wanted a break from Nicky after her last few days there.

"How long do you think they are going to drive around out here?"

I shrugged, "No idea." We had been on the road for two days already and I hadn't picked up the faintest hint of Nightstalker. We wouldn't get to the area it was supposed to be in until around noon tomorrow. I was tired of sitting in the back of a truck.

Daniel pulled up in front of a house and turned the truck off. He got out of the truck, "This is the best we will find for tonight. People have stopped here before and the windows have bars over them."

I eyed up the bars, "I am pretty sure that you or I could manage to get past those bars. They may hold Runners and regular zombies back, but I doubt they will protect against anything else."

Daniel snorted, "That is why the two of us are here."

He did have a point there. I grabbed several bags before jumping out of the back of the truck. The inside of the house had seen better days and quite a few travelers. I put the bags on the floor and left Nicky to start the fire.

Daniel glanced around, "I am going to go hunt before the sun sets."

I nodded, "I will help them set things up."

Daniel nodded and left. In truth, there wasn't much to set up or even carry in. We traveled pretty light. I gathered some wood and left it by the fireplace with Nicky. Nina was checking the garden. Someone passing through had taken the time to clean it up and plant some basic plants like lettuce, strawberries, and some other hardy stuff that would keep on growing.

Wind shifted and I lifted my nose in the air while growling lightly. This wasn't good. Nina glanced over with a questioning look. I pointed to the door, "Go inside and lock yourself in the bathroom, don't come out until either Daniel or I return."

I started running in the direction of the smell hoping I wasn't too late. I cursed the wind for not shifting much earlier and alerting me to what was further south. The scent had been that of Daniel's blood and three Nightstalkers. I heard the door close as Nina retreated swiftly inside. Hopefully it would keep their scent down enough that the Nightstalkers wouldn't notice.

I ran silently and eventually began to hear growling and snarling. The wind was blowing toward me, so they hadn't caught my scent. I crept closer until I could see the four standing in a small clearing. Daniel had quite a few scratches on his arms as he snarled at the three circling male Nightstalkers.

The fool still didn't carry any weapons with him. If he survived this, I suspected that he would correct that problem. I watched for a few seconds as I silently pulled some objects out of my backpack.

Several scenarios ran through my head. Even with me helping Daniel, we were going to have a hard time coming out of this fight without serious injuries. They were sane, which meant that we wouldn't have the advantage that we otherwise would with a feral. They were playing with him like a cat played with a mouse before killing it. I didn't understand why they were doing it though.

I held a crowbar in one hand and left my other hand open. I silently left the trees as I started my smooth predatory stalk along the perimeter of the clearing in full view of the four. My instincts rose as I called on them. My body language was purely Nightstalker, with no human veneer showing at all. This could come as a surprise to Daniel since he had never seen me like this.

One of the Nightstalkers caught my movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled to face me with a surprised snarl. I bared my teeth silently in response. I kept slowly traveling along the edge of the clearing as I began to slowly circle those in the middle of the clearing. I now had the attention of all four zombies. Daniel's eyes widened in recognition as the other three shifted uneasily as a new and unknown player entered the field.

I carefully watched their every move as I passed the quarter way mark of the circle. My silence had them on edge and I was clearly not just a passive observer passing by. A brown haired man growled, "What do you want?"

I spoke and my deep rough voice betrayed how high my instincts were running, "I have an outstanding debt to repay." They would know from my voice that I wasn't here just to sniff the daisies.

The man bared his teeth, "This is our kill. You are too late to get revenge."

I tilted my head in consideration as I kept slowly walking. I took my sweet time in responding since my silence was keeping them off balance. "That is what I have a problem with. Why are you trying to kill him anyway? I will grant that he can be as annoying as hell the majority of the time, but I see no reason to actually kill him."

Two of the men growled at me now that they knew for certain whose side I was on. The one closest to me dropped into a deeper crouch, "You are outnumbered. Go away before we kill you too."

Their behavior wasn't quite right, but after being around Daniel for so long, I knew the cause. They had never lived wild. Admittedly, they weren't anywhere near as humanized as Daniel was, but they were still not truly in tune with their instincts. If I hadn't met Kelly and Travis, I would be beginning to wonder if I was the weird one.

I was almost at the far side of the clearing by now and chuckled darkly, "Ohhh... There is no way that you three are originals. Let me guess, second wave? Those who were bitten are usually smarter than this."

One growled at the end of my first sentence, clearly uneasy that I had so easily guessed that detail. The other two snarled at the insult. Daniel was remaining where he was since he was still surrounded by the hostile Nightstalkers. I was now upwind of them and they could scent me.

The first man snarled at me, "On second thought, you stink of humans too, so you are in league with them. We'll come for you afterwards. Better start running while you can."

I grinned ferally at them as I stopped moving and faced them, "Now why would I run?'

They blinked in surprise since that was clearly not the response they had been expecting when I was outnumbered so. I gave a small pointed glance at the place I had entered the clearing. It was downwind of them, and if someone else had been hidden there, they wouldn't have been able to scent them.

Two of them snarled defensively as they glanced between me and that section of the trees as they realized this. I had circled to the far side of the clearing which put them between me and the imaginary hidden foe. With Daniel, the trees, and myself they now had three fronts to watch, which just so happened to be in different directions.

Their postures had shifted slightly toward a more defensive stance and I doubted that they were even aware of it. My grin widened as I realized that only two of these idiots even carried a belt knife. The third moron was simply relying on his nails and Nightstalker strength. That was plenty when dealing with the average human, but it was a huge blunder when attempting to fight another sane zombie.

They were likely accustomed to relying on strength in numbers if they met a more dangerous foe. That was their mistake and it was going to cost them this time. They may decide to run, but it wouldn't be accomplished without injuries. The second man was getting riled up by my smug and superior attitude, "If you don't leave now, we will kill you too."

I had a suspicion that he was uneasy and just trying to get me to leave so they could fight us one at a time. I wasn't stupid enough to fall for that divide and conquer tactic. At this point, I also knew that if we didn't kill them they would keep coming back until they killed us.

I knew their weaknesses since I was also a Nightstalker. They were probably aware of them as well, and had likely practiced fighting one another in boredom. Hopefully I knew some dirty tricks that they were not aware of.