We took a detour away from the main roads to reach the small rabbit forest outside of Ironwind Stronghold and arrived without any fanfare. Luke was looking at the forest in curiosity as we came to a stop. I hopped out of the truck and Luke also got out. Nicky remained seated.

Nina looked back through the open window, "We will be right back."

I nodded and pointed over my shoulder, "We will be checking out the cave."

Daniel slowly started driving the truck over the tire ruts as branches scraped along the rusted truck's sides. I looked at Luke, "Well, feel like seeing if the cave will work?"

He nodded and I started walking toward it. He walked beside me while looking at the forest around us, committing the path to memory. I came to a stop and pointed to the dark opening that was just barely visible through some bushes.

Luke sniffed the air to ensure that no feral was inside before walking up to the entrance. I trailed behind him. He ducked his head as he went past the entrance. I could see everything clearly, but I knew Luke's sight wasn't much better than a human's was.

He paused at the corner and flicked a flashlight on before going deeper. I followed him inside. He came to the larger cave at the end and looked around. He gave me a rueful look, "It is absolutely no fair that you don't even have to duck in here."

I smirked as the tall lanky man had to stoop over and bend his knees to avoid hitting his head on the hard rock cave ceiling. Luke looked around, "As far as caves go, this one isn't bad at all. I think I will be chipping the rock so I can stand up, unless you have any issues with that."

I shook my head, "Don't let me spoil your fun. I don't have any attachment to this cave."

He took one last look around, "Well, I think I have seen enough for now. I wouldn't mind checking out the forest."

I headed back to the outside world and he followed me.

~

I accompanied Luke as he explored the forest. About an hour later I heard the sound of the truck once more. We headed back to where we had last seen them.

Luke blinked as he saw the truck and murmured, "They really do go overboard, don't they?"

I examined the heavily loaded truck and was in full agreement with him, "That is one way of putting it."

The back was so full that Nicky was sitting on top of a small three drawer dresser. We were silent as the truck pulled up. Daniel turned it off and got out, "This is about as close as I think I can get the truck to that cave. We will be carrying everything the rest of the way."

Nicky jumped down, "We already decided that Daniel gets to carry the bed frame and heavy stuff."

I smirked as Nicky once more nominated Daniel for the hardest work, although for him it wouldn't be that hard.

Nina held up a blue spray bottle, "Daniel says that this disinfectant tends to remove the lingering human smells. I did spray it on everything before we left and it should have aired out by now, but I will leave it with you in case you want to use more of it."

Luke nodded, "Thank you." He didn't move any closer to her though.

She also held up a small blue bag, "I have the controlex as well. It is up to you when you want it."

That caught Luke's attention and he looked at the bag, "I would prefer to do it sooner rather than later, especially if it takes about three days to take full effect."

Nina nodded and opened up the truck tailgate to create an impromptu table. Luke took a few steps closer as he watched her unpacking the bag intently. Daniel leaned on the side of the truck beside Nina and I followed not far behind Luke.

Luke stopped and crossed his arms in front of him as he leaned against the other side of the truck just beside the tire. He was barely three arm-lengths away from Nina and I had never seen him so close to a human before. Nina pulled out some supplies and it didn't take her long to have her gloves on. She held an alcohol wipe and a tiny syringe quarter way filled with some odd green fluid.

She looked at Luke, "How would you like to do this? I can administer it if you are comfortable having me that close or if you are okay with using needles, you can give it to yourself. Daniel can also do it if that is easier for you."

Luke was silent in thought for a while, "I think it may be best if you did it. Do you have to inject it in a certain area?"

Nina shook her head, "Not really, although I prefer to inject it into a vein if I have a choice."

Luke took a deep breath, "In that case, I will stand here. I will give warning if my control gets shaky, although I am quite certain that Trinity and Daniel are more than swift enough to intervene if something goes wrong."

Luke put both of his hands on top of the side of the truck box and used it as a handhold. Nina slowly moved closer. I spoke quietly, "Nina, go to the other side. You will be downwind then. It won't help much at that range though."

Nina nodded before circling around to the other side of Luke. I remained standing not that far behind him. I was just close enough to distract his instincts without presenting a threat. It didn't escape my notice that Nina had put a lot of that perfume on.

I didn't think that Luke's control was as shaky as he feared, but his caution could very well be warranted. Control was always a struggle for Runners. I seriously hoped that the controlex would affect his bloodlust as it did mine.

Nina used the alcohol wipe to give the inside of his elbow a quick clean. I wrinkled my nose at the sharp smell. She kept one eye on him and one eye on what she was doing. Daniel was watching Luke like a hawk, but Luke was looking the other way and breathing through his mouth.

Nina spoke quietly, "I am going to inject it." With that warning, she inserted the needle and slowly depressed the plunger without her gloves touching his skin.

Luke took a deeper breath as the needle pierced his skin, but didn't move. Nina backed away, "I'm done."

Luke exhaled slowly in relief, "Thank you. I am also grateful that you covered your scent so well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be."

Nina nodded, "I am glad that it helped."

Luke turned his attention to the stuff in the truck and pulled out a live trap before grinning, "I think I can make good use of this..."

Nicky chuckled from the far side of the truck, "Well, supposedly all of this is going to fit into that cave somehow. I hope it is a big cave. I will drop things outside the entrance so you can arrange them how you like, but I have no plans on going inside."

Luke glanced at the piles of stuff with a startled expression, "This is all for me? Surely there must be some mistake, I don't need this much..."

Nina grinned, "Well, it is yours now. It was just sitting in storage, so you might as well have it. If you do decide to move into the Stronghold at some point, we can get you new stuff and leave this here for any other zombies who might pass through and not want to go inside."

"Oh... Thank you..." Luke seemed to be at a loss for words.

Daniel reached over and somehow lifted the bed frame out of the truck by himself without any apparent effort. The bed frame was one of those solid wooden affairs that probably weighed 200 pounds. I could have lifted it, but not like it was a handful of paper. Luke blinked at the Terror's unintentional display of strength.

I shook my head and grabbed the dresser since it looked like the second heaviest object. It took us a few trips to pile everything at the cave entrance. Nina looked curiously at the barely visible entrance that was well hidden behind the shrubs, but she didn't make any move to approach it.

Luke scratched his head, "I think I will have to clear some of this brush and plants away first, but I can manage that by myself easily enough. Thank you so much for everything."

Nina nodded, "No problem at all. If you need anything, or even just want something, simply let us know. We are going to head back, but we will bring you supper later on." She glanced at me, "I assume you are going to keep him company for the rest of the day?"

I shrugged, "Unless someone wants me to do something, I can hang out here and help Luke get settled in."

Nina shook her head, "I can't think of anything, so I will see you later tonight."

Nicky went with Daniel and Nina. I wondered what those in the Stronghold had thought when they had seen Nicky, but not me. Luke watched them walk away through the trees before glancing at the pile behind us, "That was unexpected..."

I rolled my eyes, "This entire Stronghold isn't exactly something you can expect."

He chuckled, "True, I doubt there is another place with a lab, several drugs, a Terror, and a Nightstalker."

I shook my head, halfway amused, "And now we get to add a Runner to the mix. All we need now is a couple of horses that can tolerate zombies and we will have a full circus." And I would still be sneaking out of the back of that circus tent...

Luke looked back at the cave with interest, "This could be fun. I always wanted to try tree sculpting. I can clear out the stuff in the way and trim those taller ones to form an arch that we can walk through."

"Good thing you spoke up, or I was just going to yank them out by the roots."

Luke shook his head, "If I have to kill time for three days, then I might as well do it artistically. You can clear a nice path to the road if you want."

I shrugged, "Good enough for me. We trampled it down somewhat, but it can definitely be improved."

I went to clear a path through the trees.