I made no effort to start a conversation, and the men didn't seem to know what to say.

The one called Frank finally asked, "Why are you wearing sunglasses? The sun set quite a while ago."

"I like them," I replied shortly.

What was it with people and my sunglasses? Simply having these guys around was putting me in a bad mood after such a long day – and this wasn't helping. As irritated as I was right now, there was no way I could change my eyes to brown. Besides, the fire was too bright to look at without the tinted lenses.

Another guy, Kal, snorted. "Right. I bet you can't see anything. You're probably going to fall off the ladder when you go down."

"Then that's my problem," I said with a dismissive shrug.

"No, that's just being stupid." Kal scoffed.

The insult hit my awakening instincts harder than I expected, and I gritted my teeth to contain a snarl.

The younger guy, Joel, sighed and said, "Leave her alone."

He sounded like he was tired of their talk already. That made two of us. It had been a long day, I was out of patience, and I didn't feel like putting up with this kind of crap right now. Before I could get more annoyed, I got up and walked away.

Kal snickered. "Running away already? Wow. I haven't even gotten warmed up yet. Don't fall off the roof."

His words were triggering my instincts and making me fight for control. I took a deep breath to suppress the rage. I stood at the edge of the roof while trying to calm myself. Perhaps silence would shut the man up. I was beginning to wish Daniel hadn't dumped out that water – I wouldn't have minded drenching Kal in dirty dishwater.

"Too shy to even reply? I think I know how to make it up to you. I have a set of fluffy pink handcuffs that I bet would look good on you."

"Your bright red blood would look even better if it was on the ground," I snapped.

It was possibly the worst comeback I'd ever made, but it should get my mood and my message across. My vision was going redder, which wasn't a good sign, and I knew my control was approaching its limit with this man. Killing Kal was beginning to sound like a pretty good idea at this point...

Frank snorted and informed me, "A little thing like you wouldn't have a chance at hurting us. Even if we let you get the first punch in, it wouldn't make any difference."

His words were another blow against my Nightstalker pride. My fully-awakened instincts surged forward, demanding their blood as retribution. My muscles were tense as I took a slow, deep breath to get a better handle on my control.

These two men were managing to press the exact worst buttons if they wanted to survive the night. Numerous insults, check. Accusing me of running away, check. Flirtation from an insulting guy who hadn't washed in a week, check. Declaring that they would win any fight with ease, check. They were cruising for a bruising.

Footsteps on the ladder heralded the return of the other three. Nina and Nicky headed back to their seats as Daniel trailed behind, gazing in my direction with a concerned frown. With his keen hearing, he would have heard the entire discussion and probably had a good idea of my mood and how much danger they were in, especially since I had moved away from them.

Nicky flopped down in her chair with her usual indifference to the atmosphere, although Nina paused as she looked between me and the men.

"What's going on here?" Nina sounded like an irritated parent with troublesome teenagers, although she was mostly blaming our new guests.

Kal shrugged innocently. "We were just having a friendly chat."

I growled a correction as I glanced back over my shoulder. Whoops. In my anger, the sound had slipped out as Kal tried to cover his tracks. Daniel slowly sat in his chair as the men looked at me with confused expressions.

"Did she seriously just growl like a dog?" Kal sounded incredulous.

I was beginning to suspect their old Stronghold had kicked them out for their lack of manners. They were even making my grouchy demeanor look like a breath of fresh air. At least I didn't go out of my way to insult others without reason. Usually.

Nina shrugged as she finally sat down. "What did you expect when you annoyed a Nightstalker?"

Nice way to keep a secret, Nina... Although with how Kal's face drained of color in mere seconds, it was almost worth it.

"She's a zombie?"

Perhaps Nina's tactic was for the best. If it shut him up before I killed him, then it was worth a shot. Still looking over my shoulder, I raised my hand to pull my sunglasses down since one of the chairs was blocking my view of the fire. My strongly glowing red eyes would stand out in the darkness.

The men gaped at me, too stunned for words. Even though I couldn't see the fire, enough light shone around the area to border on being painful, so I pushed my sunglasses back up.

The men sat in silent shock. Joel had also gone pale, although he was in the least amount of danger since he had tried to stick up for me. Kal was the first on my hit list, and the annoying man was probably aware of it.

As if to break the tense silence, Daniel commented, "I was expecting a stronger reaction. You have a lot more restraint compared to the last Nightstalker I met."

My seething instincts immediately assumed that restraint meant weakness, and they locked onto the likely-unintentional insinuation. My smoldering temper flared, and I spun around to snarl fiercely at him. His brown eyes shifted to a bright, glowing red as he snarled just as viciously back at me. The overconfident ass didn't even have the decency to stand up.

I took a threatening step forward, ready to take out my temper on him. If nothing else, it would help me blow off some steam since he could take anything I could dish out and hand it back just as easily.

I was almost guaranteed to end up pinned or face-down on the ground, but I was past caring about such details at this exact second. After our earlier scuffle, I knew he wouldn't kill me, and I really needed to blow off some steam. A good fight with a higher-ranking zombie should accomplish that.

My train of thought was interrupted by a large thump. I glanced over to note that Joel had fainted and fallen off his chair. Kal didn't look too far behind.

Nicky was completely unfazed by the two snarling zombies and smirked at Kal in amusement. "You better dump some water over his head to wake him up. Probably also a wise idea to take him into the tent. Lots of mosquitoes come out at night, you know."

Nina grinned at her comment. From the way Kal got even paler as his eyes drifted between Joel and me, I suspected the mosquito he was worried about didn't have wings. The distraction and dark humor of Nicky's comment had shaken the worst of my mood off me, but I kind of wished it had been Kal who fainted. That would have been far more satisfying.

I shook myself like a dog. "I'm heading out to hunt before someone else pisses me off. Daniel, you're on guard duty until I return."

He bared his teeth at the men in a parody of a smile as his eyes faded back to brown. He had obviously decided the worst threat was already on the roof with us. Kal looked like someone cornered by a pride of lions, and the other men paled even more.

I stepped off the roof to drop to the ground below, taking off at a run in my usual slight crouch. It was dark enough that they probably couldn't see me, and if they did, I didn't really care. I took off my sunglasses to let my red-tinged vision pierce the darkness unrestrained.

At first, I simply raced through the trees to try to run my temper into the ground. I no longer felt like ending up on the losing end of a battle with Daniel, but now that the cat was out of the bag, Kal was going to get snarled at if he annoyed me.

My eyes landed on a large dead tree that was still standing. I imagined Kal's face on it and launched forward with a snarl as I tried to work off my lingering rage.

By the time I finished, there wasn't much left of the tree besides splintered pieces better suited for kindling. I felt much better after pummeling the tree into submission.

Recalling my original intentions, I lifted my nose to the air as I took a deep breath. I was going to need more than a mere rabbit to handle tomorrow if it was anything like today. I didn't feel like hunting a deer, and an elk would be a waste since I wouldn't be able to drink that much blood while I was hunting regularly.

I caught another scent and headed after it. Minutes later, I gazed up at the tree the cougar was resting in. It hadn't realized I was here yet. I picked up a fist-sized rock and threw it at the big cat.

The cougar dropped to the ground with a hiss and looked back up, trying to figure out what had hit it. I charged from my hidden location with a growl, and it turned to attack me. The big cat jumped at me, but I dodged its extended claws. It slid in the leaf litter as it landed and snarled at me again.

I launched myself at it before it had a chance to regain its footing. A strong blow to its neck shattered the spinal cord, killing it instantly. This was the fourth cougar I had killed. I didn't like depleting any population of animals, so I usually left the less-numerous big predators alone.

Their blood had a different taste, heavier and thicker. It wasn't something I would want on a regular basis, but it suited me just fine today. I used my knife to cut a large portion of meat off for Chloe.

Before long, I headed back and circled the town to ensure that nothing lurked nearby before heading to the store. I could still see Daniel sitting by the fire as I approached the building.

As I neared the ladder, I quietly called up, "It's just me."

I put on my sunglasses and climbed up almost silently. I tossed the chunk of meat to the corner for whenever Chloe decided to wake up. As I walked across the roof, I let my footsteps fall loudly enough for Daniel to hear them.

His head turned in my direction, although now that I was paying attention, I realized I was almost at the fire before his eyes truly focused on me. He really couldn't see that well in the dark, even with the firelight.

I sat in my chair with a sigh, letting our companions' four chairs continue to separate us. Using some water and a napkin, I wiped the few traces of cougar blood off my hands, then tossed the napkin in the fire.

A comfortable silence reigned for quite some time. Neither of us truly needed to sleep, and with our five new friends on the same rooftop, sleep was going to be extremely evasive tonight.

Daniel had a faint grin on his face as he spoke quietly. "Still feel like fighting me?"

"Not anymore," I replied with a slight smirk. "But if tomorrow is as hectic as today, I might take you up on it."

"Feel free to request a match if you feel like it. I may pin you, but I won't hurt you. With my speed and strength, you'll probably end up on the losing end every time though."

"I know. In the mood I was in previously, I didn't overly care either. I just wanted to blow off steam, and you were the only one in the area capable of taking a hit from me."

He seemed amused that I had come so close to going after him. "I would have let you get a couple of punches in before pinning you."

I was somewhat surprised he would be that lenient in a fight, especially with an audience. Our instincts pushed us toward First Strike, not letting others land blows. Then again, if I wasn't using weapons, the outcome was a given.

Sniffing the air, he tilted his head. "I'm surprised the cougar managed to scratch you. Are they that fast? I've never tried hunting any of the larger predators before."

I snorted in faint humor. "The cougar wasn't fast enough to claw me. The blood you smell is from when I took out my anger on a tree and got a few small scratches on my hands. I usually don't hunt the larger predators since there are fewer of them, but as an occasional meal, they're a good change."

"What did the tree do to you to deserve that?"

"I'm not sure, but I reduced it to kindling regardless of the reason."

"You have the oddest ways of passing the time," he commented, shaking his head with a slight grin.

I chuckled in quiet agreement before we both let the silence take over. It was oddly peaceful. There was no way it would last long tomorrow, but I would take the peace and quiet while I could.

I put another big piece of wood on the fire and relaxed in the chair. The moon slowly moved across the sky as we acted like silent sentinels. I even managed to doze off for several minutes, although I wasn't completely asleep since part of my mind was awake and listening while another part took a break.

No one would know I was napping just from watching me. I had intended to remain sitting, and I did. Most zombies were able to sleep standing up, and I could keep my muscles from moving while I napped.

In theory, I should also be able to sleep standing up like my lesser cousins, but I had never tried. Daniel had closed his eyes earlier, relying on his hearing and nose to alert him to any trouble. If he slept, I was unaware of it.