"Isn't that a bit much wood?" Daniel idly inquired as I dropped another armful of branches onto the fire.

"They won't be able to claim they're cold."

"That thing is going to burn for hours."

"The rain barrel at the back of the house is full. Besides, most of this is smaller stuff, so it'll burn fast and hot."

He regarded the shoulder-high pile dubiously before standing up and moving his chair farther away. My chair had been moved back earlier, so I wasn't sure why he was so slow to catch on. Now if the people inside would stop snoring and wake up...

To kill time, I used our jerrycan to fill up the truck one trip at a time. By the fourth trip, the truck was full, the fire was blazing high, faint voices could be heard from within the house, the coffee was ready, and Daniel was likely questioning my sanity.

I forced myself to sit as people slowly trickled out of the house. Every single one of them gave the small bonfire a strange look, although none of them commented on it, possibly grateful for the heat in the chilly morning air.

They dished up the rice and stood as close to the fire as they dared. Nicky wolfed down spoonfuls of the starchy breakfast and sent a few longing glances at the pot of coffee, although she didn't take any. I was curious to see how long she would hold out, although I didn't expect her restraint to last much longer.

Nicky didn't strike me as the type of person who would stick with a diet, so I hadn't expected her to manage three mornings in a row without coffee. I was amazed that she had managed to stay on the bandwagon this long.

Her mood had also leveled out noticeably. I knew I could blame some of it on the lack of caffeine, but if it was some sort of disorder, then it was only a matter of time until it reared its head again. With luck, I would have deposited them at the Stronghold and continued on by then.

Nicky finished her second helping of rice. "That was good. Why didn't you eat any? Did you poison it?"

"No, it wasn't poisoned. I just wasn't hungry."

"Why did you make it then?"

I shrugged. "I was awake, and it wasn't like I had anything else to do."

Daniel smirked slightly, amused at my evasion of the truth.

Nicky's eyes traveled over to the coffee. "Once you leave the Stronghold, our bet is off since there's no way for me to know if you drank coffee or not."

I smirked at her. "I don't drink coffee."

"Then there is obviously something wrong with you."

"Even if there was something wrong with me, it sure wouldn't be caused by a lack of coffee."

"You never know until you try, right?"

"Better safe than sorry, and I've managed this long without coffee."

"Drat." She sighed heavily.

I chuckled and leaned over to gently mock-punch her shoulder. "If you're done, grab the stuff from inside so we can finish loading the truck. As much as I'm not looking forward to sitting all day, the sooner we get on the road, and the sooner we'll get to our destination."

Nicky punched me back. "I think you're just trying to get rid of us. You should stay there for a few days. You might like it. If they accept Daniel, then they can't have an issue with sane zombies."

"Nope. I don't do Strongholds." I shook my head; this one wasn't open for debate. At least until I found my sister.

My hard tone made her gaze at me in perplexity. "And why not?"

I abruptly stood up, my good mood disappearing with the memories. "The last time I was invited into a Stronghold, I barely made it out alive."

Turning, I briskly entered the house and grabbed some things I knew we'd be taking. At least we would have more room with four fewer people in the back of the truck. Chloe sensed my mood and moved out of my way with a wary look, carrying her half-eaten rabbit with her.

The others finished their food and also came to help pack. Daniel kept glancing at me, curious about my story, but didn't say anything, likely not wanting to pry into a touchy subject.

It didn't take us long to finish packing and resume our road trip. We spread out in the back and took up our original positions. We stuck Joel in the corner between Nicky and Nina, since that seemed like the best place for him.

This time, the trip didn't seem so bad, likely because I had more room and fewer people infringing upon my personal space. If nothing else, it didn't chafe against my instincts as much. Daniel also seemed more relaxed. The rest of this trip might just be tolerable after all.

~

       I, along with everyone else, glared at the fire-blackened remains of the wooden bridge.

"Well, I guess we now know why the van's tracks backtracked and went down that other road," Ben said.

Nina turned my map one way, then the other, and shook her head. "It's hard to say. We probably would have arrived in five or six hours, but any detour will add an additional two hours or so."

Ben sighed. "Good thing we have so much diesel. We're going to need it."

We returned to our places as Hank turned the truck around and followed the van's tracks. Their map had at least shown some of the back roads. I idly wondered if the other group had been psychic when they took two big water jugs of fuel. Then again, after running out once, I couldn't see them not taking such precautions.

"Trinity, how do you usually travel when you're not accompanying humans?" Nina inquired.

"If I pretend to be asleep, will I be able to avoid the question?" I asked idly.

She chuckled. "I know it isn't possible for you to sleep in these conditions."

"On foot, usually."

"That's a lot of walking."

"Believe me, I know."

I huffed as Hank hit another pothole, although given how the road behind us looked, I wasn't sure how he missed most of the ones we'd passed. Or the pieces of metal and other obstacles.

"Bumpity, bump, bump; bumpity, bump, bump; over the road, we go!"

I bestowed a glare upon the cheerful, red-headed singer whose skills were so terrible that half the people were wincing.

"If you keep singing, this is going to come to blows," I told her tartly.

"That doesn't really rhyme, and that certainly isn't how the song is supposed to go," she informed me.

"I really don't care."

"Come on! I'm a great singer! Today's your lucky day!"

Before I could retort that my luck was better off being used to get to our destination safely, the engine suddenly sputtered for a few seconds and cut out. The truck immediately slowed as it lost power. I growled lowly. I couldn't believe it – today was clearly not my lucky day. I was beginning to wonder if the mere mention of luck was sufficient to summon my complete and utter lack of it.

Hank steered the truck to the side of the road as my thoughts turned irritable. You have got to be kidding me. I've had more vehicles break down in the last week than since I started driving. That was a terrible track record considering I had never owned anything that was considered newish.

Once we stopped, Hank tried starting the truck again, but it didn't even click. He popped the hood and got out. Ben also went to investigate the damage. I stood up and leaned on the top of the cab as I watched the men.

We hadn't seen any abandoned trucks recently. We had passed some cars, but there was no way we would fit eight humans, two zombies, and a dog into a car. Even then, we only had one jerrycan of gasoline since we'd stocked up on diesel, and not many cars ran on diesel.

I glared at a nearby road sign. The numbers beside the names of the towns proclaimed that we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The distance was also measured in kilometers instead of miles, so we must have crossed over the Canadian border at some point.

"Trinity, can I see your map for a minute?" Ben asked, coming back around.

I pulled it out and passed it to him.

"How bad is it?" Nicky asked.

He made a face. "Not that bad, but bad enough. We blew the alternator and it drained our battery. It's easy enough to fix if we can find a spare alternator or raid another diesel truck for it, but we need that part or a new vehicle."

"If the battery is dead, we'll need to boost it," Nicky pointed out.

"If we take the part from another vehicle, its battery might have enough juice to boost ours," Ben replied as Daniel came over to inspect the map Ben was unfolding.

Ben scratched his head. "What did that sign back down the road say? Something about a restaurant, truck stop, and gas station?"

"Truck stop? If we find a semi, I call the driver's seat," Nicky interjected.

"The sign about a truck stop pointed down a different road at the last intersection," Daniel said, ignoring Nicky.

"Hmmm." Ben traced his finger across the map and tapped it on the red line. "So, it would be on the road over here."

"Unless we want to backtrack to the intersection, we'd have to hike through the forest to get to the truck stop," Daniel said while studying the map. He looked up and down the road. "Actually, if the road curves like the map shows, we're only about five miles away if we cut through the trees in a straight line. That's only about a two-hour walk."

"So," Nicky said, "do we all go and return, or do just a few of us go check it out?"

"You're the fastest," Hank told Daniel. "I doubt it would take you long to get there and back."

"Unfortunately, I know nothing about engines. I wouldn't have a clue where to start or which trucks had the proper parts."

Daniel turned to me and tilted his head in a silent inquiry.

"Don't bother looking at me. I was very good at driving my cars into the ground, but other than the basics like jumpstarting the battery or changing the oil, I always called the mechanic down the street."

Nicky stood up and stretched. "Well, if it isn't that far, I wouldn't mind a walk. It's probably safer if we stick together. Besides, we can make one of our red-eyed friends carry a jerrycan of diesel since we might find something that just ran out of fuel. Then we can drive back and collect our supplies."

Daniel gave her a look of disbelief. "Red-eyed friends? One, even I can't see Trinity's eyes through her sunglasses, so you have no idea if she's camouflaging them. Two, my eyes have been brown the vast majority of the time."

"One, with her mood, her eyes would undoubtedly be red most of the time," Nicky retorted, mimicking his tone and ignoring my light growl of protest. "Two, I'm not sure I can call that brown. It's more of an orangey color, and it creeps the hell out of me since it makes me think you're a wolf trying to hide in sheep's clothing. I think I prefer you with red eyes. It makes you seem more honest."

Daniel gave her an odd look, as if he didn't quite believe her opinion was a common one.

Ben shrugged. "I'm all for a walk since I probably don't have to worry about feral zombies if these two are around."

Marissa looked at the piles of supplies and fuel stacked in the middle of the truck box. "What if someone comes while we are gone? There's no way we can pack all of this with us."

"We can hide it in the forest," I said. "What human in their right mind would go into the trees looking for hidden supplies? Just leave the hood up and open the gas cap. No one will even give it a second glance."

"She's right on that score," Nina said with a grin. "If we put the food in the trees, we don't even have to worry about wild animals getting into it."

"Good enough for me," Hank said, grabbing a couple of bags and hoisting them over his shoulder.

I grabbed the two big jugs of diesel since they were the heaviest. Even if most of the people here were taller than me, only Daniel was stronger. It was one perk of being a Nightstalker.

It didn't take us long to stash everything just inside the tree line and throw some branches over it for extra camouflage. Ben pulled out a compass as Daniel took the lead with a jerrycan of diesel in his hand.

Liz started to walk toward me, but Marissa caught her arm and pulled her back. Picking up the fearless child, Marissa set her on her own shoulders for the hike.

Once again, I followed behind as a rear guard. The sense of déjà vu made me test the air to ensure there wasn't a second feral Terror in the area. At this point, I had no doubts that my bad luck was more than capable of summoning one out of thin air if it thought things were going too smoothly.

~

       I restrained an impatient sigh as I plodded behind the humans, once more reminded about how slow they were. If Daniel's guess was right, we were probably three-quarters of the way there, which was a good thing since the group was getting tired and slowing down.

One particular scent was also getting strong. I kept my eyes open, although I wasn't overly concerned. Once the animal realized we were here, it would likely avoid us. Considering how Daniel's nostrils occasionally flared as he tested the air, he was also aware it was in the area.

We followed the deer trail around a corner, and Daniel stopped as the big grizzly rose to its feet with a pissed-off roar. Apparently, the cantankerous old male didn't appreciate us disturbing his nap and was in the same lovely mood as the Nightstalker from the other night.

The smell of fear filled the air as the humans froze with wide eyes. Chloe ducked behind the group and bravely barked a couple of times from her hiding place.

I nonchalantly walked up beside Daniel and commented, "I hunted well last night, so I'm good. I can keep guiding our companions if you feel like a snack."

I subtly tilted my head toward our shocked and terrified audience. At this point, I wasn't sure what disturbed them more: that an angry grizzly bear had just roared at them or that we would consider such a creature a snack. Even Nina looked startled.

Daniel grinned widely as he caught on, showing his wickedly sharp teeth. "Sounds good to me. I didn't hunt last night. Keep going, I'll catch up once I'm done."

The grizzly huffed in threat and stomped a few steps closer. Daniel passed the jerrycan to me and turned to face the irritable animal as his eyes flickered to a glowing red. He dropped into a hunting crouch and snarled viciously at the bear.

The bear immediately realized he was facing a zombie and ran the other way with surprising speed for his size. Fear rolled off those behind us in thick waves as Daniel followed the fleeing bear at a slower pace.

My own instincts wanted me to back away from the hunting Terror, but he was in control and the bear was his target, so I overruled them and remained standing there, looking relaxed. It was harder than I thought it would be. My instincts had no desire to challenge a Terror over its meal.

The bear crashed through the bush and out of sight. Seconds later, Daniel also disappeared into the trees with surprising grace.

I glanced at those behind me and kept my tone bored. "Well, let's keep going."

The looks I got were priceless, and I fought to keep a grin off my face. Apparently, none of them – not even Nina – quite understood zombie humor when we decided to mess with the minds of the humans around us.

When humans got accustomed to our presence, they often began to think of us in human terms despite our growling, naturally red eyes, and discrete hunting. They also tended to forget the hidden bloodthirsty nature we constantly fought to contain and control. That made our occasional demonstrations and comments come as quite a shock to those around us.

I started walking, and after a brief hesitation, they followed me with a quicker pace than what they'd been using before. If they kept up this speed, we might make it to the road before Daniel caught up. The jerrycan was awkward due to my stature, but its weight didn't bother me.

The crashing noises to the side faded as they got more distant. Daniel was letting the bear run far enough away that the humans wouldn't hear him go for the kill. I doubted even a Terror could drain a bear that large. He'd probably catch up in about fifteen minutes or so.

The sounds from the bear and Daniel continued to fade into the distance until I could barely hear them. Daniel's footsteps hit the ground harder for several strides before going silent, likely leaping at his target. The bear roared as a larger crash of underbrush reached my ears, then nothing.

The others behind me jumped at the roar, although I didn't bother to tell them the bear was now dead. Their pace quickened even more, probably wanting to get out of this forest.

Liz looked back in curiosity; oddly enough, out of everyone, she seemed the least shaken by what she had seen. "How is he going to find us if we leave?"

I lifted my nose to the air and deliberately took a loud sniff, ignoring the faint burning in my throat from my companions.

"Our sense of smell is very good," I commented dryly. "I somehow doubt he'll have any problem tracking a bunch of humans."

Considering half of them hadn't put deodorant on this morning, he could probably smell us from where he was. He'd have no problem following our trail. There is absolutely no way he can miss the smell of Hank's socks. Those things can practically be used as a weapon.

It was a classic case of sweaty gym socks, and he must have worn them five days in a row. I made a mental note to check for socks the next time I went through a house or store. Then we could burn the old pair. I wasn't even sure if washing them would save them at this point.