I slowly blinked as Nicky backed in through the doorway.

Nina inhaled, "Oh my..."

The others were simply watching in disbelief. She had backed in because she was pulling a steel dolly hand truck meant for moving small pieces of furniture. Only she had tied Bill onto it.... Nicky will be Nicky...

She wheeled her load over to the wall and stood it up, "I will park you right here for now. Now behave and quit being a pain in the ass or I will let Trinity also get her revenge and you really do not want to piss her off."

Bill very prudently remained silent. I wasn't entirely sure that he was capable of speaking simply due to shock. I was quite certain that he had never ever been that dirty either. Nicky held up a large bottle of dish soap with a sad expression, "I ran out of soap..."

The entire contents of that bottle were somewhere on Bill. His skin and clothing were caked in soap, dirt, straw, and other unidentified bits of stuff. Judging from the whiff of his breath that I was getting from here, he had a bunch of it end up in his mouth and had likely swallowed some as well. I didn't see the can of tomato juice either.

Considering that Nicky didn't even come up to his shoulders, she had done quite a number on this youth. I suspected that he also had a few bruises hidden under his clothing. I could see one on his forehead already forming as well as some on his arms and legs. I wasn't quite sure how she had managed to keep him still long enough to tie him to that dolly though...

Nicky tilted her head at the leader with big eyes, "Can I get a refill before I leave?"

He was still in a bit of shock himself at the state of his nephew, but nodded, "I am sure we can arrange that, but please refrain from using it on anyone else here."

Nicky grinned as she slid onto the bench beside me, "Unless they act like him, I think I can promise that."

Bill finally spoke and his voice was a bit raspy, "Uncle, don't do it. Please!"

Nicky turned toward him with a faint frown, "Behave yourself. You are about to exceed the limits of my medication."

I raised an eyebrow in correction, "You aren't taking any medication and you haven't since I met you."

Nicky turned to me as a grin appeared on her face, "Oh, well, that explains what just happened then!"

I am sure that she did that on purpose... John leaned over to Logan and whispered, "What exactly did just happen?"

Logan shrugged, but John hadn't whispered quietly enough. Nicky turned toward him, "Some people like to ride the crazy train, but I am the one who built that thing. Oh, and I drive it too."

I eyed up Nicky, "I thought that captains sailed ships and that conductors ran the trains?"

She chuckled, "Both are on board and we are having one hell of a party together!"

That was not what I wanted to hear... "I think we had better bring the party to an end and let everyone go home."

"Why? It was such a fun party."

She had better not get worse overnight or we will be tying her to the top of the truck cab. I am not sure if the Strongholds will let us in like that though. I gave a big sigh, "Nicky, please eat your supper before it gets cold."

I left my other thoughts unspoken, but I hoped that food would settle her down. Otherwise Daniel was in for a rough night. I sure wasn't about to skip my free time at night to babysit her when Daniel could just tie her up and gag her.

Nicky mumbled something I couldn't hear, but pulled her plate over and began to eat. The leader looked at his nephew, but left him tied up for the moment. He picked up his conversation with Nina, "You mentioned that you were planning on going to other Strongholds to distribute the cure, but can I ask if you plan to stop at that small camp with infected people down the road?"

Nina sat up straighter, "One place had told us that they had kicked out quite a few that the dogs and cats had pegged as infected. A few other places made people leave if they thought they were infected, but no one was sure where they might have gone. Where is this camp you speak of?"

"If you continue down the highway there are about forty people camped in a town about two hours away."

Daniel inquired, "Right along the road?"

He nodded, "Yes, the road runs right through it. They do avoid contact though, so you will probably have to call out to locate them."

I doubted that. We would be able to easily scent them and know if they were in a certain town. We may end up approaching them instead of them coming to us, but the moment they heard a cure was to be had, they would likely flock out from wherever they were hiding. They had nothing to lose other than a few days...

Daniel looked thoughtful, "They can't be that hard to find. There are only a few towns along this highway if I remember that map correctly."

The two discussed the exact location of the town as the others finished their supper. I returned the sword to Nicky since she had settled down. We got up to head to our guesthouse. I eyed up the trussed up trouble maker. Should I? My instincts demanded some form of retribution and this might appease them a bit.

I paused as we walked past him, "By the way, don't forget to wash the truck. You might also want to hose yourself off while you are at it."

I continued out the door with my poker face on to hide the fact that I felt like grinning in a rather predatory fashion at my taunt. Bill didn't respond. He would be sore after Nicky's beauty treatment. With limited electricity in this place there wasn't much running water either. He would be hauling buckets to wash the truck. His Uncle would ensure that it was done properly and both knew that we planned to leave quite early in the morning to boot.

It wasn't much, but it was a strike against him and my waking instincts recognized it. The leader remained behind to untie his nephew as the rest of us headed toward the guest house. The sun was mostly set and it didn't surprise me when Daniel turned on the lights the moment we got inside. Daniel glanced around the small place, "I can sleep in the chair out here."

Nicky poked her head in one of the two back bedrooms, "You are only going to fit one person in these beds. I wouldn't mind a good night's sleep in an actual bed as long as no one wants to fight me for it. I've had enough wrestling for tonight."

Logan shook his head, "Ladies first. I am fine with a sleeping bag."

John nodded in agreement, "I agree with him. Nina or Trinity can decide who wants to get the second bed and the other one can have the couch."

I shrugged, "I don't care either way." I walked back toward the door, "I will be back later. Don't bother waiting up for me."

John looked confused, "Where are you going this late at night?"

He still hadn't figured out what I was and I didn't feel like enlightening him. He probably wouldn't sleep all night with such a surprise. It couldn't remain a secret for long since he was already puzzled by the fact that he hadn't seen me eat.

I shrugged, "For a walk. I might visit the sentries for a bit." I closed the door behind me to effectively end the conversation.

I walked silently through the growing darkness. No one had noticed me and it was rapidly getting dark enough that they would not spot me. I waited in the dark shadows under the overhang of a shed as the last traces of light disappeared from the sky.

It was dark enough now that I could get over the fence undetected. I paused before I touched my hand to the fence. Clever people... I have never seen anyone tie bells to a fence before... Strings of various-sized bells were strung across the fence as far as I could see. This must be their way of knowing if a Runner was trying to climb over it.

It was a good idea, but it had one flaw that rapidly became apparent. A tiny bit of wind started to blow and the smallest bells jingled in the wind. The larger ones would need more force, such as when a human or Runner tried to get over the fence. But a Nightstalker was not a human, and nor did one compare a Nightstalker to a Runner.

The faint movement of the fence from my passage would have made the smallest of bells lightly jingle, but it wouldn't matter with the light breeze. My ability to move smoothly came in handy once more as I scaled the fence and dropped to the other side. Getting back in could be fun if the wind dies down.

I disappeared into the darkness to track down one of the many rabbits I could scent.

~

I returned to the guest house before the sky started to lighten. The gentle breeze made getting over the fence easier. I let my footsteps fall just heavy enough that Daniel would be able to track me, but the others wouldn't hear.

I opened up the door and was not surprised to see Daniel gazing in my direction in the darkness. Logan and John were wrapped up in their sleeping bags and sound asleep on the floor. The couch was empty, so Nina and Nicky must have been occupying the beds.

I stretched out on the couch. It would probably throw Logan for a loop since he probably never thought that zombies laid down. It would also keep confusing John. I was curious as to how many days I could hide under the radar without him realizing it. My ability to blend in was a bit more hampered than it was before due to the fact that I didn't eat food anymore.

I napped for a bit between the time the sun rose above the horizon and the time that the men started stirring. I held still and pretended to sleep as Logan and John woke up and rolled up their sleeping bags. Logan gave me an odd look before glancing at Daniel. Daniel wasn't even bothering to pretend to sleep and merely ignored my act. He knew that there was no way I could sleep with them moving around.

Nicky came out of the back room while yawning. She blinked in confusion as she saw me stretched out on the couch. With a grin she started tip toeing closer to me. I took a deeper breath before turning my head, "Nicky, you could die young attempting stunts like that."

I sat up as Nicky groaned, "You take all of the fun out of things. I should have known you were awake."

"The way you were tromping around? No one can sleep through that."

She shrugged, "Well, Nina did." She looked at Daniel, "Do you want to wake her up, or should I?"

He rose to his feet, "I think it is safer for everyone if I do it." Apparently he didn't want to see what Nicky would consider as a wakeup call...

Daniel knocked on her door, "Nina, we are ready to roll whenever you are."

Her voice sounded from within, "I will be right out. I am just about ready." She had clearly been awake and was just being quiet. Daniel had probably been able to hear her soft footsteps. The walls in this place must be pretty well insulated since I didn't hear her.

I passed Nicky some of the breakfast foods we had packed and she munched on it as we waited for Nina. I shouldered my backpack and grabbed my sleeping bag as I headed for the truck. A smirk crossed my face as I saw the clean truck.

Nina climbed into the truck and opened up the back window so we could hear one another, "That camp is closer than the other Strongholds, so we will make that our first stop."

I didn't bother objecting. One group of strangers was as bothersome to visit as any other in my books. If Nina tries to invite all of them along for the ride, I might just have to sit down and have a few words with her...