It did not surprise anyone that I was heading out early. I made sure to tell them to not expect me back until dawn. My footsteps were silent as I moved through the forest that was growing darker as the sun approached the horizon.

I felt the instant the sun touched the horizon. It was like an invisible shiver as my instincts once more stirred and started to strengthen. I remained in the shadows of the trees as I gazed at the silent forest around me as the light dimmed and the shadows grew darker.

It was sometimes interesting to just stand and watch the night come. There is a unique stillness that comes certain evenings when no trace of breeze can be felt and one can literally feel the air getting cooler. It was almost peaceful even with my instincts rousing to their full strength.

I remained in that spot until I felt the last of the sun disappear below the horizon. My instincts picked through every scent they could locate. They were particularly interested in the wildlife after not hunting last night.

The sun had set and night had fallen. The night belonged to me. I started moving through the trees silently.

~

I slowly headed back toward the fence. The sun had cleared the horizon, so I had been out later than I ever had before. It was almost time for breakfast and people were starting to stir.

I tossed the radio to the guards above and headed toward the secondary building. Luke spotted me as he and John came out of the building, "Good morning Trinity. I assume nothing exciting happened last night?"

"Pretty quiet. One less elk though." I kept a subtle watch on John and was entertained by the range of emotions that crossed his face as my words and their meaning sunk in. Sometimes messing with the minds of humans was endlessly amusing when they were once more reminded that someone was a zombie even if they looked, and mostly acted, human.

Luke didn't see his brother's face, "Oh, good. I heard the cooks were hoping to make more elk jerky."

I shrugged, "I put it by the road and flagged it. The gate sentries know I left it there and they were going to send someone off to collect it."

John was somewhat disturbed and confused. I was positive that the moment I was out of sight that he was going to be getting his brother to explain a few things. Like why someone would eat meat from a zombie kill.

Luke was about to speak before a shout from above interrupted him.

"We are going to have a party today!"

Luke paled slightly, "Was that Nicky?"

I narrowed my eyes at the open window that the wild voice had come out of. I knew that tone of voice. "Unfortunately. To make things worse, the chains on her mood swing just broke. Run."

I made good on my own advice as I darted down the street into an open garage where I could more easily hide in the shadows. I peered out of my hiding place in the shadows along the back wall. John was still standing there looking confused. Luke looked faintly worried, possibly as to why I would pull such a disappearing act, although he hadn't connected the dots yet.

That's right. He has never seen Nicky take a trip to the wildside before. Other people down the street needed no additional explanation. Most had heard Nicky's announcement and were already making themselves scarce. They knew what was coming.

How the hell can she pull an insanity blitz the first morning after we return? Was she trying to remind people that she was back? I growled faintly with my growing irritation. My morning had been going so well until now.

The front door flew open to reveal a wild-eyed Nicky. Her untamed hair had clearly not been brushed yet and she still wore her pjs. She grinned crazily at the two unfortunate men who had not been fast enough to move away from where they had been standing in front of the building.

Luke took one look at the big bottle of dish soap in her hands, "Shit. Run!"

I had never heard Luke swear before. Apparently it was a rare event since John gaped at his brother's language. Luke's words and urgent tone sunk in just before Luke grabbed his brother's hand and started running. Nicky wasted no time in starting her pursuit.

They ran past the garage and I heard Luke tell John, "The second we get around the building, immediately go around the next corner where she can't see you. I will lure her off."

"But what about you?"

"I can run for longer than she can."

It didn't take long before I could no longer hear Luke's or Nicky's footsteps. John was shuffling uneasily around the outside of the garage. I slowly emerged from the garage before going around the corner. John jumped when he saw movement, but relaxed as he recognized who I was.

"What just happened?"

I snorted, "Nicky just jumped off the deep end. Currently I am counting my blessings that she managed to mostly hold off this long. I am not sure what I would have done if she attempted this on our road trip."

"So what do we do now?"

I glanced in the direction that Luke had gone, "First off, we have to ensure the area is safe."

I pulled my communication radio out of my backpack and set the dial to Luke's personal radio. I had seen it on his belt earlier. I pressed the button as I radioed Luke, "Lead her outside the fence and head toward the forest with that cave. Let her tire herself out there where she can't get into mischief. Over."

Luke's growl came back over the radio, "You owe me big time." He was not impressed that he was currently the target and I had been the one to tell her about soap. His instincts would also not appreciate my order or the fact that he was running from something his instincts would rather eat.

I was not sympathetic, "I gave sufficient warning, but you didn't take heed. Be glad you have Runner stamina. Have fun!" I didn't bother adding over to the end of my parting comment. I could imagine his snarl on the other end easily enough.

As a Runner, he could run full tilt for hours. Nightstalkers were built for stealth while Runners had dogged persistence on their side. I glanced at John, "Welcome to Ironwind Stronghold. Home to zombies and maniacs."

His expression was priceless at this point. I shook myself off, "I think I will take some food out to Nicky. Once she runs out of steam, of course."

John was speechless as he watched me walk toward the breakfast hall. I grabbed one of the cardboard to-go containers as I looked at the breakfast spread. Her favorites were put in the box and I packed about twice the amount that she usually ate just to be certain that she would mellow out.

One of the men from the archery group commented from a nearby table, "Rumor has it that someone gave Nicky coffee."

I turned around to examine the brown haired man, "I am not sure. I wasn't in the vicinity until the last second."

He shrugged, "I just so happened to overhear that one of the newcomers from that last group thought they would be kind and take coffee to everyone in your group so they didn't have to come down just for coffee."

I tilted my head, "And just where did you hear this?"

"The man in question was surprised that you weren't in your room this morning, despite how early it was. He asked me where you were. The damage had already been done by then though."

I growled in faint annoyance. The man seemed to realize that it wasn't directed at him and wasn't overly bothered by the growl.

"As punishment, I am tempted to let Nicky pick out his wardrobe for the next 3 days and color it if she so chooses. I thought that everyone in this place was warned upon entry to not give that woman coffee."

He shrugged, "He knew that someone called Nicky wasn't supposed to drink coffee, but he didn't realize who Nicky was. We are warning the others, although it is a bit of a moot point right now."

I kept forgetting just how bizarre of an effect coffee had on Nicky. She was not going to be a fun person to have around today. I shook my head as I took the box of food and headed outside.

I picked up my radio again, "It turns out that someone gave her coffee, so it really isn't her fault."

If that didn't get Luke going, not much would. His dry voice came over the radio, "That does not change my situation."

"Is she tired yet?"

His voice was frustrated and he was slightly out of breath, "I have no idea how she hasn't collapsed yet. She has been running the entire time."

"Once she starts to slow, she should crash pretty quickly. Bring her back about that time, but radio me so I can meet you at the gate to take her off your hands." He didn't bother responding.

I waited by the north gate since that was the one they had run out of. Several minutes later the radio came to life once more, "We are coming back."

"Which gate?"

"North gate."

My guess had been good. I waited and it didn't take long for them to come into my sight. Nicky was slowly walking as Luke took care to remain out of her reach as he guided her back. Luke bared his teeth at my previous betrayal as he approached. I flashed a canine at him before grinning. He snorted and shook his head, "I will leave her with you."

"Fair enough. John is still waiting by the garage in shock."

Luke started jogging as he put as much distance between himself and the lunatic redhead as possible. I scrutinized the infamous lady, but Nicky had pretty much well exhausted her energy in that long distance high speed chase.

"And just what did I tell you about coffee?" I could smell it on her breath now that I was close enough.

She sighed, "I figured one cup couldn't hurt and it was even room service! Honest, I didn't call down for it either. He was such a nice man too."

I growled wordlessly. I was not impressed. Nicky shrugged sadly, "I didn't realize just how fast Luke could run. I couldn't even get close enough to use the soap!"

I snorted as I turned to walk away. Nicky plodded along tiredly beside me. The sentries above pretended to ignore us. Perhaps they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. Nicky always seemed to forget about the people up there in her rampages.

I passed Nicky her box of food and she started eating as we walked. We rounded the bend and Nicky frowned at the secondary building as she realized that a group of people were on the roof.

She was indignant, "Hey! That guy is sitting in my seat!"

I rolled my eyes, "Suck it up princess, unless you want me to fetch Daniel to save you?"

Daniel would probably tie her up or lock her in a room somewhere just to be sure that the population was truly safe. I also knew that she would never ask Daniel for help unless it came to nominating him to move some heavy object or undertake an unpleasant task.

Nicky didn't overly appreciate my sarcasm either as she stuck her chin in the air, "I am not a princess and I don't need saving. I got this shit handled. By the way, you're my backup in case he doesn't agree to my first attempt at persuasion."

I growled faintly as I snagged her sleeve. Where had this burst of energy of hers come from?! Luke clearly did not do a thorough job of tiring her out. Apparently he needed practice... "No, we will go eat at that bench by the archery lane. No one is ever over there in the morning, so it will be nice and quiet."

Nicky gave in with some grumbling, but followed me to our new destination. "Since when is peace and quiet a good thing? This is the first I have heard of that statement."

"Then you haven't been listening hard enough. I normally quite enjoy peace and quiet."

She grinned, "Then having me around must really make you think that you are at a summer carnival."

I muttered under my breath, "More like an out of control rave party..."

Nicky somehow heard me, "Those things have some really freaky drugs. Even I wouldn't try those drugs again."

I had never fooled around with such parties or drugs. Those things often led to more trouble than they were worth. If Nicky refused to touch them again, then I was doubly glad that I had never dabbled in such antics.

Although such drugs may explain a lot when itcame to Nicky...