Walking had one big perk though, I was able to put more space between myself and Daniel which eased the tension somewhat. I once more put Liz on my shoulders, she squealed in excitement, "Giddy up horsie!" I growled lightly at her, I was way better than a horse... She kicked a bit with her heels, "Horsies don't growl, they go neigh!"

Nicky started snickering and I sent a glare her way. Hank ignored us and immediately headed for the nearby tree line to walk hidden from sight as we had before. Everyone else followed suit. Daniel took the lead while I followed as the rear guard.

The day was cooler so the humans weren't sweating or overheating as badly. I was ready to strangle Ben, he seemed to think that his gas was the equivalent of propulsion power. Nicky swatted his arm, "If we could bottle the stuff that keeps escaping your ass, we would be halfway to the moon by now. But we can't—so cut it out or walk on the road. You smell so bad any zombie would think you are already dead."

Her complaint didn't help cut down on the number of escapees. I made a mental note to subtly check all of the bags and hide any cans of beans that may be present. We paused for another break for them to rest while Ben and Hank went over the map with Nina and Daniel to determine if we could make it to the nearest town before nightfall.

I moved off to the side where the air was clearer of their scent. My head felt like I had been in a perfume shop all day, I simply wanted a breath of fresher air. I breathed deeply. There were some deer nearby, a couple of rabbits and some pheasants. I hadn't hunted last night so the smaller creatures were tempting. I might have to take a break of my own during their next breather.

My Nightstalker instincts shifted slightly as I caught a hint of a faint and vague scent. I raised my head to sniff the air, but was unable to detect it again. I tried to pick up the smell, but couldn't pick it up even with half a dozen deep breaths. Perhaps I imagined the faint scent or it may have been several weak scents overlapping into something unfamiliar. It wouldn't be the first time that such a thing happened.

We started walking again. But my instincts wouldn't settle, I kept glancing around as I peered into the surrounding trees and listened for anything out of place. Nicky decided to walk beside me after we had walked for some time. She gave me an odd look, "What has you looking around like that?"

The others glanced back at me as we kept walking. I frowned, more from faint unease than from irritation. I focused on Daniel, "Something is triggering my instincts slightly, but I am not sure what. Are you picking anything up?"

He stopped and tilted his head as he sniffed the air and listened while debating if anything was bugging him. Several seconds later he shook his head, "Nothing." We resumed walking.

The worst part was that I couldn't find anything out of place either. No odd scents, no weird noises, nothing. Great, now I am jumping at shadows. For all I know, I imagined that whiff of scent I thought I detected. I couldn't pick it up a second time and there is no wind for something to hide downwind. Besides, Daniel would hear anything that approached before it got to us.

I just couldn't put my finger on why that scent had seemed familiar, as if I should have known what it was. It bothered me like an itch I couldn't scratch as we continued walking. My instincts still wouldn't settle. Half an hour later our companions required another rest. I moved off to the side, intending to go out of hearing range to do a bit of hunting. Perhaps some pheasant blood would allow me to settle down. I could smell some of the birds not far from here.

I took a deeper breath to see how close they really were. I froze as I caught the faint scent again, only it was much stronger this time. I also knew why I felt like I had known what that scent belonged to. Of all of the rotten luck... I dropped into a slight crouch and gave a warning growl to the others. I backed up a few steps toward them while facing the direction that the danger was approaching from.

Daniel's footsteps approached me, "What is it?"

My voice was a growl as my unease increased steadily, "We got another Terror trailing us and it is approaching quickly." How was this even possible? Terrors were extraordinarily rare. I hadn't seen a Terror since I turned and now there were two in the immediate area.

I heard inhales and exclamations of surprise and fear behind us. Daniel growled in anger as he came level with me while facing the direction I was. Nina's voice was the only one of calm reason, "He or she may be in control. They could be curious as to why two zombies are traveling with a bunch of humans on foot."

I raised my head and took a deep breath while searching for details. I wasn't getting much, but I also wasn't picking up the more civilized scent of a sane zombie who washed their clothing or used personal hygiene products. Another growl rumbled through my chest, "I have my doubts about that one. The scent isn't quite right for a sane zombie."

Daniel dropped into a crouch as well as he took several steps forward into the middle of the clearing we had stopped in. Nina started directing the others away just in case, "Let's go over by that tree, just in case it does come to a fight."

The Terror must have crossed the road and caught our trail from when we drove by. It had been following us and was catching up now that we were on foot. He knew he was getting closer and had picked up speed. Anyone in control would have slowed in caution.

I backed up some more. In a fight against a Terror, Daniel would be doing most of the heavy lifting. A Terror was much stronger than me and a single blow could send me flying, if it didn't break bones as well. Daniel and I also didn't trust each other enough to fight together. Once our instincts came to the fore, we would be just as likely to land a strike on one another as on the approaching Terror.

The humans had retreated to the far end of the clearing. Just to be on the safe side, I backed up until I was at the edge of the trees along the side of the clearing. I had no desire to become a Terror's punching bag. Daniel's snarl marked the moment he finally caught our pursuer's scent. Not long afterwards I heard approaching footsteps. We knew he was running in a hunting crouch from how his footsteps sounded.

A light rumble echoed in my chest while Daniel snarled as the red eyed heavily built man entered the clearing. He slid to a stop as he returned Daniel's snarl. This Terror was not in control. He stalked closer to Daniel who mirrored his movements. Both were in a crouched position while they threatened each other with snarls of challenge.

I slowly backed into the cover of the trees. There was no way I could fight a Terror head on. I slunk through the bushes until I was off to the side as I closely watched the two circling like unfriendly dogs. Terrors seemed a bit more cautious or reluctant to close in an instant vicious melee battle. Nightstalkers, on the other hand, were well known to lay into a foe tooth and nail with our short tempers.

The tension was rapidly building between the two though. Such a standoff couldn't last long with two powerful zombies who refused to back down. The feral charged with a snarl and Daniel met him halfway with a snarl of his own. The two titans clashed and both came out with a few scratches as they parted to circle each other once more.

Neither had landed a blow sufficient enough to declare a winner, and in this situation, the feral Terror wouldn't back down if he was being kept from his prey. That was a fight over food, not something to do with his status in the local hierarchy.

The humans were rapidly backing up in case the fight moved in their direction. I remained hidden in my concealed location and slowly drew my grain sickle. The Terrors closed again with roaring snarls that actually echoed throughout the clearing. They managed to lock their hands together as they strained to try and push each other backward.

They looked pretty evenly matched, although the feral had a heavier build and weighed more. I began to have doubts that Daniel would walk away from this fight as the winner. Being sane did not mean you were stronger, all it meant was that we were in control and could use strategies and plans. In a battle of raw power, Daniel didn't really have any way to trick the feral.

I couldn't figure out why he wasn't using weapons though. He didn't even carry any weapons. That detail made little to no sense, although he had probably never required weapons before today.

Daniel was slowly losing ground to the larger zombie. Their struggle was causing them to slowly spin on the spot as they fought for an advantage. My vision took on a redder tinge in my desire to attack. I tensed my muscles as the two zombies shifted in their struggle. Just a bit more... There!

I launched out of my ambush at the feral Terror's back. My ambush was silent, not a growl or snarl left my lips. A silent Nightstalker was often more dangerous than a growling or snarling one.

The Terror I was targeting had no warning as my hand landed on his head and pushed it sideways at the same instant that my sickle sliced the entire front of his neck open. I immediately pushed off against his side to jump away. I had to get out of his range or else I would be in big trouble. My sickle hadn't managed to cut the spinal cord, but the injury I inflicted would cause him serious issues when his lungs ran out of oxygen or filled with blood. Either way it would slow him enough for Daniel to finish him.

I swiftly backed up to the edge of the trees. The feral Terror was trying to turn to face his new attacker as blood poured out of his throat. He forgot about Daniel for a moment and Daniel took that opening. He wrapped both hands around the feral's throat and snapped his neck before tearing the spinal column apart to behead the deadly menace.

I wiped my sickle clean on the grass and quickly sheathed it before Daniel finished with the Terror. Daniel turned on me with a snarl, his eyes glowing red from how high his instincts were. I doubted that he was thinking clearly if his instincts were so elevated. I dropped into a crouch and slowly backed up.

I restrained a growl in case it egged him on, his instincts were flying high from his battle and I was the only possible contender for his position as winner. He took a slow step forward with another snarl. I narrowed my eyes as I took several smooth steps back. He was still in zombie mode and not thinking rationally.

Well, if he wanted to play by zombie rules... I used my finger nail to cut through a part of my palm, letting my own blood flow. It smelled of Nightstalker. Just like with the Runner, the first solid blow or first blood won. I had a new injury that drew blood, in his zombie haze it should declare him the winner. Apparently Terrors didn't always observe the unwritten zombie laws. He took another step forward with a deep growl.

It was a struggle for me to not snarl back as my own instincts wanted. I knew I had landed a winning blow on the enemy Terror and my instincts wanted him to acknowledge that. My instincts hated backing up in defeat or giving in. He took another step with a snarl as he dropped into a deeper crouch. I had interfered in his battle and almost stole his kill. He was not happy with me and he wasn't in full control.

I doubted he would harm a human, but I was a zombie and that blurred too many lines in his current frame of mind. He wasn't playing by either human or zombie rules. This made him far too unpredictable and dangerous. I had to leave before he attacked me. He would probably kill me in his current state.

I backed up and then moved sideways behind a thick stand of shrubs where I was out of sight. I immediately spun and ran off as silently as only a Nightstalker could. He wouldn't be able to hear my footsteps and would think that I was still there. It would buy me precious time. I moved as fast as I could while remaining silent. I silently thanked my two Nightstalker friends for our many games of tracking as we learned to cover our scent.

I didn't have time for most of the methods, but I used the simplest and quickest ones. I cut my hand and rolled the blood on a piece of driftwood that I sent floating down the creek before I rubbed plants on my hands and clothing. Let him chase that driftwood for a while. It was a stronger smell than my current plant obscured one. I had to move quickly since the plant scent wouldn't cover my zombie scent for more than a minute or so.

I moved to the larger tree branches, using them like monkey bars so I didn't leave any tracks or scent trail on the ground. It slowed me though, so I only did it in some spots before I resumed my flight back north. I had no intention of going back to the humans. Daniel could escort them. He was strong enough to keep them safe and if the two of us tried to travel together, it would come to blows.

I snorted as I realized that we hadn't even managed to travel together for 24 hours. Twice we had come close to a challenge and this third time was the last straw. He had killed the Terror without hesitation even while his instincts were high, and zombie law said that one did not kill another zombie. He would have killed me just as swiftly.

I altered my path frequently, a straight trail was far too easy to follow. I kept fleeing with the occasional trail breaking trick that could slow or lose someone tracking by scent. My instincts hated fleeing, but I preferred living so I overruled them and kept heading north.

I didn't hear him on my trail yet, but that didn't mean anything. I had no clue if Terrors could move silently. He was definitely faster than me though, and he would be able to hear me before I could hear him if we were making the same amount of noise.

I slowed somewhat as I kept going. I may be a zombie, but all zombies had limits and I was reaching mine. I had been going at a full run for the last fifteen minutes and I was breathing hard. I was designed for the silent stalk and the nighttime ambush, not long distance chases.

I didn't stop though. I kept moving.