We were able to head straight back to the humans, and since I wasn't slowed with evasion tactics, our return was going faster. It took us only 20 minutes to return. We slowed as we entered the clearing. The humans were all waiting, fidgeting nervously as they glanced between the dead Terror and the surrounding forest.

Nicky stood up as soon as she spotted us, "About bloody time. We were beginning to wonder if we had to call search and rescue. Nina said you were the fastest around. Unless my watch is messing with me again, you were gone over an hour. That is not fast in my books when you are trying to catch up to someone who just left."

Daniel gave me an 'I told you so' look, "Are you sure we can't leave her behind?"

I shook my head with a faint chuckle, "Nah. She tends to keep Ben in line and without her he would be a royal pain in the ass."

Nicky looked me over once as she walked up to me, "Huh. He didn't even have to tie you and drag you back. The next time you decide to go on a long vacation I will be the one coming after you to haul you back."

My instincts didn't handle people bossing me around well, and they certainly didn't take threats well. Especially from someone who wasn't a match for me on a day when I was out of patience. With a light growl, I swiftly ducked down and threw her over my shoulder. Daniel watched me with sharp eyes, ready to intervene if I had problems with my control. Nicky kicked her legs and pounded her fists on my back, "Put me down you big moose!"

It only took me five fast steps to reach the spot where Hank was sitting. I unceremoniously dumped her in his lap, "You get to look after her for a bit."

Hank winced as he caught the spitfire I dropped in his lap. She looked up at him with a grin, "Hey big boy, guess you are stuck with me now, huh?"

His expression clearly said that he wished to be anywhere else but here. I shook my head as I turned to look over at the sound of small footsteps running toward me. Liz's small body slammed into my legs and grabbed onto my pant legs, "You came back! Daniel said he would bring you back!"

I sighed and sent a half glare at him, "Yes, Daniel managed to talk me into coming back."

Nicky jumped off of Hank's lap, "All right! Let's get this show on the road because I am not camping beside that dead guy tonight!"

It looked like they had just been waiting for us since they immediately started walking. Liz lifted her arms and I put her on my shoulders with a resigned sigh. Daniel once more took the lead while I brought up the rear. Nina walked beside Daniel and spoke quietly. It was too quiet for the others, but I could hear her well enough. "You were gone for quite a long time."

Daniel sent a slightly accusing glance over his shoulder at me before responding to Nina, "I was trying to track her scent and she sent me on a wild goose chase."

They both undoubtedly knew I could hear their conversation, but neither seemed to care. Nina was curious, "How so?"

Daniel exhaled slowly in irritation at the memory, "I followed the scent of her blood down the river only to realize much later that she had smeared her blood on a piece of driftwood and sent it downstream while she took off in a different direction. She broke her trail in a few other spots and I had to circle to pick it up again."

I grinned, the driftwood one worked very well unless someone was expecting it. Even then they would have to check in case I had actually run alongside the creek. Daniel had likely never tried to track a sane zombie who was attempting to cover their scent trail. I could only imagine how frustrating the unexpected experience would have been for him.

Nina once more pulled out her notepad and started scribbling in it. Daniel seemed accustomed to her ceaseless note-taking and curiosity.

"And when you caught up to her?"

He was silent for a few moments, "I am not entirely sure what she did, but I am positive that she had laid a trap somewhere in front of the tree she was standing in. She was not happy to see me and when I didn't immediately leave she tried to lure me closer to her trap."

"What kind of trap?"

He shrugged lightly, "I am not sure and I didn't go close enough to look for it since she was plainly waiting for me to trigger it."

I was quite amused, which was an odd and foreign emotion after being a zombie for so long. I had rarely felt amused once I had turned, possibly because I had mostly avoided humans. Daniel thought that I had built and hidden some sort of trap. He had obviously never spent much time around Nightstalkers.

She tilted her head, "How are you sure there was a trap? Did you see anything?"

He was patient with her questions, "I looked, but I couldn't see it. After her initial snarl and growls she went completely silent and was waiting motionlessly."

Nina nodded, "Clear signs of a Nightstalker in an ambush. I wonder what kind of trap she built if you couldn't spot it..."

Nina glanced back and spoke a bit louder, although none of the other humans would hear her words, "Care to join us Trinity?"

I snorted lightly, "I'll pass on this interrogation round, thanks. Besides, I might need that trick in the future." My voice was quiet enough that only Daniel would hear me.

Daniel chuckled at my reluctance, "She says she will pass."

The bugger had edited my response. I stifled a growl of faint annoyance at his actions while relaying my response.

Nina sighed dejectedly, "I'll track her down once we make camp and have nothing to do. An unanswered question is a terrible thing and weighs on my mind heavily."

I growled very faintly in irritation. That lady was persistent. Judging from how Daniel was used to it, she would obviously keep coming back until she wore you down. Her talking ceased as she saved her breath for walking. It was going to be a long day.

~

We stopped for another break and I headed toward an old car parked beside the road. Ben sighed, "The gas cap is open, no sense checking if it runs or not. If it did, it wouldn't be there."

I called back, "I am not after gasoline."

I popped the trunk and started digging around inside. People who drove old beaters like this often had tools in the vehicle in likely event that it broke down. I flipped the mat on the bottom over, revealing the spare tire. I bared my teeth in a triumphant grin as I grabbed what I had been digging for.

The road was quite close to the tree line in this spot and the others were watching me in curiosity. Nicky gave me a funny look as she looked at my new toy, "I fail to see why we need a big socket wrench when we don't even have a truck."

I chuckled, "It is no longer a socket wrench."

Nine faces sent me looks of confusion that doubted my sanity. Nicky raised an eyebrow, "Well, it sure ain't a magic wand, so what do you call it?"

I bared my teeth in a dark parody of a grin as I tucked it into my water bottle holder, "It is now a broken boomerang."

She gave me a look that plainly said that she thought that I was the crazy one in the group, "Uh huh. Just remind me not to play frisbee with you."

Daniel was watching me closely while Nina looked on in curiosity. Their break ended before Nina had a chance to voice more of the questions that were clearly rattling around in her head. This was going to be a long trip if I had to keep evading her. This lady really needed a different hobby.

~

Our progress was slow and each abandoned vehicle on the road was also plainly out of gas. I sighed and then lifted my head to sniff the air again. Faint, but it was there. There were houses somewhere nearby. "Ben, can you pull out that map again for a second?"

The group paused at my unexpected question. Ben pulled it out with a frown of confusion and handed it to me. I opened it and quickly located where we were on the map. This map didn't show small gravel roads or houses, just paved roads and towns. I lifted my head to inhale deeply, testing the air.

Nina came forward, "What do you smell?"

I looked over at her curious face, "Houses. They aren't on the map either." I glanced at Daniel, "Care to keep an eye on this group while I see if there is anything useful or edible in those houses?"

He nodded and I passed the map back to Ben before putting Liz down. "I should be back in an hour or so depending how many houses there are."

Daniel nodded and I turned to leave. I picked up speed and disappeared into the trees. I shifted back to my flowing crouch since it used less energy. I tracked the scent on the air and managed to locate three small houses a couple of kilometers away. There were two garages and four sheds as well.

A quick sniff told me that there were two regular zombies present, a big flock of pigeons, a stray cat, and lots of mice. I headed to the closest garage and entered it. My eyes landed on the big pickup truck, its paint was still shiny and new. Its gas cap was closed. There were a set of keys on the workbench beside it.

Several jerrycans labeled 'Gasoline' were sitting on the floor. I rubbed my hands gleefully as I opened up the truck door and turned the key. It sputtered for a few seconds after not running for so long before it idled down to run smoothly. It had half a tank. I turned it off and wrinkled my nose at the pungent diesel fumes.

I went back to the jerrycans. One was full and a quick sniff told me that it did indeed hold gasoline. It was no good for this diesel truck, but I was taking it anyway. Most vehicles on the highway would take gas. I disconnected the garage door opener and lifted the door so I could get the truck out later.

I headed to the next garage. It turned out to be some sort of workshop. I gave it a quick check, but nothing in here used either gasoline or diesel, so no jerrycans were present. My eyes carefully scanned the shelves for anything useful. Various power tools were neatly arranged on the shelves. I went over to open the only cabinet present.

One small box caught my eye and I pulled it off the shelf. It was a survival military grade flashlight that could be charged either with the included solar panel or by cranking a handle. According to the claims on the back, once it was fully charged the battery would last for 15 hours. From the picture on the box, it was very bright and lit up a wide area instead of one narrow beam.

I put it in my backpack for Daniel. Although if he points that thing at my eyes, I will reduce it to fragments. Nothing else in this garage interested me. I moved on to the sheds.

I found one more jerrycan of gas. The sheds mostly held old junk and smelled strongly of mouse. I kicked a corner of the door off so the cat could have an easy meal and some shelter. No cat would ever let me near them now, but I had always had a soft spot for cats and horses.

I turned back to the houses, but noticed the front of a quad poking out from behind the first garage. I hadn't noticed it until now. I could only see it because I was well off the side at this point. I moved toward it in curiosity. There was the quad and a lean-to hidden against the back of the garage.

I lightly pushed on the quad and gas sloshed in its tank. I went to grab an empty jerrycan and came back. I opened it up and pinched the gas line before slicing the soft tubing with my fingernail. I released the pressure and watched as gas flowed into the jerrycan.

I left it to drain and went to look inside the lean-to. I growled triumphantly, I had found the motherlode. It didn't take long to pick out the six red jerrycans that still held something. Two were labeled gasoline and four were labeled diesel. All six were almost full to boot.

I hauled them all beside the truck. By then the quad was empty and I had half a jerrycan of gas from it. I dropped it by the truck before turning toward the houses.

I entered the first house cautiously as I tested the air. It was empty of the living and the undead. I grabbed a bunch of canned and dried goods. I couldn't remember the last time I had pancakes and grabbed the unopened box of mix as well as several cans of canned milk.

This house was also kind enough to donate a mattress for the back of the truck. I stashed several bags of food in the back of the truck before putting the jerrycans in as well. I decided against going into the other two houses. I had more than what we needed and we didn't need to haul tons of food around if we were only a three day drive away from the Stronghold.

Daniel and I were also more than capable of hunting for the entire party. Besides, the next house held a child zombie and those things gave me the creeps. They were also more unpredictable than most zombies. I didn't feel like dealing with a mindless child that was hell bent on biting me.

I loaded everything up and started the truck. I followed the muddy rut that they used for a road to the highway. I rolled down the window to sniff the air, I was still ahead of them. The tires creaked on loose gravel as I drove down the highway slowly.