Hank turned the truck off and climbed out as we looked around. It was another small town with maybe fifteen buildings total. Daniel was already jogging to lure the zombies away. Most buildings were houses, and from the smell, quite a few had zombies trapped inside.

I went to check the three stores. The hardware store had a zombie inside, but the other two were clear. The corner store had no food left on the shelves. None of the stores were exactly secure enough for my tastes. I went back to the hardware store to grab a ladder. It took two snarls before the resident zombie let me shoplift the long ladder.

I leaned the ladder against the corner store, this building had a flat roof and it would be a much better spot to camp. I went back to the hardware store to claim two of the big pavilion tents and a raised firepit. The tents would keep any rain off and help the humans stay warm.

The firepit was to avoid burning down the store. It struck me as idiotic that most roofing materials were made from oil byproducts and sealed with tar, making them quite flammable. What genius came up with that idea? No wonder my house insurance had been so high.

Daniel brought a load of firewood up the ladder. Most of the others were trying to set up the tents. Chloe barked from below and whined. Tom glanced over the edge, "Too bad there isn't any way to get her up here. Poor girl."

I walked over to look down at a rather sad looking Chloe. She was too big for a human to carry up and she would panic if I attempted to pick her up. I dropped off the side of the building to go back into the hardware store. I had an idea. I had to growl again at the zombie inside, I must have smelled pretty strongly of humans for him to be bothering me so.

I used ratchet straps to secure a dog carrier to a two wheeled dolly cart. This was going to be interesting. I took it back to the store.

I went down on one knee and spoke softly to Chloe, "Come on girl. Want to go up? Get in the dog house."

She didn't know the word kennel, but she knew what a dog house was. She came up to me a bit uneasily, but went inside the kennel. I closed the door behind her and secured it. I tied a thick rope to the handle of the dolly and ensured the knot was secure.

I grabbed the other end before climbing up to the roof. I braced my feet on the edge of the roof and started pulling the rope up hand over hand. The dolly tires gently hit the wall and slowly rolled the kennel smoothly up to the roof as I pulled.

I grabbed onto the handle and backed up before opening the kennel. Chloe bounded out excitedly while wagging her tail as she was finally with people again. I went over to help manhandle one of the tent sections. Nicky was discovering her inner pyromaniac as she started the fire. Yeah, I was staying away from that area until she was done.

By the time both tents were up and well secured, Nina had already started cooking. I sniffed the air and got up, "Come on Daniel, let's go have a talk with a Runner. We will be back before supper is done."

He got to his feet and followed me as we both simply jumped off the roof. I took off toward the forest while following the scent. He followed me in silence. I paused as I finally caught sight of the zombie. I looked over at Daniel, "Do you want to try first, or do you want to see me do it?"

He examined the oblivious Runner, "Ladies first."

I snickered before dropping into the typical Nightstalker crouch as I pretended to cross the clearing. The Runner growled at me and I returned it. My sunglasses hid my eyes and the Runner came closer with a snarl to test the truth of my identity. I turned to face the Runner with a louder snarl as my hands were held out from my sides a bit as a challenge and warning. I held no weapons, my fingernails were weapons.

The second it came into range I slashed while easily dodging its slower swipe. He was left with four bloody furrows on his arm. I knew the minor injuries would heal within the week. He backed up with a growl and I snarled again. Like a wary cat, he slowly moved off. I resumed my walk across the clearing and waited in the far trees.

It was Daniel's turn. Having just seen it, he should know what to expect. This was one spot where our instincts didn't need to be curbed, one of the very few situations where we didn't desire to kill. Daniel stalked out of the bushes. I examined his stalk, in some ways it was similar to mine in that it was predatory and graceful, but it was noticeably different from my silent flowing pace. If I was a stealthy mountain lion, then he was a proud wolf.

The Runner was more than ready to challenge someone else after losing. The Runner growled at Daniel and Daniel responded with a snarl as his eyes glowed brightly red for a few seconds.

The Runner dropped the challenge and went a different direction. Daniel rejoined me in the trees, "It didn't come after me like it did you."

I shrugged, "My sunglasses hide my eyes so they challenge me much more often. Did you notice any differences once he turned away?"

Daniel slowly nodded, "Yes, it was as if it was over. I had no further desire to go after him or prove that I ranked above him."

"Try interacting with more Runners if you come across them and you will start to pick up various types of body language. You can also try keeping your eyes brown and they will likely challenge you, then you can really see the difference. But that Runner is likely going to show up at the store before morning, so we are going to have to break a few unwritten rules."

He sighed, obviously not looking forward to what had to be done, "I'll do it. Then I am going hunting. Meet you back at the store."

I nodded as I turned to leave. Halfway back I paused to wash my hands in a puddle and carefully dry them with a tissue.

~

Supper was just being served as Daniel returned. I could smell the scent of rabbit on him. I would head out later tonight to hunt. My mouth watered as I took my plate of pancakes. They had also found the syrup in the bag and the bottle was passed around as we poured the golden stuff on our pancakes.

I managed to eat both of my pancakes. Somehow, Daniel managed to almost eat four. We relaxed around the fire. I had brought more firewood back, so we had plenty until morning. Daniel raised his head and gave a low growl. I glanced at the road, but didn't see anything. I tested the air, but that also came up empty.

Daniel spoke quietly as he enlightened me, "There is a vehicle coming down the road."

He must be able to hear it. I glanced at him, "Should we hide the jerrycans before they get here?"

I didn't even finish the sentence before he ran forward with inhuman speed to jump off of the roof toward the truck. "Catch!"

My reflexes made it easy to catch each jerrycan as it was thrown onto the roof. He quickly scaled the ladder with our bags of extra supplies in his hands. We quickly stashed everything in the one tent. Hank was watching us, "You have the keys?"

Daniel nodded and Hank relaxed. We were all sitting in our chairs when the jeep drove into view. They were coming from the same way we had just come. Daniel's eyes were already brown, as they had been most of the day. He must be accustomed to keeping them that color as he hid what he was. If any of these newcomers were zombies, I was going to kill something. I couldn't handle another short tempered zombie today. I had just started getting along passably well with Daniel.

I could see five men crammed into the jeep. I saw one point to our fire and they slowed down as they realized we were here. The jeep pulled up to the store leaving lots of space between the two vehicles. Ben and Hank walked to the edge of the roof. Chloe joined them and barked a few times at the newcomers before Tom called her back.

Someone below called, "Hello! Do you mind if we join you for the night?"

Ben replied, "As long as you don't cause any trouble, you are welcome to spend the night up here."

Thanks Ben. You know nothing about these guys and you happily invite them up like long lost friends. They could have camped out in one of the other stores. Maybe it was just my inner irritable Nightstalker talking. I sniffed the air, their scent was just starting to reach me since there was no breeze and they had just arrived.

Four of the men were in their late thirties or early forties. The other one was in his early twenties. It had been a while since their clothes had been washed or their bodies had encountered soap. I murmured quietly, "I am not picking up any gunpowder or firearms."

Daniel nodded and relaxed a bit. If it came to a melee fight, they would have to be extremely lucky to even hit either of us. Ranged weapons were a problem though. Bows and arrows weren't that common yet, but there were still some guns kicking around. We would recover from most wounds quickly enough, but a headshot wasn't something to even be contemplated.

I had a bullet stop my heart for a while in my early Nightstalker days. I had been slower and weaker than a normal zombie for several days until my heart had healed enough to beat again, but I had still been in control and sane. The two visiting Nightstalkers had told me stories of those who got knocked out by a serious head wound.

Those recovering from such injuries had huge problems with bloodlust. Many who had been in control ended up attacking any human companions when they came to after a serious head injury. Even in play or when wrestling with the other Nightstalkers, we had never targeted the head or neck. It simply wasn't done.

I watched as the five men climbed up the ladder. They were a rather rough and tough looking group. The two groups eyed each other up as they slowly approached the firepit. The one burly man spoke, "Thanks for letting us join you. We can share a bit of grub if you don't mind us using your fire."

Ben shrugged, "The fire is already burning, feel free to use it. We already ate."

They sat on one side of the fire together. I watched them subtly from behind my sunglasses. Three had big hunting knives on their belts, but they were otherwise unarmed. They opened several cans of soup and started heating them in our borrowed pot.

The one man was sitting not far from Ben and reached over to shake hands with him, "I'm Frank, this is Kal, Joel, Justin, and Eddy. Where are you guys headed?"

Ben replied, "We are heading to Ironwind Stronghold. Where are you going?"

The man sighed, "To any other Stronghold still standing. We are the only survivors from the Crooked River Stronghold. It was overrun last week. Mind if we join you on your trip? None of us has traveled and we have no clue where the other Strongholds are."

Ben shrugged, "I don't see why not. This place is still three days away though."

Frank nodded in relief, "Thank you."

I gritted my teeth, more humans? My mood was going downhill. This was turning into a bloody circus faster than I could turn around. I had offered to guide two adults and two kids to safety. Now I had to deal with 13 humans and a Terror. If I start running at sunset, I wonder how far can I get before Daniel catches up to me?

I stewed quietly without letting the others realize it. I was pretty sure that Daniel could smell my irritation since the smell of it was almost rolling off of me. His brown eyes occasionally flickered toward me as the sky darkened. Tom and Marissa stood up, "Come on kids, let's head to bed."

The four of them entered the tent with our supplies. Before too long Ben stood up and stretched, "You can use the other tent if you want."

Frank thanked him. Ben and Hank headed into the first tent to get some shut eye. I really didn't want to enter a tent full of smelly sleeping humans just yet, so I decided to stay up a bit later. Nina shifted in her seat before looking at Daniel, "I have to use the washroom, can you escort me down in case I cross paths with a zombie or a snake?"

He nodded and stood up. Nicky also jumped to her feet, "I need to use the washroom too, glad someone else is braving the ground in the dark."

Daniel pulled out his new flashlight and quickly climbed down the ladder before shining the light up so the others could see the rungs. That left me alone with our five guests. Great.