After several hours I grew bored of watching trees. I looked around at the other people in the truck box. Nicky was somehow sleeping. Ben was watching the scenery on his side go by. Nina was looking over her notes in her notepad. Daniel was gazing at the road ahead of us.

I spoke to Daniel, "Remind me to not leave Frank or those others unattended with our supplies. He was eyeing up the gas a bit too much for my liking."

His eyes flickered a bit redder as he nodded. Nina was back to scribbling in her notepad. Did she ever go anywhere without that thing? She was worse with it than a 2 year old with a security blanket. I gazed at her for a bit, there were only a handful of pages left in that small book. I was probably going to regret this... "What are you going to do when you fill that book up?"

She grinned at me, "I have ten more in my bag."

Why did I even bother asking? Nina flipped to a new page and poised her pen over the crisp white paper as she looked at me, "You seem more relaxed this morning than last night."

I had worried about that. Starting a conversation seemed to make Nina think that it was an open invitation for her to pelt me with questions. I sighed as I gave into the evitable. Hopefully she wouldn't have too many questions. "I took out most of my frustration on a tree last night and a long quiet night has more or less put my temper back on square one."

Her fingers fairly flew as she scribbled down far more words than what I had said. I couldn't see the book from the way she held it though. "You and Daniel seem to be traveling much better today. I was positive that it was going to come to a fight yesterday if that truck didn't run out of gas soon."

I turned my head slightly to face Daniel and raised my eyebrow, "How come she isn't pelting you with all of these questions?"

He smirked at me, "I have been traveling with Nina since the day I turned. She has asked me so many questions that she simply can't think of any more. With you here, she has a new person to talk to. She likes to hear various views and compare them."

Lovely. Just my luck to have crossed such an... inquisitive soul. Nina tapped her pen on her notepad with a grin, "You're evading the question..."

She reminded me of my old history teacher. There had never been any way to distract that old woman from something she was bent on doing, although Nina seemed like a much happier and easy-going person than that old boot. It didn't change the fact that I detested questions in general. I am never starting another conversation with this lady again unless it is urgent and possibly life threatening.

I shrugged, "I am not entirely sure. Previously we were constantly triggering each other's defensive instincts. Now we aren't."

In truth, it was mostly because Daniel had relaxed and was not eyeing me up as if he was going to attack me any second. The encounter with the Runner had probably also helped him recognize the unwritten zombie rules a bit more. As far as his deepest instincts were concerned, I was a zombie and since I wasn't challenging him, he didn't have to worry about my presence. Whether it was a conscious or subconscious side effect was beyond my knowledge.

Nina furrowed her eyebrows and scribbled for almost two solid minutes while filling up three pages. Daniel was watching what she was writing with a curious expression. If she was jotting down more questions, I could go crazy by the time we stopped for lunch. I would enjoy her silence in the meantime though.

If her questions bothered me, then they should get on Daniel's nerves as well, but they didn't seem to annoy him. I inquired, "How has she not driven you crazy with all of her questions yet?"

He shrugged, "Her questions usually don't bother me. I am not sure why they seem to rile you up."

Nicky grumbled, "She isn't much for any conversation. As she told us once, she is pretty antisocial. She still manages to put up with us fairly well, all things considered."

I guess Nicky hadn't been completely asleep. Nina's eyes lit up as her pen took off with new speed. I wondered how many pens she managed to wear out in a day. I halfway expected the paper to start smoking at this rate...

Nina was pretty excited as she flipped back in her notebook, "That makes sense actually. Nightstalkers are known to be loners, and from what you previously said, you haven't been around many humans since being turned. People who are used to being alone tend to either get anxious or irritable when stuck in a large crowd."

Daniel tilted his head, "That would also explain why she got grouchier simply due to the arrival of the five in the jeep."

Nina looked her attention to him, "Was that before or after they almost met their demise?"

I guessed he must have told her what he had overheard before they came back up the ladder, or at least that the men had been pushing their luck.

"Before. I could smell her irritation almost as soon as they came up and joined us."

"Interesting..."

Nina took off scribbling, occasionally pausing with a frown before she took off again. Daniel was watching her write and occasionally murmured something too soft for me to hear over the sound of the motor. They looked like they were trying to figure out the answer to a complicated problem. I was grateful for the respite and turned my attention once more to the scenery.

~

Hank honked the horn. Daniel rose to his knees as Nicky proclaimed, "Runner coming up on your side Daniel."

Daniel leaned out of the truck box and snarled nastily at the Runner who was trying to grab onto the truck. His eyes glowed a bright warning red and the Runner growled while sliding to a stop at the sight of the high-ranking zombie. My own instincts shifted uneasily although it wasn't directed at me.

We passed by the Runner without any issue and Daniel sat down. The jeep behind us wasn't so lucky. I had no clue why he didn't swerve wider around it, but it managed to grab onto the top rail and stand on the runner board. It pounded on the passenger window as the man inside leaned away with a terrified expression.

Daniel noticed Nicky's expression and looked back to notice their predicament. He started to get back to his feet again. I sighed and reached for my backpack. I grabbed the socket wrench and took careful aim before whipping it at the Runner. Daniel paused as he saw the missile enter his field of vision and fly past him.

The socket wrench hit the Runner in the side with an audible thud. It lost its grip as it swung around to discover what had attacked it. The zombie fell off the jeep and was quickly left behind as the jeep kept going. Daniel slowly sat back down as he turned to face me with a surprised expression.

Nicky grinned widely, "Nice shot. I somehow doubt that Ben will let me practice my aim on him with something like that though."

I chuckled lightly, "Unless you want him to become crippled zombie bait, I don't recommend it."

"Hmmm... I never thought of that."

I gazed at Nicky in disbelief, unable to believe that she was actually considering that as a backup plan. This lady really needed supervision...

Ben was also watching her uneasily. I asked Ben, "Who exactly let her carry weapons?"

He sighed, "She had them when we got out of the Stronghold as it was being overrun. We tried to take them away once, but it didn't go over so well. Hank did manage to steal her gun and dispose of it."

I was very glad that she no longer had a gun in her possession the way she occasionally acted. I had never seen her threaten anyone with a knife or sword yet, but it might just be a matter of time.

Nina was more concerned about the overrun Stronghold, "Your Stronghold got overrun? Which one was it?"

Ben turned to Nina, "It was the one where the big suspension bridge crossed the Bow River. Someone must have been bitten and turned into a Runner. The place was in flames by the time we got out. Not sure how many more survivors escaped, but there were so many zombies that we had to leave."

Nina looked sad as she jotted down those details. I turned my gaze back to the jeep behind us as I heard its engine cough for a split second. Daniel also turned his head to look back over his shoulder for a moment. He looked at me and I slowly nodded. Nina glanced between us, "What?"

Daniel answered her, "The jeep behind us may be running out of gas."

I growled faintly in irritation. No wonder Frank had been eyeing up our jerrycans. Ben frowned as he sat up, "We can't spare any gas. We are going to need all of it to get to the Stronghold. As it is, we don't have quite enough to make it there."

Daniel glanced at the jerrycans wedged into the only empty corner, "I agree."

Nicky sighed, "Can we attach a small trailer for them to sit on?"

Daniel shook his head, "No, a trailer would reduce our gas mileage noticeably. Besides, we haven't seen any small trailers."

Nicky groaned, "It is going to be so cramped back here if they have to ride in the box."

Ben sighed, "Well, if they do have to ride with us, I think it would be best if Daniel traded places with me. Otherwise they are going to be sitting right beside a zombie and I am not sure how everyone will survive the rest of the trip."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "I am not letting Nina sit beside them after how some of them acted last night."

Nina rolled her eyes at his comment although her words were kind, "I doubt they would try anything if I was sitting beside you. If you are that worried, then I can sit between you and Trinity. I am sure that Nicky could be persuaded to move to the other side of Trinity. Ben can sit beside you, that way they have the entire back half of the truck box to themselves."

Daniel's jaw tensed as he glanced over at me. I could see that he still didn't really want me right beside Nina. Perhaps he was scared I would steal her pen if she tried to ask me more questions. That actually sounded really tempting. It was too bad that Daniel would probably throw me off the truck for such a stunt.

Nicky yawned, "The other option is to have Nina sit beside me and put the two of you side by side."

Both Daniel and I winced at that thought. There was no way we could sit side by side for hours on end. We would end up in a fight in such close quarters. My eyes shifted back to the jeep as it spluttered again for a few seconds. It was definitely starting to run out of gas.

Less than ten minutes later the jeep's sputtering engine finally cut out and they steered it to the side of the road as their momentum slowed. They started honking their horn and Hank slowed our truck to a stop. His window had been open and he had heard our conversation as well as the dying truck.

Ben got up and started moving. With a faint growl of displeasure, Daniel moved into the corner with his back against the cab. Nina sat between us, closer to Daniel. Nicky moved to my other side as Ben cautiously sat beside Daniel while giving him some space.

The five men came forward, "We're out of gas. Got any to spare?"

Ben shook his head, "No, we need everything we have. Feel free to hop in the back though."

Frank eyed up the jerrycans, "Those have gas in them and this truck is a diesel."

Daniel gave a growl as his eyes became red, "When we run out of diesel, we will find a truck that uses gas. End of discussion. Get in or walk."

It looked like Daniel was just as impressed with our company as I was. The men looked wary as he growled, but got their backpacks and two bags of supplies before climbing into the truck. Hank started driving even as they were still putting their stuff on our pile of supplies in the middle.

I grumbled as I pulled my hood over my head and turned to face the scenery. Nicky ignored everyone as she started fiddling with the shoelace again. The three from last night were silent as they tried to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Joel was seated beside Nicky and watching the string tricks she was going through.

Daniel was mostly watching the five men suspiciously. I had a hunch that he didn't do well with strangers until he got accustomed to their presence. Nina had closed her eyes and leaned back against the cab. For the first time in two days, she didn't have a notepad in her hand while riding in a truck. I found it odd, but since she wasn't asking me questions, I remained silent. I wasn't about to open up that can of worms again.