I put more wood on the fire as the sky started to lighten up and started sifting through our supplies. It was light enough that Daniel could see me.

"Since when do you make breakfast?"

"Normally never, but I want to test out a theory."

He raised his eyebrow in interest, "Which theory?"

I had grabbed certain supplies when raiding houses with this in mind, so it didn't take me long to locate everything. I brought the armful of stuff closer to the fire. "That a big breakfast helps keep Nicky mellow. I don't think I could handle her again today if she is acting the same way she did before breakfast yesterday."

He watched me put a package of spaghetti noodles in the boiling water. I opened up a couple cans of spaghetti sauce and put them to the side. Two cans of mushrooms and a container of powdered parmesan cheese also joined the waiting pile.

"Spaghetti for breakfast? I thought Marissa's soup was breaking a few rules."

I snorted, "No one is going to want me cooking anything that requires me to taste test the food. Hopefully it will keep Ben full for longer as well, so we don't have to listen to him start complaining around 10 O'clock."

To my surprise he actually chuckled, "Spaghetti will be a welcome break from soup."

I put more water on to boil for drinking purposes. It wasn't much longer before people started coming up. Marissa looked surprised to see pots on the fire. The spaghetti had finished cooking and simply sat near the fire to keep warm.

Nicky stormed up the stairs in her usual morning fashion. Her eyes flickered to my empty hands before she turned to Marissa, "Has she drank coffee yet?"

Marissa looked confused, "No, we haven't even made the coffee yet."

Nicky grumbled, "Bloody bet. What the hell was I thinking?! I have never even seen her drink coffee!"

I smirked, "The spaghetti is ready."

Her eyes focused on the pot of pasta and she stomped over to grab a bowl. She yanked the ladle out of Kal's hands to fill up her bowl before heading to her chair. Kal gritted his teeth, but made no comment after glancing in my direction.

It seemed to be a hit and most had two helpings of it. I even had a few forkfuls of the spaghetti. It tasted pretty good. Ben had his head on straight and didn't provoke Nicky. After Nicky had eaten and woken up some, she seemed pretty normal for Nicky. It was a promising start. If it worked, I could handle making an easy breakfast for a few days.

People seemed to have loosened up a bit. They were talking more amongst themselves. It was still a rather long day in the back of a pickup truck with only a handful of breaks. We had lost some time when our last truck died. If Nina's calculations were right, we should arrive at the Stronghold late tomorrow. I couldn't wait to be free from this group.

~

We were starting to look for shelter for the night, but weren't having any luck. No towns were nearby and there didn't seem to be any houses around. There wasn't even a gas station. What kind of road has no houses or stores on it?

I exhaled in growing irritation. I was tired of being cooped up in this truck. I had never sat so much in my life. I lifted my nose to the air and closed my eyes in concentration. It was very faint, but it was there. It was the smell that shingles gave off in warm weather. I opened my eyes and knocked on the back window of the truck cab, "Hank, stop the truck for a moment. Ben, can you pull out that map of yours?"

Everyone in the back was watching me as Hank rolled to a stop. I stood up and tested the air again. Detecting direction was nearly impossible in a moving vehicle with the way the air swirled around the truck, but now I had my bearings.

I glanced at Ben and pointed toward the east, "There is some sort of building in that direction. Probably a good fifteen-minute run for me on foot if I had to guess the distance."

Daniel stood up and peered in that direction with narrowed eyes. I blinked as I noticed his pupils were going from a normal size to a mere pinpoint as he tried to spot anything, reminding me of how an eagle's eyes focused. "There are powerlines in that direction, so there is possibly something along them."

Hank had his window down as he waited patiently. Ben spun his map around and ran his finger over the roads, "Hank, not far ahead is a road, turn left on it. We can check along that set of powerlines for anything like shelter."

Daniel and I sat back down as the truck started moving. I looked in that direction, but couldn't see anything resembling powerlines. Hank turned at the specified crossing and followed the road. I still didn't see any bloody powerlines.

Minutes later I finally spotted them. Shit, remind me to never play I Spy with that guy in the daylight. There was a T intersection that allowed us to go in either direction. Hank stopped right in front of it before calling out the window, "Trinity, can you give me a direction?"

I tested the air again, "Hang a left. I don't think it is that far, so keep your eyes open."

Daniel stood up and held onto the edge of the open window for balance as he looked ahead. Seconds later he spoke, "It looks like there is a driveway not that far ahead, another cable comes off of the power lines and heads in that direction as well."

Minutes later we rolled into the driveway of a large house. I sniffed, but didn't scent a zombie or a strange human. Everyone got out of the truck, eager for a break from sitting. Nicky looked at me, "Anything around that we should worry about?"

I took another deep breath, the burning started in the back of my throat from how close she was to me when I was focusing on my sense of smell. I shook my head, "No zombies or humans. Watch out for venomous snakes though."

She nodded and started grabbing bags of supplies. Daniel was already heading toward the house to check it out just in case. Kal and Frank headed for the garage. I grabbed some supplies to carry in, we could leave the jerrycans where they were tonight.

I was making my second trip when Frank started whooping in joy, "We hit the jackpot!"

I looked over at Joel, "What would he classify as a jackpot?"

Joel shrugged, although I noticed that the other two from that group were running that direction to see what had the man so worked up. I packed my load inside and heard the sound of a motor start up. They must have found another working vehicle.

I went outside to see Frank talking with Ben, "There are big fuel tanks behind that barn for both diesel and gas. Both are full! No offense, but our group is going to pile into the car and keep driving. We plan to take turns behind the wheel. I got the directions from Nina, so once we get a good meal over the fire we are going to grab our supplies and head off."

I noticed three others in his group carrying big five-gallon water jugs behind the barn, presumably to fill up with extra gas. I grabbed another load of food supplies and carried them inside just in case they got a bit greedy when packing their new vehicle.

~

True to their word, after cooking themselves supper all five of them got into that car and drove off. I noticed that I wasn't the only one who relaxed a bit as they left. I headed over to scour the garage. They had taken the only vehicle, but there were a dozen empty water jugs in the back corner. A quick check outside around the back of the garage revealed that the raised fuel tank was indeed full.

I grabbed some of the five-gallon water jugs and started filling them with diesel. They had once been meant to hold water for a water cooler in a house or office, but they could never be used for water after this. I carried four of the big jugs back to the truck. With what we already had, we could drive for over a week and not run out. It was severe overkill, but I had no desire to end up walking again.

Supper was ready by the time I finished. Marissa had made another soup concoction. I was dubious about trying this one, she had somehow combined mushroom soup, beef stew and some other cans into one questionable looking brew. I took a bowl, but seriously hoped that it tasted better than it smelled.

It was tolerable, but that was all I could say about it. I hoped that she never tried to make it again. Marissa had been keeping Liz away from me, worried about the scratches on my arm bleeding and infecting the child. A scab had formed over each finger long scratch and it hadn't cracked or bled yet, but there was always the chance.

As I sat by the fire, I realized that the evening had been quiet so far. Perhaps wishing upon that star had helped. I am still not holding my breath until the sun rises though. I stretched as the sun started to set, "I will be back in a bit."

Daniel nodded although most of the others ignored my comment. I headed out into the forest behind the house, carefully checking for any odd scents. My instincts came forward as I loosened my control a bit, but nothing triggered them. I didn't even smell any big predators.

I headed back after hunting and took a seat by the fire. I turned the chair so I could face mostly away from the house. I noticed that Daniel had already done that, but it was probably more to protect his back in the dark than to watch the night.

We were once more silent sentries throughout the night. I actually managed to doze on and off all night, which was more sleep than I had gotten in weeks. I watched the horizon start to brighten. Huh, that shooting star must have helped. I haven't seen a night that quiet in a long time even at the cabin. I watched the sunrise before starting the pancake batter.

~

Nicky wolfed down several pancakes with a few longing glances at the pot of coffee. She didn't take any though. I was curious to see how long she would hold out. I doubted that it would last long, Nicky didn't strike me as the person to stick with a diet so I hadn't expected her to manage three mornings in a row without coffee.

She managed to stay on the bandwagon though, much to my surprise. Her mood had also seemed to level out. I knew I could blame some of it on the lack of caffeine, but if it was a true disorder, then it was only a matter of time until it reared its head again. I hoped I dropped them off at the Stronghold by then.

Nicky yawned, "That was good. Why didn't you eat any though, did you poison it?"

I shook my head, "No, it wasn't poisoned. I wasn't hungry."

She gave me an odd look, "So why did you make it then?"

I shrugged, "I was awake and it wasn't like I had anything else to do."

Daniel looked amused at my evasion of the truth. Nicky looked at the coffee, "Once you leave us at the Stronghold our bet is off since I would have no way of knowing if you drank coffee or not."

I smirked at her, "I don't drink coffee."

"Then there is obviously something wrong with you."

I chuckled, "Even if there was something wrong with me, it sure wouldn't be caused by a lack of coffee."

She grinned, "You never know until you try, right?"

"Better safe than sorry and I have managed this long without coffee."

She sighed heavily, "Drat."

I chuckled and very gently mock punched her shoulder, "If you are done, let's go load that truck. As much as I am not looking forward to sitting all day, the sooner we get on the road, the sooner we will get to our destination."

Nicky punched me back, "I think you are just trying to get rid of us. You should stay there with us for a few days. You might like it. If they accept Daniel, then they can't have an issue with sane zombies."

I shook my head, this one wasn't even open for debate, "Nope. I don't do Strongholds."

She gave me an odd look at my hard tone, "And why not?"

I huffed in irritation as I stood up to leave, my good mood was disappearing with the memories. "The last time I was invited to stay in a Stronghold, they set a trap and I barely made it out alive."

I walked into the house to grab an armload of stuff before hauling it to the truck. At least we would have more room with five less people in the back of the truck. Chloe sensed my mood and moved out of my way with a wary look.

Nicky, Hank, Ben, and Daniel started packing the truck as well. Daniel kept glancing at me, but didn't comment. He was likely curious about that story, but didn't want to pry into something that obviously riled me up so easily.

We were on the road fast enough to satisfy me. We took up our original positions that gave us more space. The trip didn't seem so bad when you had more room. It chafed against my instincts less at any rate. Daniel also seemed more relaxed. It might just make this trip tolerable.