Word of our return spread quickly. People were happy to see us back, even if a few did make a face as they spotted Nicky. Several in the archery group were genuinely happy to see me, which simply confused me although I thanked them for their greeting since they seemed to expect some sort of reply.

Most were quite excited that we had managed to catch a feral Nightstalker. Some had reservations about having a stronger zombie so close, but they remained silent and trusted that Daniel or I would intervene before anyone was attacked if it did get loose.

Nina and Daniel had spent most of the day in the lab. They were grabbing supper at the moment. I lounged on the chair while Nicky started eating her supper. She held out an apple slice, "Any appetite?"

I shook my head, "No thanks. My stomach neither wants nor appreciates normal food at this point."

Nicky shook her head, "That sounds terrible. Did you hear that the Nightstalker is awake? It is having muscle tremors that are completely in line with the ones you had. It still wants Nina more than the rabbit though, much to Daniel's ire."

I rolled my eyes, "I noticed that his mood took a sharp curve downwards as soon as that creature was on its feet."

I had spent the remaining two or three hours of the afternoon napping and simply resting as I avoided the local population who was thrilled to see that I had returned. I had to admit that it was easier being in this place now that the smell of their blood no longer affected me. My instincts still had an issue with crowds and all of the other situations though.

Nicky snickered, "Is that why you were hiding in your room? I have to admit though, Daniel gets in a pretty sour mood whenever Nina goes into that barn. He never lets her go alone either. Kind of stalkerish if you ask me."

I snorted lightly, "I was letting everyone settle down. Some were so excited that I thought they might try to give me a welcome home hug."

Nicky grinned, "That would have gone over well. They must have forgotten that I am the only one who is allowed to give you hugs. Although with the bloodlust mostly gone, you might have changed your mind."

I growled lightly in correction, "The lack of bloodlust makes being in this oversized chicken coop easier, but it doesn't change how much I detest people invading my personal space."

Nicky rubbed her hands together evilly, "Yeah, and invading someone's personal space is my specialty."

"I noticed. How you are still alive is beyond my comprehension."

She grinned at me, "Only the good die young and the size of my counseling file says that I will live for a very long time."

I shook my head and glanced over as Nina and Daniel came onto the roof. My instincts stirred the moment I saw Daniel. His body language was still borderline aggressive. Having Nina around a feral Nightstalker was affecting him more than the dozen Runners had previously.

I took a slow breath and picked up a very faint trace of Daniel's blood. My eyes eventually spotted one very slight scratch on his upper arm. It was about as big as a paper cut and easy to miss, but I recognized the mark as a scratch from a zombie's fingernail.

The Nightstalker must have managed to land that scratch. No wonder he was in a foul mood. That would have severely insulted his instincts. If a Runner had managed to scratch me, I would have been pissed too. That still didn't give him the leave to put everyone else on edge just because he was too slow. I had a habit of taking out my anger on trees, but he obviously hadn't worked out a method for dealing with his temper.

I examined him carefully from the corner of my eye. Most of the time I didn't care if I pissed him off, but his current mood wasn't one that was wise to trifle with. His instincts were too high and he was still too humanized to recognize most of the usual zombie body language. Playing passive would not help me with Daniel if I riled him up. He wasn't in tune enough with his instincts.

Nina sat down with a sigh and Nicky watched her with amusement, "Is the Nightstalker settling in?"

Daniel growled faintly with his opinion of the subject. Nina ignored him and replied, "Let's just say that we aren't having fun. Any amount of light sends the feral into a frenzy and makes her extremely unpredictable. I wasn't aware of exactly how aggressive feral Nightstalkers were until now."

They were accustomed to dealing with Runners and Daniel had never really tapped into his instincts. I chuckled darkly, "And people wondered why I was irritable during the day."

Daniel narrowed his eyes at me, still in a foul mood as his instincts warred with his human mind. His human mind didn't completely understand his instincts and the two were speaking a different language.

Nina tilted her head as she regarded me in curiosity, "After being around that feral, I honestly have no idea how you can sit there so calmly. It makes me wonder if there might not be something else allowing some zombies to remain in control. You are nothing like that creature in the barn."

I shook my head, "The only difference is that my humanity is intact. That is the only thing that separates me from the Nightstalker that we caught. I may act human, but that shadowy side of my instincts is still there. I just suppress it as much as I can and hide it around people."

Nina pulled out a notebook and started writing. I rolled my eyes as she forgot about her supper once again. It was amazing that she didn't starve to death considering how easily she got distracted. I took a drink from my water bottle as I subtly watched Daniel once more.

He was watching me while slowly eating, trying to match the feral's behavior to my comments. Nicky was gazing at the scenery as she nibbled on a bun and Nina was still silently jotting down notes. I considered the Terror that sat across the unlit firepit from me. It may not be wise to anger him at the moment, but nothing said that I couldn't mess with his head.

The two humans weren't paying me any attention although Daniel's eyes hadn't left me yet. I shifted slightly in my chair, altering my body language. Humans likely wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but Daniel's eyes narrowed as his instincts easily caught the change.

His human mind didn't understand what his instincts were trying to tell him though. Daniel's eyes were more of a reddish orange now as he watched me with suspicion and confusion. After being around the feral Nightstalker, he knew my body wasn't reflecting aggression or warning, but that was about all he understood.

Any other sane zombie I had met would have instantly recognized the silent invitation for a friendly wrestling match and would have altered their own behavior to accept or decline the game. Daniel's body language didn't shift, showing that he was clueless. I turned my head to smirk slightly at him before dropping the change and donning my human veneer once more.

I had severely doubted that he would have understood the subtle signs since he barely even understood First Strike. I wasn't really in the mood for a wrestling match, but I was safe in my bet that he wouldn't comprehend what he saw. I had never really dropped my human façade around him to truly show my Nightstalker side, even that night in Nicky's room I had kept it mostly hidden. This glimpse was the first he had and it had nothing to do with aggression or threat. It had him confused.

Perhaps some confusion would lead to some soul searching. I doubted it, but playing mental games with his head had amused me. The best part was that neither of the humans had even noticed.

Nina tapped her pen on her notepad as she glanced at me, "Your behavior is completely different from that feral Nightstalker. Yet you say that you just hide that side. Are you able to show it without the risk of anyone getting hurt? I would be curious to see it."

Daniel stiffened as his eyes went red and started glowing. I raised an eyebrow incredulously at Nina, "Is it possible? Maybe, but far from wise. Especially with Daniel anywhere in the vicinity. His eyes are glowing just thinking about it."

Nina glanced at Daniel and winced lightly as she noticed his glowing eyes. "Ah." She frowned at her notepad in thought. She wanted to see my Nightstalker side, but acknowledged that it wasn't possible if Daniel was around – and he wasn't about to leave her alone with me if he had any say in the matter. As the strongest person here, it really wasn't possible to force him either.

Truth be told, I didn't really want a human to see that side of me either. I had worked hard to retain my humanity and any who saw the darkest side of my instincts would never be able to look at me the same way again.

I also didn't trust her enough to let her near me in a situation like that when my instincts were so high. She was used to Daniel and could easily misstep around a non-humanized zombie and wind up with minor injuries. I really needed to distract Nina from her train of thought before she tried too much harder to find a way to get me alone.

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair, "What are your plans if this controlex drug does remove bloodlust from zombies reliably?"

Nina shrugged, "It is just one more tool in a toolbox. If a newly turned zombie is having problems with control due to bloodlust, this is an option. I did some blood tests, and with that drug gone from your system, the cure works once again."

Nicky frowned, "Most of your plans revolve around someone who was already infected. What are you going to do if someone wants to become a Terror just for the speed and strength? I have seen a lot of people out there who should never have such abilities."

Nina hesitated before sighing, "We never plan to let people turn just because they want to. We may have worked out the triggers to control the change to a certain type of zombie, but I would never do anything except block the normal zombie trigger."

Nina shrugged, "Besides, they would need blood or saliva from Daniel or another Terror to even have a chance of getting the Terror trigger. The other zombie ranks don't have it. For some odd reason, normal zombies carry the trigger for a Runner, but neither normal zombies nor Runners have the triggers for Nightstalkers or Terrors. Nightstalkers don't carry the Terror trigger either."

That was interesting, although I knew in theory that a zombie bite wouldn't turn someone into a higher-ranking zombie. I hadn't been aware that a bite from a normal zombie had a chance of creating a Runner. I tilted my head, "And if you inactivated all of the triggers, what would happen?"

"That is mostly what the cure does. Without the virus, the body reverts to normal as it loses the zombie characteristics. We still haven't had any luck in creating a vaccine. Most of the drugs that affect zombies either harm humans or only last a few weeks in the bloodstream."

Nina took another bite of her supper as Nicky pushed a carrot around on her plate. Daniel was still watching me closely. His instincts were still high and making my own instincts uneasy as the higher-ranking zombie was focusing on me. I hid my reaction and suppressed my instincts, although it wasn't easy.

My previous actions still confused him and he was having no luck in figuring out what it meant. I turned my head to face him and tilted my head in silent inquiry. He was silent and blinked slowly in frustration, refusing to voice his question when we both knew what it was.

Confusing the hell out of Daniel could become a new hobby for me. A glance showed that neither of the humans were paying any attention. I smirked slightly before altering my body language again. Daniel's eyes immediately narrowed as they went red. His head tilted slightly as he studied me intently, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

After ten seconds I shook my head and dropped the altered body language. It was quite clear that Daniel still had not figured it out yet. He gritted his teeth in his silent frustration and confusion. He was off balance and didn't like the feeling. His instincts knew that my body language had meant something and it was driving him crazy that he couldn't figure out what his instincts were telling him.

I had never encountered a sane zombie who was so far out of touch with their instincts. Then again, I had never met a zombie who had never been apart from humans either. Like the pain in the ass I was, I took advantage of it to torment him. It was a double edged sword though, if he did figure it out, his lack of understanding also meant that he likely wouldn't understand when things were supposed to stop.

I decided to give him a break and murmured quietly, "I will give you a clue. That isn't something you will see a feral do. That is also why your instincts are having such a hard time getting you to understand it. You have only ever dealt with ferals before. I will leave it up to you to figure it out though."

My voice had been quiet enough that only Daniel heard it. The humans were still oblivious and I preferred it to stay that way. It was a puzzle for him to figure out and it would do him good to work it out by himself. I might give him a clue or two and perhaps let him see that body language again, but I wasn't about to just hand him the answer.

When I had first met Kelly and Travis, I had recognized that body language the moment I saw it, even though I had never seen it before. Daniel was just too far out of touch with his instincts at the moment. The answer already lay in his mind, he just needed to discover it.

Nicky yawned, "Feel like heading to the archery lanes? Those people will probably have heart failure if we don't bless them with our presence."

"I somehow doubt that they missed us that much."

Nicky huffed, "That is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. An optimist thinks this is the best possible world. A pessimist fears that this is true. So get off your lazy ass and become an optimist."

I snorted, "I am a Nightstalker. Being optimistic is not in my job description."

"Then we clearly have to rewrite your resume and submit a new application."

I raised an eyebrow in amusement, "My résumé only stated that I reliably showed up to work on time and didn't answer my cell phone while on the job, so it's still quite valid. They hired me on the spot."

Nicky rolled her eyes before grabbing my hand and trying to pull me to my feet, "It is quite clear why you never mentioned your people skills. Come on lazybones, if I don't show up with you, they will send me back to collect you."

I halfheartedly growled at the trivial insult, but let her pull me to my feet. Both Daniel and Nina looked surprised at Nicky's actions. I highly doubted that the professional scientist had ever spoken to Daniel in such a fashion and both were surprised at my tolerance toward Nicky. For that matter, so was I.

Nicky was correct though, the archers were happy to see us back. Well, more so me than Nicky, but a few of them were also glad to see Nicky return. Nicky had obviously never chased those individuals around during an insanity blitz.