I waited on the rooftop while Nicky braved the dining hall to get food for both of us. I blinked in surprise as she exited the building with Liz walking beside her. When they reached the top of the roof, Liz set her plate on a chair and ran over to give me a hug, which I awkwardly returned.

"She really wanted to see you again, and I knew you didn't mind her hanging around," Nicky said as she sat down.

Liz looked up at me in excitement. "Nicky said you helped her shoot her bow. Can you help me shoot after dinner?"

I sighed but gave in. "Sure." It wasn't as if I had anything else to do, and people would come up here to hang out once they finished their dinner. I wondered how many people were going to have a heart attack when they saw a child walking with me.

We finished our dinner and headed down. Nicky used a napkin to grab the edge of my plate and ducked inside to put our dishes in the bins. From the clamor echoing out of the doorway, the place was packed to the ceiling with hungry people.

She came back out, and we continued to the archery area. No one saw Liz with us, so I didn't get the chance to see their reactions. I was kind of disappointed about that.

When I entered the archery shed, I was surprised to see several small bows for children hanging on the wall. The string for each one was coiled on a holder beside it. It took me a second to remember that the strings would stretch if they were left on, so they had to be removed whenever they weren't being used.

Nicky grabbed a quiver of arrows and a bow that was similar to what she had used last time. I helped Liz pick out a bow and some arrows, then strung her bow for her. When we went back outside, Nicky was already taking aim at a target. I guided Liz a few lanes away, then, after a glance back, one more. Just in case Nicky's aim was worse than what I thought possible.

It was almost peacefully quiet out here. Everyone else was eating, so no one was wandering around, talking, making a racket while working, or anything. Just the twang of the bows and the three of us. The feeling surprised me, and I examined it carefully as I helped Liz stand properly to fire the bow.

My instincts had retreated temporarily. It vaguely reminded me of my friendship with Kelly and Travis, although it was different since they were Nightstalkers.

Some of my general irritation was still present and always would be while the virus flowed through my veins. I knew Nicky wouldn't harm me. Liz simply wasn't capable of it even if she tried, and I doubted she would, considering how happy she was whenever she saw me.

Both accepted me for what I was and were perfectly at ease with me. At the moment, I was about as relaxed as I could get in the presence of humans. It had been a long time since I'd felt anything like companionship around humans. I didn't mind the feeling. It was too bad it wouldn't last long; I knew it would disappear the instant another human came into sight or hearing range.

I went down on one knee as I helped Liz aim her bow. Her close proximity burned my throat, but Daniel had been right; I was getting acclimatized to the constant smell of humans. I hardly noticed it unless I thought about it or got super close like I was now. Even the usual bloodlust was barely bothering me, although that might be due to me hunting much more than I normally did.

Nicky kept muttering as she shot arrow after arrow. At least she was hitting the target most of the time. Liz was shooting at a much closer target, and her aim wasn't as bad as I had expected. She missed the target more often than not, of course, but I didn't expect a four-year-old to be an expert archer. I remained on one knee beside her as I helped her nock an arrow and gave her some tips before letting her fire it.

I glanced up as I heard footsteps approaching. Marissa frowned as her eyes darted between me and Liz, clearly unhappy with how close I was to her charge. This was the first time I'd seen Marissa since arriving at the Stronghold, but I wasn't sure if that was a coincidence or if she had been avoiding me.

I slowly got to my feet as she came closer, the relaxed feeling gone.

Marissa stopped some distance away and called to Liz, "Liz, time for your bath."

"But I don't usually have a bath until bedtime."

The child still obediently handed her bow to me and went to where Marissa was waiting for her. The woman wasted no time in taking her hand and leading her away. My instincts stirred slightly, and I subtly glanced around while walking over to collect Liz's arrows.

The archery range was built away from the other buildings with a row of trees separating them, so someone had to enter the archery field to be easily noticed. Now that I was paying attention, I spotted about thirty or so people lounging on a deck just past the side barriers. Judging from the disapproving expressions they were bestowing on an oblivious Marissa, they didn't appreciate her collecting Liz.

I also recognized this particular bunch as the ones who normally spent every evening on the archery field. They had forfeited their normal evening entertainment to give me some space while I spent time with two of my previous traveling companions. Considering we had been undisturbed for almost an hour, it gave me another glimpse at how far out of their way they were willing to go to convince me to stay here.

While that creepy thought rolled through my mind, I put the bow and arrows back in the shed. Under very different circumstances, I would have appreciated the gesture, but with a possible conspiracy afoot, it only served to put me further on edge.

I gave myself a mental shake as I left the shed, trying to settle my instincts. I watched Nicky take a few shots.

"Well, at least you're hitting the target more than what you did the other day."

"Why don't you grab a bow? I'm curious to see how many times you can hit the center of this obstinate target."

I stuck my hands in my pockets nonchalantly. "I'll pass. I haven't fired a bow since I was twelve. I probably wouldn't even hit the target."

Nicky fumbled her shot in her surprise, and her arrow landed closer to the target in the third lane than the one she was supposed to be using.

She blinked owlishly at me as she recovered. "What? But how did you know how to correct us?"

I smirked. "I did archery in girl scouts once. What I have shown you is about all I know."

"Here I thought you knew what you were doing!"

I bared my teeth in a grin as I turned to leave. "Nope. I'm taking my leave. Don't stay out too late in case you get rained on."

"There isn't a single cloud in the sky. How will I get rained on?"

"Honest, it'll rain before the sun sets. I can smell the thunderstorm on the wind."

I left the field while the group on the deck gazed at the cloudless horizon, having overheard the last bit of our conversation. I headed for the secondary building and glanced back when I reached the door, confirming that the group from the deck was already on the archery field.

Going up to my room, I grabbed some clean clothes and a handful of spare bandages, then headed to the showers I'd seen on the main floor. It had been far too long since I had a proper bath or shower, and I hadn't done more than just sponge myself down in case the scabs re-opened. They should have healed up enough to handle a shower by now. I'd just have to avoid touching the one that Nicky tormented earlier.

The running warm water felt good, and feeling clean was even better. I carefully dabbed the injuries dry with one of the many towels present and set it to the side. I'd have to figure out where the laundry was and deliver it there since some of my blood had spotted the brown fabric.

As I undid my frizzy, waist-long braid of hair, I examined my injuries. The long bandages really weren't needed anymore; the scabs had finally set enough for regular stick-on bandages. The soap, shampoo, and conditioner had burned when they touched the injury on my back, so that one still wasn't healing.

After getting dressed, I held my hair near my neck and brushed the dark brown strands. Moving in front of the mirror, I very gingerly brushed most of the hair on my head without disturbing the scab. I left that area alone. Once all the knots were out, I loosely braided my hair, wincing as my shirt rubbed painfully against the uncovered injury on my back.

I gathered the dirty clothing, towel, and blood-stained bandages and bundled them under my arm. When I opened the door to leave the shower room, Nina's scent stood out. The door just down the hallway was open, and before I had taken five steps, Nina appeared in the doorway. I was beginning to feel like a celebrity with far too many stalkers.

"I see you got cleaned up. Do you want me to help you put more salve on the scabs and wrap them up?"

For once, I didn't balk at the idea. "Fine, but where's the laundry?" I held up the dirty stuff so she could see that they were clearly contaminated with my blood.

"The laundry is in the main building. I can take them there for you. If you ever want to wash your own stuff, there's a big sink, washboard, and soap in the janitorial closet at the end of this hall. I'll show you where it is. For anything that humans might use, we use a stronger disinfectant though."

Before I could think of a way to keep my clothes while letting her take the towel and bandages, the door beside Nina's room opened, and Daniel leaned idly against the door frame.

"I can take it to the laundry for you," he offered.

I wasn't aware that his room was also on the main floor, although it didn't overly surprise me since I rarely saw these two apart. Considering how strong his scent was in this hallway, I should have clued in earlier.

I quickly divided my pile into two bundles and passed him the towel and bandages, while keeping my clothing. He closed his door and took the bundle of cloth as he headed to the exit. His departure surprised me. This would be the first time he wouldn't be nearby when Nina checked my injuries.

"This way," Nina said as she started walking down the hallway without specifying if she was going to the examination room or showing me where the big sink was. Predictably, we went into the examination room first.

Nina pulled supplies out of a bag she'd brought with her and lined up the bandages, gauze, and salve on the counter.

"Shirt, please?"

I took off my shirt and let her remove the bandages I had attempted to put back on. It was probably a good thing she was taking them off now, because parts of the scab were already starting to stick to the bandages.

"These are healing very nicely. I'll just add more salve and use square bandages. We won't need the tension bandage or gauze anymore."

She moved around to my back, and her pause was noticeable.

"This... is unusual."

That was one word for it. I had other words. "Red, puffy, and not healing?"

"That fits what I'm seeing. It looks so painful I don't even want to touch it."

Unfortunately for her, there was a reason I hadn't argued when coming here. "There's something in the wound. I'm betting it's a piece of leather from my sickle sheath. It has to come out."

There was a rather remarkable silence behind me before Nina finally said, "Please tell me you aren't saying what I think you're saying."

I glanced over my shoulder at her. "It has to come out, and you're the closest thing to a nurse that I've seen around here."

She made a face. "I have no idea how deep it might be. I cleaned the wound while you were unconscious, and I didn't see anything in it."

"It's slowly working its way to the surface. I'm hoping it's close enough to get out by now."

It was an interesting role reversal. She may have insisted on changing the bandages, but digging into a wound was apparently a different story. She was silent, still averse to the idea, although I merely continued to watch her.

With a sigh, she gave in. "Let me grab the numbing salve."

That was the second reason for me asking Nina to find this leather scrap instead of requesting Nicky to dig deeper. The effects of the numbing salve only lasted a couple of minutes, but that should be long enough for her to find it. And once it was out, the wound would finally start healing.

Nina pulled more supplies out of her bag and put them along the edge of the counter, within easy reach. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"No, but it'll heal faster." I didn't feel like waiting another week for the object to finally make its belated appearance.

"Alright. Let me know if the salve wears off."

She slathered on a glob of the cold stuff, which felt good on the inflamed injury. She used medical tape to stick a wad of gauze below, likely to catch any blood, which was a wise precaution on her part. After waiting a bit, she tentatively touched the skin.

"I can feel that, but it isn't painful," I told her.

"Thanks. I'll try pushing the salve into the wound as I go, but it might not do as much as you're hoping."

Next, she picked up tweezers and a penlight. Like a dentist after they froze my gums, I could feel the pressure of the tweezers opening the ragged tissue of the unhealed bullet hole. I clenched my teeth as pain from deeper inside flared, untouched by the salve yet.

Using a needleless syringe, she squirted more pain-numbing salve deeper, waiting to let it take effect, then proceeding slowly as she tried to locate whatever wasn't supposed to be there. A trickling sensation ran between the injury and the gauze taped below as blood flowed out of the disturbed wound.

I took a deep breath and tried to sit still as the tweezers started reaching areas untouched by the salve. I was beginning to regret my decision. A growl also started building in my chest, and had I still been human, I would have been sweating from the ordeal. She ignored the sound and kept going deeper. Seconds painfully ticked by as I forced myself to sit still.

Then Nina pulled her tweezers out.

"I found it." She sounded almost surprised, as if she had expected to come up empty-handed.

Taking another deep breath against the lingering pain, I looked back to see a tiny piece of brown leather in her tweezers. It was barely the size of a grain of rice. That puny little thing had no right to cause me so much difficulty, yet it was all that had been needed to stop a zombie wound from healing.

Nina put the tweezers and the guilty culprit on the counter before grabbing a needle and thread. "If you don't mind, I want to try stitching this up while it's still numb."

"Go for it."

With the leather out, the wound would finally start to heal. Stitches wouldn't stop me from getting Nicky to help me with future rounds of "cheating".

Small tugs emphasized each stitch going in, and it didn't take Nina long to finish. After removing the taped gauze, she grabbed the usual salve, some gauze, and a square bandage.

"There. That's bandaged up." There was relief in her voice at having finished the unpleasant task.

"Thank you."

She came around in front of me. "While we're here, let me check your leg as well. It can't be any worse than what I just dealt with..."

I actually chuckled at her tone as I lifted the leg on my jean shorts. Contrary to Nina's words, I was sure my leg probably still looked just as bad, if not worse, than my back. Any healing I could feel wasn't showing. Nina looked relieved when she saw that she didn't need to do anything other than bandage it back up.

After applying a generous amount of salve, she put a huge adhesive bandage over the scabs instead of attempting to wrap my leg up like a mummy.

"Let's see if that stays in place. If not, here's a bunch of bandages. Or you can always come find me."

"Thanks." I took the offered bandages – I could definitely use those for my back.

She turned around and began putting the bloody gauze and bandages into a biohazard bag. While her back was turned, I swiftly grabbed a handful of the smaller bandages off the counter and tucked them into my pockets.

Getting to my feet, I decided to make myself scarce since the numbing salve on my back was wearing off rather quickly. I took my dirty clothes with me, but they were going to have to wait with how my back was starting to throb. It shouldn't be that hard to find the washbasin later on.

I retreated to my room and locked the door before opening the window halfway. I sat on my bed with a sigh of relief and gazed out the window. Thunderclouds were building on the horizon, making me smirk at my earlier prediction.

The throbbing of my shoulder and leg made me refocus on the real problem at hand. I leaned over and pulled the small jar and syringe out of my backpack, where I had hidden them earlier. I peeled back the square bandages on my chest and leg, then pushed the salve far enough to the side that I could doctor the injuries.

I put most of the blood on my leg and split the rest between the three other injuries. Since I couldn't reach the one on my back, it would have to go without for now. Nor did I touch the scab on my head; it was visible, and the day that particular scab sloughed off, it would catch the attention of far too many people.

As the evening progressed, I remained in my room and watched the people below come and go. The setting sun and the rumbling thunderstorm made the sky darken. The handful of people still outside were rapidly heading to whatever building their room was in, unwilling to be caught out in the storm.

I massaged my leg, which was still warm from the blood. It was sore, although it was no longer truly painful. That was good. That meant it was healing rapidly. I watched the storm roll in until a flash of lightning made me close my eyes with a wince.

Even with my sunglasses, lightning was far too bright to watch, so I laid on the bed and listened to the rumbling tumult of thunder instead.