In the end, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Other than the lady behind me following a bit too closely for my liking, there weren't any problems. They ventured the occasional question about the Stronghold in general, but that was it. Otherwise, they focused on trying to keep up.

I exhaled in relief when I saw the group waiting for us. I was glad I had the foresight to tie some orange flagging ribbons here so they'd know where to wait. Waiting humans tended to talk and ask questions, and I didn't really feel like talking.

The group sped up a bit when they spotted the two trucks and two quads on the road. As we exited the forest, the handful of people in the back of the trucks jumped out and came forward to welcome the strays staggering out of the shrubs behind me. They guided the refugees to the trucks for a ride back, relieving me of babysitting duty.

One of the drivers approached me. "Can we offer you a lift? I know the back is probably too crowded, but you can ride in the passenger seat if you want. I have both windows rolled down."

I glanced at the trucks as people climbed onto the mattresses. "You won't get me in the back when it's that crowded, but I can catch a ride in the front seat."

He nodded and gestured to the truck he had been driving. I walked over and claimed the passenger seat. The driver happened to be part of the archery group and would know to give me my space. I gave him bonus points for having the foresight to roll the windows down for fresh air.

The strays in the back of the truck likely wouldn't have thought anything of sitting right beside me since they had no clue I was actually a Nightstalker. This was a safer alternative that let me get back to the Stronghold when they did.

I didn't bother with a seatbelt, and neither did anyone else since the trucks weren't driving that fast. The two trucks headed back to the Stronghold as the quads led the way and lured any zombies off the road.

The driver beside me quietly said, "I heard that you asked for Nina to be present when this group arrives?"

"Yes, one of them is infected. The scent is very faint, but it's there. He won't turn for a couple of days."

He nodded slowly, watching the quad lead a normal zombie over to the tree line. The rest of the ride back was silent, although the strays in the back happily chatted with a couple of the locals.

When we rounded a corner, the gates were already open and a dozen people were waiting for us. I spotted Nina and Daniel standing off to the side.

The trucks drove through the gates and stopped inside, letting the guards close them behind us. I got out of the truck and walked toward Nina. She immediately came over to me, glancing at the newcomers. Daniel took a deeper breath, likely assuming why I wanted Nina here, although I doubted he could smell it over the scent of smoke and dirt that clung to the group's clothing.

I kept my voice down. "One of the men is infected, and considering how faint the scent is, I suspect it happened quite recently. I was practically right beside them before I picked it up."

"Which one?" she asked, glancing at the four men.

"I'm not entirely sure. They haven't spread out while I was close to them."

"We'll have to figure out who it is before they go any farther into the Stronghold. Even if he hasn't turned, it's unfortunately easy to spread the virus through saliva or blood contamination, especially if they don't know they have to take precautions."

"That might be easier said than done, unless you don't care about the entire group knowing."

"I prefer keeping such things private. Give me a second." She pulled a handful of labels out of her notebook. Turning to the group, she called out, "Can I please get the newcomers to line up? I'm going to give you a name tag to wear for the day while we get you settled in."

In my mind, she scored several points for ingenuity and creativity for such a subtle tactic. The seven people obediently lined up, and Nina waved one forward. "Please come up one at a time and spell your name for me. You first, sir."

He walked up while the rest remained where they were. Nina wrote his name on the label as I tested the air. His scent was free of the zombie tang, and I glanced away with disinterest since Nina was watching me out of the corner of her eye. I transferred my gaze to the lineup, patiently waiting for the next person to be called over.

One by one, they came forward to get their name tag. As the third man stated his name, I crossed my arms and gave a low growl that Nina would probably just be able to hear. Nina nodded absently and finished writing his name, passing him the label.

She let him go back to the lineup and waved the next person up. As per my request in the staged radio conversation, the doctor was waiting to the side, and I wandered over to him.

"Mike is our infected one. Mention something about his limp and send him back to Nina while you let the others go for their tour."

He nodded and looked at the young man. I had noticed his slight limp earlier, so it was a good enough excuse. If it was a flesh wound, it might even be how he got infected. Nina gave the last person their name tag and looked over at me. I nodded my head toward the doctor. Our trap was set.

"Okay," she told the group. "The doctor is standing by the wall over there, and he'll take you into the room at the bottom of the guard post for a quick checkup. After that, we can take you on a tour."

The group headed over to the doctor, so I meandered back to Nina, walking around the incoming people. When I got closer, I said, "The doctor will send him to you, using his limp as an excuse."

"Good idea. Judging from how he's limping, we'd need to check it anyway. I'll have Daniel accompany me and Mike to an examination room, then I'll let him know what his options are."

From how Mike was lagging to the back of the line, he was delaying his checkup as much as possible. I began to suspect he might actually know he was infected, or at the very least, that his injury might make the doctor wonder. In most Strongholds, that meant getting kicked out with no supplies.

It wasn't long before the first woman came out of the base of the guard tower. Another woman went to stand by her when her checkup also passed with flying colors. She looked around, and when she spotted me, she headed in my direction with her friend in tow. Perhaps I should have made my escape a few minutes ago...

"Thank you so much for helping us. We probably would have died in that forest if you hadn't shown up when you did."

I shrugged, somewhat uncomfortable with the overly friendly woman's praise. "It was no problem. Happy to help."

Daniel tilted his head at my overly human-like manner, and Nina gazed at me in curiosity before grinning as she realized the newcomers didn't know what I really was.

"How did you find us out there?" the second woman asked.

"I smelled the smoke from your campfire."

She frowned in confusion. "The fire was barely burning, and we were a long way from this place."

"I was on patrol, and I have an excellent sense of smell."

Daniel looked amused at my truthful evasions, although Nina bit her lip to avoid grinning, suddenly becoming fascinated with her notebook.

The woman raised an eyebrow and responded in a faintly challenging tone, "You were patrolling on foot, in the middle of the night, during a huge thunderstorm? And you just happened to find us a twenty-minute walk from the nearest road?"

Apparently, she was the rational type and wasn't buying my story. From how easily those details rolled off her tongue, she must have been trying to work through this puzzle for some time.

I leveled a stare at her, not appreciating her tone or the challenge. "Not much gets close to this place without someone finding out. Regardless of the weather or the time."

My answer didn't satisfy her, and she pressed the matter. "How? We were far enough out that it took us twenty minutes to walk and then another ten to drive! I want answers, dammit!"

This lady had quite the temper behind her intellect. Too bad she wasn't smart enough to see the answer literally right in front of her nose. Her temper was also rousing mine.

I crossed my arms and matched her glare. "You want the truth? A sane zombie found you about four hours before sunrise and alerted the Stronghold. I was asked to lead you to the road in the morning."

Both of them froze, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Shit," the woman whispered. "It didn't even occur to me that the Terror might have been the one to locate us."

Just as I had intended, she was now certain the local Terror was responsible. Due to our earlier discussion, they knew the Terror was male, and I hadn't mentioned a second zombie, so it didn't even cross her mind that I might be one.

Sometimes being inconspicuous simply involved people overlooking you. As a human, I would blend in. The moment they realized I was a zombie, they would always be watching me. My instincts preferred to remain invisible, and my human mind found this sort of subterfuge endlessly amusing.

From how Nina was trying her hardest not to laugh, I suspected I wasn't the only one who thought this was entertaining. Even Daniel was having a hard time keeping a straight face with their mistaken assumption.

"Trinity! You're back!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see the redhead running toward us with a huge smile.

Nina whispered to Daniel, "I thought we locked her up?"

"I did," Daniel replied, glaring at Nicky as she approached. "I even double-checked the lock."

Nicky held out her arms as she ran closer, more hyper than her usual morning self.

I crossed my arms and warned her, "I'm not in the mood for a hug. I just finished spending half the night out in a downpour."

Nicky took heed of my warning and posture and dropped her arms. "Aw... I wanted a hug. It sucks when you're not around at breakfast. And this guy had the nerve to try and lock me in my room!" She sent Daniel a glare, matching the one he was giving her.

"Just how did you get out anyway?" Daniel asked, exhaling slowly in irritation.

"I picked the locks, of course!" Nicky exclaimed with a big grin. "Trinity keeps warning you that I shouldn't be left unsupervised, and I'm really not sure why you don't take her warnings seriously after all this time."

Daniel gritted his teeth as flickers of red appeared in his eyes despite his attempt to keep them camouflaged.

Nicky turned her attention to the two women in front of us. "Oh, these must be the people you found in the forest."

Perhaps I should check the stores for duct tape on my next nighttime patrol. It would come in real handy right about now...

The first woman attempted to correct the redhead. "Actually, the Terror found us. I hope we can thank him later, if it doesn't disturb him."

Nicky twisted her head to stare at Daniel skeptically. "Right... As if Daniel would get his feet wet in a storm like that."

The woman glanced at Daniel, distracted by Nicky's comment, and her eyes widened when she saw the hints of red in his eyes and realized he was, in fact, a zombie. She took a step back in surprise at the discovery.

Confusion crossed her face as she looked between Nicky, Daniel, and me as she rolled Nicky's first greeting through her head. The lady's jaw slowly dropped open as she fought through her disbelief.

Crossing my arms, I regarded Nicky with a frown. "I thought you were going to avoid coffee?"

She held up her hands in a helpless gesture. "The electricity in the kitchen went out, and breakfast was delayed by hours. They made coffee over the fire and gave it to everyone while we were waiting!"

"You're a zombie, aren't you?" the woman tentatively asked, still in shock. "But, I thought the Terror was a man?"

She glanced between me and Daniel in confusion, trying to figure out how to fit the puzzle pieces together, but too stunned to assimilate the clues into complete comprehension. So much for my careful cover-up.

Nicky grinned at her. "They blend in well when they try, don't they? Daniel is a Terror, but Trinity is a Nightstalker. She's much easier to get along with. Just ignore her growls unless she's staring directly at your face."

Both women gazed at us in shock, their eyes flickering between Daniel and me uneasily. The challenging one had lost all her hot air and courage with this new knowledge.

"You're a Nightstalker?" Her voice was quiet, likely having a hard time rearranging her previous opinion of me to match whatever rumors she'd heard about zombies, especially after spending so much time in my company while assuming I was human.

"Yes," I admitted reluctantly.

She looked at Nicky, asking me, "Is she a zombie too?"

I burst out laughing at the question. "No, she's our local lunatic, who apparently got into coffee that she isn't supposed to have."

Even Nina wasn't able to contain her quiet laughter at the woman's innocent and befuddled question. Daniel also laughed, an unusual sound from him.

"Nah, I'm far too cool to be a zombie," Nicky declared with a smirk.

Between Nicky's comment and the laughter, the two women were beginning to look rather lost and bewildered. With my secret now out in the open and the fun over, I saw no point in lingering.

"Well, I have to return my radio to the north gate. Then I'm going to find some dry clothing. See you later." I turned and started to walk away without waiting for a response from anyone.

Daniel's voice came from behind me. "Nicky, you should accompany Trinity and make sure she doesn't get lost."

"Aye, aye, captain!" Nicky's footsteps pounded the five steps it took her to catch up, slowing to a walk beside me.

"To make sure I don't get lost? Really?" I kept my muttering too low for the humans to hear.

Daniel had no problem picking up my irritated words and responded just as quietly, "We had to deal with her all morning. She's yours for the rest of the day; otherwise, we might end up locking her in the barn."

"All morning?" I scoffed. "It isn't even eight o'clock yet."

"That's still far too long when she's had coffee."

I glanced at the grinning redhead beside me. "Do you purposely annoy Daniel when I'm not around?"

"Technically, I was annoying other people when he butted his nose in. Then I got to keep him amused for an hour while we waited for your radio call."

Daniel's barely audible growl contradicted her words.

"I somehow suspect that 'amused' isn't the term Daniel would use in this case."

Nicky rubbed her hands together like she was plotting world domination. "Oh, he may not use that term, but I sure do. And he's worse than a kidnapper! He kept trying to tie me up, and when that didn't work, he locked me in a tiny room!"

"You mean your bedroom?"

"Yeah! He could have at least locked me in his room so I could have snooped through all of his stuff and doodled on the walls."

"Why exactly do you find being tied up and locked in your room entertaining?" I rubbed my forehead, wondering exactly how she had survived this long.

"Because I always get out!" she replied, throwing her hands in the air and laughing. "Their expressions are priceless when I round the corner!"

I sighed and shook my head. This could be a long day...

"You're lucky he didn't use the handcuffs and restraints meant to contain feral zombies."

"But he did!" she exclaimed, laughing wildly. "And I picked those locks too! They were even easier to get out of than police handcuffs are."

I gave her an odd look. "Do I even want to know how many times you have been handcuffed?"

"I'm pretty sure I got to wear every single pair of handcuffs in that police station. I picked those too. Then they got smart and told me that if I got into the car, they'd give me a donut at the station while we waited for my counselor."

How Nicky had survived the zombie apocalypse was completely beyond my comprehension.

We made it to the north gate without any further mishaps, although people kept a wary eye on Nicky. I suspected they were worried about her being loose again. I tossed the radio to the woman above, and she caught it.

"What are your plans for the day?" I asked Nicky.

If she was anywhere in the vicinity, there was no use contemplating a nap. And considering she currently wasn't working, it was safe to say she probably wouldn't be doing much today.

"I have absolutely no idea, so I might as well hang out with you. At least I know you aren't about to volunteer to pick weeds or rocks. I have no idea how those things keep appearing in the gardens considering how often we remove them."

That meant I was stuck with Nicky, who had enjoyed coffee just a few hours ago. Oh, lucky me...

I tilted my head and rapidly thought out the consequences of a few options. "Why don't we grab your bow and go hunting? We can see how good your aim has really gotten."

It would get her outside of the Stronghold, which would be a relief to everyone inside. I'd just have to make sure her bow was never pointed anywhere even remotely close to me.

"That's a great idea! The hunting groups might even let me join them if I can prove how good my aim is."

"Go get your bow and wait by the north gate with the side-by-side while I go grab some dry clothes."

"Sure!" She took off at a run.

I headed for the secondary building, trying to shake off the misgivings I was having about this plan.