As we approached the gate, the truck in front – the one originally from Ironwind – veered to the side, looping around in a slow circle. The driver waved out the open window and called to the other vehicles, "Welcome to Ironwind! We're heading back out, but we'll see you later tonight."

The remaining vehicles continued to the open gate, where a small group of people were waiting for them. Their slow pace and the cleaner pavement meant the tires weren't throwing much dust in the air. I came to a stop behind the truck as the greeters had a quick word with the first driver and waved the entire procession through the gate.

As they drove inside, the welcoming group jogged alongside the vehicles, still talking with the driver. Jess gazed around, trying to take in everything at once. A few other people started drifting this way, likely to offer their assistance or help unload.

The drivers parked beside the main building and turned off their vehicles. They got out and stretched as they looked around. I remained sitting in the side-by-side with Jess as the greeters started mingling with the guests. Somehow, I wasn't too surprised when Nina and Daniel came around the corner.

"Alex, you're here earlier than I expected," Nina greeted a mostly bald man standing beside the middle van.

He grinned and inclined his head. "Good to see you, Nina. You too, Daniel. One of the women was up at the crack of dawn and dragged us out of bed at five o'clock. Even had breakfast and everything ready."

"An ambitious assistant?"

"Ah, no. A sister to someone here."

I glanced at Jess, who was turning red. She ducked her head and mumbled, "I was so excited I couldn't fall back to sleep once I woke up."

"Well," Nina said, "thank you for giving them a lift here. It's a bit early for lunch, but would you like to eat before we start comparing notes?"

"Why don't we catch up first? That way our stomachs will force us to take a break in an hour or so."

"That works for me. Daniel, do you wish to join us?"

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I can help unload once the newcomers start their tour. After that, I'll go for a quick patrol to check the borders. If you need anything, I'll have my radio with me."

Nina nodded and continued talking with the man who was also undoubtedly a scientist. As he spoke, he opened the side door of the van and started digging through the boxes and bags piled there.

Most of the travelers gathered into three loose groups, making it easy to tell who had come with Jess, which ones were accompanying the scientist, and which individuals were escorts from the previous Stronghold.

"I thought a zombie's eyes were supposed to be red?" Jess whispered to me, gawking at Daniel's brown eyes.

Daniel glanced at us with an amused grin, letting his eyes flicker red for a moment, before turning back to the discussion.

"We can camouflage them if we choose," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at Daniel, although he had no way of seeing it with his back turned.

"Did he really hear me?" she asked, this attempt at whispering being much quieter than her previous one.

"Oh yeah. And if he was paying attention, he would have heard that too."

The jackass by the van nodded idly, confirming my suspicions. But his behavior was the zombie version of accepting Jess into his closer circle of friends by avoiding secrets, so it was hard to be overly irritated with him. Or so logic tried to tell me.

If nothing else, it had been a few years since I had last seen Jess's face this red. Perhaps this could serve as her first lesson in the long road of remembering that zombies weren't merely humans with an infection in their blood.

"Alright!" a man to the side called out. "The people planning on staying, please gather your stuff and stand over here. Alex's team can stay with Nina. Could the people from Reynold's Stronghold please check in with Stephanie? She's over there."

The blonde-haired woman waved her arm in the air a few times so people knew who she was. She must have already figured out which ones she was supposed to be talking to since she headed toward them.

"I have to go get my stuff," Jess said, getting out of the side-by-side.

I trailed some distance behind her, leaving plenty of room between me and the strangers swarming the vehicles as they tried to find everything they had brought with them. Jess knew exactly where her stuff was and quickly claimed two duffle bags and a ragged cardboard box.

From how she struggled to move one of the duffle bags, I wondered if she had packed rocks all the way down from Alaska or something. Once she was clear of the crowd, I took the two duffle bags from her.

When I didn't react to the weight and carried them with ease, she stared at me. Shaking her head, she quickly caught up. "Thanks."

"No problem." I carried them over to the man and stood to the side where no one would likely crowd me. Jess stood beside me, placing the box by her feet while waiting. The man quickly put two and two together.

He walked over. "This is your sister?"

"Yes, her name is Jess."

He nodded and glanced at her, probably trying to commit her face to memory. "Welcome, Jess." He turned his attention back to me. "I know they planned to put the newcomers in the main building, but since she's your sister, they're willing to let her stay in the secondary building if you prefer."

"She can have the room two doors down from mine."

He thought for a moment. "Isn't that Nicky's room?"

"The other side. It's an empty room."

"Ah, that makes more sense. Not many people on that level, so I forget who's where some days. Sure, she can have that one."

And Nicky just so happened to be memorable enough that he knew where her room was. Surprise, surprise...

He glanced at the group forming around us and added, "I'll just go over the usual rules with everyone, then I'll show the others where their rooms are, and you can give her a quick tour of the secondary building. We're going to let them unpack and get settled until lunch, then we'll regroup for a tour."

I nodded as I examined the eleven people forming a semi-circle in front of us. The group was a pretty mixed bag of ages, with the youngest being about two or three, holding her mother's hand as she stared around with big eyes. The eldest was adorned with solid grey hair and used a cane, although she was spry enough that the trip hadn't worn her down much.

The man addressed them, "As you just heard, I'm going to show you where your rooms are so you can get settled. After lunch, we'll go for a tour. You have a lot of flexibility in deciding what work you want to do, so think about what you're good at, and after the tour, I'll talk with each of you to see where your strengths lie. Feel free to try a few different tasks. You aren't stuck there if you hate it. Now for the rules. You've probably heard this spiel at every place you stopped, but I'm going to give it to you again."

He continued rattling off the rules, and I tuned him out when he came to the part about using manners and being courteous to each other.

"-and that's about it. Any questions at the moment?"

No one spoke up, so he said, "Okay. The main building is this way."

He headed toward to a nearby door. Tilting my head at Jess, I jerked my chin in the direction of the secondary building.

As we went down the road, I told her, "We're on the second floor."

"Why are you in this building if everyone else is in the other one?"

"I might not be affected by the bloodlust anymore, but sticking me with several hundred people is a surefire way for someone to get hurt. There are only twenty or so people living in the secondary building." Which, as I now knew, were all higher ranking or special people.

We entered the secondary building, and I opened the door to the stairwell and waved her ahead of me. Once we reached the second floor, I guided her down the hallway.

"That's my door," I said, pointing to it, "and yours is two down."

"This one?"

"Yes."

"I'll have to hang something on the doorknob so I don't forget which one it is."

Her steps sped up in her haste to open the door. She immediately spotted the lavender plant on the dresser and started laughing.

"You remembered! And here I was planning on using that as an excuse for a tour of the fields and forests!"

"Careful what you wish for, or I might drag you along on the side-by-side. I'm sure you'd love seeing all the zombies."

"I might still take you up on it," she replied, walking into the room and setting the cardboard box down on the expensive comforter I'd found in a dusty attic.

Pausing, she looked around the room, only now realizing everything here was the style she liked. Her eyes slowly skimmed over the thick throw rug, curtains, pictures of forests and plants hanging on the walls, and finally lingered on the clothing in the open wardrobe. With a startled glance at me, she went over to investigate the handful of items hanging there.

"I wasn't sure if your size had changed or not," I said, dropping the two bags on the floor before leaning against the door frame. "I even washed them for you."

She was too shocked to reply and just ran her fingers over the shirts and jeans.

"You decorated this room for me," she finally murmured.

"Perhaps."

That snapped her out of whatever state of mind she was in. With a snort, she gave me an incredulous look.

"Uh-huh. Look at it!" She gestured across the room with one arm. "No guest room out there would have half this stuff. Whoever decorated this had apparently seen my Christmas wishlist over the last five years."

"I didn't see it last year, so consider this your belated Christmas present."

With a bubbling laugh, she spun around a few times with her arms outstretched before flopping on the bed beside the box. She patted the bedding a few times with her hands before sitting up.

"What cloud did I land in?" she asked, peeling back the corners to see how many blankets were hidden under the comforter.

"A warm one, hopefully," I replied. "This building doesn't have much in the way of heating when winter comes, or so I'm told."

"It's the middle of summer. I'll probably die of heatstroke with so many blankets."

"That's your problem. You can always ask someone for a storage bin and take some off."

She shook her head and looked around the room again, eventually focusing on me. "It is so strange seeing you with sunglasses. They don't look bad, but they don't quite suit your face."

"The alternative was something that looked like swimming goggles."

She thought for a few seconds. "They protect your eyes from the light, don't they?"

"Yes."

She hesitated, then asked, "Will I get to see your eyes?"

"Remind me once the sun sets and it's dark out."

She nodded slowly, still trying to come to terms with some of the differences when she was mostly seeing similarities with the sister she had known. Or perhaps she was trying to figure out how she was supposed to see my eyes in the dark.

"So, do you want to unpack first or get a quick tour of this building so you know where the bathrooms are?"

Getting to her feet, she said, "A tour. We can start with your bedroom. If you did this much to my room, then I can't wait to see yours."

"It's pretty plain," I told her, still leaning against the door frame. "I'd show you now, but I forgot to unlock it when I left."

A voice down the hall exclaimed, "Oh, I can fix that!"

And thus, Nicky arrived with her usual flair and bizarre timing.