Chapter 1

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"You know," Nicky said meditatively, watching the trees as we drove down the highway, "I think this might have just been an excuse to get me out of the Stronghold for a few days."

"That could be a possibility."

In fact, bringing Nicky along on this Nightstalker hunt was very likely Nina's way of ensuring Nicky wasn't left unsupervised in the Stronghold.

"We've been driving for two days. How close are we to where they encountered the Nightstalker?" Nicky asked plaintively.

"They drove two days and through the entire night in hopes of getting to Ironwind in time," Nina said, looking through the open window in the back of the truck, "so we'll probably reach the area tomorrow afternoon."

"At least our truck hasn't broken down yet."

"Hush," I told her sternly. "You'll tempt fate with words like that."

She snickered and stretched her leg to bump her foot against mine. "Your luck isn't that bad. Besides, things could be worse. I could have packed coffee to help ease our boredom."

I growled faintly. "I would have smelled it by now, and it would have disappeared without a trace."

Turning in her seat so she could see us better, Nina told Nicky, "It isn't boring to us. The differences between peace and boredom all boil down to how someone perceives the situation."

"I don't believe that."

Nina shrugged. "It's kind of like that old saying, is the glass half full, or half empty? It's how you choose to see things."

"Uh-huh. Want to know my perception of that saying?" Nicky asked. Without pausing for a reply, she continued, "If the glass is only half full, and it's clear, are you sure it's water? I bet it's the beginning of a drinking party to alleviate the boredom."

"I highly doubt the person contemplating the different outlooks on life was planning a party," Nina pointed out.

"Maybe not, but my counselors talked about life, and they sure wanted alcohol after our sessions. I bet their glasses weren't half empty to start with either."

I smirked at Nicky's reply and Nina's wince.

"What road was that house down again?" Daniel asked Nina. "I think it's the next turnoff, but I've only driven this way once before."

Nina opened the map. "Where are we... ah, here. Yes, it's the next turnoff."

That was the best news I'd heard all day. We'd only stopped for a few breaks, and it was already after seven o'clock. The mattress creaked as I shifted my weight to look ahead, although the road looked pretty much like what we'd been staring at all day.

We slowed down and turned off the highway, going down a gravel side road. After several turns, Daniel pulled up in front of a house and turned the truck off.

He opened his door and got out. "This place is used by various traders and travelers. The roof is peaked, so we can't camp on it, but there are bars over the windows and a wood stove inside."

I eyed up the bars dubiously. "I'm pretty sure you or I could get past those bars without too much trouble. They may keep Runners and regular zombies at bay, but I doubt they'll protect against anything else."

"That's why the two of us are here," Daniel said as he grabbed a large duffle bag and some supplies out of the back of the truck.

I guess he does have a point. I grabbed several bags and jumped to the ground, waiting for Daniel to come out before I went inside. After two days on the road, I now realized just how little we saw each other in the Stronghold, and what kind of difference it made on our mood.

Daniel came out. "Is there anything in the truck that needs to come in?"

"I don't think so, unless there's something in the cab I don't know about."

He went to double-check, and I carried my load inside as Nicky trailed behind me with her shabby backpack. Upon entering, it was easy to tell the house had seen better days and quite a few travelers. The paint on the walls was hazy from the residue left by the wood smoke, and the linoleum floor was scratched up and had so much dirt ground into it that it'd never come clean again.

I put the bags on the floor and left Nicky to start the fire in the wood stove, which showed several signs of being installed after the zombies appeared, such as how it was sitting on cement blocks with the chimney piping going out the window.

Daniel glanced at the forest around the house. "I should go hunting before the sun sets."

"I can keep an eye on things here."

Daniel nodded and jogged into the trees. I took the opportunity to gather some wood along the tree line, which I took to Nicky before going back outside to check on Nina.

She was still in the garden behind the house where I had last seen her. Some thoughtful person had taken the time to plant some basic plants like lettuce, strawberries, and some other hardy stuff that didn't need much care.

A dozen ripe strawberries were sitting on a rock beside Nina while she pulled a few weeds out of the garden. The way she made weeding look like a relaxing hobby should have been illegal.

When the light breeze shifted, I turned to face the wind with a growl and took a second breath to make sure I wasn't mistaken. This wasn't good. Nina glanced over with a questioning look.

I pointed at the door. "Go inside, grab Nicky, and lock yourself in the bathroom. Don't come out until either Daniel or I return."

Without waiting to see if she followed my instructions, I took off at a run, hoping I wasn't too late. I cursed the wind for not shifting earlier and alerting me to what lay farther south. The scent had been that of Daniel's blood and three Nightstalkers.

The faint bang of the door reassured me that Nina had taken me seriously enough to immediately retreat inside. Hopefully, it would keep their scent down enough that the Nightstalkers wouldn't notice if the wind decided to blow the other way.

I darted between the trees at a run, although my footsteps were silent now. Eventually, I heard snarls and growls ahead, and I slowed down. The wind was still in my favor, so they wouldn't have had a chance to catch my scent yet.

I crept closer until I was able to see them in a small clearing. Three male Nightstalkers circled around Daniel, who snarled at his assailants. A few trails of blood trickled down his arms from several scratches.

The fool still didn't carry any weapons with him. If he survived this, I suspected he would correct that oversight. The Nightstalkers kept circling, toying with him and looking for another opening, yet wary of his power.

My eyes never left the four as I set my backpack in the grass and silently pulled out several objects. One of the Nightstalkers raised his belt knife and lunged toward Daniel, who slashed at him with far more speed than his foe, yet, it was a feint on both their parts.

The two other Nightstalkers darted in from different angles, and Daniel's strike grazed across one man's wrist – not able to grab it like he had been trying – but close enough that his attacker hadn't escaped unscathed.

The second Nightstalker's fingernails sliced across Daniel's forearm, leaving four deep lacerations. Daniel rounded with a snarl but was forced to deal with the first Nightstalker, who chose that moment to close in, swinging his knife at Daniel's back.

All three Nightstalkers backed up and resumed their circling, waiting for their next opportunity to gang up on the Terror who couldn't defend himself against three attackers at once. Even with me helping Daniel, we were going to have a hard time coming out of this fight without serious injuries.

My mind raced through several possible strategies and the potential problems that could arise. The Nightstalkers were sane, which meant we wouldn't have the advantage we had against ferals. They were able to think, plan, and change tactics.

I didn't even know why they were playing with him like a cat played with a mouse before killing it. My intuition suspected it was because Daniel was a Terror, and these three didn't like taking second place in the hierarchy.

Even with three of them working together, killing Daniel wasn't an easy task. He was a Terror, and had all the strength, speed, and endurance that came with the rank. They were probably waiting for the sun to set. They may not be aware of his inability to see in the dark, but Nightstalkers loved ambushing things, and if they could inflict enough injuries throughout the night, blood loss would slow Daniel down.

They just didn't know I intended to interfere in their plans. Yet. My instincts rose as I called on them, sharpening my reflexes and altering my stance. The sun hadn't begun to set, so they were limited, but my body language was purely that of a Nightstalker. None of my human veneer showed at all.

I unclipped the safety strap on my belt knife for when I would need it but didn't draw it. With a crowbar in my right hand, I left the cover of the trees, moving in a smooth predatory stalk along the perimeter of the clearing.

One of the Nightstalkers caught my movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled to face me with a surprised snarl. I bared my teeth silently in response but continued slowly traveling along the edge of the clearing.

As I expected, I now had the attention of all four zombies. Daniel's eyes widened in recognition, although he wisely kept quiet. The other three shifted uneasily as a new and unknown player entered the field.

My movements were such that they could tell I wasn't directly approaching them, but rather, circling around the group in the middle of the clearing. But knowing what I was doing was a far cry from knowing why I was doing it. Was I merely a curious passerby, someone also tracking the Terror, or did I have a different agenda? They had no way of knowing.

I carefully watched their every move, now a quarter of the way around the clearing. My silence had them on edge, and at this point, I was clearly not a passive observer who happened to be passing by. That meant I had another agenda.

The Nightstalker with brown hair growled, "What do you want?"

When I spoke, my rough voice betrayed how high my instincts were running. "I have an outstanding debt to repay."

With my voice like this, they would know I wasn't here just to sniff the daisies. I was geared up for some sort of fight.

The man bared his teeth. "This is our kill. You're too late to get revenge."

I tilted my head in consideration as I kept moving along the tree line. Since my silence was keeping them off balance, I took my sweet time in responding.

"That's my problem. Why are you trying to kill him? I'll agree he can be annoying as hell when his instincts act up, but that's a poor excuse to kill someone."

Now that they knew for certain whose side I was on, two of the men growled at me. The one closest to me dropped into a deeper crouch, brandishing his belt knife.

"You're outnumbered. Go away before we kill you," the nearest one said with a growl, tightening his grip on his belt knife.

Yet, he didn't bare his teeth at the end of his speech to back up his threat. Nor did he shift his stance despite how serious he was. In fact, none of them were in a deep enough crouch for their stance to properly declare their dominance and willingness to fight.

After being around Daniel so much, I knew why their body language and behavior wasn't quite right. They had never lived wild. Admittedly, they weren't anywhere near as humanized as Daniel was, but they still weren't truly in tune with their instincts. If I hadn't met Kelly, Travis, and other sane zombies, I would be wondering if I was the weird one.

I chuckled darkly at his threat. "Ohhh... There is no way you three are originals. Let me guess, second wave? Those who were bitten are usually smarter than this."

One growled at the end of my first sentence, agitated and apprehensive about how easily I had guessed that detail. The other two snarled at the insult but didn't step forward, still not sure what kind of threat I posed.

Still surrounded by the hostile Nightstalkers, Daniel remained where he was, watching intently for any sort of opening I might give him. If he could get out of the middle of the group, it would tip the battle in our favor even though he didn't have any weapons.

The Nightstalkers were more focused on me than Daniel, still not sure what to make of the short woman stalking around them with a crowbar held lightly in her hand. I was almost on the opposite side of the clearing from where I had entered, now upwind of them.

The first man snarled when he caught my scent. "On second thought, you stink of humans too, so you're in league with them. We'll be coming for you after we finish with this guy. You better start running while you can."

I came to a stop and faced them, grinning ferally. "Now why would I run?"

My sudden stop surprised them almost as much as my words did. Nor was there any fear in my scent even though I was outnumbered. They regarded me more warily now – they hadn't expected that sort of response from a smaller foe.

I gave a small, pointed glance at where I had entered the clearing. It was downwind of them, and if someone else was still hiding there, they wouldn't have been able to scent them.

Two of the Nightstalkers realized this and snarled defensively, glancing between me and that part of the forest. I had circled to the far side of the clearing, which put them between me and the imaginary hidden foe. With Daniel, the trees, and myself, they now had three fronts to watch, which just so happened to be in different directions.

Their postures shifted into a more defensive stance, although I doubted they were even aware of the slight change. My grin widened when they didn't reach for any hidden weapons – only two of these idiots were armed – and even they were only carrying a belt knife.

The third moron was simply relying on his nails and Nightstalker strength. That was plenty when dealing with the average human or Runner, but it was a huge blunder when attempting to fight another sane zombie.

They were likely accustomed to relying on strength in numbers if they met a more dangerous foe. That was a mistake on their part, and it was going to cost them this time.

They also knew their options were limited. After how they had declared their plans to kill us, fleeing was a huge risk since not all of them would be able to escape. Daniel was sure to give chase and take down at least one of them to prevent such a situation from occurring again.

My smug and superior attitude was rubbing their instincts the wrong way and riling them up. Between the insults and basically being cornered, their aggression was rising, overcoming their wariness and caution. A fight was becoming more and more inevitable.

"If you don't leave now, we'll kill you too," the second man said menacingly.

Ah, the classic divide-and-conquer tactic. As if I was stupid enough to fall for that and let them fight us one at a time. At this point, I knew they would keep coming back if we didn't kill them.

Being a Nightstalker myself, I knew their weaknesses perfectly. They had likely sparred against one another in boredom and were probably just as aware of their vulnerabilities as I was. But do they know as many tricks as I do? Now that is the question...



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