We walked to the lab and descended the stairs in companionable silence. Nina must have already brought Luke and Jess up to speed, because all three were bustling between the lab rooms.

"What can I help with?" I asked Nina as she came out of one room with an armful of equipment.

She jumped, so distracted she hadn't noticed us until I spoke. "Um." Her eyes flickered between Daniel and me. "Can you look at the setup in that room, and duplicate it in the room five doors down? At least as closely as you can? All of the equipment you'll need will be in the room beside it. Daniel? Do you mind helping me move some of the larger machines?"

"Just show me which ones and where you want them," he replied simply.

"I'll see what I can manage," I said as I went into the specified room to see what sort of setup I was supposed to be copying.

Had I not known the disaster on the counter was a very carefully arranged production line of beakers, vials, tubes, and burners, I would have assumed it was where they piled all the dirty stuff until they had a chance to wash it.

I'm supposed to replicate this? In a different room where I can't even see it? I stared at the long counter and the variety of objects spread across its length. I don't even know what half of these things are called, let alone what they're supposed to do! I asked if I could help, not that I was looking for a herculean chore!

Resigned to my task, I walked closer and scrutinized the sea of glass and tubing. I'd have to start at one end and attempt to memorize a few things, then go find the objects and set them up in the third room. After that, I'd have to come back to see if the comparison looked halfway similar.

I checked a few drawers and found a blank notebook and a pen so I could sketch a rough layout. Okay, let's start with the first five items. Let's see... I need two 500ml beakers, some sort of vapor thing with a hook top, whatever that weird elephant trunk glass flask is, and a round beaker the size of my fist.

With my sketch, a vague description of the items I needed to find, and my dignity in hand, I went to see what kind of chaos I could manage in the room down the hall.

~

       Nina glanced into the room and did a double-take. "How..."

I shrugged as I shifted a small burner a finger-width to the right so it lined up perfectly. "The sink was on the wrong side of the counter, so I had to do everything in reverse, which wasn't exactly an easy task."

She came over and gazed at the jumble of science supplies arranged on the counter in a very precise order. She mumbled, "I could have just run some long hoses to the sink."

"That would have saved me a ton of time and effort," I grumbled back, still tweaking things a bit so the distances between the pieces matched what was in the other room.

"I thought you didn't have any experience in a science lab?"

"I don't."

"Then I'm even more surprised you managed this. I thought you'd only find half the pieces and put them on the counter. I didn't think you'd manage to set up something like this so quickly, especially by yourself."

"Quickly?" I gave her a sardonic look. "I've had two hours to fight with this."

"Has it been that long already?" She shook her head tiredly. "Sorry, I meant to come see how you were doing after half an hour." She took another step closer to the counter as her eyes scanned the long array of equipment and mysterious objects. "I'm honestly amazed. It would have taken me some thought to do this."

"If nothing else, I can be persistent when I want to be." A smug smirk edged onto my lips at managing such a feat.

"I don't even see anything out of place or hooked up wrong." She glanced at me. "This saved me at least an hour. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome, but I'd rather not do something like this again."

She smiled and went back to examining the layout. "That's kind of a hard request after seeing what an excellent job you did, but I'm hoping it won't be needed again."

Jess appeared in the doorway. "Nicky and Daniel went to bring us dinner. They'll meet us on top of the roof."

"Isn't it a bit early for dinner?" Nina asked.

"Daniel figured you needed a break to clear your head."

"I think we could all use a break," Nina replied. "Trinity already finished setting this up, so I'm ahead of schedule."

"Are you sure you're ahead? Especially after your latest attempt to tell time?" I retorted lightly.

"I expected to spend an hour setting things up in here, but now I don't have to, so I have one less thing to do. Let's go up to the roof. Some fresh air will probably help."

Considering her math and timelines still weren't adding up, I suspected she needed a break more than fresh air. But I knew she wouldn't stop one minute longer than we forced her to, nor would she consider going to bed before the sun set. Not when she was racing against time to produce as much of the cure as possible.

Luke must have heard us because he was waiting by the bottom of the stairs. There was no way to tell the Runner had worked down here most of the night and all afternoon. It was a striking contrast to Jess and Nina, who looked like they had been working frantically for several hours, which they had.

Ever the gentleman, Luke waved our two human companions ahead of him.

As we followed their slow pace, I asked Luke, "So, are you regretting your offer to work in the lab yet?"

"I don't think I'll ever regret it. The work I'm doing is very satisfying since I know it will help many people."

So much for my attempt to tease him. The contentedness in his voice made me glance at him as we went up the stairs.

"Why do I have a sneaking suspicion someone is going to be working in the lab most of the night?"

He grinned at me. "Someone has to ensure Nina and Jess don't try to sneak back down or work themselves too hard. Besides, I don't need much sleep, so this will help us get ahead of the game."

"Just make sure you don't burn yourself out."

"I'll be careful," he promised. "As you can see, I'm taking a break now. I'll also have to check my traps before sunset."

There was no point in mentioning sleep since he could go a day or two without sleep almost as easily as I could. He was also responsible enough that he'd grab a couple hours of shuteye.

We reached the roof before Daniel and Nicky did, although I heard the door down below open, so they weren't far behind. Nina and Jess sat down with less grace than I was used to seeing. Well, the way Jess flopped down into the camping chair with a groan, you'd have thought we made her hike for eight hours or something.

"I need different shoes if I have to stand on that tile floor all day," she said, using her feet to slide off the offending footwear and wiggling her toes.

"And some shoe deodorant," I observed, once more glad the zombie virus prevented me from being grossed out by the stench rising from her socks.

Jess made a face but took the hint and put her shoes back on. Although, judging by Nina's shallow breathing, the smell had already found its first victim to torment.

"I've seen some of those foam mats around," I said, "so you could ask someone where they got them or if they can find more. Although a new pair of shoes might be a good idea." Besides, it was probably too late to save her current set from the stench that had taken up residence.

"I might go do that the next time I need a break."

The door to the roof opened as Nicky and Daniel made their appearance. Daniel had a tray with four plates on it.

"It's much easier to climb the stairs if you make Daniel carry everything," Nicky announced as she snagged two of the plates from the tray.

As Nicky walked over to give Jess one of them, she wrinkled her nose and looked around. "Whew. What died up here?"

Jess turned red, but she didn't admit to her guilt while Nicky scanned the area for whatever decomposing animal she thought she smelled.

Luke covered for her. "I believe it's a passing odor. It's already starting to fade."

"Sheesh. You call this faded? It practically whacked me upside the head. Where's a breeze when you need one?" Nicky shook her head and handed Jess her plate before sitting down.

Daniel gave Nina her food and also sat down. He glanced at Jess without saying anything, although I knew his nose was more than keen enough to have identified the source of the slowly dissipating stink.

As Nina buttered a small bread roll, she said, "I'm glad we got almost everything set up. I just need to finish a few things, start a new batch in the room Trinity arranged, and then we'll be at our limit for what we can produce with the facilities we have."

"The batch in the second room will be done later tonight," Luke said.

Nina nodded. "Yes, and if you don't mind, can I show you how to start the next batch?"

"Certainly. I'm more than willing to learn."

"Thanks. I want to go to a few Strongholds and see how close the infected people are to the sneezing stage. So I'll need someone to start the next two batches, and you're already familiar with all the processes involved."

"I'm happy to stay and tend the lab. Unfortunately, my nose isn't keen enough to determine how close someone is to turning unless they're about to go into seizures, so I wouldn't be much help on such a trip."

"That's why I'm about to ask Trinity if she'll accompany Daniel and me."

The lack of notice had me focusing on the scientist. "This is the first I've heard of this plan." My gaze shifted to Daniel. "Isn't your nose good enough for this?"

He made a face. "Even though I can easily tell who's infected, I can't narrow it down to days like you can. I knew that guy wasn't far from sneezing, but that was about it."

The thought of going into various Strongholds to smell strangers sounded about as fun as giving Nicky a strong coffee.

"You want to drag me into a bunch of Strongholds with strangers? I thought we decided a long time ago that something like that wasn't a good idea."

"Your nose is the best," Nina replied simply. "I'd like to check at least two or three Strongholds to the south. If they aren't as close to turning as we fear, then we can come back and send out other people to circulate the drugs like in our original plan. If nothing else, we can identify all the infected people in those places before they start sneezing."

"And if all of them have as little time as that guy did?"

She shrugged helplessly. "Then we visit as many places as we can until the wave is over, or until we run out of vials. This trip could be a life-or-death difference for hundreds of people, and I can't just ignore that. If Luke and Jess monitor things in the lab, then the traders can keep ferrying the drugs to other Strongholds as soon as they're ready."

With a mischievous grin, Nicky told Jess, "Imagine all the fun stuff we can do in the evening while they're away!"

"As much as I would rather leave you here, Nicky," Daniel said. "you're coming with us. If someone riles up Trinity, you're our best chance at keeping it from turning into a bloodbath if I'm not around. We'll just have to keep you under control while we're inside the Strongholds."

Nicky started snickering. "You couldn't handle me even if I came with instructions, and I made sure to burn those things."

Daniel's eyes flashed red as he growled lowly, although the redhead simply grinned at the Terror without fear. Luke shifted uneasily at the sound and glanced between the two.

"And people wonder why I need quiet time on a daily basis..." I muttered.

"Daniel's going to pack the truck tonight," Nina said, trying to get the discussion back on track. "If we leave first thing tomorrow morning, we can possibly reach two Strongholds before sunset. I know it's really short notice, but please pack your things and get your ducks in a row."

Nicky sighed heavily and declared, "I don't have ducks, and I certainly don't have an orderly row. I have squirrels. And they're at a rave."

I knew it. Even though her words were just another confirmation for me, Luke gawked at her, stunned by this revelation.

Nicky noticed his dumbfounded expression and grinned at him. "Come on, all I've heard from you so far is polite, gentlemanly shit. Say something sarcastic. I dare you."

Luke blinked before slowly responding, "I don't understand your particular kind of crazy, but I admire your complete commitment to it."

And that was the meanest thing I had ever heard Luke say.

Nicky burst out laughing. "Not quite what I was after, but I'll take it!"

"Oh boy, it's going to be one of those trips," I grumbled.

"I can track down the infected people if you want," Daniel offered. "They don't have to know you're a Nightstalker. If you carry the bag of vials for Nina, I'm assuming you'll get close enough to tell how soon they'll turn or start sneezing. Later on, you can tell us how much time they had."

"That might make it a bit more tolerable."

"How long will you be gone?" Jess asked.

"If we're lucky," Nina replied, "they will have a couple of weeks until they turn, and we'll only be gone a few days since the traders can ferry it around. In the worst-case scenario where everyone is close to turning, we'll be trying to find as many as we can before they turn. Those infected later in the last wave might have nine or ten days before they turn. Once you count the time to drive back, it could take several weeks."

"I really hope things aren't as bad as we fear," Jess said fervently.

"I think we can all agree about that," I retorted lightly. "Especially since I don't think it's possible for me to pack enough patience for a three-week trip in the back of a truck."

"Don't worry," Nicky said. "I'll be there to keep you from getting bored."

"That's the problem," I said, standing up. "I'm going to head to the archery range while you figure out what you're going to pack to pass the time."

"I'll come too!" Nicky scrambled to catch up with me as I headed for the stairs. "Shooting always helps focus my mind."

She cheerfully walked beside me as we descended the stairs and crossed the road.

"You don't seem to be excited about the trip," she commented. "Just think of it as a vacation from work!"

I snorted. "The last time I took a long trip with people, I ended up getting shot and dying."

"Well, look at the bright side. We'll drag your miserable hide back with us while you heal."

I growled faintly at the thought of going through that a third time. If I got shot again, someone was going to die.

Nicky looked up at the clouds in contemplation. "Should I pack my blue jacket or the brown one? Perhaps I should slip a pair of lacy, neon orange underwear into Nina's travel bag just to make things interesting..."

I began to wonder if Nicky was actually going to survive this trip.