No one spoke while Luke was so deep in thought, not even amongst themselves. I was somewhat surprised he hadn't asked more questions, but I had expected the Runner would take advantage of the miracle drugs. After the questions he'd asked, I had a pretty good idea which one he'd be picking.
A Runner might be a bit slower than their human selves, but they were stronger and had much more endurance. They also didn't have to worry about being infected if they helped fight off feral zombies. Their main downfall was their insatiable bloodlust.
He may have hated the virus for a long time, but if he could get rid of the bloodlust, or at least most of it, being a Runner would be an advantage if a Stronghold would accept him. So far, he had been forced to avoid humans, which was something that would have weighed heavily on a person as sociable as Luke.
And Nina had just offered him solutions to both of these things.
I had survived the controlex drug with no negative side effects, and the cure was about to be used on a different Runner, which would be the final test as to whether or not it would leave a sane zombie comatose as it had the ferals.
Luke exhaled slowly and lifted his head. His red eyes slowly scanned the small crowd watching him, finally resting on me. "If something goes wrong, can I assume you'll stop me from doing anything stupid or something that might cost me my sanity?"
"Yes. I'm sure I can tie you up and drop you in a jail cell with a bucket of blood to play with."
He made a face at that mental image and shook his head to dispel it. "Here I thought friends didn't let friends end up in jail."
I smirked. "If jail is the only answer, then you can sit in there for a week while you cool your heels and think about your behavior."
He snorted and began laughing while I chuckled at our joke. The way we got along so well had Nina and Daniel watching with perplexed expressions. Nicky grinned at our bantering, although she didn't join in, opting to stay on the sidelines for now.
"If possible," Luke finally said, "I'd like to come with you. I'm very interested in trying the controlex, but I'd prefer to wait for a while. At least until we learn how the child is doing and if the cure works properly."
"You're more than welcome to come with us," Nina said, "but please don't feel like you have to accept the cure or controlex. We'll be happy for your company regardless of your choices."
"There'll be plenty of time to think on the drive, in case I'm being overly hasty," Luke replied with a kind smile. "But the chance to get rid of the bloodlust... There aren't words for what this opportunity means to me."
Nina nodded slowly, accepting his eagerness although she didn't seem to understand it. "I'll leave the choice up to you. Just let me know when you're ready. There are a number of empty rooms in Ironwind Stronghold, and you're welcome to stay as long as you like."
I exhaled at Nina's shortsightedness and corrected her. "He won't do well inside the fence until his bloodlust is gone. It was bad enough for me. The forest where I originally hunted is a much better choice. Apart from Nicky, I've never seen a human wander through that particular piece of forest, and even then, she only went in when I was around. He can stay in the cave there, or we can set up a tent for him."
Realization crossed Nina's face. "Sorry about that," she told Luke. "Sometimes I'm just too accustomed to Daniel and Trinity. If I make a similar mistake in the future, please let me know."
"No worries," Luke said. "Trinity is correct though. Unless the bloodlust disappears, I don't plan to set foot inside any Stronghold or safe area."
"Living in a forest isn't always the easiest," Daniel commented. "What can we do to make your stay more comfortable?"
"I don't really need anything, although I'd appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to bring me some food each day. My cooking skills over a campfire don't usually result in appetizing meals."
Luke's attempts to not be a burden meant he'd try to avoid asking for anything. I tilted my head in consideration and chimed in, "The cave I found is better than any tent, although I might be biased since I'm a Nightstalker. The ceiling is low enough that he'd have to duck, but he can chisel the rock if he wants. We can give him those live traps as well."
That covered shelter and food. Luke had lived rough ever since he turned, so he didn't really care about where he slept. His top priority would be the ability to catch the local wildlife consistently and easily, which the live traps and all those rabbits should take care of.
"How big is that cave?" Nina asked, opening up her notebook. "We can bring a bed and other things over."
"It's big enough for a single bed, although it would need waterproof legs since there's a tiny creek. It's also quite dark in there, so a couple of solar lights wouldn't go amiss."
"Easily done." Nina obviously had no problems ensuring Luke was comfortable, and if a Nightstalker said it was dark, then any other person out there was going to want additional lighting. I just hoped she didn't go overboard, which was a very real possibility.
"Thank you," Luke murmured. "Please don't trouble yourselves too much."
"It isn't any trouble," Nina reassured him with a friendly smile. "We have extra beds in storage, and it's nothing to drive a truck out there."
What road was she looking at? I wondered. She must not know where the cave was, or she'd have known we'd have to clear a trail just for Daniel to carry the bed to the cave's entrance. I kept quiet since it eased Luke's conscience for now. There were going to be bigger problems to overcome before we even reached Ironwind Stronghold, such as having Luke in the back of the truck with Nicky.
Nodding slowly, but looking quite optimistic, Luke glanced at each of his new traveling companions. The scratches on Daniel's arms caught his attention, which had him checking mine again.
"You're both sporting injuries," Luke commented, focusing on Daniel again. "How did that happen?"
His words were polite, but from the slight edge in his tone, Luke seemed to think we had gotten into a spat and was subtly blaming the higher-ranking zombie for letting the fight deteriorate to the point where we both had numerous wounds.
"I got ambushed by three Nightstalkers," Daniel told him, making a bit of a face at that admission, "and Trinity came to help me. We won, but neither of us came away unscathed."
"Three Nightstalkers? At once?" Luke asked in incredulous disbelief.
"During the daytime too," I added. "They were in control, but hated humans, and you can smell how heavily the scent of humans clings to us."
"That is... unexpected." He shook his head, not in denial, but at how unlikely such a thing was.
That was my luck though. The chances of finding a Nightstalker were low, finding a pair was even rarer, but to find three traveling together? You would have better luck locating a Terror. In the last month and a half, I'd managed to find a Terror, a feral Terror, the Nightstalker siblings, and a hostile trio of Nightstalkers. I think if we could bottle my luck, we would have a weapon of mass destruction. Provided we could keep it from targeting the one wielding it.
Luke regarded the numerous scratches on Daniel's arms, and finally asked, "Why haven't you tended your wounds? I apologize if my words offend."
I started snickering at the shock on Daniel's face. Of course, Luke had unintentionally made it sound like such tending was the most natural thing in the world – which it should have been for a zombie – although Daniel's surprise was partially due to how easily Luke could tell he hadn't "tended his wounds".
Nicky started snickering, clearly amused. Her reaction and Daniel's expression had Luke looking at me in confusion.
"He hasn't figured it out yet," I told Luke, trying not to grin. "I gave him some hints earlier, but he simply isn't in tune enough with his instincts."
"That shouldn't be possible. I knew how to tend my wounds less than an hour after getting my first decent scratch from a feral Runner, and I hadn't even met another sane zombie at that point. You figured it out by yourself as well."
"That's why I haven't told him outright. He has to learn, or he'll never understand his instincts properly."
Luke sighed reluctantly. "True." He took a better look at my scratches. "I can tell you're tending your injuries, but what's under the bandage?"
"A larger cut."
Luke looked concerned. "And it still requires a bandage? How bad was it?"
"It was a knife slash that went almost to the bone. It doesn't need a bandage, but it keeps it covered so dirt and stuff can't stick to the scab."
"I hope it's healing well," Luke murmured, looking relieved the bandage was decorative and not as bad as he had been imagining.
"Better than I expected." I kept my answer vague enough to confuse Daniel while also reassuring Luke. If only it would heal faster and be gone before Jess saw it, although that wouldn't happen unless our return was delayed by at least another week. And if our trip did get delayed that long, I'd have far more problems on my hands than a frantic sister.
"How did you know Daniel hadn't tended his wounds?" Nina asked Luke.
Luke blinked slowly and took his time replying, likely editing his answer so he didn't give Daniel any hints. "There are slight differences, particularly if you compare his injuries to Trinity's."
"Would you be willing to tell us how wounds are tended?" Nina inquired, sounding as though she had already guessed what his answer was going to be.
Luke shook his head. "I believe Trinity is correct in making him rely on his instincts in this situation. Sorry." He looked at Daniel. "Have you ever lived wild, or have you always suppressed your instincts?"
"I don't understand what you mean by 'lived wild', so I'm assuming I haven't. I've always been in close proximity to humans since I turned. Control over my bloodlust and instincts was something I was forced to learn within days."
"Hmmm..." Luke was silent for some time. "Am I correct in assuming you've never had too much trouble with your bloodlust?"
Daniel was confused about the point of these questions, but still replied, "It took me a bit to get accustomed to it when I first turned, but I've always found the bloodlust easier to control than my temper. Even then, I don't have problems being around humans. If they come into contact with me or disrespect me, then I have a tendency to growl at them, but that's about it."
Luke sat up straighter, as if he had gotten more out of Daniel's reply than I had. "I think all of this might be related to rank."
"Care to elaborate?" I asked, wondering where Luke had pulled that answer from.
"As a Runner, my instincts are always quite high. This means I have more problems with control, but I'm always aware of what my instincts are telling me. Other Runners I spoke with were in the same boat. As a Nightstalker, you had more control, but you mentioned it sometimes took you a while to figure out what triggered your instincts. You also said you became more in touch with your instincts over time, likely because you were living wild."
"So, a Terror has more control, and thus, a lower connection with his instincts?" I hazarded. "And living wild might help strengthen that connection?"
"That's what I'm thinking. From what I've seen and heard, the majority of Runners go feral, and around half the Nightstalkers do. I'm not sure about Terrors in general, although from what Daniel just said, he rarely had problems controlling his instincts or bloodlust, but that could very well be because of that weaker connection. Having always been around humans, he's always had to keep his control in check, whereas someone living wild doesn't have to be so careful, and that lets their instincts come out more."
"His instincts are definitely around," I said with a wry glance in Daniel's direction. "If you need proof, I can always snarl at him."
"That's not necessary," Luke said hastily. "Besides, you know as well as I do that the rank hierarchy and reactions to challenges are the strongest part of our instincts. And that can easily influence our temper."
"True..." Why did he always have to be right?
"It's just a theory though." Luke shrugged self-deprecatingly.
That's one hell of a theory, I thought wryly. Although it makes perfect sense with everything I've seen.
"Can I use that theory as leverage for the answer on how to make these scratches heal faster?" Daniel asked without much hope.
Nicky snorted. "You'd be better off trying that living wild thing. Especially if it helps reduce some of the drama between you and Trinity."
Daniel frowned at her, clearly not in agreement about how much drama there really was, but he didn't reply. Nina was furiously scribbling in her notebook, possibly too busy recording everything to ask her own questions right now. For all I knew, she could be writing lists of questions for later.
Luke examined the redhead before commenting, "You know the secret, don't you?"
"Yep." Nicky grinned smugly.
"How many zombies have you been around, if I may ask? You seem quite at ease."
"Just these two. I'll take Trinity over Daniel though."
His expression was thoughtful. "You count her as a friend, don't you?"
Nicky's face and voice went dead serious, "Yes. She's the best friend I've ever had. Anyone who messes with her or her sister had better watch their backs."
Luke blinked at the warning. "I'll take that under advisement, although I also count Trinity as a friend." He tilted his head slightly. "You are aware she is stronger and faster than you, correct? Anyone capable of causing her trouble would be quite a handful to deal with."
"Ah, but I have friends. And when Me, Myself, and I actually manage to work together, we're a force to contend with."
I kept my face studiously blank. Somehow, I doubted it was just a figure of speech. I wonder which individual in that list belongs to the crazy captain...
Nina glanced at Nicky and began writing in the back of the notebook. She must have a separate set of notes for things Nicky related. I hated to break it to Nina, but if dozens of counselors and psychologists weren't able to figure Nicky out, then her quest was a fruitless cause.
"How long have you known Trinity?" Luke inquired. "It's rare to see such a strong friendship between a zombie and a human. Most of the time, our bloodlust keeps us from letting our guard down."
"Ummm. I think it's been almost two months now. It took four days for our group to even realize she was a zombie."
"That must have been an interesting trip."
Nicky grinned at him. "Oh, you have no idea..."
Luke tilted his head in curiosity, and Nicky started telling him about the trip that I would forever label as a horror story.