As the sun continued to dip below the horizon, my instincts roused to the point where I was having trouble sitting so close to the fire. I stood up and lightly shook myself as if it would remove the restlessness. I wasn't so fortunate.
I grabbed my backpack and told Luke, "I tend to patrol the area most of the night. Feel free to sleep here. Give me a holler if anything nasty shows up."
He glanced at Daniel, as if uncertain what might show up that a Terror couldn't take on, but nodded. "Certainly. If you need any help, just call."
I nodded and jumped off the roof. Cloaked by the growing darkness, I circled the camp several times as my instincts fully awakened with the night. The way Luke's scent was mixing with Daniel's and the two women's wasn't something I was used to, and it continuously stood out as unusual to my nose.
It would be different having another zombie around. At least I knew Luke wasn't the kind to drive me crazy or piss me off. He was, by far, the most courteous zombie I had ever met.
It would be much harder for him to travel with us since Nicky and Nina would be endlessly triggering his bloodlust, and there was no "upwind" in the swirling air in the back of a truck. I slowed down and took a deep breath. Was there anything around here that might make this trip easier for Luke? Several scents had me grinning before I darted into the undergrowth.
A couple of hours later, I took the armful of plants to a creek. Using two smooth, flat stones, I squeezed the juices out of the stems, letting them drip into a small jar. I was careful to breathe through my mouth in case the resulting concoction temporarily dulled my sense of smell.
I continued searching the forest for anything else I could use but came up empty-handed. The lack of results had me turning my attention to the local wildlife. I lifted my nose to the air before disappearing into the underbrush again.
A rabbit allowed me to doctor my wounds while also taking the edge off my appetite. The blood was sweet, but I was getting tired of rabbits. Other than a couple of other animals, I'd had the furry rodents almost every day for weeks on end. At this rate, I was going to have to see if the butchers would let me borrow one of the live animals and return its carcass a bit later. That could even work for Luke if he grew tired of rabbits.
I took another deep breath and sifted through the scents to locate something that wasn't a rabbit. There was a herd of deer and a bear, although I wasn't hungry enough for something that large. I exhaled slowly in annoyance. It irked me that there were so few mid-sized creatures. It seemed to jump from tiny mice up to foxes with almost nothing in-between that wasn't uncommon or rare.
A faint, earthier smell caught my interest. I didn't mind a bit of work if it meant I got some variety in my meals. The night was silent as I tracked the scent to an open field that looked devoid of life. However, my nose told me otherwise.
When I got closer, I paused to watch the shoe-sized rodents nibble on any plants that were near them. Most people called them prairie dogs, and some mistakenly called them gophers, but I called them a welcome change from rabbits. Both were rodents and herbivores, but they tasted different, and different was what I was after.
They were much warier than their long-eared cousins and rarely ventured far from their burrows. If one gave an alarm call, the others would hide for a very long time. They preferred to be active during the day, but they would also come out at night. The grass was very short from their incessant chewing, and there was no cover whatsoever on the open ground around their burrows.
That made it a challenge. My instincts rose higher as they tried to direct me, although I already knew the tricks for hunting these furry critters. I checked the wind direction; their sense of smell was keen, so I'd have to remain downwind.
Slow and steady movements were the key. Like a cat carefully creeping forward, I had to keep my movements slow enough that I wasn't noticeable in the dark. Two of the chubby creatures would be plenty. The hardest part would be catching the first one without it alerting the others. Any noise or scuffle would have its friends screaming an alarm and pulling a disappearing act.
To hide my eyes, I put my sunglasses on before I slowly worked my way across the open grass to where a couple of the prairie dogs were enjoying a midnight snack. It was times like this I was glad I was a Nightstalker. No human, Runner, or Terror could replicate what I was doing.
My footsteps were silent, and my ears kept a vigil on my surroundings while I stalked closer to my prey. Just a bit closer... There! The sharp crack of the prairie dog's spine snapping had the other animals darting into their burrows. But they hadn't sounded an alarm, nor had there been any sound of a scuffle, so they'd probably come out before too long.
It had been a very long time since I had last hunted down one of these rodents. The controlex made all blood taste sweeter, but this had an almost nutty flavor to it, which was normal for a prairie dog.
By the time I finished, some of its kin were already coming out of their burrows. I set the carcass down before beginning my leisurely stalk toward my next unsuspecting victim. I had practice in this sort of hunt, so it didn't take me long to get the second one.
I drank about half of the blood and doctored my wounds again. I took both prairie dogs with me as I left the meadow. During my short stint in the kitchen, I had overheard more than a few conversations about how long various thicknesses of meat had to be cooked to kill the zombie virus. I could try frying some of it for breakfast.
Dawn was only about three hours away, so I paused by the creek to clean the prairie dogs. I put the meat in a bag and left everything else for the scavengers.
As I approached the building, I let my footsteps become audible, although it wasn't just for Daniel's peace of mind this time. Runners also had a tendency to snarl when surprised or caught off guard, and my footsteps were silent unless I deliberately made them loud enough for others to hear.
There had been a few occasions where I had accidentally startled Luke into an instinctive snarl. He had apologized profusely, even though I had told him it was technically my fault.
I climbed up the ladder to see both Daniel and Luke looking in my direction. Luke must have been able to see my silhouette on the ladder since he growled a low greeting, which I returned.
Daniel tensed slightly but seemed to realize the growls weren't aggressive. His eyes scanned the darkness in my direction, trying to see me without any success. Considering Luke didn't give the Terror any sort of reassuring comment, Daniel must not have told him about his inability to see well at night. He had probably only told me because he had no other way of convincing me to remain with the group back then. Although with it being common knowledge in the Stronghold, he'd likely tell Luke when we got there.
Coming forward, I grabbed the cooler and dragged it away from the fire before sitting down. Luke watched me for a moment, but when I didn't speak, he turned his gaze back to the fire and closed his eyes. He likely planned on sleeping a bit longer.
Runners usually slept about five hours, although they could go several days without sleep if they needed to, just like Nightstalkers could. Despite barely getting any sleep the last few days, sleep felt like it was a million miles away while my nighttime instincts were so elevated.
I was simply unable to sleep at night, and sleeping in the back of the truck was almost as impossible. I had managed to nap during a few quiet minutes when I wasn't in the moving truck, but it wasn't much.
Even with my ability to go several days without sleep, it was barely enough to keep me from getting overly grouchy, but I knew it was going to catch up to me before our trip was over. I might have to disappear one evening for a few hours before my lack of sleep made me unbearable.
Instead, I rested while the sky slowly became lighter. Much to my disgust, sleep was – once more – impossible. The sun was just about to peer over the horizon when I got up and put some porridge on to cook. The meat wouldn't take long to fry, so it could wait until our companions were awake.
"I thought you said you didn't eat human food anymore?" Luke commented, having woken the second I stood up.
"I don't. This is how we keep Nicky halfway sane. We're still two days away from Ironwind and having Nicky go off the deep end isn't something I want to endure when we can prevent it by feeding her the moment she gets up."
Luke looked perplexed, but being the gentleman he was, he didn't want to dig into someone's personal details, even if that person wasn't present.
"Nicky occasionally goes somewhat crazy and practically bounces off the walls," Daniel clarified. "This happens often enough that we even named those episodes 'insanity blitzes'."
Luke scratched his head and shrugged. "Everyone has their own little quirks."
Daniel snorted. "There's nothing little about this. Half of the Stronghold's population can disappear within seconds if they realize she's loose."
Luke shrugged again, unsure of what to make of the Terror's opinion. I didn't bother trying to explain. He'd learn soon enough, although that life experience had better postpone itself until we got back to the Stronghold. Otherwise, I was going to have words with whatever Captain was at the helm...
My instincts were finally starting to fade, which was a relief. I put the pot beside the fire to cook and sat on the cooler once more. We had about half an hour before the women woke up, so I closed my eyes and tried to take a catnap.