David came out from his bolt hole, which he'd dug in as close to Cottonwood City as he dared, immediately after sunset. As he stepped out of the entrance, he could hear the sounds of three people standing in the night even before he saw them.

He eyed Megan. "I keep sending you to bring me messages, and you keep bringing me people instead."

She giggled. "Sorry. But they wanted to talk to you."

David took in the other two men. Mack he knew, he looked just as he had. The other... He blinked, trying to sort out how he knew him. The man looked familiar, but... then he saw the mass of scars on his neck, and David's eyes went wide.

"I wanted to say thank you," Jeff said softly. "I wanted to say it before, but I didn't really know how. You saved my life, and my sanity too. So... thank you."

"I..." David didn't know what to say. "I just did what I had to."

Jeff shook his head. "You did far more than that. But I guess I won't embarrass you any more. I just wanted to say it. I regretted, all this time, that I didn't."

David smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

Jeff laughed. "You mean you're glad that I'm still sane, after all the trouble you took to try and keep me that way. I'm a little twitchy still, but I'm working on it. Which is the other reason I'm here. This girl says you need help. I... I couldn't be a vampire, there's no way. But I might be able to help, with... the donating."

David's eyes widened again. "I couldn't possibly... I mean..." he trailed off, once again at a loss for words.

Jeff shook his head. "I talked to a lot of people who know about this kind of thing, about trauma and shock. They said I could deal with it by not even thinking about it at all, and putting it behind me that way, but then... any time I got reminded of it, I'd still be afraid. Or I can deal with it hitting it headlong, and just getting all the fear out right away, so I don't have to try and never think of vampires. Which is rougher, maybe, and maybe harder, but I've been trying to do that, and this is one more way to do it. I'm not going to be the guy who's a vampire victim, you know? That's not who I am."

David shook his head. "You're a lot braver than I am." Then he turned to Mack. "And what about you?"

"I'm... thinking about it." He shrugged. "I can be a donor, that's easy. The other... that's not so easy. But I can see why you'd need somebody else. I can't say the idea of beating up on vampires is a bad idea, I kind of like that, but I get the feeling there's more to it than that."

David nodded. "Yeah. It has its good points, and it has its down side too."

"Well, I want to know all about it before I jump into anything," said Mack. "I can't exactly change my mind later if I don't like it."

"I'll tell you what I can," said David.

Mack shook his head. "I don't know... I'll have questions you can answer, I'm sure, but I want to really see what it's like. Megan said you have a place, where it's pretty safe. If you're asking this favor of me, I guess I'll ask one of you. I want to follow you around for a while, see what it's really like for you."

David laughed. "Well... a lot of the time what it's like is boring. I do the laundry and make up my bed like anybody else. But sure. If you'd agreed I was going to take you there anyhow."

"If I'm going to be a donor," said Jeff, "I should probably come too."

David eyed the three humans. "It's going to get a little crowded, but I guess there's room."

"We could get a couple of cots and put them in the front room" piped up Megan. David gave her a long look, then smiled.

"Megan... I think we only need to get one cot. After all this time, the nightmares aren't going to stop any time soon."

She blushed, but nodded. "Yeah, I guess so..."

"Well, such details later. Right now we've got to figure out how to get you there. I can run it in a bit over two nights, but obviously I can't carry all three of you. We could walk cross country, but it would be more than a week, and there are still plenty of vampires out there. With three humans with me... I'd have to fight off every single one from here to Georgetown, including the large packs. I'm not sure we'd make it."

"A caravan then," said Mack.

David nodded. "Yeah. You three can travel by daylight. I'll shadow you, keep an eye on things during the night. Georgetown is the closest city to my home, and I know caravans run there from Cottonwood. At a human pace we can cross the desert from there in about two nights, and," he grinned suddenly, "for some strange reason that part of the desert hasn't got many vampires in it. I wonder why?"

Megan giggled.

Mack grinned and said "Sounds like a plan."

Jeff nodded silent agreement.

"Well, I can escort you three back to the city lights then," said David. "And I'll keep an eye on the next caravan out. Don't take any risks, of course, but if one or the other of you could find a way to circle the road train after dark, so I can be sure you're on the caravan before I follow it all the way down, that would be great."

Mack waved a dismissive hand. "No problem."

David gave Mack a disbelieving look, having just then caught a glimpse of his tattoo. "What have you done to your wrist?"

Mack grinned. "I got a commemorative tattoo, to remember you by."

"Mack, I'm not your girlfriend," said David, without thinking.

Megan giggled again, and Mack burst out laughing, and even Jeff snickered. "No, no you're not. I'm afraid you're not my type! But come on. We've got a caravan to catch, and a trip to make. No reason to waste time, let's get going."