The wind was cool on his face as he ran steadily along the road south. Autumn was advancing towards the short, mild desert winter, but David didn't mind the chill. He'd holed up some distance south of Delta that day, and now he was about to pass the vague boundary beyond which nothing was coming back. He was "present" as he ran, not zoning out. He didn't want to be taken by surprise by anything. But some hours passed and he saw and sensed nothing at all.

Then up ahead a shape loomed out of the darkness. It took him a few minutes to figure out that it was a road train, a big one. He'd never seen one without its lights before. But this one was dark, and silent, and empty. He stood in front of the massive engine, that towered more than twice his height. Then he walked back along the string of cars. But there was no sign of life at all. Just the enormous vehicle, still and dark in the road.

He felt a little more nervous as he continued south. Something had stopped the road train, and taken every single human from it. The smaller caravan trains were sometimes lost to vampires, but the salvage trains... Megan had said she'd never heard of one being lost entirely, and he hadn't either. Whatever had taken out the road train was something different. Something more powerful than vampires, he thought, and shivered.

Then off to the side of the road he sensed another vampire. He stopped. The source wasn't particularly strong, it nearly had to be a singleton, or at most a pair. He hadn't seen a vampire alone on a long time, and he was suspicious. So he waited on the road, while the other undead approached. Soon he heard footsteps in the dark, and then a vampire emerged from the gloom.

It was male, short and young-looking, with an unruly shock of carrot orange hair. It stopped and regarded him for a long moment.

David had left the hat and cape behind, and was dressed in ordinary jeans and a flannel shirt. He was not hunting, and he didn't want to be recognized as the Hunter, should he meet any other vampires. After all, the southern vampires might not have been killed, there were no bodies. They'd vanished, and it was entirely possible that they'd gone somewhere, and he might find them. He had his sword still belted on, though. He knew he was increasing his chances of getting recognized as the Hunter, but he figured he was also vastly increasing his chances of surviving whatever he might find.

"I was expecting a whole pack," said the vampire, with an easy nonchalance. "But it's just you. You're pretty strong, aren't you?"

David shrugged. "Strong enough. Who are you?"

"Name's Rob," said the vampire. "I'm a scout for Himself."

"Huh?"

The vampire grinned. "Ah, you've come down from the north then, and you aren't part of the cause yet! Well, you'll want to come along with me then."

David was baffled. He had expected that any single vampire he encountered would be afraid, but this one seemed completely at ease. The vampire had to know about the Hunter. What was going on?

"Uh... cause? And isn't it dangerous to scout alone?"

"Because of that Hunter guy, you mean? Nah. If he turns up down here, Himself will take care of him, easy. And you're alone," he added.

"I can generally take care of myself," said David, feeling very much off balance.

"I'm sure you can. Still, you'd best come along. If you try to go back north, you won't be allowed to."

David almost asked about that. Won't be allowed to? How was anybody going to stop him? But he didn't say anything. He'd come to find out what was going on. He would probably learn that faster by following the redheaded vampire than by pelting him with questions.

They set off at a good pace, and after a few miles David sensed something ahead. He stopped in his tracks and gasped.

Rob grinned at him. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"How many are there?"

"There are forty-seven of us. Forty-eight once you get there."

"How...?" David didn't quite know how to ask the question, or even what question to ask. Ahead was a source of vampire presence stronger than he would have believed possible. He could felt a kind of pressure from all those minds, even at this distance. But vampires were asocial. How had that many been convinced to come here? And how could that many in one place possibly find enough to keep them all fed?

Rob grinned more. "You'll see. Come on."