A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 45

Diane pretended to be innocent, "Why else would I have you carry the food? If something happened and everyone got separated, you would be the most prepared."

The others burst out laughing and Nick chuckled along in good humor. He liked teasing Diane and she teased him right back.

One of the guys picked up his guitar and started strumming on it. Before long several others had instruments in hands and a song broke out. This group loved music. Two of the guys were fans of the guitar and played them as they rode. One girl had a set of saddle drums while another lady played the fiddle. They were obviously used to long boring road trips.

I loved singing along. Sometimes I knew the words, sometimes I didn't. I realized just how much I had missed music since my little music player had broken back in the house. This group even knew all of the Beatles songs.

We kept traveling until around 7pm. The trailers had slowed to a crawl with the lower levels of light. I gathered firewood nearby while keeping a close eye out for trouble. Diane had already done a sweep, but we couldn't be too careful.

Before long, the smell of roasted poultry filled the air and the horses were in a small corral made from light panels joined together like a fence to protect them from zombies. There were some clouds in the distance so others were setting up large boxlike tents that bolted onto the top of the trailers.

I went up to set up our sleeping bags for later. We slept on the trailers since the zombies couldn't get up the ladders. I always put my sleeping bag beside Diane's so I could lean against her back during the night. I put ours in the corner near the entrance since Diane was the last one in and the first one up.

By the time I came back down supper was ready. The group relaxed and gossiped as they ate. A couple sat on the ends of the trailers so they could keep an eye out for zombies. Those trailers were big blind spots.

I helped Diane bring buckets of water from a nearby stream to heat and wash dishes. Quite a few of the others were carving small wooden objects or knitting. I watched one lady knitting a slipper as Diane went to haul back large pieces of wood to keep the fire burning all night.

People started to head to bed and Diane stood up and stretched, "I am going to go for an evening run before hitting the sack."

One of the guys looked over at Diane as if he couldn't believe his ears, "Are you serious? You ran all day."

Diane chuckled as she started jogging towards the trees with a response. I grinned, even after three days they simply couldn't figure out where Diane got her energy. They seemed to enjoy teasing her about it and she seemed to enjoy using it without trying to hide it. She was much more relaxed on the road than she had been in the Fort.

In the Fort she had always tried to hide everything that might possibly make her abilities noticeable. Traveling with the Traders made it impossible to keep her nightly runs a secret. So she no longer had to hide her energy levels. She still hid her speed and strength. She kept her eyes dim, even at night I no longer saw them glow, much to my disappointment.

No one was bothered as Diane disappeared into the darkness. They easily accepted her and her need to run without question. Too bad those at the Fort weren't as easy going as the Traders. I headed to bed, Diane would come back later.

I woke up to the smell of pancakes and quickly got dressed. There were five sleeping bags on this trailer, with the other people on the other two trailers. Diane's sleeping bag was empty, she had gotten up early as per usual. One other lady was waking up as well.

I poked my head out into the chill of the morning air and headed down the ladder. One guy was sleepily coming over, "Are those pancakes?!"

Pancakes were one of my favorites. I bounced over excitedly, "Oh! You even found pancake syrup!"

I heard murmurs from the three trailers, mostly sleepy excitement over the word pancakes. I quickly took three pancakes and drizzled syrup all over them. I took a cup of tea, while most of the adults went after the dandelion coffee Diane had made.

Diane always made breakfast on the road since she was up so early. She didn't seem to mind. There was always fresh flatbread and smoked jerky. I grabbed some greens as well. She had picked the greens this morning and had obviously raided a house for the pancake mix. No one else here had Raider training and few would ever dare attempt to enter a house at this point.

They talked about their trading. Dave always did the bartering, they usually had a pretty good idea of what they wanted since they had arranged most of it with the previous trip. The group helped with most of the unloading and zombie safety. It sounded kind of fun.

Judging from the lack of zombies this morning, Diane had already lured them off this morning. Some days that lady had far too much energy.