A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 46

Sandy was sitting in the driver's seat and pushed the acceleration lever all the way up. Dave burst out laughing at her face as the truck lunged against the trailer hookups before slowing as it started to pull the weight. We had a lot more power. The horses were going to be tired tonight.

Dave was chuckling, "Joel, you didn't tell me you were hooking up nitrous boosters."

Joel was grinning as he rushed over to mount his horse while the other two drivers quickly followed to test out their new speed, "What do you expect when you triple the power coming in? Those were a much higher efficiency than the ones we already had. They will even work pretty good on cloudy days."

Nick grinned over at Diane, "I want to see you lure all zombies away and still have energy to go for a run at 10pm this night!"

I shook my head in disbelief. I knew Nick was going to lose this bet. Diane grinned at his challenge, "Oh, and if I still go for my usual hour long run what are you willing to put on the line? How about you have to get up early to cook the food I collect?"

Jake snickered, "You should make him join you for your morning run."

Diane chuckled, "No way, he would slow me down too much on foot or tire out his horse if he rode."

"Hey!" We chuckled at Nick's indignant response. Nick continued, "Sure, you can wake me up when you want me to start cooking as long as you run from ten until eleven."

Diane chuckled, "It's a deal. Be prepared to be woken up early, and no grumbling or waking anyone else up."

Nick sealed his own fate as he grinned at her, "Deal, but you have to lure all those zombies well out of the way."

He was going to lose. It wasn't even questionable. There was no way that those trucks could go as fast as Diane did when scouting in winter. She wasn't fighting through knee deep snow this time either. I giggled, "Is he aware that the barley bread mix takes thirty minutes to rise before he can even begin cooking it?"

Nick blinked in surprise that I didn't even consider that he might win. Diane chuckled as she played along, "I suspect that he was not aware of that. He might be going to bed early."

One of the other ladies shook her head, "Just ensure that there is a strong pot of dandelion coffee on so he is bearable when we wake up."

I hoped that Diane stuck around to supervise Nick while he cooked. I had seen his one attempt at toast and it had been darker than Joel's black horse. If he couldn't toast bread, I wasn't sure he was capable of actually cooking a loaf of it.

We were moving faster now. We alternated the horses between a lope and a trot, slowing to walk when the sun hid behind a cloud and killed our momentum. Diane easily loped and jogged as she lured every zombie off of the road.

I climbed onto a trailer and pulled out my textbooks. With no class, I really had to ensure that I studied. If I fell behind the class back at the Fort, neither Diane nor my teacher would be impressed. If that happened, I might have to spend more days with that teacher. Studying on a long boring road trip was far preferable to that potential fate.

I occasionally called down a question and the others helped me. It wasn't long before one of the ladies got tired of her saddle and came to sit beside me. They always seemed to enjoy helping me. I had mostly gotten over the worst of my shyness with them.

I was trying hard for Diane's sake since we would be guests with this group for at least another week. Every one of them was preferable to the teacher at the Fort. I worked out a math question and gazed at the horizon for a while.

I actually really liked traveling with this group. I always had done better with smaller groups and had always been uneasy with the hundreds of strangers in the Fort. I was really glad that Diane hadn't left me behind at the Fort. I did somewhat miss Trish, Nathan, Rick, and Donovan, but seeing Diane so much more relaxed was more than worth it.

In truth, I was kind of hoping that Diane would make our temporary stint with the Traders a permanent change. I got to move around or sit as much as I wanted. It was mostly my choice on when I wanted to study and which textbook I grabbed.

But most of all, no one was trying to hurt Diane or myself. Neither harsh words nor blows or arrows ever came our way. I had gotten nervous and suspicious back at the base where I only trusted a handful of people. Out here, I knew I could trust Dave and his 12 group members. I got to relax and unwind.

Diane was as alert as ever, but even she seemed more relaxed and laidback. I could tell that this lifestyle was easier on her than the one at the Fort. Yet, even now, she kept many things hidden from those we travelled with.

She still wore her archery guard and it hid the scar of the bite mark on her wrist. She took it off when washing dishes and stuff, so the others had seen it. They didn't care though.

I suspected that unless she went into seizures or suddenly got red eyes that they would never care.