A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 81

The lady glanced over at Diane who was helping push the cart with a look of amusement. Diane had dropped a few hints about how we were used to traveling all day, so they wouldn't think too much about our stamina.

My energy seemed to increase every day. The only time I felt challenged was when I was alone with Diane and trying to keep up with her. I didn't feel bad though, she had Heartfire for two years, I only had it for several weeks. I knew she would always be faster and stronger than me.

I went back to do cartwheels. One of the older guys pushing the cart shook his head, "Oh, to be young again..."

Diane chuckled, and I grinned at them as I did another cartwheel. The gates came into sight and I stopped doing cartwheels at Diane's subtle hand signal. I grinned at her as I went to walk beside her. I had done cartwheels the entire three-kilometer trip. She smiled back down at me in amusement.

We passed through the gates and headed down the path to drop the fish off with another group who had promised to clean them earlier. I glanced at Diane as I noticed her tense up slightly. No one would have been able to notice, but the subtle tension was visible to me. My Heartfire was also letting me pick up more subtle signals than I had before.

I looked around and saw there were several people leading dirty horses into the stable. I eyed up the newcomers and their dusty clothing with slight suspicion. I didn't recall seeing anyone here wearing cowboy hats in that color before.

Diane didn't seem at all concerned as she brushed some invisible dirt off the side of her shirt. Her hand told a different story though. Stay close. I hoped that these were not some of the bandits that burnt down Bethany Fort.

Soon we were out of sight as we got to the place where we were to unload the fish. An occasional fish had not been sufficiently stunned and flopped around a bit. I refused to touch the floppy slimy things. Picking them up didn't bother me when they were fresh out of the water or completely still, but those half dead and weakly flopping things reminded me too much of zombies.

We went for a shower since we smelled like fish. After that, it was time for supper. Elizabeth came to join us. "In case you were not aware of it, it sounds like all of those pigeons managed to get back to wherever they called home. We had some friends from a few towns over arrive today full of news and were looking for any update since we are the closest location to Bethany Fort.

"Apparently that bandit group had hit and destroyed quite a few small towns to the south. The fact that the bandits managed to use both fire and guns has many places uneasy, since our walls are mostly wood and most places have no more ammo left. They were worried that they would be next. Our guests were quite relieved when Phil told them about the sudden increase of unrecognized zombies after the attack. Most people would take an average zombie over a crazy gun wielding bandit any day of the week. However, they are all hoping that the Swift you saw falls into a cave and never comes out."

That meant that the visitors had been from another settlement and were known here. I had a feeling that Diane had told them much more than what she had told me about the attack. The Swift that bit me was dead and I knew that Diane would never tell anyone that I had been bitten. What Swift was she talking about?

Diane inquired, "Where are they heading next?"

She replied, "Tomorrow morning they will start heading back home. Planting will start soon and they have to be back to help. They just came to see if we had any news on where the bandits might be heading next. They weren't even sure that our place would be standing since we were the closest town to Bethany Fort."

They had come to see if Toga Place was okay. It was often groups like these that transported letters and small trade goods. They would hop from town to town visiting friends and spreading news. Not exactly traders, but they would carry small things between places. Mostly adventurous young adults wanting to see other people after a long winter of not traveling. They usually didn't go too far from their home town though, generally just a small circuit of nearby locations before returning home to work.