A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 85

After our meal Beth showed us to our room. It was actually in what used to be a hotel. Diane locked the door behind us before casually dropping her pack on the bed and digging out the fat envelope. I jumped onto the bed in excitement as I eagerly watched her cut through the waterproofing plastic layers to get to the numerous small envelopes inside.

Diane quickly sorted them into two piles. The ones for her and the couple for me. With a small squeal of excitement, I grabbed the first one I saw with my name and quickly opened it. I flopped backwards onto my back to read my friend's writing.

My jaw dropped, she had kissed the boy a second time, although she said it was just as bad as the first time. She obviously needed her head checked. I would have to tell her to go talk with Nancy about her kiss. She was nurse, I was sure Nancy could tell her about the cooties better than I could.

Diane passed me some paper and a pen. I rolled onto my stomach and started writing my response telling her just that. None of the kids knew that I had left Bethany Fort, but the letter from Trish and Nathan showed that they were quite concerned about us. I started writing my reply to them as well.

I kept it a bit vague since they didn't know I had Heartfire. Only Ace and Matthew knew that detail so far. I told them how much fun I was having on the road with Diane. I named the settlements we stopped at and described in detail what kind of playground they had and how many kids had been there. They thought we were still at Toga Place, so I had to let them know that we were back on the road again, although I didn't know exactly where we were going.

"Huh. Trish and Nathan must have had that baby talk after all."

I turned my head to look at Diane as she lay on her back beside me reading her own letter from Trish. I was excited, "They are going to have a baby?"

Her sparkling blue eyes flickered over to me as she grinned, "Trish wrote here that she is pregnant and just a few months along. So, yes. She will likely be a mother within six months."

I grinned happily and went back to writing to Trish. I gave her a few suggestions for names as well. Trish was really not that original. She told me that she had once named her cat 'Kitty'.

"Hmmm..." That didn't sound good.

I glanced over to see Diane frowning at a different letter. "What is it?"

She re-read whatever part she didn't like before sighing, "Matthew tested the waters for us. He suggested that Wainwright Fort invite us back from whatever imaginary town that we had supposedly stayed in when we left the Trader Group. Let's just say that a handful of people almost flew off the handle and it isn't safe for us to return there yet."

Some people really needed to take some yoga lessons for their tempers. We had known that chances of us returning to Wainwright in the next two years was slim to none. I shrugged, "We kind of knew that already. So we just need to find some place that will accept us."

Diane glanced over at me and grinned, "Indeed. I am sure some settlement will accept us, glowing eyes and all."

Diane's own eyes suddenly started glowing as she stopped supressing their light. I realized that the window blinds were down and my eyes must be glimmering in the dim light. I grinned widely at her joke. I really did have to learn how to control my eyes though...

We left our room and a quick glance at my tiny pocket mirror showed that my eyes no longer shimmered in the brighter hallway. Good.

Diane murmured, "I don't see any sense in hiding our abilities until midwinter, only to be kicked out into a snowstorm. Someone will notice something sooner or later. We might as well check to see if our oddities will cause any problems before we waste too much time in one place."