A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 108

I carried a box of screws to the storage area as I helped unload the trucks. Roland had stopped the other day just long enough to unload and sleep before heading back out for another load. The trailers were almost unloaded already. The first load had been strictly building supplies, food, or animals. This load was mostly building supplies and things that others had requested.

"Hey, Laura!"

I turned around to see Roland hailing me. I jogged over to come to a stop in front of him with a grin and a mock salute, "Yes, sir?"

His shoulders slumped as he sighed, "Please don't call me sir, I am not that old. The last thing I need is for this bunch of hooligans to start up with that."

I tilted my head, "How old are you?"

Roland made a face, "That question is irrelevant." I could see Amber and quite a few grinning in the background at Roland's distaste of anything related to birthdays or age.

Roland banged lightly on the side of a trailer, "However, the stuff in this trailer is yours."

Huh? I think he made a mistake. I hadn't requested anything. I already had everything I ever wanted and more. I glanced back, but Diane looked just as mystified as I was. I walked around to the back of the trailer and looked inside.

This was really confusing. It was still quarter full of stuff, mostly boxes bigger than I was and some wood planks. I looked back at Roland, "Which one is mine?"

I wasn't as dense as Jeff and knew from his expression that he was up to something. Far too many others were also watching. Some in confusion and some in expectation. Diane had her eyes narrowed as if something had occurred to her.

Roland chuckled at my confusion, "It is all yours."

I simply couldn't understand what was going on. He was claiming an entire quarter of a trailer had stuff for me when I knew that Roland was trying to haul as much as he could to help build this place. As I had always done since Diane rescued me, I turned to her for help.

She understood my silent pleading expression as the desperate call for help. Diane walked up the ramp and into the trailer as her eyes examined the boxes. She reached over to pick up a paper from on top of a box that was almost as tall as she was.

A grin slowly spread over her face before she looked back at Roland, "You knew that I was teasing about this right?"

Roland grinned widely, "Oh, I knew. But every time I asked if you needed anything, you always said that you had everything you needed. Besides, you do more than your share of work and have never asked for anything so I figured that this was fitting considering how much you care for that girl."

I was hopelessly lost and this conversation was not making any sense. Diane held out the piece of paper and I took it in curiosity. The side I could see was shiny white and it was pretty stiff for paper. I turned it over and the color picture made my jaw drop.

It was a massive playground set like you saw in the largest school playgrounds. Monkey bars, climbing ropes, cage towers, ladders, swing sets, and more. There were no stairs or ramps, which was a wise move in this zombie world, although there were a dozen slides.

Laughter and some cheering made me jump to see everyone enjoying my reaction. I blushed at being the center of attention. I had never had a gift like this though, Roland had given up space for many supplies for this.

I went over and shyly gave Roland a hug, "Thank you."

He lightly hugged me back before letting me go, "You're welcome. You worked hard too. However, I am not building it and I do expect to see you use it."