A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 116

A distant bell rang three times. Ace glanced towards the door with furrowed eyebrows. Diane answered the unspoken question, "Three rings is for mealtime."

Sandy's head almost magically appeared outside of her doorway at the mention of food. Diane headed for the door with Sandy hot on her heels. Ace was putting his armful of stuff on his mattress to deal with later.

I saw that Sandy had left her solar light in her room and went to grab it. I went to the main doorway and passed it to her, "You will want to hang these outside to charge. Diane and I don't need them because we can see in the dark, but you will likely want to be able to see later on."

Ace's faint footsteps had been coming up behind me, but he doubled back to collect his own light. There were more lights outside charging, so we would have spares by tonight, but it was a good practice for them to get into. Their forgetfulness would only affect them. Sandy looked a bit embarrassed, although it was her first day, so it didn't matter.

Ace swiftly rejoined us and hung his light on the hook outside. We headed to the mess hall for supper. I had never seen it this crowded, but I had to realize that there were around 180 people in Sanctuary now. This was going to take some getting used to, but the number of blue eyes that were faintly glowing was reassuring.

After supper, we took Ace and Sandy on a tour of the entire meadow as we pointed out where things were. We explained that blue tiles around the frame of a door meant it was a bathroom. Green was for showers, and its hall branched into two large rooms. The left one was for men, the right for women.

We also explained the very flexible work schedule. As long as work was being done and nothing was being missed, Amber was amiable to whatever worked. People were free to check in with her as to what needed to be done the most and pick from several options. She would occasionally suggest things as well.

Todd helped her keep track of what was going on and he was very good about catching anything that had been missed. He often did that chore himself, but occasionally mentioned it to those who came to ask if anything was missed.

I turned as Kerry's voice rang out from the main deck. Diane glanced over, "Looks like Kerry is going to go over everything they know about the Heartfire virus for anyone interested in it."

Both Ace and Sandy nodded and started heading over. Diane and I tagged along to keep them company. Most newcomers were heading over to listen even if they didn't want the Heartfire. Most gathered on the huge deck while others were elsewhere nearby. Neither Ace nor Sandy had issues with being at ground level, so we grabbed a couple of campfire chairs and sat below.

Danny had already set up a microphone and speakers on the small second floor deck so everyone could hear and see her. Kerry welcomed all of the newcomers and went on to explain that the mystery cure was actually another virus and went over all of the details we knew about it. Most had already heard the majority of the details on the drive up, but Kerry covered it in-depth.

Ace listened politely, but he knew everything already. It was the first time Sandy had heard most of it so she simply looked thoughtful. It took Kerry about an hour and she closed her speech with a reminder that the Heartfire virus was not a requirement to stay here as there were many jobs or trades that required the ability to sit still for several hours.

Diane waited patiently while the other two simply sat and thought about what they had heard. She shifted her weight and looked towards the distant gate with a sigh, "I hate to leave you two, but Laura and I really need a run. Feel free to explore the clearing and talk to people."

Now that she mentioned it, I could feel the faintest flickers of the warning heat now that I looked for them. Diane was probably feeling them much more strongly at this point. Ace and Sandy both nodded with understanding.