A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 124

Ace gingerly ran his thumb along the blade and didn't seem surprised when it parted his skin easily. A drop of blood beaded to the surface before turning a turquoise color as his Heartfire reacted to the tiny injury. His Heartfire had turned out to be a turquoise color. It was a really pretty color.

I put my presents in my backpack, but left my backpack near the front door since we rarely wore our packs inside the meadow. There just wasn't a need for it. Ace removed his sword and replaced it with his dagger. He now wore two daggers. I pitied the person who ever decided that he was at a disadvantage without a sword. He could still beat most on the training field even if he was unarmed.

As we went outside, I could hear the band starting to warm up. Dave's musically gifted group was taking the first swing at the evening of dance and relaxation. The snow on the ground below had been trampled flat and hard by countless people coming and going. It would make a good impromptu dancefloor.

I was grinning in excitement as I glanced back at Diane. She was watching the group with bright eyes. Ace seemed to be getting nervous though. Diane grinned at me as she snagged my hand and twirled me like a ballerina.

I giggled as Diane slowly spun on the spot as I tried to keep twirling. It was harder than it looked. Diane let go of my hand and my momentum took me towards Ace. My hands were up and Ace caught them before spinning me like Diane had done. He sent me spinning back to Diane.

I started laughing as I began to get dizzy. Diane slowly spun me around her as I continued to twirl around. Diane went to send me back to Ace, but the instant she let go of my hand I fell backwards in the snow. I was laughing, but I was too dizzy to stand back up. Diane chuckled as she realized that I had gotten dizzy.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for my head to stop spinning. I regained my feet and grinned at them before grabbing both of their hands and towing them towards the playground. There were other children there already playing, but it was much more fun if we could get Diane and Ace to join us. They were quite athletic in their attempts to escape us on the jungle gym.

Hours later Diane asked, "Ready to go for our evening run?"

I looked around and realized that over half of those who were fired had already left. I nodded, "Sure, I didn't realize how late it was getting."

She shrugged with a grin as she started jogging towards the distant gate. Ace followed us. He had relaxed a bit as the evening went on, but I now recalled that he didn't like dancing. He had no problems with tag or other games though. I realized that Diane hadn't danced tonight either, choosing to play with me and the other children instead.

We ran in silence, simply enjoying the quiet night after the noise of the music. It was peaceful. Before long, I was yawning and Diane turned back towards Sanctuary.

  I followed Diane as we woke up and left our room, a glance down the hallway showed that Ace's rug was pinned back, indicating he was out. We grabbed our coats and headed outside. Once we got outside, it didn't take long to spot Ace leaning back against the cliff beside the door watching the people below heading out to feed the chickens.

"Good morning."

He glanced over at Diane's greeting with a smile, "Good morning." He noticed the letter in Diane's hand, "Heading over to find a Messenger?"

We had spent some time the other day writing new letters in response to the ones we had received back. The Messengers were getting more letters from many settlements as they proved their reliability. I saw a letter in Ace's hands too.

Diane nodded, "Yeah. I think either John or Steph's group is heading towards Wainwright next so I am going to track them down. I see John from here and I think I might have glimpsed Steph heading into the kitchen."

I suppressed a giggle. Those were two of the newly authorized Messengers and Diane was going to see if they would accept payment. I highly doubted it though, it was like an undercover conspiracy that each Messenger readily joined. I was beginning to think that some did it just to get a rise out of Diane.

We caught John pretty easily and he was indeed heading to Wainwright shortly. He was more than happy to deliver our letters. He accepted Ace's payment easily, but shook his head with a grin as Diane tried to hand him some small objects. He grinned at her, "You should just give up already. No Messenger is going to accept payment from you for letters."

Yep, this was one more member of the non-payment gang. Diane shook her head in exasperation, "I am going to hand my letters and payment to someone else and let them pay for me one day."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Won't work. We were actually waiting for you to do something like that. You are the only person who sends an envelope to Matthew in Wainwright and your writing is pretty unique."

Ace looked amused as the messenger once more foiled Diane's attempt to pay. Then again, anyone within hearing range was amused, including the Messenger and myself.

Diane narrowed her eyes at John, "Are you saying my handwriting is bad?"

I hated to break it to Diane, but if she didn't take care when printing, I couldn't read her writing despite numerous attempts. I could tell the tracks of our rooster apart from the hens, but some of her writing was truly indecipherable chicken scratch.

John's eyes widened as he backtracked, "What? No, no. It's just, uh, easy to recognize. Umm... I am going to put these letters in my pack so I don't misplace them. Bye!"

I started giggling and Diane burst out laughing at his quick exit. John threw a grin over his shoulder as he jogged away. He had known Diane was teasing him, but he didn't want to stick around just in case she was serious. Ace was chuckling and found it quite hilarious.

We headed off for our morning run. Diane was back to square one with her attempts to pay any Messenger.