I giggled as I ran, but I wasn't fast enough. I barely glanced up in time to see Diane drop down in front of me from the top of playground equipment. How had she gotten up there so fast? She had been right behind me a moment ago!
I turned and changed direction, but I didn't manage more than a couple of steps before she scooped me up and spun me in a circle. I laughed in delight while she chuckled. She set me on the ground and I looked up at her with a grin. She was grinning back and her eyes were sparkling with mirth, "How about we head inside and warm up? Your clothes are soaked."
I nodded and we headed to our room so I could change into dry clothing. Diane stretched, "So, we gossiped with Nancy for a while, we helped milk the cows, and we got some exercise. Lunch should be ready in about an hour. What do you want to do until then?"
I got to skip classes today since Diane had the day off. What I really wanted to do was join Diane when she went Foraging, but I knew from Agatha that I needed a number of classes before I could go. My main obstacle was my lack of zombie training. She had spoken about tips on evading zombies before and I had carefully memorized them, but I knew that I needed more training.
"Can we do more zombie training? How much would I need to go out with the Foragers?"
Diane was silent as she thought. Her eyes seemed to shimmer for a moment before she blinked, "In order to go outside the fence with any Forager you would need three basic classes and three intermediate classes on zombie survival from an authorized trainer."
I looked at her in excitement, "Are you a trainer?!"
I was disappointed when she slowly shook her head no. "But I do know just the person to ask. We can find him at lunch as he will be in the mess hall."
I perked up again and bounced on my feet, "Thank you!"
She chuckled at my energy and excitement, "I'll point him out, but you will have to ask him. What do you want to do between now and then?"
I was nervous about approaching a zombie trainer, but I decided to concentrate on the question she was waiting for me to answer. What could I do to get myself closer to the point of being able to join the Foragers? I definitely had a lot to learn and I often saw Foragers studying various books. That's it! I looked up at her, "Can we go to the library?"
She nodded and led the way. I looked around the library, there were so many books and binders. I wasn't sure where to start. I saw a map on a table with various colored dots stuck on it. I was confused, I had never seen anyone mark up a map like that before, "Why are there stickers on the map?"
Diane took a few steps to the table and sifted through a small pile of papers while glancing at the map, "The stickers are showing a time lapse of when zombies started appearing in each country."
I climbed onto the chair to look at the map in surprise, "Where did the zombies come from?"
She pointed to a red dot with a black center, "It first showed up here. As you know, it can take days for someone bitten to turn into a zombie and many people fled the area and took the zombie virus with them. Within seven days, every country had zombies show up within their borders." She moved her fingers over the various colored stickers.
My curiosity was piqued, "How did they travel so far and so fast?"
She scattered the pile of papers in front of us and went over the zombie outbreak. I hadn't realized how many planes and roads there were out there. People had never encountered zombies at that point either, so they didn't even know as much as Diane had taught me.
One paper mentioned that many people thought that guns could kill a zombie, but they had been mistaken. To kill a zombie, you had to cut off their head – which exposed you to blood splatter that was infectious. I already knew that even a single drop of blood or saliva was enough to infect someone if it got into an open wound or in your mouth or eye, but when the zombies first appeared, no one knew that.
I ran a finger over the map, "My Dad said that the bad flu also appeared overseas. Would it have traveled on the planes and ships in a similar path?"
Diane's voice was quiet, "He was correct. It originated in the same area actually. The bad flu had a noticeable fever, so it was a bit easier to spot, but it also traveled fast and far since it was so contagious. It spread easily with coughing, although face masks and hand washing did severely slow it in places where everyone used those measures."
I gazed at the map. I remembered how easily a cold could spread around the school with coughing, so I could see how the bad flu could do something similar. Diane went over the papers and provided more details on how it spread and which areas it had been spotted in first. I traced a finger over the map, their path and spread was almost identical. I murmured, "The way they spread is so similar..."
I glanced up at Diane who nodded somberly, "Yes, they are quite similar."
I blinked slowly, it was as if Diane was thinking of something else. Her eyes were serious and did not have any trace of a glow. She also seemed... sad... It confused me. Why would she be sad? Then it hit me, she was an angel, she was meant to protect people. Seeing them sick and suffering would trouble her. I gave her a hug, which she returned, although she seemed somewhat confused as to why I was hugging her.
The lunch bell rang and I decided to distract her from whatever was bothering her, "Let's go for lunch."
She nodded and I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the mess hall.
We were just finishing lunch when Diane pointed, "The man in the green shirt just sitting down is Rick. He is the trainer for quite a few classes, including the zombie evasion ones."
I held my breath as I turned around to see the man sit down at an empty table just behind us. For some reason I expected someone who was ten feet tall with solid muscle and covered in scars. I blinked in surprise and relief. The man sitting down was none of those things. He was somewhat chunky and his thinning hair had some grey streaks in it. I would have never pegged him for someone who trained people to avoid zombies. He reminded me of my uncle.
I ate the last bit of my salad and glanced at Diane before slowly standing up. If I wanted that training, I had to ask him. I needed to take that training to go outside the fence. I was nervous, but determined to ask. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and slowly walked over.
I hadn't taken more than a few steps before he glanced up and noticed me approaching him. He took a bite of a bun while watching me approach. His eyes flickered behind me to Diane before turning to regard me once more. His expression was kind and patient. I was thankful for that, I wasn't sure what I would do if he had been frowning or scowling.
I came to a shy stop in front of him, "Rick, sir... Uh, would you happen to be holding the beginner zombie survival class soon? I really want to take it."
He smiled at me, "It is just Rick. There is no need to be formal here. There isn't much demand for that class since almost everyone has taken it, so there are no plans to hold it at the moment."
My shoulders slumped in disappointment. Rick tilted his head, "Why do you want the zombie training? I know that Diane could teach you most of it."
I ducked my head shyly, "I want to go with the Foragers, but I need the first six classes before I can go."
I glanced up at him and saw that he was wearing a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds he looked at me with a grin, "I can see where you are coming from. Since you are the only one I know of who wants or needs that training, why don't we get together for some evenings for some one on one training?"
My eyes widened, "Please! I would love that!" In a burst of inspiration, I dug into my pocket to pull out the box of Smarties that Diane had given me. I dumped the last five into my hand and held them out for him.
Rick looked at the candies with a dumbfounded expression before he started chuckling, "Bribery just for me to hold a class? Deal. What evenings are you free?"
I glanced back at Diane, who was watching with an amused expression. She got up and came over and looked at me, "If you don't need me there, you can choose any evening. I am busy the next two evenings as I have some mandatory first aid classes that I have to re-take. If you want me there, any day after those two are fine."
Rick commented, "Three days from now works very well for me. The day after that is that big wedding fiasco, so that evening is out. We can arrange more training after that."
Diane nodded, "That works well for me."
I was practically dancing in my excitement. I was going to get zombie training! "Thank you!"
Rick chuckled as he took the Smarties, "I wish everyone was so enthusiastic about my classes..."
Diane laughed and I giggled. He seemed to have a sense of humor and I was looking forward to the training even more now. Diane glanced at the clock on the wall, "My first aid course starts in half an hour, so we had better get going."
Rick nodded, "See you later."
I followed Diane. This first aid course ran for three evenings and I had found it quite interesting as I listened. Diane said that as long as I was good I could attend the training that she had to go to. Some of the evening classes were voluntary and fun, but some she had to go to.
This class mainly dealt with physical injuries and I paid close attention. It would let me help those who were hurt. To my disappointment, they never did touch on illnesses like colds, flus, or that bad flu that Mom had. It might be covered in a different class.