Matthew's office door was open, but he wasn't in so we kept going. Nathan had almost finished his training session, so we got to watch the last ten minutes of it. It was Raider training in case they met a zombie inside a building. It looked really interesting. I would have to ask Rick if he could show me some of it. I knew I wasn't strong enough to do many of the things his group was doing, such as flipping a table in front of a zombie, but it was really different from what I had been doing.
Once he was done we headed to the playground. I played with the other kids while Trish and Nathan mostly just sat on the bench and occasionally kissed each other. What was it with people and kissing so much?
Diane let me kiss her cheek and would occasionally kiss my cheek, but she refused to let me kiss her lips like I did with Mom. She said it was important, so I didn't question her. I was happy that she let me kiss her at all. I was even happier if she gave me a kiss.
I turned my head and dropped down to the ground to run towards Diane. Trish and Nathan craned their heads before spotting Diane approaching.
I gave her a big hug and she smiled at me, "I hope you are having fun. I just stopped by to let you know that I am heading to work out."
I was disappointed that she had to leave so soon, but I nodded, "I will stay with Trish and Nathan."
She grinned and ruffled up my hair playfully. I ducked my head and skipped backwards to dodge her. With another smile she turned and jogged off. I slowly went back to the kids playing. She would be getting training from Ace until late tonight. Perhaps when she returned she would tell me what was going on.
We went inside once I got cold. Trish and Nathan didn't really seem to know what to do with me. I guess that they weren't used to kids either. Trish tried to get me to go to bed a few times, but I wasn't tired so she eventually gave up. Nathan eventually left since he had to get up early tomorrow.
I grabbed a book and slowly tried to read through it while Trish polished and sharpened her sword. Trish would glance up at her closed door whenever she heard footsteps passing by, but I didn't bother. I was waiting for Diane and I knew that I wouldn't hear her footsteps.
If someone with footsteps entered the room I would be hiding under the bed. If the door opened with no footsteps, then it would be Diane. Quite logical really.
I lifted my head as the door handle turned and jumped off of the bed to run towards it. There had been no footsteps. I tackled Diane with a big hug. She didn't really seem surprised by my sudden appearance, as if she knew I was there. Trish looked startled though.
"Hey Laura, what are you still doing up?"
Trish replied for me, "She couldn't sleep and neither could I so we both decided to wait for you. What was that all about anyways?"
I was surprised by Trish's question, I didn't realize that she had been as confused as I was. I released my hug and held her hand while looking up at her. Diane ignored Trish's question as she crouched down so that her face was level with mine.
She spoke slowly and carefully, "There may be trouble coming. There are a couple of people on this base who want to cause fights. So, Laura, if anyone without a badge tries to get you alone don't go with them. If you want, you can tell them that you aren't allowed to talk to strangers. If they still try to talk with you, walk away. If they try to follow, run. If they still follow, run for all you are worth to where there are people and scream."
I blinked slowly. She had never warned me to stay away from people before. If she was expecting trouble, then I was pretty sure that it would come sooner or later. She didn't give warnings lightly.
Diane reached out to lightly flick my name tag, "They may also wear name tags that are not their own. Everyone you have spent time with so far is fine, but just take care with new adults who try to talk with you when you are alone. I know you have not gone anywhere alone, but try really hard not to go alone until I tell you it is safe, okay? Do you understand?"
The people I knew were okay, it was just those I didn't know. And it only applied when I was alone. It reminded me of when Mom had taught me about Stranger Danger and Rick had also hinted at it as well. I nodded slowly, "I understand. This is what Rick has been helping train me for, right?"
Diane nodded, "Yes, and you will likely be getting more lessons now. They are really important."
I loved training and nodded enthusiastically. Diane grinned at my response and my heart warmed at the sight of her amusement. "Since the funeral is tomorrow, we will have most of the day off. I heard that Rick would consider training you most of the afternoon and evening if you want."
I nodded eagerly. Training with Rick was way better than playing on the playground while trying to ignore Trish and Nathan kissing on the bench. Diane stood up, "That is good, since Ace has told me that he is stepping up my training as well."
Diane turned to look at Trish with a more serious expression, "Do not say anything about this, the Commanders are trying to keep my training quiet so that those causing trouble do not know that we are onto their plan."
Trish nodded and Diane sighed in relief, "Good. Now I am tired and Ace was kind enough to give me numerous bruises as trophies, so I really want bed at this moment."
Trish chuckled and shook her head. I didn't understand her reaction. I guess Ace had given Diane bruises after all. I hoped that she was okay. It sounded like her training was going to get harder as well.
We went to our bedroom and closed the door. I got changed and quickly climbed into bed while watching Diane get changed. I held my breath to hold in a gasp at the sight of a big dark purple bruise on her side. I noticed a few smaller ones on her back, arms and legs as well.
I closed my eyes so she wouldn't notice me watching. She turned off the light and got into bed. I wondered if Ace had hurt her like that or if it had been that other guy from earlier. I didn't like to see her hurt, even if it was just bruises. It seemed very wrong. Sleep was a long time in coming.
I yawned and stretched as the morning bell went off. I got changed and snuck glances at Diane. To my surprise, she had no marks on her this morning. Her bruises had all disappeared. I was relieved to see them gone, although how they had disappeared overnight confused me. My bruises took almost a week to disappear.
I put it down as an angel thing. It made sense, if angels helped people a lot in dangerous situations they were likely to get hurt too. So it didn't surprise me that they healed fast. I already knew that she was faster and stronger than she pretended to be. I failed to see how no one else noticed when it was so obvious to me.
Breakfast was quiet and I remembered that the man's funeral was today. After breakfast we went outside and, to my surprise, we went outside the fence as well. Someone passed me a stick with braided grass on it. I took it even though I wasn't sure why everyone was getting one. Lots of people were already gathered here. Diane put me on her shoulders so I could see.
There wasn't much to see though, there was a big hole with two piles of dirt on either side. There was some rope on the ground and lots of red branches in fancy arrangements around it. Others from Diane's group gathered around us. I could see some people in brown and grey uniforms jogging in the distance.
"They are luring the zombies away." Diane's quiet voice showed that she had noticed my confusion as I stared at the distant figures. I nodded to show that I now understood.
I jumped a bit as a horn sounded off to the side. I turned to the side and watched as people carried a coffin forward. The crowd parted before them as they approached the hole. They put the coffin on top of the ropes that had been arranged across the ground before backing up to stand nearby.
More people came and pulled on different ropes. The coffin was raised and I could now see the pulley in the tree above. It was slowly lowered into the ground. Those up front were crying and many in the crowd also had tears in their eyes. I couldn't see Diane's face from up here, but she seemed sad too.
People started walking forward and dropping their stick into the hole before slowly walking away. Diane started walking forward with others in her group. I dropped my stick onto the coffin. Diane held hers out and spoke quietly, "I didn't expect I would have to say goodbye. I hope you find your wife and daughter." She let her stick fall into the hole and onto the coffin as she took a deep breath and slowly turned away.
Her sad voice made my heart hurt. I could now hear others speaking soft good byes as they dropped their sticks. I wasn't sure how to make her happy again. Trish and her group walked with her as we went back inside of the fence. All of them were silent in sadness.
Diane stopped at the playground and Trish and Nathan joined us. More kids joined us and a game of tag started. I tagged Diane who promptly tagged Trish. Trish managed to tag Nathan. I laughed as Nathan tried to catch Diane, but he never got close to her. He decided that chasing her was a lost cause and started chasing me.
I darted into the tire castle since he couldn't fit inside. He tagged another kid and sent him in after me. The game ended just before lunch. As we were entering the mess hall I saw Rick and waved at him. A plan sprouted in my mind. He came over, "Did you have fun on the playground?"
I nodded, "I did, thank you. Do you think we could do more training after lunch? Can we go until my bed time?"
I was pretty sure that Diane needed some alone time to grieve. Hopefully this would give her the time she needed. Rick looked speechless before quickly agreeing, "Sure. I can meet you in an hour and we can go as long as you want."
I thanked him and Diane led me off to lunch. After lunch Nathan and Trish walked with me to Rick's training room. Diane had gone down a different hallway that I had never been down before. It kind of hurt to give up an afternoon with her, but I hoped that she would feel better after some alone time. Even I needed alone time sometimes.
Rick got Nathan and Trish to help him with some lessons. I had to try and avoid all of them coming from different directions at one time. It was hard. My biggest advantage was that I could fit places where they could not.
"Argh! Quit climbing under those hedges!" Trish was irritated as I managed to evade her yet again.
Nathan chuckled, "Is something the matter dear? Don't tell me that a child is managing to evade a trained Guard."
Trish glared at him as I scampered behind another hedge. "I am pretending to be a zombie. Otherwise I would kick your butt for that comment. Perhaps I ought to chase you around instead."
Rick broke up their argument, "Get back on track you two. Do you even know where Laura is at the moment?"
I restrained a giggle as I hid behind a straw bale. I knew that Rick would know where I was, but I wasn't sure if they did. I heard a rustle as the cloth tunnel was rolled over. "Huh. I guess she wasn't in there. Nathan, did you see where she went?"
"No, I saw her hide behind that hedge, but she isn't there now."
I remained in hiding as I heard the two walking around and checking the numerous hiding places. This straw bale was on the far side, so hopefully they wouldn't check behind it. It was a small one, so it barely hid me.
I heard Trish's boots approaching and knew she was headed my way. I jumped up and ran behind another hedge before crawling under it to get away. "Aha! Found her!"
Rick muttered under his breath, "She jumped up right in front of you, I hope you saw her..."
I giggled as I ran and crawled down a tunnel and out the other end. I barely managed to dodge Nathan who was pretending to be a zombie. I climbed up the ladder, which was a safe spot from the 'zombies' below.
Rick then proceeded to show me different ways to get out of a tree or high spot if zombies were below. Although I was told that it was an emergency thing and that I really should wait for someone to rescue me. I laughed as Donovan lured the two below off with taunts I didn't understand. He wasn't safe from them though, as Nathan dropped his zombie act and charged him before wrestling him to the ground in laughter.
When I was too tired to continue they finished my training and Trish took me back to our room. I was surprised to see that it was almost my bed time already. No wonder I was tired. Diane was still gone, although I suspected that she had gone for her usual training with Ace. I hoped he went easy on her today.