What had I been thinking?
Regular zombies didn't worry me as long as they didn't get too close. Too bad I couldn't say the same thing about the Swift. It completely creeped me out. If Diane hadn't been there with me, I would have run from the barn as fast as my legs could carry me.
I watched with wide eyes as the red eyed zombie snarled and pounded on the bars holding it back. Other zombies usually seemed halfway drugged, but this creature was alert. Far too alert and it didn't seem nearly as uncoordinated as his bumbling brethren. I had no idea how Diane seemed so relaxed in here.
Diane leaned against the one wall while watching the demonic creature, "Why don't you run from side to side so you can see how it moves? That way you can see if you can outrun it."
The cage was large and took up a good part of the barn. I nervously turned and ran to the far wall while leaving lots of room between me and the cage. The Swift ran alongside me while occasionally growling or snarling.
I reached the far wall and chewed on my lip a bit. I turned and ran full tilt back to Diane. The Swift matched my speed easily. I held Diane's hand as I looked at the Swift nervously, "It is faster than me."
That fact scared me. Diane nodded slowly, "Yes. Swifts are faster than most people and they never tire."
"They can climb too, can't they?"
"Yes. They can climb most things given enough time. Chain link fences, trees with branches, and most kinds of ladders. They can't climb up a rope or pole though."
I tilted my head, "What kind of ladder can't they climb?"
She glanced at me, "Rope ladders, or ladders that are on top of a high obstacle, such as those small ladders on RVs. They would have to climb onto the bumper to get to that small ladder and they just aren't quite that coordinated."
That was good to know. Hopefully I could get to such an object before it got close to me. I would have to keep my eyes open since I would have to spot it a long ways in advance. I blinked as Diane got up and walked towards it. I remained where I was and watched her.
She paused just out of its reach. The hair on my neck and arms lifted in fear just watching her, I had no idea how she was standing so closely to that zombie. It was hard to call it a zombie, it was so different from zombies I had practiced with.
Diane turned and ran along the cage to the wall. I knew she wasn't running as fast as she could, but she was fast enough that the Swift lagged behind slightly. She went to the back wall as far from the cage as she could go before turning and running along that wall.
The Swift still tried to keep up. Suddenly, Diane turned and ran towards it. The Swift slowed and actually stopped. I had never seen it stop moving yet. It looked as if it couldn't figure out why Diane was approaching. Diane slowed to a stop in front of it and as she slowed, it started moving again.
I was confused, "What did you just do?"
Diane turned and walked back to me, "If you run towards a Swift they actually stop. Although it doesn't really help since you don't want to get closer to one of these things. It is more of a backup plan if a fighter actually has to attack one in a bad situation. It only works with swifts, regular zombies aren't fazed by that tactic."
I examined Diane as she kept half an eye on the Swift. She wasn't bothered by its presence any more than she was bothered by a regular zombie. She was just a bit more watchful. I tilted my head, "Why don't you seem scared of the Swift? When others in the Fort talked about them, I could tell they were scared of such zombies."
Diane sighed as she regarded the creature trying to reach us through the bars, "Most people are terrified of swifts, and rightly so. They are extremely dangerous and have wiped out other settlements. The fear you feel is about average compared to most Foragers. For a while, everyone had to come in here to see the Swift and no one was able to relax while in the barn. Many had a hard time relaxing for a few days after simply visiting this thing."
"But you don't seem scared..."
Diane turned her head to regard me thoughtfully, "I actually used to be just as nervous around this thing as you are. I was as cautious of the average zombie as most Foragers were, possibly even more wary than most. My fear of them disappeared the night I ended up fighting a Swift that had gotten past the fence at the Fort."
My eyes widened, "What happened?"
She blinked slowly and I could see her eyes brighten a bit at the memories, "We had taken in some new people and one must have been infected since he turned in the middle of the night. It was complete chaos. We ended up losing almost a third of our people as more and more were bitten or killed. Back then, the zombie training hadn't been mandatory for those who didn't plan on going past the fence, so most had no idea what to do."
She exhaled slowly and her eyes brightened to a glow even though the barn was well lit up. I could see a flicker of sadness in her eyes that reminded me of the funeral when we had buried the Raider. Grief.
She sighed and continued, "Back then we also never carried weapons. During the fight I had managed to get my hands on an axe. I ended up killing several zombies and at the end I saw a Swift chasing several unarmed people. In my desire to save them, I attacked the Swift with just an axe. It was a foolish stunt that should have killed me. But I survived and killed it. In that fight I lost my fear of all zombies."
I was silent as I absorbed her words. Zombies loose in the Fort in the middle of the night? I didn't even want to imagine such a thing. If one person had turned and they lost so many people, it meant that they had been bitten and had also turned. No wonder Diane felt grief; she had been forced to kill people who had possibly been friends.
But what did she mean that it had been a foolish stunt that should have killed her? Did this mean that she wasn't invincible? I had a hard time believing that. It just didn't seem possible.
Then again, it might have been her fear talking. She survived and was no longer afraid of any zombie. Diane teased me, "But don't get any ideas about killing a Swift in hopes of losing your nervousness around zombies."
I looked at the Swift with wide eyes. I didn't even want to be in the barn at the moment and I had no clue how to cut his head off to kill him. I had never even held a sword before. I had used a tiny hatchet on a camping trip with my Dad long ago, but I had never tried to use a full sized axe.
I murmured quietly, "I don't think you need to worry about that."
Diane chuckled in amusement before coming to stand beside me. She watched the Swift for a few more moments, "Well, let's get back to the Fort. We haven't touched base with Matthew for almost 20 minutes now and he could start worrying. We can get to the fence in 5 minutes and radio him."
I nodded and headed for the door. I didn't want Matthew to worry. He could put a stop to our trips if he thought we weren't listening to his rules. Besides, it was an excellent excuse to get out of this barn and away from the creepy red eyed Swift.
I was surprised when we didn't go to the funeral of the two men who had died. Then I learned that they didn't have name tags and almost no one went to their funeral. We still had the day off though and I looked forward to spending the time with Diane.
I ran around the playground as Diane watched me. Trish and Nathan sat on a bench where I tried to ignore their ceaseless kissing. The snow was starting to melt and Diane had said that spring was on its way. It was hard to believe that it was April already.
I finished a mini snowman and looked over at Diane. She grinned and gave me a few hand signals. I ran off with a giggle. I hid behind a piece of playground equipment and waited. Diane quickly made two snowballs and they swiftly took flight. They hit Trish and Nathan almost at the same moment.
"Ahh!"
"What the-"
"Diane!"
They quickly figured out that Diane was guilty, but that was my signal. I grabbed two handfuls of snow and ran forward as they glared at Diane who was grinning at them. I ran up behind them and dumped it down the back of their necks before running full tilt towards the tire castle.
"Ack!"
"Laura! I am going to dump you into a mud puddle if I catch you!"
I heard Nathan's footsteps coming up quickly behind me. I squealed and put on a burst of speed to quickly slide through a narrow opening before crawling into the huge structure made out of tires that had been bolted together. I giggled as I crawled deeper into the areas where adults had a hard time getting into.
I forgot how quick that Raider was, but he still wasn't nearly as fast as Diane. Nonetheless, he had almost caught me. Nathan circled a few times before shaking his head and heading back towards Trish.
Diane grinned at Nathan as he gave up trying to get at me, "What? You aren't going to chase me too?"
He snorted, "I have better things to do with my energy than waste it like that."
I giggled at the thought of Nathan trying to catch Diane. I climbed to the top of the tire tower and grinned at Diane. She smiled back before coming over and climbing up the outside of the tires to sit on the top with me. She waved to someone and I turned and saw Matthew in the side garden.
"Play here for a few minutes, okay? I am going to see Matthew."
I nodded and went over the monkey bars to play with a girl there. I kept half an eye on Diane, but she just stood and talked with Matthew as they looked at a cherry tree that was just starting to bloom. Diane came back less than five minutes later.
A game of tag broke out and I tagged a boy who tagged Diane. She looked at me with a grin and my eyes went wide. With a squeak I started running full tilt for the tire fortress. I barely covered half a dozen steps before I was swung into the air as Diane spun in a circle. "You're it!"
She put me back on my feet and swiftly backed up. I grinned and chased after a different girl. Nathan might be quick, but Diane was much faster. I also knew that she wouldn't use her true speed where others could see her.
I didn't have a chance at evading her, but I liked to try. The practice I got while trying was making it harder for other people to catch me though. I was now one of the harder kids to catch in a game of tag when playing with those who were my age.