I ran down the hallway and dodged two other people pretending to be zombies. Rick had stepped up my training recently. Then again, Diane's training sounded worse than mine lately. Ace was shooting at her with arrows that had small bags of sand on the end.
It was a good thing that Diane had been showing me some unique tricks to use inside of houses because I would have been really struggling otherwise. It had never occurred to me to throw a recently used pillow at a zombie to distract it. Covered in human scent, the zombie would bite it and give me roughly five seconds of time to get away.
There are only so many things you can do in a house with a zombie after you. Thankfully Rick was planning on moving onto stores tomorrow. Diane came back and we headed to the treehouse.
Diane sat down and I sat beside her. She dug around in her backpack and pulled out a small wooden box I had never seen before. She gazed at it for a bit before passing it to me, "This is rightfully yours. I think it is time that I gave it to you."
I had never seen this box before, how was it mine? I was confused, but opened it and started emptying the contents one by one. My hands shook slightly as I carefully put each piece of treasure carefully on the cushion to form a half circle in front of me.
My birth certificate, my parents' driver's licenses, and dozens of laminated pictures of my parents and me. Some of these pictures I hadn't seen since I had been in the house, Diane must have gone back for them. A USB key was labelled "Digital Backup Copies".
At the bottom was a small gift bag. I looked at Diane for an explanation. She spoke quietly, "That was something that your parents had bought you for your birthday. They had not yet given it to you."
I had no idea how she would have known that. A few tears formed at the thought of a gift from my deceased parents. The bag held a small jewelry box. I slowly opened it and my breath hitched at the sight of the golden picture locket.
It was heart shaped with a small yellow and orange enamel sun on it. I carefully opened it to see the smiling faces of both my mother and father staring back at me. My voice was shaky and quiet, "They really did love me."
Diane responded just as quietly, "Yes, they did."
I looked at the locket for a long time. It was the last gift from my parents, yet it had been given to me by Diane, whom I also loved. I closed it and ran my thumb over the tiny enamel sun. "Can you help me put it on?"
Diane leaned over and did up the clasp. I gave her a big hug. She returned it and waited until I let go before she let go. I felt like the locket was missing something though. Diane's face appeared in my mind. I looked up at Diane's bright blue eyes, "Would it be possible to get two small pictures, one of you and one of me?"
She tilted her head, "It can be done."
I nodded, "I would like that. I want to put them on top of these pictures. My parents are gone, but I have not forgotten them. By putting the new pictures in front, it will remind me of you and me and how much I love being with you. My parents are still in the background."
Diane's eyes shimmered and I could have sworn I saw her blink away tears. She nodded, "I know just the person to do it. I also know what to bring him to ensure that he does a stellar job."
This locket had been designed to hold several pictures and I wanted to have pictures of everyone I loved inside of it.
I sat quietly on Diane's lap with a big grin. I had to get up early this morning, but I thought it would be well worth it. We waited at the end of the hallway in a chair. The hallway was oddly empty, but that was common this early in the morning.
I jumped as the morning bell went off and my eyes darted to the small handheld baby monitor screen in Diane's hand. It had a video feed and I could see Trish in it perfectly.
The screen was showing a picture of Trish rolling over in bed. She looked up and froze at the poster above her. Diane hit a button on a different remote with a grin.
A blood curdling scream echoed down the hallway. A few people in pjs came out of their rooms and looked around to see what was wrong, a few looked surprised to see us at the end of the hallway and started chuckling before heading back into their rooms. A few lingered in the hallway in hopes of something more happening.
Trish lunged out of bed heading for the door. Diane swiftly pocketed both devices. Trish's door flew open and she looked around wildly before spotting us, "Diane! You are so dead!" Her eyes were wide and her sleep messed hair was sticking up all over the place and made her look half-crazed.
Diane jumped to her feet holding me in her arms, "And that is our cue to leave! See you later Trish!"
I started laughing as Diane darted for the stairs. I heard several people snickering or laughing before Trish's voice once more pierced the hallway, "Get your butt back here!"
Diane quickly took evasion action and took a different path. We decided to be fashionably late for breakfast to allow Trish some time to drink some coffee. This was Trish though, I wasn't sure just one cup of coffee would be enough.
We slowly took seats on the far side of the table from Trish. Matthew was wearing a studiously blank expression while the others at the table sported grins or had looks of anticipation. Several people at other nearby tables were also giving us a lot of attention.
Trish seemed to blame Diane more than me and narrowed her eyes at Diane, "First questions first, how on earth did you manage to get into my room? The chain lock was still locked."
Time for my distraction. I grinned, "You left the window unlocked."
Trish turned to me with a confused frown, "No, I locked it shortly after Diane left."
I giggled mischievously, "Was it locked this morning?"
John was snickering at the look on Trish's face. She obviously had not checked the window the last few days. Being on the second floor had not stopped Diane from sneaking along the half roof in front of the window. Others at nearby tables were listening in shamelessly to what was probably the most entertaining thing to happen for days.
Trish shook her head and glared at Diane, "How on earth did you even set all of that up? You must have had help to pull this one off."
Diane grinned unrepentantly, "I just happened to stumble across some things that several people wanted really badly. I was the only one who went into your room, but they helped me prep a lot of it."
Trish narrowed her eyes, "Who all helped you?"
Diane shrugged, "About a dozen different people. Some of them were really hard to bribe by the way, you should be more appreciative of the effort that we went to."
She growled some words under breath that even I couldn't make out, "Names. Positions."
I grinned, that would be a pretty big list. Diane and a couple dozen others had been in on this one in some fashion or other. Diane grinned at Trish, "Part of the bargain was that I would allow them to remain anonymous unless they came forward on their own."
Trish sighed as she mostly gave up, "A dozen people knew about it and didn't warn me. You won't give out any clues. Somehow you climbed into the window and hung all those hundreds of things and that funky poster. Although I have to admit that it is a neat poster, I will have to hang it on my wall later. Thanks for the cats too."
One of girls at the end of the table inquired, "I happened to walk by when Trish's door was open, what were all those glowing eyes anyways?"
Diane was more than pleased to explain the setup, "Several of us collected lots of empty toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. We cut evil looking eyes into them and stuck a glowstick inside to make them glow. Several were sitting on things while others were hung by fishing line."
I had helped and it had given her room a really neat effect, like hundreds of eyes were watching you. I doubted that Trish had found it so neat when she woke.
The girl tilted her head, "I saw a poster hanging above her bed, but I couldn't see what was on it."
Diane looked pointedly at Trish, who finally broke into a grin, "It is a really nice poster of a cougar. But the eyes are cut out and there is a small mirror behind. Diane put a green glowstick in front of the mirror."
John looked at Trish in confusion, "Okay, I see how it could creep you out, but that was one hell of a scream. Were you out of practice from Diane's absence?"
Trish mock glared at Diane, "No, those startled me, but I screamed when three stuffed cats were flung at me with miniature catapults. How on earth were they even set off? I wasn't moving when they came at me."
Diane grinned, "I had a remote control and a small battery powered baby monitor to watch for the best moment."
Her eyes widened, "Please tell me that no one else saw."
Diane shrugged, "Just Laura. I did check with on the computer people and the set I used was uniquely paired so no one else would pick up the feed accidentally."
Trish shook her head while chuckling lightly, "I must admit, in a week the memory of having three stuffed cats fly at me from different directions will seem pretty funny." She looked at Nathan, "Once we get our own room, please remind me to lock the doors and windows every night."
Diane chuckled in amusement, "That was my last prank on you inside of your room."
Trish raised her eyebrows, "The wedding is in three days, you are aware of that right?"
Diane turned her grin to Nathan, "Just be sure to let Trish go out of the door into the hallway ahead of you in the mornings. Ladies first, right?"
Nathan chuckled and shook his head while Trish was shaking her head no. John was snickering. He seemed to find any prank on Trish hilarious.
Diane turned to regard John thoughtfully, "I don't think I have booby trapped your door yet, have I?"
John eyes went wide as everyone started laughing at his expression. I grinned in excitement, I wasn't even sure where his room was, but I bet that Diane knew. Most rooms had several people in them and I bet his roommates would help us if they were bribed with chocolate.
Diane and I headed to the loading dock to meet up with Brett's group. Trish and Nathan were tagging along as they had to go along that route most of the way anyways. Trish was still excited about her wedding.
Trish was talking to me, "So have you found a dress yet?"
I shrugged, "Diane said that she has one, but is keeping it as a surprise for now." I was excited and looked forward to seeing what she had found. I got to be the flower girl since neither Trish nor any of the other ladies getting married had children.
Diane suddenly jumped backwards while grabbing her bow and firing an arrow. I had already started running for cover before the arrow aimed at our group hit the ground with a thud. Nathan and Trish shouted in alarm at the ambush.
I had already ducked into an open doorway and saw Nathan and Trish looking around for cover. I shook my head and called out, "Trish! Nathan! Over here!"
They came running over and also took cover in the hallway. I knew this hallway didn't lead directly to the building beside us, so the archer wouldn't just appear here. A Raider came running from the other side of the hallway, "What is going on?"
He had obviously heard the shouting. Trish and Nathan had gone from surprise and shock to anger. Trish was livid. She turned to the Raider, "Keep an eye on Laura, someone just shot at us and we are going to see if we can catch them."
He nodded and Trish and Nathan ran off full tilt. The Raider glanced down at me, "Are you okay?"
I nodded somewhat shyly and looked out the door at Diane. She was still in a fighting crouch with her bow and arrow in hand. She was staring somewhere up at the building beside us. She loosened the tension on her bow and put her arrow back in the quiver and her bow back on her pack.
She looked at the arrow on the ground for a moment before picking it up and looking it over. She stuck it in her quiver as well before walking towards us. She came inside and glanced down the empty hallway, "Where are Trish and Nathan?"
The Raider answered, "They asked me to stay with Laura and guard her while they were racing to see if they could catch someone. Are you alright?"
Diane nodded, "Yeah, that person had terrible aim. Thanks for keeping an eye on Laura. Feel like joining me while we track down the other two?"
The Raider nodded and we all went down the hall in search of Trish and Nathan. Diane's eyes were brighter than usual, showing her alertness. We found Trish and Nathan as they were heading back to find us. Trish handed Diane an arrow with some black fabric on it. It was one of Diane's arrows.
"We found this on the floor. Looks like it hit the person, but we didn't see any blood. Didn't see anyone in the hallway either, it is all bedrooms and everyone is downstairs or outside by now. We even checked all the rooms on that level and no one was around."
Diane closely inspected the arrow head, "Well, the person was not hit. I must have just caught the clothing. Even a small graze would have left blood traces in a few spots. Looks like they just tore the arrow out of their clothing before dropping it."
I was surprised, Diane had actually shot at a person? Then again, that person had fired first. I realized that both this arrow and the first one had been aimed at Diane. I walked with the group towards the mess hall as they discussed the differences in the arrow and shooter's style and bow.
The shooters were obviously two different people. Both had tried to either injure or kill Diane.
This didn't sit well with me.