I sat beside the window inside of the small house as I watched Smokey graze in the fenced backyard. The fence would protect Smokey from the zombies. I heard Diane digging in the cupboards behind me. We had made a lot of distance today after we had left the Fort.
I didn't weigh much and the saddlebags mostly held our sleeping bags so Smokey wasn't weighed down. Smokey had moved between a trot and a lope most of the day. Diane figured we had covered roughly the same distance that the Traders did in four or five days.
"Slim pickings, the Raiders were obviously in here. They did miss a couple of things though."
I turned to look at Diane. She had two packages of pasta, a can of stew, and a tiny bag of rice. I grinned at her, "They obviously need more practice then."
Diane chuckled at my boldness. She had also relaxed as the day wore on. It came as no surprise that she wasn't tired. Our pace had been set by Smokey, and had not been limited by Diane. I helped her take the stuff outside and cook some of it for supper.
I yawned, we hadn't stopped until late since we wanted to put as much distance between us and the Fort as possible so it was already getting dark outside. Diane checked my walkie talkie, it had charged all day as it sat on the saddlebag. She nodded, "It is fully charged. I still have to go for a run, but I will stay close. Give me a shout if you need me."
I nodded, "Okay." Diane had checked out the house and we had pulled the old bedding off of the biggest bed and put clean stuff from the linen closet on. We would get to sleep in an actual bed tonight. This room faced the fenced backyard, so no zombies would wander by the window either.
I got ready for bed and gave Diane a hug before she left. I closed the bedroom door just in case a zombie came calling, but I doubted it was necessary. Diane would probably spot any zombie before it got to the house and lure it off. Once she was inside, I wouldn't be worried either. I quickly fell asleep.
I yawned and got out of bed. I blinked and smiled at the new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste on the nightstand. Diane must have found them and left them for me. I had run out of toothpaste last week with the Traders. I didn't mind Diane's homemade herb version, but I preferred the minty toothpaste.
I followed my nose downstairs and peeked out of the window before going into the backyard. Diane sat by a fire with flatbread, salad and roasted rabbit waiting for me. I quickly made a wrap and munched on it while watching Diane. She was holding her green Forager badge with a contemplative expression.
"The badges and name tags are something only seen in Wainwright Fort. Outside of it, they stick out. We really don't want to stick out if we can possibly avoid it. I am putting mine in my backpack with a letter, in case something happens it asks the person who finds it to return it to Matthew."
I glanced down at my paper name tag. I hadn't even thought about it, I had put it on out of habit. Diane slid hers into a plastic baggie with a paper letter. After I finished breakfast she helped me make a similar letter. I slowly took off my name tag, it was harder than I would have thought. This name tag declared that I was in Diane's care.
I slid it into the bag and stored it in my backpack. Diane was right. We didn't want to stick out. Truth be told, I had never wanted to stand out. If we encountered more people, the more I could blend into the background while following Diane, the better.
I leaned over to look at the map that Diane had spread out in front of us. It was a map of Alberta and Dave had helped Diane note out the location of each known settlement with landmarks. Some bridges had washed out which made some rivers hard to cross.
Diane traced a red line on the map that designated a major highway, "We know that the medical research center is to the west and is beside a major highway that touches the mountains. There are three main highways. This one is very far north, so it is likely not it."
She pointed a different line further down, "This one is dead west of Calgary, there are dozens of towns along it and will have a fairly high zombie population. They did say it was north of Calgary, so I doubt this is the one. It will be our second choice."
She moved her finger up to the red line between the other two, "This one is west of us and seems to be our best option. There are few towns along it, so there shouldn't be too many zombies. There are also several settlements between here and there. Hopefully one of those towns will know exactly where it is."
I nodded, it sounded like a good plan to me. I pointed to the thinner red lines, "What about these roads?"
"Those are small secondary highways and I sure hope that it isn't on one of those or else we are going to have to get good directions from a local group of survivors."
I blinked at the dozens of small red lines. If we had to check them all, it would take us years to walk along them all. I hoped that the place we were looking for was on one of the three big highways. Diane seemed pretty sure that it was on the one highway from what she had overheard, so I was going to trust her instincts.
It would take us a couple of months to get that far. That was a lot of distance even with a horse. If the cars had still been running we could have made it there in one day, although it would have taken most of the day at highway speeds.
It didn't take us long to pack since we didn't have much. I helped to saddle Smokey and climbed into the saddle while Diane held his halter. He was full of energy. Yesterday hadn't really settled him down any. It may take a few days to mellow him out.
We didn't travel as hard today. Diane was alert, but relaxed as she jogged along beside me. We mostly let Smokey set the pace and he set a pretty good pace. He seemed determined to try and tire out Diane. He was a sucker for punishment.
We made several small stops so I could stretch my legs and let Smokey grab a few bites to eat. My legs were a bit sore from riding such a big horse. The three weeks with the Traders had helped, but it couldn't prepare me for riding from sunup to sundown. Diane showed me how to sit sidesaddle and that helped a lot.
That was the only downside though. I had never been so happy in all my life. My wish had come true. It was just Diane and me with no one else around. She had relaxed and didn't bother hiding her abilities.
I hadn't realized just how much she had hid before. She was fast. She was also strong and nearly tireless. I loved watching her eyes, they always seemed to shimmer now.
What I hadn't expected, was that when she opened up, I also opened up. I didn't have to worry about someone rebuking me and I knew that she wouldn't just leave me in the middle of the wilderness, so I didn't have to watch my behavior so carefully. It made such a difference.
I hadn't laughed so much in my life. Almost all of my laughter was from happiness and delight. Diane's grins and laughter were also more abundant. Both of us seemed to be in a perpetually good mood.
There was nothing and no one to distract her, so I had her undivided attention. She was constantly pointing out different things. From small flowers hidden in the grass to numerous animals and birds. I simply couldn't believe how much she saw.
She pointed silently once more and I peered in that direction. "What am I looking for?"
Her voice was low, "Look by the raspberry bushes, there is a fox watching us."
I stood up in the saddle and carefully examined the specified plants. It still took me a bit to spot its red fur. "It is so pretty. How did you spot it?"
She gazed at the fox, "It sat up to watch us and anything that moves immediately catches my attention."
I tilted my head, "How does that work? If something moves, you see it?"
She turned to look at me with a contemplative expression, "In a way, yes, I spot even the smallest movements instantly. Even if it hadn't moved, I would have spotted it before too long." She shrugged, "I can't help it, it just happens."
I hesitated before tentatively inquiring, "What about your speed and strength?"
She looked up at the clouds thoughtfully, "Those slowly appeared after I was bitten by a zombie. The changes mostly occurred in a few months, but slowed as a year passed. They seem to have stabilized and stopped."
I blinked, "You mean that you really were bitten by a zombie?"
She sent me an amused glance as she pulled off her archery guard. She held out her hand where I could reach it. I carefully turned her hand over as I inspected the silvery scar that adorned the side of her wrist. I gently ran a finger over the faint dimples where the zombie's teeth must have pierced her skin. It must have been a solid bite to leave such marks.
I looked at her in confusion. "Your abilities appeared after you were bitten? What happened?" I held my breath. I had been in disbelief that others had believed her story in the Fort. That story hadn't been complete either, she had left details out that I knew about. When a zombie bit you, you turned into a zombie – you didn't get super powers. I hoped that she would tell me the entire story.
She gazed back at the sky thoughtfully. I waited anxiously. She had trusted me before, would she trust me once more with her secrets? When she finally started speaking, her words were slow and thoughtful.
"I am really not sure what happened. When the zombies first appeared, there was chaos. Two of my friends joined me as we headed towards the Wainwright Fort. We got there before the zombies had really overrun the area. Truth be told, back then Trish would have won any arm wrestling match and probably could have outrun me."
I blinked in pure disbelief. She glanced at me in amusement. "I wore glasses. My eyes were also brown, even darker than yours are. Last summer the Fort accepted some new survivors, one must have been infected on the road. He turned overnight, into a Swift no less."
She sighed, "With a normal bite, the person can turn anytime between 20 minutes and 7 days. If they get a severe or fatal injury, they turn almost immediately. Swifts are very strong and this one managed to cause dozens to turn almost instantly. They turned into normal zombies, but as you know, even dozens of normal zombies in narrow hallways are a nightmare.
"Many heard the commotion and left their rooms to see what was going on. So many were caught unaware and trapped. None of us carried weapons then, so quite a few of us were heading for the weapons room. On my way there, I saw a zombie chasing a girl and managed to corner her in a bedroom."
Her eyes had brightened and were actually lightly glowing even in the daylight with the strength of her emotions as she relived her memories. "I was a fool. I had no weapons, but grabbed a broom as I went to help. I threw a pillow at it and shoved it into the closet with the broom. I leaned on the windowsill to catch my breath and another zombie grabbed my wrist and bit me."
She took a deep slow breath as her eyes glowed even brighter, "I managed to get loose and drop the storm shutter." She turned and looked at me, her eyes were glowing brightly. It was fascinating to see them so bright, but her expression told of an old horror. Her voice was low, "I had been bitten. As far as I knew, my life would be over within days. There simply aren't words for what went through my head."
She took a deep breath, "I knew I had to leave before I turned. But I had at least twenty minutes, possibly even days. I managed to get to the weapons room and someone passed me an axe. I went out to help kill zombies, I recognized some of them. I saw my friend Kailey killed as she had been turned into a zombie. I also found out that my other friend Evan had been killed."
I suddenly remembered the picture of her and the two people. That must be them. Her eyes closed with pain, "Their loss was a terrible thing for me, especially just after being bitten. I went into shock as my flight instincts kicked in. I ran to my room and grabbed my backpack before running for the fence. Just before I reached the fence, I saw a Swift chasing three people towards me. I decided that I would try to stop it, even though it was a Swift. There was too much grief in my heart to be scared of it.
"I actually did manage to kill it. Then I ran through a gate and out into the forest. I wasn't thinking straight at this point. I just ran. Days passed as I kept trying to put as much distance between myself and the Fort."
I felt so bad for her. She slowly relaxed and I sensed the worst part of her story was over. "I waited to go into seizures for days, but it never happened. I had always had trouble sitting still before, but it amplified terribly. My vision changed and soon I could see better without my glasses so I took them off. My bite mark healed within about ten days."
She gazed once more at the sky in confusion, "I am not sure why I didn't turn. As the weeks passed, I noticed that my speed, strength and stamina also improved. Soon any movement stood out. It made spotting zombies and animals extremely easy."
She glanced at me, her eyes weren't glowing anymore, but they were still bright. "I was extremely confused, as you can imagine. We had never heard of anyone living longer than seven days, yet as the second week passed I began to doubt that I would turn. In the end I decided that if I lived for a month, I would return to the Fort and just hide my scar. If I remained with the Foragers, I would be outside the fence most of the time and they could easily avoid me."
She shrugged, "I eventually found a new Foraging group on a training run. My appearance in the middle of nowhere startled them something fierce, but their Group Leaders recognized me so they let me grab a ride back with them. I didn't realize until that evening that my eyes had changed color. I hid my scar with makeup and wore my archery guard while keeping my other abilities hidden as best I could. Until that big fight, I had succeeded in keeping it hidden."
I held out my hand and Diane took it with a light squeeze. I knew that she had no family on this side of the world. For all intents and purposes, she was alone in the world. Just like me.
My head still had a hard time wrapping around the bitten-by-zombie scenario versus my previous angel theory. I still had my doubts since the angel story made far more sense, but my previous views were being seriously shaken.
Then I realized that it didn't really matter. Either way, she had a scar on her wrist that would scare almost any survivor. She had abilities that no human possessed. In the end, she was still letting me accompany her and would protect me.
That was all that really mattered.