The only downside to sleeping with Diane was the fact that she got up way too early. It was still dark out when she left for her run. My clock proclaimed her usual wake up time to be around 4am. She expected me to sleep longer than she did and I happily rolled over and went back to sleep. I never complained though, in case she insisted on sleeping apart so she didn't disturb me.
I sleepily rubbed my eyes and grabbed my backpack as I woke up. I changed into clean clothing. Diane had rolled up my sleeping bag by the time I managed to put my backpack on and was waiting by the ladder. I followed her down as she put our sleeping bags with our saddle bags in a small bit of open space in the trailer.
The sun had not even truly risen yet. No one else was up either. Diane glanced at the dark and quiet houses before giving me a mischievous grin, "What do you say that we move that big mirror in the barn against the chicken coop run and let the chickens loose in the run?"
I tilted my head in sleepy confusion, it was much too early in the morning for riddles, "What would that do?"
Her grin widened, "Roosters hate seeing their reflection and it is light enough that the rooster in the coop will crow if we let him out. The mirror will really rile him up."
A grin appeared on my face as I turned to run back towards the barn with a giggle. I could only imagine Trish's reaction if she had been in any of those nearby houses. The mirror wasn't that terribly big, but it was almost as tall as me.
Diane helped me carry it and lean it against the chicken wire. I went into the run to lift the chicken door on the coop so the chickens and rooster could come out. They were more of a morning person than I was and all swiftly exited the coop.
The rooster was not impressed with the ugly rival in the mirror and set about crowing for all he was worth to show that he was the king of this coop. We headed towards the big cooking firepit and heated up the leftover stew. We also started a big pot of dandelion coffee.
It came as no surprise that everyone was awake in short order with the racket the rooster was making. Dan walked over with a yawn, "Did someone tell the rooster that he was going to be supper if he failed to act like an alarm clock?"
Diane merely chuckled as all thirteen locals were exiting the houses with yawns or sleepy expressions. Mike's mother sat down with a yawn, "I call the lazy brown mare. Anything else would probably buck me off."
Diane shook her head, "You and your husband won't be on a horse. We attached lawn chairs to the trailer."
Her eyes lit up, "Oh, thank you. I might survive this trip after all."
We had a quick breakfast. It didn't take them long to pack up the last few objects and load the animals. Diane hitched Smokey up to the trailer with two other horses. We would occasionally change out those two horses with the other two who were trained to pull. Smokey would be stuck as lead horse all day.
I took my seat on a couch cushion on the trailer as the two elderly people and two others joined me on the chairs. The horses were quickly saddled and Diane jogged ahead to open up the bigger gate. The trailer wheels grated on a bit of gravel as they hit the pavement of the highway.
Mike looked at Diane from his saddle, "Are you going to get on the trailer?"
She shook her head, "No, with the pace we will be going, I will be fine on foot. I am used to it. I am also going to lure away any zombies that appear."
It would be somewhat believable since we were moving at a slow pace. The cattle were all tied with long leads to the trailer. The three horses could only pull the trailer so fast, although Smokey was quite enthusiastic in his attempts to see how fast he could get the trailer moving.
I was rather glad that I was not in his saddle today, he had too much energy after being cooped up most of yesterday. Nothing was holding him back other than the trailer and he was putting a solid effort in. The other two horses were lazier and only pulled lightly.
A creek ran along the side of the road. Diane would occasionally grab a bucket of water and let the horses and cattle get a drink before dumping the excess over their backs to cool them down. Cool water on a horse in warm weather is a lot like giving a dog a cool bath on a warm day. They got a bit more energy until they dried off.
Diane showed the first three guys we met how to lure the zombies away and they made themselves useful. We hadn't been on the road long and they had already lured three zombies away. I kept a careful eye on our surroundings and managed to point out most zombies long before they even spotted us.
It was a long day at a slow pace. The others on the trailer took turns as we watched for zombies. I pulled out some board games and a couple of them played with me. I had missed having a flat surface to put a board game on. It was just something you couldn't do in a saddle.
I kept an eye on Diane. She was doing fine while swiftly walking to match the trailers pace. She managed to shoot a few rabbits, so I knew what supper was going to be. A few people offered to walk while she rode a horse for a bit, but she declined politely each time.
We managed to get through the entire day with no trouble and no close calls with zombies. About 8pm, we hit the camping area we had been hoping to get to. It was an old cattle-loading pen and the fence was a large heavy-duty wood affair that had tons of room inside. No zombie could get through this fence, well, maybe a Swift could, but not a regular zombie.
We closed the gate behind us and loosed the sheep, horses, and cattle to graze on the thick grass. We gave the horses and cattle a bucket of grain. We gave Smokey two buckets since he didn't get a real break all day. He had done very well though and by the time we unhitched him, he still had more energy than the other harnessed ones did all day.
It didn't take long for us to make a quick camp and get supper started over a fire. Diane climbed over the fence and went into some big trees that were right along it. I easily recognized the two cloth and rope objects she hung in the branches.
She came back, but Dan obviously didn't recognize them, "What did you hang in that tree?"
She grinned, "Our hammocks."
He looked surprised, "Up high in a tree? Aren't you going to camp on top of the trailer?"
She shook her head, "It will be quite crowded with all of you and we are used to sleeping in hammocks."
I quite agreed with Diane. Sleeping on a rather small trailer with 13 other people? No thanks. They would have a hard enough time all fitting on the trailer. Dan gave her an odd look, but didn't comment further. I didn't think he really believed that we would actually use the hammocks.
Mike's mother shook her head from her seat by the campfire, "Sit down already girl. Be hanged if I know where you get all of that energy from."
I giggled as Diane chuckled and sat down on a stump beside me. Her unrelenting energy had taken them by surprise. She had merely been walking most of the day, while occasionally jogging to lure a zombie off. Most had been astounded that she would dare lure a zombie away on foot.
Some people cleaned out the animals stalls in the trailer. They were going to sleep in the trailer since they were scared of falling off of the roof. They tried to talk us out of sleeping in a tree, but in truth there really wasn't room on or in the trailer and we wouldn't be dissuaded.
They got ready for bed and paused to watch as we climbed into our hammocks. I think it surprised them at how easily we managed it. Practice works wonders and I had slept in my hammock almost every night for two weeks.
If rain threatened, Diane put a big tarp above us to keep any rain off. It was actually really cozy to snuggle into a fluffy sleeping bag while rocking gently in a hammock knowing you were well out of reach of the zombies. I knew Diane would slip away in the middle of the night for her run.
I woke to a rather fishy smell. I rolled over to blink in the early dawn light. Diane was already making breakfast. I got up and took down my hammock before heading over. Flatbread, scrambled eggs, greens, and tuna. The only reason I knew it was tuna was because of the empty cans beside the fire. She must have raided a house on her run.
I really enjoyed the eggs. They were fresh from the chickens. We ate and got packed up before the sun cleared the horizon. Smokey was back in the lead harness and was ready to attempt to beat yesterday's record.
That horse had more energy than any other horse I had met. I began to wonder if he was stealing Diane's coffee. I had never really seen her drink coffee before. Tea, yes, but not coffee.
Most of the morning passed before we spotted our first zombie and I knew that Diane had a hand in their odd absence. She had likely lured them off during her nightly run. I yawned and looked around as Dan led the zombie away.
Diane was gathering greens and passing them to those to a mounted lady to put into a basket until we made camp. The two elderly people were napping on the chairs, our hard pace was tiring them even if they were just sitting.
I looked towards the trees and felt fear rise in me, "Diane!"
Her head whipped around to me as her eyes flashed bright blue as she heard the alarm in my voice. I was already raising my hand to point. She darted around the trailer with inhuman speed so she could see what I was pointing at.
She immediately spotted the Swift that was heading in our direction and immediately charged towards it. In a lighting fast motion, she had her bow in her hand and shot an arrow at it. The arrow hit its eye and the force made it fall backwards.
Diane was halfway between it and the trailer. The people below were shouting in fright and confusion. I anxiously sat on my knees to watch the scene. Please don't let her get hurt. The Swift didn't take long to get back on its feet. It looked like it was snarling at Diane who had a second arrow pointed at it.
The Swift charged and Diane loosed her arrow. It fell backwards again. Diane put her bow back and grabbed a coil of rope from a side pocket of her backpack. She darted over to tie one end to a bush growing nearby. She grabbed the other end and backed up a bit while tying it into a noose. I caught a glimpse of Diane's eyes and they were very bright.
The Swift was already on its feet. The arrow had taken out its other eye. It had somehow managed to rip out the first arrow. The empty eye socket oozed blood in a gruesome fashion. It sniffed the air, trying to locate us. I knew from my studies that its eyes would grow back in mere months.
Diane whistled shrilly and it headed in her direction. She backed up more and pulled the rope tight. The Swift tripped over the rope. Diane lunged forward with speed that almost made her blur. She moved so fast that I couldn't even tell what she did.
Her speed carried her well past the Swift. Her hands were now empty and the noose was around the zombie's neck. She turned around to look at the zombie and I blinked at the sight of her eyes. They were glowing quite strongly, it was quite noticeable even in the daylight.
The zombie thrashed around a bit with its arms, trying to find her. Diane was breathing heavily as she walked to the side a bit and whistled at it again. She had her hand on her sword hilt, but didn't draw the weapon.
The zombie turned and ran in her direction. It suddenly fell backwards as the rope tightened around its neck and its momentum toppled it. I sighed in relief, Diane had simply tied it up like a dog on a chain. I had no clue how she stood her ground while the Swift had charged towards her. That was a mystery for another day.
Diane slowly jogged back to the trailers. Everyone below was spooked by the Swift's appearance and presence. Diane glanced at old Mike, "We better put some distance between us and that thing. That rope should hold for several days at least."
He nodded and set his horse forward. Diane walked forward to tug on Smokey's harness. The horses took the hint and decided that they also wanted to get away from the zombie. She climbed up the ladder and laid down on the top of trailer while draping her arm over her eyes.
I remembered she had said that high speeds hurt her muscles. It was probably the only reason she hitched a ride. The other four up here were watching her with wide and somewhat frightened eyes. She had gotten close to a zombie. They had also undoubtedly seen her glowing eyes and speed.
I walked over to sit down beside her shoulder and peered at her halfway obscured face, "Are you okay?"
Diane pulled back her arm to gaze up at me. Her eyes were still glowing a bright blue from her fight. "Yeah, no injuries. My muscles are just protesting from moving so fast. I think I will ride up here for a while."
I had been right. I leaned over to pick up a box, "Okay, feel like a game of Candy Land?"
She chuckled and sat up, "Sure."
I had picked it because it was a really short game and it would give her time to recover with an easy alibi. We could have several rounds or play a second game if she needed more time.
She played several games before she went to lure off another zombie and water the horses. I watched in bewilderment as people treated her differently now. They noticeably avoided her with uneasy or somewhat scared expressions.
They were scared of her. I couldn't understand it. She had saved them and they simply couldn't accept her differences. People were weird sometimes. I guess it was as Diane had said, fear makes people do strange things that often didn't make sense.
They pushed the horses even harder as they tried to reach the settlement. The horses could only pull the trailer so fast and even Smokey was starting to tire. The sun drew closer to the horizon before Diane called out, "Mike, we have to stop for the night. We are at least two hours away from the settlement and I have no desire to roam around aimlessly in the dark."
He sighed and stopped his horse, "All right, I assume you want us to camp in there?"
Diane nodded, "Yes, it is the best shelter we will get for tonight."
He nodded, "Alright. Come on, let's get those horses over in there."
Diane headed over to the baseball diamond to open up the big gate meant for the mower. All of the other doors were already closed. There was barely time to get the camp set up before the sun was dipping below the horizon.
We cooked and ate supper by firelight. Dan sat beside me as Diane went to gather more wood, "Why don't you sleep on the trailer tonight? You could fall out of a hammock."
I shook my head shyly, "No, thank you."
Another guy came to sit beside Dan, "You can sleep in the middle, there won't be any chance of rolling off of the trailer, if that is what you are scared of."
The thought of sleeping crammed in-between a bunch of strangers was even scarier than the thought of rolling off of the trailer roof. I shook my head again, "No, thank you. I have never fallen out of the hammock."
Thankfully Diane returned with an armload of wood before they could continue trying to convince me. Diane sat on my other side and Dan shifted away, pretending the fire was too warm against his knees. Diane watched him and his friend vacate the immediate area.
I suspected that she had heard most of our conversation. She had definitely known his excuse to move away for what it was. Her eyes seemed somewhat sad. She had also noticed how they were avoiding her. It made my own heart sad to see her sad.
I couldn't think of any way to comfort her, so I leaned against her and wrapped my arm around her. She put an arm around my shoulders as we watched the fire slowly burn down to embers.
I followed her to the hammock and went ahead of her as I climbed up the tall chain link behind the batter section. She made me go first so she could catch me in case I slipped. I hadn't slipped yet, but I appreciated her concern.
Our hammocks were hung side by side. I yawned as I snuggled into my sleeping bag. Diane spoke quietly, "Hey Laura, how bright were my eyes earlier?"
I blinked sleepily towards her dark form. Her eyes were still dimmed and hidden since those below hadn't fallen asleep yet. "Very bright, I haven't seen them that bright in the day before. Even in the bright light they were glowing."
"Thanks. I was wondering." She seemed a bit dejected.
She had obviously pinpointed that as the main cause of their avoidance. Her tireless running and lack of fear of the Swift would also be part of the reason. The biggest reason was not any of her oddities though, it was the people's inability accept someone who was slightly different.
I reassured her, "Don't worry, they will be at the settlement before noon tomorrow. Then we can relax."
The faintest hints of a blue glow had appeared in her eyes once more, "Yes. Not much longer now."
Her voice still sounded tired. It was the same undertone that she had back at the Fort when people had shot at her time and time again without a real reason.
I was on the edge of sleep. I yawned and mumbled, "Remember that even if your abilities scare them, those same abilities are the reason that they are still alive."
With that, I fell asleep, if Diane replied, I didn't hear it.