We pushed onwards until late at night. Diane ended up guiding Smokey in the dark as she left the road to follow some deer trails as she attempted to lose any vengeful followers. I was tired, but remained silent in the saddle.
Diane's anger had slowly faded, her eyes glowed due to the darkness now. Diane paused by a fence and passed me Smokey's reins, "Stay here, I am going to check out that barn."
What barn? I peered into the darkness, but didn't see anything. I saw the fence continue along the gravel road we were now on and could just make out some trees in the darkness. Diane left and I couldn't see her eyes since she was looking the other way. It was odd that she didn't send me up a tree if she was leaving.
Perhaps she trusted Smokey to run if a zombie came by, or maybe she could see far enough to see that there were none nearby. I saw a flicker of blue ahead as Diane began to return, that must be where the barn was then.
Diane returned swiftly, "It is clear. We can sleep here."
She took Smokey's reins once more and led him forward. Once we got closer, I could see a corral attached to an old barn. The corral wasn't much bigger than the barn, but it was more than enough room for Smokey.
I dismounted and reached for the saddle, but Diane interrupted me, "Here, I can do that. Can you take our sleeping bags up into the loft? Here is a flashlight, the ladder is just to right inside the door. Get some sleep, dawn is going to come far too early."
I was too tired to argue and took the sleeping bags up. I barely had enough energy to set them up before crawling into mine and falling asleep.
The smell of KFC chicken drifted through my sleeping mind and remained with me as I blinked at the bright light shining into the barn loft. I sat up as I rubbed my eyes groggily. I blinked at the empty place where Diane's sleeping bag had been, she must have already rolled it up and packed it down. I quickly changed and went down.
Some feathers by the fire showed that Diane had gone hunting and found several spruce grouse. The big birds were just a bit smaller than a chicken and were quite common. Diane must found an untouched house as the pieces in the frying pan were battered and a small bag of unopened flour sat beside the saddle bags.
I washed my face and hands in a bucket of water by the fire. I felt much more awake after that. We slowly ate breakfast. The events from yesterday still bothered me. "Why did those men try to keep us there?"
Diane was silent for a moment before she shook her head lightly, "They had a misguided notion that it was the only way to get someone to stay in their settlement."
I thought about the man and his exact words. "Why did that one guy really not want to let any women go?"
Diane shifted slightly, as if somewhat uncomfortable, "They had a misguided notion that it was the only way to get someone to stay in their settlement."
That made even less sense than the idea of trying to make Diane dance. The most confusing part was that the man thought that only women could dance and sing. Almost everyone in Dave's Trader group could sing.
I tilted my head in confusion as another thought occurred to me. "Why did that one guy not want to let any women leave?"
Diane's eyes flickered briefly as she hesitated before replying, "Well, you already know that many people think it is dangerous outside of a fence. He might have thought that he wasn't going to let us leave since we could get hurt. Although his way of trying to force us was very wrong."
I nodded slowly, although I made a face. "The teacher once told us that boys usually tried to protect girls, and that they did the dangerous work, which was why most of the Raiders were men. She also told us that women shouldn't leave the fence since it was too dangerous." That more or less matched exactly what Jason had said – and I didn't agree with either him or the teacher.
Diane frowned slightly at my reply, as if she didn't like it either. "Some people may think that way, but not everyone. Half of the people in Matthew's Foraging group and Dave's Trading group were women."
"That is what I told her."
"And what did she say?"
"She didn't reply." I grinned as Diane's lips twitched in a smirk.
I still found it strange that the women there wanted to stay and keep dressing up in costumes when they probably couldn't go outside the palisade. In a confused voice, I asked, "Why did those women say they were queens with the men trying to do things for them?"
"Not too sure. My guess is that several of the men wanted to be their boyfriends and were trying to make the women like them the most."
I blinked blankly at her somewhat evasive response, before slowly realizing that all of the Disney princesses had all ended up with boyfriends. Had they dressed up to try and let them know that they wanted a boyfriend?
I couldn't wrap my head around it – it just made my head hurt. I shook my head. "Trish and Nathan seem much happier than they did."
Diane nodded, "Yes, it usually doesn't end well if two guys try to date the same lady. The way Trish and Nathan did it was how it should be done. Nathan and Trish took their time and dated until they were both sure that they wanted to get married. Once they were positive that they wanted to live together forever, then they got married."
I tilted my head mischievously, "I wonder if they had the baby talk yet." Any mention of babies always made Trish turn red as a tomato, although I couldn't figure out why. I hadn't brought up the topic since that one time.
Diane burst out laughing, she obviously found my comment hilarious, "I have no idea, but I kind of doubt it at this stage. If we return in a couple of years, I am pretty sure that they will have had the baby talk by then. Babies are a big commitment and a lot of responsibility. They take a lot of time to care for and grow slowly. I don't think Trish is quite ready for that much work just yet."
This touched on a subject that had been slightly nagging me. I grinned as I teased Diane, "Am I a lot of work?" I remembered her roundabout way of gathering information, hopefully it would work for me just as well without tipping her off.
Diane chuckled, "Not really, you are well behaved and have a lot of training so I don't really have to worry."
I smiled widely trying to hide my nerves, "Am I a big commitment?"
I tried to keep my voice light and teasing, but even I could hear the slight waver in it. I knew that Diane would have heard it too. She grinned at me, "Any child is a big commitment. You make things easy for me though."
I was glad to hear that and smiled in relief. I looked down at my lap. I just had to know something, but I had never felt so nervous asking her a question before. I spoke softly, "Would it be easier without me along?"
It was out in the open now. I held my breath. I knew that a child would slow down any group, let alone one traveler. It was not a question if the sky was going to come crashing down, but when and how hard.
Diane considered it for a moment as my palms got sweaty with nerves. She tilted her head as she looked right at me. Her shimmering blue eyes were serious, but soft, "It depends how you define easy. Would the physical journey go quicker? Yes, but not much faster. But let me ask you this, when you were alone in the house, did you enjoy it?"
I shook my head rapidly at her odd question. I had been sad and lonely the entire time.
Diane continued, "Exactly. Just because it might be faster, does not mean it is any more enjoyable or fun. This trip would be long and boring without you. I would have only been focused on the destination, not on all of the fun things we could do on the way. You have seen how much I am not accepted by most people once they learn a few of my secrets. Only a handful of people have not cared when they learned the truth. You have always been one of them."
Her words touched me. I felt tears build up with relief and happiness. She liked having me along. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted off of my shoulders. I leaned over for a hug and she returned it. She lowered her face to my hair and blew into it.
Her breath tickled my skin. I giggled and scooted away with a smile. Diane was smiling down lovingly at me and I grinned back at her. We really were two of a kind. She was the only person I was comfortable with and I was the only person she ever truly opened up around. It made me feel special and accepted. I treasured that feeling.
I helped wash the dishes, there was only a pan, a pot, and some cutlery. Diane figured that someone from the last settlement might be trying to track us down, so she wanted to try for distance today since we had slept in after our late night. That was fine by me. I didn't want to see any of them ever again.
Smokey seemed to sense our haste and didn't complain unless he had to rest. I did glance back down the road, although Diane had said that this was a different road than the one that led to the last settlement.
I looked over at Diane as she easily jogged alongside Smokey's quick walk, "What are the odds of them catching up?"
Diane didn't look concerned, "Close to zero at this point. Smokey barely notices your weight and the saddlebags are nearly empty. A horse carrying a large guy will tire much faster than Smokey. I also doubt that any of their mounts have the amount of energy and stamina that Smokey does. The farm that we originally got him from specialized in breeds meant for long distance travel on the plains while dragging a light sled."
I blinked in surprise, I hadn't known that Diane knew where the Fort had acquired Smokey. Then again, she was a Forager so she may have been among one of the groups helping to collect livestock from that farm.
Diane grinned with a chuckle, "And if they are trying to track us, then I wish them the joy of it considering how many tracks I left during my evening and morning runs."
I giggled at that thought. I knew that when Diane went out for a run, she did just that. She ran and she ran hard. I may have been exhausted last night, but she still had enough energy that she needed an evening run. That made me a bit jealous.
No one ever appeared on the road, nor did any lurk in the forest that may have spotted us. I knew that Diane would have spotted them long before they noticed us. We slowed down once the afternoon was half over. If they hadn't caught us yet, then they never would.
"Do we have to stop at the next settlement?" I made my eyes big and pleading.
Diane looked amused at my obvious begging as she glanced up at the map she was examining in her hands, "No, we know we are on the right track. Besides, I have no desire to deal with another group of hide-bound idiots so soon. I am actually altering our path to avoid the next few places. I do want to stop at the last known settlement though, they may know exactly where Bethany Fort is. Dave mentioned that the last settlement was a friendly bunch."
I nodded, I liked her plan. Not all places could possibly be as bad as that last one, I hoped that I would never hear the name Eagle's Holding again. I certainly never wished to set my eyes on it at any point in the future.
I trusted Diane and knew that she wouldn't leave me even if something unexpected did happen. I just hoped that no one had any guns. Most ammo was used up from the first zombies, but Diane said that more ammo was undoubtedly out there somewhere.
Before too long I was yawning, we hadn't taken many breaks today and even riding was tiring. My legs were sore from Smokey's wide back. Diane waved at the big RV behind us, "Head on up and get some sleep. It was a long day."
I nodded and climbed up the ladder on the back of the RV. There weren't any big trees here, so we were sleeping on top of a RV that was conveniently parked beside a baseball diamond. A zombie couldn't manage the ladder, so it was plenty safe. It was odd to be sleeping on a hard surface instead of gently swinging though. One big perk was that it would allow me to roll over and lean against Diane's back as we slept.
I was jolted awake at the sound of screaming nearby. My heart hammered as Diane launched out of her sleeping bag with her sword in hand and dropped off the top of the RV. I remained in my sleeping bag, shivering in fear and reaction. I was still half-asleep, but the terrifying screams and cries from below still continued.
I tried to remain still in case someone spotted me, although I doubted that they could. I could see Diane's blue glowing eyes on the ground off to the side now. From how her eyes were dipping and moving as she was down there, it looked like she was dancing. Her eyes were all I could see though.
I heard a heavy thump and Diane darted forward some distance. Silence fell as the crazy yowling stopped. She backed up a bit before going back to where she had been. Her eyes closed and I only saw blackness for some time. Eventually her eyes reappeared and she slowly walked back.
She climbed back up the ladder. I finally felt safe enough to sit up, "What happened?"
Diane sighed heavily, "A cougar attacked Smokey."
I gasped in worry, "Is he alright?"
She hung her head in grief, "The cougar hit a big artery in his neck. He was dead before I could do anything."
A cougar had killed Smokey? Those cries had been from the cougar and Smokey? I had just groomed him last night and he had carried me over 300 kilometers during the last two months, he couldn't be gone...
My breath hitched in my throat in a sob. I hadn't felt such grief since I had realized that my parents were dead and even then I hadn't seen them for over a year. Diane pulled me into her lap and I cried my tears into her chest as she held me. Diane slowly laid down in her sleeping bag while holding me.
I clung to her neck as I cried myself out. As my last sniffle faded, I fell asleep still in Diane's arms.