I rode on a pale grey horse. Ninette had a dapple mare that didn't seem to care that Diane and Don were keeping up with her light trot. I would have much preferred sitting on Diane's shoulder since her run was smooth, but I didn't even bother asking this time. I knew she would say no in this situation, and I completely agreed with her.
I looked up as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud. Taver had left for his next trading run already. He took our new letters with him. I had really enjoyed reading the letters we had received. My friends told me of things they had been learning in class. That reminded me that I hadn't really touched my textbooks lately, I was going to have to correct that before Diane said something.
Diane had been telling Ace and Matthew everything we had learned about the Heartfire virus. She had also mentioned Don's survival. In her letter to Ace, I had told Diane to let Ace know that she was getting slack without her usual practice. No one else here came close to the average Guard back at the Fort knew, so no one was even close to Diane's skill level.
Diane had found it humorous that Ace had run from Nancine twice more when she tried to flirt with him. He was now just trying to avoid her entirely. I seemed to recall that Ace had a severe aversion to dancing or with any type of flirting. I had hugged him once during training as a thank you and I had noticed that he had been uneasy with it. He had been one of the very few to avoid all of the parties after the ceremonies or speeches.
Ace also mentioned that without Diane's scouting, the amount of greens were actually being rationed. No one could scout like she did, and they were just trying to remember which areas had been best last year. It seemed like poetic justice to me, although I knew that it wasn't something I should mention to Diane. She never held grudges.
Don cleared his throat nervously, "So... What if that thing got loose and we stumble across it on the way there?"
Diane seemed amused, although she was alert, "That is why I am packing my bow and several coils of thick snare wire."
If Diane hadn't been here, I would have turned my horse and urged it to run back to the palisade walls. But she was here and that was the only reason I felt safe. Don may have the beginnings of the Heartfire speed, but he was still the same impulsive young adult that he had been before. I would not have trusted him to protect me.
Diane tilted her head, "It is just around that bend, we should slow down."
I immediately slowed my horse down. Diane took the lead as she carefully rounded the bend. Don was nervous, but slowly followed her while Ninette urged her mount forward. Her horse snorted and balked, it obviously had more sense than we did. Don returned and grabbed the reins of her horse before tying it to a tree, "The snare wire is still holding that thing, so it should be safe enough to go on foot. We won't get the horses much closer without risk of them bolting."
I found it humorous that Don kept referring to the zombie as 'the thing'. Wasn't that the name of the weird decapitated hand on the Adam's Family? I somehow doubted that this zombie was as harmless as what I had seen on the tv. Besides, if you cut off a zombie's hand, it is just a motionless body part. It does not get up and run around on its own accord.
I dismounted and tied my own horse up using a knot that Diane had showed me. Diane was at the bend, keeping half an eye on me while also watching the other two gape at whatever was just out of my sight. I walked towards her while trying to peer around the corner.
My steps hesitated as I caught sight of the blonde haired man. His bright red eyes and quick movements told me exactly what he was. A Swift. I was very grateful that he had a noose of both thick wire and rope around his neck. I didn't want to get any closer.
Most of my training was irrelevant with this zombie. It could climb trees. A Swift was fast, and didn't tire. Diane could move faster than a Swift for some time, but even she tired. A Swift never grew tired. They were dangerous, pure and simple. I still couldn't believe that Diane had tied this one up for Ninette when it had started chasing her on her midnight run.
Diane was mostly focused on the Swift now that I was closer to her. She glanced at Ninette, "I tied it up, but getting a blood sample from it is your problem."
Ninette scratched her head as she nervously examined the snarling man from a distance, "Is there any chance of me convincing either of you two to wrestle that thing down for me to get a blood sample?"
Diane snorted and shook her head. Don's jaw dropped as a look of utter disbelief and horror crossed his face. My eyes grew wide at the thought of simply taking a few steps closer. She had better not look at me...
Ninette sighed in disappointment, "I kind of assumed that. I will have to think about it carefully. Diane, could you possibly help me test his reactions from a distance? I just want to see how fast it can move and if it gets loose you are the best qualified person to lure it away."
Diane made a face, but heard out what Ninette wanted. It was similar to what I had done with the Swift in the barn. Mostly moving to the side to see how fast it could react. Ninette took notes, although I noticed that both Ninette and Don were very nervous around this zombie. Don's eyes were a bit brighter with apprehension.
I didn't blame them, fear was the only proper reaction around such a creature. How Diane wasn't bothered by its presence was beyond me. She was very alert, but not scared in the least. It could have been an average zombie for the amount of concern she was showing.
Diane also rubbed her hands on a stick before lightly tossing it at the zombie. The zombie caught it midair. Its reflexes sent shivers down my back as I remained near the base of tree. If the red-eyed zombie somehow got loose, I was climbing. Chances were that it would follow one of the others. Even if it did start to climb, I knew it wouldn't get far before Diane came after it.
Before long, Ninette's nerves had had enough and we retreated back down the trail. The horses were more than happy to leave the area. Then again, so was I. I had a bad feeling about leaving a Swift tethered to a tree like a dog on a chain, even that far out in the forest. Swifts were dangerous. All of my training had emphasized that.
It took us three hours to return to the lab. I hadn't ever really realized just how far away Diane could run at night. I thought she usually remained closer to the palisade. I had never been so happy to pass through a gate and go inside of a fence.
We unsaddled the horses and Ninette went off to the lab. Diane led me to the playground where several kids were playing. She had always thought it was important that I play with other kids on a regular basis. I didn't understand her reasoning, but I didn't question her.
Diane would often run laps around the inside of the fence while passing by each time, although sometimes she allowed us to drag her into a game of tag. That was always fun. We would all gang up on her and try to catch her.
Diane never went easy on us in that particular game and that was why it was so fun. She pulled out all the stops as she would climb, jump, cartwheel, do backflips, and pull other acrobatic stunts to avoid us as opposed to just running like other adults did.
Even with eight of us chasing her around that playground, we rarely managed to catch her. No child ever gave up though, since watching Diane's evasive maneuvers was better than any tv show ever invented.
Other children got cold from the ever-present snow and headed back home to dry off and warm up. I was getting cold too, and followed Diane back to the lab. Ninette was predictably seated in front of a piece of lab equipment. Taver had brought her a part to repair a really fancy piece of equipment and Ninette had been quite distracted ever since.
I didn't see Don, although he was undoubtedly inside the palisade somewhere. Zombies still made him nervous, and he wasn't like Diane or me who would casually evade normal zombies. Ninette had been comparing Don's progress to what Diane remembered.
The changes Don was experiencing were progressing slower than Diane's had. Ninette thought that it might be due to the fact that Diane only dripped some blood onto his bite so only a very small amount of the virus probably got into his blood stream.
Don was finally able to sense the heat when it flared up. He wasn't able to control it yet, but he could feel it. I wondered what the heat felt like. Was it like when you ran hard and felt overly warm? Or was it like when you sat too close to a fire and your legs got too hot? I didn't know.
Don wandered into the room to sit on a chair with a mug of coffee. I was seriously beginning to think that he was not going to end up anything like Diane, regardless if they shared the same virus. His footsteps were easy to hear and his entrance was quite obvious. Most people never realized when Diane entered a room if they didn't hear me. Diane would also never touch coffee. Don apparently had an awful lot to learn...
Ninette started speaking without looking up, "I think I finally figured out how Diane ended up with the Heartfire virus."
That got my attention, as well as Diane's. Don also looked over at the white coated scientist.
Ninette continued without any prompting, "At a guess your T Cells had managed to determine that the zombie virus was a threat and the white cells had attacked. This zombie virus only does so well because the average immune system is unable recognize it as a threat before it takes over. I suspect that when a white blood cell managed to break down the zombie virus, that it once more became unstable."
Ninette finally glanced up as she shrugged, "Anyways, when the white blood cell absorbed the pieces it caused the white blood cell to mutate. The white blood cell had probably absorbed other damaged cells in your body just before, such as old T cells and so on. Somehow, it was able to create a new cell with many of the features that the original cells once had. Because they were your cells to start with, the new Heartfire virus saw your cells as normal and didn't harm them."
Ninette made a face, "Well, other than the cells in the immune system. I am not sure why it decided to destroy your immune system."
Ninette turned her chair to face Diane, "It still retained several features that viruses have and that is why it is also able to be transmitted. When your blood is actually glowing, there is a high concentration of a chemical that suppresses the immune response of the Heartfire virus. Oddly enough, that same chemical is created by the virus cells themselves and you somehow are convincing your body that it is needed. Almost like how some people can cause their body to produce adrenaline at will."
Ninette looked pointedly at Don, "When a suppressed virus gets into a new host, it doesn't attack since it is suppressed. Instead, it creates an actual Heartfire cell to reproduce more viruses due to the low concentration of the virus. When it is absorbing nutrients and stuff from the body to build the cell, it also takes on the cell signature of that host. After that point all new viruses carry that signature."
Diane looked thoughtful. She was understanding much more of this than I was, "The virus creates more cells when the concentration of viruses gets too low in the blood? Is that why after the first few times I pushed myself that I noticed the changes progressing a bit more rapidly?"
Ninette nodded, "Yes, your muscles used up most of the viruses present and some of the remaining viruses created more of those cells to create even more viruses. Now the level of virus in your blood remains above that level since there are so many Heartfire cells in your body. Your body is more or less balanced with the number of Heartfire cells it has and that means that you probably won't see any more changes."
Diane shook her head in faint confusion. "I will take your word for it. Just tell me that I am not about to turn into a zombie..."
Ninette chuckled and shook her head, "No, you are not about to turn into a zombie."
I chuckled, glad that I wasn't the only one who had been somewhat confused by the science mumbo jumbo. Diane glanced over at me with bright eyes that faintly glimmered in amusement.
Don had his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "So my progress is slower because the levels of the virus in my blood don't usually go below that certain concentration and the viruses don't make more of those cells, which would in turn raise the virus level in my blood?"
Ninette nodded, "Yes. I compared notes of what Diane said she did on a regular basis in the beginning, and she pushed herself a lot more and moved much more than you did, which is why she progressed so much faster than you did. You tend to try to relax as much as you can."
Don ducked his head sheepishly for being caught trying to be lazy. Diane looked mischevious, "Well, we can fix that..." I grinned widely, Don didn't stand a chance at tiring her out and this could be very amusing to watch.
Don shook his head rapidly, "No thanks, just watching how little sleep you get makes me tired. I consider napping as a nice relaxing hobby, but it is already being seriously curtailed."
Diane and Ninette chuckled as I giggled. If I understood things correctly, his hobby was going to more or less disappear within a year. He simply wouldn't get tired easily. Don would have to find a new hobby. One that entailed effort and exercise. I couldn't wait to see his reaction the moment he realized it.