We set up camp the next evening. Kerry was currently investigating the blood collection supplies Diane had raided from a pharmacy. I was perched on a chair watching Diane with interest. She was sneaking up behind the rooster. For the life of me, I had no clue what she was trying to do.
With a swift move, she managed to grab the rooster and pulled something out of her pocket. It looked like a wrist bracelet. I was confused, but watched in curiosity as Diane checked and altered the fit as she put it on the rooster's neck.
She let the rooster go and he walked off shaking his feather in disapproval of his new accessory. Others were also watching her. We had set the camp up and there was nothing left to do, so this was the most interesting thing to watch at the moment. From their expressions, they weren't any wiser than I was.
Diane came over to sit in the chair beside me as she waited for Kerry to get her supplies set up to her satisfaction.
"Why did you put a wrist band on the rooster?"
Diane looked at me with a wide grin, "It isn't a wrist band. It is a rooster collar. It prevents them from filling up their vocal air sacks completely, so he won't be able to crow loudly."
I looked at the rooster again, but I could clearly see that it was quite loose around the rooster's neck. Most collars I had seen on dogs had been tighter. "Is it supposed to be that loose?"
Diane glanced over at the rooster, "The instructions said that there should be enough room for me to easily put my finger between the collar and his neck. He shouldn't be any louder than the hens now, which is a good thing considering the death threats he has been getting."
I giggled as I recalled yesterday morning. This morning had also seen a similar flurry of death threats before I found another box to stick the stupid suicidal bird in. The chickens all were loose inside our fence. We hadn't had any problems with them yet, other than the rooster's terrible timing for his morning crowing. It was nice to have eggs for breakfast or baking.
Kerry called Diane over and I followed her. A dozen or so others also followed in curiosity. Most opted to remain where they were, not realizing that this was no ordinary blood donation. Diane took a seat on the back of a truck tailgate where Kerry had laid out her supplies.
Another lady was also holding a blood collection vial. She had also been a nurse before the zombies showed up. They had talked with Diane a lot about her blood donation. In truth, they had beaten the topic to death as they dredged up any tiny detail.
They now knew that Diane's blood was normally dangerous, and that it was only contagious when it glowed. Diane could only hold her blood in that state for about 30 seconds, so they didn't have long to draw blood. That was why both nurses were going to be taking blood, one from each arm.
Diane hated needles and it seemed like fate had decided to plague her by giving only her blood that could make others immune to the zombie virus. Kerry and the other nurse put a rubber band around her arm and located a vein while waiting.
Kerry nodded at Diane, "Let me know when."
Diane took a deep breath as she began the arduous task of trying to make her blood run cold. Silence reigned as Diane appeared to be deep in concentration. A muscle twitched and her breathing got a bit heavier. She shook her head lightly as if she had a headache. Her muscles trembled just before goosebumps started appearing.
"Now."
I winced as two needles entered her skin. Perhaps it was a good thing that I couldn't do that yet... Glowing silver blood started rapidly filling up the tubes. The nurses popped out the full ones and put new ones in as fast as they could.
Diane was breathing heavily and she started to sway from side to side slightly. Kerry was worried, "Are you sure we should keep going?"
Diane sounded completely out of breath, "Keep going. Not long."
It was only mere seconds later that Diane spoke again, "Stop."
Both nurses immediately removed the needles and taped cotton above the tiny pinprick. Diane leaned forward to put her head between her knees as she tried to catch her breath. I watched Diane in concern, my Heartfire once more rising as I saw her like this.
I looked over at Todd. He was blinking in confusion, I wondered if his Heartfire was reacting as well. Diane sighed heavily before slowly sitting back up. She was once more exhausted.
Kerry lined up ten vials that had glowing contents, "Is that going to be enough?"
Diane looked over and nodded tiredly, "Supposedly even just one drop is more than sufficient, but it goes a bit faster if more is injected. This also causes the pain to build and disappear faster, although it still takes about 24 hours to get the pain under control. Simply holding a cut to an open wound can't get that much blood into the bloodstream itself, but it is enough to transmit the virus."
Kerry nodded briskly as she put them in a cooler and went off to plug it into the one battery that had been set aside just for the cooler. Diane yawned. A bizarre quiet belching noise had me turning around in confusion. The rooster had finally tried to crow.
Diane and many others burst out laughing at the sound. I could barely sit up I was laughing so hard.
Todd fell down laughing as he gasped out, "It sounded like the rooster burped!"
It had sounded a lot like a quieter version of an old guy's drawn out belch, but coming from a bird it was hilarious. It was a bit louder than the hens usual clucking, but nothing like the loud trumpet he usually produced. That was too funny...
Diane shook her head, "I am so glad he did not do that while they were taking blood..."
I giggled and Diane yawned again. She shook her head as she tried to wake up. I passed her an apple, which she took with quiet thanks before getting up and slowly walking over to the campfire. I sat beside her as I kept an eye on her. It looked like she was about to fall asleep while sitting there.
Roland took a seat on the other side of Diane. He watched her nibble on the apple for a few seconds before chuckling as she yawned again, "Down for the count, huh?"
Diane grinned before another yawn interrupted it. Roland found it amusing, "Not used to seeing you yawn. Nice to see that you do have some limits though."
Diane smothered another yawn behind her hand, "That's it. I am off to bed. See you in the morning."
The sun was starting to set, so the others wouldn't be too overly far behind. I watched her slowly walk over to the tree and felt relieved once she made it into her hammock without any serious problem. I heard the rooster's ridiculous attempt at a crow and laughed along with everyone else.
We were easily amused. The poor bird was going to have self-esteem issues for the rest of its hopefully long life. It looks like he was now safe from the cooking pot, even if only for amusement's sake.
I looked across the fire at Todd. His eyes had a very faint glimmer, almost as if his eyes were reflecting a tiny bit of firelight. It was a long ways from a glow, but it was the first hint. "We better go for our run before it gets too much darker out. Not that running in the dark bothers me."
Todd stood up, "Good plan. Although you really aren't running in the dark if you can see everything."
I grinned at him, "True. But you still can't see in the dark yet."
He stuck his tongue out at me childishly before heading for the gate. His abilities were definitely increasing and an hour long jog left him breathing hard, but still standing. We came back and went into our hammocks. The sky was almost completely dark now.
I heard a few whispers from people talking with spouses and friends, some were still deciding if they wanted to get the Heartfire virus. Diane had spoken to everyone about it and had made several things quite clear.
Once you got Heartfire, there was no going back. Heartfire was immune to Heartfire and couples would have to make their decision together. I wasn't entirely sure what Diane had meant by that and she had managed to change the topic when I had inquired. Considering that Todd had gone beet red, I hadn't asked a second time.
Roland and Amber were married and were one of the first to tell Kerry to count them in. It sounded like about half wanted the virus for its extra strength and speed. None were dismayed by the exercise that they would need or any of the other details. Some planned on waiting since Diane offered to donate blood another day if needed. Others said they would do it only if they were bitten by a zombie.
It would be odd to see so many bright blue eyes in a couple of weeks. I was intrigued and thought it would be a neat sight once their eyes could glow. I fell asleep dreaming of a forest full of glowing blue eyes.
People were excited as we set up camp and prepared to stay here for several days. I passed Todd the pegs to interlock the panelling for our fence. We were setting it up, although it would not likely be needed. I could see why Roland liked to camp here. Someone had built a large wooden palisade in the middle of a field with a creek running through it.
You could put four soccer fields in here easily. We had closed the doors so no zombies could get in. Just to be on the safe side, we also put up the chain link fencing. People could run inside of the large palisade without worry.
I tilted my head as I watched Diane manage to get another piece of scaffolding up onto the top of the one trailer. Oh, now I saw what she was doing. She was building a watchtower out of the scaffolding. Roland had asked her to keep an eye out for trouble and she was taking his request quite seriously.
Out of 57 traders, 34 had decided to get the Heartfire virus today. Over half of the team was going to be more or less incapacitated for at least a day. How high was she building that tower? That trailer was pretty high to start with and she had three sections of scaffolding already interlocked.
The palisade wall was easily three times as tall as the average person, but her scaffolding towered over that. Diane had run hard on the way here, so she wouldn't need an evening run. I went to arrange the wood for our campfire. It wouldn't need to be as big as usual since most people would be walking a lot.
I eventually stopped and looked around. Everything was done and we had just finished lunch as well. People were double checking that there was nothing left to do and heading towards where everyone was gathering. Those who wanted Heartfire had started arranging themselves in a long line.
I wandered over to the truck. Diane was perched on top of her tower creation and watching the proceeding below with interest. Kerry looked around and her eyes landed on me, "Laura, could you please carry this tray for me?"
I nodded and came forward. 34 syringes were carefully lined up on the tray. I could see one spare vial of blood in the cooler. They had decided to keep one on hand in case of an emergency. The rest of the vials had been split into the syringes.
I carefully picked up the tray and followed Kerry as she headed for the line of waiting people. Todd walked on her other side with a bucket. Kerry took a syringe and injected it into each volunteer's arm before dropping the empty syringe into Todd's bucket.
One by one, the glowing liquid disappeared as it was injected into those who wanted it.
"Last one... And we are done. I hope you will feel that it was worth it in several hours."
Todd took the bucket away to bury the contents a very deep hole we had dug earlier. I looked up at Diane, but she was already scanning the horizon on the other side of the palisade as she kept an eye out for trouble or company. Her eyes were rather bright as her Heartfire was increasing her alertness.
People started to scatter. Most started walking the perimeter of the palisade to prevent the pain from getting a head start. It wouldn't help much, but anything was better than nothing. Kerry had decided that an ounce of prevention was better than a pound of cure, so the people who got the injection would be walking until they dropped.
I walked with some of the people since there wasn't anything else to do. Hours slowly passed and the pain slowly began to make its appearance. The lady I was walking beside groaned faintly while shaking her head. Others were also in discomfort as the Heartfire virus was making its presence known. I didn't have the heart to tell her that this was just the beginning.
The day passed slowly for them. Most came to sit while eating supper. They were glad for the break from walking since their feet and legs were sore from both the Heartfire and the amount of excercise. One man sighed, "I think the Heartfire virus should have been called the fireheart virus. This is brutal."
Another man agreed, "Yeah, the pain does have a lot in common with fire, doesn't it?"
Anyone listening who was also in pain readily agreed. I could vouch for that one too. One woman managed to chuckle, "I am reminded of my kiln I used to fire pottery in. I feel like I am being fired too."
The man responded, "That is a nickname I can agree with. I am hoping that the pain won't get too much worse, or else it may pass the fired point and become burnt."
I commented, "Once you get this pain under control, exercise will keep it at bay. Later on, a few months down the road, if you push yourself too far you can overextend yourself and feel a different pain. That one hurts much more unless you catch yourself and stop what you are doing."
The conversation turned to the heat that they would one day be able to sense. The term 'fired' seemed to be adopted as a nickname for those who had received the Heartfire virus. The one lady couldn't wait until her eyes turned blue. She had always admired mine. As soon as they finished eating, Kerry shooed them back to their walking.
Someone took a plate up to Diane. She was still playing the role of Guard as she remained on her sentry post. We were secure with her up there. Nothing would get in without her knowing about it. I left her to stand guard while I kept walking with the others as moral support. I had been in their shoes and I sympathize with the pain they were going through.
One lady jogged over, she wasn't one of the ones who had been 'fired'. She grinned at the people I was walking with, "I was just speaking with Diane and she has been watching your progress. She thinks the direct injection has caused the pain to appear sooner, which means the pain should peak faster. Her best guess is that the pain should peak within the hour and start to fade. You are almost over the worst of it."
The newly fired people around me grinned at that news. A few cheered, which caused those who were more distant to look over and decide to walk towards us to find out what they were cheering about. All were happy to hear that the worst of it was almost over.
It was going to be a long night since Kerry didn't want them stationary for more than hour, but everyone was in good spirits. None were regretting their decision yet.