We reached a camping spot in a baseball diamond during late afternoon and set up camp. Julian seemed to gravitate towards the dozen who had been on the trailer we rode on since he was more familiar with them.
The newcomers were being shown the ropes, although there was less to do than normal since we were inside of a baseball diamond and didn't need to put the fence panels up. Once the initial rush was over, I let the chickens out.
Julian's double take of the rooster collar on the rooster made me giggle. It was quite apparent that he didn't know what it was anymore than we had known when we first saw it. Just wait until the rooster tried to crow...
I left the baseball diamond with Diane and a dozen others to gather wood for a campfire. Others would bring out the bigger axes and saws later on to restock our supply of wood for the boilers. Any with blue eyes were working double time as they tried to burn off energy after sitting most of the day.
We had a good supply of wood and had gathered quite a few common edible plants by the time that supper was ready. It was an early supper and would allow Diane a bit more time for training. The rooster attempted to crow somewhere behind a trailer and the noise led to snickering from quite a few people. That hilarious noise never got old. The newcomers had heard it earlier on, but still found it funny.
After supper, Diane headed to an open section of the field with a staff in her hand. It looked like she was in the mood for fighting training tonight. Although sometimes she used a staff in zombie training as well.
Diane kept going past the middle of the field and a coil of rope appeared in her hands as she headed for the fence. Well, it was apparently zombie training after all. Probably a good thing with the three new people we had just picked up. A refresher or new tricks never hurt anyone either.
I always loved Diane's training. I grabbed both Todd's and Julian's hand, "Come on, let's go! It's zombie night!"
Others perked up as they got up and started heading towards the field. Julian was rather pale and looked quite nervous, "Uh... Zombie night?"
I grinned at him, "Every evening Diane teaches something. Tonight we are doing zombie evasion."
My words didn't ease his concern, but I still dragged Julian and an amused Todd towards the field. Todd didn't like zombies, but he always joined the training in case he ended up in a similar situation. Most people joined the training since it was new and often interesting. It was a welcome change from just sitting by the fire and gossiping.
"Is she walking that zombie on a leash?!" One of the other new men was staring with an open mouth as Diane returned with one zombie in tow. She was overly cautious in case of an accident, and usually looped a rope around the zombies neck in case she needed to immediately gain control of the situation. In this case, it really did look like she was walking a zombie on a really long leash.
One of the traders stretched, "Consider it more of a safety line." He was unconcerned by the slow zombie's approach. His blue eyes said that his apparent lack of attention was just an act.
Diane dropped the zombie's leash for a moment and jogged towards us, "Todd, can you and Laura please take our three new companions to the far side and go over zombie evasion basics?"
Todd easily agreed, "Sure." I nodded and tagged behind Todd as he went to track down the other two newbies who were lingering nervously near the back of the crowd. I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn't get to help in whatever Diane was doing, but training I was about to do was very important for these three.
We all went to the far side of the trailers so they weren't distracted by the zombie. Todd explained about the behavior of zombies as well as basic evasion techniques. All three listened carefully, knowing that being on the road meant that they would be using this knowledge sooner rather than later.
The demonstrations were more fun. Todd pretended to chase me around while I showed them when to use certain tactics. Then it was their turn. I went to get three volunteers from the traders to pretend to be zombies while Todd and I watched and called out advice.
All three were trying hard and Julian looked like he was actually enjoying himself. I glanced towards Diane as she wrapped up her lesson. I grinned at the three, "You did very well. Now, let's go meet a zombie."
Their expressions were priceless. The one man glanced across the field nervously, "You mean today? We just finished our first training session..."
Todd frowned at the man in disappointment, "Surely, you did not honestly think that we would wait until a zombie found you on its own power to see how much you learned? Introducing you to a zombie in a controlled scenario is far safer."
None of them had any argument for that. They reluctantly followed us as we went towards the zombie. A few blue eyed people were dodging it at closer range while Diane kept careful watch, ready to intervene if a freak accident occurred.
Diane didn't look at us, but I knew she was aware of our approach. Quick glances from the others present showed that our arrival had not gone unnoticed. We stood back a bit and simply let the three watch the last bits of practice while getting used to how the zombie moved.
Diane walked over to snag the end of the zombie's leash before hooking it onto a peg she had hammered deep into the ground earlier. The last stragglers who had been practicing headed back to the trailers. The zombie hadn't noticed Diane behind it, and it leaned against the end of its leash as it reached towards us.
Diane was watching the three for their reactions so she would know if any of them may freak out in the coming practice. "Okay, you with the brown shirt. Jog around the zombie and come over here by me. You are new, so give yourself as much space as you want."
I grinned as the look on his face said that he would rather be on top of the trailers far behind us instead of approaching a zombie. He went wide around it at something closer to a run than a jog, clearly not taking any chances. Of course, the zombie staggered after him with a faint growl.
Diane was doing a very fast walk backwards while keeping the same distance between herself and the zombie. "Okay, you in the blue shirt, come join us."
He also went, despite his obvious misgivings. The two stuck close to Diane as she continued to circle away from the zombie. "Julian, your turn."
He took a deep breath to build up his courage and did a fast jog over to join them. Now the zombie was staggering after all four. Diane had slowed down a bit and the zombie was closer than before, although that wasn't saying much since you could have parked one of the trailers between them with room to spare.
Diane suddenly broke away from the group to run towards the zombie and passed by it with less than two horse-lengths to spare. The three watched her in shock. She grinned at them from the other side of the zombie, "Now join me over here and don't move faster than a fast jog. You are also not allowed to go where the zombie's leash won't reach."
Todd stood beside me while both of us watched them manage to get to Diane without scaring themselves too badly. As soon as they got to her, she went to the other side once move and made them go to her. Each pass she stood closer and closer to the zombie, slowly whittling away their unrational fear into something that wouldn't let them panic in the future.
She finally called it quits when they were out of breath and soaked in sweat from their exercise and nerves. Diane dismissed them and lured the zombie outside the fence. She cut most of the rope free to reuse later. It wasn't safe to remove the noose around the zombie's neck, so we left it there. It would get it off eventually.
The blue eyed traders started jogging around the inside of the baseball diamond as the sun approached the horizon. They needed the exercise to avoid the burning pain while they slept and they still couldn't see well enough to go outside the fence once the sun set. Todd and I joined them for company. Diane came back and ran with us as well.
Those who hadn't been fired didn't bother joining us, although a few did out of boredom. The three newcomers looked at one another and went to join those jogging. Amber came over to run beside us and matched our slightly faster pace.
She looked amused, "They think that this is some sort of training regime that they might get brownie points for joining."
Diane chuckled, "I can see two of them thinking that. They seemed to think that they had to prove themselves to Roland. We spoke with Julian on the way up, so he likely knows what is going on since almost everyone running has blue eyes."
Diane was probably correct. Roland had noted previously that Julian was very observant and we had talked about this while riding. I wondered how long they would attempt to keep up. There was no way they would be able to go as long or as far as anyone here who had been fired.
One by one we returned to the fire to relax a bit as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. The sky continued to darken and I could feel the weight of someone staring at me. I looked over to see one of new men staring at me in surprise. He looked away as he noticed me turn towards him.
Why had he been staring? A flicker of blue told me the answer. If Diane's eyes were glowing, then mine would be too. It wasn't anything new for the rest of the traders, but it was a shock to our three additions. Julian was the only one who was polite enough not to stare, although he often glanced over in curiosity and admiration of our glowing eyes.
Diane looked over at me as her eyes glowed brightly in the darkness, "Feel like a run?"
I jumped to my feet with a grin. Running inside of the baseball fence had been boring, but I loved running through the forests at night. It always seemed so magical.
She jumped to her feet with a grin. One of the new people looked confused, "A run where? We just finished running laps around the fence."
Diane glanced at him, "The virus is more established in our bodies and we need much more exercise. We are able to see quite well in the dark and can run through the forest."
Her answer was much shorter than usual. I suspected that she was tired of those two staring at us. I knew she felt their stares much more than I did, partially because of the Heartfire, but also due to Ace's training.
Todd followed us out of the gate as we headed towards the trees. I could see Diane relaxing slightly, so I must have been correct that their staring had bothered her. Well, they would be asleep by the time we returned. They would get over their amazement in a few days.
All three of us were quiet,simply enjoying the silent night that was interrupted by the occasional bird,frog, or cricket.