I carried a box of screws to the storage area as I helped unload the trucks. Roland had stopped the other day just long enough to unload and sleep before heading back out for another load. The trailers were almost unloaded already. The first load had been strictly building supplies, food, or animals. This load was mostly building supplies and things that others had requested.
"Hey, Laura!"
I turned around to see Roland hailing me. I jogged over to come to a stop in front of him with a grin and a mock salute, "Yes, sir?"
His shoulders slumped as he sighed, "Please don't call me sir, I am not that old. The last thing I need is for this bunch of hooligans to start up with that."
I tilted my head, "How old are you?"
Roland made a face, "That question is irrelevant." I could see Amber and quite a few grinning in the background at Roland's distaste of anything related to birthdays or age.
Roland banged lightly on the side of a trailer, "However, the stuff in this trailer is yours."
Huh? I think he made a mistake. I hadn't requested anything. I already had everything I ever wanted and more. I glanced back, but Diane looked just as mystified as I was. I walked around to the back of the trailer and looked inside.
This was really confusing. It was still quarter full of stuff, mostly boxes bigger than I was and some wood planks. I looked back at Roland, "Which one is mine?"
I wasn't as dense as Jeff and knew from his expression that he was up to something. Far too many others were also watching. Some in confusion and some in expectation. Diane had her eyes narrowed as if something had occurred to her.
Roland chuckled at my confusion, "It is all yours."
I simply couldn't understand what was going on. He was claiming an entire quarter of a trailer had stuff for me when I knew that Roland was trying to haul as much as he could to help build this place. As I had always done since Diane rescued me, I turned to her for help.
She understood my silent pleading expression as the desperate call for help. Diane walked up the ramp and into the trailer as her eyes examined the boxes. She reached over to pick up a paper from on top of a box that was almost as tall as she was.
A grin slowly spread over her face before she looked back at Roland, "You knew that I was teasing about this right?"
Roland grinned widely, "Oh, I knew. But every time I asked if you needed anything, you always said that you had everything you needed. Besides, you do more than your share of work and have never asked for anything so I figured that this was fitting considering how much you care for that girl."
I was hopelessly lost and this conversation was not making any sense. Diane held out the piece of paper and I took it in curiosity. The side I could see was shiny white and it was pretty stiff for paper. I turned it over and the color picture made my jaw drop.
It was a massive playground set like you saw in the largest school playgrounds. Monkey bars, climbing ropes, cage towers, ladders, swing sets, and more. There were no stairs or ramps, which was a wise move in this zombie world, although there were a dozen slides.
Laughter and some cheering made me jump to see everyone enjoying my reaction. I blushed at being the center of attention. I had never had a gift like this though, Roland had given up space for many supplies for this.
I went over and shyly gave Roland a hug, "Thank you."
He lightly hugged me back before letting me go, "You're welcome. You worked hard too. However, I am not building it and I do expect to see you use it."
I nodded as shock turned into excitement. Roland flashed a smile before heading to sort out other supplies. Others rapidly entered to grab the big boxes and haul them out. The way they lifted them, they looked really heavy. It often took two or three people to move a single box.
Todd and Amber came over to Diane. Amber looked around the meadow, "We might as well put the boxes against the cliff for now, but where do you want to build this? I assume you aren't going to want it too far from the cliff that has the houses."
Diane looked around, "I honestly think we should build it in front of where that massive deck is supposed to be built. We can even have a slide going down from the deck to the playground. That way parents can also keep an eye on any future kids without having to leave the deck."
Amber nodded as her face lit up, "That is a very good idea. It will also give anyone a safe place to climb if a zombie gets loose in here."
They kept talking about which part would go where and marked it in the dirt with sticks. Amber left to go visit Roland. She always remained behind in Sanctuary to oversee everything and she missed her husband when he was gone. Amber was easy going and as long as everything that was essential got done, she was content.
It also sounded like Roland wanted to increase training, even if it meant that things were built slower. He wanted us to be ready in case any group of bandits showed up or anyone tried to attack the caravan on the road. I wondered if I could convince Todd to help me look into the boxes after supper. It was worth a shot.
Needless to say, I was astounded and shocked when almost every person gathered after supper and started assembling the playground. Diane grinned at my obvious surprise, "They have been working hard for a week straight and this is a break from work that serves a purpose. This is about as close as they can come to unwinding and just having fun at the moment. They will slow down and relax more later, but right now they still feel that driving force pushing them to work hard and build."
Some days I wondered if Diane actually could read my mind. I had to admit though, the playground went up with startling speed with so many hands on deck, so to speak.
The last few bolts were being firmly tightened as I regarded my new play toy. To call it a playground was a bit of a misnomer. It would be safer to call it the jungle gym of all jungle gyms. Six main jungle gyms had been connected with a variety of ropes, planks, monkey bars and mini bridges.
I ran past Todd and tapped his arm, "Tag! You're it!"
"Aha! You are in trouble now!"
I slid under a rope climbing section and ran to climb up a rock climbing wall to safer ground. Todd was too big to easily follow and had to loop around. He gave up trying to tag me and tagged another blue-eyed person before running to take shelter in the massive structure of aluminum climbing equipment.
It turned into a giant game of tag as people thoroughly broke in the new jungle gym. To my immense delight, most people joined the game that went on for several hours. Some of those fired people were fast, but only Diane could still match my speed if I used the heat. That would likely change in a few months when they could also sense the heat and use it.
I actually wouldn't need much of a run tonight after playing so hard on the playground. I looked up to see Kerry waiting on a bench that someone had put together with spare lumber while building the playground.
Kerry greeted Diane with an apologetic expression, "I hate to disturb you on such a nice evening, but the vials have lost their glow and Roland plans to leave at daybreak tomorrow."
Diane nodded in resignation and followed Kerry to where she had stuff already set up. Diane had never said no yet, so Kerry had anticipated her decision. The dislike of needles never stopped Diane, although most knew that it was not something she liked.
Kerry's shimmering blue eyes were keen and the fading sunlight would not hinder the nurse. She waited for Diane's signal. Diane already had her eyes closed as she sat on a bench and tried to call up the chill.
I once more tried it too. One day I would manage it, but it was like trying to grab fog. I tried to think of people I liked who might be bitten, but the heat in my blood didn't even shift. No hint of a headache appeared.
"Now."
I opened my eyes as Diane's signal as Kerry pushed the sharp needle into Diane's elbow to access her glowing blood. The sight of it made me cringe even though I never had problems with needles in the past. Perhaps it was a good thing that I couldn't make my blood do what Diane's did. I didn't fancy that large needle piercing my skin.
I felt so bad for Diane. She had goosebumps on every bit of skin and her breathing was already heavy. Seeing her like this made my Heartfire shift and rise, although it was in a defensive fashion. I turned my head to carefully scan the meadow to ensure that no zombie or trouble lurked in the growing darkness. My eyes easily pierced the darkness, but no trouble was near.
"Stop." Diane swayed slightly in the chair from the aftereffects of the chill. She didn't bother trying to stand yet. Kerry wouldn't have allowed her to get up while she was swaying like that either.
Diane yawned as Kerry stored the five vials of glowing blood. They looked particularly beautiful in the darkness as they gave off their own light. Kerry dug around in a bag and handed Diane a mini chocolate bar.
Kerry packed some sort of small sugary item ever since I had mentioned that Diane perked up a bit with sweets after the blood donation. Diane rested in the chair for a few minutes before heading towards an empty chair near the campfire.
She walked slowly, as if she had no energy left at all. I wished I could give her half of mine. Others watched her approach and every pair of blue eyes brightened slightly as they saw her. Hanging around Ninette had made me see some things in different ways and I was beginning to think that anyone who was fired reacted the same way I did to seeing her like this.
Diane yawned again, "Mind running with Todd tonight?"
I nodded, "I will keep him away from big tree roots too."
Todd snorted, "I only tripped once and that was before I could see clearly."
Diane chuckled only to be interrupted by another yawn. She shook her head, "I am heading to bed. See you in the morning."
"Good night." I watched her head to the truck garage where she would climb up into the hammock. She was the first to head to bed tonight, but that always happened if she donated blood.
Kerry sat beside me and watched her go with a solemn and somewhat protective expression. Diane had once told me to never anger a nurse. They always knew what caused the most pain and how to manage it. If the Heartfire made me think of finding weapons to try and guard Diane, then I suspected the nurse was contemplating other ways to keep any foes at bay.
I looked around. Those who were not fired were acting as they usually did, although they were keeping it a bit quieter for Diane. However, those who were fired were all more alert than usual. Their shimmering eyes were brighter than normal, showing that their Heartfire was higher than usual.
I tilted my head at Kerry, "You feel it too, don't you?"
Kerry looked at me in utter confusion at the question that came out of the blue. "I am not sure I am following your train of thought..."
I clarified, "Whenever Diane gives blood, you feel your sense sharpen, don't you? Do you also feel an unusually strong desire to protect her when she is like this?"
Kerry blinked at me in shock and looked around. Those with blue eyes were listening and also looked surprised. It was clear that they also felt the same thing, but had not realized the cause or that the others felt it.
Kerry focused on me with an intent expression, "I take it that you feel this too?"
I nodded, "Yes, ever since my eyes turned blue, whenever Diane donates that glowing blood my Heartfire shifts and makes me want to protect her."
Kerry nodded slowly, "It must be something with the Heartfire that is causing this reaction then. I didn't feel like this the first few times I drew her blood. I only started feeling it a few weeks after getting fired. It is getting slightly stronger over time, so it is probably reflecting how established the Heartfire is getting in my own body."
I suspected that she hit the nail on the head with that summary. I wondered if the Heartfire was affecting us in other ways that we hadn't noticed yet.