I woke up and remembered to be quiet. I had heard Diane come in sometime in the middle of the night and her footsteps had sounded like she was still tired. Ace had gone to his room with his nearly silent footsteps.
My eyes glowed in the dark room as I looked around. Diane was still sleeping. I slowly wiggled out of my blankets and took my clothes to the office to change out of my nightgown. I heard the faintest rustle of cloth from further down the hallway.
Ace must be getting up. I went outside to wait for him. It didn't take him long to appear outside and give the meadow a lookover. Such surveillance checks were habit and I had already looked over the meadow to see if anything had changed.
I grinned at him, "That is the first time we have gotten outside without her waking up. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to lose those bets today."
Ace chuckled, "I believe you could be correct."
A soft voice called down, "We wondered about that. We already went for our run and can make sure that no one disturbs her." We looked up to see Trevor and two other Messengers lounging on their usual deck.
Ace nodded, "Thank you." He looked down at me, "Feel like a run?"
I grinned and skipped around wordlessly to show that even if Diane was breaking some sleeping records, I had more than enough energy to compensate. He chuckled and shook his head as he started walking along the path to the nearest slide. I followed and knew that he was walking because jogging was louder.
Soon enough, we were on the ground and jogging towards the gate. Even at a jog it took some time to get there. It never failed to surprise me how large the meadow was. It simply wasn't something you could quite get used to.
The sentries above gave no warnings so we knew the area on the other side of the access door was clear of zombies or animals. The door was just big enough for one person to pass through, but we didn't really like leaving the massive gates open all day. That kind of defeated the purpose of having gates. We did open them several times throughout the day for the trader caravans and livestock, but we closed them afterwards.
Ace passed through the access door ahead of me as a precaution. He didn't pause in his jogging though and I didn't wait either. I saw a few returning from their early runs and a few others in the distance. It looked like we were some of the earlier ones up and about.
"So, did those Messengers talk your ears off last night?"
I grinned at Ace, "They had lots of jokes and even more energy. I don't know how they manage to sleep."
He was amused, "They have gotten used to running all day, so if they don't get as much exercise, it tends to express itself in other ways."
I giggled, "Is that why they seem to act like my friend did when she stole an energy drink?"
He chuckled, "That is one way of putting it, but yes, they tend to be almost hyperactive unless they are working or running. They can contain it if they try, but most of the time they don't bother."
I nodded, "I can understand that. I feel it too sometimes. Diane once said that Heartfire combined with youthful energy was something she never wanted to face without her own Heartfire energy."
Ace laughed, "I think I can agree with that one. I rarely see you ever sit still. A few of Roland's original crew told me about their reaction to the amount of energy you had before they found out about the Heartfire virus."
I grinned at him and glanced at the dense forest around me. I darted off, "Catch me if you can!"
This was one of the few sections of the vast forest where I had a chance at evading Ace. I could go places he couldn't. I didn't hear anything behind me and knew I had to double back since he would already be ahead of me to cut me off.
A brain wave struck me and I quickly climbed a tree. The trees grew very close together and I could walk on thinner branches that wouldn't hold Ace's weight. He would know where I was, but he had before. He also had to work harder to remain out of sight with my high vantage point.
I went from tree to tree as I kept on the move to keep Ace from sneaking up behind me. I didn't see him though... What was he up to? I wasn't sure if he had a plan in place, or if he was just winging it, but either way, I knew I didn't have much time before he did something.
I really needed a plan, but nothing came to mind. The trees were getting further apart and much larger. It wouldn't be much longer before I wouldn't be able to safely walk along the branches while holding onto other branches for support.
I had to go down to the ground at this point. I still didn't see Ace and hadn't seen him since the game had started. He was undoubtedly aware of exactly where I was though. He was moving silently as well. No leaves rustled or twigs cracked.
I shook my head as I recalled that this was how some horror stories started. I never saw how they ended though because my mother had always realized what I was watching within ten minutes and changed the channel on me.
I carefully climbed down and turned towards a deer trail. I barely rounded the tree when a pair of arms scooped me up. I shrieked in fear before dissolving in laughter as I recognized Ace.
"Caught you!"
"How did you know which tree I was coming down?"
He chuckled before putting me down, "The next two were halfway rotten and I knew you wouldn't chance it during a mere game." He rubbed his ears with a wince, "Although I think I may have permanent hearing damage now..."
I giggled and hunched my shoulders guiltily, "Sorry..."
He shrugged, "I should have expected it."
We both looked up as two people ran out of the bush full tilt. Their eyes glowed brightly and they had weapons in their hands. They stopped in surprise when they saw us. Ace watched them intently, "Is something wrong?"
They glanced at one another as their eyes were rapidly dimming. They looked utterly confused as they glanced around, "We heard Laura scream. Is she okay?"
Ace nodded in understanding, "Yes, I startled her in a game of hide and go seek."
I realized that they had been coming to help me, thinking I was in trouble. No wonder they had been confused to get here and see Ace and me grinning at each other. They both relaxed and nodded, "Oh. I see. That is a much better situation than what we had worried about. We will continue on our way then. Have a good run."
Ace waved a farewell, "Thanks, you too." He glanced down at me, "We should head back and see if the dead has risen yet."
I giggled, "I doubt it, but you can't compare Diane to a zombie. Zombies don't actually sleep."
He chuckled, "Indeed. You are correct."
We headed back towards Sanctuary with as much speed as I could muster. The heat rose in my blood, lending me speed and stamina. I didn't see Diane outside as we approached, and when we were closer, the Messengers shook their heads. She hadn't woken up yet.
I looked at my keychain pocketwatch to see that it was 6am. Most of the people had already lost their bets considering that Diane still slept. Ace gazed at the door for a moment before looking down at me, "How about we grab some breakfast? I have a feeling we will be done before she wakes up. I know when she wakes, that food will be first on her agenda anyways."
I nodded in excitement and we headed towards the mess hall. One of the cooks noticed us in the lineup and came over, "Diane still sleeping?"
Ace replied, "Yes."
The cook nodded thoughtfully, "We will leave a quiche in the oven for her. Send her over when she wakes."
Ace seemed touched at the cook's consideration, "Thank you."
The cook waved it off, "No worries. My son was one of the ones bitten by a zombie a few weeks ago. Thanks to her blood, he is still with us today. She doesn't accept any form of a thank you gift for the blood donations, so it is the least I can do."
I grinned as the cook went back to the kitchen. So far the Messengers were the only ones to work out a method where they won against Diane's stubborn streak. The cook had figured out his angle though, and chances were that Diane wouldn't even realize it.
With so many egg laying chickens and ducks, it came as no surprise that eggs were present at every meal in some form or another. Today's breakfast was quiche, greens, buns, and sliced veggies. It looked like there were mushrooms and ham in the quiche and I couldn't wait to try it.
We sat down and I immediately put my fork in the quiche to break a piece off. It was good. I hummed in delight and enjoyment. Ace glanced at me in amusement, but didn't comment. Todd came over with his own plate and sighed, "I was sure she would be up by 6:30. Guess I lost that bet."
I tilted my head, "How many still have valid bets?"
Todd thought for a moment, "Five others are betting for 7am and one is betting for 7:30, but that is all. Most bets were in the 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock range."
"Considering she fell asleep at 7:30, I fail to see how she is sleeping considering she has fully established Heartfire." We all glanced back to see Kerry behind us with her own plate.
Kerry took a seat beside me. She had a faint frown as she glanced from Ace to me, "I want to see her this morning once she wakes up."
Ace took a sip of tea, "If you are planning to lecture her, I think you are too late for that. She already knows that donating blood two days in a row is not something to be repeated."
Kerry raised an admonitory eyebrow, "The fact that she left the nursing area like that is what really gets me. I didn't realize she was in that bad of shape until it took her half an hour to cover the distance that she normally did in five minutes. You would have known and I do not recall you saying anything either. The two of you trained often enough that you had to have had a pretty good idea of how tired she was."
Ace turned to look straight at the nurse with a faintly challenging gaze, "Yes, I knew. I also knew that she would not have wanted to stay in the nursing wing. I was fairly certain that she could make it to the deck on her own power, and I was there if she had any difficulties."
Kerry stared at him with narrowed eyes before sighing and shaking her head, "Fine. You fighters are always so stubborn. Next time you know she is in that kind of shape, let me know so I don't have people coming all evening to ask me if she is okay."
Ace snorted lightly, "If she managed to hide it from you despite the fact that her eyes couldn't even glow, then she was likely in good enough shape to attempt the walk back."
Kerry made a face, but didn't respond. She was in nurse mode at the moment and nothing would mollify her until she got her hands on Diane. I had no idea what she planned to do or say and I wasn't sure if Kerry even knew what she was going to do.
I looked up as Amber approached. She nodded a greeting at Ace, "Hi Ace, can you please keep an eye on Diane today and make sure she doesn't do much? I had Kerry nattering at me all morning, but I somehow doubt that Diane would listen if I told her to do nothing all day long."
Kerry sent a mock glare at Amber. I grinned as Amber made sure to lay the blame at the right door. The odds were stacked against Diane and I somehow doubted that she would ever live this down. Who would have thought that sleeping in one day could get so many people so antsy?
Ace nodded, "I will relay that information whenever she decides to put an appearance in."
Amber looked thoughtful, "If it helps, you could try to take her to the lake. She missed the pool party last night and I recall that she loved swimming the couple of times we stopped by a lake."
Ace looked intrigued, "Thank you for that idea. I might just try that."
We finished breakfast and went outside, but Diane was still asleep. Ace glanced at me, "I am going to the practice arena and will keep an eye on the house. You can practice with that sling if you want, while we wait for Diane to wake up."
I nodded in excitement. Ace had given me a sling as a gift and I was eager to learn to use it. It could be used to hunt small things like squirrels and rabbits once I got better. It seemed much better than a bow and arrow to me. Rocks were everywhere, but good arrows weren't easy to make.
I made sure to stick to the side closest to the house as I practiced. A dozen others were working on their skills under Ace's sharp eyes. I watched the door to the house, but Diane still hadn't woken up. I took a quick glance at my keychain watch. It was 8am and the last bet had been for 7:30. No one was winning any bets today.