One pod of peas for my bucket, one pod of peas for me...
I loved garden peas.
I wasn't the only one munching on the on the fresh delicacies as we picked either. It was quality control, right? I think everyone was munching pretty good and there were about eighty of us in this large field.
Peas had to be picked by hand since no machine out there could remove the ripe pods without damaging the plant or smaller pods. Thankfully Dave had traded with another group of traders from the US for a machine that was able to shell the peas.
Diane spoke quietly to Ace, "Ace, keep picking peas. I am going to use you for cover, I think I saw something."
I kept picking while watching them from the corner of my eye. I did subtly look at our surroundings, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Diane moved behind Ace and crouched down as she pretended to pick peas before pulling out her binoculars.
Diane was looking towards the forest on the far side of the highway. The forest was quite some distance from the highway and I doubted that I would be able to see anything smaller than a deer at this distance. I didn't see anything at all.
Ace glanced over as he pretended to look at the trailer. Others had also noticed Diane's actions, but were also playing along. I kept picking peas as I watched them. Ace ran out of peas in his reach and pretended to pick them instead as he remained where he was so Diane could take a closer look at whatever had caught her attention.
Diane stopped her scanning and was watching something intently. I carefully looked at that section of forest from the corner of my eyes, but still didn't see anything. I kept working and simply waited as I kept a careful eye on Diane's hands in case she sent me a hand signal.
Several minutes later, Diane put her binoculars away and stood up as she went to pick peas as if nothing had happened. Her act showed that she believed someone might be watching. Ace moved so he could actually pick real peas instead of pretend ones. He glanced at Diane in a silent question.
Diane spoke quietly, "We had three men in the trees across the highway. One had a binoculars and I caught a glimpse of the light flashing off of it. I didn't recognize any of them, but I have a feeling that I have seen the one somewhere before."
Ace hummed tunelessly, "Well, if no one shows up at Sanctuary in three days it may be wise to have sentries further out just in case."
Diane nodded as we all kept picking peas. No one ever came out of the forest and the trailer here was clearly sprayed with the word 'Sanctuary' on the side. I looked over my shoulder and could just see the cliffs of Sanctuary from here.
The people may have been traders heading to Sanctuary, but I found it really strange that they were hiding in the trees when we clearly belonged to Sanctuary. I shook my head and focused on my work. Even if they appeared out of the forest with horses running full tilt, it would take them some time to get here.
Diane still had her bow and we could easily crouch down for a game of hide and go seek in the waist high pea plants. The presence of the hidden men had several of those with us quite uneasy.
Diane and Ace didn't seem overly worried, but they did keep glancing at that section of the forest. Diane said she thought the one man was familiar. Was it possibly someone we had met in our travels? We had stopped at so many places that it was a good possibility.
I wondered which place the man might have come from.
I twirled around in time with the music. Ace watched me in amusement as Dave's group played music from the main balcony. Diane went to fetch water for us as the party started up. Usually we had music and dancing every few weeks.
Amelia came over, "Nice dancing Laura."
I grinned at her, "Thanks!"
Amelia turned to Ace, "Looks like the dancing is starting. Roy isn't here yet, feel like a dance in the meantime?"
Ace glanced to the side, "Sorry, but Todd is waving me over." He turned and headed towards the cliff where the offices were. I tilted my head, but didn't see Todd anywhere.
Amelia danced with me until her husband came and whisked her off for a dance. Amelia loved dancing. Diane returned with some water bottles and I went to go sit on a bench with her. The informal band started playing Help by the Beatles.
I sang along to the song. I knew this from my little music player that broke back in my old house. Diane had memorized this song back when we first traveled with Dave's group and sang along.
"Help me if you can, I'm feeling down; And I do appreciate you being 'round; Help me get my feet back on the ground; Won't you please, please help me..."
Diane stopping singing, "Hey Laura, did you see where Ace went? I brought him a water bottle, but I don't see him."
I shrugged, "Amelia came over and asked if he wanted to dance. He said something about seeing Todd beckoning him over. I haven't seen him since."
Diane chuckled and shook her head, she obviously didn't believe Ace's excuse. I didn't believe it either. He always disappeared if someone wanted to dance with him or even if they merely hinted about seeing him dance. It confused me. I knew that kissing boys could give you cooties, but there was no problem with dancing or playing with them.
I looked at Diane, "Why did Ace disappear? Amelia is married, so it was just a friendly dance. Roy doesn't care if anyone else dances with her. He even leaves if people want to see him dance."
Diane tilted her head in consideration, "Remember how shy of crowds you were when we were back in Wainwright, even though nothing bad ever happened?"
I nodded and she continued, "Some men and women also get shy like that around others if it goes past regular conversation. Ace doesn't want to dance any more than you wanted to go somewhere alone."
I gave her a confused look, this sounded like it had to do more with flirting than dancing. Besides, she was missing one crucial point, "Ace danced with me the one time. He even twirled me around."
Diane chuckled with a twinkle in her eye, "You are still a kid and he knows you quite well. You get special privileges, but don't let him figure that out."
I grinned as I caught on. I was the only person to ever dance with Ace. I giggled at my newfound secret. I could only imagine Ace's reaction the day he realized it...
I picked another zucchini and put it in the wheelbarrow. The field was full of ripening zucchinis. I didn't see any end of the oblong vegetables. Diane had an armful that she put in the wheelbarrow. Two dozen others were also picking various types of zucchinis and squash.
Our wheelbarrow was full. Diane grabbed it to take it back to the big wagon we were slowly filling. I grabbed an armful of smaller zucchinis and followed her. Most of the others were just starting to take a break and we joined them.
I peeled a stick and put the smallest zucchini on it to roast. I wasn't sure how well it would work, but we had more than enough around to experiment with. I looked at the huge field full of thriving plants and commented to Diane, "I can't believe how many there are."
Diane chuckled, "They are more closely related to weeds than most people will admit. My Grandma once told me, 'If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him how to garden, the whole neighborhood gets zucchini'. It is a good thing they store so well, we will probably be seeing this stuff at every meal most of the winter."
I giggled, I could certainly believe that saying. Each of these plants had at least two or three ripe zucchinis and each one had half a dozen more coming. To put it mildly, they were thriving.
I heard a horn in the distance and looked over at Diane in worry. Since she had spotted those men, there were half a dozen people hiding in trees along the road acting as sentries with horns to sound an alarm. This field was further out than most fields and there was only one sentry further out than us.
The horn sounded the code for 'medical assistance requested'. I relaxed slightly, that meant there wasn't any danger. No one had openly said anything where I could hear it, but people were halfway expecting some hostile people to show up. In other words, bandits.
People weren't prepared to just give up either. There had been several whispers and the fighting training had suddenly become quite popular. I had a suspicion that any stranger who tried to stir up trouble here would be better off poking their nose into a wasp nest.
I wondered why the sentry was calling. Diane and Ace rose to their feet. Diane looked at me, "Laura, can you please stay here with the group? Ace and I are going to check out the situation."
I was sad at being left behind, but nodded. I knew that I couldn't keep up with their speed. Diane also packed that epipen, and if a zombie bite was involved, it was her help that was needed. I kept roasting the zucchini as Diane and Ace swiftly sprinted down the road and were shortly out of sight.
I double checked my walkie talkie to ensure that it was on. I still carried it and ensure it was charged, although I almost never used it. I slowly rotated the small zucchini as its skin darkened with the heat and smoke.
I jumped as a pop sounded. Others also started as the air pressure inside the zucchini blew a small hole out the side with a pop. Note to self, always poke a hole in a zucchini when cooking it... I was glad that I hadn't done that with a big one. That could have been a bigger boom.
I took the zucchini off the fire and used a small pocketknife to cut it open. I handed a small piece to a few people who looked interested in my experiment and tried a slice myself. The flavor was mild, but strong at the same time. I think this would have done better if it had been stuffed with herbs, cheese or meat.
We eventually went back to work as we kept an eye on the road. We didn't scatter like we had before and the others made sure that I was in the center of our group. I knew that they were protective of me. Now I kind of knew how Diane sometimes felt after giving blood. Sure, it was a touching gesture and I appreciated it, but it made me want to blush.
My radio came to life with Diane's voice, "Laura, please send someone with the tractor down the road. We have a newly fired person who needs medical attention. Over."
Someone started running towards the solar tractor. I replied, "They heard you and are on their way. Over."
"Copy. Out." She didn't give any more details, but if Diane had used her epipen to fire someone, then a zombie bite was almost certainly involved. The tractor sped up as it went out of sight. It couldn't go as fast as the steam trucks, but it could manage a pace that I would have been able to keep up with if I tried.
A while later, we heard the tractor returning. It appeared around the corner as Diane and Ace lightly sprinted beside it to keep up. As it got closer I realized that there was a man lying on the back. It wasn't our sentry either.
The man was someone I had never seen before to my knowledge. He was far too thin, and through some holes in his shirt, his ribs stuck out. He was covered in hundreds of bug bites and numerous thorn scratches. His coat looked closer to a rag and the rest of his clothing was similarly tattered. He looked in worse shape than most zombies.
The tractor kept going and Ace and Diane followed it as it headed back to the distant Sanctuary. It would take them at least half an hour to get there. They wouldn't be back anytime soon. I remained and kept working with everyone else.
Over an hour later, Diane and Ace came back into view moving at a lope. I waited eagerly for news as they approached. Others were also working while waiting for an update.
Diane and Ace slowed as they neared our group. One of the men spoke up, "Who was that? What happened?"
Ace sighed, "Someone from Clyde Crossing. The only survivor as far as he knows. We had to fire him since he was quite certain that he was infected. We will find out more once he recovers a bit, as you saw, he was in pretty rough shape."
People around us nodded, they had also seen the ragged man. I hoped he would be all right. I knew what it was like to see your home burnt down. But we had found Ambrose, so perhaps this man wasn't the only survivor of his home.
Now that he had Heartfire and his settlement was gone, he would almost certainly be staying with Sanctuary now. I hoped he would like it here as much as everyone else did.