A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 25

Several days later there was another funeral. It went much like the first one. I was sad that someone else had died. I had never been to a funeral until just last year, and now I had been to three. I didn't like it. I didn't want to have to say goodbye to any more people, even if I didn't know them.

We headed back inside the fence and I noticed Rick waiting there. I recognized the man beside him as Ace. Rick smiled at me as I approached, "Feel like some more training after lunch? I know you probably know it already, but we can add it to your file."

I nodded enthusiastically. The more classes on my file, the better. It meant that less people could object to me going with Diane.

Diane seemed to find this quite amusing and grinned at Ace, "Shame on you for making Rick do all the dirty work."

Ace was merely amused by her joking accusation, "I couldn't ask the kid to let you go unless there was something else she wanted to do instead."

Diane shook her head at him, "I hope you have backup."

He grinned, "A few friends wanted to take their minds off of things. I suggested a workout and they agreed that they could meet me after lunch."

Diane chuckled with a wicked look in her eye, "Sure, you might want to wear more padding this time."

Ace looked sheepish, but didn't reply. I was beginning to wonder what I was missing when they trained together. I hadn't been aware that others joined their training sessions. Then again, I had never really asked either. Diane was usually pretty good about telling me anything, although others either changed the topic or edited their answer if I asked them questions.

We all went to lunch and Rick and Ace joined us as well. Ace didn't really say much during the meal. He reminded me of Mark, they just didn't talk if there wasn't a reason. Ace didn't seem so bad as I got to know him.

From what I overheard, Diane had been getting much better in her training. She had even started beating Ace in their practice and he was supposedly one of the best fighters in the Fort. It didn't really surprise me though. I couldn't see anyone or anything beating Diane. She was an angel after all.

After supper Rick and Donovan led me towards our training area while Ace and Diane went a different way. There were four people in the room waiting for us and I recognized them as other trainers.

Rick introduced me to them and then paired me up with Donovan. "Okay Laura, you are going to walk with Donovan across the room. We are going to ambush you two in various different ways, so you are going to try to remember what we taught you. Any questions?"

I shook my head. We had done some stuff like this before, but until now, no one else had joined our training. I walked with Donovan and pretended to not see the people hiding behind stuff. Rick had also been teaching me to pretend to play along with various scenarios as if I wasn't expecting anything.

One stood up and fired a toy bow and arrow at us. Donovan drew his sword as the suction cup on the arrow bounced off of his chest. I turned and ran to hide behind a hedge. Once out of sight, I crawled to the side to hide in a safer place.

Donovan called me out when it was 'safe' and we continued walking. Shortly afterwards three jumped out from behind a hedge. Donovan gave a hand signal, but I already knew what I would be doing. The straw bales had been stacked like a car so that I could crawl under them. The bigger men couldn't fit underneath in the small space.

Donovan 'beat' them off and Rick traded places with Donovan. I walked beside Rick as the others skulked out of sight. I wasn't entirely sure where all of them were hiding at this point. I hid my nervousness while keeping tabs on hiding places like I had been taught.

The four men jumped out of hiding with practice swords in their hands to surround us. With a hand signal I dropped to the ground to curl up. I wasn't shy with Rick or Donovan after so much time, but I had never met these men before and their presence had me nervous even though I knew they meant me no harm.

Rick stood over me with his own sword at guard. He tried to keep the four at bay in a slow circling pattern. They weren't trying very hard, obviously going slowly for my training. One man slowly swung at me and I rolled over a few times so it would miss me. Rick let him, since it was part of my training, before whacking the guy across his shoulder.

I was a smaller target down on the ground and I understood that Rick was pretending to protect me against uneven odds. I knew very well that most of what I had been learning the last week or so was not zombie training, although they had not put a name to it yet. I was pretty sure it had to do with whatever Diane had told Agatha and the conversation I overheard while unloading the bus.

I wished Diane was standing guard over me instead of Rick.

Weeks just flew by as I enjoyed every single day. I got to go with Diane five days of the week and spent the other two with Agatha. Training for both of us slowed down and we only did training every other day. The rest of the evenings we got to spend together.

I had gotten better at noticing whenever Diane entered and left the room during the night. She went out every single night. She seemed to enjoy my presence, which I was really glad of. I had gotten upset a couple of times. One time really stuck out in my mind.

I had been really tired and Diane had asked me to do something and I had sullenly replied, "I don't want to."

I had mentally cringed as I waited for her reaction. I halfway expected the sharp admonition that my mother would have given me, or the raised voice that my dad used. Diane had been silent and as still as a statue. I had peeked up at her. She had been looking at the wall and she had a faraway look in her eyes.

The slight disappointment in her expression had made Agatha's words ring in my head. She isn't used to kids, so you will have to be on your best behavior if you want to stay with her. It raised a fear in my heart, a fear that she would disappear. Auntie had said that angels usually didn't stay around long and Diane had been with me for several months already.

I had ducked my head whispered, "I'm sorry."

I didn't want Diane to leave me. The thought of her leaving scared me more than the zombies ever had. In truth, it terrified me. Diane had nodded silently, but I could sense her relaxing as she accepted the apology. Thankfully the distant look in her eyes disappeared.

That had been the worst time. I had been much more careful after that.

I woke up to a faint knocking noise. I yawned and got out of bed. I had purposefully left the door connecting our room to Trish's open so I could hear it. Diane had been getting me to lock Trish's door behind her when she went out at night. Trish was a sound sleeper and never even stirred, so it was up to me to let Diane back in.

I padded over in bare feet to unchain Trish's door. I paused as I heard a man's voice, "Trish will lock you out, but she won't walk with you?"

Diane chuckled, "Hardly."

I thought about the knocking, but it had been the right pattern, so it wasn't a test. I opened up the now unchained door and saw Diane standing there with two men in Guard uniforms behind her. I smiled sleepily at her, "Diane, welcome back."

She grinned at me, "Thanks Laura, let's go to bed."

I returned her grin, "Okay."

Diane glanced back at the two shocked looking guards, "Good night."

They obviously had not expected to see me unlock and open up the door. Diane closed the door and re-chained it again. I started walking back to bed. She closed the door separating our room from Trish's before she went back to bed. I was already asleep by that point.