A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 41

Minutes later we grabbed our packs to the base for breakfast. The apple slices were just a morning snack. I grinned at Ace, "Did you see the zipline Diane built?"

He nodded, "I saw a bit of it last night, but it was really too dark to see much."

I clapped my hands in excitement, "I can go first and show you."

He nodded and I climbed a few steps down the ladder to grab the handle. I unwrapped my legs from the ladder and the zipline carry me to a small landing area surrounded by a fence. Diane had built this earlier in case we wanted to get down and zombies were below us.

I landed and let go of the handle. A small counterweight took the handle back to Ace who was on the ladder watching. Ace grinned wildly as he zipped down the zipline. Diane jumped to the ground and ran while he was still descending. Even on the ground she beat him.

Diane opened the landing pad gate for us and Ace grinned at her, "I haven't had that much fun in quite some time."

She chuckled as we started walking towards the fence, "I originally built it to get out in case zombies were near, but Laura tends to use it as often as she can. Good thing I built it so it went towards the fence."

The zipline was fun, what could I say? I skipped around them while singing children's songs as we approached the main building. Diane suddenly jumped to the side and an arrow struck the ground where she had been standing. As per my training, I ran full tilt for the first piece of cover I could spot.

The arrow had come from that direction, so I ran to the side where the shooter would be unable to fire at me due to how the building curved. I quickly crawled under some big bushes, they would hide me from view if anyone came out.

I peeked out at Ace and Diane, both were in a fighting crouch looking up at a window. Who would have shot an arrow at Diane? Ace slowly stood up, "Are you alright?"

Diane nodded, "Yeah, at the moment I am quite grateful for your training and the reflexes that it gave me. Did you happen to recognize who it was? All I saw was the back of a dark cloak running."

Ace shook his head, "No, the person was wearing a ski mask and I didn't get much of a glimpse at him as he didn't seem to want to stick around for some reason." He blinked and looked at Diane with narrowed eyes, "My training? I do not recall ever shooting arrows at you."

Diane chuckled, "Good reflexes are good reflexes." I grinned silently at her joke.

He shook his head in exasperation and nerves before glancing around with a frown, "Where is Laura?"

Diane didn't even look around. "Somewhere in the bushes by the rose patch." Somehow I was not surprised that she knew exactly where I was, even she hadn't so much as looked in my direction. Diane carefully scanned the entire area and all of the windows, "Laura, it looks like it is safe at the moment."

I slowly crawled out and went over to Diane, "What happened?"

She eyed up the arrow in the ground, "That is a very good question." She walked over the few steps to the arrow and yanked it out of the ground. Ace leaned over to inspect it, "That is a rather nasty looking arrow head."

Diane nodded, "It is one of deadliest ones we have for hunting. We tend to use this type when going after moose or elk. It needs a pretty heavy bow to fly properly. Usually a 60 pound draw or more with a long bow like he was using. Considering how well it dug itself into the dirt, they were using such a heavy bow."

Ace slowly blinked and glanced around us again, "They had good aim as well. I do not think that 75% of those inside this base would have been able to use a bow that heavy with that kind of accuracy."

I listened in a stunned silence. Why would anyone shoot a hunting arrow at us?

Diane inspected the edges of arrow head, "You would be correct, many people in my group trained for months to use a bow that heavy. I know quite a few Foragers who would be unable to draw a bow that heavy. This person obviously practiced with this arrow, look at all of the scratches. They sharpened the edges after all of the practice so it would be sharp for our encounter. I doubt that a Forager or Raider did this, we use special target practice arrows to get used to firing something like this."

Ace glanced around, still uneasy, "How about we go inside where we are not sitting ducks? Once you two are in the lunch room I will go see if a Guard saw anything."

Diane started walking, "I doubt they did. Most Guards don't hold posts anymore since our previous unwelcome guests left."

Ace looked over at Diane, "I wonder if it is an old member from that group looking for revenge since you were the one who fought Desmond or if it is someone else who is worried about you being infected..."

Diane glanced back up at the rows of windows, "Not sure, but remind me to get someone to stand by that window while I am down here before supper tonight. We should have a decent guess at how tall our shooter was."

Ace glanced back at the window, "Whose room is that anyways?"

"Unless I am mistaken, that is a janitor's closet."

Ace narrowed his eyes, "I will head up and start asking if anyone saw someone run out of that room this morning. Or if they saw anyone enter it."

Diane glanced at him, "Want any backup?"

He shook his head, "No, although I would appreciate it if you would lend me your dagger just in case."

Diane passed him her dagger as we finally entered the hallway. I noticed Ace's dagger sheath was empty. He had his dagger on him earlier, I wondered where it had gotten to. Other people were heading to breakfast completely unaware that someone had been shooting at us. Ace looked at us, "You should be safe now, I am going to go and collect my knife."

He must have thrown his knife at whoever shot at us. Diane nodded, unworried, "Stay safe."

He nodded at her and took off at a sprint. We headed to the mess hall. Well, that was not how I expected to start my morning. Was someone in this place always trying to kill someone else? Didn't they know that it was wrong?

The rest of the day Diane seemed a bit more alert, but nothing unusual happened. We were still with Brett's group. They were getting better at IDing plants.

We were some of the first to sit down at supper. Matthew sat across from us, but no one else had arrived yet.

Diane glanced behind her and leaned back to speak to someone at the table behind us, "So you have everything ready, right?"

The thin computer tech I had met a few times grinned back at her, "Yep, stop by my office around 8pm to pick everything up."

"Thanks," She turned back to her food.

I looked at her in curiosity and confusion. I wasn't aware that she had anything planned. Matthew raised an eyebrow at Diane in askance. She grinned at both of us, "You will find out in about four days. It is a surprise, so don't say anything."

Matthew shook his head slightly, "I suspect in this situation the less I know the safer I will be."

Diane tilted her head and wondered aloud, "What is the best way to say sorry for the scream you will hear tomorrow morning?"

I giggled, it was obvious that she was gearing up to prank Trish again. Matthew shook his head with a grin, "Nope, I will not let you drag me into this one. You are on your own there. That hallway has been silent in the mornings since you left."

I giggled as Diane chuckled. We both applied ourselves to our food as Trish and Nathan entered the room and headed for the food. I wondered what she was up to that took at least four days to set up.

This was going to be fun.