A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 42

I ran down the hallway and dodged two other people pretending to be zombies. Rick had stepped up my training recently. Then again, Diane's training sounded worse than mine lately. Ace was shooting at her with arrows that had small bags of sand on the end.

It was a good thing that Diane had been showing me some unique tricks to use inside of houses because I would have been really struggling otherwise. It had never occurred to me to throw a recently used pillow at a zombie to distract it. Covered in human scent, the zombie would bite it and give me roughly five seconds of time to get away.

There are only so many things you can do in a house with a zombie after you. Thankfully Rick was planning on moving onto stores tomorrow. Diane came back and we headed to the treehouse.

Diane sat down and I sat beside her. She dug around in her backpack and pulled out a small wooden box I had never seen before. She gazed at it for a bit before passing it to me, "This is rightfully yours. I think it is time that I gave it to you."

I had never seen this box before, how was it mine? I was confused, but opened it and started emptying the contents one by one. My hands shook slightly as I carefully put each piece of treasure carefully on the cushion to form a half circle in front of me.

My birth certificate, my parents' driver's licenses, and dozens of laminated pictures of my parents and me. Some of these pictures I hadn't seen since I had been in the house, Diane must have gone back for them. A USB key was labelled "Digital Backup Copies".

At the bottom was a small gift bag. I looked at Diane for an explanation. She spoke quietly, "That was something that your parents had bought you for your birthday. They had not yet given it to you."

I had no idea how she would have known that. A few tears formed at the thought of a gift from my deceased parents. The bag held a small jewelry box. I slowly opened it and my breath hitched at the sight of the golden picture locket.

It was heart shaped with a small yellow and orange enamel sun on it. I carefully opened it to see the smiling faces of both my mother and father staring back at me. My voice was shaky and quiet, "They really did love me."

Diane responded just as quietly, "Yes, they did."

I looked at the locket for a long time. It was the last gift from my parents, yet it had been given to me by Diane, whom I also loved. I closed it and ran my thumb over the tiny enamel sun. "Can you help me put it on?"

Diane leaned over and did up the clasp. I gave her a big hug. She returned it and waited until I let go before she let go. I felt like the locket was missing something though. Diane's face appeared in my mind. I looked up at Diane's bright blue eyes, "Would it be possible to get two small pictures, one of you and one of me?"

She tilted her head, "It can be done."

I nodded, "I would like that. I want to put them on top of these pictures. My parents are gone, but I have not forgotten them. By putting the new pictures in front, it will remind me of you and me and how much I love being with you. My parents are still in the background."

Diane's eyes shimmered and I could have sworn I saw her blink away tears. She nodded, "I know just the person to do it. I also know what to bring him to ensure that he does a stellar job."

This locket had been designed to hold several pictures and I wanted to have pictures of everyone I loved inside of it.

       

I sat quietly on Diane's lap with a big grin. I had to get up early this morning, but I thought it would be well worth it. We waited at the end of the hallway in a chair. The hallway was oddly empty, but that was common this early in the morning.