A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 56

The only downside to sleeping with Diane was the fact that she got up way too early. It was still dark out when she left for her run. My clock proclaimed her usual wake up time to be around 4am. She expected me to sleep longer than she did and I happily rolled over and went back to sleep. I never complained though, in case she insisted on sleeping apart so she didn't disturb me.

I sleepily rubbed my eyes and grabbed my backpack as I woke up. I changed into clean clothing. Diane had rolled up my sleeping bag by the time I managed to put my backpack on and was waiting by the ladder. I followed her down as she put our sleeping bags with our saddle bags in a small bit of open space in the trailer.

The sun had not even truly risen yet. No one else was up either. Diane glanced at the dark and quiet houses before giving me a mischievous grin, "What do you say that we move that big mirror in the barn against the chicken coop run and let the chickens loose in the run?"

I tilted my head in sleepy confusion, it was much too early in the morning for riddles, "What would that do?"

Her grin widened, "Roosters hate seeing their reflection and it is light enough that the rooster in the coop will crow if we let him out. The mirror will really rile him up."

A grin appeared on my face as I turned to run back towards the barn with a giggle. I could only imagine Trish's reaction if she had been in any of those nearby houses. The mirror wasn't that terribly big, but it was almost as tall as me.

Diane helped me carry it and lean it against the chicken wire. I went into the run to lift the chicken door on the coop so the chickens and rooster could come out. They were more of a morning person than I was and all swiftly exited the coop.

The rooster was not impressed with the ugly rival in the mirror and set about crowing for all he was worth to show that he was the king of this coop. We headed towards the big cooking firepit and heated up the leftover stew. We also started a big pot of dandelion coffee.

It came as no surprise that everyone was awake in short order with the racket the rooster was making. Dan walked over with a yawn, "Did someone tell the rooster that he was going to be supper if he failed to act like an alarm clock?"

Diane merely chuckled as all thirteen locals were exiting the houses with yawns or sleepy expressions. Mike's mother sat down with a yawn, "I call the lazy brown mare. Anything else would probably buck me off."

Diane shook her head, "You and your husband won't be on a horse. We attached lawn chairs to the trailer."

Her eyes lit up, "Oh, thank you. I might survive this trip after all."

We had a quick breakfast. It didn't take them long to pack up the last few objects and load the animals. Diane hitched Smokey up to the trailer with two other horses. We would occasionally change out those two horses with the other two who were trained to pull. Smokey would be stuck as lead horse all day.

I took my seat on a couch cushion on the trailer as the two elderly people and two others joined me on the chairs. The horses were quickly saddled and Diane jogged ahead to open up the bigger gate. The trailer wheels grated on a bit of gravel as they hit the pavement of the highway.

Mike looked at Diane from his saddle, "Are you going to get on the trailer?"

She shook her head, "No, with the pace we will be going, I will be fine on foot. I am used to it. I am also going to lure away any zombies that appear."

It would be somewhat believable since we were moving at a slow pace. The cattle were all tied with long leads to the trailer. The three horses could only pull the trailer so fast, although Smokey was quite enthusiastic in his attempts to see how fast he could get the trailer moving.