A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 100

I followed Diane as she walked towards the group. Diane raised an eyebrow at the younger man and he blinked before he managed to collect his thoughts, "Uh, the shed is this way..."

He led the way, but was awkward in our presence. He didn't know what to make of us. I grinned as he kept glancing at me in surprise, as if he couldn't figure out why I was coming when we were going after a zombie.

Diane broke the silence, "There was only one zombie right?"

He seemed shocked that she was speaking with him, "Uh, yeah. Just one. It is still in the shed though."

I suspected that this young man didn't get out much. You could tell he was uncomfortable in social situations by the way he talked. It reminded me of myself somewhat, especially when Diane first found me. My problem was more my shyness than anything else.

I took a closer look at him and realized that he wasn't as old as I had originally thought. He was probably around 20 and his light brown hair was short and somewhat messy.

"Did it move like a regular zombie? Not fast like a Swift, correct?"

I blinked. I hadn't considered that. If it was a Swift, then that would explain how it had managed to bite Kyle. I kind of doubted it though. A Swift would have been fast enough to cause a lot more damage and neither would have likely gotten away.

"Uh.... I think so? I don't think it was a Swift..."

Diane pointed, "It is in that shed, correct?"

"Yeah." I glanced at him in surprise. That was the first time the word 'uh' had not appeared in his response. Maybe he was getting used to us already. I examined the shed and the area. It was by the lake with some trees not that far from the shed. A half standing fence would make an excellent pen for the zombie.

Diane glanced at the young man, "Would you mind waiting here until it is out of the way?"

"Okay..." He blinked as his mind processed what she was getting at, "Wait, you are going to go into the shed?"

Diane chuckled, which just served to confuse the poor guy. She shook her head, "I plan on getting the zombie out of the shed and lose it behind that rail fence. Then I plan on checking out that canoe."

He looked clueless, "How do you plan on getting it behind the fence?"

Diane grinned at him, "Watch."

Diane started jogging towards the shed and I followed her, but swerved further out until I stood across from the shed door. Several from the group earlier had followed us as the guy lead us here, but they were lingering even further back from where he still stood with a baffled look.

Diane passed the closed shed door and hit the latch that held the door shut. She swiftly ducked behind the shed as the door opened. A red eyed zombie staggered out. I skipped to the side a bit and its eyes locked onto me. It lurched towards me in an awkward zombie stilted walk.

I slowly started jogging away to lure it off. The forest had a rail fence along the edge of it and I opened up the gate as the zombie followed me. Once the zombie was far enough away, I ran back to close the gate and return to the shed.

The group of locals on the side of the hill looked stunned that a child had so easily lured a zombie away. I had to remind myself that most people were rightfully scared of zombies. There was no one out there who had not lost family or friends to the relentless red-eyed killers.

Diane already had a red canoe in the shallows of the lake as the guy stood on the shore and watched her test it for leaks. I walked forward and waited silently. The guy wasn't aware of me standing behind him as he spoke in a quiet voice with Diane.