A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 133

I was beginning to wonder if Diane had died in her sleep. I really hoped not. Even the thought of it made my heart hurt. Everyone else in Sanctuary was awake, other than a couple of night sentries. Even Trish had been up long enough that she looked awake.

I whirled the sling before letting the one strap go. The rock pinged off the edge of the target. That actually wasn't bad considering how little I had practiced with this. Movement caught my eye. I started running towards Diane as she was gracefully descending the ladder to the ground.

She turned around in time to catch me and spin me around. Her eyes were back to their normal bright selves. She seemed to be in good spirits and didn't seem tired at all. Although considering she had slept around 12 hours, we would have had problems if she was still tired.

Diane put me down and grinned as Ace came over, "Good morning."

Ace chuckled, "Good morning. Feeling better this morning?"

Diane seemed aware of how late she slept and found humor in it, "Yes. Although I do plan on digging up some breakfast before doing anything else."

Ace grinned, "Talk to the cooks, they left a quiche in the oven to stay warm for you."

Diane grinned, "I will have to thank them for their generosity."

I was not about to tell her that it was a form of repayment. Sometimes silence was golden. Ducttape happened to be silver, and I was sure that there was some of it around here somewhere. The cook could probably manage to find some to silence me on short notice too.

Ace went back to those he was training while I went with Diane as she went in search of food. We entered the mess hall and there must have been someone watching for us. We hadn't even reached a table when a lady put a pie-sized pan of quiche on the table. Diane blinked at the large quiche and thanked the lady.

Diane's stomach growled and she wasted no time cutting a piece out and putting it in a plate. She must have been really hungry because she was eating much faster than normal. The first piece was gone in record time and she took another slice. A quiche this size could easily feed Diane, Ace and me.

I watched in growing amazement as the quiche slowly disappeared. Diane finally sighed and put down her fork when almost three quarters of the quiche resided in her stomach. Or I assumed it was in her stomach and that she hadn't managed to pull a few magic tricks out to make it disappear.

I giggled and gently poked her stomach, "Where did you put all of that?"

Diane also found it humorous, "I have no idea."

Diane picked up her dishes and went to wash them. I took the washed dishes and started to dry them. Diane washed her fork while making sure that she got between the tines, "So how many people noticed that I was sleeping last night?"

Ah, so she was wondering how many had seen her and commented about it. She didn't like being the center of attention. Just wait until she found out about the bets...

I grinned at her, "Anyone with Heartfire who had homes nearby noticed, of course. You were pretty well hidden in that lounger though. A cold wind came up for a while and Ace put a blanket over you. You didn't even wake up. That surprised anyone who was sitting nearby. Some of the Messengers sat nearby to keep an eye on you while Ace took me out for a run. They thought about trying to move the entire lounger into the house, but you still had your belt knife and dagger on your belt. They weren't sure how well you would react if they startled you awake, so they didn't try it. I went to bed and Ace said he would keep an eye on you."